THE OAT CEOP. 



163 



straw by itself is generally preferred by cattle to any 

 other straw, and horses especially are very fond of oat- 

 hay that is to say, oats cut when quite green, and made 

 into hay in the ordinary manner. This method of dis- 

 posing of the oat crop is convenient, as it takes place 

 somewhat earlier than, and lessens the amount of labour 

 required at, the regular harvest, and is effected at a less 

 cost than that of reaping, binding, &c. ; while, at the same 

 time, Dr. Voelcker's analyses show, that by cutting the 

 oats at this early period, they possess a larger amount of 

 nutritive matter than when left later, to become fully 

 ripe. 



He took two samples of Potato Oats, grown at Newport, 

 Fife, under exactly the same conditions as to seed, soil, 

 climate, &c., which were cut on the same day, the 

 one being fully matured, and the other being quite green, 

 having (purposely) been sown a month later. On ex- 

 amination, both the straw and the grain of the oats cut 

 green were found to be superior in feeding value (flesh- 

 forming constituents) to those of the fully ripe sample, 

 in the proportions given in the following table : 



The proportion of nitrogen compounds in both samples 

 of straw is rather larger than usual. In the sample cut 

 green about 2^ per cent, more of these valuable constituents 

 occur than in the straw of the ripe oats. Dr. Voelcker, 

 however, shows that this difference, important though it 

 be, is not sufficient to account for the superiority of the 

 one as a feeding substance to the other. He found that 

 the oats cut green contained more watery juices, and less 



