6 THE WHEAT PLANT 



too costly in comparison with the cereals maize, oats, and barley to allow 

 of its being used for this purpose on a large scale. 



The so-called " milling offals," however, consisting of the bran or 

 husk and other portions of the grain, obtained as by-products in the 

 manufacture of flour for bread-making, are among the most valuable 

 foods for all kinds of stock. 



In the great wheat-growing regions the straw of the crop is of little 

 value, and is burnt or ploughed in, its humus and mineral constituents 

 serving to improve the physical and chemical condition of the soil. On 

 more intensively cultivated lands the straw is of greater importance to the 

 farmer, being employed as thatch for stacks, food for stock, or as litter 

 for the bedding of farm animals, in which latter case it is ultimately 

 returned to the soil as manure. 



In addition to its agricultural value, wheat straw is utilised in the 

 manufacture of mattresses, straw hats, and paper. 



