Los Angeles herald., 1909-12-15

ISzzaE5l r ONE will take the trouble to
lsN III. ask the next ten men he sees
ik E what grain crop gives the
n N greatest yield of grain In BUSH
k E els, five of them probably VIII
lLggzlsl answer instantly, Corn" Two
of the others will guess
Wheat" and two will say Rice" The
tenth man will be in doubt, but he VIII
say 1t is one or the other of those three
crops. Yet every one of them will be
wrong. Premiership in world produc-
tion belongs to oats. The worlds crop
of oats leads that of corn by quar-
ter billion bushels, exceeds the produc-
tion of wheat by nearly four hundred
million bushels, is nearly three times
as great as the production of barley,
and more than double the yield of rye.
Even rice, principal diet of Asiatic
millions, does not show as great a
bushel yield as oats by a half billion
bushels. Oats, king Of grain crops,
showed a world yield of more than
three and half billion bushels in 1908.
DIR. Samuel Johnson said oats were
eaten by men in Scotland and horses in
England. Yes" replied the canny
Scot, 'and have you observed that Eng
land Is famous for it's horses and Scot
land for it's men?" What wheat is to
the American, rice to the Japanese and
Chinese, that is oats to the tables of
millions of European families. Indeed
Europe, which produces only an eighth
of the worlds corn and half of its
wheat, produces two-thirds OF its oats.
Crop concentration is one of the most
interesting things that relates to the
worlds food supply While North
America produces nearly so per cent of
the worlds corn. Europe grows sc per
cent of its oats and Asia 80 per cent of
its rice. North America furnishes elev-
en- out of every nineteen bales of the
worlds cotton, while Europe yields nine
out of ten bushels of its potatoes. While
oats furnishes the biggest grain crop,
cotton the biggest fiber crop, and cat
tie the biggest meat crop, il remains
for potatoes to furnish the biggest of
all crops which enter into the diet of
man. Nearly five billion bushels were
grown in 1907. and while the potato is
distinctly plant OF American ances-
try, the Americans produce less than
one bushel of potatoes where Europe
produces a hundred.
In point of quantity oats Is the sec
ond grain crop in the United States,
although wheat outranks 1t in weight
and in value. IL Is first among the
grain crops of Canada. The yield II
oats in the latter country is practically
equal to that of corn, wheat and barley
together. In 1903 1t was equal to all
these, with all the smaller grain crops
thrown in for good measure. Its pres
tige in Canada is due mainly to the
fact that II is one of the hardest of
crops. and will start In northern eli
mates late enough in the spring to
escape the ending winter, and mature
early enough in the fall TO escape the
cold and frost of the beginning winter.
1t is also one Of the most immune or
all the crops from diseases and pests.
thus assuring a good average yield.
Likewise. its straw is much more pal
atable to cattle and other live stock
than is that of any other Of the grain
crops.
It has been estimated that the de-
mands of the American people for ce-
reals as breakfast foods has multiplied
a hundredfold In n single generation
and that while oats was first on the
ground as n claimant for favor, and
has been hard pressed by the vast ad-
vertising campaigns conducted in the
interest of corn and wheat prepara-
tions, 1t still holds first place as the
cereal of the breakfast table. It used
to be believed that oats contained a
stimulant principle like caffeine in
coffee II was named "avenln." But
the most diligent search in the chemi-
cal laboratory has failed to isolate 1t
from the other properties OF the oat
grain.
Liberty Hyde Bailey. the great ngri-
cultural expert who has written long
list of books on the farm and the
farmer. and who headed the Roosevelt
Country Life commission, is author
ity for the statement that the domestic
species of oats may have sprung from
the wild oats of Europe Many bot
anlsts believe that 1t has come down
unhybridized for generations from a
Tartarian species now lost and eX-
tnct. That its native heath is eastern
Europe is generally believed. There
is said to be no reference to oats in