112 
hulless oat. Gerarde,! in 1597, writes of naked oats grown 
in England that ‘“‘immediately as they be thrashed without 
helpe of a mill become Ote meale fit for our use.” 
Species 3, Avena brevis, Roth. Spikelets almost invari- 
ably two-flowered. Flowering glumes furnished with long 
stiff, knee jointed awns, possessing hygroscopic properties 
of moving under the influence of heat and moisture. Grain 
stout, united by a slender pedicel. Panicle small and 
slightly turned to one side. 
34, FLY-FOOT, P. & H. 
Synonyms: Short; Pied de Mouche (French for Fly-foot). 
Early foliage light green, fine, profuse: Stools fairly: Culms slender, rye- 
like, not very stout, long, erect till near maturity, when they appear weak 
5) 
and often fall; sheaths very tight: Leaves narrow: Panicles partly to one 
side, narrow, small: Grain of peculiar grayish or slatish-black color, small, 
slender, tapering, short awned: Flowering glume often crowned on the 
parts about the awn, with short delicate hairs: Late foliage and panicle light 
green: Thrashes fairly easy, and many of the awns break off. 
Culm: average height 4 feet 6 inches, tallest plant 5. 
feet 1 1-2 inches ; diameter 1-10 to 1-5 inch, average 1-6. 
Leaves: per culm 4 to 6, average 5; length of leaf 3 1-2 to 
12 3-4 inches, average 8; width of upper leaf 1-4 to 9-16 
inch, average 3-8; lower 1-8 to 8-8 inch, average 3-16. 
Panicle: average length 8 1:2 inches; peduncles average 7: 
grains per spikelet 2 to 3, nearly always 2. 
This species, of which there is but one variety, is culti- 
vated in the mountainous districts of Europe, asin Auvergne 
and Forez, where the country people call it pied de mouche,? 
or fly’s legs. Avena brevis is also cultivated in northern 
Spain.? It was supposed to have been first introduced* into 
England from Germany in 1804. 
This oat thrives in very poor soil. In France it is some- 
times called ‘‘ Hay oat,” being used for fodder. 
CEREAL STATISTICS. 
The following table gives in alphabetical order the dates 
of planting, vegetation, panicling, blooming, and ripening 
of American wheat, oats and barley, and their synonyms. 
The number of days from the vegetation of grain to ripe- 
ness of seed is given, the spring varieties being in one 
column, the winter in another. 

1Gerarde’s Herball, London, 1597, p. 68, chap. 48. 
®Morton’s Cpclopedia of Agriculture, 1869, vol. 1, p. 171. 
’Heuzé. Les Plant Alimen., 1872, p. 514. 
4Lawson’s Agriculturists’ Manual, 1836, p. 52. 
