The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1917-05-03
Uncle Sam, Farmer
By Frederick J. Haskin
WAR BREAD AND DYES.

the Germans IN using one Ihlng Wnlcn
they had in place of another which they
had not. Their potato bread, kriegs-
brot. or war bread, is one of their prin-
cipal substitutIons and one of their lead
ing dependencies. By the use of potatoes
in breadbaklng they make up partly for
their shortage in wheat ana rye.
In the development of substitutes for
use in place of wheat. the United States
is ahead of Germany. We have just as
high a grade of chemical skill and train
ing among our experts, and we have a
great many more raw materials to
draw on for wheat substitutes. Ex-
perts of the Bureau of Chemistry IN
the Department of Agriculture have
baked no less than 40 different kinds of
bread, nsing as many substitutes for %
per cent. of the wheat flour needed. All
of these breads are entirely nourishlng
and palatable, and some are considered
by those who have tasted them to be
superior to ordinary bread. The wheat
substitutes, besides such ordinary ones
as buckwheat and oats and rye, include
the more unexpected names of bananas
and chestnuts and rice and kafir corn
and cottonseed meal and peanuts. The
peanut in particular furnishes q fine
tasty bread rich and noursbing, and of
beautiful light texture. But all these
substitute breads are tasty, nourishing,
and adequate for food.
Now, there is no danger that the
United States is going to be sinched for
lack of bread. There are no grounds
whatever for panic. But there is every
ground for economy, for the use of sub
sttutes, and for the taking of all prac-
tcable measures to conserve the wheat
supply. The bread situation can be
clearly summed up in a few figures.
First, it should be noted that the
bread situation includes both a neces-
sity and an obligation. There is the do
nestle need, amounting to $50, 1909, 900
bushels year, from which about no.
100000 barrels of flour are milled. Then
there is the element of foreign demand.
The United States is a wheat export
ing nation, and our European Allies are
looking to US for food. 1t is a national
obligation to export as much wheat as
possible, and here is where the shortage
pinches. The crop prospects show that
the winter wheat harvest is going to
fall below even last years short crop.
The spring wheat crop in the United
States is normally only third of the
total. Even though acreage is greatly
increased, the deficit can hardly be
balanced with spring wheat. In order
to do our share in the war we must
keep our food exports up, and in order
to keep them up we must piece out our
wheat supply.
The men in the Bureau of Chemistry
who have worked out the new breads
are confident it can be done. In their
list of wheat substitutes they show
where the natien can draw on enough
raw material to substitute for quarter
of the entire wheat consumption. The
list includes raw materials to be found
in every section-corn, potatoes, rice,
peanuts, oats, peas and beans, bran,
cottonseed meal and dozens of others.
And it should be remembered that the
breads baked from flour that is three
fourth wheat -four and fourth sub
stisutes are no unpalatable makes
hits. They are all breads whose ex-
cellence is vouched for by the palate
and whose nourishing qualities are
proven by chemical analysis.
In order to increase the available
wheat supply by 125, 100000 bushels it
is only necessary for an emergency
measure to provide that some substitute
for wheat flour shall be used by bakers
in the proportion of one part to three
parts of wheat flour. Such an emer-
gency measure may never be needed,
but the work in developing the new
kinds of bread, which has covered about
four years of research, has already
been done.
Another way to increase the wheat
supply, according to the bureau, would
be to increase the amount of flour OBJ
tanned from bushel of wheat in the
milling process. The present process
makes Y pounds of flour from 100
pounds of wheat. 1t is possible, say
the experts, to make 80 pounds of flour
from 100 pounds of wheat without in
any way injuring the value of the flour
as food material. This means that
there would be less bran made and more
-four. 1t means a saving of IS per
cent. Thus by the use of substitutes
and by milling process that uses more
of the wheat we can increase our avail
able wheat supply by 225, 900, 900 bush
els. This would be enough to take care
of the shortage. In order to bring about
the 80 per cent. flour production, it
would only be necessary to pass an
emergency measure requiring all mlllers