MAIZE GRAIN AS FOOD 701 



the ripe grains [of maize], roasted and ground, were mixed CHAP, 

 with it, but the beverage made from this mixture, though not X1V ' 

 unpleasant to the taste, had a heating quality which would not 

 agree with every stomach ". 



Maize Grain for Stock Food. 



658. Maize Grain for Stock Food. — The importance of the 

 maize crop as stock food, to supplement the wild pasturage of 

 countries like South Africa, can scarcely be over-estimated ; 

 maize is the most profitable crop that can be grown for the 

 purpose. The export price of the grain is not the measure of 

 the crop value ; to constantly export the raw products of the 

 soil is not a sound policy either from an agricultural view or 

 from the point of view of State economics ; for, unless the 

 plant-food removed from the soil in this way is replaced (see 

 chap. VIII.), it results in depletion of the land; therefore it is 

 an unsound policy. 



The better way is to turn the raw material into a second 

 product ; this may be done in factories, which should be estab- 

 lished in the country of production if economic conditions 

 permit ; but generally speaking the farmer finds it better to 

 produce the secondary products himself, in the form of beef 

 mutton, pork, wool, hides, feathers, etc. 



Maize grain is one of the most valuable and best relished 

 foodstuffs for farm animals. Their fondness for it is remark- 

 able ; a possible explanation of this, suggested by Henry (1), 

 may lie in the relatively high oil-content of the grain, which on 

 mastication breaks into flinty, nutty, sweetish particles, and is 

 therefore more palatable than, for instance, the wheat grain, 

 which on crushing and mingling with saliva turns to a sticky 

 dough. 



Being rich in starch and oil, the function of maize is to 

 produce fat and heat ; for fattening purposes, Henry says, 

 no other grain equals maize. 



In the largest maize-producing country in the world, the 

 United States, the farmer usually finds it more profitable to 

 make his maize crop walk to market on four legs than to sell 

 the grain to the manufacturer or dealer, for export, unless the 

 prices offered by these men are unusually good. As a rule he 



