ENGLISH BREAD.
Not unconnected with this is the progress of a new whole- meal bread campaign of an original sort. A minimum propor- tion of 75 per cent. of British-grown wheat is part of the definition of the new loaf or roll, which already can be procured in some of the bigger London clubs. It is astonishing, even among farmers themselves, how little the peculiar qualities of English wheat are understood. It is best for the making of many biscuits and is now exclusively used in the making of one of the patent cereal foods. It is fuller of flavour (like an English peach) than imported wheat. It is, of course, indisputable that the "stronger" wheats of Manitoba and other sunny fields of the north have certain specific advantages for the baker of the big loaf ; but a proportion of seventy-five British to twenty-five imported flour makes a much more agreeable loaf—especially if it is wholemeal—than the reverse proportion. It was a new experience to hear one's host at a London club order " British toast. " ; and if this most nutty delicacy pleases the urban gourmet, the benefit to the British farmer should one day be considerable. It is not unlikely —indeed an experiment is now well on the way—that British farms will come to possess their own bakeries and their own factories for bacon and dairy products. If that scheme should succeed, the greater number of the difficulties that have arrested agricultural co-operation, especially between big farmers and small, would be automatically overcome. .- * *
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