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To know washed Corn, and how to lay up and keep it to the best advantage, all useful sorts of Grain in Granaries, &c.
THere is a sort of Corn, though it may be good enough for Grinding, is altogether nought for Seed, and throws away the Husband-man's Labour and Charge in sowing it, because it will not prosper, if at all it sprout up; and therefore I think fit to give a Caution in this case, that knowing it, it may be avoided; and this is
that which is called Washed Corn, such as grows in the middle of the Ear when the rest is smutty; and being thrashed out with the Smuttiness about it, is blackned, and so not fit for the Market till it is washed clean.
(1.) To know this from other Corn, take up a handful, and if it look clear, bright, and shining, without Change or Difference of one entire colour, then it is good Corn, and not washed.
(2.) If at the ends it looks whiter than in the middle, and the Whiteness be a darkish muddy colour, and not shining, there being a changeable colour in it, then it is Washed Corn, and not fit to be sown.
(3.) If you put a few Grains of it in your Mouth, and in chewing the Taste be sweet and pleasant, also mellow and gentle between your Teeth in the chewing, then it is not washed; but on the contrary, if it have a bitterish or flashy raw Taste, gritting or grinding hard between your Teeth with a Roughness, then it is Washed Corn; also when Corn is more than ordinary dry or moist, those are signs of Naughtiness for Seed, though not so bad as the former, shewing either imperfection in the Corn, or in the keeping of it; for good Corn ever holds an indiffe∣rent temper between Moisture and Driness: And these things ought mainly to be considered, because it is not only the loss of the Seed, but the Expences and Disap∣pointment.
There are other things very materially to be conside∣red; as first, The well-keeping of Corn, which is two-fold, viz. in the Ear, and out of the Ear: As for the first of these, I have described in the manner of Shock∣ing, Drying, and Stacking; and for the second, it is the most material, when it is thrashed out, and well dressed, by severing it from the Chaff, Cockle, or any offensive Seeds of Weeds growing up among it; and in this case your Granaries, or other places of keeping it, must be considered to be made sundry ways, according to the Custom, or rather Nature of the Country: Some are made with Clay, some trodden with Straw and Hair, the former chopped small, and such like: But these I like not, for they soonest corrupt the Corn; for, notwithstanding their
Warmth, which is a Preserver, they however produce such Dust as produce Mites, Weavels, and other Ver∣min, Destroyers of Corn, so that they make it easily rot.
Others of Stone and Lime are subject to Sweatings in wet Weather, and by the Moistness corrupt the Corn.
Some again are made of Lime and Brick, and these indeed are very good to prevent the coming or breeding of the Weavels, and other small Vermin; but the Sharpness of the Lime is unwholesom for all sorts of Grain.
The best then that I can advise to, for the keeping of all manner of Grain, is that made of Plaister, burnt and brought into a Mortar; so that by the working of small Stones into the midst of it, the insides and outsides may be smoothed with the Plaister, the Stones being hidden at least two fingers thick on each side, and all the bot∣tom is proper to be plaistered, it being the best of all Flores for the keeping of Corn of any s••rts: Place these kind of Grainaries as near as you can to the Air of the Fire as may be convenient, for the Plaister is very cold, yet it is ever dry, and so free from Moisture, that no change of the Air alters it in that particular; but it always keeps the Corn in one state of Driness and Goodness, and the warm standing of it in Winter is such a Comfort, and the natural Coldness of the Plaister in Summer, that it temporizes so well, that I can conceive nothing better for the preserving of Grain.
Where this Conveniency is not, or at least you will use Hutches, Bins, or dry Fats, and the like; they must, if fit for use, be made of dry or well-seasoned Oak-boards, very plainly smoothed, closely joyned, and glewed toge∣ther, with Leds and Covers made very close, to prevent as much as may be the Coming in of the Air; but the prin∣ciple use of these are to keep Malt in after it is dried, or Barley to be ground, or feeding Cattel.
