an important grain. The cultivated species of oats are subdivided into a large number of varieties, which are distinguished from one another by color, size, form of seeds, quality of straw, period of ripening, adaptation to particular soils and climates and other characteristics. The yield of oats varies from twenty bushels to eighty bushels per acre, according to soil and climatic conditions. The weight per bushel varies from thirty to forty-five pounds, and the meal product is about half the weight of the oats. Oatmeal is a cheap and valuable article of food, and its value seems to be becoming more appreciated among the wealthier classes, as it is being neglected by the poorer; but the grain is raised chiefly for food for horses. The annual crop in the United States is about one billion bushels. Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Nebraska, in the order named, produce the largest quantities, but oats are raised in nearly all states. The wild oat is supposed to be the original of all the species.