"THAT MAN PARTRIDGE!" 69 



wanted a change in the Government's staff at the office 

 of the Chief Grain Inspector where the official grading 

 was done. Some wanted a sample market ; some didn't. 

 The farmers were about evenly divided. 



The Department of Agriculture for the Territories 

 commissioned Professor Robert Harcourt, Chemist of 

 the Ontario Agricultural College, to conduct tests as 

 to the comparative values of the different grades of 

 wheat. E. A. Partridge, of Sintaluta, and A. A. Perley, 

 of Wolseley, undertook to secure eight-bushel samples 

 of the various grades from their districts. These were 

 carefully sacked and shipped to the Chief Grain 

 Inspector at Winnipeg, where he graded them and for- 

 warded them to Professor Harcourt, sealed in such a 

 way that any tampering with the shipment would be 

 detected readily. 



These samples were all of 1903 crop. There had been 

 a bad snowstorm in September of that year and much 

 wheat had been standing in stook. The farmers believed 

 that the grain was not frozen or injury }fl any wav 

 and that they were defrauded to some extent in the 

 grading of their wheat. The samples represented all 

 grades from "No. 1 Hard" to "Feed." They were 

 milled with exceptional care to prevent mixing of the 

 various lots and the flours obtained were put through 

 three different baking tests. 



<The conclusion reached was that there did not appear 

 to be much difference in the value of the different 

 grades of wheat^ Even the " Feed " sample proved by 

 no means useless for bread-making purposes, either in 

 yield or quality; the only thing that rendered it less 

 available for bakers' use was its darker color. All who 

 saw the loaves were surprised at the quality of this 

 bread. 



