3T2 Wisconsin State Agricultural Society. 
f 
[ have met with no analysis which will give the quantities of 
this substance in our home-grown wheats, but foreign wheats have 
been analyzed, and found to vary greatly in different samples- 
The Black Sea wheats abound in it more than those of England 
and France, and the amount in the same variety varies with the 
circumstances of its growth. 
A deficiency is what is spoken of as softening of the wheat. In 
such cases it is replaced by starch, giving the wheat a lighter color 
and a softer texture. 
It may be stated in general terms, that ordinary soft wheat con¬ 
tains not far from eight to ten per cent, of gluten, and it requires 
but a slight addition to pass into the flinty state. Johnston, in his 
agricultural chemistry, gives the analysis of some wheat from Odes¬ 
sa. One variety, called flinty, gave twelve per cent, of gluten, while 
two samples, called soft, gave respectively eight and ten per cent. 
Another sample from Odessa gave fifteen per cent., and one from 
Tagausay, on the sea of Asoph,gave over twent}^-two per cent.,of glu¬ 
ten. From observations which have been made in England, it is con¬ 
cluded that the presence of lime in the soil, is conducive to the 
growth of flinty wheat. Such wheats as are grown on lime-stone 
soils, or on the chalk-formation, are often mixed with that grown 
on other soil in order to give strength to the flour. In my own 
experience I have found atendenc} r to flintiness in any spring wheat 
which I have raised. There is no doubt but that heavy soils are 
better for flinty wheat than sandy soils. Experiment also shows 
that high manuring is conducive to the formation of gluten. 
It is said that the Fife, when first introduced into Sauk county 
was objected to by the millers on account of its hardness, but that 
when grown on sanely soil for a few years it lost this characteristic, 
and was no longer objected to. If this process of softening is a 
gradual one, it is possible that by procuring hard wheat for seed 
from time to time, the flinty character could be sustained. 
There is a strong inducement found in the relative prices of the 
hard and soft varieties to lead us to sow varieties which may com¬ 
mand the higher price, and which in any case can only recede to 
the grade of No. 1, spring wheat. 
If wheat perfectly adapted to the manufacture of flour, of which 
a large percentage will bring five dollars per barrel more than or¬ 
dinary flour, can be raised in any community, a portion, at least, of 
