1867. 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



345 



HAKVESTLRTG THE SMALL GBAXNS. 

 ERY little critical observa- 

 tion has been given by our 

 people as to the particu- 

 lar period in the growth of wheat, 

 barley, rye, and oats, when it is 

 best to cut them, to secure the larg- 

 est amount and best quality of the 

 nutriment which they severally con- 

 tain. A few careful experiments have been 

 made by American farmers, and many in Eng- 

 land and other European countries. Where- 

 ever they have occurred, the testimony is uni- 

 form that in, order to secure the best results, 

 grain should be cut some days before it is fully 

 ripe. 



In the harvest which will soon take place, 

 there will be opportunity for every farmer to 

 test the question for himself, by cutting a por- 

 tion of his grain at that moment when the ker- 

 nel or berry is fully formed, but so soft that 

 when he squeezes it between his thumb nails 

 he can reduce it to a pulp, and notice a slightly 

 milky juice in the mashed mass. Then leave 

 a portion of the grain standing ten or twelve 

 days later, and upon threshing, cleaning up, 

 grinding and using, carefully compare the re- 

 sults. 



If this course were adopted by three or four 

 intelligent farmers in every neighborhood, and 

 reported to the agricultural papers, it would 

 do much to settle the question and introduce a 

 practice which, in the aggregate, would save 

 many thousands of dollars to the farmers of 

 New England. In the West it might be mil- 

 lions. 



According to an experiment by Mr. John 

 Hannam, of North Deighton, England, it was 

 evident that the wheat reaped a fortnight be- 

 fore it was ripe, had the advantage of the ripe 

 in every point. 



1. In weight of gross produce, 13 1-5 per 

 cent. 



2. In weight of equal measures, nearly 1-2 

 per cent. 



3. In weight of equal number of grains, 

 nearly 2 1-5 per cent. 



4. In quality and value, 3 1-4 per cent. 



5. In weight of straw, more than 5 per cent. 

 Some of the advantages, then, in cutting 



grain before it is fully ripe, besides the better 

 quality and the intrinsic value of nfiore than 

 three and one-fourth per cent, are : 



1. That the straw is of a better quality, 

 which is an item of importance, now that all 

 kinds of fodder for horses and cattle are sell- 

 ing at prices entirely unprecedented, we be- 

 lieve, in this or any other country. Sir H. 

 Davy says that in the sap of wheat, the straw, 

 and in all succulent plants, there is naturally 

 a great proportion of mucilaginous and sac- 

 charine matter, and the greatest proportion of 

 this is present before the flower is dead ripe. 

 So in wheat, when we allow the straw to re- 

 main till thoroughly ripe, a portion of the sugar 

 is converted, by the action of light, heat, &c., 

 into mucilage, and a great proportion of the 

 nutritive powers are absorbed by the atmos- 

 phere, or lost in some manner; for, as Mr. 

 Sinclair observes, there is a great difference 

 between straws or leaves that have been dried 

 after they were cut in a succulent state, and 

 those which are dried by nature while growing. 

 The former retain&W their nutritive powers, but 

 the latter i£ completely dry, very little, if any. 

 2. We have a better chance of securing the 

 crop. All grasses and grains are more readily 

 and cheaply harvested in July than in August. 

 The days are long, the sun hot, the atmos- 

 phere more clear and with more air than later 

 in the season. So that, if we cut grain ten 

 days or a fortnight before it thoroughly ripens, 

 we shall be quite likely to have secured the 

 whole harvest at about the time when we have 

 heretofore just commenced it. 



THE CUKCULIO. 



The Prairie Farmer of June 1 closes some 



remarks upon the ravages of this insect on the 



peach crop in Southern Illinois, and of the 



means adopted for its destruction, with the 



following paragraph : 



The Editor of the New England Farmer as- 

 serts in his last issue that, in spite of this insect's 

 numbers and depredations, entomologists are ig- 

 norant of its manner of passing the winter, or 

 what becomes of it at that time. This is a mis- 

 take. Entomologists know, and most fniit men 

 know, said editor to the contrary notwithstanding, 

 that the curculio hibernates in the perfect or beetle 

 state, and its natural history is as well known as 

 that of the cow. 



This we regard as a rather strong represen- 

 tation of our language, and as a pretty strong 

 statement of the knowledge claimed by ento- 

 mologists of the history of the curculio from 

 the time it assumes the perfect state in July or 

 August, to its appearance on the young fruit 

 the succeeding spring. 



