OATS 85 



oats may also be recognized by the darker color. Foreign odors may 

 be intensified, to aid detection, by warming a sample of the grain in the 

 hand, or by breathing upon it. 



The taste should be sweetish. Grain with a musty, bitter, rancid or 

 moldy taste should be rejected. 



The stage of maturity should also be considered. The grains should be 

 well matured. 



With reference to the stage of maturity we have — 



a. Milk-ripe or green-matured grains, distinguished by their green 

 color and milk-like contents. Water content 50 per cent or more. Will 

 not keep. 



b. Yellow or waxy stage. May be easily crushed with the finger 

 nail. This is the proper stage for cutting. 



c. Fully matured grains, can not be bent but break when pressed 

 upon with the finger nail. Have a riper color. When cut in this stage 

 the grain easily shatters. This latter is still more pronounced in dead ripe 

 grains. 



d. Dead ripe grains are hard and brittle. When threshed they are 

 usually mixed with many broken grains. 



e. Prematurely ripe grains, resulting from drying up of milk-ripe 

 grains as a result of drouth or excessive heat or too early harvesting. 

 Such grains are slender, undeveloped, stunted, shriveled and of light 

 color. They are of inferior value, mold easily and are not fit for storage. 



Among the foreign admixtures of oats should be mentioned parasitic 

 fungi, weed seeds and animal parasites, larvae of the oat fly, etc., all 

 injurious to the health of animals. Of the parasitic fungi of oats there 

 are Ustilago (smut), Puccinia (rust), Erysiphe (mildew), rarely Secale 

 cornutum (ergot). Among the important weed seeds we have corn 

 cockle, poisonous darnel, wild mustard, vetches and chick pea {Lathyrus 

 sativus), charlock, corn, crowfoot, wild morning glory, knotgrass, thistle, 

 corn flower, larkspur, dog fennel, wild oats {Avena fatua), sorrel 

 (Rumex), brome grass, spurry, etc. After storage, oats may be further 

 contaminated by molds and bacteria, weevils, larvae of the grain moth, 

 meal mite, etc. In regard to injurious effects following the feeding of 

 spoiled or contaminated oats, see Klimmer, Hygiene, special chapters on 

 molds, fungi, poisons, etc. Brief reference should be made at this place, 

 however, to musty oats. 



Musty oats may produce digestive disorders accompanied by symptoms 

 of loss or appetite, constipation, colic and diarrhea, polyuria, dizziness, 

 difficult deglutition, swaying of the hind parts, and even paralysis. These 

 symptoms usually disappear with a change of feed. The exact nature of 

 the toxic substance in musty oats is not known. Musty oats may be 

 recognized by their color and usually also by their odor. The odor may 

 be removed by thorough aerating (frequently turning) but the toxic prop- 

 erties remain. The addition of a little common salt increases the palata- 

 bility of musty oats and tends to diminish their toxic effect. 



