MkY I, 1899.) 
Supplement to the " Tropical Agriculturist. 
815 
Exhibits should be labelled and a card be eifher 
atlflched to each, or so placed us to indicate which 
animal or article is referred to. Tliisc ird or tick-^t 
should contain the information above suj,gested 
as to description and competition, and if the awards 
are made, tliename of the owner too. Cards could 
have a top line in small print tolling the name and 
date of the Show, and all the rest of its space left 
for the name, class, &c., to be written in good fiiir 
round hand, so that he who runs may read. 
— -c^ 
TiN DIAN C ORN. 
Maize or Indian Corn, the characteristic cereil 
of North America, is, next to cotton, the most 
valuable crop grown in the United States. It is 
admitted free of duty into Canada, and is also 
largely grown in the Dominion for consumption, 
in its green state, as a vegetable; indeed, with the 
possible e.vceprion of tomatoes and, of course, 
potatoe-i, "canned corn" is the most extensively 
used vegetable in both countries. The Canadian 
tiovoniment is, at the present moment, making 
efforts to create a trade for it in the United King- 
dom, where many people are quite unaware of its 
dietetic value. Should maize once come into 
favour as a food, a considerable home industry 
might arise, as the climate is cousidere I to be 
quite suitable for its growth. As will be noted 
later, great quantities of maize are utilised for the 
production of glucose, employed very largely in 
the brewing and confectionery indu-itry. At pre- 
sent the trade is almost entirely in the hands of 
an American Trust, which, during the recent war 
with Spain, shipped hirge consignments of glue >3e 
to the United Kingdom via Canada. The attention 
of the High Cjmmissimier having been called to 
this fact, he authorised the Cutator of the C:ina- 
dian Section of the Imperial Institute, and others, 
to inquire into the extent of the trade, with the 
result that a comprehensive report was sent to 
Ottawa on the subject, and during his recent vi-^it 
to that city. Lord Strathcojia himself brought 
the whole question before the Department of 
Trade and Commerce, in the interests of Caiiiidian 
industry. A bulletin recently issued by the Uniteil 
States Department of Agriculture, dealing at 
length with the composition and economic appli- 
cations of maize, is of value in this connection. 
The following is a brief abstract: " In tiie United 
States, Maize or Indian corn not only serves as 
one of the chief articles of food, but is al^o the 
."ource of a large alcoliol industry. Tne stalks 
which, a tew years ago, were con-ide ed waste 
])roduct, have been found to possess valuable 
jiroperties as a cattle food. The pith is very 
suitable as a lining for cattlesliips, and as its 
peculiar structure allows of ready nitration, and 
the resulting compounds are said to be mote s'ablo 
tiian the corresponding cotton-dcivati ves, ranize- 
pitli has special advantage- for preparation of pj'- 
roxylin-varnishes, g in-c >: ton, and high'etplosvies. 
COMVOSITION. 
Typical American maize has, approximately, the 
following composition : 
Weight of 100 kernels ... o8 grammes. 
Moisture ... ... 10-75 per cent. 
Troteids ... ... 10-00 „ 
Oil ... ... 4-2o „ 
Crude libro ... ... ]-7o „ 
.\8li ... ... 1-50 „ 
Girbolij'iiiat«s (otlj« thao filive} 71-75 „ 
Although certain varieties of "eirly maturing" 
maize ov "sweet'' maize intended for table use, 
when partially ripe, contain conriderably larger 
quantities of both sugar and oil than do the 
ordinary ones, it api)ears from tiie many analyses 
w!)ich have been made in the Depart mental labo- 
ra'ories, that maize is one of the most invariable 
of the cereals, maintaining, under very different 
climatic conditions, a remarkable uniform compo- 
sition, and varying chiefly in the size, colour and 
physical characteristics of the individual, kernel?; 
The Milling of Maize. 
The flour made from Indian corn i^ known as 
"corn meal." The simplest and one of the most 
prevalent methods of preparing it was to grind the 
kernels between stones, and use the wli jle me il 
coarsely sifted. In the Southern States this pro- 
cess is still largely employed. A finer grade of the 
corn meal is prepared by first grinding in the 
above manner, and then bolting to lemove the 
greater part of the bran. Unfortunately, the meal 
thus prepared is very hygroscopic, and, as the 
germ contains a large proportion ot the uil, the 
product is apt to be come rancid and mouldy. 
Improved processes have hence b -en inirodiiced 
during the last few years, and the following 
descriptioa is fairly applicable to tLe majority ot 
them. 
The grain is first broken, and the germ loosened 
in a "degerminator." The germ and the hull are 
then sepirated by means ot holing cloths and 
currents of air, and the remaining corn is ground 
between corrugated iron rollers. The resulting 
meal is again submitted to boliing and purifi- 
cation by currents of air, and the refined product 
is known as 'granular' meal. The waste matter 
(hull, germ, flinty portions of the corn, etc.) 
amounts to about 3) to 35 per cent. The use of 
artificial heat (iuring the proce-ses en>ures better 
results, and the meil ke^ps longer. Notwith- 
standing the improved methods of preparatioti 
this 'granular' meal has not found favour in the 
Southern Scales. 
Apart from the methr.ds of manufacture, there 
are two distinct kinds of corn-meal disii.ignislied 
by their colour, namely, the wlii.e and the yc-llow. 
These colours are due to the original tint of the 
corn, and there is probaly but bttle d.flere.ice in 
uutritire value and palatableness of the two 
varieties. 
Relative Nuthitive Pii'iperties of 
Wheat and Maize. 
Althougli so extensively u-ed in America, tliere 
is a widespread opinion in Europe that the pro- 
ducts of Indian corn are less digestible and less 
nutritious than those of wheat. This opinion, it 
appears, has no justification, either from the 
chemical composition of the two classes of b alies 
or recorded digestive and nutritive e.\pe ime.iis' 
A study of the analytical data of the whole "r.iiii 
shows I h t, in so far as actual nutrients are"con- 
Ct-rnod, maize is fully equal to wheat. T.ie ash 
content of maize being sm ill, there is no doubt 
tnat there is a slight deficiency in the mineral 
food, employed for the nouri-hment of the b xl-v, 
but as tiio cereals contain an excess of mineral 
matter above the requirements of the b xiv, tliis 
slight deficiency may be disregarded. lu its percen- 
age of fat. Indian corn easily takes precedeuca 
over all otlier Cirdils wjtU tUa siDjlj e*c;pu'oo o| 
