CROSS 7 WHEAT

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21813, 19 June 1936, Page 4

CROSS 7 WHEAT

FURTHER EXPERIMENTAL WORK DECISION EY RESEARCH INSTITUTE Further experimental work with Cross 7 wheat, comparing it with Tuscan in commercial milling tests, was decided on by the Wheat Research Institute at its quarterly meeting yesterday. Commercial milling and baking trials made in the last three months were stated in the report of the director (Dr, F. W. Hilgendorf) to have been not altogether satisfactory. Mr R. K. Ireland insisted that the institute should not appear to give its approval of Cross 7 until satisfactory trials had been made. He would have liked to see in the report a statement that further experimental work would be undertaken. He agreed with the chairman (Mr J. A. Lyon) that the wheat was probably a very useful blend, but considered that further trial should be made. Director’s Report The director’s report on the tests was as follows: — At the last meeting of the committee it was suggested that a commercial milling and baking trial of Cross 7 should be made. A sack each of 12 lines of Cross 7 was purchased, and. a sack each of 12 lines of Tuscan for comparison. It was advised that the milling should be done by a new. but relatively small mill, where the wheats under trial would not be lost in the mill. The result of the trial was not perfectly satisfactory, although it Was made with care and skill. The Tuscan was easily milled because the mill was set for that type of wheat, but that particular setting did not suit the Cross 7 and the number of sacks was so small that adjustments could not be made during the run of the trial. The extraction was stopped at 72 per cent., although it was thought that more flour could have been profitably extracted. Baking Tests Dimcult Because of the difference between the granulation of the two flours, com. parable baking tests were almost impossible. For instance in laboratory trials it was found that Cross 7 absorbed 12 gallons of water a sack, while Tuscan absorbed only 11, but this fact could not be expected to be discovered in a single sack trial by a baker. The baking trials, although carefully conducted, were therefore indeterminate in result. This is a good example of the difficulty of making accurate experiments on a commercial scale. The commercial trial must be as accurately controlled in all its details as one in the laboratory: it must be as frequently repeated, and it must be as skilfully interpreted. Such accurate trials on a commercial scate would be enormously expensive and laboratory trials are made only because they can be more accurate with the same expense or as accurate with less expense. The only real experiment on a commercial scale is actual use in commerce, by many manufacturers and many users under all variations of normal conditions.