476 



Journal of Agriculture, Victoria. [10 Aug., 1917. 



The Grading Test. 



The wheat, after all the foreign ingredients have heen removed, is 

 graded into seven sizes. This is done by means of a set of hand sieves 

 ranging in size of mesh from 3.25 mm. down to 2 mm. mesh. The 

 results obtained are set forth in the subjoined tables: — 



Table III. — Showing Amount of Grain Retained on Sieves of 



Varying Mesh. 



(1,000 grams taken). 



Table IV. — Showing Percentage of First Grade Grain (Retained 

 BY 2.75 MM. Sieve) Compared with Previous Tests. 



New South Walei 

 South Australia 

 We.-ttern Australia 

 Victoria 



62-2 

 59-5 



76-8 



60-1 

 43-0 

 56-6 

 54-8 



The size of the grains of wheat is of some direct iniportanee to the 

 miller, who, as a rule, favours a large, well-developed grain, and the more 

 uniform the sample, the better suited it is for milling. The larger 

 the grain the more flour may be expected from the majority of varieties. 

 In a composite sample this may not always be so, as some varieties have 

 a thicker branny layer than others. All wheats contain a varying percent- 

 age of cracked and shrivelled grain, which must be removed before the 

 wheat is fit for milling. Grading the wheat before shipment would re- 

 move these grains, and the tonnage would thus be considerably lessened. 

 The extent to which this can be done will vary according to the percent- 

 age of screenings in the sample of wheat. For this year the bulk sample 

 shows a percentage of 4.35 of screenings, equivalent to 12,408 tons. 



. It will be seen on referring to the graph on page 477 tJiat the 

 curves representing the South and Western Australian wheats agree very 

 closely, while those representing Victoria and New South Wales show a 



