THE TECHNOLOGIST. [Dec. 1, 1864. 



210 FRENCH MACARONI. 



ticulars from the last number of the ' Monde Thermal.' They treat of 

 the important manufacture founded by Messrs. Bertrand and Co. for the 

 fabrication of alimentary pastes called Algerian. One of tbe Algerian 

 products attracted above all the constant attention of visitors, because it 

 is so large an article of consumption — we mean the hard wheat of Algeria, 

 which the house of Bertrand, of Lyon, has transformed into nutritive 

 pastes of every kind ; we have never seen anything so beautiful in 

 appearance and so perfect to the taste. 



Messrs. Bertrand and Co., who since 1855 have applied themselves to 

 make known on a large scale the hard wheat of Africa, have published 

 documents on this important manufacture of the highest interest for 

 the future Algerian production. Let us examine the details. For 

 several years the wheat used in France for the manufacture of Italian 

 pastes had been brought principally from Odessa, Taganrog, and Sicily. 

 When Algeria bad become a colony of France it was found that it pro- 

 duced in great abundance hard wheat, suitable tor the manufacture of 

 these pastes. This variety of grain was, too, that which succeeded the' best 

 in Africa, and the trials made of it led to the establishment of the fact 

 that the products were equal to those of any other country of the world. 



At the Universal Exhibition at Paris, in 1855, Messrs. Bertrand and 

 Co. were enabled to bring to light in the most brilliant manner the fact 

 that French industry could make from the hard wheat of Algeria the 

 fine alimentary pastes known until then only under the name of 

 Italian. 



Different analyses made public by M. Eiche, principal of the 

 Chemical works at Sorbonne, establish the fact that the hard wheat of 

 Africa equals that of the Black Sea, the most esteemed in Europe, 

 whether in nutritive properties or quantity, and contains more gluten 

 than the wheat of Auvergne. The manufacturers of France, who till 

 then had supplied in profusion to the French markets seminolas and 

 pastes manufactured from indigenous wheat — were moved with the 

 result of these analyses. A very lively opposition was hence directed 

 against the Algerian products and the manufacture of Lyons. 



In a vigorous reply made to their adversaries, Messrs. Bertrand 

 observed with justice, Do not have any fears for the fertility of Africa, its 

 power of production is unlimited, as it has been the granary of ancient 

 Rome so it will become that of France. It will aid powerfully to com- 

 pensate for the failure of the cereals in bad harvests ; its corn is found 

 everywhere now in the markets of our Mediterranean ports ; before 1830 

 its grain was one of the principal articles of exchange with Europe. The 

 colonists, under the favour of the Government, have for several years 

 collected all the wealth that agriculture was able to give to them, 

 and they have cleared, worked, and sown large tracts of land. The 

 fertile Limagne is nothing in comparison with the districts of Tell, and 

 Africa will furnish to the manufacturers of Lyons, Clermont, Marseilles, 

 Avignon, and Toulon, all the hard wheat they can require. 



