Chapter XXIII: Section II (1)

THE GRAIN CROPS, EDIBLE ROOTS, AND FARINACEOUS PLANTS FORMING THE BREAD STUFFS OF COMMERCE.

The vegetable substances, from which man derives his principal sustenance, such as the nutritious cereal grains, the tuberous rooted plants and the trees yielding farina, are very widely diffused, and necessarily occupy the main attention of the cultivator; their products forming the most important staples of domestic and foreign commerce. The cereal grasses and roots, cultivated in temperate regions, such as wheat, barley, oats, rye, and the potato, are so well known, and have been so fully described by agricultural writers that I shall not go much into details as to their varieties, culture, &c., but confine myself chiefly to their distribution, produce, statistics, and commercial importance. The food plants may be most conveniently arranged under three heads. Firstly--the Grain crops and legumes, which comprises the European cultivated grasses, wheat, barley, oats, &c.; and the tropical ones of rice, maize, millet, Guinea corn, &c. Secondly--Palms and other trees yielding farina, including the sago palms, plantain and banana, and the bread fruit tree. And Thirdly--the edible Root crops and Starch producing plants, which are a somewhat extensive class, the chief of which, however, are the common potato, yams, cocos or eddoes, sweet potatoes, the bitter and sweet cassava or manioc, the arrowroot and other plants yielding starch in more or less purity.

There is a great diversity of food, from the humble oak bark bread of the Norwegian peasant, or the Brahmin, whose appetite is satisfied with vegetables, to the luxurious diet of a Hungarian Magnate at Vienna.

The bread stuffs, as they are popularly termed, particularly wheat and wheat flour, maize, and rice, form very important articles of commerce, and enter largely into cultivation in various countries for home consumption and export. Russia, India, and the United States, carry on a very considerable trade in grain with other countries. Our local production being insufficient for food and manufactures, we import yearly immense quantities of grain and flour. In the four years ending 1852, the annual quantity of corn, of various, kinds, imported into the United Kingdom, exclusive of flour and meal, rice, sago, &c., averaged 8,085,903 quarters.

The flour and meal imported, omitting sago, arrowroot and other starches, averaged in the same period 4,143,603 cwts. annually.

The annual imports of breadstuffs for food, taking the average of the four years ending with 1852, may be thus summed up--

Tons.
Corn and grain, 8,085,903 quarters, at 60 lb. the bushel 173,270
Flour and meal 207,180
Rice 40,817
Potatoes 42,440
Sago, arrowroot, &c. 5,000
-------
Total 468,707

Some portion of this quantity is doubtless consumed in the arts--as starch for stiffening linens, &c., and for other purposes not coming under the term of food, but I have purposely left out in the calculation about 30,000 to 40,000 quarters of rice in the husk annually imported.

Ireland took, in 1849, of foreign grain 2,115,129 quarters; 1,683,687 quarters in 1850; and 2,504,229 in 1851; as well as 256,837 cwts. of various kinds of meal and flour in 1849; 220,107 cwts. in 1850; and 341,680 cwts. in 1851. England also supplied her with about 500,000 quarters of grain and 350,000 cwts. of meal in each of those years.

The comparative returns of the importations of grain into the United Kingdom for the last four years, are as follows, in quarters:--

1852. 1851. 1850. 1849.
Wheat 3,068,892 3,812,009 3,738,995 3,845,378
Barley 656,737 829,564 1,035,903 1,381,008
Oats 995,480 1,198,529 1,154,473 1,267,106
Rye 10,023 24,609 98,836 240,566
Beans 371,250 318,502 443,306 457,933
Peas 107,017 99,399 181,419 234,366
Maize 1,479,891 1,807,636 1,277,071 2,224,459
Other sorts 8,085 3,432 868 1,150
--------- --------- --------- ---------
Quarters 6,667,375 8,124,280 7,930,871 9,651,966

The meal and flour imported in the same years, in cwts., were as follows:--

1852. 1851. 1850. 1849.
Wheat 3,889,583 5,314,414 3,819,440 3,349,839
Barley 212 34 108 224
Oats 521 2,525 5,999 40,230
Rye 92 6,493 964 18,468
Indian corn 742 9,561 11,334 101,683
Other sorts 54 343 163 1,396
--------- --------- --------- ---------
Cwts. 3,891,195 5,323,370 3,838,008 3,511,840

Before the famine in Ireland the imports seldom reached 20 millions of bushels of grain and meal of all kinds. In 1848 our imports were about 60 millions; in 1849, 85 millions; in 1850, 68 millions; in 1851, 75½ millions; in 1852, 69 millions, with good wheat harvests; showing the great shock received and the slowness of recovery.

With a rapidly increasing population in all parts of the civilized world, the production of bread is obviously the first object to be sought after, alike by the statesman and the peasant. I scarcely dare give the calculation of the immense amount which would be realised in any great country, by the single saving of a bushel to an acre, in the quantity of seed ordinarily sown. The same result would follow if an additional bushel could be produced in the annual average yield of the wheat crop.

According to Mr. H. Colman, the annual amount of seed for wheat sown in France is estimated at 32,491,978 bushels. If we could suppose a third of this saved, the saving would amount to 10,863,959 bushels per year. Suppose an annual increase of the crops of five bushels per acre, this would give an increase of production of 54,319,795 bushels. Add this, under improved cultivation, to the amount of seed saved, and the result would be 65,183,754 bushels--I believe under an improved agriculture this is quite practicable.

