Description

Oats are divided according to their colour, into white oats, tawny or grey oats, and black oats. The shape and weight of oats vary more than those of any other kind of feeding grain, chiefly on account of the nature of the* husk, which is usually well developed; but in some varieties * it is thin, and there is a kind of oat that has no husk. In some, the kernel is short and plump; in others, long and thin, as we find in oats grown in hot climates. The possession of a beard (awn) naturally makes oats which are thus furnished lie loosely in the measure, and consequently to weigh light. Henry states : "In the southern portion of our country [U.S. of America] a bushel of oats often weighs only twenty pounds." Oats produced in India are generally very light. Oats grow best in temperate and moderately cold climates, and do fairly well even in sub-arctic countries, like those of Northern Europe for instance, provided that the summer is sufficiently long for their development. Good English oats may be said to vary from 37 to 48 lb. a bushel.

Comparative Value Of Oats As A Food For Horses

In this respect oats are superior to all other kinds of grain, owing to their wholesomeness (p. 72), and to the admirable manner in which the necessary nutritive constituents are combined in them. Their high degree of wholesomeness, under favourable circumstances, is due to their possession of a cellulose-dissolving ferment, and to the nature of the husk, which is largely composed of fibre. When the husk is masticated, its broken-up particles aid in checking the too rapid passage of the food through the stomach and small intestine; they furnish interstices through which the digestive juices can penetrate; and they help in preventing the alimentary canal from becoming loaded at any particular part with food which, on account of its richness, might be liable to decompose, and to set up more or less serious indisposition. The large proportion of fat contained in oats is of special value from a feeding point of view.

The statements made by various chemists that oats contain a stimulating principle have not been confirmed.

Tests Of Quality

Oats should have an agreeable smell, clean appearance, and pleasant taste; should feel dry, hard, and elastic when taken in the hand, and when broken between the teeth; and should be well provided with flour. The fact that they fulfil these conditions will show that they have been well saved, are sufficiently old, possess a due amount of nutriment, and have not suffered from injurious influences, such as damp and mould, as would be evident if they were musty in smell and dull in colour. The presence of much dust in oats proves that they have been badly saved, and that their quality has undergone deterioration. A shrivelled-up condition is also a sign of inferiority. With a plump variety of oats, if the grains feel heavy in the hand, rattle more or less like shot when poured out, rebound when they fall on wood or other hard object, and show no tendency to stick together, our good opinion of their nutritive value and sound condition will be still further increased. The artificial presence of sulphur, which is sometimes used for bleaching damaged oats in order to improve their colour, may be detected by the smell given off by the oats when they are rubbed briskly between the hands. "Oats which have been kiln-dried, even if not bleached, shrink unduly from the points of the husks, and so can very readily be detected, and they also have a brown appearance at the points " (Fisher). The plumper, more rounded, and heavier oats are, the higher will be their market value. Thinness of husk will also enhance the price as a rule. The cost of white oats, probably on account of their cleaner and more pleasing appearance, is higher than that of either black or tawny oats. Old oats are sold at about 15 per cent. more than new oats. The term "old" is applied to oats as soon as the next crop begins to be thrashed.

Practical experience is the only certain means for teaching us how to distinguish old oats from new ones; the differences between the two being due to drying and fermentation. The slight fermentation undergone by even the best old oats removes from the husk a good deal of the gloss which characterises sound new oats. During this fermentation, a certain amount of dust is formed, which would probably be got rid of by the corn-dealer before showing a sample. The difference of smell is well marked; and also that of dryness, which we may test by placing a hand into a heap of the grain, and by chewing a few of the kernels. The best way of making sure that the oats we buy are old, is to purchase our yearly supply a little before the oat harvest is cut.

The feeding value of a given weight of oats varies according as the weight of the kernel exceeds that of the husk, other things being equal. This statement is self-evident, when we consider that the husk is almost entirely composed of crude fibre, which we have seen has little or no nourishing properties. In fact, the husk has about the same feeding value as straw.

