228 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



The improved condition of the land has no doubt 

 contributed to this result; but we think it impos- 

 sible to doubt that a considerable increase of tem- 

 perature of the soil must have mainly contributed to 

 produce such exuberant growth. Unfortunately tliis 

 cannot now be made matter of proof, because no 

 register was kept of the temperature before the 

 trenching and draining were resorted to. 



There exists in Essex, not a hundred miles from 

 Brentwood, an orchard of apples, pears, plums, and 

 cherries, which was planted about twenty-two years 

 ago, in a heavy clay trenched down to an iron pan, 

 on which it lies. For a few years the trees grew 

 pretty well, that is to say, as long as their roots were 

 near the surface, and received the warmth of the 

 summer's sun ; but as they advanced downwards, the 

 growth became " small by degrees, and beautifully 

 less," till at last it ceased, and nothing flourished 

 but an abundance of gray lichens, with which the 

 branches were covered. The owner was advised to 

 drain it three feet below the pan. In the first year 

 afterwards, vitality was roused so effectually that 

 the lichens began to disappear, cast off by the swell- 

 ing bark, and the last stage of decrcintude had been 

 exchanged, by the end of the first six months, for 

 youthful vigor. In the second and third seasons 

 after the draining, the trees made shoots from four 

 to five feet long. 



We have no doubt that the main cause of this 

 remarkable and sudden change was the elevation of 

 temperature consequent upon every deep drainage. 

 Rain becomes heated by the surface soil, and carries 

 its temperature with it as far as it sinks into the soil. 

 The gain in this way is variously estimated at from 

 ten to fifteen degrees in summer — an enormous gain, 

 which places plants on a hotbed — for soil heated ten 

 degrees above tlic ordinary temperature is nothing 

 else. Deep draining, therefore, not only offers con- 

 siderable security against the introduction of roots 

 into water channels, but has the great and unsus- 

 pected advantage of considerably raising the temper- 

 ature of the earth which is in contact Avith the 

 drains, deep as they may be, for w^ater cannot sink 

 rapidly into earth without carrj'ing warmth along 

 with it. This is now so Avell understood by men of 

 intelligence, that it is superfluous to dwell upon it. — 

 London Gardener s Chronicle. 



THROWING BREAD AWAY. 



We hear complaints, on all sides, that money is 

 scarce, the times hard, and that it is difficult for the 

 poor, in these dull times, to get a living. We sup- 

 pose that by the word " living " is meant the prime 

 staple of life, or, as it is sometimes called, the " staff 

 of life," — bread. New bread is so jilenty, that we 

 throw half of it away. In order to show wherein 

 this is done every day, let us " reason together " a 

 little. The principal material of which bread is made, 

 in New England, is flour ; and this, you all know, is 

 made of wheat. The good old days of corn bread, 

 and " rye and Indian," have gone by. Times have 

 changed ; and we may well say, that we have changed 

 most essentially with them. People may say what 

 they please about the "hardy New Englanders." 

 There used to be such a race ; but they are disap- 

 pearing, and an effeminate race growing up to supply 

 their places. There are many causes for this deteri- 

 oration of the strength of the people, but the princi- 

 pal cause is the present mode of living. We throw 

 away the best half of the wheat, and eat only the 

 finer parts. Every body must have superfine flour 

 upon their table. Well, to make superfine flour, the 

 wheat must be ground fine ; the meal must then be 

 bolted through the finest bolts or sieves ; and the 



bran and other coarser parts are carefully separated, 

 and consigned to the pig trough or cattle manger. 

 What did the Almighty make these parts of the 

 wheat for ? For the nourishment of man ; but man 

 has become so " unco " wise, that he throws them 

 one side, and picks out only the finer particles ; and 

 he dearly pays the penalty of his folly, in decreased 

 health, strength, and general stamina of constitution. 



Let us inquire into the ingredients of wheat ; and, 

 that we may not rest wholly on our own individual 

 authority, we will call others in who have carefully 

 examined the physical and chemical nature of wheat. 

 Prof. Johnston has done this pretty thoroughly, and 

 so we will draw upon him for a few facts. 



First, we will take into consideration some of the 

 materials of our bodies ; and, second, what is needed 

 to keep up the repairs or supplies of these materials 

 as fast as they are wasted or spent in the course of 

 life. 



The solid parts of the human body are fat, muscle, 

 (flesh,) and bone. 



The liquid or fluid parts of the body contain also 

 the fat, and muscle, and bone ingredients, in a fluid 

 state, whereby they are conveyed to different parts 

 of the body, to be deposited where needed. 



Now, every body knows that these three substances 

 are liable to constant waste, and require to be renewed 

 constantly. To renew them, we must cat food ; and 

 if we eat food that contains fat-maliing, muscle- 

 making, and bone-making materials, and the food is 

 digested in a healthy manner, this waste is repaired 

 with ease and pleasure. As Ave commenced with 

 the article bread, we will confine ourselves to that. 

 Vegetable food contains these three ingredients or 

 materials, and especially wheat. 



That food must be the most nourishing that sup- 

 plies all the ingredients of the body most abundantly, 

 on the whole, or in proportions most suited to the 

 actual wants of the animal that eats it. 



Now, the graiii of wheat, yoii know, consists of 

 two parts, the inner grain, and the skin that covers 

 it. The inner grain is your suijerfine flour, and the 

 coA'ering is the bran. 



The miller is not able to peel the outer part per- 

 fectly away from the inner, and so a little of it is 

 always mixed with your flour ; but by the process 

 of bolting it is removed more completely than in any 

 other way, and it may be considered as Avholly sep- 

 arated. 



According to Prof. P., of th.e fat-making materials 

 whole grain contains twenty-eight pounds in one 

 thousand ; fine flour, twenty pounds ; bran, sixty 

 pounds. 



Thus you see, that, while a thousand pounds of 

 whole grain will give you twenty-eight pounds of 

 fat, a thousand pounds of fine flour will give you but 

 twenty, and a thousand pounds of bran will give you 

 sixty. 



If, therefore, you grind the wheat all together, 

 you get nearly half as much again of fat-making 

 material. 



Well, how is it with muscle, or flesh-making mate- 

 rial ? Whole grain contains one hundred and fifty- 

 six pounds in one thousand ; fine flour, one hundred 

 and thirty pounds. So you see that wheat, ground 

 all together, gives one fifth part more muscle mate- 

 rial than fine flour. 



Our muscles, you will allow, are very serviceable, 

 and their strength of great importance to us. Ought 

 we not to supply them with right materials ? But 

 when we bolt our wheat, and use only the fine parts, 

 we throw away about two pounds of such out of 

 every ten. 



Of the bone-making material, whole grain contains 

 one hundred and seventy pounds in one thousand ; 

 bran, seven hundred pounds ; fine flour, sixty pounds. 



You will certainly allow that bones are a very im- 



