400 THE WEIGHT AND PRICE OF OATS. 



" The best plan, however, of testing the true weight is by means of a 

 very simple machine which can be made by any carpenter. Make a box 30 

 inches deep by 12 x 12 inches, which will hold about \\ bushels. At the 

 bottom make a hole 4^ x 4^ inches, and fit it with a sliding door underneath, 

 which must fit easy, and fill it with oats. 



" Underneath the box, at a distance of five inches below it, place the 

 bushel measure. Draw back the door and let the oats run through. When 

 the bushel is rather more than full, push back the door. Then ' strike ' the 

 measure and weigh the bushel and its contents. Deduct the weight of the 

 measure, and you have the natural or trade weight of the oats. In the 

 bushel legal measure, the depth is not to exceed one-half of the diameter." — 

 " Horses and Stables,'' p. 41. 



For this purpose a bushel measure, its accuracy guar- 

 anteed by a stamp on the bottom, should be bought. 



THE WEIGHT AND PRICE. 



Oats are sold usually by the bag, each bag containing two 

 bushels, and although estimated by the bushel, oats are in 

 reality dealt in by weight and not by measure. The legal 

 weight varies in the different states between thirty and thirty- 

 three pounds to the bushel, but in the majority thirty-two 

 pounds is the weight prescribed by law. A bag of oats, 

 therefore, should weigh not less than sixty-five pounds, one 

 pound being the weight of the bag. Good oats, however, 

 should weigh between forty and forty-five pounds to the 

 measured bushel. Above that weight oats are called "fan- 

 cies," and command a still higher price. The price varies 

 between thirty and fifty cents per bushel according to the 

 quality, time of the year and size of the crop. Thirty-eight 

 cents is a fair average price. 



