Edible Products. 



244 



[March, 1908. 



are taken in carts and wagons to the 

 thrashing mill, one of which is placed on 

 each plantation. 



Thrashing is done on nearly all plant- 

 ations with a steam thrasher. The 

 machines are stationary and very large. 

 Thrashing mills are erected on canals or 

 on the banks of streams, in order that 

 boats may come to the mill and carry 

 the produce to market. In the process 

 of thrashing, the grain is thoroughly 

 cleansed by fans and screens, which re- 

 move all the light and inferior grains, 

 chaff, etc., from the marketable article. 

 This is then carried by elevators into 

 large bins, where it is stored. Great care 

 is taken that the grain be thoroughly dry 

 before thrashing. 



The rough rice or paddy, as it is taken 

 to the mill, has two coverings— a thin, 

 close cuticle, encased by a coarse, thick, 

 stiff hus-k. Milling consists in removing 

 these coverings. In the process 20pounds 

 of husks are taken from 100 pounds of 

 paddy. 



The grain is usually brought to mill 

 in boats and taken from the boats by 

 elevators. The first operation the paddy 

 undergoes in the mill consists in reclean- 

 ing, after which it passes between 

 milling stones, distant from one another 

 by about two-thirds of the length of the 

 grain. These tear off the husks, and as 

 the product passes over screens and 

 bellows, the chaff and grain are 

 separated. The grain is now placed in 

 mortars, wherein the cuticle is removed 

 by pounding with pestles. When the 

 cuticle is removed, the contents of 

 the mortar form a mixture of rice 

 flour and chaff. This now passes 

 over "flour screens," by means of 

 which all flour is removed. The "chaff 

 fan" is then used, and the rice, deli- 

 vered as clean grain, is run into 

 cooling bins. In the preceding process 

 so much heat has been generated 

 that cooling is necessary. For about 

 nine hours the grain lemains in the 

 cooling bin, after which one more separ- 

 ation takes place. By means of " brush 

 screens " the large rice is separated from 

 the smaller and the little flour that has 

 not yet been removed is bmshed from 

 the grain. The product is now ready 

 for the final process, polishing. 



The commercial article is always 

 polished. This consists in giving the 

 grain a glossy appearance, and makes 

 much difference in the market value. 

 The process that gives the gloss removes 

 much of the most nutritious parts of the 

 grain, inchiding nearly all of the fats 

 and most of the flavour. The food value 

 of rice flour is many times greater than 

 the food value of the polished product. 



Polishing is effected by pieces of skins 

 passing over the rice, and by giving a 

 thin, fine coat of paraffin. Within a 

 cylinder of wire gauze revolves a cylinder 

 of wood, around which sheepskins are 

 tacked, wool ins-ide. This gives a soft 

 surface, over which tanned skin, worked 

 to a velvet-like softness, is fastened. The 

 grain, with apiece of paraffin, is put into 

 the large cylinder. The cylinder revolves, 

 and, passing the soft surface over the 

 grain, gives the peaily lustre. — West 

 Indies Agricultural News. 



MEALIE HAY. 



A paper read at the September meet- 

 ing of the Upper Albany Farmers' 

 and Fruit Growers' Association, by 

 Harry H. Hards, Sunnyside, Gra- 

 ham's Town. 



In presenting this paper for your con- 

 sideration and discussion, I make no 

 claim to being an expert, neither do I 

 claim to having discovered anything 

 new ; but, having made the experiment 

 and not having seen any report pub- 

 lished of any such fodder prepared in 

 the same way, in this Colony, I offer 

 you a rough detail of my experience 

 in arriving at the result, feeling that 

 this fodder is one that has a great 

 future before it, and is one that can be 

 prepared and is within the scope of any. 

 The ground on which this hay was 

 grown (about 7 acres) was under oats 

 and just after the oat-hay was off was 

 disced. One-eighth of it was manured 

 with stable manure, one quarter kraal 

 manure (cattle) and the balance had no 

 dressing, but the whole had 100 lbs. to 

 the acre of Thomas' phosphate applied 

 mixed with fine kraal manure. The 

 mixing of the dry kraal manure was 

 done to facilitate the application. 



The ground was ploughed and harrow- 

 ed in December, the seed — presumably 

 a bastard Hickory King— was drilled in 

 on the 9th of that month, the seeds 

 dropping about 6 inches apart and 3 

 feet between each row. The seeds ger- 

 minated and the plants grew well 

 enough up to a certain time when, as 

 you all are aware, we had a very dry 

 spell and the growth stopped. Not- 

 withstanding the showers we had after- 

 wards, the stalks did not make much 

 further growth, and at the time of cut- 

 ting did not average more than 3 ft. 6 in. 

 high. In addition to the want of rain, 

 the high winds destroyed a large pro- 

 portion of the leaves. In the meantime 

 the horse cultivator was put through 

 twice between the rows, and the rows 

 were hand-hoed once, and the stalk 

 cut out about 15 inches apart 



