60 FRUITS AND THEIR USES 



exported, nearly one half of it to Great Britain. Wheat has its 

 chief use in its manufacture into flour. The germ, or young wheat 

 plant, is sifted out during this process and made into breakfast foods. 

 Flour-making forms the chief industry of Minneapolis, Minnesota, 

 and of several other large and wealthy cities in this country. 



Other Grains. Of the other grain and cereals raised in this 

 country, oats are the most important crop, over one billion 

 bushels having been produced in 1910. Illinois, Wisconsin, Minne- 

 sota, and Iowa produce together over 50 per cent of the total yield. 

 Oats are distinctly a Northern crop, over 95 per cent being grown 

 north of the thirty-sixth parallel. Barley is another largely 

 Northern crop; a staple of some of the northern countries of 

 Europe and Asia, although such a hardy cereal. Almost three 

 fourths of the total production in the United States comes from 

 California, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa; the production of these 

 states may be roughly estimated as 86,000,000 bushels. In this 

 country, it is largely used for making malt in the manufacture 

 of beer. 



Rye is the most important cereal crop of northern Europe, Russia, 

 Germany, and Austro-Hungary producing over 50 per cent of the 

 world's supply. It makes the principal food for probably one 

 third the people of Europe, being made into " black bread." It is 

 of relatively less importance as a crop now in the United States 

 than in former years. 



Perhaps one of the most important grain crops for the world 

 (although relatively unimportant in the United States) is rice. 

 A grasslike plant, its fruit, after thrashing, screening, and milling, 

 forms the principal food of one third of the human race. More- 

 over, its stems furnish straw, its husks make a bran used as food 

 for cattle, and the grain, when distilled, is rich in alcohol. 



Nearly related to the grains are our grasses. There is a total 

 forage crop (exclusive of corn stalks) of nearly 100,000,000 tons, 

 valued at over $600,000,000. The best hay in the eastern part of 

 the United States comes from dry timothy grass and clover, the 

 stems and leaves as well as the fruits forming the so-called hay. 

 In some parts of the West a kind of clover called alfalfa is much 

 grown, it being adapted to the semiarid conditions of that part of 

 the country. 



