§ Sir S. CHAPMANasked the President of the Board of Trade the quantity of flour produced from one quarter (504 pounds) of English-grown wheat; the number of four-pound loaves of bread made from this quantity; the approximate value of offals in this quarter; the quantity of flour produced from one quarter (480 pounds) of No. 1 Manitoba wheat; the number of loaves of bread made from this quarter; the approximate value of offals in this quarter; the value of the wheat thereof on the foregoing basis after crediting the value of offals; the relative respective value of English wheat and of Canadian wheat in a four-pound loaf of bread, assuming 15 per cent. is English and So per cent. is Canadian in this loaf at present day prices; and what would be the increase in the value of the wheat in a four-pound loaf, assuming that the English wheat was 50s. a quarter (504 pounds) for 15 per cent. and the Canadian quarter (480 pounds) at 22s. 6d. for 85 per cent.?
2645W
§ Mr. W. GRAHAMI regret that I am unable to furnish the hon. Member with all the information for which he asks, but he will find below such of this information as is available from official sources.
The quantity of flour obtained from wheat ground in the United Kingdom, as shown by information voluntarily furnished by a large number of millers in connection with the Third Census of Production (1924), was approximately 70 per cent. of the weight of the wheat ground in country areas, and nearly 71½ per cent. of that of the wheat ground in mills at seaports. In each case, however, the wheat used is a mixture of wheats from different sources. The outturn of flour in grain mills in Canada, as shown in official reports, is approximately 72 per cent. The character and value of the offals produced at different mills is understood to vary considerably, and, in the Returns made in connection with the Third Census of Production, separate values for the flour and for the offals produced were not enforced. The use of market quotations to determine the value is limited by the information available regarding the quantities of offals of different classes (sharps, middlings, bran, etc.) produced, which vary with the blend of wheat used and the grades of flour produced. Estimates given in evidence before the Royal Commission on Food Prices on the yield of bread from a sack of flour (280 lbs.) showed variations from 92 (and even fewer) to 97 loaves (of 4 lbs.). The Commission expressed the opinion that an efficient baker might be expected to produce at least 93 or 94 4-lb. loaves from a sack of flour.