# 
THE RURAL HEW-YORKER. 
plump, white and very heavy, but somewhat 
soft. It ripens here by the 27th of June. 
The Lancaster is an old, red variety, which 
bo closely resembles the Mediterranean as 
to be almost indistinguishable from it. Like 
the Mediterranean, it has an extremely soft 
straw, but the grain is of excellent quality. It 
Is a day or two later in ripemng than the 
Golden Straw. In productiveness the Velvet 
Chaff and Lancaster have so far been superior 
to the Golden Straw, on this farm ; the differ¬ 
ence, however, has been partly due to the 
greater tendency' to tiller manifested by the 
former varieties, making it necessary to sow 
a larger quantity of seed of the latter. 
The Treadwell and Diehl (see page 591) 
are white varieties which have been cultivated 
for some years in different sections. The former 
has a long, open head, with a white chaff, partly 
bearded and partly smooth; the latter is re¬ 
markable for the compactness with which the 
grains are crowded together, making the heads 
appear very short. This variety would prob¬ 
ably yield large crops under favorable circum¬ 
stances. but in one single trial it has been both 
late and disposed to lodge badly. 
The Lincoln and Powers (seepage591)are 
new varieties of white wheat, originating, I 
believe, in Michigan. Our sample of the former 
was so badly mixed that weeaunotspeak of the 
quality of the wheat. The latter has a very 
white, hard grain, and promises to be of value. 
We have not tested the four varieties last named 
sufficiently to speak with authority of their 
comparative produetivenes. C. E. Thorne. 
Ohio State University. 
-- 
THE “NEW PROCESS ” OF FLOUR-MAKING. 
The so-called “ New Process” of grinding 
wheal is one of the most, important technical 
improvements of thepresentcentury. inasmuch 
as it adds at least one dollar to the market 
value of every barrel of flour manufactured 
under it, besides producting from every bushel 
of wheat several pounds of flour more than can 
be obtained by the ordinary method of grinding. 
It is claimed that the process is not intrinsically 
new, but that it has for some time been in use 
among Scotch, French and German millers, 
and that the flour of which the celebrated 
Vienua bread is made, has for a long time been 
ground in this fashion. But if the process bus 
not been recently invented in this country, 
great improvements iu connection with it have 
already been made here beyond dispute; an 
extraordinary amount of attention has been 
directed to milling operations since its intro¬ 
duction, and there is, therefore, a 6troug prob¬ 
ability that still more vaLuable improvements 
will be devised in the near future. 
The most suitable kinds of wheat for this 
process, are the bard spring sorts, such as 
those grown in Minnesota, although all kinds 
are used with more or less satisfactory results. 
The cleaning of the wheat before grinding is 
much more essential here than in the ordin¬ 
ary method of milling. For this purpose the 
grain before reaching the garners, passes 
through a screen or sieve, a separator, a decor¬ 
ticating machine and a smutter. It is then run 
through “French burr” stones with a peculiar 
“ dress " which is not so sharp as for ordinary 
grinding. The stones, too, are farther apart, 
the running one being raised more than usual, 
hence, the term “ high grinding ” applied to it. 
This takes off the bran without cutting it up 
or removing the fuzz from one end of it, and 
leaves the grain broken up into granules, 
technically known as “chop” commercially 
“Graham." This passes directly into a bolting 
chest furnished with three successive bolting 
cloths of different degrees of fiuencss. 
Here the flour is sorted into No. 1 and No. 3 
“family" flour, 20 per cent of the produce of 
the wheal going into the former and 13 per 
cent into the latter, in some of our Eastern 
mills; but in the West the proportions are 
generally considerably smaller. The remainder 
of the "chop” passes into another bolting 
chest, where the bran is separated from the 
“ middlings” and thence the latter pass into 
the purifier, a machine intended to get rid of 
all impurities lighter than the farina, by means 
of a draft of air which lifts them from the 
sieve. The “ purified middlings” are then 
regrotind, and the flour iu passing through 
another set of bolts, yields a certain proportion 
of New Process flour. In some of our Eastern 
mills this amounts to only 13 per cent., but in 
the West by separating tbe stones more, as 
high as 60 per cent, of the wheat can often be 
made into “middlings,” from which alone the 
New Process flour is manufactured. In that 
case, however, the residue is very poor indeed, 
so that it has been found most profitable to 
make only 30 per cent, of “Patent” or “ New 
Process" flour, an arraugerneut that loaves the 
remainder a fair grade of “family” flour. 
After the separation of the New Process flour 
the remainder of the “ chop” is again reground, 
and the product separated iuto No. 3 flour, No. 
1 feed and a small percentage of screenings 
and waste. 
