BOW TO DETECT MADE-UP OATS. 183 



from the dealers for prices varying, according to 

 the rise and fall of the market, from 14s. to £ L 

 per quarter. Of course, when a large quantity 

 is bought at a time, the price will be somewhat 

 lessened. I myself was able, two years ago, through 

 a friend, who had bought a large quantity, to buy 

 some few quarters of good black oats weighing 

 42 lb. per bushel, at £1 per quarter. Oats, like 

 hay, should never be used before the end of the 

 year in which they have been grown, and a second- 

 year oat is better than a last season one. 



Corn-dealers are great adepts in making up oats 

 for the market, and in bleaching and drying them 

 if they have become damaged. If any doubt exists 

 as to their having been dried in the kiln for bleach- 

 ing purposes, it may be easily set at rest by rubbing 

 some of the oats quickly between the palms of the 

 hands, when the smell of the sulphur which is 

 used in the kiln to bleach them will be notice- 

 able on the hands. Oats which have been kiln- 

 dried, even if not bleached, shrink unduly from the 

 points of the husks, and so can very readily be 

 detected, and they have a brown appearance at the 

 points also. 



In selecting oats, first smell them to ascertain 

 if they are musty ; then strip a few and examine 

 them, and test them by pinching them with the 



