lo April, 1909.] Refort of Wlicat Improvement Committee. 



247 



per bu.shel. It may be mentioned, as evidence of the growing knowledge 

 in connexion with the question of the milling values of different wheats, that 

 several millers in Victoria are paying 3d. per bushel over current market 

 rates for Bobs wheat this season. There are other varieties of equally good- 

 flour strength, and possessing improved characteristics to Bobs, which 

 should become popular with farmers, if an additional price becomes general. 

 The most promising of these now being grown in Victoria is Comeback. It 

 has the merit of being an early variety, and should prove a good yielder in 

 the moist districts. 



Milling Values of Wheat Varieties. 



As has already been intimated, the question of quality in wheats is not 

 being lost sight of in the investigations under review in this connexion. 

 The Wheat Improvement Committee is installing a miniature flour milling 

 plant for the purpose of carrying out systematic tests of all varieties grown 

 upon different types of soil. The flour derived from the miniature mill 

 will be submitted to working bakers for manufacture into bread, so that 

 a practical opinion may be elicited from the baker as to the actual value 

 of any variety grown under certain known conditions. It is not too much 

 to expect that within the expiration of a year or two the accumulated in- 

 formation will be most valuable as a guide to the class of wheats best suited 

 to certain localities. 



Frorn a miller's point of view, the percentages of flour, pollard, and 

 bran which can be derived from any variety, influence its value to a certain 

 extent. From a baker's stand-point, the strength of the flour, the amount 

 of water that the flour will absorb, as well as the proportion of gluten, are 

 factors indicative of quality. The table below gives the percentage of 

 mill products, gluten, and strength of some familiar varieties : — 



