Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1890-09-12
VARIETIES OF WHEAT.
What . French Specialist Has Done BY
Crossing Different Growths.

What a French Specialist Has Done By
Crossing Different Growths.
M. Henri L. de Vilmorin, the we'll
known horti-agriculturist Of France, has
taken wheat under his special protec-
ton, and by means of crossing has
evolved many new varieties well adapted
for growth in Europe, and combining
maximum of the best features OF the par
ents with 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 minute
analyses have enriched our knowledge
of the normal composition Of grain OF
wheat, and NJ. Aubin, 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 OF
wheat, M. Vilmorin has devoted much
close study to the history and develop
ment of this all-important grain.
The information which he and his
| collaborateurs have been able to gather
is given in an exhaustive 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 parasitic germ,
the albumen or kernel, and the cover
ings of the germ or albumen.
According to M. A. Girard there
is, on an average in wheat "a per
cent. of albumen, 14X per cent. OF
covering or bran, and ~ per cent. OF
germ. The germ is particularly rich in
fatty and heterogeneous matter. Mixedwith
-four it increases in a certain measure
| its nutritive value; but on the other
| hand the substances contained In the
germ alter so rapidly in contact with
air that they cause deterioration in the
| -four. 1t is thus desirable to separate
the germ from the albumen before
crushing the latter, and it is because
of the facilities for carrying out this
preliminary that grinding with rollers
has largely superseded the old grind
stones. The covering Of the grain forms
the bran, but the relative proportion OF
bran and -four varies according to the
kind of wheat and the district in which
it is grown
Ali things equal, the round grains
have less bran than the elongated ones
it is geometrical consequence OF their
form. The kernel itself, which con-
stitutes the useful part Of the grain, is
composed of starch and a heterogeneous
substance called gluten, which forms
the sticky and elastic part. These two
substances in grain Of wheat are
neither completely separated nor In
timately mixed The gluten forms a
sort of network, in which are inclosed
the grains of fecula, but toward the
center of the grain the tissue is very
thin. 1t is much frmer and stronger
nearer the outside, that the gluten is
for the greater part localized in the ex-
ternal portion; and as result Of a
greater volume of outside surface in the
elongated body than in the spherical
form, slender and long-grained wheats
contain a larger proportion Of gluten
than those of rounded form. In wheat
very rich in gluten the husk is partially
or some times completely horned, and
the whole kernel, or at least its external
part, is translucid and Of CLASSY APP
pearance. In corn poor in gluten, on
the other hand, the middle Is dull easily
reduced to powder, easy to bruise and
looks like -four already prepared. In
this last kind starch predominates,
while the proportion of gluten is partic-
ularly high in wheat with horny husk.
But even in the latter kind the matter
not heterogeneous is more abundant than
the gluten, but whether this matter Is
dextrine or starch is a question which
chemists and analysts have not yet been
able to determine. The belief inclines
TO the view that it is dextrine, but in
exact science we have not to do with be-
lief but only with absolute and uncon-
trovertible fact-Mark Lane Express.