274 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



result of the following recipe sent to me anonymously from 

 Brighton, and printed on a sheet of note paper : — 



"To MAKE GOOD Bread. — Tie up one pound and a half 

 of the best American rice in a thick linen bag, allowing it ample 

 room to swell ; boil it for three or four hours until it becomes 

 a smooth paste ; mix this while warm with fourteen pounds of 

 best flour, adding the usual quantity of yeast and salt. Allow 

 the dough to work a certain time near the fire, a'ter which 

 divide it into loaves, and it will be found to produce from 

 twenty-eight to thirty pounds of excellent white bread." 



With the assistance of Mr. Clapperton, baker, Mortimer- 

 street, this recipe was tried, and produced 26 lbs. 13 ozs. of 

 good bread, which, multiplied by 20, afford 536 lbs. 4 oz. from 

 the sack of flour, 20 times 14 being 280 lbs. ; being 7 lbs. more 

 than the French bakers. 



In making the bread with the boiled rice, Mr. Clapperton 

 says that flour must be dusted in, and most yigorously kneaded, 



and he will be happy to make any quantity for the curious, or 

 those doubtful of the fact. John Henry Pepper, 



Professor of Chemistry, Royal Polytechnic Institution, 

 F.C.S., A.C.E., &c., &c. 



This ricy bread is very sweet, pleasant, and wholesome, and 

 keeps moist longer than pure wheat bread, and thus tempts us 

 to eat more ; but made up with East India rice, or maize meal, 

 both cheaper than American rice (either may now be had for 

 I^d. per \h., in the present state of the market), it will make 

 more bread, equally or more nutritious, aud not so generally 

 tempting to greater consumption. 



The East India rice may be treated as the American ; but 

 the maize meal must be thrown into six times as much cold 

 water, to float the hush (or bran), which must be skimmed off. 



In boiling them to the required paste (which should weigh 

 6 lbs, for each pound of rice or maize), they should not be set 

 on the open fire, as that might burn them to the bottom ; 

 but ou (or in) a boiler oi water, so as to be heated only by the 

 boiling water or steam. I. Prideaux, 



AGRICULTURAL REPORTS. 



GENERAL AGRICULTURAL REPORT FOR 



AUGUST. 



Notwithstanding that we have had some severe storms in 

 various parts of the country, the weather during the greater 

 portion of the month has been remarkably fine, con- 

 sequently highly favourable for the ingatliering of the 

 crops. In all quarters great progress has, therefore, been 

 made in the cutting and carrying of wheat ; and, with very 

 few exceptions, the whole of it has already reached the 

 stack-yards. We have, therefore, arrived at the close of 

 one of the earliest harvests on record; and it now becomes 

 necessary to consider the general weight and condition of 

 the crops, as compared with last year. This, in a general 

 way, is a delicate and difhcult question to solve : but we 

 apprehend that, when we carefully note all the information 

 which has reached us on this head from practical men, and 

 when we attentively call to aid our own experience in such 

 matters, all doubts must vanish before a great amount of 

 information easily to be understood. The wheats cut and 

 carried prior to the commencement of the storms presented 

 an unusually fine sample ; though in a few instances, 

 arising from the rapidity with which they ripened, they 

 were rather " troughy." After the rains had ceased, much 

 anxiety was shown by the farmers to secure that portion of 

 the crop in the fields ; hence, the quality of the second 

 carrying, if we may thus express oiirselves, has not turned 

 out very fine ; still, there is nothing seriously to complain 

 of, beyond the fact that the bulk of tjie supply has turned 

 out less valuable than the first. The last carting has 

 proved good, sound, and heavy ; consequently, we arrive at 

 the conclusion that the entire crop is one of great abund- 

 ance, of fine quality, and far superior to that of last year. 

 Most of the samples grown upon good soils have come up 

 to 64 lbs. per bushel ; and, in some counties, the entire 

 growth has exceeded five quarters to the acre. If we bear 

 in mind that the harvest is three weeks earlier than in 

 1856, it must be admitted that we have now an unusually 

 large supply of wheat on hand. Some parties haVe told us, 

 howevei-, that very little old wheat is now in the hands of 

 thefarmers : wc, however, hold a contrary opinion. ^Vc must 

 not be led astray by the mere fact that the sales of home 

 produce in our various markets during the month have 



fallen short of 1 'st year at this time, because the cultivators 

 of the soil have been too much occupied in the fields to 

 attend to barn-door labours. Correspondents residing in 

 various parts of the country inform tis that large quantities 

 of old wheat are yet to be met with ; and that the farmers 

 feel an indisposition to sell it, in the face of drooping mar- 

 kets. It is, therefore, possible that large supplies of the 

 new crop, partly thrashed out in the fields to save labour 

 and expense, will be forwarded for sale during the coming 

 month, in order to take advantage of present rates ; and 

 that, consequently, the millers will have a remarkable 

 choice of fine samples during that period. Scarcity being 

 out of the question, prices must of necessity give way. On 

 this point numerous opinions have been expressed ; but the 

 question is, shall we be inundated with foreign produce, 

 and shall we have a continuance of the present large de- 

 mand.' That we shall receive a large influx from the 

 Baltic for some time, does not admit of a doubt ; still, our 

 judgment is that prices will be chiefly regulated by the ex- 

 tent of the imports from the United States. In that 

 country the produce is a very large one— much larger than 

 usual, if we may believe the accounts which are frequently 

 reaching us from the other side of the Atlantic •, but, at 

 present, prices there are too high to admit of shipments 

 being made to England at a profit. But this is a state of 

 things which cannot last long, because increased supplies 

 at the sea-board will bring down quotations, and, even in 

 the way of exchange operations, produce must be shipped 

 in large quantities. The supply, however, will not be ex- 

 cessive ; nevertheless, view the whole question through any 

 medium, it must be admitted that our aggregate importa- 

 tions will be fully equal to our additional wants, and that 

 prices generally must give way. 



The commencement of barley harvest produced but a 

 poor show of samples, arising from an adequate supply of 

 moisture ; but the rains added considerably to the weight 

 and condition of the crop, and it may be fairly assumed 

 that it is one of full average abundance ; indeed, a large 

 portion of it has proved in first-rate order, and to have fine 

 malliiig jiroperties. 



Peas are turning out a light crop ; but the yield of oats 

 and beans may be called a fair average one. 



