AGRICULTURE OF MECKLENBURG. 411 



TABLE No. 1. 



Wheat 77,444 bushels 



Oats 224,107 



Indian Com 472,345 



Potatoes 25,107 bushels 



Tobacco 4,124,134 pounds 



Cotton 153,640 



Territory of considerable extent is before us, occupied by an agricultural popu- 

 lation, and supplying a considerable share of agricultural products. I propose 

 to consider the Agriculture of this County in its relations to Chemical Science; 

 and in so doing I shall simply present a statement of facts ascertained by myself 

 and others, and make such deductions and suggestions as seem to be appropri- 

 ate, and as time would allow. 



TJie first inquiry I shall make is this : " What is the chemical composition of 

 the several staple products of this County in their mature state ? " In the answer 

 I shall give to this important inquiry, I shall consider the products in the order 

 in which they are arranged in Table 1. 



Plants are composed of two kinds of chemical substances, organic and inor- 

 ganic ; and this distinction will be observed in what follows. For nearly all the 

 results in organic analysis I am indebted to the labors of others ; and on this ac- 

 count they are, perhaps, deserving the greater confidence. 



Wheat (Triticum hyhernum). — Ultimate analysis gave Boussingault for the organic ele- 

 ments of the grain and the straw the folio wiijg results : 



TABLE No. 2. 

 Grain. 



Carbon 46-6 



Oxygen 44-15 



Hydrogen 58 



Nitrogen 3-45 



Total 100-00 100-00 100-00 



Vauqueliu ascertained by jiroximate analysis that the composition ofjlour is as follows : 



Gluten 10-2; Starch 72-8; Sugar 4-2 ; Gum 2-8; Water 100=100-0 

 Boussingault analyzed '24 specimens of the dift'ereut varieties of wheat in reference par- 

 ticularly to the relative proportions of bran and flour in the gi-ain. He ascertained that the 

 bran varied from 13-2 to 38-5 per cent, and the flour from 86-8 to 61-5 per cent. The com- 

 position of the flour in the 24 specimens was found to be as follows : 



Gluten and albumen varied from 18-2 to 25-5 



Starch, sugar, gum and water 81-8 to 74-5 



Total .100-0 1000 



The following analyses of flour are from portions obtained from Col. Wra. Townes and 

 John Jones, Esq. 



TABLE No. 3. 



Townes. Jones. 



Oil 0-8 1-0 



Water 50 4-6 



Soluble salts (P) 0-5 0-8 



Husk and bran lfi-5 15-3 



Townes. Jones. 



Starch 56-5 55-8 



Albumen 0-9 1-0 



Sugar 1-2 1-4 



Gluten 17-0 18-5 



Gum 1-3 1-5 



Total 997 99-9 



Having given these results of organic analysis, I wU add, for reference, the ultimate anal- 

 ysis of the more important compounds contained in the last Table : 



TABLE No. 4. 



Carbon. Oxygen. 



Starch *44-9 48-8 



Gum t42-3 50-8 



Sugar |47-1 47-0 



Gluten 1154-76 20-06 



Albumen ||54-76 2006 



From the preceding statement of facts it is inferred that the organic elements of wheat, 

 includuig the straw and the gi-ain, are carbon, oxygon, hydrogen, and azote, in the various 

 proportions just given, and forming the j)roximato elements above described. 



The inorganic elenient.s are discovered by Ijurniiig the plant ,ind analyzing the ashes. 



Three specimens of wheat, inc^huling the ev/irr stalk, grain and all. selected by myself 

 just before harvest, from tlie fields of Rev. H. G. Leigh, Mark Alexander and A. .T. Jones, 

 Esqs., during the years 184.5 and 184(j, gave the following results : 



■ By Jacquelaine. t By Gay-Lussac and Therard. t By Ueligot. || Schecrer. 



(771) 



