374 



THE CEREALS IN AMERICA 



Rice Straw is not highly prized as food for domestic animals 

 on account of its lack of palatability, nor for bedding because 

 of its coarseness. It is valued as manure for rice and other 

 lands; the straw, together with roots and stubble, containing 

 much the larger proportion of the ash ingredients of the plant. 

 The so-called " rice straw " used for making hats and other 

 articles is not rice straw but that of other cereals grown for 

 that purpose. (490) The so-called " rice paper " of the Chinese 



is made from the pith of a 

 tree native to the island of 

 Formosa.^ 



526. Preparation for Use. 



— The paddy or rough rice 

 is prepared for use first by 

 the removal of the husk or 

 hull, and next by the re- 

 moval of the cuticle or bran; 

 the bran in this case being 

 analogous to the bran, mid- 

 dlings and shorts of wheat. 

 After the cuticle and embryo 

 have been removed the ker- 

 nels are polished in order 

 to enhance their glossy ap- 

 pearance. This is believed in no way to improve the nutritive 

 value but rather to decrease it ; however, it greatly improves its 

 commercial value. The following is a detailed account of the 

 milling process : * 



" The processes of milling rice are quite complicated. The paddy is first screened 

 to remove trash and foreign particles. The hulls, or chaff, are removed by rapidly 

 revolving ' milling stones ' set about two-thirds of the length of a rice grain apart. 

 The produce goes over horizontal screens and blowers, which separate the light 



1 U. S. Dept. of Agr., Div. of Stat. Misc. Ser. 6, p. 15. 



2 The Present Status of Rice Culture in the United States. By S. A Knapjx 

 U. S. Dept. of Agr., Div. of Bot. Bui. 32, pp. 34-35. 



Rice, variety Honduras, showing steps in the mill- 

 ing process: I, rough rice, as it connes from 

 the threshing machine, known as paddy ; 2, 

 same rice after it has been through the sheller, 

 which removes husks or flowering glume and 

 palea; 3, clean rice after it has been through 

 either mortar and pounder or huiler to remove 

 cuticle and embryo, and through polisher to give 

 it a highly finished surface. (After Bond.) 



