THE GENESEE FARMER. 



345 



and few crops go above that We think no wheat 

 has ever been grown in this conntry at (!4 lbs. 



The white wheats yield the greatest proportion of 

 flour, the flint wheats the greatest proportion of glu- 

 ten, which is the most nutritious part of wheat. The 

 white is preferred for making the superfine flour and 

 white extra-fine bread, though the bread is less nutri- 

 tious than that containing more gluten. The south- 

 ern wheat generally contains the most gluten, though 

 the proportion of this element is mucli aflectcd by 

 tlie kind of fertilizers used. No crude animal manure 

 should be applied directly to the wheat, but to the 

 previous crop. If the land is mellow, the wheat 

 should be rolled. — JYew Ens:Ia7id Farmer. 



WHEN SHOULD CROPS BE GATHERED. 



Some science and some practical hints, which every fiirmer 

 should understand and practice upon. 



The ppevailing opinion is, that grass, and especial- 

 ly grain crops, should not be cut till ripe ; or what- 

 ever may be the opinion, such is the general practice 

 This is an error, and one of no little consequence ; 

 and we offer some considerations, which, if understood, 

 will, we trust, set this matter in a clear light. Let 

 us first look at one or two lessons plainly told us by 

 chemistry. 



Wood, starch, sugar and gum are almost exactly 

 alike in their composition. The same elements that 

 put together in one form produce sugar, if arranged 

 differently would make wood, and if arranged in still 

 other methods, they would produce starch or gum. 

 To illustrate; suppose four men should each have 

 100,000 bricks, 20,000 feet of lumber, including 

 beams, boards, shingles, &c., three hundred pounds of 

 nails, and 100 lbs. of unmixed paiiits of two or three 

 diS(?rent colons. Now suppose these four men, hav- 

 ing precisely the same amount of the different mate- 

 rials or elements, set about putting up four structures, 

 each having a different object in view. One might 

 consti-uct an elegant cottage dwelling, the second a 

 church, the third a barn and the fourth a prison; and 

 by mixing and applying the paints differently, each 

 of these structures would differ from the other so 

 much in form and color, that one might be supposed 

 to be built of stone, another of brick a third of iron, 

 and a fourth of wood, and they would be as unlike 

 in form, color, and outward appearance, as starch, 

 gum, sugar and wood. Either of these buildings 

 might be taken down, and by simply rearranging 

 Uie materials, be changed to the form, shape, and co- 

 lor of one of the other buildings, and be made like 

 it in every particular. Just so can a pound of wood 

 be changed to a pound of sugar. ^Ve have often 

 taken a board weighing a pound, and by a chemical 

 process re-arranged the elements, and change the 

 same board to a pound of sugar. Just so a pound 

 of starch, gum, or sugar, can be changed to a pound 

 of wood. By artificial means this change is some- 

 what expensive, but in the natural laboratory of the 

 cells and tubes of a plant, it is daily going on upon 

 a large scale, although the elements are in themselves 

 so small, that the change is not perceptible to the hu- 

 man vision. 



We are not stating theories but absolute facts. 

 While a stock of grain is unripe it contains but little 



woody fibre, and its pores or cells are filled with su- 

 gar, starch and gum. The presence of sugar is rea- 

 dily perceived by the sweet taste of .soft kernels of 

 coin and other grains, and it is al.-^o found abr.ndant- 

 ly in the sap of stalks. The starch and gum is not 

 so readily perceived l)y the taste, though they are 

 readily perceived by the ta^te, though they are 'easi- 

 ly shown to be present. Now as the grain and stalks 

 ripen a large portion of starch, gum and sugar is 

 changed into woody fibres. If the natural growth 

 of the plant be arrested by cutting it, this change 

 is stopped, and it dries up, with the search, gum and 

 sugar, and there is comparatively little hard woody 

 matter. 



But we all know that the three substances first 

 named are digestible, nourishing articles of food, 

 while the fourth — woody fibres — is comparatively in- 

 digestible, and on this account little nourishing. — 

 Flere, then, is a plain reason why all such grivsses and 

 grains, as are designed for food for animals, should 

 be gathered before they are fully ripe, tliat is, while 

 they contain a large amount of digestible matter. 

 Wheat, for example, if cut eight or ten days before 

 fully ripe, contains a large proportion of starch, with 

 a thin skin, and v.'ill yield a large amount of flonr ; 

 but when it is fully ripe it is covered with a thick, 

 hard, woody skin, or bran, which has been formed 

 out of a part of its starch, and it will then yield a 

 much smaller proportion of flour. The sau'.e may be 

 said of its sugar and gum. This reasoning applies 

 equally to other grains as well as to straw, corn-slocks, 

 grasses, &c. 



Those portions of the grain which are to be used 

 solely for reproducing the plant — nnd this is the na- 

 tural design of all seeds — may be left to ripen natur-. 

 ally. The woody coating is designed as a protect- 

 ing covering. 



Having thus endeavored to state very briefly some 

 of the reas< nx for cutting grain early — and it must 

 be interestina^ to every one to understand these rea- 

 sons — we will clo.^e this article with to or three rules 

 which are not only sustained by theory but have 

 been fully jJi'Oved by careful practice and experi- 

 ment. 



1st. All grasses should be cut as soon as possible 

 after flowering. Much more than is gained in weight 

 after this is lost by the conversion of the nourishing 

 substance into hard, woody matter. 



2d. Corn, wheat, and all other grains designed for 

 food, should be gathered eight or twelve day.s before 

 fidly ripe. A simple method of determining this, is 

 to try the kernels with the thumb nail. Let the 

 gathering comm.ence immediately after the " milk" 

 begins to harden, but while the kernel still yields to 

 a gentle pressure of the nail. 



An acre of wheat, that, if cut when fully lipe, 

 would yield 800 lbs. of fine flour, will, if cut ten 

 days earlier, yield from 850 to 1000 Ib.s. of flour of a 

 better quality, while the straw will be much more 

 valuable for feeding. 



An acre of grass, which, when cut fidly ripe, would 

 yield 1000 lbs. nourishing digestible materials, and 

 2000 lbs. of woody matter, will, if cut 12 days ear- 

 fier, yield from lotio to 1800 lbs. of nourisiiing mat- 

 ter, and only 1200 to 1500 lbs. of woody materiala. 

 — American Agriculturist. 



