WHEAT 



0202 



WHEAT 



The lighter, clay soils produce wheat with a 

 hard, elongated grain, known as hard wheat, 

 which contains much gluten and little starch. 

 That having a soft, plump and staivhy kernel 

 is known as soft wheat, and is grown in fertile, 



United States 

 889 



British India 

 353 



Canada 



Russia 

 806 



France 

 326 



Italy 

 185 



Figures Represent Mil lions of Bushels 

 COUNTRIES LEADING IN PRODUCTION 



The yields indicated represent the average of 

 three years' crops. 



heavy soils. Both hard and soft varieties are 

 grown extensively in the United States and 

 Canada, but in Europe the soft wheats are 

 generally cultivated. There, also, the beard- 

 less, or bald, varieties predominate, though the 

 bearded wheats, in which the kernels are pro- 

 tected by long, hairlike glumes, are the more 

 hardy. The hard wheats produce the best 

 flour, and the soft varieties are better for starch 

 making. 



Other distinct varieties are the spelt wheats of 

 the colder mountain districts, which produce a 

 very fine flour but require special milling be- 



Spring Wheat 



Saskatchewan 

 \ZZ 



North DaKota 

 104 



Winter Wheat 



Kansas 

 IZ3 



Nebraska 

 66 



Figures Represent Millions of Bushels 



FOUR AMERICAN LEADERS 

 The yields indicated represent the average of 

 three years' crops. 



cause the chaff clings to the grain after thrash- 

 ing, and the Polish wheat, which resembles the 

 hard varieties of Southern Europe. 



In regions where the winters are mild wheat 

 is often sown in the fall, maturing in the fol- 



lowing spring or summer; this is known as 

 winter wheat. In the northern sections of the 

 Great Plains of the United States, and in 

 Canada and the plains of Eastern Russia and 

 Siberia, spring wheat thrives best. This is sown 

 in the spring and harvested the same year. 

 Classified according to the color of the kernel, 

 there are light-colored, or white, and 'dark- 

 colored, or red, wheats. 



Methods of Cultivation. Wheat responds 

 quickly to careful cultivation, and v the numer- 

 ous varieties now raised have been obtained by 

 selection and cross-breeding. In the Western 

 United States and Canada the wheat farms 

 rover thousands of acres, where, largely with- 

 out irrigation, enormous quantities of the best 

 grain are produced. All of the work is done 

 by machinery; the land is prepared by steam 

 and gang plows; the seed is sown in drills by 

 seeding machines; the grain, which grows taller 

 than a m.an, is cut and bound by mechanical 

 reapers and is thrashed by machines operated 

 by steam or electricity (see REAPING MACHINE; 

 THRASHING MACHINE). Before the wheat is 

 thrashed the sheaves are set up in shocks and 

 are left to dry and cure. In Texas the wheat is 

 harvested in April or May, while in the North- 

 ern states it is not cut until August. From the 

 thrasher the wheat is taken to elevators, where 

 it is stored until it slightly ferments. This 

 "sweating," as it is called, improves the wheat 

 for flour and increases the keeping qualities of 

 the latter. The grading of the wheat is based 

 upon the size and color of the kernel and the 

 weight per bushel. 



Production and Trade. The United States is 

 the greatest wheat-producing country in the 

 world in respect to number of bushels pro- 

 duced. Its average annual output exceeds 880,- 

 000,000 bushels, and the yield for 1916 was 

 nearly 1,400,000,000 bushels. The leading wheat 

 states are North Dakota, which produces both 

 spring and winter wheat; Kansas, yielding only 

 winter wheat; Minnesota, Nebraska, South 

 Dakota and Washington, which produce chiefly 

 winter wheat. The great wheat centers are 

 Minneapolis, Chicago, Duluth and Buffalo. 



Usually less than one-fifth of the crop of the 

 United States is exported, but during the War 

 of the Nations the export greatly increased. In 

 1917, after America's entrance into the War of 

 the Nations, the demands of the allies became 

 still more pressing, and the food administration 

 ordered one wheatless day a week in all hotels, 

 restaurants and homes throughout the country 

 that a greater quantity might be sent abroad. 