An eminent agricultural writer placed the average yield in England at eighteen bushels per acre; some years since a man of sanguine temperament rated it at over thirty bushels. In France it is stated, in the best districts, to average twenty-two bushels. These evidently are wholly conjectural estimates. In England Mr. Colman states that fifty bushels per acre were reported to him on the best authority, as the yield upon a large farm in a very favorable season. More than eighty bushels have been returned, upon what is deemed ample testimony, to the Royal Agricultural Society of England, as the product of a single acre. In France Mr. Colman had, upon credible authority, reports of forty, forty-four and seventy-two bushels. It would be of immense importance to any government to know the exact produce grown in any county, or district, or in the whole country; and this might be obtained by compelling, on the part of the owner or cultivator, an actual return of his crop; but it is of little use to found such returns on estimates purely conjectural.

From the best statistical accounts that can be obtained, the wheat annually produced in the United Kingdom.

England, Scotland, Ireland is 111,681,320 bushels.
In France it is 198,660,000 "
United States 100,503,899 "

The amount of seed ordinarily sown to the acre in France is from two to three bushels. The return of crop for the seed sown is represented as in the best districts averaging 6.25 for one; in the least productive 5.40 for one. My readers may be curious to know the calculations which have been made in some other countries in regard to this matter.

CENTRAL EUROPE
Increase
Countries. Year. for seed sown.
Spain 1828 6 for one
Portugal 1786 10 "
Tuscany 10 "
Plains of Lucca 15 "
Piedmont--Plains of Marengo 4 to five
Bologna 15 "
Roman States--Pontine marshes 20 "
Ordinary lands 8 "
Kingdom of Naples--best districts 20 "
Ordinary lands 8 "
Malta--the best lands 38 to 64 "
Ordinary lands 22, 25, 30 "

NORTHERN EUROPE.

Sweden and Norway 1838 4.50 for one
Denmark 1827 6 "
Russia, a good harvest 1819 5 "
---- province of Tambof 1821 4.50 "
---- provinces north of 50 deg. latitude 1821 3 "
Poland 1826 8 "
England 1830 9 "
Scotland 1830 8 "
Ireland 1825 10 "
Holland 1828 7.50 "
Belgium 1828 11 "
Bavaria 1827 7 to 8 "
Prussia 1817 6 "
Austria 1812 7.05 "
Hungary 1812 4 "
Switzerland, lands of an inferior quality 1825 3 "
Of a good quality, 8; of the best quality 12 "
France, inferior lands, 3; best lands 6 "

(Statistique des Cereales de la France par Moreau de Jonnes.)

STATISTICS OF WHEAT CULTURE.

As wheat forms the principal nutritious food of the world, claiming the industrious application of labor over the greater part of Europe, throughout the temperate regions of Asia, along the northern kingdoms of Africa, and extending far into the northern and southern regions of the American continents; as it has been cultivated from time immemorial, and has produced in various climates and soils many varieties; it is surprising that so little is generally known of the distinct varieties best adapted to particular climates--and that in Great Britain and the United States we have yet to learn the variety which will yield the largest and best amount of human food!

At the Industrial Exhibition in 1851, twenty-six premiums only were distributed for specimens of wheat; of these, five were awarded to British farmers, three to France, three to Russia, three to Australia, three to the United States, and one each or severally to other nations. Some beautiful specimens of wheat were exhibited from South Australia, weighing seventy pounds a bushel; which were eagerly sought after for seed wheat by our farmers and the colonists of Canada and the United States. But as is well observed by Professor Lindley, it has no peculiar constitutional characteristics by which it may be distinguished from other wheats. Its superior quality is entirely owing to local conditions; to the peculiar temperature, the brilliant light, the soil, and those other circumstances which characterise the climate of South Australia.

All kinds of wheat contain water in greater or lesser quantities. Its amount is greater in cold countries than in warm. In Alsace from 16 to 20 per cent.; England from 14 to 17 per cent.; United States from 12 to 14 per cent.; Africa and Sicily from 9 to 11 per cent. This accounts for the fact, that the same weight of southern flour yields more bread than northern, English wheat yields 13 lbs. more to the quarter than Scotch. Alabama flour, it is said, yields 20 per cent. more than that of Cincinnati. And in general American flour, according to one of the most extensive London bakers, absorbs 8 or 10 per cent. more of its own weight of water in being made into bread than the English. The English grain is fuller and rounder than the American, being puffed up with moisture.

Every year the total loss in the United States from moisture in wheat and flour is estimated at four to five million dollars. To remedy this great evil, the grain should be well ripened before harvesting, and well dried before being stored in a good dry granary. Afterwards, in grinding and in transporting, it should be carefully protected from wet, and the flour be kept from exposure to the atmosphere. The best precaution is kiln-drying. By this process the wheat and flour are passed over iron plates heated by steam to the boiling point. From each barrel of flour 16 or 17 pounds of water are thus expelled, leaving still four or five per cent. in the flour, an amount too small to do injury. If all the water be expelled, the quality of the flour is deteriorated.

The mode of ascertaining the amount of water in flour is this; take a small sample, say five ounces, and weigh it carefully; put it into a dry vessel, which should be heated by boiling water; after six or seven hours, weigh it; its loss of weight shows the original amount of water.

The next object is to ascertain the amount of gluten. Gluten is an adhesive, pasty mass, and consists of several different principles, though its constitution has not yet been satisfactorily determined. It is chiefly the nutritious portion of the flour. The remaining principles are mostly starch, sugar and gum. On an average their relative amount in 100 parts are about as follows:--

Average. Kobanga wheat, the best.
Water 13 12
Gluten 12 16
Starch 67 60
Sugar and Gum 8 8
--- ---
100 97

Professor Beck examined thirty-three different samples from various parts of the United States and Europe, and he gives the preference to the Kobanga variety from the south of Russia. There would probably be a prejudice against it in this country, from the natural yellowish hue of its flour and bread.

