COMPOSniON ()|- will. AT lion: n.;-. 



In a paper puMislud in ls:,7 ih,.y uavc tlir rr>iilts of a 



series of experimental niillinus of wheat <,M-ain from tlin f tlir 



plots — the uiiinaiuired plot, that which receives nitn><:en i»nly in 

 the shape of annnoniuni-salts. .iikI one that is c(.nijilc!rl_\ 

 manured with both minerals and annnoninm-salts. '{'he <,'rind 

 ing was done by an ordinary millstone, then the only method 

 of grinding- wheat. Figures wei-e obtained >li(.\\iie^' the rrlati\e 

 weights of the nine mill products -tlonr ot \arious grades oC 

 fineness, tails, sharps, poHard, and bran figures which 

 are unfortunately of little interest nowadays since the i-<.ller- 

 milling which has become universal has introduced (juite a 

 ditierent series of separations, lioller-milling, also, no longer 

 bruises the bran in the way that was inevitable with >tone 

 grinding, so that the composition even of the finest j)roducls 

 has been to some extent altered. Further determinations were 

 then made of the dry matter, ash, nitrogen, and pIio>|)lioric acid 

 in the various products, as had previously been done for several 

 seasons with the whole grain. The results showed that the 

 percentage of nitrogen was lowest in the products at the hea<l 

 of the dressing-machine, i.e., in the Hour itself, but inci-eased 

 considerably in the more branny portions, being at its highest 

 in the sixth product, the so-called "coai'se sharps." 'fhe ash 

 increased to a still greater degree in the coarser portions, being 

 ten times as great in the coarsest l)ran as in the finest flour, and 

 the percentage of phosphoric acid augmented ^vith the increase 

 in the percentage of ash. 



But Law^es and Gilbert protested most strongly auMin>t th.- 

 idea which was then l)egimiing to be held, and which has nevei- 

 ceased to be promulgated as a sort of creed — that the whole 

 meal of the wheat grain is the most nutritive food, and that 

 ordinary white bread is deprived of niucli ojit^, value because of 

 the removal of the bran. 



For example, Gilbert wrote in l^^l : -'ni'' hi-h'-r |)er 

 centage of nitrogen in bran than in lin<' Hour ha> freciuently 

 led to the reconunendaticai of the coarser brea«ls as moiv 

 nutritious than the finer. We have already seen that tlie 



