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Show . 1X-KK.S!X(; HOME I NK Of SOFT WHEAT l'LOCKM It behooves the housewife t0 learn to tell the difference between hard wheat anil soft wheat Hours, and to know the particular use for which each is best adapted. She can then select a flour well suited to her needs, oft mi at a distinct saving in price and to the benem of local Industry. In-dustry. The increase in the production of baker's bread and in the use of machine ma-chine mixers in the bakeshops ha greatly increased the demand for the hard wheat flours.. Their higher gluten content gives them greater abi'iiiy to absorb water and to rtand the severe "punishment" given the dough by power machinery. The result re-sult is that in many sections hard-wheat hard-wheat flours commanu a higher price than soft wheat flours. For many lume uses soft wheat flours ai" iti-'i as good or better than the hard wheal product. It is easier to niii! a tender cake and flaky pie crust with soft wneatriour. For , ;, ';ei;ie:; sauces, gravies, and the bun. 'red and one other small household house-hold n.'j.ls one kind is as good as! another. The lions-kesper. however, sometimes some-times ha: dituculty in telling what iype of flour she is buying. The I'. P. deliartmont of agriculture suggests sug-gests the following simple tests for nisting-ui-hing hard wheat and soft wheat Hours: The flours from soft wheats have-a have-a velvety tenure somewhat like corn starch, ami those from hard whesu are usually more gritty, but it requires re-quires some experience and a Ami .ease of touch to detect this difference. differ-ence. F.p,-rts usually do it by taking 3 :i:;ch of flour and rubbing it lightly light-ly between th? thumb and the thiru finger. Anothe- way to tell is by squeezing a handful of it tightly ami noticing whether as the hand is opened op-ened the flour remains in a mold ana shows the impression of the fingers. In this test n hard wheat flour acts more like a powder ami the mold breaks tip more readily than that of a soft wheat flour. Weighing is still another method us-c-d to distinguish j hard wheat flours from soft. A quan j of hard wheat flour that has been i sifted once, dipped lightly into the measure, and then leveled off weighs about 16 or 17 ounces or even nioiv. A quart of soft wheat flour sifted iind measured in the same way will ;wfigh only about 14 or lo ounces, i -. |