The value of the vegetable food, grain, potatoes, rice and apples exported from the United States within the past few years is thus set down:--

Dollars.
1847 57,970,356
1848 25,185,647
1849 25,642,362
1850 15,822,273

To this has to be added nine or ten million dollars more for tobacco, 72 million dollars for cotton, and 180,000 dollars for hops and other minor agricultural staples--making the value of the raw vegetable exports about 98 million dollars. There is further the value of the products of the forest, timber, ashes and bark, tar, &c., which are equal to nearly seven millions more, as shown by the following figures:--

Dollars.
1847 5,248,928
1848 6,415,297
1849 5,261,766
1850 6,590,037

It appears from an official document of the American Treasury Department, that the average value of the breadstuffs and provisions annually exported from the United States from 1821 to 1836 inclusive, was 12,792,000 dolls.; in 1837 and 1838, about 9,600,000 dolls.; from 1839 to 1846, 16,176,000 dolls.; and for the last seven years as follows:--

Dollars.
1846 27,701,121
1847 68,701,921
1848 37,472,751
1849 38,155,507
1850 26,051,373
1851 21,948,651
1852 25,857,027

Out of the wheat crop in the United States in 1846 of 110 million bushels raised, 10 millions were used for seed, starch, &c.; 72 consumed for food, and 28 million exported. The 460 million bushels of Indian corn raised, were thus disposed of; exported to foreign countries 22 million bushels; sold to and consumed by non-producers, 100 million; consumed on the farms and plantations of the producers for human and animal food, seed, &c., 338 million bushels.

The United States now produce about 120 million bushels of wheat, and nearly 600 million bushels of corn. Their surplus of wheat, for export, may be taken at 20 million bushels, and of Indian corn an almost unlimited quantity. They export about one and a quarter million barrels of flour, and about one million of bushels of wheat to other markets besides those of Great Britain or her North American colonies, viz., to Europe, Asia, Africa, the West Indies and South America, California and Australia, manufactured flour being the article required for these latter markets. Nearly four million bushels of Indian corn, and 300,000 barrels of corn meal, are exported from the United States to the West Indies and other foreign markets.

From the abstracts of statistical returns prepared at the American Census office, it appears that Pennsylvania, in 1850, was the largest wheat producing State of the Union. I have had the curiosity to compare the most prominent States in respect to this crop, and give them below, with the crop of each, as shown by the returns:--

Bushels.
Pennsylvania 15,482,191
Ohio 14,967,056
Virginia 14,516,900
New York 13,073,000
Michigan 4,918,000
Maryland 4,494,680

That the United States could export 6,000,000 bushels of wheat, and its equivalent in flour in 1845; 13,000,000 in 1846, 26,000,000 in 1847, and then fell back to 13,000,000 in 1848, and 6,000,000 in 1849, with their production of wheat constantly increasing throughout this period, shows a wonderful elasticity, and extensive home market. If the price of wheat is higher in proportion than for corn, the Americans export the former and consume the latter; if the demand for corn be also great, they kill their hogs and export corn, for the pork will keep. If there be no great demand for either, they eat their surplus wheat, feed their hogs with the corn, and export pork as having the greatest value in the least bulk.

DESTINATION OF FLOUR SHIPPED FROM THE UNITED STATES.
-------------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------
WHERE TO. | 1847 | 1849 | 1850 | 1851
-------------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------
Swedish West Indies | 7,366| 7,573| 8,757| 5,315
Danish ditto | 52,150| 49,568| 44,802| 60,102
Dutch East Indies | 1,150| 4,625| 1,600| 1,873
Dutch West Indies | 11,387| 17,221| 18,354| 19,217
Holland and Belgium | 73,871| 727| 1,177| 594
England |2,475,076| 953,815| 369,777|1,004,783
Gibraltar | 23,974| 6,265| 2,543| 195
British East Indies | 3,034| 791| 1,646| 1,600
British West Indies | 320,363| 303,551| 250,776| 294,731
British American Colonies| 272,299| 294,891| 244,072| 252,380
France | 612,641| -- | -- | --
French West Indies | 28,966| 5,554| 5,480| 7,902
Hayti | 40,257| 10,903| 31,504| 43,867
Cuba | 50,046| 7,154| 5,584| 5,611
Spanish West Indies | 17,780| 6,429| 7,074| 2,285
Madeira | 4,856| 4,358| 6,321| 7,006
Cape de Verds | 1,634| 501| 455| 838
Mexico | 5,928| 11,633| 9,736| 14,964
Honduras | 10,686| 4,125| 4,725| 5,912
Central America | 550| 4,180| 746| 2,573
Columbia | 39,403| 32,251| 41,072| 47,477
Brazil | 270,473| 328,129| 295,415| 374,711
Argentine Republic | 10,684| 6,599| 4,901| 22,612
Chili | 5,977| 5,129| 2,848| 4,327
South America | 2,128| -- | 40| 200
West Indies | 4,902| 3,984| 1,702| 4,079
Africa | 25,728| 4,617| 5,524| 5,430
North-west Coast | 764| 1,180| 858| 2,593
Other ports | 29,866| 35,017| 18,949| 19,158
|---------|---------|---------|---------
Total--Barrels |4,382,496|2,108,013|1,385,448|2,202,335
|---------|---------|---------|---------
Average price | 5.95| 5.35| 5.00| 4.77
-------------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------

Wheat, where the soil and the climate are adapted to its growth, and the requisite progress has been made in its culture, is decidedly preferred to all other grains, and, next to maize, is the most important crop in the United States, not only on account of its general use for bread, but for its safety and convenience for exportation. It is not known to what country it is indigenous, any more than any other cultivated cereals, all of which, no doubt, have been essentially improved by man. By some, wheat is considered to have been coeval with the creation, as it is known that upwards of a thousand years before our era it was cultivated, and a superior variety had been attained. It has steadily followed the progress of civilisation from the earliest times, in all countries where it would grow. In 1776 there was entailed upon America an enduring calamity, in consequence of the introduction of the Hessian or wheat fly, which was supposed to have been brought from Germany in some straw, employed in the debarkation of Howe's troops on the west end of Long Island. From that point the insect gradually spread in various directions, at the rate of twenty or thirty miles a year, and the wheat of the entire regions east of the Alleghanies is now more or less infested with the larva, as well as in large portions of the States bordering on the Ohio and Mississippi, and on the great Lakes; and so great have been the ravages of these insects that the cultivation of this grain has in many places been abandoned.

