474 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



lijrlit, lieat, &c. into mucilage,* ami a great pro- 

 puilion of the nuiriiive powers of the grass absorb- 

 ed by the atmosphere, or lost in some man- 

 ner : for, as Mr Sinclair observe?, in his ^^ Report 

 of Experiments on Grassfs,'* " iheni is a great 

 (liflerence between straws or leaves that have been 

 dried afier they were cut in a succulent state, and 

 those which are dried (if 1 may so express it) by 

 nature while growing. The (ornier retain all 

 their nutritive powers, but the latter, if completely 

 dry, very little, if any.'''' 



As a manure, too, the straw cut " raio'''' is 

 equally superior to the ripe ; for, as it is an agri- 

 culiural axiom that the better the Ibod of an ani- 

 mal is, the betier the manure liom it, the ma- 

 nure fi-om a slock consuming' this straw, con- 

 taining a fair proportion of nutritive matter, 

 rnusl be more valuatile thnn that from stock 

 consuming the ripe with scarcely any in it. 



But a yreat profionion of the farmer's straw is 

 converted into manure without undergoing the 

 process of mastication atid diirestion. For this 

 purfiosp the unripe straw is equally preferable, as 

 ail unripe vegetables are manures without prepara-^ 

 iiun'\ — the eolui'le and nutritive extracts which 

 they contain, being the principal agents in forming 

 vegetable manure ; as they not only combine 

 to render the process of decomposition the more 

 rapid, by breaking down the woody fibres, f &c. 

 in the manure heap, but are also in their pure 

 and separate states sMmulants to vegetation. § 



* The inferiority of the quantity of snpjar in the 

 summer crops, probably depends upon the agency of 

 lisht, which tends always in plants to convert saccha- 

 rine matter into mucilap;e. Ibid. p. 414. 



t " Green crops, or any kind of fresh ves:etabie 

 matter, require no preparation to jit them for manure. 



" All green succulent plants contain saccharine or 

 miicilaiiinous matter, with woody fibre, and readily 

 ferment. They cannot, therefore, if intended for 

 manure, be u-sfd /oo soon after their death. 



" When green crops are to be employed for enrich- 

 ing a soil, they should be ploughed in, if it be possible, 

 when in flower ; for it is at this period that they contain 

 the largest quantity of soluble matter, and that their 

 leaves are most active in forming nutritive matter." 

 Sir H. Davy, Agricul. Chem. p. 264. 



J " Vegetable manures, in general, contain a great 

 excess of fibrous and insoluble matters, which must 

 undergo chemical changes beibre they can become the 

 food of plants. It wdl be proper to take a scientific 

 view of the nature of these chanfes, &c. 



" If any fresh vegetable maiier. which contains 

 sugar, mucilage, starch, or other of the vegetable com- 

 pounds soluble ill water, be moistened and exposed to 

 air, at a temperature from 55° to 80°, oxygen will 

 soon be absorbed, and carbonic acid formed ; heat 

 will be pioduced, and elastic tluids, principally car- 

 bonic acids, gaseous oxide of carbon, and hydro- 

 carbonate, will be evolved ; a dark-colored fluid, of 

 a slightly sour or bitter taste, will likewise be formed ; 

 and if the process be suffered to continue for a time 

 sufficiently long, nothing solid will remain, except 

 earthy and saline matter, colored black by charcoal. 



" In proportion as there is more gluten, albumen, 

 or matters soluble in water, in the vegetable substances 

 exposed to fermentation, so in proportion, all other 

 circumstances being equal, will the process be more 

 rapid." Ibid. p. 257. 



§ " Mucilaginous, gelatinous, saccharine, oily, and 

 extractive fluids, and solution of carbonic acid and 

 water, are substances that, in their unchanged states, 

 contain almost all the principles necessary for the life of 

 plants." Ibid. p. 256. 



It may be urged that the increased value of the 

 straw is more in liivor of that cut very green (No. 

 1) than that cut a lortniglu later (No. 2.) This 

 is true ; but, to |)roduce this increase of value, 

 if we cut our wheat so early as No. 1. we have a 

 desiccation of the grain to such an extent as to 

 diminish the measured produce above 12 per cent.; 

 while, by reaping with No. 2, we are, so far Irom 

 injuring eilhersample or measure, actually improv- 

 ing both, and at the same time gaining above 5 

 |)er cent, in the weight, and at least as much in the 

 qualiiy of the straw. Fur the increase of weigiit 

 in the latter is not produced by a greater produce, 

 but by the presence of a greater |)ortion of those 

 soluble sub.-tances which are alike necessary la 

 animal and vegetable lile — are alike the nutritive 

 part of food and the quickening principle of ma- 

 nure. 



2d, We come now to the second advantage, 

 the " better chance of securing the crop." 



This is self-evident. We gain a fortnight at 

 the commencement of harvest. If the weather 

 be good, we can secure a great portion of our 

 wheat beibre we should scarcely have begun upon 

 the old system. If not, we cnn wait; so, under 

 any circumsiances, our chances of securing the 

 grain must be greater. Moreover, if we take a 

 retrospect of the harvests for a number of years, 

 we shall find that nearly all the early harvests 

 have been what we term " good" ones, i. e. good 

 as regards weather and the condition in which the 

 grain was secured. When the peculiarities of 

 our climate, its general fickleness, and its still 

 greater liability to change as the autumn ad- 

 vances, are considered, this will require no explana- 

 tion. 



If we look, loo, at ihe later harvests, we shall, 

 I venture to say, find that, in nine cases out often, 

 the grain which was cut first was secured in the 

 best condiiiiin. As an example of this, the crop 

 of 1S39 will suffice. The cro[)s were late, ihe 

 beginning of reaping the same, and the result 

 was that in the north of Engtand/u// 75 jser cent, 

 of the whole wheat crop was damaged. And lull 

 75 per cent, of that which was uninjured, I will 

 also venture to say, was that which was cut the 

 first. In Yorkshire this was especially seen ; for 

 the earliest wheat was with the greatest difficulty 

 secured. In this village CNo.Mh Deighton) not a 

 sheaf was in stack till the day before, and on some 

 farms, the very day on which the rainy weather 

 set in. 



The frequent recurrence of such years as this, 

 will teach the value of even a fortnight better 

 than any thing that can be said here. And that 

 they will recur is beyond a doubt. What has 

 happened orice may happen again, but what has 

 frequently happened, (as this sort of harvest has,) 

 with the same causes in operation, we are war- 

 ranted in saying, will happen again and often. 



Zd, The saving in securing the crop is a double 

 one. In the first place, there is less waste in 

 moving or reaping, and no danger of " shaking" 

 or " necking " in strong winds. In the second 

 place, there is an absolute economy in the ex- 

 pense of reaping the crop, which may be thus 

 illustrated. 



The busy period of harvest with the farmer 

 generally extends over four or five weeks. In 

 this month a certain portion of his work is done by 

 his own hands, i. e, by the regular laborers and 



