Indiana American., 1855-08-17
VALLEY FARMER.


by the rain to the harvested and
unharvested crops Of grain and
hay. It is not at all surprising
that every farmer should measure
his own and his neighbor's crops
in the same half-bushel, and when
ever the spoutsh have appeared, not
only think himself totally ruined
but also believe famine to be in
eyitable.
Let US look at the prospect
fairly. There is no disputing the
the fact that in all the wheat re-
gion north Of lat. Al degrees the
wheat, either cut or uncut, is
badly sprouted. How great the
damage is it is difficulty to deter
mine, as manyfarmers have nopre-
cedent to judge by, not havinghad
such season for years. Indeed
we remember only one-it was
in the year 1886, though the
worst Of the vet weather came
somewhat later.
That yearthe wheat was mostly
cut, and in shocks in the field or
in stacks. In the great wheat
regions Of Ohio, Indiana, and
Illinois, the farmers quit genera
lly declared the crop to be totally
ruined. In some fields it did
look so, for when it was uncut the
yellow heads assumed q green
shade, and the shocks and stacks
became as green on the surface as
the adjoining pastures. In due
time however; the raining period
was over, the sprouts died, the
standing grain was cut, the
shocks stacked or thrashed, the
stacks lost there bright yellow
hue and stood a rusty-looking
mass ofdry, veather-beaten straw
and yet-mark the result-the
wheat inside was as bright and
sound as ever. So slight was the
injury that it was hardly percepti-
BILE in the final result. The
shocks and standing grain were
more injured, but not ten pei
cent of the grain was destroyed
When wheat is sprouting O
good winnowing-machine win re-
move most Of the injured ker'
nels which are excellent fol
animals. If there be a Predomin'
ance of sprouted grains in the
grist that goes to mill, it is moi
spoiled for food; il is only spoiled
for light bread. The dough, in
stead Of rising by the ordinary
process, has a tendency to liquify
amp spread out and form q stick
ing mass that will not be kneaded
into loaves. 1t makes good un.
leavened bread, and is quite nu'
tritious, with a sweetish taste
By many persons bread made o
sprouted wheat is preferred, but il
market the least appearance o
grown kernels will injure the sale
Sons millers even contend tina
one per cent Of such kernels vii
injure the quality Of the whole
1t is therefore important to the
farmer that he should be very
careful 10 keep the sproutet
sheaves separate from the sound
and should also seperate the
sound from the unsound grain il
winnowing, as far as possible.
The injury Of rain upon whea
is quite overrated in this countr,
because We are not used to it-ou'
harvest weather being usually 81
fine that the straw retains il
golden brightness till it has beer
thrashed. Not so in England
There the rains are often SO inces
SAINT that sprouted wheat is yer,
common, and the business o
shocking or stacking the sheavesi i
an art that commands higher wa
ges than reaping. There th'
stacks are always thatched t
preserve them from sprouting OF
the outside, and often built hol
low to dry them on the inside
In this country We are much mor'
careless. Our wheat is ollen ex
posed to complete soakings.-
Much Of that grown in the Wes
is thrashed on the ground, and Of
ten lies in a pile through a Ions
rain, and if a warm one, some o
the outside grains are sprouted
but the inside Of the pile is uniu
jured.
The Danubian wheat-boats arr
without roofs; the grain is pilet
up in a heap rounded on top, ant
exposed to all the rains that fal
during long voyage. If th'
weather be warm, the outsid,
grows and mats together some in
ches deep, and that protects the
remainder. The worst Of tn,
sprouted part is only fit f.r beasts
While that but slightly sproutet
sells as food for man, and that be