No. 4. Varieties, Properties and Classijication of fVheat. 



107 



the necessity of not only havinij wheat crops 

 pure, but of knowing their particular qualities 

 and properties. 



ON MEAL AND BREAD. 



The main object of farmers has been, 

 merely to grow the largest possible crop of 

 wheat, whereas the true aim of corn growers 

 should be, to produce the largest quantity of 

 meal or flour. It i> to the real nutriment 

 we should look — to those transparent, thin- 

 skinned wheats, which are enveloped in so 

 fine a husk or coat, or in so little bran, and 

 contain so much meal, that when compared 

 with the coarse red wheats, one is almost sur- 

 prised the plants should bear the same name : 

 some of these last having a large portion of 

 thick, coarse bran, with dark, coarse-looking 

 flour, afiording much less bread than the for- 

 mer varieties, and that of an inferior quality. ' 



Some of these coarser descriptions of flour, ! 

 are prepared for sale by being mi.xod withj 

 potatoe flour, or other compounds, to make up 

 that adulterated bread which is oitcm met with 

 in cities. I have known bread, made from a| 

 judicious admixture of winter and spring j 

 wheats, to preserve a wholesome moisture,! 

 and to continue of good flavor for eiofht or ten 

 days, whereas most bread thus kept, would 

 have become so dry as to be scarcely eatable, 

 perhaps even mouldy. 



The difference of the nature and property 

 of meal produced from various wheats, is such, 

 that it should be clearly made known, and es- 

 tablished, in order to enable millers to name 

 the portion of dry light flour, or the portion 

 of flour of a moist nature, required ; or that 

 the combination of two, or more sorts, would 

 exactly suit tiieir purpose. 



The growers should stipply the millers with 

 wheat of known qualities, and the millors 

 form the mixtures as the bakers might de- 

 sire. 



It will be recollected, that in order to as- 

 certain the relative specific gravity of each 

 variety of corn, the number of grains were 

 noted that exactly weighed a scruple ; see 

 Table A, No. 2, page 47. Such was their 

 difference, that it only required fourteen 

 grains of one sort, of my own growth, to 

 weigh a scruple, whereas it took forty-two of 

 a sample from the Baltic, which, probably, 

 must have been kiln-dried, as not one grain 

 sprouted. It is assumed that this may be a 

 good mode of ascertaining which contains 

 most meal, as it appears to be consonant to 

 rea.son, that the heaviest grains should gen- 

 erally contain the greatest portion of farina, 

 though I am yet unprepared to say positively 

 that the latter must be the finest, or wliitest. 



This attempt to ascertain the comparative 

 weight of tnany varieties, by merely weis-hinir 

 them, led me to prosecute my researches from 



the straw, and grain, on to the meal itself, in 

 order to be fully satislii^l which of the four- 

 teen sorts under e.vpcriniont, contained the 

 greatest portion of meal or flour. 



Hence, I hoped to ascertam, if the most 

 productive .sort in grain, should also prove the 

 most farinaceous; a great and important de- 

 sideratum. I ant truly happy to say that such 

 was nhudst the result. I siiall indicate how 

 much further it requires to be prosecuted, to 

 establish it. 



The mode I adopted, was to strike a mea- 

 sure full of each sort of wheat, which was 

 then ground by myself in a small mill. The 

 scale of weights used, was sixty-four grains 

 iipothccaries weight, cqunl to one gross, and 

 eiglit gross, equal to one ounce, or sixteen to 

 the pound. 



It will bo seen by referring to the table, 

 [C, page 40] that a measure of No. 1, or Jer- 

 sey bantzic wheat, weighed one ounce, five 

 gross, and tv.enty-cight grains; this produced 

 one ounce and forty-two grains of flour, with 

 only fourgrossand twenty-four grains of bran : 

 whereas, the most inferior variety, or that, 

 which produced most bran and least meal, 

 from the same measure, prcxluced only six 

 gross, three grains of flour, and six gross, 

 thirty-seven grains of bran — in fact, more 

 bran than flour. Tlsis, however, is not a con- 

 clusive experiment to determine the growth 

 of wheat on an extensive scnle, as no one, it 

 is hoped, Ins yet had the misfortune to grow 

 1 pure crop of a very bad unproductive sort. 

 But, if such were the fact, the difl^erence in 

 the produce of meal, in addition to the excess 

 in the produce of grain, of the superior over 

 the inferior variety, would, if carried over the 

 five millions of acres employed in the cultiva- 

 tion of corn in the United Kingdom, make 

 the quantity absolutely enormous. 



Any person may, by examininir the tables 

 .^nd out the difference of produce in any two 

 of the sorts, or the superiority of any one 

 o-ood sort, over the other thirteen sorts, which, 

 together, make up a mixture to he found in 

 most fields; by which he may satisfy himself 

 as to the positive advantage of establishing 

 which is the variety of wheat best suited ta 

 his own particular locality. 



The experiments made as de.scribed above,, 

 have led to the following results, in the 

 three following varieties of my own growth. 



From a downy or hoary variety, eighteea 

 }X)unds of flour, with half a pint of yeast, five 

 quarts and a pint of water, and one ounce of 

 salt, mnde twenty-six p'mtids of beautiful 

 liglit, white bread. 



From a Dantzic wheat flour, the same 

 quantity, with the .same proportion of yeast, 

 >alt, and water, made twenly-f<mr pounds and 

 a half of i-ery white bread, similar to French^ 

 bread. 



