2 BULLETIN 478, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Care should be taken not to confuse Humpback wheat with the 

 more widely grown varieties of the Northwest, commonly, though 

 incorrectly j known as Velvet Chaff. The Velvet Chaff wheats, some- 

 times classified as the Preston group, are bearded but arc of the Red 

 ki IV type, and the kernels are much smaller than those of the Hump- 

 back, approaching closer to the Fife and Bluestem wheats in size and 

 quality. Another point of difference is apparent in the heads of the 

 wheat. Humpback wheat has, as already stated, a velvety chaff, 

 while curiously enough the bearded spring wheats, commonly known 

 as Velvet Chaff, are characterized not by a velvety but by a smooth 

 chaff. The comparative shape and size of Humpback, Velvet Chaff, 



Fig. 1. — Broad made from samples of Humpback and Bluestem wheats grown near Glen- i 

 wood, Minn., in 1013 : a, Loaf from Humpback wheat, yielding 73 per cent of straight f 

 flour and having a loaf volume of 1,970 cubic centimeters and a texture score of 87.5 ; I 

 b, loaf from Bluestem wheat, yielding 74 per cent of straight flour and having a loai 

 volume of -.445 cubic centimeters and a texture score of 93.5. 



Glyndon Fife (Minnesota No. 103), and Bluestem wheats are shown. I 

 natural size, in Plate I. 



Humpback wheat has a large berry as compared with most strainsl 

 of the hard spring wheats, in point of size being midway between tlul 

 common varieties of spring wheat and the clurums. The kernels are'i 

 of a dark amber color and are perhaps a little softer than most 

 wheats of this class. The weight per bushel will be found to range!: 

 somewhat higher than the Fife and Bluestem wheats, the average oju 

 nine samples from the 1910 crop being over GO pounds per bushel. 



MILLING AND BAKING QUALITIES. 1 



Table I gives the comparative results of the milling and baking 

 qualities of a limited number of samples of Humpback and othe:} 



1 The Minnesota State grain-inspection department under the grade rules for norther •• 

 spring wheal specifies thai " the variety known as ' Humpback,' owing to its inferiol 

 milling quality, shall not be graded higher than No. 3." 



