380 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Ocr., 1901. 
same as saying that a larger amount of bread of better quality is obtainable 
from the same weight of flour; being also richer in gluten, a more nutritious 
loaf is produced. 
In colour the flour is usually lower than that of the flour from soft wheats, 
but this colour is susceptible of improvement when grown. locally, as I hope 
to be able to show. ‘ 
The grain itself requires somewhat different handling in the mill, which is 
no doubt the reason why most local millers prefer to buy the flour in preference 
to the grain. The flour is bought to mix with locally-milled flour to improye 
its strength. 
The Duluth grain has now been tried for four seasons in some parts of the 
colony, and I think we are now in a position to discuss the question of its 
deterioration. The difference in milling qualities between a typical sample of 
imported Duluth wheat and of one of our own wheats, such as Purple Straw, is” 
shown in the following table, which represents the mean of average samples: — 
Duluth Wheat (as imported). 
Nature of grain Fe .... Hard, red small. 
Weight per bushelin Ib... . OLS 
Purple Straw. 
Plump, white, soft. 
615 
Po MO. 
Percentage of mill- ( a ay 73:0 ie 
sab ollard ... 8:0 2 
I Bran... 19:0 16:0 
(Guten Ds, = ++. 12 per cent. 9°0 per cent. 
: é | Strength in qts. d 
ag a a per n . 610 48°0 
our | 200-lb. sack 5) 
Colour... Low, dark. Excellent. 
Easy to mill, semolina yellowish tinge Easy to mill ; flour clings 
Millin | and granular. Bran and pollard, to bran: semolinas white 
nanny § reddish colour. Bran, clean; -andsoft. Bran and pol- 
StS pollard, clean; flour, heavy and lard, fairly clean; flour, 
gritty. light and bulky. 
This table indicates pretty well all the differences between the two varieties of 
erain. The bran of the Duluth wheat is more easily cleaned and is not so flaky 
nor of such good appearance as the soft wheat bran Unless previously 
conditioned, the bran is liable to become chopped up in the milling. 
The flour of Duluth wheat is very dense, and, however finely dressed, has 
always a somewhat gritty feel between the fingers. It is rich in gluten; the 
locally-grown, soft wheats being very low in this ingredient as a rule, though 
the gluten-content varies considerably with the season. 
But the principal differences between the flours lie in their different 
strength and colour. Assuming a loss of one-ninth of the weight of the dough 
in baking, the strength of 61 given by the Duluth wheat represents 313 Ib. 
bread obtainable from the 200-lb. sack of Duluth flour as against 2844 lb. bread 
obtainable from the sack of Purple Straw with a strength of 48, or a difference 
of 283 Ib. per sack in favour of the Duluth flour. 
Tn addition, the quality of the bread is superior, the loaf is superior in pile 
and texture and in flavour, besides being more nutritious on account of its 
higher gluten-content. fle 
Against these advantages is to be set the objection that the colour of the 
loaf is never so good as that obtained from the white wheats, and this is to 
many an insuperable objection to the use of Manitoba flour by itself for baking. 
The figures given above were obtained from samples of mported Manitoba. 
Samples of this grain have been distributed by different individuals to farmers 
in various parts of the colony, and have been grown in some districts for four 
seasons in succession. I append the results obtained by the examination of a 
few samples of the last harvest, 1899-1900, in order to show that, as far as their 
milling qualities are concerned, the grain has not deteriorated in the slightest, 
but has preserved unchanged the characteristics which render it so valuable. 
