160 EXPEEIMEKT STATION EECORD. 



of its stomacli, and technique, Tlie development of T. lewisi in the flea is 

 considered at length and an experimental study of the problems of transmis- 

 sion and development is reported upon. A list of bibliographical references is 

 appended. 



FOODS— HUMAN" NUTRITION. 



Kansas flours — chemical, baking, and storage tests, C. O. Swanson, J. T. 

 WiLLAKD, and L. A. Fitz {Kansas Sta. Bui. 202 {1915), pp. 135, figs. 21).— In 

 the first part of this bulletin the equipment used and methods followed in 

 baking tests are described in detail. 



The second part of the publication gives the results of baking tests and 

 chemical analyses made of 35 samples of commercial flour collected from 

 Kansas mills, together with the results of chemical analyses of 21 wheats rep- 

 resenting those from which the flours were made. The flours examined were 

 divided into three grades designated as short patent, long patent, and straight. 

 In the baking tests, which showed all these flours to be of good quality and 

 strength, a comparative study was made of the following factors : Loss in 

 mixing and rising, time for proving, expansion of the dough, rising in the 

 oven, loss in baking and cooling, weight of the loaf, pounds of bread per barrel 

 of flour, volume of the loaf, texture of the crumb, and color of the loaf. 



The following quotations from the discussion of the results of the baking 

 tests of commercial flours are of interest: 



" The dough from the short patent ripens sooner. This is one of the quali- 

 ties in the short patents which make these flours more valuable for family 

 baking where the same flour is used for various purposes, such as cakes and 

 pastries aside from bread making. The gluten is of a softer, more pliable 

 nature and lends itself more readily to different conditions. The dough from 

 a short patent is always softer, and has a smoother, more even feel than the 

 dough from a straight flour. Hence it is easier to work and is much preferred 

 by the housewife. . . . 



" The final weight of the loaf, and consequently the amount of bread per 

 barrel of flour, is influenced more by the losses in making than by the varia- 

 tion in materials used. . , . 



" Large loaf volume is not of itself an indication of a particularly desirable 

 flour. Sometimes ... a weak flour may produce a larger loaf than a strong 

 flour. The loaf volume must be judged together with absorption, maximum 

 volume of dough, rise in the oven, and texture. If two loaves are equal in 

 these other factors, then the one with a larger loaf volume is the more de- 

 sirable. . . . 



" That the average loaf volume is greater for the long patent flours than for 

 the other two brings out the fact that loaf volume alone does not necessarily 

 indicate a flour of the highest commercial grade. . . . 



" If two loaves have the same volume but one has a larger oven spring, the 

 latter indicates a stronger, stiffer gluten, while the gluten of the former would 

 be weaker or more ' runny.' " 



In judging texture of the crumb, " large holes and uneven distribution indi- 

 cate a weak gluten. Thickness of cell wall or an appearance of coarseness in- 

 dicates a stiff and inelastic gluten. Such a flour would be good for blending 

 with a weaker flour, but would not be a desirable flour to be used along 

 for household purposes. Weakness of gluten shown by large and uneven dis- 

 tribution of holes is one of the worst faults in a flour. As a rule, the bread 

 from short patent flours differs from the longer patents and straights by the 

 finer cell walls and more delicate structure. . . . 



