406 YEARBOOK OF AGRICULTURE, 1932 There was practically no rainfall and the humidity of the atmos- phere was low during the drying period. If there had been rainy weather with high humidity during this period, or during a part of the time, the drying would have been slowed to some extent. The practice of spreading grain to dry is common with farmers. In some years when the prices are low and the farm has nostorage space, sound, dry wheat is piled on the ground. WTieat stored in this manner for any length of time is usually badly damaged. This damage lowers the grade and the price of the wheat, and causes many marketing complications. This experiment corroborates what is generally known. It is always best to have the wheat dry enough for storage before it is threshed or combined. Sometimes it is impossible to do this because of a wet

FIGURE 152.—Pile of wet wheat in tlie open, sliowing grain trier, sampling cloth, and grain from four probes on the cloth season. During such a year every agency is taxed to the limit to put the wheat crop into proper condition for storage. It is possible to dry some of this wheat by piling it on a platform and exposing it to the sun and wind. The wheat must be handled in order to dry it properl.y, and must be kept covered with a canvas during rains. JOHN H. COX, Bureau oj Agricultural Economics.

WILTSHIRE Sides for English butchers do not cut up a hog Export Should Meet carcass into such common American English Requirements cuts as fresh chops, picnic shoul- ders, and butts. (Fig. 153.) They merely remove the shoulder blade, the back, the neck and aitch bones, and put the entire side of pork in cure. WHAT'S NEW IN AGRICULTURE 407 When these cured, smoked "Wiltshire sides," as they are called, are cut up for the English retail trade, the butcher prepares the primary cuts illustrated in Figure 154, then slices off portions of these for his trade as required. The slices are usually thick and may contain por- tions of the , back fat, plate, , skin, or other product, depending upon the part of the carcass from which they are taken. A slice of English cut across the loin includes : A portion of the belly, a chop, as we know it in the United States; a portion of back fat; and a section of skin. Imagine an Englishman's dis- may if he should buy a slice of untrimmed loin from a typical well-fattened American -type hog. His purchase would consist of about one-third lean, one-half fat, and the rest bone and skin. Exporting that kind of Wiltshire side to England would probably be as unprofitable as trying to sell untrimmed pork chops in this country. In the United States consumers are less directly concerned with the type of hog. Excess fat on the loin is normally trimmed off by the packer. Frequently that on the ham and shoulder and some- times that on the bacon are also trimmed off. In England the con- sumers buy the bacon as it is and protest justly if there is too great a proportion of fat. This has led producers catering to the English market to breed and feed a type of hog that will produce a Wilt- shire side with a desirable propor- tion of lean to fat. This means FIGURE 153.—Side of hog showing standard cuts in the United States: a. Feet; b, ham; that the loin must be covered with c, bacon; d, Join; e, picnic shoulder; /. shoulder a moderately thick, even layer of butt; g, back fat fat. The carcass must be such that a slice of English bacon will be attractive, economical, and not wasty to the consumer. (Fig. 155.)

Wiltshire Sides of Five Countries Compared American hog producers can meet the requirements of tj'pe and finish if they wish to do so. Evidence of this is shown in an importation by the United States Department of Agriculture of 20 Wiltshhe sides from the Liverpool market. These sides originated, four in each of the following countries: Denmark, Ireland, Sweden, Poland, and the United States. Tlicse 20 sides were fairly uniform in length but differed consider- ably in width, thickness of fat over the back, and in thickness and 408 YEARBOOK OF AGRICULTURE, 1932 proportion of fat in the cuts. The back- fat thickness had a definite influence on the bacon grade, the fatter sides being graded lower by the foreign graders. The best American sides in the ship- ment compared favorably in quality with those from other countries, as indicated by general appearance, and possessed desirable back fat with respect to average thickness. They showed the greatest variation, however, in thickness of back fat from s h o u 1 d e r to ham. The propor- tion of lean to fat was as desirable as in any of the other sides. Doubtless there are many market hogs in this country which do not show such desirable export type and finish, but suitable hogs can be produced by those who understand the demands and methods of the English trade and adapt their production methods accordingly. Cooked Meat Tests These 20 imported sides were cut into the English retail cuts and the loins arid (gammons, as hams are called in England) were roasted at the Bureau of Home Economics. The cooked meat was tested for palatability by the offi.cial grading committee of the department's meat research staff. It is of more than FIGURE IS4.—Wiltshire side with passing interest to note that the Ameri- S^L;t trendTc;"ion1ïo1n"i,ïaS; Can pork, with particular reference to ''Tan'k^' ""'^'^ ^''^''^''' ^' '*"" ^^'""^^^' the loins, was almost unanimously de- clared to be too salty. Loin samples from Denmark, Sweden, and Ireland were milder and more desirable. This was not the case with the gammons. The American gammons were graded a close second, the Danish being slightly more desirable. The fact that the : most lightty cured Wiltshires had re- mained sound during shipment from the respective countries of origin to England and from England to the United States suggests that a mild- er cure than that found in the four American sides re- FIGURE 155.—Distribution of fat and lean in primary Wiltshire cuts: turned from Liver- 0, Long loin; d, back bacon; e, thick streak;/, thin streak. (Cuts pool coTÜd be used are designated with same letters as in flg. 154.) in American sides for exportation to the English market. WHAT'S NEW IN AGRICULTURE 409 From observations made on these imported Wiltshires, it would ap- pear that the type of hog necessary for the production of satisfactory \yiltshires ck)sely approaches the type which will produce the most de- sirable American cuts. Whether the swine grower is raising hogs for export or for the domestic trade, he will find that those possessing quality and a relatively high proportion of lean to fat will find greatest favor at the market. The problems of breeding, feeding, and manage- ment must be studied in their relation to the practical production of quality pork whether the final product is to be exported or used at home. R. L. ITiNER, BureaM of Animal Industry,

WOODLANDS on Farm The farmer owns nearly one-third an Important Factor of all the forest land in the United in Timber Survey States. (Fig. 156). But what do the farmer's acres contribute to the total timber supply of the country? How rapidly are his woods being reduced by cutting, ti'ce diseases, insect attacks, fire, grazing, and other means? How much of his timber does the country need? Is the farmer getting full value from his wood lot now, and can he get more?

I Total forest land I Farm woodlands

FIGURE 150.—The fanner as a timber owner These are a few of the questions comprised in the one big question: ''What are this country's actual timber resources and bow do they ac- tually meet present and future needs? '' This question has never been answered accurately for the country as a whole, or even for any one State. Forest-conservation policies and practices have been based largely on rough and imreliable estimates, because a census or survey of the country's forest resources and timber needs, broad enough to fm-nish facts instead of guesses, is a project involving jesiYS of eft'ort and millions of dollars. In 1928, however, C^ongrcss passed the McSwecnoy-McNary Act, grouping all the activities of Federal scientific forest investigation into one big program. Section 9 of this act authorized the Secretary of