GARDEHj
VOL. LXV
INDIANAPOLIS, JULY 16, 1910.
NO. 29
RIPENING OF WHEAT.
The following extract from a letter
to the Acme Evans Company of this
city, by Prof. M. L. Fisher, Associate
Agriculturist at Furdue, has a special
Interest for our readers Just now.    The
article Is both interest-    .
Ing and Instructive in a ~
high degree, and we are
grateful to the milling
company referred to
for the privilege of using It:
I have taken some
time to look up the results of experimentation on this subject.
The flrst investigation
along this line that I
find record of was done
in Michigan in 1880
and was reported in the
Michigan Board of Agriculture report for
1881-2, page 233. In
this it is shown that the
yield per acre increased from the time the
berry was watery and
very immature up to
the time when the berry was nearly dry and
the straw entirely ripe.
Also in Michigan Agricultural Experiment
Station bulletin No. 125
it is shown that the
yield increased from
the milky stage up to the
yellow ripe stage, there
being a period of 24
days between these two
stages. Between the
yellow ripe and the
dead ripe stage, a period of 11 days, there is
shown to be a very
slight decrease in yield
by weight. In Illinois
bulletins 11 and 22
there are recorded the
results of investigations
made in four different
years. It is shown in
these results that so far
as getting the maximum yield of wheat is
concerned, it is better
to let the wheat get
nearly, if not entirely
ripe, and that if it is
necessary to cut at a
greener stage the wheat
should be promptly
shocked and capped.
There is a transfer of
material from the green
stems to  the grain    so
that the immature ker-    	
nels fill out and to some •
extent complete their development. In
Indiana Experiment Station bulletin
No. 61, the results of three years investigations show that wheat cut late
or fully ripe gives a larger yield and
a heavier weight per bushel than
wheat cut previous to that time. In
five different stages of cutting beginning with the milk stage and ending
with the dead ripe stage, a period of 14
days intervenes and it is shown that at
the late cutting or fully ripe state there
is an average gain of four bushels per
acre over the cutting in the milk state.
In one year, 1894, there is a difference
°f 10% bushels per acre in the yield
and    4.3    pounds per    bushel in    the
weight per measured bushel. Prof.
Latta concludes from these experiments that it would be well to begin
to harvest when in the dough stage and
complete it by the time the wheat is
fully ripe.     By fully ripe is meant that
the earliest period up to the 2 9th period
or when the grain was hard and ready to
cut and from this time there was little
change. The starchy content reached
its highest development at the 22d period when the grain was doughy and be-
bustion which continues as long as desiccation is not produced.' What is
lost in quantity, however, is perhaps
more than gained in quality for the
best flour can be obtained from dead
ripe wheat only.     Such flour has a bet-
~        ter color  and  will take
more water In bread
making. If the grain
is cut before ripe, the
most serious feature is
increased acidity in the
flour. This interferes
with fermentation in
bread making and ls
liable to make the
bread sour and dark."
It would appear from
the above statements
that wheat should be
allowed to mature to
the point where it is as
ripe as possible to conveniently cut and save.
By so doing the largest
yield of grain is obtained and this grain
will produce the best
quality of flour.
State House and Traction    Terminal  Station,   Indianapolis.
stage of ripeness when the straw has
turned yellow and the kernel is hard
enough to dent by the thumb nail but
not crush between the Angers.
In bulletin 101 of the Michigan Experiment Station there are reported
the results of harvesting wheat on 46
successive days beginning when the
grain was very immature on June 14
and ending when the straw was nearly
all broken down, July 29th. It is shown
that the per cent of crude protein gradually decreases from the earliest period
to the 15th when the straw was yellow
and the grain still milky. From thistime
the protein was practically at a standstill.   The yield ofgrain increased    from
coming flrm.
In "The Book of Wheat" by Dond-
linger (Orange Judd Co., Chicago) it is
stated on page 21 that "there is a real
though small loss in wheat from the
period when it is ripe to the time
when it is dead ripe and it is claimed
that this loss results from the drying
of the grain. Deherain offers the explanation that all the organs of the
plant respire by the aid of the oxygen
of the air consuming some of their
principles. In the seed, the combustion chiefly affects the starch and a
crop which remains standing long, diminishes in weight both by the loss of
the seeds that fall and by a slow cofh-
TO  STIMULATE INDIANA FORESTRY.
Last March our State
Board of Forestry wishing to stimulate the
study of forestry, offered prizes in the public schools for the best
essays on "Forestry in
Indiana." The plan
was very successful and
encouraging reports
come into the Board's
office from all parts of
the state requesting
that the plan be repeated next year.
A letter from Chas.
C. Dean, Secretary of
the State Board of Forestry, says:
"No one acquainted
with Forestry conditions in Indiana will
deny that there is great
need of practical work
in the State. Practical
forestry will come when
the people are educated
to the necessity of it,
are convinced that it is
a paying investment.
The reason so little has
been done, is because
land owners are accustomed to annual returns from their land,
and are not educated to
=^====;z^=' expectant values, such as
forestry necessitates. Neither does the
public appreciate the value of the forest to agriculture, flsh and game, birds,
insects, water supply, stream flow, climate, etc."
Chiggers are a great pest in certain
parts of Gibson County. The people
should keep a supply of sulphur on
hand. An ointment made of equal
parts of sulphur and lard is a sovereign
remedy for the bites.
A single weasel killed 109 chickens'
for Carl Wright, of Clifty, Decatur Co.,
in one night recently. The weasel was
found and killed.