10 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 



The market price of the Saragolla wheat ranges from 1.25 to 1.75 

 lire per quintal higher than that charged for the best Taganrog sorts, 

 even after a duty of 8 lire per quintal has been paid; and the reason 

 for this higher price is not so much in the better flavor of the Italian 

 wheat as in the greater yield of semola per given weight of grain. 

 The semola makers get proportionately more salable product out of 

 the Saragolla wheats than they do out of those from Taganrog or 

 other sources of import. 



It is from these south Italian wheats that the most delicate macaroni 

 of Naples is made, and the connoisseur who wants to live well in 

 southern Italy insists on having his macaroni made from the hard 

 wheats of Apulia. It makes little difference to him that the more 

 delicate variety does not keep so well and more quickly falls a prey to 

 the attacks of insects. What he wants is the fine flavor. 



Like the export Munich beer, or the canned Danish butter, macaroni 

 designed for sale in America, it is said, must be especially prepared, 

 and the tougher gluten of the Taganrog wheat renders the macaroni 

 that is made from it better suited for the export trade. Mixtures of 

 the imported and the Saragolla wheat are also often made, it is said. 



The region south of Foggia near the Adriatic coast of southern 

 Italy, where this best Italian macaroni wheat is grown, is one of the 

 driest in the country, having an annual rainfall of only 446.7 mm., or 

 about 17.59 inches. In this respect it is but little superior to some of 

 the Russian wheat regions, which have, according to Carleton, about 

 15 inches. 



Whether or not the generally acknowledged superiority of Italian 

 macaroni, even that made from Taganrog wheat, is due to the water 

 used in its manufacture is a question which would probably require 

 much study to answer. It is difficult to understand how any bacteria 

 present in the water used to make the paste can influence the flavor, 

 for it is employed while boiling hot. There is a possibility, however, 

 that in the cellaring process, or the preliminary drying in the open 

 air, the freshly made macaroni may be affected by the bacteria with 

 which the air of the moist cellars and exposed drying places must be 

 filled. 



Although perhaps superfluous to the American manufacturer of 

 macaroni, a description of the process of making it as followed in 

 Gragnano and Torre Annunziata may have some interest as being that 

 pursued by some of the most famous factories in the world. 



To travelers in Italy these towns are pointed out as nestling at the 

 base of Vesuvius and forming scarcely more than suburbs to the big 

 city of Naples. They are dependent upon the manufacture of the 

 pastas, as the various types of macaroni are called, and hand-worked 

 mills stand side by side with those run by steam ; all squeezing out 

 long strings of yellow paste, which are cut and hung up on poles to 



