GRAIN AND ITS CULTIVATION. 147 



as mentioned in the preceding grains. No apparent advan- 

 tage has been derived from steeps for the prevention of smut 

 as in wheat, the impervious husk of the oat, apparently 

 arresting the liquid, and preventing its penetration to the 

 kernel. Sowing salt broadcast over the land, at the rate of 

 two to six bushels per acre, has been found of use to the 

 crop, both in furnishing it with a necessary manure and by 

 killing insects. The seed should be well harrowed in and 

 rolled, and no after attention is required, except to destroy 

 the prominent weeds. 



Harvesting. Oats frequently ripen unevenly, and if there 

 is a large proportion of such as are backward, the proper 

 time for cutting will be, as soon as the grain in the latest, 

 may be rubbed out of the straw by hand. The oat is suffi- 

 ciently matured for harvesting after it has passed the milk 

 state, and is easily compressed between the thumb and finger. 

 The lower part of the stalk will" then have assumed a yel- 

 low color, and ceases to draw nutriment from the soil. If 

 cut at this time, the straw is better for fodder and other uses , 

 the grain is fuller; the husk lighter; and the loss from 

 shelling, which is frequently a great item when left too late, 

 is avoided. Oats, when very tall, are most profitably cut 

 with the sickle, and when lodged, with the scythe ; but 

 when erect and of medium height, with the cradle, or an ap- 

 proved reaping machine, which is by far the most speedy 

 and economical ; and this leaves them in a suitable position 

 for binding into sheaves. They may be stacked like wheat. 



The uses of oats are various, and differ materially in dif- 

 ferent countries. In Scotland, Ireland and many other 

 countries, oat meal is much used as human food; and for 

 this, the Imperial oat or some one of the heavy kinds is pre- 

 ferred, as they afford a larger proportion of meal and less of 

 husk. Scotland draws no inconsiderable part of the support 

 for her entire laboring population, from this meal. It is 

 formed into small thin cakes and eaten with milk, butter or 

 molasses, or it is mixed with water or milk and made into a 

 kind of pudding, under the name of stirabout, a favorite 

 dish, which is said to be palatable to those accustomed to it. 



They are but little used for human food in this qountry, 

 and only by emigrants, who bring their early habits with 

 them. They are prepared by kiln-drying and hulling, then 

 grinding and bolting, when required to separate the flour. 

 The meal is scalded before using, and mixed with about half 

 its weight of wheat flour, when made into bread. It is sold 

 by the apothecaries to invalids, for whom it is valuable, from 



