The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-08-17
THE WORLDS BEST GRAIN
HARD WHEAT, WHERE 1T GROWS
AND WHY 1T Is WORTH THE MOST.
Limits Of Its BeIt-CannOt Be Extend
ed south, but May Go Farther North
Into British Territory.

yields more -four to the bushe and better
flour than any other variety. 1t is almost
exclusively a Northwestern product, being
nearly all grown upon the prairies of Min
nesota, North and South Dakota and Mani
toba. Efforts to extend the area of the
hard-wheat belt have not been very sue
cessful. AS settlement advanced westward
with the building of the transcontinental
railway hard wheat was sown in the rri-
gated valleys of Montana, but the berry de-
Perforated year by year, until it finally lost
all It's peculiar qualities. Experiments were
also tried on the plains of eastern Washing
ton and Oregon, where the soil is a
decomposed basalt, very favorable to the
production of the small grains, but there the
deterioration to soft wheat was very rapid
Practically the heard-wheat belt of this
continent is limited on the north by the
southern line of August frosts and on the
south by the southern boundaries of Min,
nesota and South Dakota. 1t extends from
Wisconsin on the east out into the SUBJ
ara district of the Dakotas. In western
Kansas, however, there is a considerable ex-
tent or country where hard winter wheat is
successfully grown. When farmers began
TO settle on the Northwestern prairies they
soon found they could not SOW their wheat
in the fall and depend upon regular good
crops, Tor the reason that the extreme cola
OF the winters killed the roots of the grain
They then resorted to spring sowing. and
began to look around for varieties of wheau
pest adapted to this method of cultivation
experiments IN Minnesota proved that the
best seed was of the Scotch Fife variety
originally brought from Scotland and soWr
m n5 me muqs0n Bay Company posts in
MANITOBA. This Scotch Fife seed became the
progenltor OF all the vast hard-wheat CROP
OF the Northwest, which now amounts 10
ABOUT 1oQ'OO0OOO bushels in an ordinary year.
ana IN the year 1885 reached 225, 900. 900 bush-
els. The total wheat crop OF the United
states TINS year is estimated at $50 600, 00U
ITS CHARACTER.
The berry of hard wheat is small. of a
reddish-brown color and is very dry and
hard. Almost contemporary with the great
increase in the product of this kind of grain.
which followed the rapid settlement of Min
nesota and the Dakotas, came the inven-
ton of what is known as the gradual re-
duction process of millings This process
was invented in Buda-Pesth, Hungary. but
mas been considerably improved by practical
millers in Minneapolis. The old process of
grinding wheat with mllstones consisted in
crushing the grain and Sitting out the bran
IN the new process the grain is crushed
many times between a series of steel rollers
and after each crushing the flour is sifted
out, so that the -four is taken away from
the bran little by little, instead of the bran
Oelng taken at once from the flour The
chief gain is in obtaining a much larger ner-
centage Of flour than was possible in the
0Id process, and in saving the gluten. which
hes nearest 10 the huSkS. The gluten is
the most nutritious part of the flour and
hard wheat contains a much larger per-
centage of it than is contained by any soft
variety. 1t is this fact which gives the
hard wheat its high value. In milling it is
extensively used for mixing with inferior
varieties of wheat to strengthen the flour
SO well defined are the limits of the hard
wheat belt on the American continent that
our Northwestern farmers might look for
ward with confidence to controlling in the
future the markets of the world for their
staple, were it not for the opening of the
plains of Siberia to settlement by the action
of the Russian government in building a
railroad through that region The soil and
climate of that vast country are almost
identical with the soil and climate of the
pralrles of North Dakota, so that 1t is prob
able that a new and immense hard-wheat
region will soon throw it's product into the
markets of the world in competition with
the product of our Northwestern prairieS.
COLD WINTERS NEEDED.
Cold winters and well-frozen soil are es-
sential for raising hard wheat. There must
very little rainfall after the crop is start
ed. OF the 100000 bushels of hard
wheat grown in the Northwest every year
flour in the mills Of Minneapolis and 1900, =
0GO in the mills of Duluth and Superior The
small country mills probably consume TWEEN
ty million bushels more, so that nearly two
thirds of the entire crop is required
to keep the mills running in the regions
where it is grown. A good deal of the
surplus goes to Europe to English and
Scotch millerS and a good deal is ground
by the mills in our Eastern States The
price is from Y cent to l cent bushel
higher than is obtained for the best wheat
of other varieties.
There is no possibility of extending the
hard-wheat belt further south in the United
States or much further west but pa
developing out of their country a great
autonomous nation on the possibilities of
wheat raising in their northwestern IrOV-
nices. Manitoba has still a great ex-
tent of unsettled prairie country, and
in the provinces of Assiniboia, Alberta and
Saskatchewan is an immense region of fer
tile territory where wheat is successfully
grown. In all this far northern region, how
ever, there is danger of August frost nip
shriVeling it up. This is a calamity which is
dreaded every year by the wheat rajsers
of the Canadian northwest. Frosted wheat
grades as ''rejected' ana brings only ii low
price
The long rail haul from Alberta and AS
sinlboia makes wheat raising 4 poor bust
ness where there is any risk of the loss of
a crop by frost, and, although wheat is
successfully grown in a small WAY as far
V.
doubtful whether the great frozen plain of
the Canadian northwest will ever produce
large amount of this Grain.
ROOM FOR INCREASE.
We may look for a considerable addition
to the present yield Of Manitoba. of North
Dakota, of Minnesota and of South Dakota.
but this increase is not likely to any more
than keep up with the increased demands
of the world for food. The hard-wheat
farmer knows that his grain always COM
mands the best price, and is always want
ed. The newspapers in the Northwest
have been preaching mixed farming for
many years TO our wheat growers as a
snort road TO prosperity but the farmers
SUCK nrmly to their staple crop and I be-
HeVe they are wise in doing so The great
decline in wheat prices in recent years
shook their faith in it sadly. but il has
oeen re-establlshed by a rise of about 20
cents buShel during the past year. Pres
ent prices are quite remuneratfve where
there is a fair yield. In Minnesota the av-
eraSe yield is from twelve to fifteen bushels
per acre. In North Dakota and Manitoba
1t is somewhat higher. On some farms it
occasionally runs up to thirty bushels.
The raising of hard wheat involves COM
paratively little labor. The ploughing is
mostly done in the fall, and the seeding is
completed early in May; then there is moth
ing to do but to watch the crop grow and
ripen until harvest commences in August
BY Aug. / the reaperS get to work al a
rule and by the LIST Of September the whole
was done directly from the shocks, but in
recent years early fall rains have convinced
the farmers of the wisdom of stacking
their grain, and now all the great wheat
by the first week in September. When the
grain is well stacked the threshing can