99 



A portable mill. — A portable rice mill has also been devised for plaa- 

 ^tion use, costing $250, aside from the power to run it, and capable of 

 <5leaning 8,100 pounds of paddy rice per day. Such small machines da 

 /not give the finish required by the general market, but tnrn out exoelf- 

 lent rice for local use. 



EFFECTS OF FASHION IN RICE. 



It is to be regretted that fashion has so much to do with rice. It 

 requires a high gloss, and to obtain this the most nutriti3us portions are 

 removed under the polishing process. Estimated according to the food 

 values, rice polish is 1.76 times as valuable for food as polished rice. 

 The oriental custom, much used by farmers in the South, of removing the 

 hulls and bran with a pounder and using the grain without palighing 

 is economical and furnishes a rice of much higher food value than the 

 xice of commerce In the process of polishiag nejrly all the fats are 

 removed. In 100 pounds of rice polish there are 7.2 pounds of fats. 

 In 100 pounds of polished rice there is only 0.38 pound of fat. Upoa 

 the theory that the flavor is in the fats it is easy to understand the lack 

 of it in commercial rice, and why travellers universally speak of the 

 excellent quality of the rice they eat in oriental countries. 



Grades and prices. — Aside from the loss in flavor and nutritive value 

 by polishing, fashion again increases the cost of commercial rice by 

 demanding whole grains and places a value of about 2 cents per pound 

 more than head rice (whole grains) than on the same quality slightly 

 broken. The weekly New Orleans market report for June 3, 1899, 

 makes the following quota' i ms on cleaned rice per pound. 



Cents. 



Fancy ... 6 



Choice ... 5 J 



Good ... 41 



Fair ... 3f 



Centfc 



Ordinary ... 3 



Common ... 2| 



Inferior ... If 



No. 2 ... 1| 



These grades are determined not by the difference in quality, but by- 

 appearance, and may be manufactured from the same quality of paddy 

 rice. Ordinary a choice lot of paddy would yield three qualities of 

 rice: Whole grains grading "fmc}'-," choice," or "good;" " f air^' or 

 ordinary and No. 2, consisting of fragments and broken grains 

 The president of the New Orleans Board of Trade, Hon. S. Kock 

 Breaux, states that "the basis of grades of clean ricais predicated upon 

 the size of the bean, its brilliancy (high polish), and general appear- 

 ance, each lot presenting individual characteristics that to the buyer 

 add or detract from its normal yalue The following official quota- 

 tions of the New Orleans Board of Trade for June 16, 1899, are ia 

 point : 



Spot quotations, per pound, clean ; quiet but steady : 



No. 2 ... ... l|tolf 



Inferior ... ., If to 2 



Common ... ... 2^ to 3 



Screenings ... ... 2 to 2f 



Ordinary ... ... 3 to 3f 



Fair head ... 3f to 4^ 



Good head ... .;. 4^ to 4f 



Prime head ... ... 4f to 5J 



Choice head ... .. 5^ to 5| 



f Fancy head ... ... 6 to 6^ 



Extra fancy ... ... 6^ to 6f 



