The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1889-05-31
FRIDAY. MAY 81, 1850.
INDIAN WHEAT.


London (Englantl) Miller.
The elaborate inquiries which hav,
been made Ivy the officers and agent
of the government of India. apparent
ly show that under the present conl:
ton of rural life in Eastern Empire W.
can only look for gradual improve
ment in the condition of Indian wl,ea,
cargoes.
This may seem an undnly pessimis'
tic view, but let us look with u little
care vt the conditions under which
wheat is raised Ivy the Indian ryot OF
present cultivator, purchased by the
depart" or native middleman, and
forwarded to Europe by some large
firm of grain merchant having offices
in Bombay and Calcutta. The ryot
pursues las his fathers and forcfath hers
have pursued for thousands of years
before him) a most primitive
system of agriculture. In several
parts of India wheat is grown side by
side with gram or pulse, u custom
which is responsible for the large
quantity of this seed that is to he
found in many shipments of Indian
wheat. This inveterate habit is said
to have it's root in the fact that wheat
and gram severally absorb Il different
constituent of the soil, and that each
tlourisl,es best with different kinds of
weather. Now the ryot reasons-and
from his point of view he may be
showing himself shrewd man Of
business-that if he had two crops on
the ground at once lie is almost bound
to win, however the season may 70.
This method Of "hedging," to use a
popular phrase, is highly inconvenient
no doubt to Il customer of tho wheat
raiser. but there is 10 evidence to
show that at present, and perhaps for
a long time to come, the cultivator
may not find it distinctly to his ;ldvan.
tage. Then, when the wheat is reap.
ed, it is tlreshed on II thresl,.
ing floor of dried mud, the fail
heing replaced by the feet of oxen,
which detach little particles of earth
from every portion of the floor and
deftly mingle them with the grain.
On the presence of other impurities
inevitable to this process of corr,
dressing it is unnecessary to dwell, bu,
it may he noted that the collection OF
wheat berries, cl,aff and misccllan
cOus foreign bodies lett on the tllresh
floor are gathered up and winnowed
by hand in the wind, an operation
which has. rs might be anticipated
but little effect in removing impure
ties.
1t is notorious that Il vast quantity
of Indian grown wheat is every yeal
consigned to our shores, and it is con.
tended that an cYen larger amount OF
this grain would he consumed by
British millers iii it only arrived in 1,
purer condition. 1t will he within the
experience Of every miller that Indian
wheat j scarcely ever ready fol
grinding until it has been subjected
to many preliminary processes of sift.
ing. securing. moistening or washing.
1t is almost invariably mingled with
little clods of dry earth, to say nothing
of broked pieces of straw and ends of
sticks, but unfortunately, the cata.
logue or foreign bodies is far from
ending here. All kinds of seeds, and
more especially gram or pulse. are
quite commonly mingled with Che
wheat shipped from the Indian PENN.
sIla, many of these foreign bodies he.
ing from their shape very difficult of
elimination even by the perfected
machinery now to he found in our
larger flour mills. Moreover the
value to the miller of Indian wheat
us it is now delivered to him is much
diminished by the frequent coming.
ling of red and white grains, u mix
ture which to the country miller, who
may work with but few pairs of
stones, will be comparatively useless.
1t is obvious that a machine which
can separate red and white berries
has yet to discovered, but even here
we are far from exhaustlng all diff.
culties with which those millers who
work OH Indian wheat have sometimes
to contend. \ cargo of this kind of
grain il it arrives in bad condition, us
will he frequently the case with an
autumn shipment, for reasons to he
subsequently explained, will contain a
IL large proportion of heated, shrunk.
ell, or weevil.eatcn berries, and these
are, of course, undesirable elements
in wheat which have to be converted
into sound flour.