Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1890-10-11
VARIETIES OF WHEAT.
what n French Specialist Has Done By
Crossing Different Grnwfhs.


Crossing Different Growfhs.
NJ. Henri l.. de yilmoein, tho we'll.
known horti-agriculturist of France, has
taken wheat under his special protec
tion. and by means of crossing ha-
evolved many new varieties well adapted
for growth Ia Europe, and combining 8
maximum of the best features OF the par
ents with q minimum of their faults
There are many varieties Of wheat. and
these differ greatly, not only in shape
but In their composition. Along
with NJ. Alme Girard. whose minut
analyses have enr ched our knowledge
OF the normal composition of a grain OF
wheat, and NJ. Aubn. director of the
laboratory of the French Society OF
Agriculture, who has undertaken re-
searches upon the physical and chemical
composition of the ordinary kinds ol
wheat NJ. Vilmorin has devoted muel
close study TO the history and develop
ment of this all-important gra n.
The information which he and HE
collaborateurs have been able to gather
Is given in an exhaust We treatise on the
subject in which the ear of nearly every
known variety, together with the seed
Is figured.
The structure of grain of wheat com
prises three essential parts the germ
the albumen or kernel, and the cover
ings of the germ OF albumen.
According TO NJ. A. Girard there
Is, on an average in wheat 81 pei
cent of aibnmen, l4Iz per cent oi
covering or bran, and ~ per cent. O
l. s.Itfr rsal l.
fatty and heterogeneous matter. Mixedwitl
-four IL increases in certain measur'
its nutritiye value; but on the othei
hand, the substances conta ned In tbs
germ alter so rapidly in contact witt
ar that they cause deterioration in thl
-four. IL is thus desirab to separat'
the germ from the albumen bctor'
crushing the latter, and IL lis beeausi
of the facilities for carrying out thi
preliminary that grinding with rol or
has largely superseded the old grind
stones. The covering of the grain form
the bran, but the relative proportion .
bran and flour varies according 20 tn
kind of wheat and the district IL whic
it Is grown.
All things equal, the round grain
have less bran than tho elongated one
lit is geometrical consequence OF thei
form. The kernel itself, which cor
stitutes the useful part OF the grain,
composed of starch and nitrogenou
substance called gluten, which form
the sticky and elastic part These tw
substances in grain OF wheat ar
neither completely separated nor II
timately mixed. The gluten forms
sort OF network, In which are inclose
the grains OF fecula, but toward th
center OF the grain the tissue is vcr
thin 1t is much hrmer and strong,
nearer the outside, that the. gluten
for the greater part localized in the e.
ternal portion; and as result Of
greater volume OF outside surface In tf
elongated body than in the spherici
form, slender and long grained whea
contain larger proportion Of glute
than those of rounded form. In whei
very rich in gluten tho husk is partial
or sometimes completely horned an
the whole kernel, or at least its extern
part, Is translucid and OF CLASSY a
pearance. In corn poor in gluten. (
the other hand. the m ddle is dull, easi
reduced TO powder, easy to bruise al
looks like -four already prepared.
this last kind starch nredominate
while the proportion Of gluten Is part
ularly high in wheat with a horny hns
But even in the latter kind the matt
not nitrogenons is more abundant thi
the gluten, but whether this matter
dextrine or starch is a question whis
chemists and analysts have not yet be-
able 10 determine. The bel ef inelin
TO the view that Ii Is dextrine. but
exact science we have not to do with |
lief, but only with absolute and unco
troyertihle fact-Mark Lane Express.