The evening times., 1900-04-18
BREAD AND E'S MAKING
An Interesting Bulletin Issued by
the Agricultural Department.
Used as a Food Among the Different
Gone Days-VariOus Modes OF It's
PreparatiOn-A staple Article OF
Diet Everywhere-Nume Kinds

The Agricultural Department has p e.
nared an extremely interesting and in
structiye bulletin upon the subject Of the
"Principles of Bread and Bread Making.
1t describes every phase of the subject,
from the history OF bread as fool among
the different peoples of the world to dis
cussion of it's nutritive qualities and va
rious methods Of modern manufacture. In
dealing with the history of bread, the bull
letn says:
There is hardly any food, except milk,
which is so universally used, and not oaiy
is it now known almost everywhere, but
since history first began it has in some
form or other made one OF the staples or
diet among all but the most savage peo-
pies In the earliest historical records it
is spoken of, and the wild tribes which
today inhabit South Africa know some-
thing of its use OF course. the bread
made by the Kaffir today. or by the Ameri-
can Indian 800 hundred years ago, is very
different from our own. 1t would be In
teresting TO trace the relationship between
| the bread baking processes OF given peo-
| Piles and their rank in the scale OF clYlIlza-
| tion.
"The Kaflr simply grinds his grain be-
| tween two stones. makes a paste of this
meal and water, and bakes it in the ashes
| of his camp fire Israel. in Egypt, ate
| leayened bread; the ancient Greeks cul-
| tiyated the yeast plant; in Pompeii an
| oven was found containing eighty -one
1 Ioayes of bread not unlike our own; the
| Swiss peasant still bakes his weekly
loaves in the village oven; and so on. TO
| the mammoth bakeries and lnnumerable
| fancy breads OF our own large towns. Such
/ classification would not be absolutely
| absurd, for except among the lowest saw
ages and in the EXTREMIST climates some
| kind of grain is recognized as a necessary
| food and bread furnishes it in one OF It's
| most convenient forms-that is, form In
| which il yields the greatest amount or
| nourishment for the least labor and cost
| No wonder. then, that the more intelli-
| gent 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 to 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
| pIicated 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-
| cesses of bread making with any degree OF
| completeness is large volume of over $50
| pages
! After brief summary Of these processes
| the bulletin continues:
| To prepare the grain for bread making
| II is usually cleansed. crushed. and sifted
into a fine, soft powder which We call Hour.
| Amarg the various fours the preference
| Should OF course be given TO the one
| which yields the most nutritious loaf for
| the least money. The nutritive value oi
bread depends not cnly on It's chemical
composition. but also on its digestibility
and digestibility. in its turn. seems to de-
pend largely on the lightness of the loaf
1t is the gluten in a -four which gives II the
mower of stretching and rising as the gas
from the yeast expands within II. and
hence OF making a light loaf Rye, barley
and oats have less gluten than wheat and
maize has none, and therefore wheat des-
pite its higher cost. yields the most nutTl-
ment for given sum.
at il possible that of the various kinds
of wheat -four those containing part OF the
bran-entire wheat and graham fours-
furnish the body with more mineral mat
| ters than fine white -four. but they prob
ably do not yield more digestible protein
| as was for time supposed. II seems safe
that as far as we yet know, for given
amount of money, white flour yields the
! most actual nourishment with the Yariou:
food ingredients in the best proportion
The lightness and sweetness OF bread de-
pend as much on the way in which IT l;
made as on the materials used. The great
est care should be taken in preparing anC
baking the dough. and in cooking anC
keeping the finished bread Heavy. bad.
! ly raised bread is a very dangerous food
and unfortunately very common. and prob
ably more indigestion has been caused b!
it than by all other indifferently cooked
foods
LAS compared with most meats and veg
etables. bread has practically no waste
and is very completely digested. 1t is tot
| poor in protein to be fttingly used alone
but when used with due quantities OF 9TH
| er foods it is invaluable, and well de