226 English Wheat and the Development of British Milling . 
have arrived at some very interesting conclusions regarding 
the possibilities of improving the quality of home-grown wheat, 
and they have raised the hopes of those who believe in a 
self-supporting British Empire. 
Without going too deeply into the subject at the present 
stage of the inquiry, I may say that the Committee hope to 
prove the possibility of growing strong wheat in this country 
and still to retain the present high yield per acre. In connec- 
tion with the yield per acre it is noteworthy that in the United 
States the average is not more than 13*02 bushels per acre ; 
in Canada the yield is about 20 bushels ; while in India, 
Australia, Argentina, and Russia the yield may be anything 
down to 10 bushels, and even less. In 1905, the wheat crops 
of Great Britain averaged, according to the official returns, 
32*78 bushels. 
Whilst therefore it is desirable that we should grow a 
stronger variety of wheat in this country, it is necessary that 
the maximum yield should be maintained, otherwise there can 
be no advantage ; for, although the strongest wheat may some- 
times realise 4s. per quarter more money than simple coloury 
sorts, a loss in yield will more than destroy this advantage, 
besides the loss in the quantity of straw. 
As a rule every other country manufactures its own wheat 
into flour in its entirety. In England we manufacture from 
a blend, and it may well be the case that ten, twelve, or even 
more sorts of wheat will go to make up that blend. The 
English miller, having the whole world to choose from 
has, through experience, gained a knowledge of all the 
properties of all the various kinds of wheat, and he proceeds 
to select from the group those which he considers will best 
suit his purpose and secure him a profit. There are certain 
limitations, however, which he cannot ignore with impunity, 
and these limitations rule the trade. 
In the United States a very strong wheat is grown. That 
country is well equipped with flour milling machinery ; there 
it is the constant aim to make as much flour as possible for 
export and the United Kingdom has hitherto been the best 
customer. In certain periods during the past twenty years the 
United States have shipped to us as many as twenty-three 
million cwt. of meal and flour in twelve months ; in fact the 
flour milling industry of these Islands has been in grave 
danger of being annihilated. That danger has now been 
averted, and we are able to meet our competitors in that 
country upon any terms they choose. To-day the flour millers 
of the United Kingdom possess a thousand mills equipped and 
handled as no other mills are, and complete with scientific 
apparatus superior to that of any other country. As a 
