April 1900.] 



Edible Products. 



V. Theobald that grain shipped in 

 gunny bags suffers more from weevils 

 than that sent in bulk, the reason being 

 that the weevils will not work deep 

 in a mass of corn. 



As regards the native practices it 

 may be mentioned that in West Africa 

 the cobs are sometimes kept hanging 

 up, but when this is done they become 

 attacked by weevils ; another plan is 

 to harvest the maize by breaking down 

 the plants and leaving them lying for 

 three days to dry, the cobs are then 

 cut off and stored in thatched bins 

 supported on wooden piles about 6 

 feet off the ground ; these bins allow 

 the air to circulate through them. In 

 Northern Nigeria the natives are in 

 the habit of drying their millet and 

 guinea corn in mud ovens, and then 

 storing it in cylindrical mud towers ; 

 this heating would no doubt tend to 

 kill weevils if it was applied to the 

 maize intended for sale. 



Grading.— In order to facilitate the 

 buying and selling of grain a system of 

 grading has been adopted in the United 

 States. In this system the grain is 

 examined by trained inspectors and 

 reported to be of one or other of certain 

 divisions of quality ; by this means 

 the buyer has an opportunity of 

 knowing what he is buying, and the 

 disputes are avoided which are liable to 

 occur when the buyer purchases on 

 the basis of a sample and considers that 

 the grain delivered does not come up 

 to the sample in quality. If the grad- 

 ing is well done the buyer is assured 

 of the quality of the grain he will 

 receive, and this is a matter of greatest 

 importance ; in fact it has been stated 

 that it is not of much consequence to 

 dealers whether good, bad, or indiffer- 

 ent grain is sent so long as it is true 

 to the sample, and the broker can 

 safely say that the sample represents so 

 many bushels. 



The inspection departments are 

 managed either'by trade organisations 

 or are under State control, and the 

 charge made for grading is only a small 

 fraction of the value of the grain, vary- 

 ing from about 25 cents to 75 cents pel' 

 car-load or per 1,000 bushels. 



In the case of maize in the United 

 States the rules recommended by the 

 Chief Grain Inspectors' National Associ- 

 ation classify the grain intu three classes, 

 namely— Yellow Corn, White Corn, and 

 Mixed Corn (corn or Indian corn being 

 the names by which maize is always 

 known in the United States) ; and in 

 each class the grain is assigned to one 

 or other of five grades. 



The following are the rules :— 



No. 1 Yellow Corn shall be pure 

 yellow corn, sound, plump, dry, sweet, 

 and clean. 



No. 2 Yellow Corn shall be 95 per 

 cent, yellow corn, dry, sweet, and 

 reasonably clean, but not sufficiently 

 sound or plump for No, 1 Yellow, 



Nq. 3 Yellow Com shall be 95 per cent, 

 yellow corn, reasonably dry, reasonably 

 clean, but not sufficiently sound and dry 

 for No. 2 Yellow, 



No. 4 Yellow Com shall be 95 per 

 cent, yellow corn, not fit for a higher 

 grade in consequence of being of poor 

 quality, damp, musty, or dirty. 



No Grade Yellow Com. (See general 

 rule.) 



No. 1 Mixed Com shall be mixed corn, 

 sound, plump, dry, sweet, and clean. 



No. 2 Mixed Com shall be mixed corn, 

 dry, sweet, and reasonably clean, but 

 not sufficiently sound and plump for 

 No. 1 Mixed. 



No 3 Mixed Com shall be mixed 

 corn, reasonably dry, reasonably clean, 

 but not sufficiently sound and dry for 

 No. 2 Mixed. 



No. 4 Mixed Com shall be mixed 

 corn, not fit for a higher grade in con- 

 sequence of being of poor quality, damp, 

 musty, or dirty. 



No Grade Mixed Com. (See general 

 rule.) 



No. 1 White Com shall be pure white 

 corn, sound, dry, plump, sweet, and 

 clean. 



No. 2 White Com shall be 98 per cent, 

 white corn, dry, sweet, reasonably clean, 

 but not sufficiently sound and plump for 

 No. 1 White. 



No. 3 White Com shall be 98 per cent, 

 white corn, reasonably dry, reasonably 

 clean, but not sufficiently sound dry for 

 No. 2 White. 



No. 4 White Com shall be 98 per cent, 

 white corn, not fit for a. higher grade in 

 consequence of being of poor quality, 

 damp, musty or dirty. 



No Grade White Com. (See general 

 rule.) 



No Grade— General rule. — All grain of 

 auy kind and variety that is wet, hot, or 

 in a heating condition, burned or smoky, 

 contains weevil, or is for any reason 

 unfit for warehousing, shall be classed 

 and graded "No Grade." 



These rules have met with some 

 criticism on the grounds that the terms 

 give great latitude for individual varia- 

 tions of opinion; "reasonably dry "and 

 " reasonably clean," for instance, being 

 quite indefinite, and it has been suggest- 



