Seal) 
be 
Prof. Norton on the Analysis of the Oat. 321 
An average of the above gives 75:54 as the usual proportion of 
grain, and 24-26 of husk. I am inclined to think that this sepa- - 
ration cannot be considered a certain indication as to quality, be- 
cause the above Victoria oat, which afforded the largest per- 
centage of husk, was sent as a sample of peculiar excellence, 
having yielded an extraordinary quantity of fine meal to the boll. 
The thinness of the skin, in this instance, was more than an 
equivalent.for the thickness of the husk. 
2. Of the water in the oat at ordinary temperatures, the an- 
nexed table gives the per-centage in five of the ordinary varieties. 
Taste XXV. 
: |_No.1. 1 
Per-centage of water, . - | 1302/1 
No. 2. | 3. 
3°59 | 11-02 
The mean of the above gives about 12 Ibs. of water in 100, or 
about 5 lbs. in a bushel of oats, as they are when kept in a dry 
place at the ordinary temperature. This is probably somewhat 
low the true average, as my determinations were made upon 
oats that had been kept for some time in small parcels. 
I was next desirous to ascertain how much of this water was 
contained in the grain, and in the husk respectively, and accord- 
ingly made trials of each part separately. The following table 
contains my results. — 
Taste XXVI. 
No. 1. . 2 | No. 3. . 4. 0. 5, | No. 6. 
Per cent. of water in grain, | 13°17 | 13-66 | 11-06 | 11-27 | 11-56 | 12-10 
Do. do. in husk, | 1255 | 13°33 | 10-19 | 10-09 | 11-52 111-09 1° 
—— 
The difference is not great. It is singular that the husk should 
contain so very nearly the same per-centage as the grain, a body 
we should suppose so much more suited to absorb and retain wa- 
ter. The chaff, as we have seen, presents an analogous case. 
The next inquiry relates to the quantity of ash, and is of 
& 
‘much importance. I am now to show that in these two parts of 
the plant, the ash varies in quantity under different circumstances 
of growth, as we have found it to do in the parts already exam- 
ined. JI shall first give the husk and grain separately, and then 
the quantity yielded by the whole oat. Poe 
‘The annexed table gives the per-centage of ash in the dry husk 
and grain of different varieties of oats, grown on unlike soils. 
Taste XXVII. 
opeton, | Potato, Dun, | Sandy, Mean of 
gery Par - Peed re eter Thin Good jGravelly! seven 
loam. moss. land. | ed moss. jgravel.| loam: thr ie 
Ash in grain 2-14 281 2-23 232) | 222) 211 161 0 
Ash in Paw 6:47 | 527 | 649 | Til 16991 824 | 603 | 6-66 
[Ashi in'bust, )6-47) | 6:27 bedos 1 Te FOO) Peet | OMS 
It appears from the mean of the above trials, that the husk 
contains three times as much ash as the grain. The variations of 
_ Sxconp Serigs, Vol. IJ, No. 9.—May, 1847. 41 