The Patent or New Process flour contains 
an unusually large proportion of the phos¬ 
phates and nitrogenous portions of tbe grain, 
and is therefore more nutritious us well as 
pnrer, whiter, finer and more valuable than 
ordiuary flour. Another important advan¬ 
tage of this method of grinding is that it brings 
into more profitable use the enormous quantity 
of spring wheat raised in tbe northwest¬ 
ern States and Territories, and adds at least 10 
per cent, to what the value of tbe crops would 
be if ground by tbe ordinary process. Before 
the introduction of Ibis method, these wheats 
were more or less neglected aud depreciated, 
but now it is found that they makefile beet 
quality of flour by tbe New Process. This is 
therefore a benefit alike to the farmer, the 
miller and the consumer. 
-» ♦ ♦- 
THE WHEAT GRAIN. 
Fig. 1 is a trauverse section of the coats of a 
wheat graiD, magnified 184 times ; a, is called 
theepiearp; b, a slight membrane underlying 
it; c, is the exterior of the seed which is var- 
Fig. 1, 
iously colored in different varieties, and deter¬ 
mines its white, amber or reddish color. From 
c to f is a matrix of gum, and this extends up 
the veins through the starch granules, g, g. 
Fig. 2 is merely a sectien of a grain cut through 
near the middle, the form of which, of course, 
varies in different varieties. 
-- 
WHEAT NOTES. 
In comparing the prices of wheat now with 
those of the last 17 years, it should be borne iu 
mind that the present rates are iu specie, 
while the former rates were in depreciated 
greenbacks. The crops of 1864, '06 and ’67, for 
instance, brought uuusually high prices, aver¬ 
aging iu Illinois, according to the Illinois crop 
report, 5*1.55, $1.93 aud $1.97 per bushel re¬ 
spectively, while the present crop is selling 
for an average of about 87c. But in July, 
1804, a dollar greenback was worth only 38.7 
cents, bo that $1.55 a bushel amounted only to 
GOe. in coin. At the same date in 1806 the soft 
dollar was equal to 00c. specie, and $1.93 
amounted only to $1.28 in hard money. In 
1867 the greenback dollar was equal to 71c., 
and $1.97 was about $1 41 iu coin. Moreover, 
the crops of the two last years were very 
short, so that what our farmers gained by 
high prices they lost by scant sales. 
The produce exchange of this city is prepar¬ 
ing to adopt the cental system iu dealing iu 
agricultural produce. Instead of 8,000 bushels 
of wheat, the present boat-load, they will buy 
4.800 centals, and instead of 10,000 bushels of 
oats, they will trade for 3,200 centals. Bids 
will also lie raised or lowered by tenths of a 
cent insiead of by quarters or eighths, as at 
present. The system is already iu practice in 
California, aud its adoption here will greatly 
simplify business transactions. 
“ Arnold’s Gold Medal Wheat is apparently 
our best cropper here,” writes to us Professor 
C. E. Thorne from Columbus, Ohio. “ Next 
come Velvet Chaff and Silver Chaff. We are 
much pleased with the latter on account of 
the stiffness of its straw, hardness of its grain, 
and its freedom from disease. The Clawson 
has ranked third in the list this year. Its straw 
seems to be growing softer, but its grain ap¬ 
pears to be improving in its flouring proper¬ 
ties.” 
PROXIMATE COMPOSITION OF WHEAT. 
w i a a 
2 -; = 
| § || 
SS 
* a 
? * 
Where 5 •»> 
: .- By Whom 
Oroian. § ; : S. 
> 
• : Analyzed. 
IN i & 
•; 
| : | : j— 
:■». 
Ill 
AJeace,. . m.s'59.7 7.2 
1.2 
1.7 
1.6 14.0 Boussinyault. 
Saxony...11.8 64.4 1.4 
2.6 
. 
1.6 15.6 Wunder. 
America.. 10.9 83.1 3.8 
1.2 
8.3 
1.6 10.8 Poison 
Flanders. 10.7,61.01 9.2 
1.11 
1.8 
1.7 14.6 Peliyot. 
Odessa_14.3 69.6 6.3 
1 .n 
1.7 
1.4 15.2 Pell got. 
Hungary 113.4 62.21 5.4 
i.i 
1.7 
1.7 14.6 Felly ot. 
Egypt_,20.6155.4 6.0 
i.i 
1.8 
1.6114.8 Peligot. 
COMPOSITION OF THE 
ASH 
OP 
THE WHEAT KERNEL. 
Potash 
1 I 
: § 
1 ?- 
V. 
Chlori 
Siliea. 
