August, ’23] 
chapman: calendra and macaroni 
343 
Experiments with the Milling 
Two sets of experiments were performed to determine the possibility 
of the granary weevils or their eggs surviving the process of milling. 
Macaroni, spaghetti and other allied pastes are commonly manu¬ 
factured from semolina, a coarse product from durum wheat. The 
coarseness of the product varies with the grade and the grades in turn 
vary from mill to mill. However, the semolina may, in a general way. 
be compared with the farina of other wheats and it varies from the very 
coarse “No. 1” to the finer “No. 3,” the “No. 2” being the coarsest 
grade commonly used in making macaroni. 
The first set of experiments was conducted with the ordinary methods 
used in milling semolina on a commercial basis. Twenty bushels of 
wheat were obtained, which was inspected by the North Dakota state 
grain inspection laboratory and graded as mixed durum, containing 83 
per cent amber durum, 6 per cent red durum, and 11 per cent hard red 
spring wheat. 
The wheat was tempered on January 25, 1922 to bring its moisture 
content up to 14 per cent which has been found by Dendy and Elkington 
to be about the optimum moisture condition for development. On the 
following days adult granary weevils (Calendra granaria) were added as 
rapidly as they could be obtained until the wheat contained an average 
of 2 weevils to the ounce. The wheat was then kept in 3 covered galva¬ 
nized iron tanks at a temperature of about 75° F. On January 28th all 
the weevils had been added and on January 30th many of the weevils 
were mating. 
Samples of wheat were examined daily from this time on and feeding 
punctures and eggs were found in increasing numbers as time passed. 
On February 12th, 1922 the percentage of wheat berries infested with 
eggs had risen to about four. Some of the eggs had hatched but the 
majority had been laid recently. The wheat was then sacked and 
shipped from Minneapolis to Fargo where the experimental mill was 
equipped for the milling of semolina. A sample of one-half bushel of 
the wheat was kept at Minnesota for a check on the experiment. The 
wheat was carefully guarded during transit to prevent it from being 
chilled and when it arrived at the mill the temperature in all of the 
sacks averaged 59.9° F and the weevils were alive and active. 
A check sample was taken out and the remainder was tempered to 
15 per cent of moisture and milled on the following day. The adult 
weevils were removed by screening the wheat and about 300 pounds of 
No. 2 semolina and about 50 pounds of No. 1 semolina were obtained. 
