SCOPE OF THE INVESTIGATION FOR 1883-84. 



The investigation of the past year has been confined almost entirely 

 to wheat and its products, previous analyses of corn having been suffi- 

 cient in number to demonstrate the very universal uniformity of its 

 composition. A number of weighings of varieties of the latter have 

 been made, however, to obtain information as to the sizes of kernels 

 grown in different portions of the country, and a few determinations of 

 ash and albuminoids. 



The wheats which have been analyzed, while including some scat- 

 tered specimens, which have from time to time come to hand, have 

 been principally from parts of the country which were not well repre- 

 sented in our previous report or where those which have been selected 

 were deemed by good judges to be not truly characteristic of the State ; 

 as in the case of Minnesota. A selection from Professor Blount's crop 

 of 1883 has also been examined, it being the third consecutive year in 

 which Colorado varieties grown under his direction have been ana- 

 lyzed. The roller process of milling having attracted much attention 

 and taken a prominent position in the methods of milling at the present 

 day, a complete series of samples illustrative thereof has been supplied 

 by C. A. Pillsbury & Co., of Minneapolis, and partial series by Warder 

 <& Barnett, of Springfield, Ohio, and Herr & Oissel, Georgetown, D. C., 

 together with numerous flours from different millers in Minnesota and 

 elsewhere, manufactured by gradual reduction. 



The question of the susceptibility of flour and other grain products 

 to the humidity of the atmosphere has also been a subject of considera- 

 tion, and baking experiments with flours from various States and of 

 different grades have been carried on for comparison with similar work 

 done in England a few years ago in which some of our wheats were 

 included. 



LIST OIF 1 WHEATS. 



Groivn by Hugh L. Wysor, Newbern, Pulaski County, Virginia. 



1844. Dallas. 



Crop of 1883. Soila very light sand; no fertilizers. The land has been in clover 

 about four years ; the clover had run out when the laud was broken in the 

 fall of 1882; sown broadcast and plowed in; no after-cultivation. Yield: 

 Three-quarters winter killed ; the remainder gave 15 bushels per acre, weigh- 

 ing 68 pounds per bushel. 



1845. Fultz-Clawson. 



Crop of 1883. Grown under the same conditions as the preceding. 



