270 SPORT IN NORWAY. 



2 inches for several consecutive days. The corn- limit is mea- 

 sured by this species. 



OAT (Avena sativa, L. " Havre "). Is the most commonly 

 cultivated. It is not grown quite so far north as barley, neither 

 does it grow at so great an altitude. On an average, it requires 

 about three weeks longer to ripen than barley. 



Of all the cereals, oats are the most generally cultivated : 

 according to the last census they composed 55*8 per cent, of the 

 whole corn produce of the country. Comparatively, a very small 

 quantity is used for horses. By far the greatest part is employed 

 for human food ; partly, in an unfermented sort of bread called 

 " Flad-brod," which in shape resembles the " oat-cake " of the 

 north, and partly in porridge. A great quantity of mixed corn 

 is grown, as much as 14 per cent, of the whole produce of the 

 country. It consists of a mixture of oats and barley, and is very 

 generally used for porridge. 



In years of scarcity it was formerly not unusual to mix oatmeal 

 with the bark of certain trees to eke out the supply. It may 

 readily be imagined what a deleterious effect such food must have 

 had upon the human frame. 



EYE (Secale cerecde, L. "Bug"). Winter rye is most gene- 

 rally preferred by farmers to summer rye. The former will ripen 

 as far north as lat. 69 34', the latter as 69 3'. They will both 

 grow nearly at the same altitude as barley. According to the 

 last census, rye composed 4'7 per cent, of the whole corn produce 

 of the country. 



WHEAT (Triticum vulgare, L. "Hvede"). Different sorts of 

 summer and winter wheat are cultivated ; the latter is, however, 

 most generally used. Hitherto, wheat has not been grown in 

 fields further north than lat. 64 40'. According to the last cen- 

 sus it composed 1'4 per cent, of the whole corn produce of the 

 country. Summer wheat has been known to ripen near Chris- 

 tiania in 75 days. The average time for the interval between 

 sowing and the ripening of the corn for the south of Norway is 

 about 110 to 120 days. Near the little town of Bodo, lat. 67, 

 there is an agricultural school, probably the most northerly in 

 the world. In 1860 an experiment was made there with 

 summer wheat : it ripened in 120 days from the time of sowing. 



