3S 



THE CEREALS IN AMERICA 



II. COMPOSITION. 



66. Composition. — ^The following table gives the minimum, 

 maximum and average analyses of 310 American grown samples ] 

 of grain and seven samples of wheat straw :^ j 



67. Water. — The analyses sho ,v that wheat contains ten to 

 eleven per cent of water. This represents the moisture in the 

 samples as analyzed, often after they have stood in the dry 

 room of the laboratories. What percentage of water wheat 

 contains as it goes on the market cannot be stated, but it has 

 been shown to vary largely from day to day with varying con- 

 ditions of the atmosphere. In California, where the atmosphere 

 inland is very dry at harvest, this subject is a matter of consid- 

 erable commercial importance. It is claimed that the moisture 

 that this California wheat will absorb during a voyage from San 

 Francisco to Liverpool will sometimes increase its weight enough 

 to pay the entire cost of freight. Wheat bought inland and 

 kept in warehouses all the season would increase in a similar 

 manner upon exposure. 



Experiments by Hilgard and O'Neil, of the University of 

 California, indicated that wheat of the inland of California 

 might increase twenty-five per cent in weight by the absorption 

 of water when transported to a temperate climate, while a gain 

 of five to fifteen per cent mignt be looked for with absolute 

 certainty. A difference of nine per cent was obsen/ed in 

 twenty-four hours. Brewer found a difference of from five to 



I U. S. Dept. of Afi^r., Office of Exp. Stations E. S. B. 11, 



