AGRICULTURE

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 114, 11 February 1928, Page 26

AGRICULTURE

RESEARCH IN DOMINION WHEAT BREEDING AND TESTING RELATION TO THE LOAF An important branch of agricultural research in the Dominion in recent years is that connected with wheat-breeding . and the testing of New Zealandgrown wheat. The varieties of wheat used in New Zealand were imported from England between 1850 and 1880, and were cultivated for 30 or 40 years without any selection. Consequently, crops were of mixed varieties, the uneven ripening caused severe losses, and Canterbury Agricultural College undertook to raise pure strains of the best varieties. Professor Hilgendorf and his co-work-ers undertook the work of raising pure strains of the best varieties. It is estimated that in general these yield four bushels per acre more than the mixed strains they replaced. The qualitv of the wheat for breadmaking is almost as important as the yield. The staff of the Chemistry Section of the Department of Agriculture, has been investigating the baking qualities of different strains in producing a good loaf and certain important correlations between the chemical .composition and the results of experimental baking tests have been discovered. Further work in breeding and selection is being done to obtain new strains which will combine heavy yields with good quality. Testing New Zealand Wheat. In a paper read at the Imperial Agricultural Research Conference the results of the tests of New Zealand wheat were outlined as follow

“1. Milling tests of pure varieties of wheats obtained from four different harvests, have now been made. Chemical analyses have been carried out on all the flours obtained, and baking tests in a considerable number of cases. “2. The average amount of flour obtained has been about 73 per cent, of the grain, which must be considered good. Different varieties of wheat have been found to yield different average percentages of flour. Localities, too, have been found to differ in this respect. Canterbury samples have so far averaged over 73 per cent, of flour. ■'3. Chemical analyses have shown that the protein content is a useful, though variable indication of the baking quality of the flours. The wellknown local variety, Velvet, has yielded the best quality flour of the more commonly grown wheats. Lesser known varieties have been found to produce flour of very good quality. “4. The effect of environment on flour qualitv has been noted. Some localities, and more particularly the Tuapeka and Upper Taieri (Central Otago) districts, have proved to produce wheat of excellent quality. Tuapeka and Upper Taieri are areas of fairly low rainfall, and a good, hot growing season. Local samples of good quality compare favourably with the best grown in the United States, Canada, and Australia. “5. A considerable amount of work has been done in attempting to correlate quality of flours with their chemical composition. The colloidal state , of glutens from different flours has been investigated, also the hydrogenion concentration, the degree of buffering of certain flours. It is hoped that this work will eventually lead to some useful commercial application.” j