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CHAPTER XL 



COMPOSITION OF THE DIFFERENT CROPS. 



Distribution of substances in various parts of the plant. Wheat; 

 wheaten flour; gluten. Time of -cutting grain. Rye flour. 

 Barley. Oatmeal. Buckwheat. Indian Corn. Peas and Beans. 

 Potatoes. Turnips, Carrots, Beets, etc. Comparative amounts 

 of nutritive matter per acre. Cabbage. Grass crops. 



SECTION I. OF WHEAT, RYE AND BARLEY. 



We have already, to a considerable extent, entered 

 upon this subject; but the information given, parti 

 cularly with regard to the organic part of crops, has 

 been of a very general character. We have noticed 

 the chief substances which compose this part, but have 

 said little as to their distribution in the plant, or in its 

 several portions. 



Various points relative to the composition of ash 

 from the straw, grain, and roots of our ordinary crops, 

 have been noticed in Chapter III, and we shall not 

 revert to them at any length here. 



In the stalk and leaves of grain, we find that woody 

 fibre is the leading substance; constituting in some 

 cases, when the plant is ripe, more than three-fourths 

 of the whole weight. In the grain, on the other hand, 

 woody fibre only amounts to 2 or 3 per cent. The 

 largest part here usually consists of starch : there are 

 also considerable quantities of gluten, or of some other 

 bodies having the same nature, containing nitrogen; 

 and beside these, some oily or fatty substances. In 

 the straw, these last only exist in very small quantities 



