152 Earli/ Cutting of nTieat. 



as well in the stack, barn, or granary ? 3rcl. Is the qua-" 

 lity as nutritive and good ? ^th. Will it serve as well for seed ? 

 5th. Does not the straw contract a mouldy smell, and thereby 

 spoil it as fodder ? 6th. What species of wheat will best bear 

 early cutting? 7th. (which seems but a modification of query 3.) 

 Is it necessary for the grain to be completely ripe, to be the 

 most profitable, as commonly grown ? 



To these questions answers have been returned by ten corre- 

 spondents, which, though varying in minor points, are generally 

 in favour of early cutting. One of them (M. Broy) gives the re- 

 sult of three experiments made by him in three different fields, 

 one half of each field having been cut eight days before the other. 

 The balance is greatly on the side of the first cut, as to produce. 

 This perhaps was hardly to be expected ; though it is well 

 known that in point of isoeight it is almost sure to heat ; which 

 may be easily accounted for fi-om the superior thinness and 

 smoothness of the skin ; — in fact, the greater proportion of flour 

 to bran : and for this reason the bakers and millers both m 

 France and England invariably prefer it. 



The fifth query is not only superfluous, but savours rather of 

 the ridiculous. Is there ever a doubt of hay being the worse for 

 having been cut green ? Every practical farmer knows that the 

 greener stra-do is cut, the more it assimilates to hay, and conse- 

 quently the better it is as fodder for cattle. Besides, if the straw 

 was subject to mould, the grain would also be injured, and that 

 would at once settle the question. There is no doubt but early 

 cut straw is better for cattle, for thatching, for manure, for every 

 thing ; and this remark particularly applies to wheat at all af- 

 fected by mildew. By the by, it may to an Eng'ish farmer 

 appear rather singular that no mention is made of this disease 

 in the French Report; but perhaps it is not so prevalent there 

 as here. If any doubts exist as to the propriety of early cut- 

 ting wheat in a sound healthy state, there can be none as soon 

 as the least appearance of mildew is visible on the straw. Years 

 ago Mr. Arthur Young laid great stress on this point, and he 

 was right ; though he certainly carried his ideas of its advan- 

 tages to a preposterous length. 



To the sixth question, namely, what species of wheat will 

 best bear early cutting? — the answer naturally is, — That spe- 

 cies which in general comes quickest to harvest, and is the 

 most liable to shell out : but in tliis res])ect there is, in point 

 of fact, very little difference. The French farmers think 

 'white wheat is perhaps more likely to shell, from the open- 

 ness of the kosh, than other sorts. On the whole, the general 

 opinion of our foreign neighbours on early cutting agrees with 



our 



