West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1879-01-18
TOPICS FOR FARMERS.
Cost OF Brend from Corn and wbao,

Cost OF Bread from Corn and Wheat.
Conrad Wilson writes in the American
! Cutttvator that the samples Of wheat
/ bread and corn bread submitted by Mrs.
! Wilson 10 the Farmers Club were pre-
| pared for the purpose of illustrating the
/ economical value of this form of food
and 70 show the capacity of these cere-
ais for the production of bread. Let us
now glance at some of the figures:
When good sound corn Is properly
prepared and made into bread by the
latest and best methods, it is found that
the gain in weight of the bread above the
meal from which it is made il over one
hundred per cent In other words, a
pound of corn bread is the product of
less than half pound of corn meal, and
consequently bushel of corn, weighing
sixty pounds and taken at fifty pounds
net over the toll, would yield one hun
dred pounds of bread. But when wheat
Hour is blended with the meal (Which
il very usual) the ratio of bread to
grain is slightly diminished.
Assuming the cost Of corn TO be thirty
cents on a general average, this would
bring the cost of the bread, in the case
OF the inferior sample, TO one-third Of a
cent pound for the meal, making a
ingredients are included; while for the
other sample, with its additional in
gradients, the total cost would be about
two cents.
In bushel OF wheat weighing sixty
pounds it is usually assumed that the
net weight Of -four, after allowing for
the bran shorts and toll, is not less than
forty pounds. But when -four is con-
verted into bread, the gain of weight
ranges from fifty to seventy per cent.
AZ I'm, rate OF increase the quantity of
bread from bushel of wheat would be
from sixty to sixty-eighJ pounds over
and above the bran and the toll for
grinding. According TO the actual gain
IN The sample Of Mrs. Wilson, n bushel
of wheat would yield sixty pounds of
bread.
This gain of weight is, of course,
mainly due to the absorption of water
by the flour, and is, therefore, no posi-
tive addition 70 the amount of nutri-
ment. Yet it is found in practice that
the greater the absorption, the better, AS
a general rule, is the quality of the
bread
Assuming the cost of wheat to be
seventy-fivc cents bushel, on general
average this would make the cost of the
bread less than one and one-half cents
per pound, which is more than the cost
OF the inferior grade of corn bread, but
less than the cost of the better quality.
III now we assume the yield per acre
to be Tor corn seventy bushels, and for
wheat thirty bushels Cloth of which
claim to be entirely possible for average
farmers) we then have the following
food results: For corn, seven thousand
pounds of bread per acre at cost, for
the lower grade, of seventy dollars, and
for the better quality of nearly double
that amount. For wheat about two
thousand pounds of bread at cost of
thirty dollars.
Now if we assume that n farmers
family numbers FIVE persons of various
ages equivalent on an average to four
adults), and allow two pounds of bread
per day TO each as equivalent to their
support, then at the yield above men
toned an acre of corn would sustain the
family for over eight hundred days,
and an acre of wheat for two hundred
and fifty days. In other words, half an
acre of corn, or one and one-half acres
OF wheat. would maintain the family for
one year. There are possibly some
doubling farmers, who will shake their
heads at these conclusions, and hesitate
TO accept them. Yet | am prepared to
show that the figures here given are in
reality below the truth, and that these
cereals are capable of better results than
] have indicated.