ON THE EARLY AND LATE CUTTING OF GRAIN CROPS.

Wairarapa Standard, Volume IV, Issue 172, 5 January 1870, Page 3

ON THE EARLY AND LATE CUTTING OF GRAIN CROPS.

This is a subject of annually recurring interest, and just now is the time for its discussion. Owing to the general scarcity of labour for harvest work, most of the farmers here have got into the habit of commencing to cut their grain rather earlier than they wish, lest they should be left at last with a portion overripe and at the mercy of the hot winds; but they mostly do so with reluctance, and without being fully aware of the advantages of early cutting. This question has been minutely examined in all its bearings at different times, and with regard to the relative value of both grain and straw. As is pretty well known now in this hay-making country, the greatest amount of nutriment is to be obtained from nearly all the cereals and grasses if they are cut when in flower, the grain gaining at the expense of the straw after that. But grain must be allowed to form when the nutriment is required in a condensed form, though even then the straw need not be allowed to become absolutely worthless for feeding purposes. Wheat is best for the miller, and for the farmer too, if cut just when the grain has reached its full size and is still soft, though past the milky stage. The straw then begins to dry rapidly, affording no more sap to the grain, which, after that, loses rather

than gains in weight if the crop be not : cut. There must be some little circulation and communication with the ; roots, for even after that stage there is an increase in the proportion of mineral matter in the plant, and every part of it hardens materially. The grain becomes thicker in the skin and i assumes a coarser appearance if allowed to stand to become fully ripe, the yield of flour in proportion to the bran diminishing. It also becomes lighter than if it be cut while soft, as there is a loss in quantity as well as in quality. Possibly, wheat may be better for seed if allowed to ripen fully before it is cut, but for flour it is not so good. Barley must be allowed to harden a little more, even at the risk of the skin thickening, for if cut too soft it shrivels, and for malting the grain should be full, or it does not germinate quickly and evenly. After it is cut, barley seems to derive less nourishment from the straw than either wheat or oats. This last grain like wheat, may be cut when quite soft, but it scarcely matures here if cut as early as it will in a cooler climate. The greater heat apparently dries up the straw more quickly, retaining in that the sap which in a cooler climate would be no longer available for the perfecting of the grain. Therefore with oats, as with wheat, the milky stage must be allowed to pass if the grain is to attain its full weight. The changes in straw are very rapid just when the grain is ripening. When wheat-straw is first turning yellow it contains 4£ per cent, of soluble flesh-forming principles and about as much insoluble in water, but when the grain is ripe the soluble flesh-formers are reduced to less than a half per cent, while the insoluble proportion is very slightly increased. During those few days the sugar, gum, and other fat-forcing substances are repuced by 1 per cent., while the hard woody fibre is increased by as much as as is lost in soluble or digestible matter. In wheaten straw, cut when the grain is soft, this usually amounts to about 6 per cent, of the total weight, so that even this, the worst of the cereal straws, is not to be despised for feeding purposes. In oaten-straw, the best, the changes are even greater, though this does not so completely lose its feeding properties when quite ripe Thus, in oaten-straw, cut -when turning, the soluble flesh-formers amount to about 4- per cent., and the insoluble flesh-formers to about half that proportion, the former changing to less than 2 per cent., and the latter increasing to about 3 per cent, as the grain ripens. The fat-forming principles lose nearly four, remaining at about 10 per cent., while the indigestible woody fibre increases by six per cent Oaten straw when fully ripe contains, therefore, at least twice as much nutritious matter as wheaten straw, or 12 per cent. But if cut when the grain is soft it contains 22, or 16 of sugar, gum, oil, and other fatformers, and 6 per cent, of flesh-form-ing substances. This difference alone is worth securing, especially as it can be done with benefit to the grain also. The foregoing figures show that the feeding properties of oaten straw stand high, even when compared with the hay of the old country. That contains only 81 per cent, of flesh-formers, to the 6 per cent, in the straw, but the proportion of fat-forming substances is nearly three times as great, the relative proportions of the woody fibre being just reversed. We have never seen an analysis of oaten hay made here, but, judging from its effect in feeding, and the quantity of saccharine in the juice of the oat plant, it must contain more of the fat-forming or heat-giving substances—they are synonymous terras—than the English hay, and as large a propo *tion of flesh formers. However, oaten straw is in demand here in all its stages, to be cut into chaff, and the greener it is cut the less the poor horses are cheated in regard to the quality of what they have to eat as compared with its bulk. Barley straw is scarcely so highly estimated here for feeding purposes as it ought to be, for it ranks next to that of oats, and very much before that of wheat. The year now about to commence will be an exceptional one, the yield of hay being so great; but straw is now largely consumed by cattle and horses, and this is an additional reason for early cutting of the grain to as wide an extent as may be possible. The sample weighs heavier, looks better, and there is little or no loss from shedding in the field. Then, as we have seen, the straw quickly loses half its value as fodder if it be not cut at the best moment for the grain. These are no longer matters of opinion, but proved facts.—“ Australasian.”