280 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE 



between July and February by good clover liay amounted to 11.2 per cent. A crop of 

 clover cut in August from seed sown in March lost 22.6 per cent in weight by the 

 following spring. 



Cord wood. IS inches long, cut from the bodies of beech trees and split into slabs, 

 weighed 2.S('>7 pounds per cord, on the 7th of February. It lost lialf its weight by 

 the 7th of July. Between that time and the middle of October there was a loss in 

 weight of 45 pounds per cord. There was meantime a shrinkage in bulk of about 

 one-tenth. 



WHEAT AND ITS PRODUCTS. 



DUE TO OVER-RIPENING. 



In 1870, Dr. R. C. Kedzie. in an exhaustive study of the ripening of wheat, pointed 

 out that tliere was a slight loss in weight between complete ripeness and the stage 

 generally designated as dead ripe. Subsequent experiments at this College and else- 

 where have given like results. There is not only a loss by shelling when the grain 

 becomes over-ripe, but a given number of well dried kernels, or the product of a 

 given area, kept in the ordinary manner, will weigh less if taken from an over-ripe 

 field than if taken from a field cut at the proper time. Moreover, the amount and 

 quality of the Hour produced and the germinating vigor of the grain itself are less 

 if the wheat is alloAved to become over-ripe than if cut at an early period. These facts 

 are now well recognized by farmers, and ordinary practice is regulated by this knowl- 

 edge. The loss in shelling in undoubtedly the most important one, and fortunately 

 it can be controlled in a large measure by a proper selection of varieties combined 

 with harvesting at the proper season. 



LOSS IN WEIGHT DURING STORAGE. 



In lSn.3, Christian Breisch & Co., millers of Xovth Lansing, Michigan, bought of 

 James Turner, whose farm was near Lansing, 1,500 bushels of wheat which was then 

 in a hard, dry condition. It was hauled as soon as threshed and placed in the 

 elevator. Ten days thereafter it was removed and found to have shrunk a little over 

 thirty bushels. A loss of two per cent. 



Again, in 1890. 900 bushels placed in the same elevator while still slightly damp 

 shrank thirty bushels in four months. A loss of three and one-third per cent. 



An experiment was performed under the supervision of Professor Hilgard of the 

 University of California to test the actual amount of gain or loss in weight in 

 stored grain due to the fluctuation in the moisture content of the air. Professor Wm. 

 H. Brewer thus quotes his methods and results in the Report of the Tenth Census 

 of the United States, Division Relating to the Cereals, page 29: 



"The dried grain was spread out in a very thin layer upon a small table, standing 

 in shallow water and covered with a bell-jar. To make the air within this space as 

 nearly saturated as possible, filter paper, dipping into the water below, extended 

 near the grain, but not touching it. The whole was kept at a temperature of about 

 64.4 degrees F. (18 degi'ees C), and the grain Avas weighed from time to time in a 

 corked flash to prevent loss during the weighing. Under such circumstances grain 

 would continue to absorb moisture and increase in weight from twelve to eighteen 

 daj's, the absorption being accompanied by an increase of bulk, which was not meas- 

 ured. The gain in weight from such absorption was as follows: In 18 daj's oats 

 gained 10.8 per cent, barley 20.4 per cent, and in 14 days wheat gained 18.8 per cent. 

 In all cases the increase was ver}' rapid at first, then slower and slower, until about the 

 13th or 14th day, when a sudden increase occurred, due to the development of mold 

 caused by the great amount of moisture present. Nearly half of the total increase 

 occurred in the first twenty-four hours." 



"He also exposed air dry grain to an absolutely dry (artificially dried) atmosphere 

 at the same temperature, and for the same period, 18 day's. The loss was at first 

 very rapid., then slower and slower, but continued in the whole period, amounting in 

 18 days to 9.3 per cent for oats, 7.8 per cent for barley, and 0.2 per cent for wheat." 



"According to these determinations, perfectly dry grain (artificially dried), exposed 

 to a saturated atmosphere at a temperature of 64.4 degrees F. (18 degrees C.) for 18 

 days, will increase in weight as follows: Wheat, 25 per cent; barley, 28.2 per cent; 



