Quality in Wheaten Flour. 



39 



with few exceptions, which we have not as yet proven to our 

 satisfaction, has come true in the multiplying plots. In well- 

 established varieties of oats of known breeding and purity, some 

 strains have been isolated which ripened two weeks before others, 

 and equally striking differences have been observed and perpetuated. 

 This holds true under practically every heading under which oats 

 are judged in the field or in the laboratory. Even among the most 

 productive individuals the range in yield is surprising, the area 

 covered in the third generation from one kernel of Joanette oats in 

 one case being 12778 square feet, and in the other 0*89 square 

 foot, one 144 times the other. The latter, in addition to being a 

 very low-yielding strain, was also very poor in quality. 



While equally striking differences have not been discovered in 

 wheat, barley, emmer, spelt, peas, soy beans, or corn, the range 

 has been remarkably wide in all of these classes. The purest 

 strain of Mensury barley obtainable has yielded a number of 

 distinct types with widely different characters, which have so far 

 given every evidence of high yield and fixity of type. The out- 

 standing point, which even the most casual observer never fails 

 to note, is the remarkable uniformity which characterises the 

 different strains, while length of straw, time of ripening, and 

 general conformation make their appeal to the eye of the cerealist. 



From our work we are not prepared to say that this remarkable 

 uniformity will continue. Sufficient work has been done to direct 

 attention to the need of a more careful study of the individuality of 

 plants and to emphasise the still more important point that this 

 range is as wide in the projected efficiency of the plants as it is 

 in the morphological differences. It may also be of service in 

 drawing attention to the necessity of obtaining fuller knowledge 

 of the parentage of plants mated before breeding is undertaken 

 by crossing or by hybridising. 



VII. 



QUALITY IN WHEATEN FLOUR. 



By A. E. Humphries. 



Good quality is an outcome of excellence in several respects ; 

 these have been stated to be strength, colour, flavour. This list, 

 however, should be extended to cover at least five qualities, as the 

 term " strength" frequently includes (a) " stability," which should 

 be taken to indicate the facility with which large masses of dough 

 can be handled in the bakehouse ; (b) the capacity for making a 

 large quantity of bread from a given weight of flour ; (c) the size 

 and shape of loaf. 



These subdivisions of " strength " should be regarded as 



