WHAT'S NEW IN AGRICULTURE 555 and oats, at a cost of approximately $1.60 per ton, or about 5 cents a bushel. The advantages of cleaning and treating seed grain by means of a portable outfit are manifold. Tlve work costs the farmer less than if he has it done commercially or docs it with his own equipment. If the work is done commercially the grain to be cleaned must usually be hauled from the farm to the warehouse or elevator and the cleaned grain must then be hauled back again. In many instances the individual farmer who does his own cleaning and treating does not have the best equipment because of its compara- tively high cost in relation to the quantity of work he has for it to do. A community cleaner gives the farmer an eíRcient machine run by an experienced operator; he is saved the work of purchasing and handling the copper carbonate dust; and the dust can be bought more cheaply in large quantities. Foreign Material Returned to Farmer Then the farmer has returned to him for immediate use the foreign material that is removed from the seed grain during the cleaning proc- ess. The foreign material frequently consists largely of cracked grains, wild oats, other grains, and other seeds that are usable as feed on the farm, for chickens, sheep, or hogs. The successful operation during these two seasons of the community- owned portable cleaning-and-dust-treating machine has led one manu- facturer to construct similar outfits for use in the Pacific Coast States. The advantages of cleaning and treating in one operation have led several grain-cleaner manufacturers to put on the market combination cleaning-and-treating machines of smaller capacity than the portable outfit here described, which arc designed primarily for individual farm use. GEORGE P. BODNAI?, Assistant Marketing Specialist, R. H. BLACK, Senior Marketing Specialist, Bureau of Agricultural Economics.

WHEAT That Is Slightly In the commercial grading of Germinated Helps Flour wheat, germinated grains are When Sparingly Blended classed as damaged grains and no more than 2 per cent of such grains is allowed for No, 1 grade of wheat. For every per cent of germinated grains over 2 per cent a progressive deduction in the price per bushel is made. Wheat containing 10 per cent or more of germinated grains is generally considered unfit for milling, and unless excessively moldy or musty is used for feed purposes. When excessively musty it is fit only for fertilizer and other industrial purposes. Occasionally, how- ever, a premium has been paid for slightly germinated wheat.

Weight Loss During Germination Experiments have shown that a wheat seed allowed to germinate for 12 days under controlled laboratory conditions loses more than 90 per 84722^—30 36 556 YEARBOOK OF AGRICULTURE, 1930 cent of its potash, about 80 per cent of its nitrogenous substances and phosphoric acid, 30 per cent of its fat, 50 per cent of its pentosans, and practically all its stored-up starch material. The weight of the seed decreases more than 90 per cent during that period. These losses are for the most part due to the transfer of the reserve materials from the seed to the little plant, made possible b}^ the action of the enzyras. These changes begin very soon after the seed has been placed in an environment suitable for germination. The same process takes place but to a much slighter degree in newly harvested wheat which has been subjected to frequent rains while still in the shock or stack. Long exposure to alternate whetting and dr^Hng may, however, cause appreciable damage to the harvested grain still in the field. Wheat which has been allowed to germinate for no more than two days has imdergone very little chemical change. As a result of longer germination the wet and dry gluten decreases, and sugar and acidity increase. It is difficult, if not impossible, to detect slightly germi- nated wheat b}^ chemical analysis, except possibly by the determina- tion of the diastatic activity, which in sound wheat is considerably less than in germinated wheat. The loss in weight of a seed during germination ranges from 1.5 per cent in 24 hours to more than 10 per cent in 120 hours. When the plumule is one-fourth the length of the grain the loss is about 1 per cent; when the plumule equals the grain in length, the loss is nearer 3 per cent. Effect of Using Sprouted Wheat Wheat which has germinated so that the plumule is more than 1 inch in length should be sparingly used for milling. Not much more than 3 per cent of such wheat can be safety mixed with sound wheat. Too much sprouted wheat produces a dough w4th puttylike character- istics. The use of as much as 8 per cent of this wheat will yield an inferior loaf; but a small quantity of wheat germinated even to this extent is not harmful beyond a slight weakening of the dough. The quantity of germinated wheat which can safely be used depends upon the length of time the wheat has been allow^ed to germinate. If the wheat is only slightly germinated, that is, up to about three days, even 20 per cent can be used with success. It is safer, however, to use 20 per cent of wheat germinated three days than 10 per cent germinated five days. In the process of milling, hard wheat which has germinated behaves somewhat like a soft w^heat. Germinated wheat possesses a more or less brittle bran, yields a smaller quautit}^ of flour, and may yield Hour of a somewhat darker color than that íFrom ungerminatcd wheat. In general flour milled from partly germinated wheat contains not only a weaker gluten but a smaller ciuantHy of gluten. Such flour has a lower absorption than flour from ungerminated wheat. The absorption decreases with the quantity of germinated wheat or the length of time of germination.

The Penalty on Slightly Germinated Wheat It is difficult to justify the practice of penalizing slightly germinated wheat found on the market in view of the beneficial effects which a small quantity of such grains produces in bread baking. Normally, WHAT'S NEW IN AGRICULTURE 557 wheat flour contains very little sugar, in fact, too little to satisfy the needs of the yeast in bread nialdng. Owing primarily to the action of the diastatic cnzyni upon the starch, germinated wheat has a relatively high sugar content, and the addition of germinated wheat to sound wheat therefore makes available to the 3^east a sufficient quantity of fermentable sugars for the whole process of fermentation. Thus not only is the time of fermentation of the dough reduced, but likewise that of proofing; a greater quantity of gas is produced, and the baked loaf has a larger volume. Further, the use of a small quan- tity of flour made from germinated grain improves the texture and color of the crumb, X3roduces a l)rowner and more x^lcasing crust, and imi:)arts a desirable flavor to the bread. In fact some experiments have shown that even 20 per cent of slightly germinated wheat improves the quality of the bread. When used with sound wheat of low diastatic activity, germinated rye and other grains as well as ger- minated legumes may play the same important role that germinated wheat does in baking bread. Considering the importance of the subject, data on the use of flour made from germinated grains in baking are very meager. Among the problems to be investigated are (1) the transformation which takes place in the seed during germination^ (2) the efl'ect of various combinations of soimd and germinated grains, (3) the effect of flour from germinated grains other than wheat, and (4) the efl'ect of flour from germinated grains of various kinds upon baked products other than bread. Very little if any work has been done to determine the effect of using flour from germinated grains and legumes in the making of macaroni, biscuits, crackers, cake, etc., and to ascertain the kind of self-rising flour that can be made from them. A very recent development is the discovery that flour from germinated legumes exerts a bleaching effect upon wheat flour. The possibilities here are many, and this field of research is practically untouched. Many other problems regarding the effect of the various germinated grains and legumes on the products of the bakeshop await solution. J. A. LE CLERC, Senior Chemist, Bureau qf Chemistry and Soils.

WOMEN Study Factory The home of to-day represents the Products as Aid to result of factory production quite as Efficient Purchasing much as it does the home maker's own activities. Rural home makers are recognizing this fact and are studying their responsibilities as purchasers of commercially manufactured products used in their homes. Studies, conducted through home demonstration work in many States, are made of such widely divergent articles as textiles for the house; garments and underclothing; shoes; hosiery; clothing accessories; staple, fancy, and fresh groceries; furniture; sick-room appliances and household medicines; water, lighting, and heating systems; refrigerators; sewing machines; wall and floor coverings; electrical equipment for the home; motor power for the house; paints, wall paper, and calcimine; various t3^pes of cooking, cleaning, and laundering equipment; beds and bedding; china; silverware; glassware; cutlery; and the like.