46 
i;i II I.TIN tm, U. s. DEPAETMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
SPELT (Includes Maslin 8 ) 
In pails of Germany, more particularly in the regions where wheal 
is produced as a cash crop, the farmers employ spelt for home use in 
bread making. In France, Hungary, Austria, Czechoslovakia, and 
certain other countries the peasants plant a mixture of wheat and 
rye for use at home. This is to a certain extent a matter of dietary 
habit, but is much more a matter of economy. The use of spelt as 
a bread grain is customary in the Rhine provinces, northeastern 
Bavaria, Wurttemberg, Baden, Hesse, ana to a lesser extent in 
Alsace-Lorraine. 
The loss of Alsace-Lorraine did not perceptibly affect Germany's 
supply of bread grains grown for home consumption, as the amount 
grown was so small. In the other spelt-producing regions of the 
Republic the acreage has fallen oil' more than 50 per cent, the pro- 
duction in 1923 being only 37 per cent and in 1<)2 1 only 27 per cent 
of the 1909-1913 average of about 23,500,000 bushels (only about 
one-sixth of the pre-war wheat crop). This falling off in spelt 
production is the natural consequence of the general restriction of 
German agriculture to a more nearly home-maintenance basis. 
During the past few years the marketing of wheat has not been ad- 
vantageous. As a result the German farmers have been eating 
more wheat and consequently have sown less spelt. With a return 
to normal conditions it is probable that more spelt will be grown, 
less wheat will be eaten at nome, and relatively more locally grown 
wheat placed upon the market by these southern and western 
producers. 
Before the war Germany exported to Switzerland and Austria- 
Hungary a few thousand bushels of spelt from contiguous territories. 
At present 2,000 to 3,000 bushels drift yearly across the southern 
and southwestern frontiers, but the demand for bread at home is 
sufficient to keep most of the diminished crop within the Republic 
to meet local food requirements. 
Table 30 contrasts the present status of spelt production and 
utilization with the average pre-war condition of this crop. 
Table 30. — Spelt: Statistical balances, Germany, 1923 boundaries, 1921-22 to 
192^-25, as compared with pre-war average, 1909-10 to 1913-14 
[In thousands— 000 omitted] 
Unit 
Years beginning July 1 
Item 
Average, 
1909-1913 
1921 
1922 
1923 
1924 
Acre 
Bushel 
do 
708 
372 
313 
317 
301 
Production ..- 
23, 497 
3,555 
11,419 
1,703 
6,251 
1. 132 
8,810 
1,46] 
6, 1!!) 
Seed 
1,31*0 
...do 
do 
Production less seed 
19,942 
9, 716 
1 
4,819 
•1 
7, 359 
1 
5,029 
do 
Quantity available for domestic use 
19,847 
9, 715 
4,817 
7,355 
W heal and rye mixed. Alsace-Lorraine planted an average (1909-1913) of 1,090 acres, producing 21,932 
bushels >>f meteil. 
