VOLUME III..NO. 30. f- 
ROCHESTER, N. Y-THURSDAY, JULY n, 1851 
l WHOLE NO. 134. 
Ignrullimil Dtjinrtratnt 
PISOKKESS AN© IMPROVEMENT. 
CUTTING WHEAT EARLY. 
The best time for cutting wheat, so as to 
secure the greatest weight and value of both 
grain and straw, has been found by repeated 
and carefully conducted experiments to bo 
before it is fully ripo. About ten days be¬ 
fore this period, is the medium pointed out 
by different trials in different countries.— 
Mr. Hannam, of Yorkshire, England, some 
years since communicated to tho Journal of 
Agriculture, a detailed account of wheat 
cut at five different times, from “ quito 
green” until “dead ripo,” covering a period 
of four weeks. That cut a fortnight before 
it was ripe, gave an advantage in point of 
weight of gross produce of 13 1-5 per cent.; 
in weight of equal measures of nearly \ per 
cent.; in.weight of equal number of grains 
of 2J per cent. It was superior in quality 
and valuo of grain, above tho other speci¬ 
mens 3j per cent.; and in weight of straw 
5 per cent. That reaped ten days before 
it was ripe was nearly equal to that cut as 
above, which shows that tho commencement 
of harvest should not bo delayed later than 
a full fortnight before tho ripening of tho 
grain. 
In the Transactions of tho N. Y. Agri¬ 
cultural Society for 1849, wo find notes of 
an experiment mado by J. J. Thomas, of 
Macodon, wife cut wheat at five different 
periods within a month, with tho saino re¬ 
sult, so far as noted, as in the experiments 
of Mr. IIannam. Tho weight of one hun¬ 
dred kernels of wheat, cut when the “ heads 
were mostly yellow, and still erect, with a 
few streaks of green in the chaff,” exceeded 
that of tho samo number of seeds fully ripo, 
two grains weight—tho ono sample weigh¬ 
ing 55, and the other 53 grains. 
Many other experiments havo confirmed 
tho above, and proved that wheat cut from 
ono to two weeks previous to its becoming 
dead ripe, is plumper, woighs heavier, has 
less bran and more nutritive matter, than 
whon longer unharvested. As soon as the 
straw immediately below tho head turns 
yellow — becoming hard and dry two or 
three inches in length—it is evident that no 
more nourishment can bo received from tho 
root, and that both straw and grain must 
deteriorate instead of advancing in value. 
The straw becomes more woodlike in tex¬ 
ture, and tho skin of tho grain acquires 
greater thickness, as do all such seeds at 
full maturity. Tho straw is worth nearly 
one-fourth more as food for cattle, than 
that which stands until bleached and dry. 
Among other reasons for early cutting, is 
tho fact that it gives more time for tho 
work, not crowding tho whole business of 
harvesting into a few days, when wheat must 
be cut or becomo materially injured from 
over-ripening and consequent shelling and 
waste, or liable to suffer from bad weather 
by growing in tho ear. Rust, too, often 
very destructive to tho wheat crop, gener¬ 
ally makes its appearance within a few days 
previous to the ripening of the grain.— 
When it does appear, tho soonor the wheat 
is cut the less the injury it receives from 
this cause. Whether tho ravages of the 
weevil would be checked by early harvesting, 
wo have not beon able to learn, but we be¬ 
lieve that it would hindor in some degreo 
the work of destruction now going on in so 
many of our golden grain fields. 
In cutting wheat while a portion of the 
straw is yet green, greater attention is ne¬ 
cessary to curing, of course, than when it is 
f ully ripe. It is a good plan to let it lio in 
the swath for a part of tho day, and tho 
bundles should in all cases bo made smaller 
sized. It will need also to remain in the 
shock for a longer period, but if properly 
put up, little injury need bo apprehended 
from occasional showers. For seed, it is 
thought wheat should becomo fully ripe._ 
This can bo easily managed by allowing a 
specified portion of the field to stand for 
that purpose. 
