The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, February 2, 1920, Page 4

Red Durum Is It a Good Proposmonp Both Sldes of Controversy Explained—What Doctor Ladd of North coin Dakota F 1nds Upon Investigation BY CHESTER W. VONIER is sometimes called, a paying crop for the farmer of the Northwest? A comparatively new species, this wheat has already been the subject of great controversy among wheat experts. However,..this much has been established through exhaustive tests: It “is an exceptionally heavy yielder, the berries are heavy and plump and in an exceedingly disastrous rust year it was practically free from the disease. To the growers who raised the wheat last year it brought good returns. With all this in its favor it would appear on the face of things that this would be an ideal grain for the farmer of the Northwest.. Yet elevator men, millers and grain experts are most strongly advising that farmets sow other varieties of grain. This attitude is reflected in the market reports, where red durum sells 7 cents and more below the market for other durum wheat. Farmers of the Northwest are familiar with the experience of other new varieties. ‘Velvet chaff, Haynes’ blue stem, amber durum, all went through the same experiences and only received proper recognition after Doctor E. F. Ladd of the North Dakota College of Agriculture and some of his colleagues, through experiments, proved their worth. s The fact that red durum is going through the same experiences, however, can not be taken as any proof of red durum’s worth. Neither can this dis- crimination be accepted as proof of its lack of worth. Those who are advising against sowing this wheat in 1920 argue that farmers who raised red durum in 1919 were extremely fortunate in having the government guaranty to fall back upon. Some predict that this year, with government . control relinquished, red durum will fall far below the prevailing market. Others say there is some dis- crimination on the part of the millers and elevator men. The controversy really began when a Minneap- olis farm paper took up the cudgels against red durum. It was stated that neither millers nor macaroni largely because of the dark grayish color of the flour produced from it, and that the government was forced to buy large stocks of it as a result of the guaranty law, much of which has been stored for shipment overseas. GOVERNMENT NOT BUYING RED DURUM WHEAT = ° Although this assertion may have been true at the time it is not a fact at present. It is learned that at present the government is not buying red durum, as it} ss selling at present slightly above the guaranteed price. Elevator men declared that mills to which wheat of this variety had been sent had found it of little use and refused to buy more. Experiments, they said, indicated a lack of gluten content, the part 'of the wheat_from which the hody of the flour is made. Macaroni manufacturers ob- _Jject to it, they said, because of the grayish color it imparts to their product. These concerns are using amber durum or Kolanthe wheat. " Many samples of red durum were shown at the North Dakota seed contest this year. This picture shows some of the exhibits of Fargo show, held in'connection with the Tri-State Grain Growers’ convention. S RED DURUM wheat, or D5, as it manufacturers would use the wheat, Herewith are presented scientific find- ings as to milling value of “D-5” wheat. The Leader also wrote H. L. Bolley, state seed commissioner of North Da- kota and originator of “D-5.” Mr. Bolley replied: “I am neither a miller nor a baker and so am justified in not wishing to enter that controversy. My belief is that there are too many hun- gry people in the world to justify using any wheat for feed.” Professor Bolley suggests that farmers intefested write direct to farmers who have grown D-5. Names of these growers can be obtain- ed by writing “North Dakota Pure Seed Laboratory, N. D. Agricul- tural-College, Fargo, N. D.” The United States department of agriculture: has made a few experiments with red durum, and in one of the bulletins on the subject said the wheat made a very poor quality of flour. Its investiga- tions, however, and the investigations of other ex- perts, showed that the extent of rust in red durum varied from none-to 5 per cent, while other va- rieties of durum showed as high as 14 per cent and the softer wheat from 25 to 65 per cent infection. The lowest soft wheat was Kota, also a product of the North Dakota Colltege of Agriculture. This wheat has a greater volume when made into bread than any other spring wheat used in the experi- ment. But the argument against red durum as a crop in 1920, at least, is clinched by the results of ex- periments conducted by the North Dakota College of Agriculture, where it is being develcped. These experiments, however, indicate that the variety is being steadily improved, and that eventually it may become one of the staple durums of the North- west. The North Dakota report on red durum, which has just been issued, says: “The so-called red durum, or red durum D5 wheat, has been under test at the agricultural col- lege from 1915 to 1919. The wheat was originated as D5. The high yield per acre, the plump, well- filled grains, the heavy test weight for this type of wheat, appealed to the farmers and considerable of it had been grown. “In 1916, when almost all the wheats were stren- uously injured by black rust, D5 proved to be high- ly resistant and has continued to be so as far as information is now available. “The investigations thus far made indicate that the manufacturers of macaroni have discriminated against this wheat to such an extent that the fed- eral department of agriculture established the fed- . eral grades with the subclass red durum in order to take care of this wheat. The investigations show that the test weight per bushel is fairly satisfac- tory, but the per cent of flour is low as compared with the results of other types of wheat. Red durum is exceptionally hard to mill for the purpose R PAGE FOUR of makmg flour, but is not so expensive to mill in connection with the manufacture of semolin# . The baking results obtained from this type of wheat have not been at all satisfactory and have been con- siderably below the standard. A good milling wheat ought to produce a flour that, when baked into bread, would give a loaf having a volume of not less than 2,350 cubic centimeters, with an ab- sorbtion of water not less than 53 per cent, with a color score of not leds than 95 and texture 95. This serves, therefore, as a basis for comparison. Tests for the several years for this wheat are as follows: For red durum Per cent Percent * Loaf grading No. straight Absorp- vol. Color Texture No.1 samples flour tion c. c. score score 1915 70.00 55.10 1390 80.00 80.0/ 1916 5 65.80 57.70 1570 84.80 80.00 1917 3 72.82 57.10 1538 85.00 83.33 1918 2 72.24 51.76 1259 91.75 82.00 1919 6 71.56 58.67 1465 87.00 - 91.16 LOAF VOLUME LOWER THAN IN OTHER FLOUR “It will thus be observed from the foregoing table that the loaf volume is very low as compared with the standard of 2,350 cubic centimeters, while bread from good durum will run from 1,800 to 2,100 cubic centimeters in loaf volume. “The color score is low in most instances, as is also the texture score. This year the texture is better than in preceding years on the six samples that have been under examination. I can not, therefore, do other than believe that while the red durum wheat is more rust-resistant than other wheats, it is not a gocd milling wheat and is hard- er to mill as it requires more power, that the per cent of flour in not as high as for other wheats, the loaf volume is very poor and the color and tex- ture not anywhere near up to standard, the bread being of a grayish color. “This is one instance in which the millers are justified in discriminating in prices, but possibly; not to the extent to which they do discriminate. “My impression is that it is a good wheat to ex- periment with in a small way to see if it can be improved, but that the farmers will do well to se- lect for a _durum wheat the Kubanka, to keep it clean and free from other wheat types, as there is a distinct demarid for Kubanka by macaroni and semolina manufacturers. The Kubanka seems to be the more promising of the durum wheats, even for the manufacture of flour.” Commenting on the report, Doctor E. F. Ladd, president of the North Dakota Agricultural col- lege, said: ~ “One of the difficulties at the present time is, it seems to me, that our wheats are becoming largely mixed, resultmg in bad combinations,-and it would be well for the farmers to endeavor to use greater care to preserve the purity of the seed they use by selecting the purest grades of the particular kind of wheat they are to grow, the same as*they - select pure strains of animals. ‘d would advise not to grow too much of red durum D5 unless future experiments through years of cultivation should prove that by selection and care the milling and baking qualities of the prod- uct are considerably improved.”