Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-11-19

going among the bakers Of Scotland, England
and parts Of the continent and showing them
how to cook this meal. He went to Russia and
showed the people there how to mix the In
dian corn with rye to make the bread which
was used by the famine sufferers, and he il
doing what he can here to push the matter with
the German government. He receives a salary
Of ~, 500 year from the Agricultural Depart
ment, and this, with thousand dollars for his
secretary, In all that the government is spend
ing on this enterprise. The truth Of the matter
is that there should be dozenmen here instead
Of ono and that the very best and most practical
business men OF the United States should be
selected. They should be sent here with a
good supply of money and the corn used
for experimenting should be selected corn
from the best soil and the best seed. The
bread should be introduced through the best
society, much as William Walter Phelps intro
duced it at the dinner which he gave to Bis
mnrck and others, where the only bread on the
table was corn bread, so made that II was as
light and white as wheat bread. and It should
not be brought forth a starvation food or q
cheap food.
THE CORN PROSPECTS.
chatted with Col Murphy last night about
his work and the prospects. Said he: 1--WE are
now making bread Of rye -four and corn
meal. The proportions are one-third corn and
two-thirds rye, and the bread is fully as nutri-
tious as the rye bread. 1t is more digestible
and at least rs per cent cheaper. The element
of cheapness makes great difference with the
Germans and in this country every cent counts
This bread has the same taste the rye bread
and the rye completely conceals the taste of
adopted by the army, and IL il Is it will be used
by the best disciplined fighting force in the
world. The German government would save over
$4,000 a year by using it. and it's adop-
ton would mean demand for this purpose
alone Of many million bushels of our Indian
IA in
the army it will soon be intro
duced all over Germany. Every family in
Germany has one or more of its members in
the army, and this cheap and nutritious food
would in this way reach to every house in the
empire. Already the maize is getting a footing
among the people at large. There are more
than thirty mills in Germany which are grind
ing Indian corn for human food. and many Of
the bakers are using from SO to 40 per cent of
maize with their rye. There are number of
bakers here in Berlin who selling it, and
the corn is making its way very fast
lis the oornmeal the same as onrs?' I ssked.
"No." replied Col Murphy. The bread
used In Germany must keep much longer than
in America. The average German baking takes
place only once q week, and there is too much
oil in the corn for it to keep this long if it
is ground as it is ordinarily ground in the
United States The most of this oil is in the
little germ at the end of the grain Of corn and
we get rid Of this by cutting it out by deger-
minating machine. 1t is then almost as free
from oil as rye, and it makes a finer -four than
many people in America can realize. It will
make the finest of white bread, and it
is being used for cake baking here
with splendid results. Vienna pastry
flour costs here Ss.75 per 200 pounds
and the same amount OF fine maize flour can
be had for about $3.50, and many OF
the bakers are using it without the knowledge
OF their customers, who suppose they are eat
ing cakes made from Vienna -four l found a
baker In England who was using our cornmeai
in this way. One day when passing a
grocery store / was attracted by q
gaudy sign advertising q wheat prepara-
ton which was guaranteed to be ex-
cei!ent for puddings. l had strong sus-
picion that this some form of Indian corn
and 1 bought one-pound box of ii for 10
cents and took it home to try it for my Sunday
dinner. We cooked it and we found it was
nothing more or less than old-fashioned Ameri-
can mush favored with vanilla. Here in Ger
many this cornmeal is being used in large
quantities by the restaurants as a thickenng
for soups and for gravies. 1t is driving out
the Chinese rice, which does not give good
results and costs more. The Germans like
thick soups, and the German housewife is wax
ing up to the advantages Of Indian corn.
AWAITING ACTION By THE GOVERNMENT
''Wheu do you think the government will de-
eide as to the use of the corn BY the army?"
II don't know" WAS the reply, but expect
to hear from them daily. In addition to their
experiments on the bread they are experiment.
ing on a biscuit for the navy. which will be
composed partly of maize. The army has its
own mills for the grinding Of much of its meal,
and, as it is now, the duty on imported meal is
so much greater than that on raw corn that the
most Of the corn here would have to be ground
by German millers. The millers are watching
the experiments carefully and they are ready to
buy machinery the moment any decided move
ment has been made. As it is now Germany
imports about one-third of Its food supply, and
| hope to see this third made up largely of
Indian corn. In the event of war with Russia