92 ANIMAL MANAGEMENT. 



shows that in the climate which produces them they are even more 

 suitable and yield better feeding results than heavier, richer, imported 

 sorts. 



I?tferior Oats, 



From whatever source they may spring, poor qualities of oats always 

 have the same characteristics. The worse they are the longer, thinner, 

 more abundantly bearded and lighter do they become, and although such 

 a sample may be hard and dry, when a handful is squeezed tightly it 

 will feel soft and compressible owing to the excess of beard which 

 prevents the seeds lying close. 



Defects, 



Clipped Clipped Oats. — By passing oats rapidly over a revolving wire 



oats. brush, or by shaking them violently, it has been found possible to remove 



any excess of beard without damaging the grain ; this is called " clipping," 

 and results in producing a shorter, plumper looking, more attractive 

 article. " Clipping " may not be regarded perhaps as an actual defect 

 since it really results in the buyer obtaining a heavier weight per sack 

 than he otherwise would, but the fact of the process having been thought 

 advisable shows that the sample was not a very high class one originally. 

 " Clipping " may be detected both by the appearance of the altered oat, 

 which has a square-cut end, and by plunging the hand some depth into 

 the sack, when large quantities of the removed beards will be found 

 adhering to it on removal. 

 Foxy oats. Foxy Oats, — When oats are stored in large quantities before they 

 are sufficiently dried, notably for instance in grain ships, they become 

 "heated," in some cases to such an extent as to be actually steaming ; 

 at the same time their colour alters to a deeper yellow than before and 

 they acquire a peculiar acrid smell. Such oats are termed foxy. This 

 defect, like all others, may vary considerably in degree, but when it exists 

 to any extent, particularly in newly imported shipments, it is readily 

 detected. 

 Kiln dried Kiln Dried Oats.— Kiln drying in itself is not a defect, and if the 

 oats. process is adopted only to make sure that the oats are dry enough to keep 



m bulk, it does not of course affect their quality, but generally speaking, 

 oats are only kiln dried because they were previously damp or foxy, 

 and the fact that the process has been carried out is generally therefore 

 an indication of damaged quality. Kiln drying gets rid of the foxy 

 odour, restores the hardness, but further deepens the colour, so that 

 grains originally a pale yellow become quite brown. To restore the 



