THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



471 



notice in the newspapers, that a certain learned 

 proles-sor had proposed reaping wheat quite green. 

 Tiie result was a determination lo take ilic lirst 

 opporiunity of jrivinir boili sjsienis a lair trial. 

 Of liiis trial the lollovving are the details and 

 results : — 



Havitifi selected a field of " old squarcheadcd 

 red wheaV lor the experiments, on August 4, 

 1810, I cut a sheai: At this time it was quite 

 green, i. c, both straw and ears were in full vigor, 

 and ILili of sap. Though the grain appeared 

 perfecily formed, the chaff still adhered so firmly 

 to ii that it was scarcely pot^sihle to separate tiiem 

 by li-iction in the hands. When separated ii was 

 large and pitiajp, but so lull oi'milk that ihe slight- 

 est pressure reduced (he whole lo a juicy con- 

 sisiency or pulp. 



This sheaf stood in the field for a fortnight, 

 when it was housed. On the same day, August 

 18, I cut another. The wheat was of course yet 

 "green," speaking positively, or " not ripe," if we 

 epeak negatively, — heing what farmers commonly 

 term " raio." That is, the si raw, though appear- 

 ing at a distance green, when examined closely 

 was of a hue fast approximating to yellow; while, 

 for about a loot upwards i'rora the ground, it was 

 quite yellow. The ears, too, were more open, 

 the chaff tinged wiih various shades of yellow 

 and green, and the grain itself, when separated, 

 soft and pulpy, but not near so full of fluid as be- 

 fore. The judcment of the farmer will, however, 

 best tell him ihe conditions of ihe wheat, boih at 

 this and at the preceding cutting, when 1 say, 

 thai in another fortnight the whole field was ripe. 

 At the end of this fortnight (September 1) I 

 housed the sheaf cut on August 18, and which 

 had remained exposed to the weather in the inter- 

 val, and cut a third. This 1 have said was 

 " ripe ;" but by the term I don't mean that degree 

 of ripeness when the straw breaks, the ears curl, 

 and Ihe iirain shakes out; but that condition in 

 which it is customary to commence reaping it, — 

 when the straw, (rora the roots to the ear, is 

 uniformly yellow, and has lost all symptoms of 

 vivid health. 



On the 14th of September the third sheaf was 

 taken from the field and carefully preserved, along 

 with the other two, till the Ist of November, 

 when, out of each shealj I selected 100 ears, and 

 put each parcel into a separate bag. The straw 

 from each of these parcels of ears was preserved 

 carefiilly. 



The ears i"n one bag (No. 1, or that cut very 

 green) were now thrashed, the chaff' carelijlly 

 separated, and the gross weight of the corn yield- 

 ed ascertained by an extremely accurate balance. 

 The weights of a fixed measure of a certain 

 number of grains Avere next found. To avoid 

 error, this was repeated several ti7)Les. 



No. 2 (cut raw) and No. 3 (ripe) underwent 

 the same process : for the results of which see 

 the following table. 



Comparative weights of wheat reaped at different 

 periods. 



As this table is merely comi)ariitive (the weights 

 used being in |)arts, and decimal |)arts oi the same, 

 lor the convenience of minute experiments,) it 

 may not be unnecessary to give ihe following 

 tabie of the absolute weights of each sample in 

 ounces, drams, scruj)les, and grains Troy : — 



IVo. 1. 

 No. 2, 

 No. 3, 



Gross produce. Eq. measures 



oz. dr. sc. gr. I oz. dr. sc. gr. 

 400 o|37113 

 5 2 13 I 1 » 13 

 4 4 6 3 7 2 ^0 



Eq. No. ot 

 grains. 



o. d. s. gr. 

 1 5f 



\o nl 



10 15S 



The straw belontrii'g to each sample was now 

 weighed (all the parcels having previously been 

 made of the same Jentrth, commencing from the 

 bottom of the ear), when the following was the 

 result. 



Comparative weights of 100 straios, of equal length, 

 belonging to the samples Nos. 1, 2, and 3. 



No. 1, (green,) = 550. 



No. 2, (raw.) = 475. 



No. 3, (ripe,) = 450. 



The next thing to be ascertained was the 

 quality of the produce, or the comparative wortli 

 of each description. Believing in the old saying, 

 that 



" The proper value of a thing. 

 Is just as much as it will bring," 



On the 5lh of November I attended market, and 

 asked the opinion of an extensive corn-grower as 

 to the values of the respective samples, according 

 to the prices of the day. His opinion was, 



No. 1, . . . 61s. per quarter. 



No. 2, . . . 64s. do. 



No. 3, . . . 623. do. 



Putting the same samples into the hands of an 

 extensive corn-factor and miller, his value, and 

 what he would give to buy, was, for 



No. 1, . . . 61s. per quarter. 

 No. 2, . . . 633. do. 

 No. 3, . , , 61s, do. 



Adding these values respectively together, and 



taking the mean price of each by which we shall 



obtain as near an approximation to the truth as 



possible), we have. 



No, 1, rz 61s, Od. per quarter. 



No. 2, = 633, 6d, do. 



No, 3, =: 61s, 6d. do. 



The loss or gain on these samples, by reaping 



at diff'erent periods, will be best seen from the 



following. 



Table of the relative weights and 'value of 

 tvheat cut yfugust 4, y^vgust IS, and Septem- 

 ber 1 ; that cut last (^or ripe) being taken as 

 the standard, and unity assumed as its value in 

 each column. 



According to this table, it is evident that the 

 wheat reaped a fortnight before it was ripe has 

 the advantage of the ripe in every point : 



