164 



CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 

 Fig. 22. 



August, in the north and in the centre of France, have 

 been a great obstacle to the harvest; much grain has been 

 taken in before being completely dry ; the ears were still 

 swollen with the dampness, a dampness which they retain 

 for a long time, even in the granaries. This grain, laid in 

 heaps, will ferment and acquire a bad taste, and favour the 

 increase of charengons and other insects if it is not often 

 removed. 'Le Nouvelle Agricole de Montdidier,' for the 

 year 1858, shows a way for preserving it much better than 

 the removal of the grain. This process consists in produc- 

 ing currents of air in the heaps by means of earthen pipes 



