THE GENESEE FARMER. 



113 



succeeded in raising fair crops of corn and wheat 

 (the land being very poor). Clover was seeded on 

 the wheatj and lime applied on the clover, to be 

 pastured and surface manured for the next corn 

 croj). This season, I have raised near thirty 

 bushels ©f wheat from corn ground so manured. 

 My neighbors are beginning to think my way of 

 manuring has something in it, although they en- 

 joyed a good many jokes at my folly in putting 

 out manure for the sun to dry up and the rain to 

 wash away. I have followed the same system now 

 for ten years, and shall continue to do so. I am 

 now cultivating several hundred acres, and seed 

 w'heat on fallow, but use my manure on the grass 

 for my corn crop the succeeding year. 



Eus Corner, Kent Co., ML ABEL V. EUS. 



ON BHEADSTUFFS. 



Eds. Geneske Farmek: — There are certain insects 

 which can only live on a single plant ; the cabbage 

 butterfly grub, the willow moth grub, and many 

 others, live exclusively on the plants from which 

 ' they derive their names. Certain nomadic tribes 

 in South America live exclusively on nuts (Brazil 

 nuts?), and until late years the bread-fruit furnished 

 food almost exclusively to certain people in the 

 Pacific Islands. But that civilized people should 

 live 80 very exclusively on one of the cereals — 

 wlieat, that its threatened destruction should cause 

 jthe panic that prevailed throughout Canada and 

 khe Northern States of the Union, shows either 

 that our choice of breadstutFs was sadly limited, or 

 ithat there was "some fault somewhere." 



I admit candidly that this reliance solely on 

 'wheat is not confined to this continent, that it is 

 much worse in England, and not very diflferent 

 throughout Europe; but, as two blacks do not 

 make a white, and as we do and can raise Indian 

 corn or maize — a native grain — in abundance, which 

 ; 3an not be grown in England, I think I am quite justi- 

 fied in asserting that, on this continent, to exclusively 

 , ise wheat for our bread, is as absurd as it would be 

 : -0 uj-e beef alone for our ilesh meat, salmon alone 

 ibr our fish, and turkies exclusively for our poultry. 

 They are undoubtedly the best of their kinds, and 

 he most desirable in many respects; but other 

 juadrupede, fish and birds are eaten and enjoyed. 

 V egetables we eat of various kinds (perhaps a little 

 ;oo much given to the potato), but it is in bread 

 ind kindred preparations only, that we adhere to 

 . ivheat alone. 



I am of course aware of the existence of hominy, 



jarap, johnny-cake, mush and kindred preparations. 



, [ am also quite acquainted with the "corn and rye" 



: Ibread of New Jersey, and of the rye and other 



: ibread made by our German settlers; but these are 



: sxceptions, and, unless in very limited localities, 



-; every one wants wheaten bread. 



j I Now again, I confess wheat to be the best 



J i" breadstuff," when properly prepared. It is just 



)- about ae nourishing as the rest of the ceralia, and 



;: lis very agreeable, and, above all, "ferments," and 



; makes "bread," properly so called. All this is 



admitted, and no more need be said in the matter. 



But the same might be said of beef, salmon and 



f turkies, and still mutton, pork, lamb, chickens, 



ducks and geese are eaten. Why then should not 



: Indian corn, barley, oats, peas and beans form the 



daily food of every one? 



"To those who have crossed the seas the horizon 

 may have shifted, but the- mind remains the same." 

 I may add that governments may be altered and 

 the people remain the same. The idea of gentility 

 attached to the use of wheaten bread, now some 

 four or five hundred years old, has more to do with 

 the mattei' than is commonly thought. In the 

 thirteenth and fourteenth centaries, bread was made 

 from rye, oats, barley, beans and peas, either sepa- 

 rate or mixed ; sometimes sown and reaped together, 

 called meslin; sometimes mixed, sometimes pure, 

 but always coarsely ground and roughly prepareil. 

 Wheat, on the other hand, was always ground 

 tolerably fine, and made into manchets and various 

 other forms of fine bread, and also into pastry. If 

 used by the middling or poorer classes, it was ground 

 coarse, and generally consumed by Christmas ; after 

 v/hich rye or barley bread, then bread made of oats 

 and peas, then oats, peas and beans, and, if there was 

 a late harvest, at last beans and straw with mill 

 offal. The fine wheat flour bread was always the 

 delicate food, the luxury, the genteel diet. 



Now when, by a greater equality of condition, 

 better agriculture and better grinding, wheat flour 

 became attainable, all classes wanted it and rejected 

 all other food. Improvements in grinding took 

 place in wheat only ; those who consumed the 

 coarser grains, used them as their ancestors did — 

 nay, boasted how they preferred the coarse meal 

 of their ancestors; the Scotchman prides himself 

 upon his coarse oat-meal, and the New Englander 

 on his using the coarse meal his forefathers learned 

 to use from the Indian. 



Now, it is all this I wish to combat, to show that 

 we can prepare bread — really sucli — from other 

 grain besides wheat, and that very many articles 

 of luxury may be manufactured totally independent 

 of that grain; so that if ever again visited by the 

 destruction of the wheat crop, we may feel capable 

 of waiting patiently until the scourge is over. 



Wheat flour is prepared of various degrees of 

 fineness, and the tendency lately is to use the finest 

 only. The reason of this is chiefly that where the 

 bran, shorts or middlings are left In, either in the 

 usual state or where ground over, the flour has a 

 tendency to get sour. Spring wheat flour is par- 

 ticularly subject to fermentation, and sells at a 

 low price in consequence. The flour containing 

 re-ground offal, or made from spring wheat, is much 

 more nutritive and ferments easier than pure fall 

 wheat extra flour, but will not Tceep. 



Now, the only remedy for this is the kiln. Not 

 to dry the wheat, for then it grinds badly; but to 

 dry the flour until the want of moisture makes it 

 keep "in any climate," would enable the North and 

 West to send their flour to the West Indies, would 

 make it sell in the place of the "Southern" brands, 

 such as the "Charleston Mills," and other noted 

 descriptions, and, in short, would make " Western 

 spring wheat flour" as useful as "Pure Genesee," 

 made from " Canada white wheat." 



As the kiln is absolntely necessary in preparing 

 "flour" from all other grains besides wheat, and 

 especially from Indian corn, I begin with'this. We 

 must have flour kilns. These kilns can be made in 

 different ways. Inclined planes, shifting to different 

 degrees of steepness, on the top of hollow cshests 

 filled with steam; hollow tubes filled with steam, 

 . having external screws to push the flour from the 



