UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



BULLETIN No. 522 



Joint Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry 

 WM. A. TAYLOR, Chief, and the Office of Markets 

 and Rural Organization, CHARLES J. BRAND, Chief 



Washington, D. C. 



May 18, 1917 



CHARACTERISTICS AND QUALITY OF MONTANA- 

 GROWN WHEAT.^ 



By Levi M. Thomas, Assistant in Grain Standardization. 



CONTENTS. 



Introduction 1 



Future of wheat production in Montana 2 



Marketing conditions in Montana 3 



Varieties and types of wheat grown in Mon- 

 tana 4 



Grading Montana wheat 4 



Wheat quality 6 



Color of flour and bread 7 



Water absorption 7 



Loaf volume and texture'. 7 



Hard winter wheat 7 



Correlation of physical characters and milling 



quality 11 



Comparisons with the hard winter wheats of 



other sections i7 



Montana hard spring wheat 21 



Western red and white wheat 25 



Montana durum wheat 30 



Summary of the characteristics of the five 



classes of Montana wheat 33 



INTRODUCTION. 



Wheat production in Montana has shown a great increase during 

 the past five or six years, due to rapid settlement, and a constantly in- 

 creasing volume of wheat from this State is.finding its way to the east- 

 ern and likewise to the far western grain markets. Although a small 

 quantity of this wheat has been received at the eastern markets for 

 several years, yet among many millers and wheat buyers it still retains 

 the status of a "newcomer," and its reputation as to milling quality 

 is largely dependent upon hearsay. Undoubtedly, the cpmparatively 



1 The work covered by this bulletin was done under the direction of Dr. J. W. T. Duvel, in charge of 

 the Office of Grain Standardization of the Bureau of Plant Industry. Since August 18, 1916, the grain- 

 standardization work of the Department of Agriculture has been administered jointly by the Office of 

 Markets and Rural Organization and the Bureau of Plant Industry in coimection with the administration 

 of the United States Grain Standards Act. 



This investigation was initiated by Messrs. L. A. Fitz and C. H. Bailey, formerly of the Office of Grain 

 Standardization. Mr. Oliver M. Holmes, of theChamber of Commerce of Great Falls, Mont., and Mr. E. C. 

 Russell, of Lewistown, Mont., assisted in securing suitable wheat samples, as did also Director F. B. Lin- 

 fleld and Messrs. Alfred Atkinson and J. B. Nelson, of the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station. 

 The milling studies were carried on in cooperation with the North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station, 

 with the special assistance of Prof. E. F. Ladd and Messrs. W. L. Stockham and Thomas Sanderson. 



Note.— This bulletin is intended for farmers in Montana and adjoining States and for grain buyers 

 throughout the country. 



73682°— Bull. 522—17—1 



