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wheat ground into flour ; but it is hard to grind the bran so fine that it 

 will not have a bad effect on man's digestive system. To overcome this, 

 there has been invented a machine which peels off" the outer coat of the 

 wheat grain. The remainder is ground, and is known as "entire wheat 

 flour." Such flour is always dark in color, because the gem is ground 

 with it ; but it contains more bone and fat producing material than flour 

 made in any other way. 



It is very difficult to determine the exact quality of a flour ; but there 

 are certain general rules by which a good bread flour may be judged 

 quickly. It should be white with a faint yellow tinge, and it should fall 

 looselv apart in the hand after being pressed. When put between the 

 teeth, it should "crunch " a little ; or when rubbed between the fingers, 

 it should be slightly gritty. As flour is prepared, possibly there is no one 

 point which determines its quality so much as the amount of gluten it 

 contains. Some one asks : " What is gluten ? " Have you ever made 



Fig. 27. — Loaves of bread made from eiiiial weights of flour : 1. From Manitoba wheat ; 2. From Wild 

 Goose wheat ; 3. From Michigan Amber wheat. 



gum bv chewing wheat ? Nearly all children in the country have. The 

 gummy part is gluten. If you have ever tried to make gum from oats, 

 barley, or corn, you have failed ; because these grains do not contain 

 eluten. It is because wheat contains this substance that it is so much 

 used for bread-making. If you take a little flour and add enough water 

 to make it into a stiff" dough, and allow it to stand for an hour, and then 

 take it between your fingers and knead it in water, you will see the 

 water get white with the starch that is separating from the dough. 

 Continue the washing until the starch is all removed. What remains 

 is gluten. Notice how tough and elastic it is. 



Some varieties of wheat contain more gluten than others. There is 

 also a great difference in the quality of glutens : some are tough and 



