136 OUR FARM CROPS. 



for the extreme temperature of the climate, as we find at 

 home that the oat, when once fairly growing in a suitable 

 soil, will stand a drought better than either of our other 

 cereals. On some of the moist alluvial soils in the southern 

 and western counties, crops of oats are grown which would 

 compare favourably both in quantity and quality with 

 those produced in the more genial climates of the north. 

 Oats are cultivated as a food-grain for both man and 

 cattle. In this country (in its northern portions chiefly) 

 they enter into human consumption to a far greater extent 

 than in any other. In some parts of Germany, especially 

 in the south of Westphalia, the inhabitants of the " Sauer- 

 lands" live extensively on oaten bread. In other parts 

 of the Continent, in countries where wheat is only cul- 

 tivated to a limited extent, barley, or more commonly 

 rye, is preferred to oats as a bread-corn for daily use. 

 In most countries, however, of the centre and north of 

 Europe, oats are cultivated as a horse-corn ; and, indeed, in 

 the hotter climates of the south and in the east, barley is 

 even preferable for that purpose, as the stimulating effects 

 of oats on the animal system are increased to an injurious 

 extent by the action of the warmer climate. 



Oats belong to the same natural order (Graminese) as 

 our other cereals, and form the genus to which the name of 

 A vena has been assigned by the botanists. This genus 

 appears to be a very numerous one, comprising a large 

 number of species some forty or fifty which, however, 

 with the exception of a few, are represented only by grasses 

 and weeds, of no object to our inquiry. These few excep- 

 tions are those which constitute the several species in 

 cultivation, and may be taken as follows: 



1. AVENA SATIVA The Common Oat. 



2. AVENA OBIENTALIS The Tartary Oat. 



3. AVENA BBEVIS The Short Oat. 



4. AVENA NDDA The Naked Oat. 



5. AVENA STKIGOSA The Bristle-pointed Oat. 



