WINNIPEG, 1909. 791 
purposes, it became a question of considerable importance to ascertain, by 
chemical and baking tests, how far this contention might be correct. Wheat 
that has been damp through exposure and subsequently dried is known 
commercially as ‘tough.’ Three samples of such wheat from the crop of 
1907, which had been dried at the elevator, were submitted to analysis. 
All were found practically normal as regards moisture, and gave glutens 
of excellent quality. We concluded from a general survey of the analytical 
results that these wheats, from which about 5 per cent. moisture had been 
driven off at the elevators, had not appreciably suffered in quality.’ 
Further prosecution of this inquiry was made possible through the 
co-operation of Dr. Charles E. Saunders, the Cerealist, who had instituted 
a series of experiments to learn what deterioration might take place in 
bread-making value when wheat was kept more or less damp for a longer 
or shorter period before being milled. The wheat under experiment 
remained moist at temperatures ranging from 40° F. to 58° F. for a period 
of twenty-seven days, samples being taken for analysis at various intervals 
(five minutes, ten, twenty, and twenty-seven days), spread in thin layers 
to dry and then milled. In the sample that had been kept twenty days 
mustiness was noticed, and in that which had been damp for twenty-seven 
days the mustiness was more pronounced, and sprouting had commenced. 
The analysis of the resulting flours was of the most comprehensive 
character. A detailed study of the results indicates that wheat may contain 
an excessive amount of moisture for some considerable time without its 
composition being very materially affected. It was evident, however, that 
there had been a slight falling off in the percentage of dry gluten and a 
deterioration in quality in those wheats in which the mustiness was marked 
and sprouting had begun.” 
Influence of Storage on Wheat and Flour. 
It is generally conceded that flour improves as to colour and strength 
with age. To discover such changes in composition as might explain this 
improvement, a considerable amount of chemical work has been done on 
a series of wheats and flours stored under ordinary conditions by the 
Cerealist for the purpose of determining the influence of age on bread- 
making value. The storage period was sixteen months, three of the series 
being kept both as grain and flour, and four as grain only. 
The Cerealist found that ‘ when the material is kept over in the form of 
flour there is a more rapid improvement in colour and in strength than 
when it is kept as wheat. In every instance there was a gain in water- 
absorbing power, and as a rule this gain was considerable. There was 
also invariably an improvement in the shape of the loaf.’ The chemical 
data indicated a slight increase in the protein content, this increase being 
more marked in samples which had been kept over as flour, The probable 
explanation of these phenomena is that the carbo-hydrates are being con- 
tinually oxidised, the rate of oxidation being determined by the area of 
surface exposed. 
A slight improvement in the physical characters of the gluten from the 
stored wheats and flours was remarked, the improvement being more notice- 
able in the weaker members of the series. 
A tendency towards an increase in gliadin was observed, showing a 
certain amount of parallelism between protein content and gliadin.* 
1 Report of the Chemist, Exp. Farms, 1908-09, pp. 148, 149. 
2 Tbid., pp. 145, 146. 
> Tbid., pp. 149, 150. 
