HOWARD, LEAKE AND HOWARD. 235 



a high percentage of chlorides and sulphates with more lime than 

 magnesia. Harvey and Wood^ have published a preliminary note 

 on a method of determining the baking strength of single ears of 

 wheat by taking advantage of the differences in opalescence which 

 exist between water extracts of various wheats. 



4. Consistency. The effect of environment on the consistency 

 of the wheat grain, i.e., its translucent or starchy appearance, has 

 been perhaps more thoroughly investigated than any other aspect 

 of the question. There is no doubt that consistency depends very 

 largely on the soil, on the available moisture and on the nutrition 

 of the crop, and that, in many cases, great changes take place in this 

 character in any variety according to the climatic conditions under 

 which it is grown. From the miller's point of view, the consistency 

 of the sample is of the highest importance and is one of the 

 factors in determining the value of wheat. Consistency is com- 

 mercially important in two ways. Firstly, it affects the process 

 of conditioning or the adjustment of water previous to grinding 

 — as a rule translucent wheats take up more water than soft samples. 

 Secondly, translucent grains usually behave better than soft wheats 

 in the mill and are more free grinding, thus enabling separation of 

 bran from flour to be made with ease. As strong wheats are fre- 

 quently translucent, translucency is sometimes considered to be 

 an indication of strength, but this is not always the case as both 

 translucent weak wheats and mellow strong wheats occur. In 

 spite of these exceptions, however, the consistency of the grain 

 remains a very important factor in the commercial valuation of a 

 wheat. 



Quality. Good quality in wheat flour has been defined by 

 Humphries'^ as " the sum of excellence on several points " and these 

 are five in number : (1) flavour ; (2) colour of the flour ; (3) strength, 

 i.e., size and shape of loaf ; (4) stability of dough ; (5) yield of 



' Harvey & Wood, A Method of determining the Baking strength of single ears of Wheat, 

 British Association Reports, 1911, p. 597. 



2 Humphries, Quality in Wheaten Flour — a paper read before the Joint Session of the 

 Chemistry, Botany, and Agriculture Sections of the British Association at Winnipeg, 1909. 