As to the philosophy of early harvesting, 
Prof. Norton holds the following language: 
“ Tho time of cutting grain very sensibly 
affects tho proportion of fine flour and bran 
yielded by samples of it. Careful experi¬ 
ments have shown, with regard to w heat, 
that when cut from 10 to 14 days before it 
is fully ripe, tho grain not only weighs heav¬ 
ier, but measures more; it is positively bet¬ 
ter in quality, producing a larger propor¬ 
tion of fine flour to the bushel. When the 
grain is in tho milk, there is but little woody 
fibre ; nearly every thing is starch, gluten, 
sugar, &c., with a large per centage of 
water. If cut 10 or 12 days before full 
ripeness, tho proportion of woody fibre is 
still small; but as the grain ripens, tho 
thickness of tho skin rapidly increases, 
woody fibre being formed at the oxpense of 
tho starch and sugar; these must obviously 
diminish in a corresponding degree, the 
quality of the grain being of course injured. 
The same thing is true as to all of tho other 
grains.” 
This subject has before been spoken of in 
the Rural, but as it is of great importance 
to many of our readers who may not have 
seen tho previous volumes, we need mako 
no excuses for again calling attention to tho 
proper time of cutting wheat. 
THE FLAX MANUFACTURE- 
Messrs,. Coan & Chase, of Medina, N. Y., 
write us for information in regard to the de¬ 
mand for flax straw by manufacturers of 
flax cotton. Can any of our readers give 
any thing definito in answer to their inqui¬ 
ries ? Wo annex their note below : 
“ Eds. Rural :—Connected with our bu¬ 
siness of manufacturing Linseed Oil, we con¬ 
tract more or less every year with farmers 
to grow flax for tho seed. Hitherto the 
straw has beon considered comparatively 
worthless, but of lato there has been con¬ 
siderable said and written on tho subject of 
‘flax cotton,’ which has created some anxi¬ 
ety in the farming community as to the ro- 
sult. A farmer in our town, Mr. II. N. Par¬ 
ker, a subscriber to your paper, who sowed 
several acres of flax for us this year, called 
on us a few days since, and directed our at¬ 
tention to an article in No. 19, of tho pre¬ 
sent volume of tho Rural, under tho Agri- 
cultural Department, £ About Flax and Flax 
Cotton.’ 
He wished us to write you, and ascertain 
whother there will bo any market for the 
Jlax straiv this fall, within a reasonable dis¬ 
tance of this place. Any information you 
could give on tho subject would bo thank¬ 
fully received.” 
We are unable to. give very definito an¬ 
swer as to tho prospective demand for this 
material. We learn from thoN. Y. Tribune 
that Dr. D. S. Leavitt of Ivy., aided by 
some friends of tho flax culture, is putting up 
linen machinery of his own invention, at 
Marcellus, Onondaga Co., N. Y. So far, 
says tho Tribune, it seems to promiso well. 
Tho proprietors of Claussen’s American 
Patent, havo a manufactory at Norwich, 
Conn., at which they mako tho Jlax wool at 
a cost of about 15 cents per pound. We have 
been shown specimens of the same, looking 
very much like ordinary fleece wool, and 
nearly as white and fine, and quite as strong. 
A factory for working this material is now 
going up at Fall River, Mass., at a cost of 
$ 200 , 000 . 
The editor of tho Tribune, who is quite 
enthusiastic on this subject, remarks: “ Tho 
day is at hand when Flax will rival Cotton 
as tho basis of cheap and serviceable fabrics, 
and greatly diminish the annual require¬ 
ment of Wool. Wo believe Flax Cotton, 
equal to Sea Island, can bo produced hero 
for six cents per pound. If, then, good 
Wool may be obtained from Flax at fifteen 
cents, there can bo no doubt that an im¬ 
mense breadth must bo ♦sown annually_ 
equal to that of wheat at present. And its 
cultivation will go far to stop tho ruinous 
drain of cash or other valuables from tem¬ 
perate to tho semi-tropical climes to pay for 
raw Cotton. Thoy will necessitate a more 
diversified industry at tho South, and thus 
benefit all sections. Success to Flax-Cotton.’ 
