The Montana Extension Service in A'gricultur'e and! Home Economies.r. C. Taylor, Director

Montana State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Al·ts and theU. S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperating; Acts of Congress,

May 8 and June 30, 1914.

BULLETIN NO. 93. AUGUST,1928.

Test for Moisture and Protein BeforeCombining

Premiums for Montana Wheat depend upon Moisture Content aswell as Protein Content

By

E. .T. Bell, Jr. and W. O. Whitcom'b

To get full vttlue for your wheat it must be dry. There is no practicalway of drying grain after it is threshed. Wait until it has 110t more than14% moisture before going into the field with the combine.

The Moisture TestNo one can tell the moisturecontel1t of wheat wi~hout having it tested.

Samples must be taken from the field as a guide to successful combining.A p,nrt of the samples '50 obtaine·d can he sent to a laboratory for a proteintest. All samples must ,be .kept in ·air-tight 'containers fro111 the momentthey are collected. The methods of taking such samples, testing them formoisture, and putting them in proper containers for protein tests are illus­trated in the following ,pictures.

Securing the SampleFig. 1 illustrates the method of 'Walking through a field' in order to

obt,ain a representative sample. Walk in a diagonal direction through thefjeld, and across the field at the ends,. stop every 15 01' 20 steps arid pull upa handful of 'plants. Gatl1Cr all the he,ads from these plants and thresh inthe combine as illustrated in Figure 2.

'1'l1e small sample thresher ilIuSotrated in ,Fig. 3 is also aconvenieutway of threshing head samples. Detailed instructions for making such athresher' cun be obtained from the Montana Gfl",ain Inspection Laboratory,Montana State College', Bozeman. Threshing by handl is not satisfactory~8 )n08t of the ullripened grain is likely to remain in the heads.

2 MONTANA EXT:IDNSION ,SERVICE, BULL:IDTIN NO. 93

i

T

iT

: II""I.. '.' T

Fig. 1. When taking a sample from the field, be sure that it fairly reprcscntsHIe .grain in the field. Pull up plants at frequent intervals overa course as shown in the diagram, and collect all [lemfs of thesepll1ll11lts for testing.

Different parts of the field often have wheat of different protein andmoisture content. All samples should be thoroughly mixed by roIling themon a cloth 01' canvas, as shown in 'l!-'ig. 4. Fut a portion of this thoroughlymixed grain into a sm,all can 01' jar for testing.

Fig. 5 illmitrates types of air-tightcontainel's for heads and threshedgrain. If the sample cannot tbe threshed immediately, it should be put intoa milk ,can or other ,ail'-tight container to keep it fr0111 drying out. Glassjars with rubber rings 01' tin cans with friction tops are recommended forthreshed grain. The 'eardboard container is not recommended, because thegrain dries out to some extent. The tin container may be shipped bymail if it is put in a doth sack.

Malting the Moisture Test LocallyIn 1927, many combine operators took representative samples of the

standing grain, threshed tllese head samples, put the wheat In air-tight con­tainers and took it to the elevator 01' county ,agent for testing. This 'practice,although satisfactory enough for the time being,caused a certain loss of

TEST Fon MOISTUlm AND PHOTEIN "t)

Fi.g. 2. 'I'll(' ('oll1hine may he us(~d for threshing the sample. IllustratiollsAhow mall ('ol!(·etillj.{ liampJrfl and dllllll)inj.{ Iwads into combinehOPllel'. Thi,; sampl(' of ihl"(~Hhcd wllcat will he used for ll10istureand protein t('sis.

tillle b~' tlw t1'ip to tOWll ,and lh(1 wail for the Ill!;! to bo rUiI. Hence, somefarmer;; hotll~ht thPi1' own moi~tllJ'l' tl'Ftr'1'S to avoill thb rlehty,

Olle diffkuHy ill ohl;tinjlll~ 1lI0iStlll'l\ tN:tl'1''; in 1927, waH that no c}leapset of scale,; waH on ihe tlHuk(!t so the emit of moilitul'e te>,terfl was pro­hihitive, In tlw wintel' of 1!J27-W2R the probil'm waR jll'e,;enlcd to Heveraldistributors of lnhoratory apparatus, wilh the 1'eHult that a lHlmber of com­f.p.nics are no", IlHlllufaetuling' llloii't1l1'(' tl'slel'H :mitablo fol' :fm 111 use. (SocFigll1'c 7). The millles and :uldrcs!;es of theRr' (lOllllHmies can he obtainedfrom COUllty ap;pnts.