To preserve Wheat the best way, that it may be f••ee from defects, Reap it in seasonable Weather, at the Change of the Moon; Thrash, Winnow, and Dress it as clean as you,
can, then lay it in the Plaister-Lofts, or Granaries descri∣bed; spread it about a Foot thick at the uppermost, and so let it lye; and, at the end of four or six days at the most, turn it well with a large wooden Shovel, and it will keep sweet, sound, and good-conditioned, so that the heat, sweat, or coldness, cannot offend it; the first being cooled and tempered by the opening, and the se∣cond dryed up by the Air, that has free access to it; and thirdly, it is refreshed by the tossing it up and down.
To preserve Rye, or Maslin, or, as some call it, Muck, or Blend-Corn, being a mixture of Rye and Wheat; as for this sort of Grain, or for Rye alone, that which pre∣serves the Wheat will preserve the Rye; for they are Grains of like nature, only the Rye is somewhat hotter and dryer, and will continue good in moister places, and there∣fore the Plaister-Floors, with often turning, is the proper∣est to preserve it: It will also do well in close Hutches, or in the Pipe, or Dry-Fat; but being once opened, and the Air freely entring among it, exceept it be soon spent, it will putrifie, or taint.
To preserve Oats after they are thrashed and dryed, put them into a close Graner, or Cask, free from moisture, and they will keep many Years; and Oat-meal is preser∣ved the same way, though it is proper it should, if possible, have some air of the Fire; for the warmer it stands, the longer it will continue sweet and good.
As for the well-keeping of Meal, let it lye about a fort∣night in the Bran before you bolt it, and then you will have near half a Peck in a Bushel more, than if you had boulted it as soon as ground; put it then in dry, and well-seasoned Casks, tread it in by degrees as hard as you can, head it close from the Air, and when you take any out, let no more be taken out than what you presently use, and so it will keep well a long time; but if it has come by Sea, or in rainy damp weather, then lay it abroad on Sheets, and air it, and it will keep it sweet, and a little tainted, restore it.
To preserve Pease, or Fetches, which of all other Grain are most subject to rottenness, and imperfection, being of their own nature apt to breed Worms, Weavels, or Mites,
through the too much sweetness of the Kernel of the Grain; to keep them then long and good conditioned, dry them either in a Kiln, or the Sun, especially those you use for Diet, or Provinder, and lay them in Graners or Floors that are dry, and they will last sound and good a long time, and not be subject to any corruption, or breeding Insects; lay them in thick heaps, and so they will be pre∣served moist the longer time; for if they be too much dryed in the Air, by lying thin, it takes away part of their sweetness and goodness.
Beans is another Commodity very necessary and useful in this Nation; and therefore among others, the well-keeping and preserving them ought to be considered: These are more gross and fat than any I have heretofore spoken of, and by reason of the fulness of their substance, more subject to moisture, and such damp humours as cor∣rupt them.
It is not therefore the best way to Thrash any more then what are for present use, till the middle of March; at which time, they having kindly sweat in the Mow, or Stack, and become dry and hard, not apt, without bad keeping, to relent again, then keep them either on plaister, or boarded Floors, or well-made earthen ones, the space of twelve days without tossing or turning; lay them as thick as you please, for being once well dryed, they will not relent; or you may put them up in Barrels, especially such as have had sweet Oyl in them, and they will make them excellent good for the use of the Kitchen, if they be close covered and kept dry, by reason of a certain mel∣lowness that will be infused into them, and they will keep as many Years as you would have them.
To keep and preserve all small Seeds of any nature or quality soever; gather them as soon as they are ripe, in a clear Sun-shiny Day, dry and wither them in the shade, keeping the Sun and moisture from them, then bind them up in bundles without thrashing, hang them up, and keep them in their own Cods, and they will last good a full Year.
In preserving of Lentils, or Lupines; lay them together on a boarded Floor, in large, broad and flat heaps, two
Foot, or two Foot and a half thick, sprinkle them with Vinegar and Lasarpitum, and not any change of Weather, or Vermin will do them hurt, and they will keep many Years; and although these are seldom used for humane Food, yet are they very profitable for the well feeding of Horses, Swine, and other Domestick Cattle, making them sooner fat than any other ordinary Pulse; they are also physical and good for many Medicines for remedying Disea∣ses in Cattle, and the longer they are well kept, the more is their virtue; and therefore they ought to be well e∣steemed among other Grain or Pulse.