i 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE, 



cora of a superior qualityj aiid auch indeed is the 

 case. "In spite/' continues Mr. Lawes, "of the 

 wretched system of agriculture which prevails in 

 Spain, Russia, Poland, and Sicily, the quality of 

 their corn will bear comparison with that which 

 the skill and knowledge of the British agriculturist 

 can secure. The climate of Australia combines in 

 an eminent degree the small amount of rain and 

 the high temperature necessary for the perfect de- 

 velopment of corn, and the wheat imported from 

 thence obtains a price in the market much beyond 

 those of English growth." Let us just place in 

 juxtaposition a statement of the average amount 

 of rain, and the mean temperature at Adelaide and 

 at London, during the four corn-producing 

 months — 



London. Adelaide, 

 Days when rain fell.. 60 19 



Depth of rain in inches 8.49 3.88 



Mean temperature. ... 60 79 



We all know how materially the quality of wheat 

 is influenced by dry and wet seasons, yet how few 

 ever stop to enquire for the explanation of what is 

 meant by the words " quality of wheat "? The 

 question did not escape the attention of Mr. Lawes, 

 " Does it," he asked, " depend upon the weight 

 per bushel, or specific gravity of the grain ? and if 

 so, does this specific gravity bear any relation to 

 the i)er-centage of gluten and albumen ; that is to 

 say, to the most highly nutritive constituents of the 

 grain?" The opinions generally entertained on 

 this subject are, that the grain is composed of a 

 variable proportion of protein compounds, gluteji 

 and albumen ; and carbonaceous compounds, com- 

 prising starch, sugar, gum, oil, &c. The protein 

 compounds are employed in the organism of man 

 and other animals in forming flesh, while the car- 

 bonaceous compounds supply heat and form fat. 

 The protein compounds being of much the greatest 

 importance to the animal economy, it has been 

 generally supposed that the value of different de- 

 scriptions of wheat depends upon the amount of 

 gluten and albumen which they contain ; that the 

 wheats of hot climates contain a greater proportion 

 of these substances than our own ; that for this 

 reason the miller purchases them at a higher price; 

 and further, that by employing rich manures, the 

 farmer is enabled to increase the per-centage of 

 gluten in his corn. But to the agriculturist it is of 

 little importance whether his corn is rich or poor 

 in protein compounds, or any other chemical con- 

 stituent, unless they increase its value in the mar- 

 ket. Now, as Mr. Lawes well enough adds, the 

 millers, who are the growers' principal customers, 

 know nothing about gluten and starch; they judge 

 by the eye alone, and give the highest price for 

 that which will yield the greatest proportion of 

 flour. The following table of Mr. Lawes demon- 

 strates that the value of different samples of wheat 

 does not depend upon the per-centage of nitrogen 

 which they contain. In this table. Column I, 

 gives the different manures applied to the Lammas 

 red wheat; Column IF, the per-centage of nitrogen 

 in the dry matter of the wheat; Column III, the 

 then existing prices per quarter adjudged to the 

 different samples by the miller and corn factor. 



1. 



I. II. 



Specimens. Nitrogen. 



Grown with super- phosphate ^ ^^ 



3. 



2.65 



1.88 



of lime 

 As No. 1 . and with ammoniacal 



salts 



Liebig's Manure 1.81 



4. Ditto and ammoniacal salts.. 1.69 



5. Ditto with rapecake 1.89 



G. Ditto with rapecake and am- 

 moniacal salts 



7. Exhausted soil unmanured .. 1.95 



8. Ditto with ammoniacal salts. . 2.01 



9. Ditto with rapecake 1.85 



10. Ditto with rapecake and am- ^ g^ 



moniacal salts 



11. Australian wheat, No. 1, 



12. Ditto ditto No. 2 



13. Ditto ditto No. 3 



1.94 

 2.38 



HI. 

 Price, 



848, 



86s. 



96s. 

 92s. 



92s. 

 92s. 

 92s, 



92s. 



H2s. 

 112s. 

 112s. 



The effect of dryness or moisture of chmate 

 on the growth of wheat may be discerned in the 

 varied agricultural produce of different portions of 

 our own island ; on whose western and eastern 

 sides a very different amount of rain is received. 

 The average depth of rain, for instance, in June, 

 which is about 1.80 inches at London, is 3.5 at 

 Tavistock, 2.7 at Kendal, and 4.12 at Keswick. 

 The average annual rainfall in Hampshire is about 

 29 inches, in Surrey about 23, in Middlesex about 

 22, in Essex and Suffolk about 20 inches. Thus a 

 line drawn from Hampshire to Suffolk intersects 

 the driest and best wheat producing of our country's 

 districts. If, on the contrary, we draw a line from 

 Devonshire (with its 30 to 40 inches of rain) to 

 Lancashire (35 inches) and Westmoreland (50 to 

 60 inches), we pass through the wettest and worst 

 wheat-producing of the Enghsh counties, the fact 

 being that the average value of the wheat produced 

 on the western side of England is three or four 

 shillings a quarter less than that yielded by the 

 opposite side of the kingdom. 



It is hardly possible even for the most careless 

 observer not to have noticed these things. For, as 

 I have on another occasion observed, a traveller 

 landing on our island on its southern shore, and 

 proceeding through its centre in nearly a direct 

 northern course, speedily remarks, as he advances, 

 a gradual but very considerable alteration in its 

 agricultural productions. He notices in the first 

 place, that the wheat, barley, and oats, the growth 

 of the southern portion of the island, are not only 

 large in extent, but excellent in quality ; that the 

 flour produced from the wheat seeds is dry and 

 starchy ; that this wheat is ground by the miller 

 with little difficulty in ordinary seasons, and made 

 into excellent bread without admixture with other 

 wheat from drier and warmer districts. Grass 

 lands or natural pastures he finds here limited in 

 extent ; or if locally large, chiefly producing a short 

 herbage, best adapted to the pastui-age of sheep. 

 As such a traveller progress towards the north, he 

 finds a gradual and steady alteration in the pro- 

 ductions of the soil. By almost imperceptible de- 

 grees the extent of the barley and the wheat crops 

 decreases ; natural grass lands take their place, and 

 these support cattle, as well as sheep : he soon 



