THE CONSUMPTION OF WHEAT 295 



good for a year." The high quality of the best Italian 

 macaroni is doubtless largely due to the wheat from which 

 it is made, but it may also be due to the action of bacteria. 



Process of Manufacture of Macaroni In the manufacture 

 of semolina, the wheat is first cleaned, which includes wash- 

 ing by water. Sometimes it is then dried, and moistened a 

 second time. The water is considered essential to the cleaning, 

 and it also aids in decortication. Special machinery has been 

 devised for cleaning and dampening the wheat. It is milled 

 in much the same way that soft wheat is ground into flour. 

 In the best quality of semolina the resultant product is from 

 60 to 65 per cent of semolina, from 12 to 15 per cent of 

 flour, and from 18 to 20 per cent of bran. Some of the 

 lower grade wheats yield only from 30 to 40 per cent of 

 semolina of an inferior quality. The miller's object is to 

 get as much semolina and as little flour as possible. A 

 special machine known as a "Sausseur" is used in grading 

 the products. Semolina is not flour, but a much coarser 

 product. As a rule, the manufacturers of macaroni do not 

 grind their own wheat, but obtain their semolina from millers 

 of that product. The semolina must be mixed in order to 

 maintain a certain standard, the same as wheat is mixed 

 in order to obtain a uniform flour. The product which goes 

 into the macaroni should have from 45 to 50 per cent of 

 gluten^ 



Before mechanical methods came in vogue, macaroni was 

 kneaded by means of a wooden pole, or by piling up the 

 dough and treading it out with the feet, after which it was 

 rolled with a heavy rolling pin. By having a fire under the 

 vessel, it was partially baked while being reduced to tubes 

 and strips. "Modern mechanical methods are simply enlarge- 

 ments of the old family process by which the housewife 

 mixed flour and water, kneaded the batch, rolled it into 

 sheets, cut it into strips and hung it out to dry. In the 

 modern factory the semolina is measured into a steel pan 

 about 8 feet in diameter, within which travels a stone wheel.. 

 Water is added, the machine is put in motion, the wheel 

 moves slowly around the pan, thus kneading the batch until 

 it attains proper consistency. Just ahead of the wheel is 

 set a small steel plow, to gather and turn over the mass, 



