November, 1909.] 



419 



Edible Products. 



are then beaten over the bars of the 

 ladder, which causes the grain to drop 

 into the bag. Some farmers merely nail 

 a few strips across a box or wooden 

 trough, and beat the rice out on this by 

 handfuls. After the grain is beaten 

 from the straw (it is then known as 

 paddy), the next operation is the winnow- 

 ing, This is done in an ordinary sieve 

 by letting the grain fall on to a sheet 

 in a light breeze, the sieve being held up 

 at a little distance ; its weight causes the 

 sound grain to fall on the sheet, whilst 

 the light grain, bits of straw, &c, are 

 wafted away to one side. The paddy is 

 then carefully collected and placed in 

 the sun, spread out for a few days to 

 get thoroughly dry, when it is bagged 

 and stowed away in a dry barn, or else 

 taken away to the miller for turning 

 into the article of trade and commerce 

 with which we are more familiar, and 

 known as rice and not paddy. The 

 straw, after the grain is threshed out, is 

 spread out to dry or cure, or else it is 

 fed to the stock. A great deal of nutri- 

 ment remains in the stalk at the time 

 of threshing, and I believe it would 

 make up into a splendid ensilage if de- 

 sired to be used when other feed is 

 scarce. I should be pleased to hear the 

 results if any of our enterprising 

 farmers will give it a trial. 



Milling the Rice and Preparing 

 the Crop for Market. 



This is a most interesting operation, 

 and for the want of the necessary machi- 

 nery the rice industry has lain dormant 

 for several years in the Logan district. 

 Every credit must be given to Mr. P. 

 W. Peek (the writer of this article) for 

 the energy and enthusiasm he has dis- 

 played in reorganising the industry, and 

 the farmers, through the medium of 

 the Logan Farming and Industrial Asso- 

 ciation, who took the matter up, believ- 

 ing that a great benefit would result to 

 the district if only carried out in a syste- 

 matic manner. The matter was ably dis- 

 cussed at their meetings. The Agricul- 

 tural Department was written to for ad- 

 vice, and their assistance was given as far 

 as possible to facilitate the objects sought 

 to be obtained. It was from information 

 supplied by the Department that the 

 farmers were induced to co-operate in 

 the purchase of a new and better variety 

 of seed, a quantity of White Java — 

 9U0 lb.— being purchased and distributed 

 at first cost among the farmers ; next, a 

 small experimental patch was started, 

 the Department supplying rice seed of 

 other varieties, which are now being 

 tested for their producing and milling 

 qualities, the seeds from this source 

 being again redistributed free of charge 

 53 



to those willing to grow them and still 

 further test the various kinds submitted. 



With the large increase of area plant- 

 ed, the want of a mill began to make 

 itself felt. The prices offered for Queens- 

 land-grown rice were very low, princi- 

 pally owing to no local mills in Southern 

 Queensland being established at that 

 time. Again, the Department of Agri- 

 culture was appealed to, and the ad- 

 dress was obtained of the latest up-to- 

 date firm of manufacturers of rice- 

 milling machinery. This was the Engle- 

 burg Huller Co., of Syracuse, U.S.A., 

 who were promptly written to for infor- 

 mation, and price-lists and catalogues 

 were received from them. A meeting of 

 the farmers was called, and an endea- 

 vour was made to get a co-operative 

 mill, but without success, the general 

 opinion being that growing and manu- 

 facture were two different branches of 

 the business, and that milling would be 

 better undertaken by a local sugar- 

 miller, who would have the necessary 

 engiue power to work the rice-mill at 

 times when the sugar season was over. 

 This was eventually the plan adopted. 

 Mr. Wm. Heck, who owns a sugar-mill 

 on Pimpama Island, sent for and erected 

 the necessary buildings and machinery 

 as an adjunct to the sugar-milling in- 

 dustry. A neat weatherboard structure, 

 the dimensions being 28 ft. long, 18 ft. 

 wide, and 22 ft. high (two story), was 

 erected on stumps to keep the floors 

 dry — an essential in ricemilling oper 

 ations — a floor being placed about 10 ft. 

 high from the basement floor and ex- 

 tending the full length of the building. 

 Upon this floor is erected the Engle- 

 burgh Huller and Polisher, a neat little 

 machine known as the " No. 4 size," and 

 capable of treating half-a-ton of dressed 

 rice per day. The paddy, being run into 

 the hopper of the machine, falls on to a 

 cylinder which revolves at high speed 

 and most effectually "hulls" — that is, 

 rubs off the cuticle or outer skin — and 

 polishes the grain in one operation. The 

 pollard or residuum from the rice (hul- 

 ling and polishing) falls on the floor, 

 whilst the grain itself descends to the 

 lower or basement story of the building 

 by means of a shoot which conducts it 

 into a machine placed to receive it, and 

 known as a grader, which is worked and 

 fed automatically from the machine 

 above. There are four sieves or sifters 

 in this grading machine which separate 

 the broken grains, and also the polished 

 rice into fiirst, second, and third quality, 

 the rice being caught in bags or boxes 

 placed to receive it. It is then ordinarily 

 ready for market, but Mr. Heck has add- 

 ed another machine to his mill, known 

 as an improved winnowing machine; this 