• is 
: ?* 
k, bt 
2 2 
■ 5 
Av. of 79 analyses 
r ?- 
according to 
Johnson . 
au 
3.2 12.3 
3.2 
4fi.l 
r*' 
1.9 
COMPOSITION OF 
THE 
ASH OF WHEAT 
STRAW AND 
CHAFF. 
Av. of In analyses 11.6 1.6 2.5 5.8 
0.7 5.3 2.5 69.1 1.1 
Iii Illinois the acreage and yield of spring 
wheat have declined greatly this year. In 22 
counties not an acre of it was sown; in 11 
counties less than 50 acres were sown, while 7 
more counties have had lees than 100 acres 
apiece. Only three counties produced no win-, 
ter wheat. The total quantity of spring wheat 
is estimated at only 3,376,400 bushels, while 
the winter wheat is put down at 42,041,252 
bushels. 
Careful calculations by two of England’s 
best agricultural statisticians, Thomas Scott 
and Arthur H. Savory, go to show that Eng¬ 
lish farmers cannot continue wheat-growing 
at the market prices of the present season. 
Their figures show that the average co6t of 
home-grown wheat was $1.47J per bushel, 
while the price of it was only $1.21. 
The English Board of Trade makes all its 
returns of agricultural products by weight, in 
cwts. of 113 pounds, so that each cwt. of wheat 
equals two bUBbels of 50 pounds each, while 
the ordinary English bushel of wheat contains 
61 pounds. 
The acreage under wheat in Great Britain 
for the last three years has been: 1877, 3,168,- 
540; 1878, 3,318,417; 1879, 2,890,136 acres. 
In view of recent heavy rains iu England, 
the Mark Lane Express predicts an early ad¬ 
vance in the price of breadstuffs. 
WHAT OTHERS SAY. 
Hessian Fly—Early vs. Late Sowing, 
etc.— From late discussions of the Elmira 
Club, we take the following, as reported in the 
Husbandman. W. A. Armstrong said: There 
were hundreds of wheat fields ruined by the 
fly last year, aud with its presence this year 
there would be similar loss. Late sowing ap¬ 
pears to be the only way to prevent the fly 
from continuing its depredations. The rule is 
to wait until after a killing frost before sowing 
the seed. The fly lays its eggs on the wheat 
leaves in the fall, they hatch there if the 
weather is suitable, the larva* deseeud to tbe 
roots of the plants, and in the following spring 
develop into flies that lay eggs to hatch in 
turn, but the larvte burrow in the stalks above 
the first joint usually, and arrest the ascend¬ 
ing sap, thus destroying the crop. Now with 
all these conditions met, this course would be 
repeated year after year, and wheat-raising 
would be attended with loss. Last t ill there 
was general apprehension that the fly would 
destroy the crop this year, so a new condition 
was provided to prevent its work. After a 
severe frost it does not deposit eggs, or if eggs 
are laid they will not hatch. So most farmers 
sowed later than usual, and if they have 
poor crops there ia compensation in tne 
fact that thej r are lid of the fly, and they may 
console themselves farther by the reflection 
that a poor crop is better than no crop, which 
would be the certain result of the fly’s con¬ 
tinuance. 
G. S. McCann—I don’t believe in late sowing 
—fly or no fly. Early-sowed wheat is always 
better. In my judgment, the recommendation 
to sow late has cost our farmers thousands of 
bushels of wheat. Wherever you find a good 
yield of wheat this year, you may find also 
that the seed was sowed early. 
Col. Piollct—What do you call late sowing ? 
G. 8. McCann—Seed sown In October is late. 
I prefer the last week in August. If I might 
set a limit of time, I would never sow later 
than the fifth of September, and with other 
chances equal, I should never fail to get 
greater crops than my neighbors who adopt 
the practice of late sowing. Even when the 
fly is troublesome, fuller suceess will attend 
early sowing. I know this is true by my own 
observation. 
A Simple way to Analyze Wheat Flour. 
—Any one may, in a small but correct manner, 
analyze wheat flour iu a very simple way, Bays 
J. B. Killebrew. Make a stiff dough of a given 
quantity of flour, put it in a linen bag, and let 
the linen be thick. Then knead it in water 
until the fluid that runs out ceases to have a 
milky appearance. Let the water settle and 
you will have the starch of the flour. The 
gluten remains in the bag, as water only swells 
it, but without dissolving It. Let tbe water stand 
and a white sediment will settle to the bottom. 
This is the starch, the principal ingredient of 
flour, and of all meals. Separate the water 
from the starch aud boil it, aud it becomes 
turbid aud lloceulent. This is vegetable albu- 
mcu. Separate this from the water by filter¬ 
ing, and boil tbe water remaining until it be¬ 
comes a thick syrup, and then add alcohol ; 
the alcohol will take up the sugar, but not the 
gum. Filter the alcohol, and the gum remains. 
