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1076. —Lime orchards containing at least one full-bearing tree of Khaghzi
or the Maltése variety for every prisoner, according to the capacity of the jail,
should be established in every jail, with a margin to meet contingencies.
1078.—When the tamarind fruit is fresh, chatni made by mixing the pulp
with the daily ration of salt should be given to the prisoners, or to all who
wish for it. An infusion of the fresh fruit might also be given. From
October to April the fresh fruit is available and from April till the fruit again
ripens, there is no difficulty in preserving it in earthen Matkas in a dry store-
room.
1079.—If the supply of lime-juice has been exhausted or is insufficient,
dried green mangoes, known in the bazar as amchur, should be substituted
as an antiscorbutic from the 1st of April to the 1st of November in each year.
1080.—When amchur is substituted for lime-juice the standard daily allow-
ance per prisoner should be 70 grains.
1081.—The amchur requires little or no preparation, it is cut up into thin
pieces and allowed to soak in water for some hours ; the whole is then added to
the dal and vegetables when being cooked. To secure the solution of all the acid,
it would be well to have the amchur cut up the evening before it is to be used
and soaked all night in a sufficient quantity of water in an earthenware vessel.
1082.—The dried fleshy calyces of the putwa or roselle (Hibiscus Sabdariffa)
having been proved from analysis to possess a real and substantial value as an
antiscorbutic it should be used in the same proportion as amchur, and alter-
nately fortnightly with lime-juice, tamarind and amchur, so that the use of any
one of them may not become monotonous and distasteful.
The Food-Materials.
Wheat ( Triticum Vulgare) is the most important of all the food-materials
used in the United Provinces. In wheat we get the closest approach in the
percentages of its proximate principles to the ratio of nitrogen to carbon
essential for a suitable diet. The chemical analyses of the wheat in use in the
different jails show greater variation than any other of the food-materials. 1
This is practically entirely due to the different degrees of contamination with
1 In this connection Church states : " The composition of wheat-grain shows some variations, but they are
almost entirely limited to the relative proportions of starch and of nitrogenous matters, although the mineral
matters or ash, and indeed all the minor constituents of the grain are, of course, not quite fixed in amount."
His analyses of protein show variations ranging from 10.3 to 16.7 per cent.
" The value of Indian wheats in European markets is often much lowered by preventable impurities.
Very frequently they contain other cereals, especially barley ; gram and linseed sometimes occur in them, and
they are often largely contaminated with sand and earth. Then often, two or more kinds of wheat are found
mixed together—hard wheat with soft, and red wheat with white." (Food-Grains of India).
" The methods of employing wheat for human food in India vary somewhat, but the following are used to
a considerable extent. The grain having been separated from the chaff, often rather imperfectly, is washed, sun-