AI! the (esteri' are of the Ilrown-])lIval principle, In making this tost,lOO gl'ams of whoat and UiO ('ubi!' ('('nlin1l!t<\l'H of a filledal moisture testingoil arc put into a flask. 'I'lli:-\ fla~k is ('ollnc!'tetl to a glafis tube which standsin a cOlld('IlSC1' of ('olt! waleI'. The wheat ;md oil are heated by means of unalcohol bl11'ner to a (cll1Il(ll'atllre of 1HO deg'rl't's Centigradc in twenty minutcs,The moir;tUlc in lhe wheat hi driven off aR a steam, condensed in the glasstube and c;Iught in U g'wtluute ",hidl reads direct:ly in per cent.

Each testing fiet conRisti' of enough oil and alcohol for l:everul hundredtests, a simple s'cale, and I.l. one-unit 11l0istUl'C tester similar to those used by

4 MONTANlA EXTENSION SERVICE, BULLETIN NO. 93

Fig. 3. A small sample fIlll'csher, as illu~trated, may be used for threshingl\eads. Directions fOl' malting bllis thresher may be seoured &'001

Montana Grain Inspection Laboratory, Bozeman.

most Montana elevators. 'l'hey c,an be ordered from the companies director through the county agents who will he glad to show farmers how toset up the machines and make the tests.

As a precaution it is well for the operator of a new moisture tester tosubmit a 'Jlortion of a sample of wheat whi.ch has -been testeel to one of thestate laboratories to have it tested for moisture. This will give hini acheck on the .accu:racy of his work.

In tllese testers it is necessary to push two glass tubes and one ther­mometer through holes in rubber stoppers. Delicateglassw.are is apt tobe bl'oken unless the following .precautions are taken:

1. Ream out the hole in the rubber stopper \vith a pocket knife.2. Cover the glass tube with a thick lathel' of soap and water.3. Hold the tube .in a cloth and work the rubber stopper on gl·aduaIlY·

Weccly Fields Difficult to CombineSuch weedy fields as shown in Figul"e 6 usually cannot be separated from

the threshed grain. These tips .and weeel seeds often contain over 60% ofmoisture and will cause the grain to spoil if the mixture is stored in a bin.It is necessary, therefore, that the grain he windrowed' so that the weedshave a chance to dry before threshing. In ordina:ty dry weather this o:equires

TI~S'l' Ii'OR MOISTl!RE AND PRO'I'KIN

Fig, 4. Mix the lar~e Stllllplt· Ihm'uughl)' hy I'ullinl\' ill n canvas 01'other duth, as i1hl~lr:lted. befon- Inldnl\' t1w small fHtmplefor tt'sling,

5

6 MONTAN.A EXTENSION ISERVICE, BULLETIN NO. 93

Fig. 5. A small amount of the threshed grain should he shipped to a lab·oratory f01' testing. The 'grain III ust be shipped in an air-tightcontainer. Cardboard containers such as the fOllrth one from theleft in the illusbation are to be avoidec~. 'I1l1C glass jar is good butcannot be shipped in the mail. A tin container with friction Or

screw top is best.

Fig. 6. Russian thistles and other gJreen weeds in the fiel(1 contain muchmoistme. Such fields cannot be safely harvested and tlll'eslherlwith tIle combine. Use wind'row aUaclunent on such whe-at orstack wdth header-stacker bl1i1~ge.

TEST FOR MOISrrURE AND PROTEIN 7

not more than two to four'days after which time the grain can be picked upwith a windrow pick-up attachment on the combine and tluel3hed s·atisfac­torily. Further information on windrowing is contained in the Mont.anaExtension Service Circular No: 92, "Combining Unevenly Ripened Wheat."

Value of Pre-Harvest Protein TestThe pre-harvest protein test is of value in determining which fields will

produce high protein wheat. This makes it possible to keep wheat, withdifferent protein contents from different fields or 'parts of the same field,

sep,arate . at threshing time.W'hen tl1e wheat has beenthreshed additional 'Proteintests should be made to de­termine more accurately theprotein content to be used I1S

a basi.s for selling.

Both Protein andGrade Important

Grade as well as 'Proteincontent of wheat is a deter­mining factor in the pricepaid. 'Therefore, 'Prodncersare advised to obtain gradedetermin.ation on their thresh­ed wheat at the same timethat the protein te3t is made.Graue, moisture and proteintests can be mude from thesame sample if two quarts ofthe ~rain .are sent to the la'b­oratory. At least one pint ofthe sample should be in anair-tight container for themoisture and protein tests.Tests for grade, moisture andprotein .content are made .atthe three state laboratorieslocated at Bozeman, GreatFalls .and Harlowton.

Fig. 7. The inoisturc test is quite simple and m.ay be ma,deby elev,ator operator's or [,armel's, providiug properequipment is available. '1'he illustration shows acommon type of moisture testing ap,paratu;s.

~PRINTED By THE: ACME PRINTING C01.... PANY, INC.