396 



THE AGE OF OATS. 



nels full of flour. In smelling and tasting oats it is necessary 

 to use a fair quantity. The grain should be free from all 

 odor and in flavor they should have a slightly milky and 

 sweet taste. Poor oats vary in size and are long, flat and 

 light. If a cane is poked into a bin of inferior grain, a steady, 

 heavy resistance is felt, whereas with good oats the cane can 

 be thrust in with little difflculty. The noise made by the 

 rattling of good oats has been likened to that produced by 

 barley kernels or shot. 



THE AGE OF OATS. 



New oats are undesirable as they are of uneven quality 

 and have a tendency to " scour " the horse. Grain of from 

 one to three years' seasoning is therefore preferred and 

 commands a high price. New oats have a clean earthy 

 smell, its absence indicates that the sfrain is old. 



" In point of age I should say that for horses in fast work oats should 

 not be less than two years old ; after that I consider their farinaceous part 

 begins to shrink, and that, consequently, a greater proportion of husk falls 

 to the horse's share. The objection to new oats is, first, that they are flatu- 

 lent ; and, secondly, as in the case with new oatmeal with hounds, they do 

 not, as we say in kennel language, ' stay by them.' " — Charles Britidley, 

 *'The Pocket and the Stud;' p. 124. 



