FOOD. 



181 



atones for this peculiarity by the bulk of the grain. It is true that a 

 sample of this kind seldom attains to the highest weight, and the pur- 

 chaser loses somewhat by an excess of chaff. 



NBW IRISH FEED OATS. 



FIRST CLASS SWEDES. 



Yet in England, which country on the continent is esteemed to be a 

 land of horses, very few stables are supplied with other grain than that 

 of an inferior description. The better kind is bought by the miller and 

 the trainer of racers or hunters. The inferiority of most corn, however, 

 seems not to disturb domestic tranquillity. The majority of proprietors 

 open an account with some neigliboring chandler, and the groom is 

 empowered to fetch the provender, which the horses are supposed to 

 consume. Dealers in grain do not enjoy unsullied reputations. It is a 

 custom with grooms to exact ten or five per cent, on all the master's 

 bills which refer to the stable. The gentleman, therefore, always pur- 

 chases his fodder very dearly, where such an arrangement exists. 



Oats should never be bought by measurement, but should invariably 

 be purchased by weight. A prime sample will weigh forty-eight pounds 

 to the bushel; whereas the author has heard of, although he does not 

 pretend to have seen, oats so very light that the same bulk was only 

 equivalent to sixteen pounds. However, a grain which is professed 

 merely to reach twenty-two pounds is to be met with in every market. 



The difference of weight should be more than accompanied by an 

 equivalent diminution of price: because a prime oat of forty-eight 

 pounds will yield thirty-six pounds of pure grain, after the chaff has 

 Deen removed. A fair oat gives half its weight of kernel ; but an ex- 

 cellent sample will afford three-quarters of its entire weight in prime 

 nutritious substance; whereas a poor specimen will produce no more 

 than eight pounds of clean corn to the bushel measure ! 



Consequently, supposing a choice sample to sell for thirty-six shil- 

 fings, the inferior article can be worth only eight shillings the quarter; 

 for no man can esteem the husk as a food suitable for any living creat- 



