33Q 



Quality in Wheat. 



[SEPT., 



for the flours grown in 1902, both for those of foreign origin 

 and in fine condition as well as those derived from English 

 wheats. 



The only other figure worth a little attention is the rise in the 

 nitrogenous material soluble in water afterfifteen hours' digestion. 

 This figure will be noticed to vary very much ; as a rule the rise 

 is not great, but- occasionally it is enormous, especially in the 

 1902 samples, when the rise due to digestion often amounted to 

 two or three times the original amount. This great change was 

 found to be associated with " sprout" ; and incipient "sprout," 

 hardly to be detected on an examination of the grain, is plainly 

 seen in the rise of the water-soluble nitrogenous material after 

 digestion. Doubtless with the free development of ferments 

 which takes place both at the scutellum and under the aleurone 

 layer of a cereal seed during germination, some of the pro- 

 teolytic enzyme finds its way into the body of the endosperm,, 

 and so appears in the flour. As " sprout " means a great loss of 

 strength, this figure affords one useful factor in estimating the 

 baking value of a sample of flour. 



It is plain that much has yet to be learnt about the normal 

 constituents of the wheat grain before we shall be in a position 

 to say what constitutes " strength " in a sample of flour, or how 

 it can be estimated by other than practical methods. How 

 complex the problem is may be judged from one or two 

 facts that have appeared In the course of the experiments. 

 Examples were found of a fact known to skilful millers, viz., 

 that a blend of different wheats will sometimes give stronger 

 flour than either of them separately. The photograph (Fig. 4) 

 illustrates such a case. Nos. 1 and 2 represent loaves baked 

 from particular flours ; No. 3 represents the loaf made from a 

 mixture of 80 per. cent, of Xo. 1 and 20 per cent, of No. 2 ; 

 No. 4 representing a loaf made from the strongest Manitoban 

 wheat for comparison. Various blends were tried, but only the 

 proportions indicated gave the best results. In view of such 

 cases, it is clear that the factor in the flour controlling strength 

 is not a simple additive function, so that the strength varies 

 with the amount present, but either there are two or more factors 

 which must exist in a particular ratio to give optimum results, 

 or else reactions take place between the flours, resulting in 



