154 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The merchandising of grain is becoming more specialized and 

 technical, which suggests the necessity of constant improvement in 

 supervision and inspection methods and in interpretations and re- 

 visions of standards to meet these developments. The general field 

 headquarter's staff and division and district officers have cooperated 

 with the grain investigations project in the study of the handling, 

 transportation, and storage of grain, and in the examination of 

 specific problems arising out of the regulatory work through the en- 

 forcement of official grain standards for shelled corn, wheat, oats, 

 and rye. The outstanding questions in this respect which demand an 

 early solution and to which intensive effort and study are given are : 

 (1) Effectively cleaning grain pursuant to dockage determination 

 under the wheat standards in order to establish the highest numeri- 

 cal grade possible on a given lot of wheat commensurate with its 

 merchandising and processing possibilities; (2) improvement of 

 grain storage on the farm with a view to enabling producers to put 

 on the market grain of a superior quality. 



TEST FOR OIL CONTENT IN FLAXSEED. 



A simple and accurate test for determining the percentage of oil 

 content in flaxseed was developed, which decreases the time of mak- 

 ing a routine quantitative oil test from 24 hours to only one hour. 

 Progress is being made on another method which will further reduce 

 the time to approximately 15 minutes. A quick oil test for flax- 

 seed is important as a grading factor. Several thousand analyses of 

 domestic flaxseed made during the past year show that the oil 

 content varies approximately 6 per cent in different lots. 



MILLING AND BAKING INVESTIGATIONS. 



Milling and baking investigations were made of the various classes 

 and grades of wheat marketed in commerce, and special investiga- 

 tions were conducted to determine the influence of weed seeds, garlic, 

 and frost and heat-damaged kernels on the milling and baking value 

 of wheat. The data secured in these investigations were used in 

 connection with the solution of problems arising from the enforce- 

 ment of the United States grain standards act. Investigations of 

 the milling and baking qualities of wheat varieties were conducted 

 for the purpose of securing information which will lead to the de- 

 velopment and production of superior wheat. Two manuscripts 

 were prepared and accepted for publication. Our past seven years' 

 milling and baking investigations of wheat varieties is summarized in 

 Department Bulletin 1183, Milling and Baking Experiments with 

 American Wlieat Varieties, and in Department Bulletin 1187, Ex- 

 perimental Milling and Baking, is given a statement of the purpose 

 and value of milling and baking laboratory experiments, together 

 with a full description of the method and equipment used in connec- 

 tion with our investigations for the purpose of grain standards. 



STUDIES OF METHODS OF PREVENTION OF HEAT DAMAGE IN GRAIN. 



The subject of heat damage in grain was extensively studied. In- 

 A'estigations Avere conducted in the Southwest wheat-growing sec- 

 tions to determine the cause of heat damage in wheat on the farm, 

 and experimental ventilators of various designs were installed in 



