138 CHAMBERLAIN. 



THE CHARACTER OF THE RICE SELECTED. 



The Filipino number 2 rice selected by the subsistence department was 

 examined as regards its pericarp by this Board and approved. It was a 

 mixed rice, having grains with red pericarp mingled with those having 

 a white pericarp. A large amount of the pericarp had been left on the 

 grain. By analysis made in the office of the Surgeon- General of the 

 Army it was found to contain, nitrogen 1.33 per cent, potash (KgO) 

 0.223 per cent and phosphoric acid (P2O5) 0.489 per cent, whereas the 

 polished rice it replaced had contained only 1.08 per cent nitrogen, 0.098 

 per cent potash and 0.260 per cent phosphoric acid. 



The mixed red and white rice was approved for two reasons. First, 

 it was possible to determine at a glance, without staining, whether suf- 

 ficient perieai-p remained on the kernel. Second, it was thought that if 

 this red rice proved unwelcome to the Scouts a change could be made 

 in subsequent contracts to an undermilled white rice which, by contrast 

 with the red rice, would then probably prove acceptable, whereas it 

 would undoubtedly have aroused hostility if substituted immediately for 

 the highly polished article the subsistence department has in the past 

 been issuing to the Scouts and which they have come to like because of 

 its snowy appearance when cooked. It is probable that few of the Scouts 

 were used to such a highly polished article prior to their enlistment, and 

 in many sections of the Islands a red, undermilled rice is commonly used. 

 After several years in the military service where they received only the 

 highest grade of polished rice these natives have become spoiled in this 

 respect, and it was to be anticipated that the substitution of an under- 

 milled rice, whether red or white, would be distasteful to them for a time. 



The truth of the above reasoning has been demonstrated by the ex- 

 perience of the Philippine Civil Government. At the Culion leper colony 

 the inmates objected to an undermilled red" rice, but apparently are 

 satisfied with an equally undermilled rice having white pericarp. The 

 use of undermilled rice has eradicated beriberi from that and other civil 

 institutions in the Philippines, and at this point it may be mentioned 

 that on May 4, 1909, Governor- General Forbes issued Executive Order 

 No. 37, forbidding the use of polished rice in any public institution. 



DISSATISFACTION WITH THE NEW FILIPINO RATION. 



For many reasons the new Filipino ration, as ordered by General 

 Orders, No. 24, caused dissatisfaction among the troops and in the sub- 

 sistence department. The Filipino number 2 rice, in addition to being 

 undermilled, contained many unhusked kernels and much broken grain 

 and dirt and furthermore was thought to become infested with worms 

 and insects more readily than did polished rice. The camotes did not 



