614 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. n 



of milk. I found a substance similar to albumen 

 in the sap of the walnut tree. 



I found the juice which exudes from the ve?sele 

 of the marshmallow when cut, to be a solution ol 

 mucilage. 



The fluids contained in the sap vessels of wheat 

 and barley, afl^orded in some experiments which I 

 made on them, mucilage, sugar, and a matter 

 which coagulated by heat; which last was most 

 abundant in wheat. 



The following table contams a statement of the 

 quantity of soluble or nutritive matters existing in 

 varieties of the different substances that have been 

 mentioned, and of some others which are used 

 as articles of food, either for man or cattle. The 

 analyses are my own ; and were conducted with a 



view to a knowledge of the general nature and 

 quantity of the products, and not of their intimate 

 chemical composition. The soluble matters af- 

 forded by the grasses, except that from the fiorin 

 in winter, were obtained by Mr. Sinclair, garden- 

 er to the Duke of Bedford, li-om given weights of 

 the grasses cut when the seeds were ripe; they 

 were .lent to me by his Grace's desire for chemical 

 examination, and form part of the results of an 

 important and extensive series of experiments on 

 grasses made by direction of the Duke, at Woburn 

 Abbey, when pursuing those plans for the im- 

 provement of agriculture, the origin of which 

 have thrown so much glory on the memory of his 

 illustrious brother. 



Table of the Quantities of soluble or nutritive Matters afforded by 1000 Parts of different vegetable 



Substances. 



Vegetables or vegetable Substance. 



Middlesex wheat, average crop 



Spring wheat 



Mildewed wfieat of 1806 



Blighted wheat of 1804 



Thick-skinned Sicilian wheat of 1810 



Thin-skinned Sicilian wheat of 1810 



Wheat from Poland 



North American wheat 



Norfolk barley 



Oats from Scotland 



Rye from Yorkshire 



Common bean 



Dry peas 



Potatoes 



Linseed cake 



Red beet 



"White beet 



Parsnip 



Carrots 



Common turnips 



Swedish turnips 



Cabbage 



Broad -leaved clover 



Long-rooted clover 



White clover 



Sainfoin 



Lucerne 



Meadow fox-tail grass 



Perennial rye grass 



Fertile meadow grass 



Roughish meadow grass 



Crested dog's-tail grass 



Spiked fescue grass 



Sweet-scented soft grass 



Sweet-scented vernal grass 



Fionn .... 



Fiorin cut in winter 



Whole 



Quantity of 



soluble or 



nutritive 



matter. 



Mticilageor^^??li^_"„"® Gluten or 



Starch. 



matter or 

 Sugar. 



955 

 940 

 210 

 650 

 955 

 961 

 950 

 955 

 920 

 743 

 792 

 570 

 574 

 C from 260 

 I to 200 

 151 

 148 

 136 



99 



98 



42 



64 



73 



39 



39 



32 



39 



23 



33 



39 



78 



39 



35 



19 



82 



50 



54 



76 



765 



700 



178 



520 



725 



722 



750 



730 



790 



641 



645 



426 



501 

 from 200 

 to 155 



123 



14 



13 



9 



O 



7 



9 

 41 

 31 

 30 

 29 

 28 

 18 

 24 

 26 

 65 

 29 

 28 

 15 

 72 

 43 

 46 

 64 



Albumen, 



Extract 

 or matter 

 rendered 

 insoluble 

 during 

 evapor- 

 ation. 



70 

 15 

 38 



22 



C from 20 



^to 15 



11 



121 



119 



90 



95 



34 



51 



24 



3 



4 



1 



2 



1 



3 



4 



6 



5 



3 



2 



4 



4 



5 



190 



240 

 32 



130 



230 



239 



200 



225 

 60 

 87 



109 



103 



35 



C from 40 



^to 30 



17 



13 



4 



41 

 16 



All these substances were submitted to experi-' 

 ment green, and in their natural states. It is pro- 

 bable that the excellence of the different articles, 

 as food, will be found to be in a great measure 

 proportional to the quantities of soluble or nutri- 

 tive matters they afford ; but still these quantities 

 cannot be regarded as absolutely denoting their 

 value. Albuminous or glutinous matters have the 



characters of animal substances ; sugar is more 

 nourishing, and extractive matter less nourishing, 

 than any other principles composed of carbon, 

 hydrogen, and oxygen. Certain combinations 

 likewise of these substances may be more nutritive 

 than others. 



I have been informed by Sir Joseph Banks, 

 that the Derbyshire miners, in winter, prefer oat- 



