4 WHITE SCOTTISH AND BLACK ENGLISH OATS. 



100 lb. of Scottish oats thus yielded 5J lb. more meal than the 

 black English. The former is thus decidedly more valuable than 

 the latter. 



Oats, however, are generally sold by measure, and not by weight. 

 The weight of a bushel of oats, it is well known, is subject to great 

 variations, some kinds being considerably heavier than others. In 

 order to draw a fair comparison between the relative value of the 

 two varieties of oats, it was necessary to determine the weight of 

 a bushel of each, and to calculate from their relative weights the 

 yield of meal which each variety furnished per bushel. One bushel 

 of white Scottish oats was found to weigh 42 lb. ; the bushel of 

 black English oats weighed only 37^ lb. The price of the former 

 at Cirencester was 20s. per quarter. English black oats were 

 offered at Cirencester for 15s. 6d. per quarter. 



Let us now calculate from these data how much oatmeal these 

 two varieties furnished respectively. 



1. White Scottish Oats. 100 lb. yielded 71J lb. of oatmeal: 

 1 quarter accordingly produces 240^ lb. of oatmeal, for 



Oats. Meal. The weight of 1 quarter oats. Meal. 



100 lb. : 714 lb. = 8 x 42 : x . x 240J lb. 



240J lb. of Scottish oatmeal are thus obtained at an expense 



2. Black English Oats. 100 lb. yielded 66J lb. of oatmeal. 

 1 quarter will thus furnish 198J lb., for 



Oats. Meal. The weight of 1 quarter oats. Meal. 



100 lb. : 66i lb. = 8 x 374 ' x . x = 198| lb. 



198f lb. of English oatmeal, according to the above-mentioned 

 price, will cost 15s. 6d. ; or, for 1, 256J lb. of oatmeal can be 

 obtained. 



Thus, by expending 1 for oatmeal, 16J lb. more meal can be 

 got, if black English oats are bought at the price of 15s. 6d., the 

 cost of white Scottish oats being 1 per quarter. Or for Is. I can 



fet 12 lb. of meal prepared from white Scottish oats ; whilst for Is. 

 can get 12 lb. 13 oz. of meal prepared from black English oats. 



Supposing both kinds of oatmeal to possess equal nutritive and 

 commercial value, according to these determinations, a saving of 

 about Is. 4d. for every quarter would be effected by preferring the 

 black oats to the white. Such a supposition, however, is not 

 admissible, since it is well known that the relative nutritive value 

 of different samples of oatmeal is subject to considerable variations. 



The nutritive value of different samples of grain, so far, at least, 

 as it is dependent on their power of producing muscle, is usually 

 estimated by the greater or smaller proportion of protein com- 

 pounds which they yield on analysis. It appears to me, there- 

 fore, necessary to determine by analysis the percentage of these 

 valuable compounds in the oatmeal prepared from the white and 

 the black oats. 



