1 Drc., 1898: ] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 407 
really late cutting, but it is false if held.to be true as regards premature 
cutting. Wheat can be cut too soon, as no doubt it ofen is, with the result of 
pinched or shrivelled grain. 
If the entire crop is cut green, it stands to reason that some of it must be 
greener still—that is, insufficiently filled. Ifitis cut when decidedly ripe, some 
of the late ears will have benefited by the delay. 
THICK BRAN. 
It is stated that the Jast act of the wheat plant is, after forming the grain, 
to thicken the outer skin or bran, ‘This may be so, but it also may easily be 
one of those text-book assumptions which require corroboration. It is just as 
probable that the last act of the wheat plant is to stock or stuff the starch cells 
with granules of starch, and thus produce flour, as indeed a respected authority, 
the late Mr. A. Stephen Wilson, declared to be the case. His dictum was, 
“The heaviest crop of grain is from ripe corn.” Mr. Wilson found that the 
outer part of the kernel is ripe first, and ceases to enlarge, while the interior is 
still soft along the axis which deposits the material, so that a kernel in which 
the final particles of starch have not been sent down may be as plump out- 
wardly as if those particles had been deposited. The conclusion that the bran 
thickens after the grain has arrived at maturity is, therefore, doubtful, and it 
appears more probable that a continued deposit of starch granules marks the 
last epoch in the life of the wheat plant. 
STRONG AND WEAK WHEATS. 
Strong wheats are rich in gluten, and weak wheats are less rich in gluten. 
Of course the percentage of gluten to the entire cereal must be lowered by a 
further accumulation of starch granules; hence a weak wheat may be richer 
in starch, and consequently comparatively poorer in gluten. There 
can be little doubt that the earlier agricultural chemists exaggerated the 
importance of gluten, but it is now generally conceded that the best wheat: is 
that which contains the most starch. When, therefore, we are told that early- 
cut wheat is stronger, it simply amounts to this: That it contains more gluten ; 
and it could be shown that the strongest wheat—z.e., the richest in gluten of 
all—is found as hen corn, that is in small and immature grain, while the richest 
wheats are those richest in starch. 
Tt seems, therefore, likely that the best period to cut wheat is when the 
grain is fairly hard. The degree of hardness may be illustrated as about that 
of firm cheese, or as easily cut in two by the thumb-nail, but not harder. ‘To 
cut wheat much softer than this will probably result in a sacrifice of weight in 
each grain.— Agricultural Gazette (England). 
A correseonpent of the Harmer and Stockbreeder says:—About twenty 
years ago I was under the impression that we usually allowed wheat to become 
overripe before cutting, as both straw and grain would be all the better if cut 
a week or so earlier than was usual, and decided upon the following simple 
test. Hight days before a. field of wheat was cut 1 took from a certain part, 
where the crop and heads looked regular and round, about twenty ears of 
wheat, and hung them up in the granary to fully ripen and dry. ‘The day we 
cut the crop—eight days later—I took from the same spot a further twenty 
ears, putting these to dry and harden. When both lots were fully dry I tested 
the weight as follows. Rubbed out and counted 400 grains from oak lot, and 
carefully weighed them. ‘To my surprise the fully ripe lot weighed one-seventh 
more than that taken earlier, and on a second test, other grains from each 
parcel, the result was as nearly as possible alike. According to this simple 
experiment the cutting of wheat eight days before fairly ripe would result in 
a loss of weight of one bushel in every seven; rather a serious matter. 
