ay almost everything, still remains to be done in this department
of agricultural chemistry.

_Weight of wheat as an index to its value_.--Much has been said in
regard to the relative weights of the bushel of wheat of different
varieties or under different modes of culture.

As ordinarily determined, this weight ranges from fifty-six to
sixty-five or sixty-six pounds, being in a few cases set down
somewhat higher. It is said also that the bushel of wheat weighs
less in some years than it does in others, and that the difference
often amounts to two, or three, or even four pounds. Though this may
seem of comparatively little consequence for a few bushels, yet, for
the aggegate of the wheat crop of the United States, or for a State,
or even a county, it makes a great difference. Thus, were we to
estimate the product of one year in the United States at one hundred
and ten million bushels, weighing fifty-six pounds to the bushel,
and another year at one hundred and eight million bushels, weighing
sixty-two pounds, the difference in favor of the latter, though the
least in quantity, would amount to five hundred and thirty-six
million pounds in weight, or more than one million and a quarter of
barrels of flour.--(Report of the American Commissioner of Patents
for 1847, p. 117.)

It may be remarked, however, that it is not after all so easy to
determine with accuracy the weight of a bushel of wheat, nor to
decide upon the circumstances which have an influence in increasing
the density of a grain of wheat. If the microscopical
representations of wheat are to be relied on, it is probable that
the increase in the density of wheat depends upon the increase in
the proportion of gluten. I have found in several cases that, the
proportion of water being the same, those samples of wheat which
contain the largest proportion of gluten exhibit the highest
specific gravity, or, in other words, will yield the greatest number
of pounds to the bushel. But the weight of wheat will be influenced
by the proportion of water which it contains; the drier the grain,
the greater is its density; a fact which may account for the
difference which has been observed in the weight of wheat in
different seasons. If this is the cause, the calculation above given
in reference to the United States is fallacious--but i