March 8, 1918] 



SCIENCE 



229 



grain (graham flour). Professor Snyder has 

 gone a step further and makes the assertion 

 that whole-wheat flour is not only less nutri- 

 tious but is actually harmful, causing diarrhea 

 and digestive disturbances. In this connec- 

 tion the statement is also made that the dairy 

 industry can not be deprived of mill by-prod- 

 ucts which make up a very important part of 

 the ration of the dairy cow. 



There is little wonder that the consumer is 

 at a loss to know what course to follow in his 

 endeavor to do all in his power to cooperate 

 with the government in the conservation of 

 wheat. 



It is not the object of this article to show 

 that standard patent flour should not be 

 milled; neither is it necessary to advocate that 

 all of the wheat kernel should be milled into 

 flour. The writer does contend that the at- 

 tack on the higher extraction flours is unmer- 

 ited, especially in view of the present situa- 

 tion ; that whole-wheat flour is more valuable 

 as a food material than the milling interests 

 would lead us to believe; that whole-wheat 

 flour when eaten with a balanced meal does 

 not normally cause digestive disturbances, and 

 that these views are held by many of the fore- 

 most authorities of food and nutrition in this 

 and other countries. It might also be added 

 that more economical feeds are available or 

 can be made available for the dairy and ani- 

 mal industries. 



It is to be expected that the milling inter- 

 ests would take the stand described above, for 

 the people have been educated to believe that 

 light, fluffj', white bread was the best bread 

 for human consumption, and the milling in- 

 terests have become organized both in person- 

 nel and machinery to give the people what 

 they want regardless of its advisability. In 

 order that the mill by-products should not 

 represent financial loss, another artificial con- 

 dition has developed in the live-stock and 

 dairy industry. That they might dispose of 

 the offal of the grain remaining after the 

 manufacture of the white flour, the milling 

 interests have encouraged the farmer to feed 

 mill by-products, such as bran, shorts and 

 middlings, until he has ceased to think of 



producing concentrated feeding materials and 

 has become a victim of the mill-feed habit. 

 Mill feeds have advanced in price with the 

 result that dairy products have also increased 

 in cost. The farmer is taught that he must 

 feed wheiit bran to procure the best results 

 and at the present time bran is selling on the 

 market at the exhorbitant price of $42.00 a 

 ton and higher. If the farmer would only 

 realize that he could produce as much milk 

 at less cost by growing more corn and ensilage 

 feeds ; by growing more of those very valuable 

 protein-bearing plants, clover and alfalfa, he 

 would never again resort to the expensive mill 

 feeds. In addition to obtaining valuable food 

 materials cheaper, he would be increasing the 

 value of his land by growing these legume 

 crops, for they build up the nitrogen content of 

 the soil and thereby assist in establishing a 

 more permanent system of agriculture. In 

 addition to their high content of protein, the 

 legumes are verj' valuable on account of the 

 large quantities of other nutrients; carbohy- 

 drates are relatively high and what is of great 

 value to the dairy cow especially is the rela- 

 tively large amount of calcium in these plants. 

 Milk always contains a large proportion of this 

 element and when the animal does not get a 

 sufficient quantity in the feed (this is true 

 with mill products) she is forced to take it 

 from her tissues, i. e., her bones. This hap- 

 pens when she is receiving fairly large quanti- 

 ties of calcium in her ration. 



Taking up the question of wheat as a hu- 

 man food, we must realize at the outset that 

 " man can not live by bread alone." This has 

 been proven by scientific experiment. Wheat 

 does not contain the right quantities of nitrog- 

 enous substances; its mineral content is far 

 from ideal and the Wisconsin Experiment 

 Station has shown that animals fed on a diet 

 restricted to the wheat plant (cereal and 

 straw) did not develop in a normal manner. 



Normally, 100 pounds of wheat yield about 

 73 poimds of standard patent flour. Com- 

 pared with whole-wheat flour patent flour is 

 somewhat lower in protein but slightly higher 

 in carbohydrates. When whole-wheat or gra- 

 ham flours are burned in a calorimeter so 