The geographical range of the wheat region in the Eastern Continent and Australia, lies principally between the 30th and 60th parallels of north latitude, and the 30th and 40th degrees south, being chiefly confined to France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Sicily, Greece, Turkey, Russia, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Poland, Prussia, Netherlands, Belgium, Great Britain, Ireland, Northern and Southern Africa, Tartary, India, China, Australia, Van Diemen's Land, and Japan. Along the Atlantic portions of the Western Continent, it embraces the tract lying between the 30th and 50th parallels, and in the country westward of the Rocky Mountains, one or two more degrees further north. Along the west coast of South America, as well as in situations within the torrid zone, sufficiently elevated above the level of the sea, and properly irrigated by natural or artificial means, abundant crops are often produced.

The principal districts of the United States in which this important grain is produced in the greatest abundance, and where it forms a leading article of commerce, embrace the States of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin, and Iowa. The chief varieties cultivated in the Northern and Eastern States are the white flint, tea, Siberian, bald, Black Sea, and the Italian spring wheat. In the middle and Western States, the Mediterranean, the Virginia white May, the blue stem, the Indiana, the Kentucky white bearded, the old red chafet, and the Talavera. The yield varies from ten to forty bushels and upwards per acre, weighing, per bushel, from fifty-eight to sixty-seven pounds.

It appears that on the whole crop of the United States there was a gain during the ten years ending 1850, of 15,645,373 bushels. The crop of New England decreased from 2,014,000 to 1,078,000 bushels, exhibiting a decline of 936,000 bushels, and indicating the attention of farmers has been much withdrawn from the culture of wheat. Grouping the States from the Hudson to the Potomac, including the district of Columbia, it appears that they produced, in 1849, 35,085,000 bushels, against 29,936,000 in 1839. In Virginia there was an increase of 1,123,000 bushels. These States embrace the oldest wheat-growing region of the country, and that in which the soil and climate seem to be adapted to promote the permanent culture of the grain. The increase of production in the ten years has been 6,272,000 bushels, equal to 15.6 per cent. The area tilled in these States is 36,000,000 acres, only thirty per cent. of the whole amount returned, while the proportion of wheat produced is forty-six per cent. In North Carolina there has been an increase of 170,000 bushels, but in the Southern States generally there was a considerable decrease. Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin contributed to the general aggregate under the sixth census only 9,800,000 bushels; under the last they are shown to have produced upwards of 25,000,000 bushels, an amount equal to the whole increase in the United States for the period.

When we see the growth of wheat keeping pace with the progress of population in the oldest States of the Union, we need have no apprehension of a decline in the cultivation of this important crop.

The amount of flour exported from New Jersey in 1751, was 6,424 barrels. From Philadelphia in 1752,125,960 barrels, besides 85,500 bushels of wheat; in 1767, 198,816 barrels, besides 367,500 bushels of wheat; in 1771, 252,744 barrels. From Savannah, in 1771, 7,200 lbs. From Virginia, for some years annually preceding the revolution, 800,000 bushels of wheat. The total exports of flour from the United States:

in 1791 were 619,681 barrels, besides 1,018,339 bushels of wheat; in 1800, 653,052 barrels, besides 26,853 bushels of wheat; in 1810, 798,431 barrels, besides 325,924 bushels of wheat; in 1820-21, 1,056,119 barrels, besides 25,821 bushels of wheat; in 1830-31, 1,806,529 barrels, besides 408,910 bushels of wheat; in 1840-41, 1,515,817 barrels, besides 868,585 bushels of wheat; in 1845-46, 2,289,476 barrels, besides 1,613,795 bushels of wheat; in 1846-47, 4,382,496 barrels, besides 4,399,951 bushels of wheat; in 1850-51, 2,202,335 barrels, besides 1,026,725 bushels of wheat.

In the London Exhibition very little wheat was exhibited equal to that from the United States, especially that from Genessee county, in the State of New York--a soft white variety, to the exhibitor of which a prize medal was awarded by the Royal Commissioners. The red Mediterranean wheat exhibited from the United States attracted much attention. The wheat from South Australia was probably superior to any exhibited, while much from the United States fell but little behind, and was unquestionably next in quality.

From the Second Report on the Breadstuffs of the United States, made to the Commissioner of Patents, by Lewis C. Beck, M.D., I am induced to make some extracts. He states:--

The analyses of several samples, the growth of various foreign
countries, have afforded me an opportunity of comparing the American
and foreign wheats and flours. With a few exceptions of peculiar
varieties, it will be seen from the results that with ordinary care
the wheat of this country will compare advantageously with that of
any other. Indeed, on reviewing my analyses, I question whether
there is any part of the world where this grain is generally of a
finer quality than it is in the United States. But all the
advantages which we possess in this respect will be of little avail
so long as inferior and damaged breadstuffs are shipped from our
ports.

In addition to the analyses which I have executed of the various
samples of wheat and wheat flour according to the mode heretofore
pursued, I have performed a series of experiments for the purpose of
settling the important question in regard to the relative value of
the fine flour of wheat, and the "whole meal." I have also consulted
every work within my reach which could throw any light upon the
different points that have presented themselves during the progress
of the investigation.