Evaporate the alcohol and you have the sugar. 
Of course these are uot chemically pure, as the 
saline matters remain. Let ns go back to the 
bag that contains tbe mass. Here are the 
vegetable fiber and the gluten. Gluten is vege¬ 
table fibriue, and corresponds to the fibriue or 
muscle of animals. It is also seen iu the clot 
of blood, while albumeu is thuserum or watery 
part of blood. Thus we have iu this liitle 
grain all the elements of nutrition: fibriue or 
muscle-food ; starch and albumen, fat or beat- 
makers ; cellulose, the same as starch chemi¬ 
cally, but insoluble except by digestive fluids. 
It is this cellulose that envelopes the starch 
germ, etc., and is also called vegetable wool. 
It is the pith of wood, the liber of cotton, 
hemp, flax, etc. 
Whole Wheat for Fowls,— “ There is 
more solid nutriment,” says the Poultry World, 
“ in whole wheat, as a feed for poultry, than 
in any of tbe cereals, weight for weight. It is 
an excellent kind of grain for this use, though 
somewhat more expensive than other sorts; 
but too much of this hearty feed is detrimental, 
Jlerticulariy when carelessly tod to Cochins. 
Brahmas, etc. Fowls are very partial to wheat. 
It helps the laying capacity ol hens, but it should 
uot be used except with discretion as to tbe 
quantity allowed them daily. An excess ot this 
raw grain will induce a looseness iu the bowels 
very frequently. It is easy of digestion, and 
should be furnished iu moderation, as a need¬ 
ful and most desirable variety, in conjunction 
with other dry grains, such as cracked corn, 
oats, etc. If not more than one-third or one- 
fourth of wheat is allowed with the other cer¬ 
eals mentioned, for ordinary purposes in the 
laying-season, hens will do quite as well, and 
they can thus be kept in better average con¬ 
dition than by a greater allowance. We have 
proved this by frequent practical experiments 
in feeding." 
Hessian Fly and Phosphate.— “ My opin¬ 
ion,” says Mr. George A. Green, in the New 
York Tribune, “is that we have not yet gone 
far enough with our experiments to recom¬ 
mend a farmer to borrow money for the pur¬ 
chase of phosphate, it is claimed by some of 
our best farmers that the Hessian fly, which 
has been very destructive this season, does uot 
work so disastrously iu fields fertilized with 
phosphate. My observations have shown that 
where any fertilizer has been used liberally, 
this insect has done lesB mischief. 
“ • Is wheat our rnoBt profitable crop ?’ 
1 Yes,’ say nine out of ten farmers; ‘ if we 
want to raise money, nothing can be found 
that will bring in so much iu a lump.' But I 
say—no ! Wheat has uot paid so well as corn, 
barley, beans or potatoes, taking the average 
for many years past. Corn does not seem to 
bring in much money, for the reason that we 
consume it at home, the profit uppeariug iu 
big manure piles, in fat cattle, sheep and 
swine; whereas every bushel of wheat de¬ 
pletes our soil of much fertility, the straw be¬ 
ing of but little value except as au absorbent." 
White Russian Wheat: Of this variety 
of wheat referred to by our contributor to 
“Everywhere” from Chenango Co., N. Y., 
a correspondent of the Farm aud Fireside, 
writing from Prince George Co., Va., says 
that lust spring he procured a package of this 
wheat containing a wine-glassful. He se¬ 
lected a piece of poor laud of medium soli, 
manured it heavily with hog-pen manure, 
swamp mud and ashes, aud after thoroughly 
plowing and harrowing, sowed the wheat 
broadcast and harrowed it on the fourth day 
of March, in a few days it came up, looking 
very green aud thrifty, aud soon commenced 
branching. He never saw wheat branch to 
such an extent before; he counted twenty 
seven heads of wheat produced from one grain, 
and some of the heads six inches long. On 
the first day of July he harvested It and ob¬ 
tained one hundred and fifty-eight wine-glass¬ 
fuls, or one peek and nearly two quarts of 
wheat. 
Salt on Wheat. —The Montreal Gazette 
says that in an interesting series of experi¬ 
ments recently made on the farm of the Royal 
Agricultural Society' of England, the manure 
value of salt was unmistakably indicated. An 
acre of wheat dressed with 300 pounds of com- 
mou salt, yielded 39 bushels of grain, with its 
proportionate amount of Btruw, while an ad¬ 
joining acre left uuuianured, produced only 29 
bushels per acre, with the straw imperfectly 
developed. 
