l42 



SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 



that it doubles twice at this rate — and the following would be the result, 

 and the amount of wool required by the population at the periods indicated : 



TABLE No. 13. 



Thus in a little over one hundred years, our population is likely to ex- 

 ceed the present one of Europe, (which is 233,500,000,) and we have now a 

 sufficient territory to sustain it ! At 3 lbs. of wool per head the number 

 of sheep requisite to supply the ho7ne demand in 1963, would be over 

 364,000,000 ! — far more than are now to be found on the whole globe ! — 

 Such are some of the reasonable expectations which may be formed of the 

 future prospects of the Home wool market. 



From the (London) Farmers Magazine. 



NUTRITIVE QUALITIES OF BREAD NOW IN USE. 



I HAVE had occasfon during the course of 

 many years to pay strict attention to the pro- 

 cesses of bread-making, and therefore am pre- 

 pared to enter upon a subject which the ex- 

 isting state of the country renders of peculiar 

 interest. The title of this article has been 

 adopted in order to embody the leading points 

 of a masterly paper that has lately appeared 

 from the pen of Professor Johnston, of the 

 Edinburgh Society, than whom we do pos- 

 sess an analytic chemist of higher and more 

 trustworthy qualifications. The orders of 

 Queen Victoria in reference to what is styled 

 "second bread," and the laudable zeal with 

 which several noblemen of high rank have 

 adopted similar resolutions, require particu- 

 lar notice, inasmuch as the term " second 

 bread " is of doubtful meaning, and likely to 

 be misunderstood, especially In country dis- 

 tricts, where it conveys a definite unfavorable 

 meaning. 



The flour of wheat is in England of three or 

 four varieties. The first, by way of distinction 

 called " whites," is used in families for the 

 best pastry, or by the bakers to prepare the 

 finest fancy and cottage loaves. The second 

 variety is the " household" flour used in the 

 ordinary baker's household loaf The third 

 is employed to make seconds bread, which is 

 generally sold at Id. per loaf of 4 lbs. less 

 than the prime household. There is inferior- 

 ity of some description in this second flour of 

 the mill ; but it does not consist in the reten- 

 tion of the pollard, or fine portion of the skin. 

 The country miller, and the families who 

 there bake their own bread upon economical 

 principles, are well advised as to the true 

 meaning of these distinctions. And here, 

 therefore (though the terms of the North may 

 in some slight degree differ from those em- 

 ployed in our agricultural counties), I may 

 appeal to the authority of Professor Johnston, 

 as I practically know that all he Bays oa the 

 Bubject is strictly correct — thus : 

 (286) 



" The grain of wheat consists of two parts, 

 with which the miller is familiar — the inner 

 grain, and the skin that covers it. The inner 

 grain gives the pure wheat flour, the skin 

 when separated forms the bran. The miller 

 cannot entirely peel off the skin from his grain, 

 and tlius some of it is unavoidably ground up 

 with his flour. By sifting he separates it more 

 or less completely; his seconds, middlings, 

 &c., owing their color to the proportion of 

 brown bran that has passed through the sieve 

 along with the flour. The ' whole meal,' as 

 it is called, of which the so-named brown 

 household bread is made, consists of the en- 

 tire grain ground up together, used as it comes 

 from the miU-stones, unsifted, and therefore 

 containing all the bran.'' 



A fourth sort is used in Berkshire, and in- 

 deed in all country districts where families 

 purchiise or grow their own wheat and send 

 it to the mill : it is called " farmers' grist," or 

 " one-way flour," and contains all the finer 

 portions of the pollard or middhngs, after the 

 separation of the coarse bran only ; this true 

 wheat flour makes the best bread that can be 

 produced — wholesome, nutritious, of a beau- 

 tiful clear yellowish white, and of sm-jiassing 

 flavor. It is very economical to the family, 

 especially if the dough be made up with water 

 in which the bran has been infused. But as 

 every sack of the best white wheat, weighing 

 240 lbs., yields somewhere about 40 lbs. of ex- 

 cellent bran, abounding with meal, so much is 

 abstracted from the corn, and barely 200 lbs. 

 — say rather 196 lbs. — remain to the baker. 

 Now we safely infer that the orders of Her 

 Majesty refer to the best farmers' grist, ia 

 contradistinction from the extravagant pro- 

 ducts of the mill, called " whites " and house- 

 hold flour, from which the miller's cloth has 

 removed all the pollard. But in times of real 

 scarcity the entire meal claims our attention, 

 excepting in particular cases where coarse 

 bran is found inBalubriuus to individuals. 