The large number of samples of wheat and wheat flour which have been
placed in my hands for examination, have left me no time for the
analysis of our other breadstuffs.

It cannot be denied that the amount shipped to foreign ports during
1849 is considerably less than for the two preceding years. In the
meantime, however, a new and important market has been opened in our
territories on the Pacific. It may also be safely affirmed that the
causes for foreign demand, and which must hereafter operate, still
remain. These are the cheapness of land in this country, and the
peculiar adaptation of our soil and climate to the growth of the two
important cereals, wheat and maize.

Another fact, it seems to me, is of sufficient interest in
connection with this subject, to be here noticed. The failure of the
potato crop in various parts of the world for several years past has
engaged the attention of scientific and practical men.
Unfortunately, the nature of the blight which has seized upon this
tuber has eluded the most careful inquiries; but it has been shown
by well-conducted analyses that potatoes at their late prices are
the most expensive kind of farinaceous food. This will be evident
from the following statement:--

"Potatoes contain from about seventy to seventy-nine per cent. of
water, while the proportion in wheat flour is from twelve to
fourteen per cent; and while the gluten and albumen in potatoes
scarcely rise to one per cent., in wheat flour the range may be set
down at from nine to thirteen per cent. Again, the non-nitrogenous
principles are as about seventy-five per cent. in wheat flour
against fifteen or sixteen in potatoes. In short, whilst potatoes
supply only twenty per cent. of heat-forming and nutritious
principles, taken together, wheat supplies more than seventy per
cent. of the former, and more than tea of the latter. The value of
wheat to potatoes, therefore, is at least four to one; or, if wheat
sells at fifteen shillings sterling per cwt., potatoes to be equally
cheap, ought to sell at between three and four shillings."

The preceding results, for which I am principally indebted to Dr.
Daubeny, Professor of Chemistry at Oxford,[25] show that unless a
great change occurs in the culture of the potato, there must be an
increased demand for other kinds of farinaceous food. And it is
worthy of notice that while this blight is one of the causes which
bring to our shores the starving population of Europe, the raising
of the cereals not only furnishes profitable employment to the
emigrant, but enables him to make the best return to those who are
still obliged to remain.

_Adaptation of the soil and climate of the United States to the
culture of the cereals_.--That the soil and climate of many portions
of the United States are well adapted to the cultivation of the more
important cereals, is fully shown by the results of all the
researches which have thus far been prosecuted. I have indeed seen
it asserted that the climate of England is the best for the
cultivation of wheat, and preferable to any in our country; its
humidity being the peculiarity to which this superiority is
ascribed.[26] But this is undoubtedly the testimony of a too partial
witness. A recent statement by an English author is the result of a
more correct knowledge of the facts. He acknowledges that there is
no ground for the expectation which has been entertained concerning
the advantageous growth of maize in England. "Nor is ours," says he,
"the most favorable country for wheat, but skill in husbandry has
overcome great difficulties."[27] The mistake on this subject may
have originated from the occurrence of a larger and plumper grain in
the more humid climate; but analysis shows that the small grain
raised in the hotter and drier air oftentimes greatly surpasses the
former in its nutritious value.

Russia is said to be the great rival of this country in the growth
of wheat, but I think it doubtful whether she possesses superior
natural advantages; and I am sure she will find it difficult to
compete with the industry and skill which here characterize the
operations of husbandry, and the manufacture and shipment of
breadstuffs.

_Export of sophisticated and damaged flour_.--It is a matter of deep
regret that circumstances have occurred which must have a most
injurious influence upon the trade in breadstuffs between this
country and Great Britain. I refer to the mixtures of damaged,
inferior, and good kinds of flour, which it appears on authentic
testimony have been largely exported during the past year. Whether
this fraudulent operation, which is said to have been principally
confined to New York, is the result of the change in the inspection
laws, as some assert, I am unable to say. But it requires no great
foresight to predict that, if continued, it will create a distrust
of our breadstuffs in foreign ports which it will be very difficult
to remove. It cannot but excite the indignation of the many
honorable dealers, that the unworthy cupidity of a few individuals
should lead to such disastrous consequences.

I have as yet been unable to obtain samples of these sophisticated
flours, and the only information which I have in regard to them is
the general fact above stated, and concerning the truth of which
there can be little doubt. No means should be left untried to
devise some mode by which these frauds can be easily and certainly
detected.

_Injury sustained by breadstuffs during their transport and
shipment._--During the past year, I have had abundant means of
determining the nature of the injuries which are often sustained by
our breadstuffs in their transport from the particular districts in
which they are grown and manufactured to our commercial depots, and
in their shipment to foreign ports. As this is one of the most
important points connected with these researches, I have devoted
much time to its investigation. From the results of numerous
analyses, I think it may be safely asserted, that of the wheat flour
which arrives in England from various ports of the United States, a
large proportion is more or less injured during the voyage. The same
remark may be made in regard to many of the samples sent from the
Western States to the city of New York. Their nutritive value is
considerably impaired, and without more care than is usually
exercised, they are entirely unfit for export.

In my former report, I adverted to one of the great causes of the
deterioration which our breadstuffs often suffer during their
transport and shipment. This was the undue proportion of the great
disorganizing substance, water, under the influence of what usually
occurs, viz., an elevation of temperature above the ordinary
standard. My recent investigations have served only to strengthen
these views. There is no doubt that these are the conditions which
cause the change of the non-nitrogenous principles into acids (the
lactic or acetic), while a portion of the gluten is thus also
consumed.

