9 BULLETIN 522, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. - 
low prices that have been paid for wheat from this source in the past 
have been due largely to the lack of information as to its true character 
and quality as a milling wheat. ‘This explanation is only reasonable 
in view of the fact that the demand for these wheats is constantly 
increasing as they become better known. The history of these wheats 
is but a repetition of that of any new raw material that appears upon 
the market. There is at first an apparent discrimination against it, 
largely because it has not yet established a reputation, and the manu- 
facturer is loath to make use of it In any great quantity until its char- 
acter and fitness for use have been ascertained. Under such condi- 
tions the demand for the product is weak and the price is relatively 
low. Several factors have tended to emphasize this condition as 
related to Montana wheats. One of these is the very wide range in 
character and quality that exists between the various types of wheat 
grown within the State. For example, the low-gluten, starchy, white 
wheats, such as the Club varieties, may be found growing in a field 
adjacent to one of Fife wheat reputed to have the combination of 
such qualities as make it supreme for the production of a bread flour. 
Aside from this, there is a wide range in climatic conditions within 
the borders of the State, and complications are further augmented by 
the introduction of irrigation. That the use of irrigation water causes 
deterioration in the milling of wheat, especially of those factors spoken 
of as ‘‘strength,” which are so desirable in bread flours, 1s quite gener- 
ally claimed by millers and is upheld by the investigations of the Utah 
Agricultural Experiment Station,' where it was found that irriga- 
tion caused a decrease in protein content, accompanied by a decrease 
in ‘‘baking strength;”’ and, further, the extent of the variation seems 
to be in a measure proportional to the amount of irrigation water used. 
FUTURE OF WHEAT PRODUCTION IN MONTANA. 
That Montana is to become one of the most important wheat- 
producing States is scarcely to be doubted when one considers the 
record of the past few years and the marvelous possibilities of this 
untried State. The 1910 census placed the wheat acreage in 1909 at 
258,000, while the estimated acreage for 1912 was 803,000, an increase 
of 211 per cent in four years.” The crop of 1914 covered 910,000 
acres. The total wheat production in 1912 was more than 19 million 
bushels, three times as great as the production in 1909, when it 
amounted to about 6 million bushels. Figure 1 is a map made up 
k ~ 
1 Stewart, Robert, and Hirst, C. T. The chemical milling and baking value of Utah wheats. Utah 
Agr. Exp. Sta. Bul. 125, p. 111-150. 1913. 
Widtsoe, J. A., and Stewart, Robert. The chemical composition of crops as affected by different quan- 
tities of irrigation water. Utah Agr. Exp. Sta. Bul. 120, p. 201-240. 1912. 
The effect of irrigation on the growth and composition of plants at different periods of their 
development. Utah Agr. Exp. Sta. Bul. 119, p. 165-200. 1912. 
2U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Statistics, Crop Reporter, v. 14, No. 12, sup., p. 99. 1912. 
