386 FIELD AND GARDEN PRODUCTS 



He also exposed air dry grain to an absolutely dry (artificially 

 dried) atmosphere at the same temperature, and for the same period, 

 18 days. The loss was at first very rapid, then slower and slower, but 

 continued in the whole period, amounting in 18 days to 9.3 per cent 

 for oats, 7.8 per cent for barley, and 6.2 per cent for wheat. 



According to these determinations, perfectly dry grain (arti- 

 ficially dried) , exposed to a saturated atmosphere at a temperature of 

 64.4 degrees F. for 18 days, will increase in weight as follows: 

 Wheat, 25 per cent; barley, 28.2 per cent; oats, 29.1 per cent. As the 

 temperature of the interior of that state in summer is about 83 de- 

 grees F., experiments were made with dry grain at that temperature ; 

 and as the temperature increased, the amount of moisture thus lost 

 in the given time also increased. Wheat dried in an artificially pre- 

 pared atmosphere, believed to be about as dry as that which naturally 

 occurs at harvest in the interior valleys of the state, led to the belief 

 that the wheat cured there in the field at harvest time becomes nearly 

 as dry as it would in an absolutely dry air, and, on transporting to 

 a temperate climate may possibly increase 25 per cent, while a gain 

 of 5 to 15 per cent may be looked for with almost absolute certainty. 

 The profit of this grain in weight accrues to whoever owns the grain 

 when the absorption is going on. 



Oats when threshed, after passing through the sweating process 

 in the stack, appear to shrink but little thereafter. At the Ohio Sta- 

 tion in September, 1892, 4,243 pounds of recleaned oats were put 

 up in ordinary grain sacks. There were fifty-four varieties in the 

 lot, some of which were in small amounts so that not all of the sacks 

 were full. These oats were kept all winter in a room artificially 

 warmed, and in the following March were again weighed with a loss 

 of only 29% pounds, or less than 1 per cent. 



At the Michigan Station 100 bushels of oats, 3,200 pounds, were 

 weighed into a bin August 11, 1896, without recleaning and within 

 an hour after threshing. They were in fairly dry condition, although 

 they had been wet with rain while in the shock. On the 18th of 

 March following they were weighed out and showed a total loss in 

 weight of only seven pounds. 



September 13, 1897, 806 pounds of International oats and 550 

 pounds of New Marine oats were weighed and placed in a bin in the 

 sheep barn at the College farm. When removed the following March 

 the International oats had shrunk but 13 pounds and the New 

 Marine but 11 pounds. 



On the 8th of October, 1899, 1,038 pounds of oats were weighed 

 into a fairly tight bin in the Experiment Station barn, where they 

 remained until the 10th of May, 1900, when they weighed but 1,003 

 pounds, showing a shrinkage of 3.4 per cent. (F. B. 313; B. P. I. 

 Bui. 99, Cir. 81; U. 111. A. E. S. 113; Iowa Ag. Col. E. S. 45, 55; 

 Mich. St. Ag. Col. E. S. 191.) 



THE SULPHUR BLEACHING OP COMMERCIAL OATS AND BARLEY. 



When a crop of oats or of barley is harvested under adverse 

 weather conditions, or in a careless manner, there is generally a 

 deterioration in both the quality and condition of the grain which 



