198 ESSAYS ON WHEAT 



XXI. Milling and Baking Qualities 



It is very important that western Canada should con- 

 tinue to raise wheat which, like Ked Fife, possesses very 

 high milling and baking qualities; for it is upon these 

 qualities that the intrinsic value of wheat chiefly depends. 

 The grading of wheat for sale is based as closely as pos- 

 sible upon the value that the cereal will have for the miller 

 and the baker; and those wheats which most nearly ap- 

 proach their ideal, are placed in the highest grades and 

 command the best prices in the open market. 



Quality in wheat is a very complex thing ; and, when it 

 is necessary to measure it, a number of more or less inde- 

 pendent factors must be considered. These factors were 

 discussed by Dr. Charles Saunders in a very exhaustive 

 and masterly manner in a Central Experimental Farm 

 bulletin ^^ published in the year 1907, and they have re- 

 cently been summarized by Professor C. H. Bailey, who 

 is a cereal technologist, as follows : "^^ 



(1) Relative plumpness of the kernels, which influences 

 the yield or percentage of flour which can be produced from 

 the grain. 



(2) Density of the kernels, which also affects the yield 

 of flour, since, other things being equal, a larger propor- 

 tion of the endosperm or " floury " portion of the kernel 

 can be separated as flour when it is hard or vitreous in tex- 

 ture rather than soft or " starchy." 



(3) Moisture content of the grain, which affects its 

 keeping qualities, ease of milling, and losses which occur 

 through evaporation during the process of milling. 



69 Charles E. Saunders, Quality in Wheat, Bulletin No. 57, Cen- 

 tral Experimental Farm, Ottawa, pp. 6-28. 



70 C. H. Bailey. Marquis Wheat; II, Millinof Quality, Bulletin 

 No. 137, Minnesota Wheat Investigations, Series II, University Farm, 

 St. Paul, 1914, p. 10. 



