30 AGRICULTURAL TEXT-BOOK. 



143. Wheat, and probably other grains, vary in their quality 

 and nutritive powers according to the warmth and relative dry- 

 ness of the climate. Sir Humphrey Davy found in 1,000 parts 

 of seed wheat in its natural state : 



Thus the gluten of wheat, from the warm and dry climate of 

 Sicily, far exceeded that of English wheat; while in wheat from 

 the United States, the starch and mucilage, (the heat-giving 

 constituents,) are nearly equal to those of England, and the 

 gluten, (the flesh-forming constituent,) is far superior; or, in 

 other words, the last is much more nutritious than the first. 



&quot; The real value of wheat and of the other cereals and bread stuffs 

 depends mainly upon the proportion of gluten and albumen which they, 

 contain, their starch, glucose, and dextrine, or gum, not being considered 

 nutritive.&quot; (L. G. Beck.) 



According to Prof. Beck, American wheat flour shows the following 

 comparative analysis: 



Water, - - 11.75 to 14.05 per cent. 



Gluten, 9.90 to 14.36 



Starch, 66.00 to 70.20 



Glucose, Dextrine, &amp;lt;tc., - - 4.96 to 11.05 



144. The quantity of water contained in wheat greatly effects 

 its value, as regards, (a,) keeping ; (b,) the quantity of bread 

 it yields. 



(A.) Large amounts of Western flour are annually damaged 

 by a chemical change which takes place, owing to the water 

 contained in it. This water amounts, on an average from 24 to 

 26 Ibs. in every barrel of common flour. The total annual loss 

 to the United States, from this cause alone, was estimated, in 



