77 



The sources of the specimens will be found under their respective 

 serial numbers in the general descriptive tables. They are from vari- 

 ous parts of the country, and represent fairly the average production 

 and variations. 



For comparison, averages of the above results have been drawn, as 

 well as of those of wheat and corn previously published, excluding the 

 Colorado wheats. 



Averages of detailed analyses of cereals. 



From the figures it is seen that oats and barley are much drier than 

 the remaining cereals. This is due in the case of botli to the outer chaffy 

 covering, which readily gives up its water. In the oats, however, this 

 had been removed, but its effect in abstracting moisture has evidently 

 remained. The smaller size of the'rye kernel, no doubt, accounts for its 

 somewhat lower moisture than wheat and corn, and this, too, has per- 

 haps an effect upon oats. 



Of all the grains barley is the richest in ash this, too, probably due 

 to its hull followed by oats, the richest actually in ash in kernel. 



In oil, oats is ahead of corn by over 2 per cent., and far ahead of all 

 the other cereals. 



In sugar, barley and rye are superior, with oats comparatively rich, 

 and corn the poorest. 



In dextrine or gum, rye is the richest, having twice as much as wheat 

 and corn, and 1 per cent, more than oats and barley. 



The accumulation of its many other constituents makes oats by far 

 the least starchy of the cereals, followed by rye and barley, with wheat 

 as the most starchy. This latter fact, from a flouring point of view, is 

 important, taken in connection with the character of the nitrogen of 

 wheat and its small amount of oil. Of the determinations of the nitrog- 

 enous constituents it mu?t be said that the solubility does not show 

 much in regard to their quality. Part of the gluten of wheat goes into 

 the alcohol extract and part remains insoluble, the latter being chiefly 

 the gluten-casien. In corn the soluble portion is known often as zein 

 and is more distinctive than the soluble albuminoids of the other cereals. 



