USES OF CEREALS 557 



including noodles, to which eggs are added. The manu- 

 facture of these pastes was originally an industry confined 

 chiefly to Italy, where also the durum wheats from which 

 the pastes are made were grown. Afterward, neglecting 

 to grow these wheats, the Italians were forced to look 

 elsewhere for raw material, and Marseilles imported durum 

 wheat from Russia and Algeria and furnished the Italians 

 with the necessary coarse flour or semolina for making 

 the pastes. Later Marseilles began making the pastes 

 themselves, and is now the chief point of manufacture of 

 these products. 



604. Varieties of wheat required. The wheats that 

 furnish the best semolina for macaroni and other pastes 

 are the durum wheats. It is partly that fact that has 

 caused these wheats to always sell in Russia at a higher 

 price than any other wheats ; as, until recent years, 

 Russia was the only source of any considerable supply. 

 Recently, because of the European war, both Italy and 

 France have had to depend largely upon this country for 

 durum wheat. Common wheats are never used in south- 

 ern Europe for pastes. Metadine wheats, which are 

 durum wheats grown on French soil, and said to deteriorate, 

 are sometimes used when the better foreign material is 

 scarce or high in price. At such times, however, there is a 

 clear decrease in the demand for pastes, until the proper 

 wheat can again be secured. The product of Metadine 

 wheats, which is cheaper on the market, is consumed 

 almost entirely in France. 



605. The different forms of paste. The chief form 

 of edible pastes is macaroni, although there is a large 

 amount of spaghetti consumed. Macaroni, the largest 

 form, is made by forcing the dough through holes at the 

 bottom of a cylinder under the slow, tremendous pressure 



