PREFACE 



The great industries which have been essential to the rise of 

 state or nation have never received the attention which their 

 importance should command, and the chronicling of their events 

 greatly extends the meaning of economics and history proper 

 Industrial history has indeed received a certain amount c 

 consideration, but in the main it has been somewhat desultory, 

 aad the field is so new that only a few of the great basic m- 

 itriee, such as those of cotton, corn, alfalfa and coal, have 

 been attempted. It is my purpose in this book to add 



. 



Bother volume to the industrial-economic literature which 

 Seals with industries in their entirety. While many important 

 %orks are available that cover certain phases of the wheat in- 

 dustry very adequately, and a few which cover a number of 

 phases very admirably for the limited space that is devoted 

 them, there is, however, no general work treating the entire 

 subject as completely and extensively as is merited by the in- 

 dustry which furnishes the most staple food of the civilized 

 world. Unquestionably the need of such a book on wh< 



patent. ,. 



A work of this nature is of direct or indirect interest to all 

 consumers of bread. The historical or evolutionary aspect i: 

 of universal significance. Those directly interested in the 

 wheat industry, whether as growers, dealers, or millers, not 

 only should be familiar with the technicalities of the phase 

 the industry in which they are engaged, but they should have 

 accessible a general knowledge of the whole industry. No ag- 

 ricultural college or experiment station should be without a 

 text-book on the subject. The agricultural or economic section of 

 every library should certainly contain a general reference book 

 on wheat The method of treating the subject demanded by 



vii 



