14 WHEAT 



The grains are ground and the coarser and darker bran 

 (the outside covering of the seed) is bolted (i. e. sifted) from 

 the finer white flour. Bread made from the unsifted meal is 

 known as brown bread, that made from the white flour as 

 white bread. Of all the cereals wheat is the most nutritious, 

 and it contains a substance called glutin, which enables it, 

 when made into dough, to hold together ; bread made from 

 other grains has a tendency to fall to pieces. 



MACARONI (from the Greek, malcar, blessed, hence a very 

 dainty food) is composed of long slender tubes made of wheat 

 flour. Vermicelli (from Latin vermicellus, a little worm) is 

 prepared in the same manner as macaroni, but the tubes are 

 slenderer. Semolina is also prepared from wheat grains. 

 Starch is obtained from coarsely ground wheat. The meal is 

 steeped in water for two or three weeks, at the end of which 

 time the liquid, which has now become acid, is drawn off, 

 and the substance which remains in the vat is an impure form 

 of starch. This is subjected to other processes of washing and 

 drying, and finally pure starch is obtained. 



CULTIVATION. Wheat requires a moderate amount of 

 moisture while it is growing, and plenty of warm sunshine to 

 ripen the grain after it is formed. Of soils it prefers a rich 

 clay, but it will grow well on chalky ground, and also on 

 alluvium provided they are not too poor. 



SOURCES OF SUPPLY 



Britain. 1 The soil and climate of the east of England 2 

 are admirably suited to the growing of wheat. The average 

 rainfall is under 30 inches (in some parts less than 25), and 

 the summer temperature ranges from 64 F. in the south to 

 60 F. in the north. Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Cambridge, 

 Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk, Huntingdon, and Bedford are our 

 chief wheat-producing counties. 



1 In 1914 Britain (i. e. the United Kingdom) produced 31 million cwt. ; 

 in 1918, 46 million. 



2 In 1914 England and Wales produced 29 million cwt. ; in 1918, 42 

 million. 



