The National tribune., 1911-04-27

| ways on the market either in the
| Spring as the product of the South
ern farms, in the Fab and early Win
ter from the Northern farm and
market garden, or In the Winter
| from the storage house where the
surplus has been preserved for this
demand.
A section of this bulletin is de-
voted to each OF the three methods
of producing the crop coemercially-
truck crop, market garden crop. and
farm crop-and the. influence of eli
mate, extent of production, soil. fer
| tilizer, seed. method of producing
young plants, varieties, cultivation,
enemies. harvesting. and marketing.
! is described and explained under each
head, in accordance with the light
and knowledge gained from expert
ments and experience.
The Shrinkagc of Farm Products.
Farm products stored after harvest
are usually subject to variation in
weight, which generally manifests
itself in a loss or shrinkagc. The
principle factors bearing upon the OK
tent of this variation are the moisture
conditions of the atmosphere, the de-
gree of maturity at which the crop
was harvested. and the method Of
storing. The question of shrinkagc is
always important to the farmer. be-
cause 1t has a direct bearing upon
the marketing of his products and the
financial results. An estimate on how
much may be realized from a guam
tty of grain or hay after storing for
certain time always necessitates a
consideration of the shrinkage for
otherwise losses may result where
profits we're expected. Storing farm
products, however, does not always
entail a decrease in weight, but on
the contrary sometimes results i'll u
marked increase.
Wheat when allowed TO become
ovcrripe. or dead ripe, as it is gem
orally called, weighs slightly less than
when harvested at the period of COM
plcte ripencss. The greatest loss,
however, due to ovcrripcness, is caused
by the shelling of the grain. Expert
mentS also show that the amount and
quality of the flour, as well as the
terminating power of the grain, arc
reduced When the crop is allowed to
stand after complete ripencss has been
reached.
The loss of weight during storage
was observed in an elevator in Michi-
gan, where 1900 bushels of wheat
in a hard and dry condition were
stored Immediately after thrashing
After 10 days n shrinkagc of little
over 80 bushels, or loss of per
cent. had occurred. The Utah Expcr-
imcnt Station has observed that in the
dry climate of that State wheat gain
ed slightly in weight during Winter
storage.
Corn is perhaps the crop in which
shrinksge during storing is most APP
parent. owing to the moisture content
of the cars at harvest time. This
is the case even in the drier regions
of the West and Northwest, where, in
addition to the climate advantages, the
ears are generally husked from the
standing stalks. Where the corn is
put up for fodder. the cars continue
to ripen in the shock, but do not
dry out as well as il allowed to ma
ture on the stalk. Greater care needs
to be exercised in the storage of corn
than in any other grain, and the
width of the cribs should be gov
erncd by the dryncss or damp3ess of
the locality where the grain is grown
At the Michigan State Experiment
Station 16,767 pounds of corn, quite
damp and heavy, owing to the wealth
cr, We're put into crib on Oct. and
). on Feb. IS following, the loss in
weight amounted to 5.725 pounds, or
\. little over 80 per cent. The result
is extreme, but it shows clearly TO
what extent the condition of the
weather can affect the shrinkage.
Experiments reported with oats in
dicatc that the grain having passed
through the sweating process shrinks
but little, the highest shrinkage OBJ
served in the tests made being "a per
cent in seven months.
The Variations in weight of hay are
perhaps more marked than in most
farm products. A considerable diff
ference in shrinkage occurs between
hay cured in dry weather and hay
cured when the atmosphere is more
or less moist. For the same reason
hay made in a dry climate shrinks
less than the same made in a damp
climate. Practical men state that hay
will lose about 20 per cent by the |
time it is baled.