December, 1909. j 



517 



Edible Products 



The Process Described. 

 In using this roller, the preliminary 

 operations of harvesting and drying the 

 grain are performed as usual. If a large 

 quantity of grain is to be treated, the 

 heads, after removal of the straw, are 

 simply spread out in a circle over the 

 threshing floor to the depth of about 

 8 inches, and the roller is driven round 

 and round over the whole mass. More 

 generally, however, there is a clear 

 space left in the middle, and the bullocks 

 are driven in a regular concentrical 

 manner over the circular strip until the 

 grain is as thoroughly extracted as 

 possible. After each passage of the 

 roller, men with light wooden rakes turn 

 over the heads so that a fresh surface is 

 exposed each time. A little water is 

 occasionally sprinkled on the ears if it is 

 found that the grain is being powdered. 

 The roller being cylindrical and being 

 continually forced to travel in a com- 

 paratively small circle, a considerable 

 amount of friction is caused, and there 

 is no doubt that to this rubbing the 

 efficacy of the process is largely due. It 

 has been suggested that a roller shaped 

 as a frustrum of a cone would perform 

 the work more effectively and be less 

 fatiguing to the bullocks, but though 

 easier to pull it would probably not be 

 so effective, while it would have the 

 additional disadvantages of being use- 

 less for anything else, and extremely 

 difficult to move from place to place. 



During the process, the grain is rubbed 

 and pressed free of the ears, and, being 

 heavier, gradually works to the bottom 

 whence it can be readily collected at 

 the close of the operation. The extrac- 

 tion is not, however, complete, 10 to 20 

 per cent, of grain being still left in the 

 earheads. This will have to be extracted 

 by beating with sticks, or, if the quan- 

 tity is large, it may be trodden out by 

 bullocks in the ordinary way. A com- 

 bination of the two systems which could 

 only be carried out in the case of large 

 quantities of grain is as follows : — Be- 

 hind the roller drawn by two pairs of 

 bullocks are driven two teams, each of 

 four bullocks which tread on the com- 

 pacted mass of heads. This is reported 



to thresh four times the amount of grain 

 threshed with the roller alone. 



The relative economy of the two pro" 

 cesses may be gauged by the following 

 figures, which were obtained in an actual 

 trial with the white sorghum. (Telia 

 Jonna) of Bellary. For threshing 9,812 lbs. 

 of grain completely from the heads 

 by means of the roller, two and a half 

 pairs of cattle, eleven men and two boys 

 were engaged, at a total cost of Rs. 

 3-10. For completely extracting 4,552 lbs. 

 of grain by the treading method, five 

 pairs of cattle, seven men, and two boys 

 were employed at a total cost of Rs. 4-2. 

 The cost of threshing 1,000 lbs. of grain 

 was, therefore, under the two systems — 

 As. 5-11 -and As. 14-6, which is very 

 nearly in the proportion of 2 to 5 in 

 favour of the roller. This takes no 

 account of the prime cost of the roller. 



Since its first introduction in the 

 Proddatur Taluq of the Cuddapah Dis- 

 trict, its use has spread slowly though 

 its advantages are known and appre- 

 ciated. The main obstacle to its more 

 rapid adoption is the cost of the roller, 

 though this difficulty is often met, as 

 noted above, by joint purchase, or the 

 roller can often be hired or borrowed 

 from one of the bigger landlords in the 

 village. It must be noted further that 

 the roller though more economical in 

 bullocks yet requires the services of 

 more men. The small ryot who owns 

 only one pair of cattle will go with 

 them to his neighbour's floor, and there 

 he and three others can do the whole 

 work with but little extra assistance. 

 Each one of the four will thus get his 

 threshing done in turn with but little 

 actual out-of-pocket expenditure, since 

 there is no other work for the bullocks 

 at that season, while, if the roller is to 

 be used, coolies may have to be hired 

 and paid for. The practice is, however, 

 spreading among the larger ryots to 

 whom the first cost is less important, 

 and who are more concerned with the 

 economy of the process, and there is 

 little reason to doubt that its introduc- 

 tion would prove economical to the same 

 class in other sorghum growing districts 

 with benefit, also to the smaller land- 

 holders who could on occasion borrow 

 the roller for their own use. 



