OATS 



OB 



proper condition, and from two to three bushels 

 to the acre are generally used. The crop is 

 harvested usually in July; differences in lati- 

 tude vary the time of reaping a few weeks. 



The oat stalk is from two to four feet long 

 when full grown, is very slender and terminates 

 in groups of graceful branches called spikelets, 





^Saskatchewan 



112 



Ontario 

 102 



Figures Represent Millions of Bushels 



LEADING STATES AND PROVINCES 

 The figrures represent the average annual yield 

 during a period of five years. 



at the end of which the grain is found encircled 

 by protecting husks. Each spikelet produces 

 two grains unequal in size. The color of the 

 plant is light green before ripening and turns 

 to a yellowish tint when ready for harvesting, 

 although in a few varieties the color is brown. 

 The average yield per acre in the United States 

 is about twenty-seven bushels, but this is almost 

 sure to be materially increased by the applica- 

 tion of scientific methods of cultivation. In 

 England and Germany the average yield per 

 acre is nearly forty bushels. Oats are grown 

 in practically every state of the American 

 Union, but with less success in the southern 



United States 

 1261 



Germany 



Figures Represent Millions of Busheb 



FOUR LEADING COUNTRIES IN 



PRODUCTION 



are for average years before the out- 

 break of the War of the Nations ( 1914 ). 



section than in the northern. The leading 

 states in production are Iowa, Illinois, Min- 

 nesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Mirlm-m :in .l 

 Ohio, in the order named. Canada raises large 

 titles in all province* south of Hudson Bay, 

 or about the 55th parallel of north l.m- 



Oats are stable products throughout the tem- 

 perate zones of the entire world, even north 

 well toward the Polar Circle, in such sections 

 as are favored by mild winds and warm ocean 

 currents. The product is extremely light in 

 South America, but of constantly increasing 

 importance in Australia. 



Oats as Food. Because they contain large 

 quantities of starch and other necessary food 

 elements, oats in various prepared forms, espe- 

 cially oatmeal and rolled oats, are used largely 

 on our tables and provide food of very nutri- 

 tious quality. The food value of both the 

 above breakfast dishes is about 1,850 calories 

 per pound (see CALORIE; FOOD, subhead Chem- 

 istry of Foods), and much higher as a heat 

 producer than the average food. Oats are 

 therefore an important article for winter con- 

 sumption, but should be little used in summeV. 

 Oatmeal preparations also have the added 

 virtue of low cost. However, it is as a fodder 



Carbohydrates, 1 1.5 



Protein, 2.8 



Fat.0.5 



Ash,0.7 



FOOD PROPERTIES OF OATMEAL 

 The fuel value of oatmeal is 1860 calories per 

 pound. This fact makes It a valuable cold-weather 

 food. It has twice the value of veal as a heat pro- 

 ducer, and a third more than the best beef. How- 

 ever, It lacks other food qualities that these pos- 

 sess. 



that the crop is principally valuable. They are 

 tin best of all grains for horses, as a builder of 

 n-.-uo being equal to corn and less heating. No 

 other cereal produces straw of such excellent 

 quality. 



The oat crop of the world is nearly 3,000,- 

 000,000 bushels annually; of this amount the 

 United States raises over one-third and at 

 average prices receives for its crop about $200,- 

 000,000. Canada's 1915 crop was 520,000,000 

 IHI-IH Is. :i In ilr more than in average years. 



OB, or OBI, o'bc, one of the largest rivers of 

 Asia, rises in the Altai Mountains of We.-' 

 Siberia and empties through a deep bay, tin- 

 Gulf of Ob, into the Arctic Ocean. The i 

 is almost two milrs ui.le at its mouth, has a 

 length of about 2.500 miles and drains an area 

 of 1,125.200 square miles, over four times the 



