6SS MAIZE 



CHAP, at .£475,000. The principal countries importing from the 

 XIV - United States in 1904 were (U.S. Government, 1): — 



Per Cent. 



British Africa 3279 



West Indies (excluding Porto Rico) .... 27-30 



United Kingdom 21-32 



Canada (including Labrador and Newfoundland) . 9' 6 75 



Other Countries 8-915 



IOO'OO 



638. Cornflour, Oswego, Maizena, etc., consist mainly of 

 starch, much of the proteid and mineral matter having been 

 removed by treatment with dilute alkaline solutions. These 

 forms of maize starch, as has been said, are used largely in the 

 preparation of puddings, blancmanges, etc. 



639. Maize Starch. — The finer qualities of maize starch 

 are said to be largely used as a substitute for arrowroot. 



Maize starch is also commercially mixed with wheat flour, 

 and the mixture sold at a considerably lower figure than " all- 

 wheat " flour. The pure food laws of many of the North 

 American States now prevent the sale of this compound under 

 the name of wheat flour, and require that the fact of its being 

 a mixture must be clearly designated. 



640. Samp, Hominy, and Cerealine. — These are prepara- 

 tions from which the hull, embryo ("germ") and soft " crown 

 starch " have been removed, sometimes by treatment with 

 lye, leaving only the hard "horny endosperm" 1 (IT 61 5). 

 Practically all of the oil and some of the protein have been re- 

 moved ; the percentage of carbohydrates is therefore high, but 

 there is still a considerable proportion of protein left. 



641. Stamped Mielies. — Stamped mielies, so well known 

 in South Africa, differ from hominy in that the embryo is not 

 removed, and they are not treated with lye ; the oil-content 

 is therefore greater. 



Stamped mielies are prepared by the native women (Fig. 

 232) of the country districts or smaller towns, with long hard- 

 wood pestles, and a narrow, deep wooden mortar hollowed out 

 of the trunk of some soft-wooded tree, especially the wilge- 



1 Called " horny " from the translucent appearance of this part of the grain. 

 It does not imply that it is insoluble or indigestible. 



