The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1904-12-02
DURUM WHEAT
Possibilities Of the New Grain
Which il Rapidly Coming
Into Public Favor

After a series of experiments cover
ing two years, the department of agri-
culture announces that Durum wheat
is in every way a superior wheat for
bread making and that the former
predjudice against it is entirely ILL
founded. Durum wheat is the new
name for macarOni wheat The de-
partment says the old name is mis-
leading and inaccurate, for the par
ticular kind of wheat to which the term
is applied is as suitable for making
bread as for making macaroni.
The firm establishment of Durum
wheat on commercial basis is ex-
pected to prove a boon for the west.
Formerly the northwestern millers
were pretty generally of the opinion
that the socalled macaroni (durum)
wheat was not suitable for making
bread flour, and farmers were not ada
vised to raise it. In view of the re-
cent experiments all this is changed.
Durum wheat last year commanded
a high price, and hundreds of millers
and bakers have reached the conclu
sion that it is one of the most valua
BILE kinds of wheat on the market.
prediction of the probable crop of
1904 has been made. Fifteen or twen-
ty millions of bushels of a wheat
which does not encroach upon the reg
ular production of other kinds is
large quantity to be added to the gen.
eral production of the United States.
The raising of durum wheat is,
strangely enough, a sort of substitute
for irrigation, for it is admirably
adapted to semi arid and even certain
arid lands, where almost nothing will
grow.
The estimates of from 5000, 900 to
20. 600, 900 bushels for this year leaves
out of consideration entirely the enOr-
nous areas of the semi arid and even
arid districts admirably adapted to
this grain which have not yet been
touched by the farmer. The officials
of the department who conducted the
recent experiments say that the possl-
bilities in reach of the farmers and
commercial men in the production of
and trade in this new grain are not
yet suspected by the people in gen.
eral. Even under irrigation durum
wheat succeeds very well, but over the
larger portions of the dry districts ir-
rigation will be unnecessary, and this
can be only said of a few of the
| droug ght-resisting crops. All the while
| new districts are Delng ueNolOpeu anu
new trade centers established. This
wheat will be sold during the coming
year at Kansas City, Omaha and Gal
weston, as we'll as Minneapolis and
Duluth. Durum wheat is-consideri
the proved excelle,s e % ii -four pro
duced from it-a product OF the great
est significance to farmers and the
trade, the department officials declare.
Prior to 1901 durum wheat could
rarely be sold at the elevators or
mills and was considered an inferior
article. 1t was grown in small guam
titles only, and then it was generally
fed to stock. Since it's commercial
value has been demonstrated the pro-
duction has increased from 100000
bushels, the largest estimate in 1901,
to at least 100000 bushels in 1903,
an increase of sixty-fOld in two years.
On March Is of this year durum wheat
sold at Buffalo at S1.O3 per bushel.
Since May 20 of this year 81 bushel
has been offered at Buffalo for No.
durum wheat, to arrive at the opening
of navig alton. A good export record
was made in 1903, although the quail
ity of the grain for export in that year
was the worst that it had ever been
or is likely to be, because of the un
usually wet season.