OAT. 9 



We often find, in the middle ages, that 

 what could not be accounted for, was either 

 laid to the charge of his infernal majesty, or 

 his supposed agents, the witches. Our fore- 

 fathers likewise supposed, we may conclude, 

 that the wild oats of our youth were scat- 

 tered by the same agents, and from this sup- 

 position the misdeeds and frolics of thought- 

 less young men have been called wild oats. 



Oats are slightly noticed by Virgil, who 

 says in his Georgics : 



" Or change your seed, and for each crop of wheat, 

 A crop of vetches, peas, or beans repeat. 

 Flax, oats, and poppies burn the tender soil, 

 Yet, sown by turns, they '11 recompense your toil." 



Lauderdale. 



Pliny takes no notice of the cultivation 

 of oats in Italy, but observes, that in some 

 places they are made into bread, particularly 

 in Almaine, where, says this exact and minute 

 observer of husbandry, they are usually sown, 

 and where they seldom have any other pot- 

 tage than oatmeal gruel, which they call 

 Abremouz. 



The use of oats as a provender for horses 

 appears to have been known in Rome as early 

 as the Christian era ; as we find that ca- 

 pricious and profligate tyrant Caligula fed 



