1870. 



NEW ENGLAND FAK^IER. 



139 



PHOSPHATES IN WHEAT. 



XPERiMENTS to as- 

 certain the amount of 

 soluble and insoluble 

 phosphates in wheat, 

 upon which the nu- 

 tritive value of this 

 grain is supposed 

 chiefly to depend, 

 have been recently 

 made by an English 

 chemist, G. Calvert, 

 F. R. S. The re- 

 sults of his experi- 

 ments led him to in- 

 quire if the various 

 parts which constitute the grain of wheat, con- 

 tain the same amount and nature of phosphates 

 when separated by the successive and differ- 

 ent processes carried out by the miller. He 

 procured some sacks of wheat, and had the 

 wheat ground and bolted, and separated into 

 two qualities of coarse bran, and two of fine 

 bran and tlour. These he analyzed separately 

 and arrives at the conclusion tiiat the phos- 

 phates, especially the soluble phosphates, de- 

 crease gradually from the outer sections to- 

 wards the central ones ; thus while the flour 

 contains only a trace of soluble phosphates, 

 the bran contains a large quantity. 



The practical importance of this result he 

 expresses in the following words. "These 

 analyses clearly illustrate that although habit 

 and pride have gradually led us to prefer 

 white bread to brown, still this practice is an 

 error when we consider the nutritious proper- 

 ties of wheat, especially as food for children, 

 when phosphates are so essential to the forma- 

 tion of bone and blood; and medical men 

 would confer a great boon on society, if they 

 •were to impress the importance of feeding 

 children with a wheaten preparation in which 

 all the constituents of the grain were pre- 

 served." 



The phosphoric acid in wheat does not ex- 

 ist as a free acid, but is combined with potash, 

 magnesia, lime and iron ; the two first being 

 soluble and the two last insoluble. The sol- 

 uble phosphates contribute especially to the 

 formation of muscular fibre ; and the insolu- 

 ble furnish lime and iron to the bones and the 

 blood. 



The teaching of science in this respect is 



abundantly confirmed by experience. But 

 "habit and pride" pay little regard to either, 

 and suffer the penalty in puny and scrofulous 

 children, while our bread costs us double as 

 much as it would, if it were made of un- 

 bolted wheat. 



Feeding Bees. — At a recent meeting of the 

 Ohio Bee-keeper's Association, the opinion was 

 expressed, as reported in the Ohio Farmer, that 

 honey is the most profitable, as it is their only nat- 

 ural, and safe food. Crushed sugar had been used 

 with fair success, but the result was not good 

 enough to recommend it. Dr. Conklin was in the 

 habit of removing from a full hive one or two 

 cards of comb containing j'oung bees, and place 

 them in a new hive with a small supply of honey. 

 He introduces queen bees by an artificial process, 

 not waiting for them to be reared in the natural 

 course, thus saving much time in propagating. 

 He said that the greatest profit in raising bees is 

 obtained by keeping the swarms large and vigor- 

 ous. One stock in May is worth four in July. If 

 fed on rye or oat meal until natural "pollen" can 

 be obtained, the prolific queens will lay from two 

 to three thousand eggs per day during the propa- 

 gating season. 



Caledonia County (Vt.), Agricultural So- 

 ciety. — At the annual meeting of the Caledonia 

 Agricultural Society, held at St. Johr-sbury, Vt., 

 Jan. 18, the following board of officers was elected 

 for the year ensuing : — 



Harley M. Hall, East Burke, President ; Chas. 

 A. Sylvester, Barnet, Calvin Morrill, St. Johns- 

 bury, Vice Presidents; I. W. Sanborn, Lj'ndon, 

 Elisha May, St. Johnsbury, Chas. E. Parks, 

 Waterford, A. P. Walter, Burke, C. J. B, Har- 

 ris, Danville, H. C. Hastings, St. Johnsbury, 

 Secretaries ; C. M. Stone, St. Johnsbury, Treas- 

 urer. The attendance at the annual meeting was 

 "unusually large, and the interest manifested for 

 the prosperity and success of the Society and its 

 annual exhibitions evinced the true spirit of pro- 

 gress on the part of the farmers of the county. 



Lyndo7iville, Vt., 1870. I. W. Sanrorn. 



Farmer's Club.— The farmers of Caledonia 

 County, Vt., recently met in St. Johnsbury, and 

 organized a County Fanners' Club, with the fol- 

 lowing board of officers : — J. R. Kinerson, of 

 Pcacham, President; J. G. Hovey, St. Johnsbury, 

 A, Warden, Barnet, Jonathan Lawrence, Water- 

 ford, I. W. Sanborn, Lyndon, Vice Presidents; 

 and D. K. Simonds, St. Johnsbmy, Secretary. 

 Executive Committee, E. A. Parks, E. L. Hovey, 

 Horace Paddock. The meetings are held every 

 Friday afternoon, and thus far they have been 

 well attended, and the discussions animated and 

 interesting. i- w. 8. 