I have tried a series of experiments in reference to the action of
moisture upon various samples of wheat and wheat flour. The samples
were placed for twelve hours in the oven of a bath with a double
casing, containing a boiling saturated solution of common salt, the
temperature of which was about 220 deg. Fahr. Subjected to this
test,

100 grains of Milwaukie wheat lost 12.10 grains.
" " Guilderland (Holland) wheat lost 9.35 "
" " Polish Odessa red wheat " 10.55 "
" " Soft Russian wheat " 8.55 "
" " Kobanga wheat " 8.15 "

After an exposure of the dried samples to the air for two or three
days, they increased in weight from one to three grains in the
hundred originally employed.

Nineteen different samples of wheat flour, which lost by exposure to
the above heat from ten to fourteen grains in the one hundred, when
similarly exposed to the air for eighteen hours, again increased in
weight from 8.40 to 11.60 in the hundred grains originally employed.

These experiments show, what might indeed have been predicted as to
the general result, that wheat in grain, if not less liable to
injury than flour, yet if once properly dried, suffers much less
from a subsequent exposure to air and moisture.

It is now ascertained that in presence of a considerable proportion
of water, wheat flour under the influence of heat undergoes a low
degree at least of lactic fermentation, which will account for the
_souring_ of the ordinary samples when exposed to warm or humid
climates. The same result will inevitably follow from their careless
exposure in the holds of vessels. That this is particularly the case
with many of the cargoes of wheat flour shipped to Great Britain,
there is little reason to doubt. This may be partly owing to the
great humidity of the English climate, as the deterioration is
observed as well in the flour which is the produce of that country
as in that which is received from abroad.

It is stated by Mr. Edlin, quoted in an article on Baking, in the
_Encyclopædia Britannica_, that, "as a general rule, the London
flour" is decidedly bad. The gluten generally wants the adhesiveness
which characterizes the gluten of good wheat."

I have observed that, in the analyses of some of the samples of
damaged flour, the proportions of what is set down under the head of
glucose and dextrine are unusually large. This is perhaps due to the
change produced in the starch by the action of diastase, and which
may under certain circumstances be formed in wheat flour. It would
seem, according to M. Guérin, that starch may thus be acted on even
at slightly elevated temperatures. In one of his experiments, at a
temperature no higher than 68 deg. Fahr., a quantity of starch, at
the end of twenty-four hours, was converted into syrup, which
yielded seventy-seven per cent. of saccharine matter.[28] It may be
thought that I have overrated the importance of this subject, but it
is believed that a careful examination of the facts will relieve me
from this charge. I am now satisfied that, if the proportion of
water in our exported breadstuffs could be reduced to about five or
six per cent., one of the great causes of complaint in regard to
them would be completely removed.

_Kiln-drying of breadstuffs, and exclusion of air_.--The injury
which our breadstuffs sustain by the large proportion of water can
of course be prevented only by careful drying before shipment, and
by the employment of barrels rendered as impervious as possible to
the influence of atmospheric moisture.

In my first report, I have spoken favorably of the process of drying
by steam, according to the plan patented by Mr. J.R. Stafford. I
still think this mode possesses great advantages over those
previously followed, and which almost always injured the quality of
the grain or flour: but from some trials which I have made during
the past year, it is inferred that the exposure to the heat is
perhaps usually not sufficiently prolonged to answer the purpose
intended by the operation. I have often observed that samples of
wheat flour, after being exposed to the heat of the salt water-bath
oven (220 deg. Fahr.) for two or three hours, lost weight by a
further continuance of the heat. An apparatus has been patented by
Mr. J.H. Tower, of Clinton, N.Y., consisting of a cylinder of square
apartments or tubes, into which the grain or flour is introduced,
and subjected to heat while in rapid revolution. I examined samples
which had been subjected to this operation, and ascertained that
wheat flour, originally containing 14.80 per cent. of water, had the
proportion reduced to 10.25 per cent., while in wheat the proportion
of water was reduced from 14.75 to 8.55 per cent.

Now it is probable that by either of the above modes, and perhaps by
many others, the various kinds of breadstuffs may be brought to that
degree of dryness which, with ordinary care, shall protect them from
subsequent injury; but in order to secure this advantage, the
operation must be carefully performed, and experiments must be made
to ascertain how long an exposure to heat is necessary to bring the
sample to the proper degree of dryness, and to determine whether in
any respect its quality is impaired. It has already been stated that
absolute desiccation is not necessary, even were it attainable; but
any process in order to be effective should reduce the proportion of
water to about six, or at most seven per cent.

I have heretofore adverted to the great care employed in the drying
of grain in various foreign countries, and to which the preservation
of it for a great number of years is to be ascribed.

The operation is not conducted in the hurried manner which is here
thought to be so essential, but is continued long enough to effect
the intended object. Thorough ventilation, as well as the proper
degree of drying, and which is equally important, is thus secured.

It is said that in Russia the sheaves of wheat, carried into the
huts, are suspended upon poles and dried by the heat of the oven.
The grain shrinks very much during this process, but it is supposed
to be less liable to the attacks of insects, and preserves its
nutritive qualities for many years. During the winter, it is sent to
market.--("The Czar, his Court and People." By John S. Maxwell, p.
272.)

With all the necessary attention which may be paid to the proper
drying of our breadstuffs intended for export, another point is of
equal importance, viz., the shipment in vessels rendered as
impervious as possible to the influence of atmospheric moisture. For
however carefully and thoroughly the drying, especially of wheat
flour or maize meal, may have been performed, it will be nearly
useless if the shipment is afterwards made in the barrels commonly
employed.[29] And it is very certain that the transport and shipment
of grain in bulk, as usually conducted, are attended with great
loss. This difficulty might be removed at a trifling expense by
adopting the plan suggested in the preceding report, and to which I
would again respectfully call the attention of those who are engaged
in this branch of trade.

