27 
varieties aro established upon the color, form, or some special character of the 
Scotland, and in these countries boiled oatmeal and oatmeal cakes are impor- 
tant articles of food. Boiled oatmeal is also much used in this country, espe- 
cially at breakfast. The grain, however, is principally cultivated here as food 
for horses. In the Southern States, oats, particularly winter oats, are largely 
grown for forage. Sown in August, they furnish the best grazing from Octo- 
practice is to cut when the grain is in the ‘‘dough” stage, or when the straw 
commences to turn yellow below the head and the leaves are still green. The 
yield ranges from 3 to 4j tons pe? sere, according to the variety and the season. 
(timothy) contains from 5 to 7 per cent protein, and 45 to 55 per cent fat formers. 
the eereals, oats is the most nutritious, but oaten flour lacks the gluten 
of wheat, rendering the making of bread from it impossible. Oatmeal is richer 
in nitrogenous matter than soft wheats, and contains more fat than any of the 
other grains. Russian “quas” beer is made of o 
Avena sterilis L. Animated Oats. 
A stout, oat-like grass, with one-sided panicles, and very large, awned spikelets; the 
awn is very long, twisted, and ‘‘kneed” or geniculate, It is the twisting an 
or coiling-up of the awn causes the spikelet to tumble about in various directions, 
suggestive of independent motion or life-like activity. 
Avena striata Michx. Purple Wild Oat-grass. - 
This is a slender woodland grass of anm habit, found in the northern Middle 
S nd extending westward to the Rocky Mountain region. Of no agricul- 
tural vals but possibly worthy us "ru "derer for cultivation in wo d 
parks or pastures in the Northern Sta 
Bambusa, Bamboo. 
The bamboos belong to the Bambusea, a tribe of grasses numbering about 175 species, 
chiefly limited to South America, southern and eastern Asia, and the East 
Indies. There are no European species, and only one in North America. Ofthe 
whole number of species only one is common to both hemispheres. The largest 
Ameriean species den Mn 3 to 12 inches wide and 5 to 15 feet long. In India 
are extensive b rests, and in eountries where these grasses abound they 
are employed pd many y purposes, They furia material for the complete con- 
ction and f houses. They are used 
in shipbuilding and in | the construction € bridges. - Buckets, pitchers, flasks, 
and eups are made from sections of the stems. Baskets, boxes, fans, hats, an 
hese grass A 
handle, and split bamboo for a frame. The leaves are ded for packing, filling 
beds, ete., and occasionally serve as fodder for stock. The young oud serve 
as a vegetable. Tabashir, or bamboo manna, a silicious and erystalline mh- 
stance which occurs in the hollow stems of some bamboos, is reg ed as 
ing medicinal properties. Good drinking water collects in quantities. in the 
