April, 1909.] 



345 



Edible Products. 



. Harvesting.— When matured the ears 

 of maize or cobs, sometimes with a good 

 proportion of the husks attached, are 

 pulled by hand from the stalks ; the 

 latter are then utilised by allowing stock 

 to feed on them in the field, or are cut 

 and made into fodder by a shredding 

 machine ; the plan of making them into 

 silage for milch cows is also sometimes 

 practised. It is sometimes thought that 

 if the cobs are stored with the husks on, 

 the latter protect them from insect 

 attack, but this idea does not seem well 

 founded, and it is usually best to remove 

 the husks at the time of gathering. 

 Horse-drawn machines are sometimes 

 used to cut and bind the maize crop, and 

 the cobs are subsequently removed from 

 the shocks in the field. Machines for 

 gathering the ears from the standing 

 stalks, husking them and delivering 

 them into wagons have also been 

 designed and used to some extent- 



The grain is removed from the cob 

 by machines known as corn-shellers. 

 Several types of the latter are supplied 

 by Messrs. Peter Henderson & Co., of 

 New York, namely: (1) the "Burrall 

 Corn-sheller," which can be worked by 

 one man : it shells 100 bushels a day, and 

 costs $6-75 ; (2) the " Clinton Corn- 

 sheller " : this costs $4"50 with one 

 balance-wheel, and $5-50 with two 

 balance-wheels ; it does not separate the 

 grain from the stripped cob ; (3) the 

 "Black Hawk Corn-sheller": this is a 

 small hand-machine, costing $2. Messrs. 

 Ruston, Proctor & Co., of Lincoln, 

 England, supply an " Improved Maize 

 Husking, Shelling andDressingMachiue." 

 In this the cobs fall upon a revolving 

 drum, which strips off the grain. The 

 grain is cleaned from dust, loose husk 

 and other refuse, by riddles and by a 

 strong current of air, and is elevated to 

 the sack-spouts iu a finished condition. 

 The machine, which is provided with a 

 portable feed-elevator, is made in two 

 sizes : (1) the 3 feet 6 inch machine, 

 shelling and dressing about 400 quarters 

 of maize in 10 hours, and requiring a 

 6 horse-power portable engine to drive 

 it ; (2) the 5 feet machine, shelling and 

 dressing about 850 to 900 quarters in 10 

 hours, and requiring a 10 horse-power 

 portable engine to drive it. In the case 

 of both machines, if husking is done at 

 the same time, the output will be about 

 half the quantities named above. 



If the machine employed for shelling 

 has furnished the maize in an imper- 

 fectly cleaned condition, a separate 

 cleaning operation to remove the " fluff" 

 should be given before shipment, as the 

 latter increases the risk of the grain 

 heating on the voyage. 

 44 



As regards yield, the average annual 

 amount per acre in the United States 

 was 25-9 bushels in 1907, and in th8 forty- 

 two years 1866-1907, the range was from 

 16-6 bushels in 1901 to 30 8 bushels in 

 1872, As regards maximum yields, over 

 100 bushels per acre has been recorded in 

 some cases iu the United States. 



Storage and Transport— during stor- 

 age, and during transport from the 

 place of growth to the United Kingdom, 

 maize is liable to suffer a considerable 

 amount of deterioration from two 

 causes, namely, fermentation and insect 

 attacks. When maize coming from 

 West Africa suffers, the damage is 

 mostly due to the attacks of weevils, 

 whilst the principal defect that occurs 

 in that coming from the United States 

 and the Argentine Republic is due to the 

 effects of heating on the voyage caused 

 by fermentation induced by the exces- 

 sive amount of moisture it sometimes 

 contains ; the quality and value may 

 be seriously diminished by this cause. 



Soon after maturity maize may con- 

 tain as much as 20 to 22 per cent, of 

 moisture ; if it is stored in this state, 

 without an opportunity of getting 

 drier, it may escape damage in cold 

 winter weather, but as soon as warm 

 weather comes fermentation will occur 

 and the grain will be damaged. If it 

 is left on the cob and stored in well- 

 ventilated "cribs " until the late winter 

 or spring it will usually get sufficient- 

 ly dry. In the Argentine Republic 

 the cribs used for storing maize are 

 made of poles stuck into the ground, 

 with wire and maize stalks woven in 

 among them so as to form a sort of bin; 

 in this the cobs are put, and the walls 

 being more or less open, allow air to 

 circulate through the contents, and the 

 maize dries, especially if the crib is 

 thatched over to keep out the rain. 

 If by the time warm weather arrives 

 the moisture has been reduced to 12 

 or 13 per cent., the maize under ordi- 

 nary conditions can be stored or trans- 

 ported with safety, but if the maize 

 has not been sufficiently dried some 

 more artificial method must be adopted. 



One of these methods employed in 

 modern grain storehouses is to transfer 

 grain from one bin to another by 

 means of transfer belts and elevators ; 

 during this operation the circulation of 

 the air effects a certain amount of 

 drying, and the process is frequently 

 employed to keep grain in good condi- 

 tion. In the case of maize, however, 

 if the transfer is made too frequently 

 many of the grains get broken, and 

 besides, the operation is somewhat ex- 

 pensive, Another method known as 



