State Convention—What Wheat to Raise. 339 
three to eight cents above regular No. 1. The firm with which I 
am connected has to-day half a dozen cargo orders for Hard No. 1 
which cannot be filled promptly through scarcity of that grade, 
although the price is now seven to eight cents over No. 1. 
“ I have examined the samples sent to our chamber and they are 
all very fine, but the sample of Fife wheat is the one which is 
specially interesting in relation to the present style of milling,, 
and, in my opinion, is what the farmers of Wisconsin should spe¬ 
cially cultivate. No other sample sent is adapted to make the best 
style of flour, and no other would bring the same price. To illus¬ 
trate this and show the change in the relative values of different 
kinds of wheat, take current prices in Milwaukee to-day, as follows: 
No. 1, hard, 1.26; No. 1, ordinary, 1.17J; No. 1, white winter, 
1.16; No. 2, white winter, 1.12-J-. Besides the market-value of the 
wheat, the Fife has another advantage which you, as a practical 
agriculturist, are no doubt fully aware of. It hardens earlier than 
most varieties of wheat and frequently resists the ravages of insects, 
towards harvest, when other varieties are destroyed. It was this 
peculiarity which led to its introduction (or rather discovery) in 
Canada. Your sample seems very pure and fine, and I hope you 
have a fair supply of it. The purer it can be grown the better, 
but even if not kept entirely separate, the larger proportion of hard 
Fife w'heat that is found in our different grades of spring wheat, 
the higher will be their values in the milling centres of the world. 
“I hope I have not tired your patience with these observations. 
“Yours, truly, 
“ Wm. P. McLaren.” 
We see by this letter that our enterprising middlemen have in¬ 
curred some risk and expense in introducing the patent flour into 
the markets of Europe; the advantages of which must accrue in 
part to the farmers who raise the wdieat. The sentence written 
by Mr. McLaren, which I wish to emphasize more particularly, is 
this: “ The only question in respect to our favorable competition with 
the world in the highest grade of flours, is the supply of suitable 
wheat.” 
Here is an appeal to Wisconsin farmers, which they cannot 
wusely neglect. There are other facts in reference to this subject 
which I have obtained by correspondence with different parties, 
