THE OAT CROP. 
1 15 
REMARKS UPON THE OAT CROP. 
The oat crop is very properly regarded, in all the temperate and more northerly coun¬ 
tries, as one of the most important. In some it is highly esteemed in domestic life as a 
grain for bread, and everywhere as one of the best kinds for cattle. Hence it is exten¬ 
sively cultivated : it therefore becomes proper to make a few inquiries as to its exhausting 
powers upon the soil, and as to the grounds upon which its reputation rests as an article of 
food for man and beast. 
The weight of this grain varies from thirty to thirty-four pounds per bushel, and a fair 
crop will not vary much from fifty bushels to the acre. Premium crops have been given, 
amounting from eighty-five to ninety bushels per acre. From these data, we may deter¬ 
mine the amount of mineral matter removed from the soil in a given crop of oats. The 
per centum of mineral or inorganic matter will be as follows, taking 5'25 as the average 
per centum of the ash. Hence there will be removed 
Silica or silicic acid - 
In one bushel of grain. 
- 8*960 oz. 
From an acre. 
28-150 lbs. 
Phosphates 
8*000 
25-000 
Carbonate of lime 
0-019 
0-059 
Magnesia 
0*022 
0-071 
Potash 
5-141 
16*068 
Soda ... 
1-564 
4*888 
Chlorine - 
0-007 
0*023 
Sulphuric acid - 
0*580 
1 -814 
Phosphates of potash and soda - 
2-799 
8-747 
27*092 oz. 
84-820 lbs. 
For the foregoing calculation, I have taken the analysis of the ash of the oat of the 
middle acre (p. 107). Each analysis will give a result differing somewhat from this; but 
this single calculation will be sufficient for our purpose, that is to show how much a given 
crop will remove of these valuable substances from the soil. 
The oat crop, it will be seen, may be regarded as one of tire exhausting crops. We are 
not, however, prepared here to enter upon a comparison of this crop with those of the 
other cereals, as this will necessarily come up for consideration after I have given the 
analyses of the other grains. But I may now proceed to the important question, What 
elements does the oat possess, which render it a valuable article of food ? 
It seems proper, in the first place, to state that the value of food, or of matters to support 
and sustain life, do not depend upon any one single element. The idea that nrtrogen is 
the important one, is entirely fallacious. It is true that high authorities are wedded to the 
notion that nitrogren is the body which sustains animal life. Hence wdien the quantity of 
nitrogen has been determined, the substance has a station given it in the list of nutriments, 
according to the amount of nitrogen it contains. It is, however, no more important than 
starch, or any of the other respiratory products. I assume this position, because I believe 