I might here adduce a mass of testimony showing the importance of
the matters just referred to, but will only advert to the following
statements, which although made in allusion principally to maize,
are equally applicable to our other breadstuffs. Maize meal, if kept
too long, "is liable to become rancid, and it is then more or less
unfit for use. In the shipments made to the West Indies, the meal is
commonly kiln-dried, to obviate as much as possible this tendency to
rancidity." "When ground very fine, maize meal suffers a change by
exposure to the air. It is oxygenated. It is upon the same principle
that the juice of an apple, after a little exposure to the air, is
oxygenated, and changes its character and taste. If the flour could
be bolted _in vacuo_, it would not be changed." "Intelligent writers
speak of the necessity of preparing corn for exportation by
kiln-drying as indispensable. Without that process, corn is very
liable to become heated and musty, so as to be unfit for food for
either man or beast. The kiln-dried maize meal from the Brandywine
Mills, &c., made from the yellow corn, has almost monopolized the
West India trade. This process is indispensable, if we export maize
to Europe. James Candy says that from fifty years experience he has
learned the necessity of this process with corn intended for
exportation." "I have often found the corn from our country when it
reached its destination, ruined by heating on the voyage. It had
become musty and of little or no value. Kiln-drying is absolutely
necessary to preserve it for exportation. We must learn and practice
the best mode of kiln-drying it.[30]"

_The nutritious value of the "whole meal" of Wheat, as compared
with that of the fine flour_.--The question whether what is
called the whole meal of wheat, or that which is obtained by the
mixture of the bran, contains more nutritious matter than the
fine flour, is one of great importance. In my former report, I
adverted to the statement made in regard to it by Professor
J.F.W. Johnston, and which seemed to be almost conclusive in
favor of the value of the whole meal. During the past year,
however (1849), M. Eug. Peligot, an eminent French chemist, in an
elaborate article "On the Composition of Wheat," to which more
particular reference will be made hereafter, combats the opinion
that the bran is an alimentary substance. He observes that "the
difficulty of keeping the bran in flour intended for the
manufacture of bread of good quality appears to result much less
from the presence of the cellulose (one of the constituents of
woody matter) contained in wheat than that of the fatty matter.
This is found in the bran in a quantity at least triple of that
which remains in the flour, and the bolting separates it from the
ground wheat not less usefully than the cellulose itself."[31] M.
Millon objects entirely to the views of M. Peligot on this point,
and states some facts which are especially worthy of
consideration. He asserts that, according to the views of the
last named chemist, the separation at most of one part of fatty
matter sacrifices fifteen, twenty, and even twenty-five per cent.
of substances which are of the highest nutritive value. This
abstracts from wheat, for the whole amount raised in France, the
enormous sum of about two hundred millions of pounds annually.

It seems that in France the question whether the bolting of flour is
advantageous has always been decided in the most arbitrary manner.
An ordinance of Louis XIV., issued in 1658, prohibited, under a very
heavy penalty, the regrinding of the bran and its mixture with the
flour; this, with the mode of grinding then in use, caused a loss of
more than forty per cent.--(Comptes Rendus, February 19th, 1849.)

In large cities and elsewhere, there seems for some time to have
been a growing prejudice against the use of brown bread; and it is
said that now nearly all the peasantry of France bolt their flour.
The increase of this practice, according to M. Millon, threatens
the nation with an annual loss of from two to three hundred millions
of francs. If the bran was entirely valueless, there would be a loss
of more than one million a day.

It is quite difficult to determine the precise amount of bran which
may have been removed from wheat, for various samples contain such a
different proportion of bran that in the one case a removal of ten
per cent, leaves more bran in the flour than a bolting of five per
cent. in another.

The following is an analysis of bran by M. Millon; the sample being
a soft French wheat grown in 1848:--

Starch, dextrine and sugar 53.00
Sugar of liquorice 1.00
Gluten 14.90
Fatty matter 3.60
Woody matter 9.70
Salts .50
Water 13.90
Incrusting matter and aromatic principles (by difference) 3.40
------
100.

The conclusion to be drawn from this analysis is, that bran is an
alimentary substance. If it contains six per cent. more of woody
matter than the rough, flour, it has also more gluten, double that
of fatty matter, besides two aromatic principles which have the
perfume of honey, and both of which are wanting in the fine flour.
Thus by bolting, wheat is impoverished in its most valuable
principles, merely to remove a few hundredths of woody matter.

The economical suggestion which springs from these views is, that
the bran and coarse flour should be reground and then mixed with the
fine flour. Millon states that he has ascertained, by repeated
experiments, that bread thus made is of superior quality, easily
worked, and not subject to the inconvenience of bread manufactured
from the rough flour, such as is made in some places, and especially
in Belgium.

Opinions similar to those above noticed are entertained by Professor
Daubeny. "The great importance attached to having bread perfectly
white is a prejudice," he says, "which leads to the rejection of a
very wholesome part of the food, and one which, although not
digestible alone, is sufficiently so in that state of admixture with
the flour in which nature has prepared it for our use." After
quoting the remarks of Professor Johnston on the same side of the
question, he adds, "that according to the experiments of Magendie,
animals fed upon fine flour died in a few weeks, whilst they thrived
upon the whole meal bread." Brown bread, therefore, should be
adopted, not merely on a principle of economy, but also as providing
more of those ingredients which are perhaps deficient in the finer
parts of the flour.--("Gardeners' Chronicle," January 27th, 1849, p.
53.)

