168 EXPERIMENTAL FARMS 



2 GEORGE V., A. 1912 



farming ' conditions furnished a product very rich in protein. Indeed, it is signifi- 

 cant that the results for the two irrigated plots are practically identical and similarly 

 also for the barleys from the two non-irrigated areas. 



Considered as a whole, these, our first results with barley, prove that the com- 

 position of this grain may be profoundly influenced by conditions of growth, probably 

 to a greater degree than wheat, and that protein-content is by no means a matter 

 entirely of heredity. In relation to barley, this investigation has a particular and 

 important interest, since a low protein grain is highly prized for malting purposes. 



INFLUENCE OF AGE ON WHEAT AND FLOUK. 



In September, 1907, the Dominion Cerealist instituted a series of experiments to 

 obtain, if possible, definite information respecting the influence of age (storage) on 

 wheat and flour. Side by side with the milling and baking work, this Division under- 

 took to trace chemically such changes in composition as might take place in the 

 samples being studied. This was done in the hope that an explanation of a satisfac- 

 tory character would be forthcoming for such improvement in strength as might be 

 noted. 



The series consisted of ten samples, comprising seven varieties of wheat. Three 

 members of the series were stored as both wheat and flour, the remaining four being 

 kept over as grain only. Those stored as grain were milled at the close of the periods 

 determined upon, the resultant flours being analysed with those which had been put 

 away at the beginning of the investigation. The analyses and the baking tests were 

 conducted simultaneously. 



The first storage period was from September, 1907, to January, 1909, and the 

 results covering this time were given and discussed in the Report of the Experimental 

 Farms for the latter year. The Cerealist found ' that when the material is kept over 

 in the form of flour there is a more rapid improvement in colour and strength than 

 when it is kept as wheat. The changes are not always regular, and a few exceptional 

 cases were found. In every instance, however, there was a gain in water absorbing 

 power, and as a rule this gain was considerable, amounting sometimes to more than 

 four per cent after sixteen months of storage. There was also invariably an improve- 

 ment in the shape of the loaf. In regard to volume of loaf, some irregularities occurred 

 for which no satisfactory explanation can be offered at present.' The chemical data 

 showed that during the sixteen months of storage in the larger number of instances 

 the protein-content increased slightly in both wheat and flour, the increase being, as 

 a rule, greater in the samples kept as flour. This increase, it was thought, was most 

 probably due to a slow oxidation and consequent destruction of the carbohydrates. A 

 tendency towards an increase in the gliadin was also observed as a result of storage. 

 An improvement in the physical character of the gluten was also noted in two of the 

 varieties that had been kept as wheat and which initially possessed gluten of inferior 

 quality. Very possibly a moi*e marked improvement would have been noticed had 

 this sample been kept as flour. 



• The results of the past season have been interpolated in the following table, which 

 presents the data from the series since the beginning of the investigation in a form 

 easy of comparison. 



The second storage period was from January, 1909, to January, 1911, and we 

 may now inquire if the chemical work indicates any change in the wheat or flour 

 during this time. Considering first those samples kept as flour, we do not observe 

 any marked alteration in protein-content; in one case there is a slight decrease, in 

 another the percentage is practically stationary, and in the third, there is a very small 

 increase but the differences are such as mi<rht be ascribed to unavoidable error 

 in sampling or analysis. In gliadin, the tendency to increase, noted for the 

 first storage period, continues, so that the data for January, 1911, are percept- 



