554 THE SMALL GRAINS 



the same, that one will be the stronger which contains the 

 larger proportion of glutenin. 



598. Blending. In many mills flour is never made 

 from one straight lot of wheat. In the locally grown wheat, 

 some quality of the gluten is lacking or there is not a suffi- 

 cient quantity of it, and some other wheat is mixed with 

 it which will supply the lacking quality or add to the 

 quantity. Sometimes as many as four or five different 

 lots are mixed, or blended as usually stated, in order to 

 secure a well-balanced product. Blending, though usu- 

 ally practiced by soft-wheat millers, is not always 

 done solely to the advantage of the soft-wheat flour. 

 It may improve the hard- wheat flour as well. Many 

 millers who object to durum wheat flour alone for 

 bread, agree that bread of the best quality is made 

 from flour of blended durum and soft wheat, in which 

 there is 50 per cent or more of the former. Blending 

 of flours is practiced by the baker, particularly in seasons 

 when the wheats are extremely variable. 



599. Flours for special purposes. No flour is the 

 best for all purposes. While Kansas and Minneapolis 

 flours are in the first rank for making loaf bread, Ken- 

 tucky biscuit's and pies from soft wheat flours will not 

 soon be excelled in other districts. Different kinds of 

 flour are required for biscuit and pastry from that which 

 is best for loaf bread. The western white wheats are 

 among the best for crackers and for certain breakfast 

 foods. In making family flour, more attention is given 

 to color than to expansion. Flour for bakers must have 

 great strength, as their baking is a business matter, and 

 strong flour carries more water in the dough than weaker 

 flours, and water is cheaper than flour. For the same 

 reason, a greater gluten content is required in bakers' 



