694 
Now, the value of the flour, bran, and pollard, of 23 
bushels of No. 1 was found to be £1: 4: 103; 
therefore, 2°86 bushels give a value of £1: 5: 108. 
Similarly, the value of the flour, pollard, and bran 
of No. 2 was £1 : 3: 64; whence the worth of 3°16 
bushels is £1: 9:83. To these values of Nos. 1 
and 2, add respectively 3s. 9d. and 3s. 63d., the 
value of the straw from each, and we have for esti- 
mated produce of 20 perches of No. 1, £1: 9: 73; 
and of No. 2, £1: 13:3. The following will there- 
fore be as correct an approximation of the values of 
the acre cut at the times stated, as it is possible to 
come at:— 
No. 1, quite green, - - = - £11 17 0 
No. 2, green, = = - - - 13 6 0 
No. 3, raw, Be ai ee) eS Le SiO 
No. 4, not quite so raw, = = - 14 17 4 
No. 5, ripe, - = - - = 13 11 8 
Showing a loss, of £1: 14: 8 per acre upon No. 1, 
as compared with No. 5; a loss of 5s. 8d. per acre 
upon No. 2, do. do.; and a gain of £1: 6:4 per 
acre upon No. 3, as compared with the ripe, and of 
£3: 1s. per acre, as compared with the green cut 
No. 1. Let me here observe, that much as the ad- 
vantage is on the side of the raw (No. 3) wheat, it 
would, I have no doubt, have been somewhat more, 
had not the sheaves been subject, in a slighter degree 
than Nos. 1 and 2, to the pillage of the birds. For 
although No. 3 produced as much in measure as No. 
5, it is reasonable to suppose that it should have pro- 
duced more, as the waste caused by reaping and 
stacking the ripe was much greater than that made 
in harvesting the raw cut wheat. And in so small a 
number of shocks, a very few visits from the winged 
legions were sufficient to carry away more than was 
wasted of No. 5. But this is of no import: with 
the yield alike, the advantage of No. 3 over the ripe 
is striking enough. It is an advantage gained not in 
any point open to variation or uncertainty: it is not 
a superiority merely in gross quantity of produce, 
which many things might have tended to produce; 
but a superiority in the quality of the article pro- 
duced,—a better adaptation of the grain to make 
flour, and that to an extent by no means trifling. 
Thus, from data already given, we can clearly show 
that, by wheat being cut raw, we have a gain of 15} 
per cent. compared with ripe, of flour, upon equal 
measures, and a gain in the weight of straw of 14 
per cent.,—advantages which afford us a clear gain 
of 524 lbs. of flour upon every quarter of wheat, — 
a gain of 7s. 43d. in the value of every quarter of 
wheat,—a gain of 7s. 64d. in the value of every 
quarter of wheat, and the straw producing it,—a 
gain of £1:6:4 upon every acre producing 28 
bushels, and of £1: 8:24 upon every acre producing 
30 bushels, the quantity assumed as the basis of my 
calculations in my fermer experiment. 
‘* But there are other advantages arising from the 
early reaping, which, though they cannot be esti- 
mated by pounds, shillings, and pence, are not the 
less valuable. For the sake of brevity, these ad- 
vantages may be thus epitomised:—with an addi- 
tional quantity of flour and straw, already considered, 
we have a better quality of both, a better chance of 
securing them, and a saying in securing them. 
‘¢The quality of flour as an article of food, and 
its power of affording nutrition to the body, are uni- 
versally allowed to depend upon the quantity of glu- 
ten it contains; indeed, ‘it seems pretty well ascer- 
| tained,’ says Professor Johnston, ‘that those varie- 
ties of grain which contain the largest amount of 
gluten yield also the greatest return of flour.” Now, 
No. 3 here yields a greater return of flour than No. 
5; it ought, therefore, to contain the greater pro- 
portion of gluten. And such is the case. My own 
analysis of the flours, in their dry state, gave to the 
raw sample an advantage of 14 per cent. in weight 
WHEAT. 
of gluten. In order to test the matter further, I 
forwarded the samples to Professor Johnston, who 
favoured me with an analysis. In their ordinary 
state of moisture, he found them to contain respec- 
tively— 
No. 3, = = = A 
19:15 per cent. of gluten 
NO GB aS eS 89 
3) bed 
Thus proving the statement that the wheats which 
give the most flour give the best flour. And, al- 
though the farmer may not think much of this slight 
advantage in point of nutritive quality, it is no less 
a benefit both to the consumer and the producer,— 
affording to the former more nutritive matter for the 
same money, and enabling the latter to enjoy the pro- 
fit of quantity and quality‘combined. 
‘« That the straw of early cut wheat is of a better 
quality than that of the ripe, may be clearly seen 
from the researches of every analyst on the subject, 
and particularly from the following statement by 
Professor Johnston. *‘ The period,’ says he, ‘at 
which hay is cut, or corn reaped, materially affects 
the quantity (by weight) and quality of the produce. 
It is commonly known that when radishes are left 
too long in the ground, they become hard and woody 
—that the soft stem of the young cabbage undergoes 
a similar change as the plant grows old—and that 
the artichoke becomes tough and uneatable if left 
too long uncut. The same natural change goes on 
in the grasses which are cut for hay. In the blades 
and stems of the young grasses there is much sugar, 
which, as they grow up, is gradually changed, first 
into starch, and then into woody fibre. The more’ 
completely the latter change is effected—that is, the 
riper the plant becomes, the less sugar and starch, 
both soluble substances, they contain. And though 
it has been ascertained that the woody fibre is not 
wholly indigestible, but that the cow, for example, 
can appropriate a portion of it for food as it passes 
through her stomach; yet the reader will readily 
imagine that those parts of the food which dissolve 
most easily are also likely—other things being equal 
—to be most nourishing to the animal. It is ascer- 
tained, also, that the weight of hay or straw reaped 
is actually less when allowed to become fully ripe; 
and therefore, by cutting soon after the plant has at- 
tained its greatest height, a larger quantity as well 
as a better quality of hay will be obtained, while the 
land also will be less exhausted. ‘The same remarks 
apply to crops of corn,—both to the straw and to 
the grain they yield. The rawer the crop is cut, 
the heavier and the more nourishing the- straw. 
Within three weeks of being fully ripe, the straw 
begins to diminish in weight; and the longer it re- 
mains uncut after that time the lighter it becomes 
and the less nourishing. On the other hand, the 
ear, which is sweet and milky a month before it is 
ripe, gradually consolidates, the sugar changing into 
starch, and the milk thickening into the gluten and 
albumen of the flour. As soon as this change is 
nearly completed, or about a fortnight before ripen- 
ing, the grain contains the largest proportion of starch 
and gluten; if reaped at this time, the bushel will be 
heavier, and will yield the largest quantity of fine 
flour and the least bran. At this period the grain 
has a thin skin, and hence the small quantity of bran. 
But if the crop be still left uncut, the next natural 
step in the ripening process is to cover the grain with 
a better protection, a thicker skin. A portion of 
the starch of the grain is changed into woody fibre, 
precisely as in the ripening of hay, of the soft shoots 
of the dog-rose, and of the roots of the common ra- 
dish. By this change, therefore, the quantity of 
starch is lessened and the weight of husk increased; 
hence the diminished yield of flour, and the increased 
produce of bran. Theory and experience therefore 
indicate about.a fortnight before full ripening as the | 
