Conversations on vegetable physiology ; comprehending the elements of botany, with their application to agriculture / Mrs. Marcet.

  • Jane Marcet
Date:
1839
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Conversations on vegetable physiology ; comprehending the elements of botany, with their application to agriculture / Mrs. Marcet. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    miraculous wheat, the ears of whicli are branching from the abundance of their produce. Third, Bled diir, or hard wheat: the grain is semi- transparent ; it has still less gluten than the preceding : it is of this species that macaroni, vermicelli, and all the Italian pastes, are made ; it requires a dry soil and a warm climate, and thrives best in the southern parts of Europe. Fourth, Polish wheat. It grows very plentifully in Poland, and is thence exported to other countries ; but, being of inferior quality, it is little cultivated elsewhere. Spelt contains less gluten than other species of wheat: it affords beautifully white flour for pastry, and is also much used for starch. EMILY. I should have thought that it would have required more gluten to make starch than to make bread ? MRS. B. No ; starch consists almost wholly of pure fecula, and may be obtained from potatoes as well as from wbeaten flour. Rye is of so hardy a nature that it accommodates itself to almost all soils and all climates : its straw is longer and firmer than that of wheat, which renders it peculiarly adapted to thatching; it contains so little gluten that it cannot be made into bread without an admixture of wheat. EMILY. It is, then, no doubt, on this account that the ]>oor Scotch Highlanders, who cannot afford to mix w-heaten flour with it, eat it baked in cakes instead of bread. MRS. n. It is chiefly oats, I believe, that arc thus eaten in Scotland.