3 i8 THE WHEAT INDUSTRY 



bushels. The total crop in 1913 was 214,405,000 

 bushels. This was an unusually large crop 

 although production frequently reaches about 

 190,000,000 bushels. 



The Wheat Products and Their Uses. - The 

 province of Tuscany as well as the vicinity of 

 Milan have become noted as straw-producing 

 centers. Here wheat is grown for the straw 

 which is used in the plaited straw industry, now 

 very important in Milan, Pisa, and Leghorn. 

 The straw-plaiting is a domestic and rural indus- 

 try. The girls, over 20,000 of them, who plait 

 the straw also tend the crop during its planting 

 and growing season. The making of hats is a 

 factory industry which centers in the cities. Ital- 

 ian straw has a market the world over for its use 

 as a hat material. 



Italy is the native land of the macaroni wheat, 

 so called because of the product which is made 

 from it. The processes of manufacture of maca- 

 roni differ somewhat from those of ordinary mill- 

 ing. The wheat is washed, soaked, and then 

 made into a flour called semolina. Semolina, 

 which is much coarser than common wheat flour, 

 is made into a dough, rolled, cut into strips, and 

 then dried. These dried strips, macaroni, make 

 a very nutritious food which, because of its cheap- 

 ness as well as its nutritious value, has served to 

 displace meat dishes to a large extent. Not only 



