236 



WHEAT EYE 



well-shaped loaves in baking, is determined, according to Wood 1 by 

 two factors : (1) the amount of carbon dioxide evolved in the dough, 

 which is determined by the amount of sugar present in the flour, 

 together with that produced by the action of the diastase while the 

 dough is rising, and (2) the consistency of the gluten. This last, how- 

 ever, does not depend entirely upon the amount or chemical composi- 

 tion of the gluten, but partly depends upon the acidity and salt 

 content of the liquid in the dough. 



Wheat grows best on a firm seed bed and therefore is suited to 

 soils containing a fair amount of binding constituents clay or humus, 

 rather than to open, sandy soils. 



Rye (Secale cereale) closely resembles wheat in composition and 

 requirements. In England it is not often grown for grain but on the 

 continent of Europe it forms a large proportion of the food of the 

 peasantry. 



The proteids of rye have been examined by Osborne, who found 

 them to consist mainly of a gliadin, soluble in alcohol, edestin, 

 a proteose, soluble in salt solution, an unidentified proteid insoluble in 

 salt solution and a small quantity of a water-soluble leucosin. The 

 average nitrogen content of the rye proteids is 17 '6, so that the nitro- 

 gen in rye should be multiplied by 5'68 instead of 6*25, to give the 

 protein. 



Konig gives, as the average composition 



1 Jour. Agric. Science, 1907, 2, 139, 267. 



