38 



SOUTHERN FIELD CBOPS 



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The kernel of wheat is divided into three principal parts : 

 (1) the germ, or embryo ; (2) the starchy part, or endosperm ; 

 (3) the several outer layers cftnstituting the bran. The germ, 

 which may be located by a tiny scar, constitutes only a very 



small proportion of the 

 grain, occupying only 

 about one thirteenth 

 as much space as the 

 e n d o s p e rm . The 

 starchy portion, or 

 endosperm, is the part 

 from which flour is 

 made. This is a re- 

 serve supply of food 

 material stored by the 

 maturing plant for the 

 nourishment of the 

 young seedUng be- 

 fore the roots of the 

 latter are able to fur- 

 nish a fuU supply of 

 plant-food. The bran 

 consists of several 

 coats, the outer of 

 which corresponds 

 botanieally to the pod 

 that covers a pea or 

 bean. 



Wheat grains are of 

 such size that usually 

 from 500,000 to 1,000,- 

 000 are contained in a 

 bushel, though the 

 number is occasionally below and sometimes above these limits. 

 The legal weight of a bushel of wheat is 60 pounds, but a measured 

 bushel often weighs several pounds less, and sometimes a few 

 pounds more than the standard. 





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Fig. 16. — A Good Sample of Wheat. 



