The morning call., 1892-06-20
Or EXPORT OF FLOUR.

The steamship City OF New York sailed
On Wednesday for Central America with
3543 barrels Of -four, and on the day pre-
vious the Rio de Janeiro sailed with II, O99
barrels for China and 1775 barrels for
Japan. The -four IS shipped IN sacks; the
barrel is unknown on this coast; but we
measure by barrels because that is the
measure usually employed in the East. We
may thus say that in two days Of this week
San Francisco sent 10 countries which until
lately were not large consumers of our
cereals the equivalent Of 2446 tOas Of wheat
The exports of flour from the United
States generally and from this coast in par
ticular are growing faster than non-observ-
ers imagine. Twenty years ago the total
exports Of -four did not average over s. 00O, eco
barrels. In 1890 they were Il, 232. eco barrels,
and during the current year ending June 50,
1892, the Commercial NelgS OF this city
reckOns that they will amount TO 1900, 900
barrels, or reckoning SEQ pounds of wheat
to a barrel of -four. to 225 600 tons Of wheat.
This goes, first, to Great Britain, next to
France, and next to China. The Mark Lane
Express says that English -four is being
driven out Of many English markets by
American -four THE latter" it observes.
rs no rarity in the towns Of central Leices-
ieTshire OF rural Dorset" In Paris the
bakers Of the fine white bread for which the
French capital is famous have for years
made it out of American -four, and especially
California -four. It is curious that the
English and the French. who have been
eating wheaton bread since the beginning
Of history, should not be able TO make a
-four which suits them; bat it seems thatwe
make better article, aud their bakers buy
it in preference to their own. II suits us, of
course, to ship our wheat in the shape Of
flour.
IL would be no small gain for California
10 export its six or seven hundred thousand
surplus tons of whsat in that shape. as such
a modification Of trade would impart ac-
t;Vity TO the milling industry; and so long
as our millers continue TO improve their
methods so as to retain their lead OF the
millers Of Minneapolis it is reasonable TO
suppose that cur export to Great Britain
and France will increase. But the market
which is likely to develop most rapidly is
China. 1t is only a few years since there
began 10 be a Chinese market for American
-four. That market now consumes some
thing Ike rocco barrels Of -four per month,
which are supplied from this port and from
Victoria, 3. {. Much of this flour is con-
sumed by the foreign settlements at Hong
Kong Shanghai and Tientsin, as well as
Kobe and Yokohama in Japan. But lately
a good deal of it has gone into consumption
among the Chinese, who from time TO time
immemonal have lived on rice
Men Of our race will not live on rice with
out an admixture Of fatty matter, such as
oil or animal fat. Wheat contains far more
fat than rice and three times as much
gluten. A Iaborer fed on wheat can do
more WORK than one who is fed on rice !;
and though long habit may have adjusted
The Chinese constitution to the use Of rice
it cannot make the TWO foods equal in nu-
trtive power, nor can custom make rice
-four as palatabe as wheaton -four. Hence
though the price Of American flour places
it out of the reach OF the poorest class in
China, it is growing in favor with the class
which can afford to eat good food. and that
class in a nation Of 40O, G00. 0O0 people is
large enough to eat a good deal Of -four if it
becomes their fayorite aliment.
California sends abroad each year In one
shape or another some GO0O00 tons of wheat
besides what it gets from Oregon. II in-
stead Of shipping this wheat 1t sent abroad
1900 600 barrels Of flour it would be no
small gain to the State by expanding an i'm
portsnt branch of industry and affoTding
employment to a large class Of people. We
shall probably DO so if our milers maintain
the high reputation which California -four
enjoys. China has got to take her wheat in
the shape of -four because she cannot grind
it az all, and France and England will con-
tinue to increase the proportion of wheat
which they import as -four so long as their
own bakers certify that the product Of the
California mills is superior in quality to the
product of the English and French mills.