History of Wheat. 



7i 



The yield of bread, volume of loaf, and quality of the bread 

 decreased with the increase of the proportion of the soft flour ; if 

 size of loaf is not an important point, it is evident that 50 or 60 per 

 cent, of the soft flour can be introduced without seriously affecting 

 the general result. 



The Alberta Red wheat is used almost entirely for blending- pur- 

 poses. Even in Alberta it is not milled alone. As previously 

 noted, the No. I. sample contains a very high percentage of 

 gluten, much higher in proportion to the protein content than the 

 spring wheat. But these results are reported after being re- 

 peatedly duplicated by an experienced person ; while the percent- 

 age amount is undoubtedly high, they are as correct as can be got 

 by the usual method of washing glutens. 



To gather some data on the value of these wheats for blending 

 purposes we have mixed varying proportions of the Alberta flour 

 with Ontario winter wheat flour, and carried it through the regular 

 baking trials. In every case the bread obtained was much superior 

 to that got from either flour alone. The results were very interest- 

 ing ; but although we have made several blends, they were all 

 made with the wheat of one crop and with only one sample of soft 

 flour, and we do not feel that we have sufficient data to warrant 

 the publication of the results. 



XII. 



THE HISTORY OF THE WHEATS. 



By Dr. Otto Stapf. 



When it was suggested to me that I should prepare a paper on 

 the history of wheat, I hesitated, as I was aware that within the 

 last twelve months or so this old and much-discussed question 

 had assumed a new aspect in consequence of Dr. Aaronsohn's 

 remarkable discoveries, which were claimed to have solved the 

 problem of the origin of wheat. Having had no opportunity of 

 testing the validity of those claims, I was reduced to the necessity 

 of keeping my paper within the limits of a review of the present 

 conditions of the problem, with such observations and suggestions 

 as I might have to offer from my own investigations. There were 

 the latest researches respecting the earliest civilisations, parti- 

 cularly in so far as the Indo-germanic peoples are concerned — 

 researches connected with the names of Hahn, Hirth, Gradmann, 

 Gotz, and Otto Schrader. They had thrown much light on the 

 first stages of agriculture, and incidentally the earliest history of 

 the cereals, among which the wheats have always stood in the 

 front rank. There were Buschmann's valuable contributions to 

 our knowledge of prehistoric cultivations and the delightful essays 

 on " Wheat and Tulips," by Count Solms-Laubach, who by in- 



