814 
THE PRINCIPLES OF BOTANY. 
good in feeding qualities in proportion to their plumpness, as 
a plump, well-formed grain contains no more husk than a 
long, thin one. 
Still, we recollect sending some oats to London for a friend’s 
carriage horses ; they weighed close upon 48 lb. per bushel, 
and were a well-harvested, white Canadian oat. Of course 
the price charged had some reference to the weight, but our 
friend informed us that he lost by paying this extra price, as 
his horses got just the same quantity as they did of an inferior 
kind. On our asking the groom upon this matter, we were 
informed that “ certainly he gave the quantity master allowed, 
but the better the quality of his corn the less was he likely to 
want a job-horse as an occasional aid in extra work or bad 
weather.” 
Farmers in buying oats or using them act entirely in 
accordance with quality, and good oats are usually considered 
cheapest. 
“Do you bruise your oats yet?” is a question not un- 
frequently asked, and in reference to this subject we would 
remark that in using oats for horses or sheep we consider that 
four bushels of bruised oats is almost, if not quite, equal to 
four bushels of unbruised corn, and hence as bruising increases 
the bulk about one eighth, this pays for the labour of the 
process. 
Much has been said about the different value of white and 
black oats. It should be remembered in such discussions that 
it is after all only the husk that varies in colour, the value of 
either will depend upon the quantity of farina they may 
contain. 
As regards the growth of oats for farm purposes it is still a 
moot point whether it is better to cut the crop before it is 
ripe, dry the whole as hay, and cut the seed, and stem, and 
leaves up together. Again, is it better to cut ripe oats into 
chaff without the expense of thrashing? We have tried both 
plans, but as in the first case, our carters have tried to use the 
corn crop and hay, and get corn beside, and in the second 
used the whole just as they would hay or common straw- 
chaff, we found that a rick was soon gone, and that it was so 
far economical that it was indeed made a wasteful process, 
and so we had to stop it. In using the corn we can, as we 
say in the country, “ guide it ” by just giving what we deem 
proper, and the quantity is with us always regulated more or 
less by the quality. 
These remarks, it is hoped, will tend to show those who 
have the care of our different corn-eating animals, that there 
is a botanical no less than a chemical view of the subject. 
