May, 1922 



SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE. 



283 



Milling Quality of Saskatchewan Wheat 



By Manley Champlin & Cyril H. Goulden 

 Field Husbandry Department, University of Saskatchewan 



Introduction 



The ordinary charactei'istics of wheat 

 varieties such as yield, time of maturity, 

 height, and others of a similar nature are 

 more or less obvious to the observing 

 farmer, and it is on the basis of these ob- 

 vious characteristics that the large ma- 

 jority of farmers arrive at their conclu- 

 sions as to the value of the different va- 

 rieties for their particular conditions. 

 These varieties, however, differ consider- 

 ably with regard to the actual value or 

 "quality" of the wheat grain which they 

 produce, and this actual value can only 

 be arrived at Avith some degree of accur- 

 acy by means of a milling and baking 

 test. It is not at all apparent from the 

 plant characters of the variety and only 

 to a slight extent from the appearance of 

 the threshed sample of wheat grain. 



For the past eight years the University 

 Field Husbandry Department has been 

 carrying on field tests with the leading 

 varieties of wheat and each year samples 

 of these wheats have been sent to some 

 reliable wheat testing laboratory in order 

 to have their milling and baking values 

 determined. The data which has been 

 gathered from these tests is now available 

 for publication and it is our purpose in 

 the following discussion to set forth the 

 information gathered from this data in 

 such a manner that anyone making a 

 study of wheat varieties m.ay be able to 

 come to some conclusions with regard to 

 their relative actual values or qualit}'. The 

 need for some tabulated information of 

 this kind becomes evident from the fact 

 that quality in wheat comes next in im- 

 portance to yield and time of maturity, 

 and yet it can only be ascertained by 

 means of milling and baking tests. 



Among practical wheat growers, the 

 question often arises as to why they 



The investigations reported in this discussion 

 were begun under the direction of John Bracken 

 and have been continued under the direction of 

 Manley Champlin. During the entire period cov- 

 ered, the details of production were carried out 

 by Robert Stewart. Much of the value of thi5 

 work has been due to the extreme care with 

 which he maintained the purity of the varieties 

 under trial. 



The following instructors have been in charge 

 of the scientific details of the work here re- 

 ported at different times, — A. W. Henry, J. B. 

 Harrington and C. H. Goulden. 



should consider the quality of their wheat 

 as of any importance when very often 

 they can make just as great and some- 

 times a greater profit from the growing 

 of a poor quality wheat. In this connec- 

 tion it must be remembered that the bulk 

 of the wheat sold from Saskatcliewan 

 farms, comes from varieties that are high 

 in quality. This, together with the fact 

 that our climate is very favorable for the 

 growing of high quality wheat has built 

 up for us in the markets of the world, a 

 reputation for the production of wheat of 

 this kind. For these reasons there is 

 u.sually a greater demand for our wheat 

 and it is this demand which keeps up the 

 price of the low quality wheats. It is 

 quite possible for an individual farmer or 

 even the farmers of a district to make a 

 considerable profit from the production 

 of low quality- wheat, but no sooner is this 

 wheat grown to any extent than it be- 

 comes noticeable on the wheat markets 

 and consequently there is a " cut '" ' in the 

 price. When we buy goods ourselvees, we 

 expect the price to vary with the quality 

 and we look with disdain upon the dealer 

 who attempts to foist upon us poor quality 

 goods at regular prices. It is to be ex- 

 pected then that those who buy our goods 

 should regard the situation from the same 

 standpoint. 



Important Factors in the Consideration of 

 Wheat Quality 

 Usually, the term "quality"' as applied 

 to wheat grain has a more or less varied 

 meaning. The reason for this may be 

 easily understood from a consideration of 

 the fact that the grain may be used for 

 more than one purpose and that its value 

 or quality depends to a very large extent 

 on the particular -purpo-se for which it is 

 intended. The miller who wishes to pro- 

 duce high grade semolina for the man- 

 ufacture of macaroni, desires a wheat 

 Avhich is high in gluten and will produce 

 a hard granular flour. The miller intent 

 upon the production of pastry or cracker 

 flour desires a wheat which is low in pro- 

 tein and proportionately high in starch. 

 In either of these cases the millers speak 

 of the wheat as of high quality' which is 

 best suited for the manufacture of the 

 product desired. 



