100 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



April 7, 1917. 



THE PRODUCTION OF FOOD. 



GREAT BRITAIN'S FOOD SUPPLY. 



A review of the report on the food supply of Great 

 Britain, drawn up by a Committee of the Royal Society at the 

 reijuest of the President of the Board of Trade, appears in 

 J?(i^«*e for February 15, 1917. It is stated that the first 

 section of the report deals with the period before the war, and 

 it is observed by Nature, that it is remarkable thai the allow- 

 ance then of protein, fat, and carbohydrates should so closely 

 have coincided with the stan<lard dietary usually associated 

 with the name of Voit. Per head per day, the figures are 

 a little below the Voit regimen, and give a total of 3,090 

 calories: but per man (making due allowance for women and 

 children whose needs are smaller,) it works out above the 

 standard (4,000 calories), so that a margin of waste was 

 provided for. Part 2 of llie report dealt with the year 

 1916, and shows that here again the available food was more 

 than sufficienr, so that reduction is possible; but the increase 

 in prices has accentuated inequalities of distribution, and 

 reduction below the necessary amount causes a large diminu- 

 tion in the working capacity of the individual. Organiza- 

 tion in distribution is therefore called for; it would be 

 foolish economy to produce a harmful effect upon the work- 

 ing population who form the backbone of the nation in its 

 present crisis. 



The final section of the report treats of methods of 

 economy. The milling of Hour and the reduction of beer 

 manufacture are dealt with, and also the question of the 

 age at which cattle should be slaughtered. One of the 

 recommendations is that cattle should be slaughtered at 

 seventeen months old instead of two and a half years; such 

 young beasts would be a little poorer in fat, Wt that is 

 counterbalanced by the enormous saving in feeding stuffs; 

 economies may also be effected by certain changes suggested 

 in the amount and character of the fodder employed. 

 Finally, an increase in the making of cheese as compared with 

 tutter is urged. 



In the article in Nature referred to, attention is called to 

 the omission in the report of any reference to the vitaniine 

 question. It is pointed out that pure protein, fat, and carbo- 

 hydrate with the necessary salt and water in addition, will 

 not maintain he'lth, still less promote growth. Certain 

 UBknown food acce>tories in small quantities are neces.sary 

 also. Some of these so-called vitamines are present in the 

 outer portion of the grain, but others equally vital are only 

 soluble in fat, and ai-e particularly abundant in butter. As 

 they are absent in the vegetable fat.s, and so much vegetable fat 

 is used in the preparation of butter .substitutes, it really is 

 a matter of national importance that the inferior nutritional 

 Talue of the cheaper brands of margerine should he widely 

 known. 



Storing Oorn-Meal in St. Vincent.— The 

 Agricultural Superintendent, St. Vincent, writes to say that 

 the corn purchased on a profit-sharing basis, kiln-dried and 

 stored at the Government Ginnery in that island has been 

 put on sale in the form of corn-meal for human consumption 

 at 3^c. per Bt). for lots of not less than lOOK)., and 4c. per 0). 

 for smaller quantitie> There are 1,250 bushels available 

 which will prove a valuable addition to the food supply of 

 St. Vincent until the new crop comes in. The local retail 

 price of brown and white wheat flour is Gc. and 7c. per ft)., 

 respectively, with every likelihood of greater advance in 

 the future. 



SUBSTITUTE FOR WHEAT FLOUR IN 

 DOMINICA. 



A general enquiry is now taking place throughout the 

 West Indies in connexion with the pos.sibility of substituting 

 l.ically produced farinaceous material for some of the wheat 

 Hour at present imported. 



THE VALUE OF FAEIXE OR CASSAVA ME,\L. 



In the Dominica Officud Gazette for March 19, there is 

 l)ublished a report by Mr. G. A. Jones. Assistant Curator 

 and Chemist of the Afiricultural Department, on the results 

 of e-xprriments concerning the use of farine meal. It ia 

 pointed out first, that compared with Antigua and St. Kitts, 

 Dominica enjoys the advantage of beini; to a considerable 

 degree >elf.supporting as rejiards the main food requirements 

 of the population, owing chiefiy to the presence of a large 

 body cif peasant proprietors. It is stated that for every 

 100 lb. of Hour, rice, corn-meal and beans imported into 

 Dominica pt-r head of the population, Antiaua imported 

 180 11). and St. Kilts 162 1b. The only commodity which 

 is imported into Dominica to any considerable e.vtent is 

 wheat fiour, of which some .3,000,000 \t\ are consumed 

 annually. Concerning substitutes for soiue of this flour, 

 Mr. .Jones states that the product which offers most 

 promise of success is farine; it is produced locally in 

 considerable quantity, and is used and appreciated by 

 a large section of the population. When ground and 

 sifted, it forms a meal of good colour. But its com- 

 position like that of most root crops is poor in proteid — the 

 flesh formers, and rich in carbohydrates — the heat and work 

 producers. However, samples of bread prepared from wheat 

 flour and farine meal in various proportions from 3 of flour to 

 1 of meal to equal proportions of wheat and meal were found 

 to be quite satisfactory. Eiread made from equal proportions 

 developed in twenty-four hours a pronounced flavour of the 

 farine meal, which however was not in any way disaTccable. 

 It would appear therefore, that quite eatable bread can be 

 pri>duced by the admixture of farine meal with wheat flour, 

 and that should it become necessary, the importation of the | 

 latter could be considerably curtailed by diluting it with 

 farine meal. The only trouble appears to be that the bread 

 shows a decrease in percentage of protein as the proportion 

 of farine meal is increased. 



In forwarding the above report by Mr. G. A. .Tones 

 to this Office, Mr Joseph .fones. Curator and Agricultural 

 Superintendent, makes the following coniuients: — 



'These e.xperiments are interesting and desirable both in 

 thi> and in other islands, but when these matters are looked 

 into chisely, there appears little probability of the people 

 responding to the e.xtent wished for, except under conipal- 

 sion. 



'In Dominica the dilution of bread to the extent of 

 one-third farine would require us to raise above our present 

 annual re'iuirements of cava->a meal over 1,000 tons of 

 tubers, and manior requires nine to ten months fiom planting 

 to mature. 



'Sindlarly in St. Lucia, assuming an annual import of 

 about ."),0OO,()00 R). of wheat flour, dilution to the extent of 

 one-tourthwith potato meal, would require closeon l,500tonsof 

 sweet potatoes (allowing for loss on drying) over and above 

 the present production. It is doubtful it these local foodstuffs 

 could be raised except by a gradual process extending 'iver 

 several years. A good deal of labour would be required 

 for this work, which might attect other industries. 



■It is to be heartily hoped that nothing will happen to 

 interfere with the importation of flour from Xorth America.' 



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