The evening times., 1900-04-18

The Agricultural Department has e.
pared an extremely interesting and in
structive bulletin upon the subject Of tie
principles Of Bread and Bread Making"
It describes every phase Of the subject.
from the history of bread as a fool among
the different peoples Of the world to dis
cussion Of its nutritive qualities and va
rious methods Of modern manufacture. IN
dealing with the history of bread, the bull
Ietin says:
There is hardly any focd. except mi.-;,
which is SO universally used. and not oaly
is II now known almost everywhere. but
since history first began 1t has in some
form or other made one OF he staples Of
diet among all but the mos savage peo-
pies In the earliest historical records it
as spoken OF. and the wild tribes which
today inhabit South Africa know some
thing Of its use. or course, the bread
made by the Kafnr today. or by the Ameri-
can Indian 900 hundred years ago, is very
different from our own. It would be in
teresting 20 trace the relationship between
the bread baking processes Of given peO-
Piles and their rank in the scale OF ciyillza-
tiOn.
The Rafr simply grInds his grain be-
tween two stones makes a paste OF this
meal and water, and bakes il in the ashes
Of his camp fire. Israel. in Egypt, ate
leavened bread: the ancient Greeks cul-
tiyated the yeast plant; in Pompeii an
oven was found containing eighty-one
loayes Of bread not unlike our own; the
Swiss peasant still bakes his weekly
loaves in the village oven; and 50 on. TO
-
/ fancy breads OF our own large towns. Such
classification would not be absolutely
absurd. fOg except among the lowest saw
ages and in the EXTREMIST climates some
kind Of grain is recognized as a necessary
food and bread furnishes IL in one Of its
most convenient foTms-that is a form IN
which it yields the greatest amount OF
nourishment for the least labor and cost.
No wonder. then, that the more intelli-
gent a people the better bread they
make"
In a discussion OF the general process Of
manufacture and the nutritive properties
Of good bread the bulletin says:
In regard 10 its ingredients bread Is
one Of the simplest Of our cooked foods,
but in regard TO the changes which the
raw materials must undergo to produce
a finished loaf. it is one Of the most COM
plicated Flour. water, pinch OF salt, and
a little yeast-the necessary things can be
counted on the fingers OF one hand. yet one
Of the few books which describes the pro-
ccsses OF bread making with any degree OF
completeness is large volume OF over 500
pages"
After a brief summary Of these processes
the bulletin continues
To prepare the grain for bread making
1t Is usually cleaused, crushed. and sifted
into a fine, soft powder which We call -four.
Among the various fOurs the preference
should OF course be given TO the one
which yields the most nutritious loaf for
the least money. The nutrtive value OF
bread depends not Cnly on its chemical
composition. but also on its digesubility.
and digestibiity, in its turn. seems 20 de-
pend largely on the Iightress OF the loaf.
II is the gluten in a -four which gives it the
power Of stretching and rising as the gas
from the yeast expands within il. and
! hence OF making a light loaf Rye, barley.
and oats have less gluten han wheat. and
Ioaize has none. and therefore wheat. des-
! pite its higher cost yields t'Ie most nutri-
ment for a given sum-
1T Is possible that Of the various kinds
[ Of wheat -four those containing part OF the
/ Sran-entire wheat and graham flOur5-
| furnish the body with more mineral mat
/ ters than fine white -four. but they prob
ably 10 not yield more digestible protein.
as was for a time supposed Il seems safe
/ that, as far as we yet know. for a given
/ amount Of money. white -four yields the
most actual nourishment with the various
/ food ingredients in the best proportion.
| The lightneSs and sweetness Of bread de-
pend as much on the way in which IL Is
made as OF the materials used. The great
| est care should be taken in preparing and
/ baking the dough. and in cooking and
j keeping the finished bread Heavy. bad
4 ly raised bread IS a very dangerous food.
! and unfortunately very common. and prob
/ ably more indigestion has been caused by
/ il than by all other indifierently cooked
| foods.
| As compared with most meats and veg
| etables. bread has practically no waste,
| and is very completely dgested II is too
poor in protein to be fttingly used alone.
/ but when used with due quantities OF 9TH
er foods it is Invaluable. and well de-