MONOCOTYLEDONS GRAMINE^E DIAGRAM 17. 207 



Wheat is sown either at the beginning of winter or at the 

 beginning of spring. When sown in autumn, it sprouts and resists 

 the cold, but does not grow through the winter, and only begins 

 to grow again on the return of warm weather. Each grain of 

 wheat produces one or several stalks, and consequently ears. After 

 the plant has flowered, and the corn has acquired its full growth, 

 the stalk and ear begin to turn yellow, or, in other words, to die. 

 The wheat is then reaped, and afterwards threshed to separate the 

 corn from the chaff. 



There are many different varieties of wheat suitable for different 

 soils and situations. Some are much more hardy than others. 

 The less hardy kinds yield a floury grain which can be easily 

 reduced to powder, and are the best for bread making. The 

 hardy kinds are smaller, more horny, and are more easily broken 

 than ground ; they yield a flour which makes very nutritious 

 bread, but not of a fine colour ; it is well adapted for pastry. 



In order to make bread, the wheat is put into a mill, where it 

 passes between two millstones, one of which revolves, which 

 grind it ; but the flour in this condition is not yet sufficiently 

 prepared. It is mixed with the bran which proceeds from the 

 outer skin of the corn ; this is removed by passing the flour 

 through a very fine sieve. Wheat, thus converted into flour, 

 will keep for a long time in a dry place. When it is required for 

 use, it is kneaded with water and salt, but if cooked thus, it yields 

 a heavy compact dough, which is not fit to eat. It is necessary 

 for the bread to rise when it bakes, and we must therefore add to 

 it a little yeast, a microscopic fungus which becomes developed in 

 the course of the fermentation of beer, and which is found in the 

 form of a whitish scum in the vats where beer is made. When 

 this is done the dough will rise in baking. 



Bread is one of the best foods known, and is the more nourishing 

 in an inverse proportion to its whiteness ; but it is by no 

 means indispensable to life, and potatoes, beans, rice, or meat 

 can be substituted. Bread is the principal article of food in 

 some countries, while the inhabitants of others eat little or none, 