WHITE AND BROWN BREAD. 
Mr. Editor : — essay recently appeared 
in one of tho British magazines, from the 
pen of Professor Joiinston, upon tho nutri¬ 
tive qualities of bread now in use, the sub- 
stanco of which 1 intend to give your read¬ 
ers in this article, unaccompanied by any 
opinions of my own. Tho object of the 
essay in question, is to prove the superiority 
of bread mado from tho whole grain to that 
made according to the present custom,from 
tho whitest and finest portion of tho wheat. 
The author says that tho solid parts of the hu¬ 
man body consist principally of threo several 
portions ; the fat, tho muscle, and tho bone. 
These threo substancos are liable to con¬ 
stant waste in the living body, and there¬ 
fore must bo constantly renewed from the 
food that wo eat. Tho vegetable food we 
consumo contains these threo substances 
almost ready formed. Tho stomach picks 
them out, and by the involuntary move¬ 
ments of its machinery, each is deposited in 
that portion of tho body where it is needed. 
After this statement of facts, the author 
lays down tho self-evident proposition that, 
“that food must be tho most nourishing 
which supplies all these ingredients of the 
body most abundantly on the whole, or in 
proportions most suited to tho actual wants 
of the individual to whom it is given.” Ilow, 
then, ho asks, stands tho question, in regard 
to this point, between tho white broad and 
the brown, tho fino flour and the whole meal 
of wheat; which important question he an¬ 
swers as follows: 
“ Tho grain of whoat consists of two parts, 
with which tho miller is familiar—tho imier 
grain and the skin that covers it. Tho inner 
grain gives tho pure whoat flour; tho skin, 
when separated, forms tho bran. The mil¬ 
ler cannot entirely peel off the skin from 
his grain, and thus some of it is unavoidably 
ground up with his flour. By sifting, he 
separates it moro or less completely; his 
seconds, middlings, &c., owing their color to 
the proportion of brown bran that has passed 
through tho siovo along with tho flour.— 
The whole meal, as it is called, of which tho 
so named brown household bread is made, 
consists of the entire grain ground up to¬ 
gether—used as it comes from tho mill¬ 
stones unsifted, and therefore containing all 
the bran. 
The first whito flour, therefore, may be 
said to contain no bran, while tho whole 
moal contains all that grew naturally upon 
the grain. 
What is tho composition of thoso two 
portions of tho seed? How much do they 
respectively contain of tho several constit¬ 
uents of tho animal body? How much of 
each is contained also in tho whole grain? 
1. The fat. Of this ingredient a thou¬ 
sand pounds of tho 
Whole grain contain,.28 ftp. 
Fine Flour “ .20 “ 
Bran ..<50 “ 
So that the bran is much richer in fat than 
the interior part of tho grain, and tho whole 
grain ground together (whole meal) richer 
than the finer part of the flour in tho pro¬ 
portion of nearly one-half. 
2. The muscular matter. I havo had no 
opportunity as yot of ascertaining the rel¬ 
ative proportions of this ingredient in the 
bran and fine flour of the same sample of 
grain. Numerous experiments, however, 
havo been mado in my laboratory, to deter¬ 
mine these proportions in tho fino flour and 
whole seed of several varieties of grain.— 
Tho general rosult of those is, that the 
whole grain uniformly contains a larger 
quantity, weight for weight, than tho fine 
flour extracted from it does. The particu¬ 
lar results in tho case of whoat and Indian 
corn were as follows :—A thousand pounds 
of tho whole grain and of tho fino flour con¬ 
tained ot muscular matter respectively,_ 
Whole Grain, Fine Flour. 
Wheat.150 lbs. l:j<) lbs. 
Indian Corn,.... 140 “ 110 “ 
Of tho material out of which tho animal 
muscle is to bo formed, tho whole meal or 
grain of wheat contains ono fifth more than 
tho finest flour does. For maintaining mus¬ 
cular strength, therefore, it must bo moro 
valuable in an equal proportion. 
