Abstract
THIS Report is an important continuation of a most valuable work. The object in view is to obtain accurate information respecting the composition of the cereal grains produced in the various States. The grain analysed is in some cases the produce of seed issued by the Agricultural Department, but generally represents the ordinary crops of the district. A complete physical and chemical examination has been made of each sample of grain: the results are tabulated under the head of the State in which the grain was reared. The Report contains 77 analyses of different varieties of wheat grown in Colorado; 179 analyses of the kernel of oats, and 100 analyses of the husk; 57 analyses of rye, and 72 of barley. The extent of variation in composition, the relation of physical characters to chemical composition, and the influence of climate, are discussed. The results are further compared with those obtained by investigations in Europe. At the close of the Report are given some detailed analyses of cereal grains in which sugar, starch, and the albuminoids soluble and insoluble in alcohol, are separately determined. Analyses are also given of the very various products obtained from wheat by roller-milling. The whole is a magnificent contribution to the history of cereals. We now know far more of the characteristics of cereals grown on the American continent than we do of those produced in the United Kingdom. When will an English Agricultural Department inaugurate a similar study?
Department of Agriculture, Washington: Third Report on the Chemical Composition and Physical Properties of American Cereals, Wheat, Oats, Barley, and Rye.
By Clifford Richardson. (Washington, 1886.)
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W., R. Our Book Shelf . Nature 34, 466 (1886). https://doi.org/10.1038/034466a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/034466a0