THE IMPRO VEMENT IN THE YIELD OF INDIAN WHEA T. 193 



question. This difficialty has been got over as follows. Last 

 spring the wheats on which we desired to cross American Club 

 were sent to Cambridge and grown hy Professor Biffen on the 

 Universit}" farm as spring wheats. While we were on leave in 

 June, these Indians were crossed on to American Club and other 

 resistant wheats at Cambridge and the hybrid seeds were sent out 

 by Professor Biffen in time for sowing at Pusa in October. The 

 first generation has now yielded seed, and next year the isolation 

 of new wheats with the rust-resisting power of American Club 

 will begin. 



V. The Milling and Baking Qualities of Indian Wheats. 



Wheats differ to a great extent in the ease with which they are 

 ground in the mill and also in the amount and quality of the 

 resulting flour. It is obvious that reliable information on such 

 matters can onljr be obtained by actually milling and baking a 

 sample of wheat. For this reason milling and baking tests are 

 essential in wheat improvement. In the condu.ct of this portion 

 of the work Ave have been fortunate enough to secure the active 

 co-operation of the highest authority in the Empire on milling 

 and baking questions, namely, Mr. Humphries of We3^bridge, a 

 former President of the Incorporated National Association of 

 British and Irish Millers. Mr. Humphries was mainly responsible 

 for bringing about the general acceptance of the new form of con- 

 tract under which Indian wheat is now sold in England and under 

 Avhich wilful adulteration before shipment has been practically 

 prevented. 



From the milling point of view the desirable characteristics of a 

 wheat are that it should be free from admixture with dirt and other 

 seeds, that it should be well grown, uniform in colour and con- 

 sistency, that it should have a thin skin, absorb a large quantity of 

 water before grinding, that it should mill freely and allow the 

 separation of bran and flour to be made without excessive grinding. 

 From the baking point of view the resulting flour should be of 

 good colour (preferably greyish white) and should yield stable 

 resilient dough and large well-shaped loaves. 



Some of these desirable qualities are already possessed by many 