2. Bone material and Saline matter. —Of 
these mineral constituents, as they may be 
called, of tho animal body, a thousand 
pounds of bran, whole meal and fine flour, 
contain respectively,— 
Bran,.700 fts. 
Whole Moal.170 “ 
Fine Flour,.00 “ 
So that in regard to this important part 
of our food, necessary to all living animals, 
but especially to the young who are grow¬ 
ing, and tho mother who is giving milk—tho 
whole moal is three times more nourishing 
than tho fino flour. 
Our case is now mado out. Weight for 
weight, tho wholo grain or meal is more rich 
in all these three essential elements of a 
nutritive food, than tho fine flour of wheat. 
By thoso whose only desire is to sustain 
their health and strength by tho food they 
cat, ought not tho wholo meal to bo pre¬ 
ferred? To children who aro rapidly grow¬ 
ing, the browner tho bread they eat, tho 
more abundant tho supply of the materials 
from which their increasing bones and mus¬ 
cles are to be produced. To tho milk-giv¬ 
ing mother, the samo food, and for a simi¬ 
lar reason, is tho most appropriate. 
A glance at .their mutual relations in ro- 
gard to the#hrco substancos, presented in 
ono view, will show this moro cloarly. A 
thousand pounds of each contain of tho 
threo several ingredients the following pro¬ 
portions : 
Whole Moal. Fine Flour. 
Muscular matter,. . 
. .150 fts. 
130 fts. 
Bone material,. . .. 
. .170 “ 
00 “ 
Fat,.. 
.. . 28 “ 
20 “ 
Total in each,. 
. . 350 
210 
Taking tho threo ingredients, theroforo, 
together, tho whole meal is one half more 
valuable for fulfilling all tho purposes of 
nutrition than the fino flour—and especial¬ 
ly is it so in regard to tho feeding of tho 
young, the prognant, and thoso who under¬ 
go much bodily fatigue. 
It will not bo denied that it is for a wiso 
purpose that tho Deity has so wisely asso¬ 
ciated, in the grain, the soveral substances 
which arc necessary for tho complete nutri¬ 
tion of animal bodies. The above conside¬ 
rations show how unwise wo are in attempt¬ 
ing to undo this natural collocation of ma¬ 
terials. To please the eye and the palate, 
we sift out a less generally nutritive food— 
and to mako up for what wo have removed, 
experience teaches us to have recourso to 
animal food of various descriptions.” 
Having thus proved his assertions theo¬ 
retically, tho author adduces, as additional 
ovidenco, the fact mentioned by Majendie 
and others, that animals which died in a few 
weeks if fed entirely upon fine flour, lived 
for a long time upon whole meal bread. 
Ho alludes also to tho case of tho pork- 
grower, who often wonders at tho remark¬ 
able fattening effect which so apparently 
woody and useless a material as bran has 
upon his animals. 
Tho question of tho saving of flour, re¬ 
sulting from the uso of the whole, instead 
of tho finest portion only of tho wheat, (a 
most important consideration in Great Bri¬ 
tain at tho present time) is then considered. 
Tho statements already made prove that, 
taking all the three sustaining elements of 
food into consideration, tho coarse bread is 
one half more nutritivo than the fine.— 
Leaving a wide margin, ho estimates it as 
one-eighth more nutritive. Ho then esti¬ 
mates tho amount of husk or bran separa¬ 
ted from tho flour as one-eighth also of tho 
wholo; and concludes, therefore, that tho 
wheat of tho country would in this way bo 
mado to go one-fourth further than at pro- 
sent. 
In conclusion, however, our author al¬ 
ludes to the oatmeal and oaten cake of the 
Scottish peasantry, and advises them to ad¬ 
here to its use in preference to even tho 
brown bread made from wheat. Ho says, 
that taken weight for weight, the oat is more 
nutritivo than wheat, and for tho growing 
boy, tho hard working man, and “ portly 
matron,” is to bo preferred. j. s. G. 
