67. As an article of food, OATS are used very extensively. In Scotland,
this cereal formed the principal article of diet for many years, and as
the hardiness of the Scotch people is usually attributed to their diet
the value of oats as a food cannot be overestimated. This grain, or
cereal, grows very much like wheat and yields an abundant crop in fairly
good soil; but it is unlike wheat in composition, for it contains very
little protein and considerable fat. In fact, it contains more fat than
any other cereal. Because of its lack of protein, it will not make
raised bread, and when it must serve the purpose of bread it is made
into flat cakes and baked. Although it is used to some extent in this
way, its greatest use for food, particularly in the United States, is in
the form of _oatmeal_ and _rolled oats_. In the preparation of oatmeal
for the market, the oat grains are crushed or cut into very small
pieces, while in the preparation of rolled oats they are crushed flat
between large rollers.