ON THE CULTURE OF THE CEREALS. 283 



the proportion of straw to grain is as 100 to 50, or nearly that. It yields less to the acre than 

 barley, varying from ten to twenty-four bushels. The sandy plains of Sheffield and Windsor, 

 in Connecticut, where rye is the main crop which is produced, the yield is frequently less than 

 fifteen bushels to the acre j more generally ten bushels. It is of a fine quality. 



Cultivation of the Oat. 



The grain of the oat is small, but is highly nutritious. The oat is an exhausting crop, though 

 it is small and light ; yet the straw being also rich in nutriment, compared with wheat, a crop 

 of it necessarily takes off a great amount of the expensive matters, as the phosphates and alkalies. 

 In this climate it is a crop which rarely fails : it requires more rain, or bears rain better than 

 wheat, and may be sown upon wet land j it yields from thirty to forty-five bushels to the acre ; 

 its weight is thirty-four pounds to the bushel. Oats do not require so deep ploughing as wheat 

 and maize: it is sown about the middle of April, and ripens by the first of August; three 

 bushels of seed are required per acre. It costs about ten dollars per acre to cultivate it properly. 

 It may be manured directly, and ten loads of barn-yard manure will suffice. It is a good crop 

 to follow potatoes. The relative proportions of ash, grain, water and straw, may be stated 

 generally, as follows : 



Grain 10000 to 100-00 



Water, 9-41 " 10-40 



Ash, 2-39 " 2-50 



The proportion of husk to kernel, 



Husk 29-31 29-05 



Kernels 70-68 70-94 



Percentage of water and dry matter, etc. of the kernels or grain, 



Water 9-41 



Dry, 90-58 



Ash, 2-47 



Calculated dry, 5-24 



The oat is rich in starch, but what makes it so valuable for feeding is the large amount of 

 the glutinous principle, or avenine. It is also rich in oil, which has a fine yellow color and a 

 fragrant odor. There is, probably, no crop so easily raised, which is more valuable for food 

 for animals than this ; it requires a clean soil and absence of weeds : it is not attacked by in- 

 sects, nor liable to rust like wheat. A species of smut is found in almost every field, but is 

 not so prevalent as to become a scourge, or to materially diminish its value. The oat is fitted, 

 constitutionally, for a wide range of territory, endures a wet cold season, and may be cul- 

 tivated higher and farther north than wheat or maize. 



