GRAMINE.E. 



299 



name sativa means " sown," or " c-iiltivate.l." Oats, thr common name, is sup- 



posed to come from the Anglo-Saxon word ata, food. These derivations are 



not entirely clear, but are the most probable. 



Historf/. — The native country of this grain is supposed to be west-central 



Asia and east-central Euro])e. It was knov.ni to the ancient Greeks and 



Homans, and was used by them to feed horses and cattle. It also constituted 



the food of the slaves and plebeians. It was found in the Swiss Lake-dwell- 

 ings and in the ancient tombs in (iermany. 



Though it po.ssesses less nutritive material tlum either wheat «»r rve, it has 



held and still holds an important place as a food plant. It is found upon the 



tables of the ricli, as well as of the poor in Great 



Britain, northern Europe, and in the United States 



and Canada. As a feed for live stock it is as highly 



valued in the British Isles as is maize in the United 



States. 



In attestation of its value as a bread plant as well 



as for feed, the following anecdote is in point. Dr. 



Johnson, the English lexicographer, had a dee])- 



rooted di.slike for the Scotch, and lost no opportunity 



to make it manifest. At one time, in conversation 



with a Scotch gentleman. Dr. Johnson remarked 



that oats were a grain that Englishmen fed to their 



horses, but that Scotchmen ate it themselves. To 



which the gentleman with characteristic Scotch 



readiness replied : " Indeed it is true ; but see what 



horses you have in England, and what superior men 



we have in Scotland." 



Cultivation. — Oats need a generous soil to vield 

 large crops. The ground is prepared by the plough 

 and harrow ; the seed is sown broadcast in most 

 countries, though in Scotland it is sown in drills and 

 worked with a hoe. It is sown as soon as the frost 

 leaves the ground in the early spring, and ripens 

 about the first of August. It fills best where the 

 days are sunny and the nights cool. The market 

 value of oats varies according to qualitv ; northern 

 oats, so-called, — that is, oats grown in a cool climate, 

 — are preferred. In good soil and a cool climate an 

 average yield is forty-five bushels to the acre, hut 

 uncommon yield. 



Use. — In Scotland, Ireland, and the north of Europe, especiallv in Norway, 

 oats constitute a large portion of the bread material. Thev are used as "a 

 porridge, cooked with milk, or made into a thick pmhling'and eaten with 

 milk; they are also eaten in the form of griddlo-cakes or "scons." In most 

 countries where horses are used, oats are the stajde feed. Ordinarily they 

 are be.st when ground ; but the trainers of race-horsos prefer to feed the oats 

 to them in the grain, since, when thus fed. the horse needs no hav, or not so 

 much. 



The grain of oats is largely composed of starch ; it contains al.<o sugar, gum, 

 and oil. About 12 per cent of its substance is a proteid. known to chenu'sts as 

 avenine. a substance resembling casein. It is mixed with barley in the manu- 

 facture of whiskev. Its chnff is u.^^ed for fiUinir beds. 



AVEXA SATIVA (O.lts) 



dxtv bushels is not r 