The remarks of Dr. Robertson may also be here introduced. "The
advantage," he observes, "of using more or less of the coverings of
the grain in the preparation of bread has often been urged on
economical principles. There can be no doubt that a very large
proportion of nutritive matter is contained in the bran and the
pollard; and these are estimated to contain about one-fifth part of
the entire weight of the wheat grain. It is, unquestionably, so far
wasteful to remove these altogether from the flour; and in the case
of the majority of people, this waste may be unnecessary, even on
the score of digestibility."[32] This subject can also be rendered
apparent to the eye. If we make a cross section of a grain of wheat,
or rye, and place it under the microscope, we perceive very distinct
layers in it as we examine from without inwards. The outer of them
belong to the husk of the fruit and seed, and are separated as bran,
in grinding. But the millstone does not separate so exactly as the
eye may by means of the microscope, not even as accurately as the
knife of the vegetable anatomist, and thus with the bran is removed
also the whole outer layer of the cells of the nucleus, and even
some of the subjacent layers. Thus the anatomical investigations of
one of these corn grains at once explains why bread is so much the
less nutritious the more carefully the bran has been separated from
the meal.[33] There can therefore be little doubt that the removal
of the bran is a serious injury to the flour; and I have presented
the above array of evidence on this point in the hope of directing
public attention to it here, as has been done in various foreign
countries.

After this, it will easily be inferred that I am not disposed to
look with much favor upon the plan proposed by Mr. Bentz for taking
the outer coating or bran from wheat and other grains previously to
grinding.[34] Independently of the considerations which have already
been presented, it is far from being proved, as this gentlemen
asserts, that the mixture of the bran with the meal which results
from the common mode of grinding is the chief cause of the _souring_
of the flour in hot climates. On the contrary, the bran is perhaps
as little liable to undergo change as the fine flour, and then the
moistening to which, as I am informed, the grain is subjected
previously to the removal of the husk, is still further
objectionable, and must be followed by a most carefully-conducted
process of kiln-drying.

_Nutritious properties of various articles of food_.--There seems to
be some difference of opinion in regard to the nutritious properties
of various kinds of food. It is generally, however, agreed that
those which contain the largest proportion of nitrogenous matters
are the most nutritious. It is on this account that haricots, peas,
and beans, form, in some sort, substitutes for animal food. Tubers,
roots, and even the seeds of the cereal grasses, are but moderately
nutritious. If we see herbivorous animals fattening upon such
articles, it is because, from their peculiar organisation, they can
consume them in large quantities. It is quite doubtful whether a man
doing hard work could exist on bread exclusively. The instances
which are given of countries where rice and potatoes form the sole
articles of food of the inhabitants, are believed to be incomplete.
Boussingault states that in Alsace, for example, the peasantry
always associate their potato dish with a large quantity of sour or
curdled milk; in Ireland with buttermilk. "The Indians of the Upper
Andes do not by any means live on potatoes alone, as some travellers
have said they do: at Quito, the daily food of the inhabitants is
_lorco_, a compound of potatoes and a large quantity of cheese. Rice
is often cited as one of the most nourishing articles of diet. I am
satisfied, however, after having lived in countries where rice is
largely consumed, that it is anything but a substantial, or, for its
bulk, nutritious article of sustenance."--("Rural Economy," Amer.
edition, p. 409.) These statements are further confirmed by the
observations of M. Lequerri, who, during a long residence in India,
paid particular attention to the manners and customs of the
inhabitants of Pondicherry. "Their food," he states, "is almost
entirely vegetable, and rice is the staple; the inferior castes only
ever eat meat. But all eat _kari_ (curry), an article prepared with
meat, fish, or vegetable, which is mixed with the rice, boiled in
very little water. It is requisite to have seen the Indians at their
meals to have any idea of the enormous quantity of rice which they
will put into their stomachs. No European could cram so much at a
time; and they very commonly allow that rice alone will not nourish
them. They very generally still eat a quantity of bread."[35] In
regard to the proportion of nutritious matter contained in grains of
various kinds, it may be remarked that the tables which have been
constructed as the results of various experiments are liable to an
objection, which will be more particularly adverted to under another
head. For example, two substances, by the process of ultimate
analysis, may exhibit the same proportion of nitrogenous matter, and
still differ very materially in their value as articles of food.
Much depends on the digestibility of the form in which this matter
is presented to the digestive organs. A strong illustration is
afforded in the case of hay, the proportion of nutritive matter of
which, about 9.71, would certainly not represent its power of
affording nourishment to the human system. It is in truth quite
impossible to arrive at any other than approximate results from the
operations of chemistry, as to the amount of nutriment contained in
a given quantity or weight of any article of food.[36] It is perhaps
not irrelevant to notice in this place some of the researches which
have recently been made upon fermentation, and particularly its
effects in the manufacture of bread. It appears that when this
process is brought about by the addition of yeast or leaven to the
paste or dough, the character of the mass is materially altered. A
larger or smaller proportion of the flour is virtually lost.
According to Dr. William Gregory the loss amounts to the very large
proportion of one-sixteenth part of the whole of the flour. He says,
"To avoid this loss, bread is now raised by means of carbonate of
soda, or ammonia and a diluted acid, which are added to the dough,
and the effect is perfectly satisfactory. Equally good or better
bread is obtained, and the quantity of flour which will yield
fifteen hundred loaves by fermentation, furnishes sixteen hundred by
the new method, the sugar and fibrin (gluten) being
saved."--("Outlines of Chemistry," p. 352.)

Another author, Dr. R.D. Thomson, states, as the results of his
experiments upon bread produced by the action of hydrochloric acid
upon carbonate of soda, "that in a sack of flour there was a
difference in favor of the unfermented bread to the amount of thirty
pounds thirteen ounces, or in round numbers, a sack of flour would
produce one hundred and seven loaves of unfermented bread, and only
one hundred loaves of fermented bread of the game weight. Hence it
appears that in the sack of flour by the common process of baking,
seven loaves, or six-and-a-half per cent, of the flour are driven
into the air and lost."--("Experimental Researches on the Food of
Animals," &c., p. 183.)