Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 2, 1802).djvu/88

70&#93; 7°] COR cate to our economical readers only a few practical directions, by an attention to which, they may be sufficiently guided in the sale or purchase of corn in general : 1. Take a handful of grain from aheap, or sack, and compress it closely for a minute ; then pass it from one hand into the other, and attentively examine its flavour, whether it possess any peculiar smel", different from that which is natural to the species : in which case you may conclude that it has been repeatedly exposed to mois- ture, and undergone a slight degree of fermentation. The flour ob- tained from such corn, is deficient in measure, of an indifferent qua- lity, and affords neither nourishing, nor wholesome bread. 2. If, on pressure by the hand, the grains appear so solid and smooth that they in a manner glide through the fingers, without having any foreign smell or colour, in this case it may be pronounced perfectly dry, and in a good state of preservation. 3. Should, on the contrary, the corn feel rough, or, if a number of grains, after compressing them by the dry hand, clog together and. adhere to the fingers, it may be justly apprehended thatsuch wheat, rye, &c. is damp, and possessed of all the bad properties before speci- fied. As the nature of the present work does not permit us to enter into a minute analytical account of the specific gravity of din"' refit kinds of corn, and their relative proportion to each other (which properly belongs to the mercantile speculator), we shall supply this apj arent deficiency, by thefollpw-
 * parative view.

JS'very attentive observer will COR find, that frequently some species of grain bears a price in the mar- ket, far exceeding its relative value, or proportion to other kinds of grain, which, in many instances, may serve as excellent substitutes. From the prices which have pre- vailed in different countries, dur- ing a long series of pears, we have derived the following result of numbers : Wheat - - 41 Rye - - 33 Barley - - 23 Oats 14 TABLE OF PROPORTIONS. Wheat. Rye. Barley. Oats. W heat 1 1 I .5 4 1 / 4 I 3 X Rye 4 5 J 1 1 | 3 2 | Iff / Barley 4 f | 2 3 | 1 1 j 8 5 Oats 1 3 | 7 7rj| 5 8 j 1 T It deserves, however, to be re- marked, that these proportions oc- casionally vary, accordingly as (he soil of different countries is more favourable to the production of one species of grain than to the other ; and likewise as there is a greater or less demand for particular kinds of corn in the market, especially in barren or unproductive seasons. Thus, in Britain, the price of bar- ley and oats is almost constantly disproportionate to that of wheat, and especially to rye, which ma}-, consequently, be considered as the cheapest bread-corn. The im- mense quantities of malt-liquors brewed in this country, and the great number of horses kept for pleasure, are sufficient reasons why barky and oats are sold at prices comparatively higher than their intrinsic value, in relation to wheat ' and rye. But if the rates staled in the preceding table be adopted in the computation of prices, and the farmer