Hanover, Pa, June, 1852. 
Our deods aro oft times better than our 
thoughts.— Festus. 
SHOCKING WHEAT. 
Messrs. Editors:— As tho yellow fields 
givo token that tho harvest is at hand, a 
few remarks may not be inappropriate 
upon tho bost method of shocking whoat to 
cure in the fields. loo often this business 
is dono at hap-hazard, and by the feebler 
workmen, and even by boys. The lattor 
may gather and bring tho sheaves together, 
but when the crop givos a stout yield, thero 
is no part of tho harvest work that requires 
moro strength in tho proper performance 
of it. 
Thero are various methods, but that most 
common and which most facilitates tho 
curing of tho wheat, is the longitudinal 
shock, where tho sheaves are placed two and 
two in a row. As to the number, a dozen 
seems to be quite enough, whilst it readily 
— when one wishes to know—gives the 
wholo number of sheaves in the fiold. 
Where this method is -preferred it should 
bo entrusted to a strong and faithful work¬ 
man. Ho grasps a sheaf in each hand, 
brings the tops together, pressing them 
closely as ho cliucks tho butts firmly to the 
ground, and at such an inclination to each 
othor as shall leave just enough space for 
tho air to circulate between and around tho 
sheaves. The next pair of sheaves, and so 
on to the end, are served in the samo man¬ 
ner, caro being had to sot them so firmly 
that thoy can stand of themselves, without 
leaning against the othors, the tops barely 
touching in tho row. To do it systemat¬ 
ically and symmetrically, and make it all 
thorough, the largest pair of sheaves should 
occupy tho centro, and tho smallest tho 
ends. Tho pairs, too, should bo as nearly 
equal in size as convenient, unless the ground 
bo sidling—which it should not be—when 
tho larger sheaf should take tho lower side. 
Tho shock should havo a north and south 
direction that either side may got an equal 
sharo of sunshire to aid in its evenly curing. 
When finished in this manner, it will show 
a sharp ridge, tho sides declining 25 or 
30 degrees, according to tho size of tho 
bundles. Tho winds can circulate freely 
through it. It will keep its position firmly 
against even very high winds, and will re¬ 
sist a good deal of rain without injury. 
Not a little wheat is injured in a catching 
harvest, by the careless half-and-half man¬ 
ner in which tho shocks are put up. Tho 
first fresh winds tumble down half tho 
sheaves, whilst tho rain much more freely 
saturates those that do stand. Let sufficient 
care bo given in tho first place by men stout 
enough for the business, and much loss of 
grain, time and patience may be avoided. 
T. E. w. 
BURNING LIME-—WIRE HEDGE FENCES. 
Eds. Rural : — I wish to bo informed 
through your paper of tho bost method of 
burning lime for agricultural purposes, and 
of tho proper form and dimensions of a 
kiln to hold ono thousand bushels. I wish 
also, to know how a kiln is constructed so 
as to burn limo constantly; that is, by ad¬ 
ding stono and fuel at the top and drawing 
lime from tho bottom. Perhaps some of 
your correspondents can givo the desired 
information. 
In liming land, what quantity should bo 
put upon an acre, and what is the best mode 
of applying it ? Is it a good plan to mix it 
with muck ? The soil on which I proposo 
using limo, is one on which thero was for¬ 
merly a heavy growth of beach and maple ) 
interspersed with bass-wood, elm, and white 
and black ash. 
A correspondent of tho Rural some time 
since recommended planting trees as posts 
for wire fences. I would like to know if 
there is any hardy briar, thorn or rose, that 
can bo planted between tho trees and woven 
in among the wires so as to make a highly 
ornamental fence. I am led to make this 
inquiry from the fact that I have a wire trel¬ 
lis or support for my raspberries, that looks 
beautifully, and would turn any thing that 
might bo disposed to pass through. Thero 
aro, however, two serious objections to their 
uso as a hedge. Tho cancs die down each 
