122 



On the Cultivation of Oats. 



some parts of the Fens. It may be well to inquire here if these 

 large crops of coarse and light oats be really more profitable than 

 a smaller yield of a finer and heavier variety.* 



The grain of oats consists of two easily separable parts — the 

 husk or envelope^ and the kernel or groat as it is sometimes called. 

 The former is hard and woody, and contains little or no saccha- 

 rine, oily, or azotised matter. The kernel, on the contrary, is 

 rich in all these substances, hence the larger it is in proportion 

 to the husk the greater the feeding properties of the grain. In a 

 good season for oats, some varieties, such as Potato, Sandy, Dun, 

 and Late Angus, weighing 42 lbs. per bushel, will yield 209 lbs. 

 of meal per quarter, or 62 per cent. ; while a coarser and more 

 husky variety, such as the Tartarian and Red oat, which only 

 weigh 35 lbs. to the bushel, will not yield more than 130 or at 

 most 140 lbs. to the quarter. This is only on an average about 

 48 lbs. of meal from 100 lbs. of grain, or nearly a fourth less than 

 in the other case. If we suppose — which is not far from the 

 truth — that the comparative yield per acre of a fine and a coarse 

 variety of oats, sown on the same quality of land, is 8 and 10 

 quarters respectively; then, according to the above data, we 

 obtain the following result : — 8 quarters of oats weighing 42 lbs. 

 per bushel give 2688 lbs. of grain, which yield 1672 lbs. of oat- 

 meal ; 10 quarters of coarse oats, v/eighing 35 lbs. per bushel, 

 give 2800 lbs., which yield 1350 lbs. of oatmeal. Here we have 

 in the smaller crop nearly one- fifth more meal, and besides the 

 straw is excellent fodder, while that of the coarser kind is fit only 

 for litter. No doubt the finer sorts of oats, when cultivated in 

 the south of England, will not weigh more than 40 lbs. per 

 bushel, but this weight could easily be attained by good cultiva- 

 tion, careful selection of seed, and occasionally changing it from 

 a good oat-growing district. Taking the latter weight, and com- 

 paring it with the foregoing numbers, we have the following re- 

 sult: — 8 quarters per acre of oats, 40 lbs. per bushel, weigh 

 2560 lbs., yield 1496 lbs. of meal. This is still a larger quantity 

 of nutritive matter than v/hat could be obtained from 10 quarters 

 of coarse oats, weighing only 35 lbs. per bushel. The above 

 quantities of oats could only be obtained from good land in high 

 condition, but this does not affect the argument, inasmuch as the 

 relative quantities of fine and coarse oats obtained from a given 

 space of ground will generally be in the proportions stated. It 



* For the feed of horses, sheep, and stock generally we consider the White Tartarian 

 variety much preferable to the Potato, as they will on poor soils, as a fallow crop, 

 yield from eight to ten quarters per statute acre, weighing (if sown early) from 

 38 lbs. to 40 lbs. per bushel. The Potato oat (seed direct from Scotland) has been 

 tried in Bedfordshire by the writer of this note, and found to deteriorate so greatly in 

 quality that it has been very unproductive on poor land. — S. Bennett. 



