WHEAT. 



WHEAT. 



either of the following methods : 1. By select- 

 ing the grains of superior ears and dibbling 

 them in a seedling bed, 4 inches apart every 

 way. 2. By dividing and transplanting the 

 roots. 



The same weight of Rostock and Dantzic 

 flour from wheat grown in the Baltic, made 

 only 23 pounds of bread, very light and good, 

 but not so white by many shades or well-fla- 

 voured as that made from the two first varie- 

 ties of home growth. 



These experiments having been made in my 

 own presence, may be relied on. The dough 

 was worked in the French mode, not pushed 

 down, turned and worked with closed hands, 

 but drawn up into long strings, and repeatedly 

 lifted, in order to expose it to the action of the 

 air as much as possible, which tends greatly to 

 improve the bread, by rendering it more light 

 and easy of digestion. See BREAD. 



The superiority of the hoary variety of wheat, 

 which furnished three pounds more bread on a 

 baking of 18 pounds of flour, or an increase of 

 one-sixth over the Dantzic and Rostock, which 

 was also a very fine sample of flour, is thus 

 clearly established. (Le, Couteur on Wheat, 

 p. 44.) 



Securing the crop. I have already briefly ad- 

 verted under the head REAPING to the advan- 

 tages to be derived from harvesting the grain 

 before it is fully ripe, but have reserved to this 

 place some further experiments and details 

 corroborative of the benefit and profit resulting 

 therefrom, by Mr. John Hannam of North 

 Deighton, near Wetherby. This gentleman 

 remarks, 



"Having selected a field of 'old square-headed 

 red ivheat* for the experiments, on August 4, 

 1840, 1 cut a sheaf. At this time it was quite 

 green, i. e. both straw and ears were in full 

 vigour, and full of sap. Though the grain ap- 

 peared perfectly formed, the chaff still adhered 

 so firmly to it that it was scarcely possible to 

 separate them by friction in the hands. When 

 separated it was large and plump, but so full 

 of milk, that the slightest pressure reduced the 

 whole to a juicy consistency or pulp. 



"This sheaf stood in the field for a fort- 

 night, when it was housed. On the same day, 

 August 18, 1 cut another. The wheat was, of 

 course, yet ' green,' speaking positively, or 

 4 not ripe,' if we speak negatively, being what 

 farmers commonly term 'raw.' This is, the 

 straw, though appearing at a distance green, 

 when examined closely, was of a hue fast ap- 

 proximating to yellow ; while, for about a foot 

 "upwards from the ground, it was quite yellow. 

 The ears, too, were more open, the chaff tinged 

 with various shades of yellow and green, and 

 the grain itself, when separated, soft and pulpy, 

 but not near so full of fluid as before. The 

 judgment of the farmer will, however, best tell 

 him the conditions of the wheat, both at this 

 and at the preceding cutting, when I say, that 

 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 

 interval, and cut a third. This I have said 

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

 degree of ripeness when the straw breaks, the 

 1124 



ears curl, and the grain shakes out ; but that 

 condition in which it is customary to commence 

 reaping it, when the straw, from 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 pre- 

 served, along with the other two, till the" 1st of 

 November, when, out of each sheaf, I selected 

 100 ears, and put each parcel into a separate 

 bag. The straw from each of these parcels of 

 ears was preserved carefully. 



"The ears in one bag (No. 1, or that cut 

 very green) were now thrashed, the chaff care- 

 fully separated, arid the gross weight of the 

 corn yielded ascertained by an extremely ac- 

 curate balance. The weights of a fixed mea- 

 sure of a certain number of grains were next 

 found. To avoid error, this was repeated several 

 times. 



" No. 2 (cut raw) and No. 3 (ripe) under- 

 went 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 comparative (the 

 weights used being in parts, and decimal parts 

 of the same, for the convenience of minute ex- 

 periments), it may not be unnecessary to give 

 the following table of the absolute weights of 

 each sample in ounces, drachms, scruples, aud 

 grains Troy : 



" The straw belonging to each sample was 

 now weighed (all the parcels having previ- 

 ously been made of the same length, commenc- 

 ing from the bottom of the ear), when the fol- 

 lowing was the result : 



Comparative Weights of 100 Straws of an equal 

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



No. 1. (green) 

 No. 2. (raw) 

 No. 3. (ripe) 



550. 



475. 

 450. 



"The next thing to be ascertained was the 

 quality of the produce, or the comparative 

 worth 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 5th of November I attended market, and 

 asked the opinion of an extensive corn-grower 

 as to the values of the respective samples, ac- 

 cording to the prices of the day. His opinion 



No. 1. 



No. 9. 



No. 3. 



- 61s. per quarter. 



- 645. do. 

 . 62s. do. 