Generally speaking, the heavier the oats, the larger will be the percentage of flour (kernel), and consequently the more will they be worth. This rule is liable to many exceptions; for, as we have seen, the density, thickness and form of the husk of oats are by no means uniform. Accordingly, we may not unfrequently find that a sample of heavy oats contains a smaller percentage of flour than one of light oats, and is consequently of inferior feeding value; weight for weight. Experiments made by Hickman gave the following results : -

No. of varieties.

Weight of Grain per bushel.

Per cent. of kernel.

4

36 lbs.

68

3

34 lbs.

67

7

30 lbs.

69

We should here bear in mind that although light oats might show a higher percentage of flour than heavy oats, it does not follow that a bushel of the former would necessarily contain more flour than a bushel of the latter. For instance, if we took a bushel of the 30 lb. oats of the foregoing table and the same quantity of the 36 lb. oats, we would find that the weight of the flour of the former comes to 20 lb. 11 oz., and that of the latter to 24 lb. 71/2 oz. In selling by weight the advantage would, however, be with the 30 lb. per bushel oats, in, of course, the proportion of 69 to 68.

If we can increase as we wish the quantity of oats given to a horse, we shall find, as a rule, that no feeding advantage is obtained by using oats that are heavier than, say, 40 lb. (or perhaps even 38 lb.) a bushel; for in almost all such cases the animal will desire to supplement the oats with hay or straw, both of which are less palatable to a hungry horse than oats; although, after his appetite for nutriment has been more or less allayed, his need for fibre will make him leave the corn in order to seek for hay or straw. I am indebted to Mr. John Hubert Moore, the famous owner and trainer of steeplechase horses, for drawing my attention to the fact that when horses are given as much corn as they can eat, oats of moderate weight are quite as good as the heaviest samples. Owing to the general belief among stablemen that the weight per bushel of oats is a correct measure of their nutritive worth, heavy oats as a rule command a fictitiously high price as compared to the cost of lighter samples.

The feeding value of black and tawny oats appears to be as great as that of white oats, other things being equal. New oats are apt to act as a laxative, and to produce a debilitating effect on horses, probably on account of their comparative indigestibility. I do not think that English oats are at their best before they are at least a year old. Oats grown and kept in hot countries need not be stored so long as English oats; for they lose their moisture quicker. Oats are best preserved in an unthrashed condition (in the stack).

Measuring And Weighing

In the United Kingdom oats are usually measured as follows : -

16 quarterns (4 gallons)

=

1 bushel.

4 bushels

=

1 sack.

2 sacks

=

1 quarter.

In Cheshire, a bushel is generally called a "measure." Quartern and quart are synonymous terms.

Oats are sold by weight or by measure (so much a bushel). As the difference between the market value of heavy oats and light oats is greater than the difference between their respective weights per bushel; it follows that if a buyer pays the market price of heavy oats, he will not get proper value for his money, if he is given a lighter sample made up to the weight of the heavy oats. For instance, if instead of getting a quarter of oats worth 25s. and weighing 360 lb. (45 lb. per bushel), he were to receive 360 lb. of oats which were worth 20s. a quarter and which weighed 40 lb. a bushel, he would be paying 25s. for a quarter and one-eighth of the 20s. oats, the quarter and one-eighth of which would be worth only £1 2s. 6d. The inconvenience of measuring each bushel of oats, and the manner in which the result is affected by the method of filling, have caused in many places the adoption of the plan of selling oats by weight (at so many pounds a quarter), after agreement as to their value. I am of course here considering the market value and not the feeding value of light and heavy oats respectively.

The ordinary method for finding the weight per bushel of a sample of oats is to fill a bushel measure with the oats, remove the oats that are above the top of the measure by means of a flat board or other convenient appliance, and weigh the oats contained in the measure. As the quantity of oats that can be got into a measure will vary a good deal according to the manner in which the measure has been filled; it is necessary that a uniform procedure be adopted in this process. The rule is that the filling should be done in an ordinary manner, and with as little tendency as possible to make the oats weigh heavy. If the oats are in a heap, we may push the mouth of the measure into the oats, turn the measure over, and skim off the superfluous oats from the top without shaking the measure, striking it, or pressing the oats down. Or we may gently pour out the oats into the measure from a sack, the mouth of which should be kept fully opened out while this is being done.