The proper time for cutting wheat and the other cereals is immediately after their grain has been fully matured. When the green color of the straw just below the ears changes to yellow, the grain, be it ripe or unripe at the time, cannot afterwards be more fully developed. This is rendered impossible in consequence of the disorganisation of the upper part of the stem—indicated by, but not the result of, its altered hue—which cuts off the supply of sap to the ears, and the latter do not possess the power of absorbing nutriment from the air.
When the vital processes which are incessantly going on in the growing plants are brought to a close, the purely chemical forces come into operation. If the seed be perfectly matured and allowed to remain ungathered, it is attacked in wet weather by the oxygen of the air, a portion of its carbon is burned off, some of its starch is converted into sugar, and in extreme cases it germinates and becomes malty. But not only is the seed liable to injury from the elements; it is also exposed to the ravages of the feathered tribe, and no matter how well a field of corn may be watched, or how great the number of scarecrows erected in it, there is always a certain diurnal loss, occasioned by the ravages of birds.
It is not only necessary that ripe corn should be cut as soon as possible, but it is sometimes desirable to reap it before it becomes fully matured. When the grain is intended for consumption as food, the less bran it contains the better. Now the bran, as is well known, forms the integument, or covering of the vital constituents of the seed; and it is the last part of the organ to be perfected. The growth of the seed for several days before its perfect development, is confined to the testa or covering. Now as this is the least valuable part of the article, its increase is matter of but little moment; and when it is excessive it renders the grain less valuable in the eyes of the miller. That the cutting of the grain before it is perfectly ripe is attended with a good result, is clearly proved by the results of an experiment recorded in Johnston's "Agricultural Chemistry." A crop of wheat was selected; one-third was cut twenty days before it was ripe; another third ten days afterwards; and the remaining portion when its grain had been fully matured. The relative produce in grain of the three portions taken, as stated above, was as 1, 1·325, and 1·260. The following table exhibits the relative proportions of their constituents:—
| In 100 parts of the grain cut at | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 days. | 10 days. | Dead ripe. | |
| Flour | 74·7 | 79·1 | 72·2 |
| Sharps | 7·2 | 5·5 | 11·0 |
| Bran | 17·5 | 13·2 | 16·0 |
| ——— | ——— | ——— | |
| 99·4 | 97·8 | 99·2 | |
| The flour contained gluten | 9·3 | 9·9 | 9·6 |
The results of this experiment, and of the general experience of intelligent growers, show that grain cut a week or ten days before it is perfectly ripe contains more flour, and of a better quality, too, than is found in either ripe or very unripe seed. But this is not the only advantage, for the straw of the green, or rather of the greenish-yellow corn, is fully twice as valuable for feeding purposes as that of the over-ripe cereals. There is an extraordinary decrease in the amount of the albuminous constituents of the stems of the cereals during the last two or three weeks of their maturation, and as there is not a corresponding increase of those materials in the seed, they must be evolved in some form or other from the plants.
There can be only one object attained by allowing the seed to fully ripen itself, and that is the insurance of its more perfect adaptability to the purpose of reproduction. When the testa is thick it best protects the germ of the future plant enclosed in it from the ordinary atmospheric influences until it is placed under the proper conditions for its germination.
Wheat, a costly food.—It occasionally happens that the wheat harvest is so abundant, that many feeders give large quantities of this grain to their stock. Now, as Indian corn is at least 25 per cent. cheaper than wheat, even when the price of the latter is at its minimum, I believe that it is always more economical to sell the wheat raised on the farm, and to purchase with the proceeds of its sale an equivalent of Indian corn, which is a more fattening kind of food.
Bran is, with perhaps the exception of malt-dust, the most nutritious of the refuse portions of grains. It is usually given to horses, and owing to its high proportion of nitrogen, is, perhaps, better expended in the bodies of those hard-working animals, than in those of pigs and cows—animals that occasionally come in for a share of this valuable feeding-stuff. It should be borne in mind that bran commonly acts as a slight laxative, and that it is less digestible than flour, a large portion of it usually passing through the animal's body unchanged. This drawback to the use of bran may be obviated by either cooking or fermenting the article, or by combining it with beans or some other kind of binding food.
| AVERAGE ANALYSES OF GRAIN. | ||||||||
| Barley. | Bere. | Oats. | Oatmeal. | Indian Corn. | Rice. | Rye (Irish). | Buckwheat. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | 16·0 | 14·25 | 14·0 | 13·00 | 14·5 | 14·0 | 16·0 | 14·19 |
| Flesh-formers | 10·5 | 10·10 | 11·5 | 16·00 | 10·0 | 5·3 | 9·0 | 8·58 |
| Fat-formers | 67·0 | 64·60 | 64·5 | 68·00 | 69·0 | 78·5 | 66·0 | 51·91 |
| Woody fibre | 3·5 | 9·03 | 7·0 | 1·75 | 5·0 | 2·5 | 8·0 | 23·12 |
| Mineral matter | 3·0 | 2·02 | 3·0 | 1·25 | 1·5 | 0·7 | 1·0 | 2·20 |
| 100·0 | 100·00 | 100·0 | 100·00 | 100·0 | 100·0 | 100·0 | 100·00 | |