28 COMPARATIVE STUDY OF CEREALS 



protein than corn and barley, while corn and wheat are richer in 

 starches. Corn and oats are rich in fat. Oats and barley are high in 

 crude fiber, due to the hull. 



Composition of Hard and Soft Grain. In all the cereals there 

 is a great difference in the hardness of grain in different varieties. 

 We have the " hard wheat " with flinty, hard grains, as the durum 

 wheats and northwestern spring wheats. Then we have the " soft 

 wheats," usually white or light red in color and showing a white, 

 starchy interior. In wheats we find that the hard wheats are high in 

 protein, with 13 to 16 per cent, while the soft wheats have only 8 to 

 11 per cent. The same is true in barley, ranging from 8 per cent 

 protein in soft barleys to 15 per cent in hard barleys. 



In corn, however, we have a very different case. Corn is even 

 more variable in hardness than wheat, ranging from the hard pop- 

 corn and flints to the soft flour corns, but there is no corresponding 

 difference in composition. If we take a grain of dent corn, which is 

 made up of both hard and soft endosperm, it has been found that 

 there is a difference in composition, the hard portion being about 2 

 per cent higher in protein ; but between different types of hard and 

 soft corn there is no such general difference as is found in wheat and 

 barley. 



Effect of Climate on Composition. Again we find with wheat 

 and barley that in a dry climate hard grain is produced high in 

 protein, but in a humid climate, or one with cool summers, the wheat 

 is soft. Hence we find the great <e hard wheat " districts in the dry, 

 hot climate west of the Missouri River, while soft wheat is produced 

 in the East and South. With corn, however, the composition and 

 character of grain is not apparently affected by climate. 



Little is known about the effect of climate on the composition of 

 rye and oats, but it is believed that rye should be classed with wheat 

 and barley, and oats with corn. 



Moisture in Grain. In considering the composition of cereal 

 grains we have made no reference to water present, as grain is artifi- 

 cially dried before analysis. However, air-dry grain in a humid 

 climate contains from 12 to 1'4 per cent water, and in a dry climate 

 less. For example, in the Palouse Valley, Washington State, during 

 the very dry summer of 1914, the wheat generally contained less than 

 5 per cent moisture. Grain shipped from a dry to a humid climate 



