2 BULLETIN 522_, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



low prices that have been paid for wheat from this source in the past 

 have been due hirgely to the lack of information as to its true character 

 and quahty as a milhng wheat. This explanation is only reasonable 

 in view of the fact that the demand for these wheats is constantly 

 increasing as they become better known. The liistory of these wheats 

 is but a repetition of that of any new raw material that appears upon 

 the market. There is at fii'st an apparent discrimination against it, 

 largely because it has not yet estabhshed a reputation, and the manu- 

 facturer is loath to make use of it in any great quantity until its char- 

 acter and fitness for use have been ascertained. Under such condi- 

 tions the demand for the product is weak and the price is relatively 

 low. Several factors have tended to emphasize this condition as 

 related to Montana wheats. One of these is the very wide range in 

 character and quality that exists between the various types of wheat 

 grown within the State. For example, the low-gluten, starchy, white 

 wheats, such as the Club varieties, may be found growing in a field 

 adjacent to one of Fife wheat reputed to have the combination of 

 such quahties as make it supreme for the production of a bread flour. 

 Aside from this, there is a wide range in chmatic conditions ■v\dthin 

 the borders of the State, and complications are further augmented by 

 the introduction of irrigation. That the use of irrigation water causes 

 deterioration in the milling of wheat, especially of those factors spoken 

 of as "strength," which are so desirable in bread flours, is quite gener- 

 ally claimed by millers and is upheld by the investigations of the Utah 

 Agricultural Experiment Station/ where it was found that irriga- 

 tion caused a decrease in protein content, accompanied by a decrease 

 in "baking strength;" and, further, the extent of the variation seems 

 to be in a measure proportional to the amount of irrigation water used. 



FUTURE OF WHEAT PRODUCTION IN MONTANA. 



That Montana is to become one of the most important wheat- 

 producing States is scarcely to be doubted when one considers the 

 record of the past few years and the marvelous possibilities of this 

 untried State. The 1910 census placed the wheat acreage in 1909 at 

 258,000, while the estimated acreage for 1912 was 803,000, an increase 

 of 211 per cent in four years.- The crop of 1914 covered 910,000 

 acres. The total wheat production in 1912 was more than 19 million 

 bushels, three times as great as the production in 1909, when it 

 amounted to about 6 milHon bushels. Figure 1 is a map made up 



' Stewart, Robert, and Hirst, C. T. The oheraical millinf; and baking value of Utah wheats. Utah 

 Agr. Exp. Sta. Bui. 12.5, p. 111-150. 1913. 



Widtsoe, J. A., and Stewart, Robert. The chemical composition of crops as aflected by different quan- 

 tities of irrigation water. Utah Agr. E.xp. Sta. Bill. 120, p. 201-240. 1912. 



The effect of irrigation on the growth and composition of plants at different periods of their 



development. Utah Agr. Exp. Sta. Bill. 119, p. lG.5-200. 1012. 



* U. S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Statistics, Crop Reporter, v. 14, No. 12, sup., p. 99. 1912. 



