R]PENIN(Î CEREALS. . 78 



tional conditions named, all the varieties sown ripened prematurely, Red Fyfe and White 

 Russian in 84 days, and '\yhite Fyfe in 83 days." 



The quality of the Ladoga wheat is another A^ery important consideration. The very 

 high character of the Red Fyfe wheat grown in the Northwest, and the excellent quality 

 of the flour prepared from it, has created a demand for this wheat at the highest market 

 prices, and it is of the utmost importance to the whole country that this good reputation 

 be maintained. The Northwest of Canada, the Northwestern United States and the Nor- 

 thern provinces of Russia, appear to be the only countries in the. world producing those 

 high grades of hard wheat required by the best millers everywhere to mix with the softer 

 grain from other countries ; and the introduction of any wheat of a manifestly inferior 

 quality, which would tend to lower the standard of Canadian wheat, would be highly 

 impolitic. The object in view in introducing the Russian wheat referred to, has been to 

 combine, as far as possible, good quality with earliness of ripening. The original impor- 

 tation of Ladoga is a hard wheat with an admixture of a few softer grains. It has been 

 submitted for opinion to a number of experts, the majority of whom place it in a grade 

 known as " No. 1 Northern ", one grade lower than " No. 1 Hard ; " and estimate its value 

 as about four or fiA'e cents per bushel less than the best Red Fyfe, but some of the samples 

 grown from this seed have improved so much in quality and weight as to entitle them 

 to grade with grain of the highest quality. 



The influence of climate is no doubt an important factor in the production of these 

 high grades of wheat, and the excellence of equality is believed to depend on the presence 

 of an increased proportion of gluten, but the relative quantity of this can only be deter- 

 mined satisfactorily by chefiiical analysis. For some months past, the chemist attached to 

 the staff" of the experimental farm, Mr. F. T. Shutt, has been engaged in making such 

 analyses and a full report of the results he has obtained will shortly be published. The 

 work is sufficiently far advanced to enable me to say that, although the relative proportion 

 of gluten does not in all cases correspond with the grading of the different samples by 

 experts, the results are very interesting and show that the Ladoga wheat, in this respect, 

 compares favorably with the best varieties. Mr. Shutt's work shows that variations 

 occur in the proportion of gluten, in the same wheat grown in the same climate, to an 

 extent which would lead one to infer that soil also is an important agent in bringing 

 aboutt hese modifications. The Ladoga wheat is not so bright in colour as the Red Fyfe, 

 but whether this will be regarded as an objection by millers can only be determined by 

 submitting a sufficient quantity of the grain to be ground into flour. 



The following samples are submitted for inspection : — 



(1.) The original importation of Ladoga wheat, which weighs 61J lbs. to the bushel, 

 and is graded as about equal to " No. 1 Northern." 



(2.) Sample of the same grown at Einscarth by Mr. Gr. L. Smellie, weighing 65 lbs. to 

 the bushel, and graded by Mr. W. Ogilvie, of Montreal, as " Extra No. 1 Hard " 



(3.) Sample of the same grown on Poor Man's Reserve, Touchwood Hills, N. W. T., 

 by Mr. H. Keith, weighing 64J lbs. to the bushel, and graded by the same expert, as " No. 

 1 Hard." 



(4.) Sample grown at Wolseley, by Mr. "Wm. G-ibson, who raised the largest crop of 

 any person in the Dominion, 236 lbs. from three pounds of seed. Mr. Ogilvie regards this 



