HAGBERG TEST EXPLAINED

Press, Volume C, Issue 29513, 13 May 1961, Page 13

HAGBERG TEST EXPLAINED

Mr Hullett Meets Farmers

Sprouting and attack by the wheat bug were feared as the two main problems which could affect the wheat crop, said Mr E. W. Hullett. director of the Wheat Research Institute, in an address to the annual conference of the agriculture section of North Canterbury Federated Farmers yesterday.

Mr Hullett attended the conference to describe the Hagberg test for sprout damage in wheat and the associated problems of wheat quality and milling and baking. The average Hagberg test number for the wheat taken for milling in Canterbury this year was about 13, he said. Mr Hullett handed round small test loaves which had been made with flour from wheat with a high Hagberg test number. These had very sticky wet dough instead of a firm springy crumb.

“The Hagberg test enabled millers to take in more lines of wheat than they would have dared to without it,” Mr Hullett said. Mr S. M. Wilson asked whether there was any additive which would counteract the effect of sprouting in the flour. Mr Hullett said there were additives but they either made the bread dangerous or inedible. Breeding for sprout resistance was likely .to be worthwhile. Hilgendorf—a red grained wheathad not shown sprouting damage this year.