Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1894-11-01

4. Eminent Authority sass 10 sAould y,
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A Eninsst Autherssy saSs 10 should Ne
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Jonathan. Periam, . well-known
authority on agricultural toplc&
makos some valuable suggestions
about the care of corn between the
times OF harvest and consumption.
He thinks the cereal would be far
more attractive TO Europeans II Of
fered to them In better shape. and
that the average American consumer
would like food prepared from corn
much better were IL not for the fact
that II Is allowed to become musty,
soured, or bitter, as to the germ,
which destroys its integrity as q food
grain. He boldly advances the state
ment that, one year with another,
Indian corn kept In wide cribs
through the winter and subsequently
In commercial elevators Is not in a
proper condition to be used as human
food, nor Is 1t In the best state Tor the
fattening OF live stock. 1t Is not
strange that Europeans decline to use
1t as food when the ordinary hog will
refuse to touch corn a year old II
laid side by side with sufficient
quantity Of newly plucked corn taken
directly from the fields of the West
in October. II the corn could be
carried to Europe In Its perfect state
the people of that part of the world
would take kindly to 1t as precious
food.
Ear corn, kept in the ordinary way
in the wide cribs of the West, heats
in the winter or early spring. 1t ac-
Quires bitter or mu,ty taste while
on the cob, and when shelled the
chemical process thus started goes
steadily forward in the ordinary ele.
vator, even II the airing has been
fairly carried on. Corn that will
terminate promptly neither has been
heated In the crib nor has the germ
been severely frozen. Seedsmen COM
pass this by plucking the corn when
just ripe, before freezing weather,
and drying it artiflclally. The Indi-
ans knew how to accomplish this in
q better way. They selected the best
ears and placed them in holes In the
ground, points downward, without
removing the husk, the holes having
a capacity Of about two bushels each,
and being lined with rushes IL neces-
sary to dryness. The deposit was
mounded over with earth, and the
seed never failed to grow promptly
when planted. The secret of the
process was comp, eted exclusion from
the air.
Mr.. Periam says when corn has
once got out Of condition 1t cannot
be restored to soundness 1t will
make musty flour and meal in spite
Of sulphuring and polishing, which
may deceive the superficial observer,
but not the chemist. He advocates
the building OF storehouses in which
corn and other food products could
be kept In air-tight chambers, and
does not believe it would cost more
than store room constructed on the
present wasteful plan. The principle
used in canning fruits and vegetables
exclusion OF the air-might be ex-
tended In a more simple way to the
cereals through Storage elevators
When this Is done we may have pure
materials In the cereals used for hui
man sustenance, and human iDgenu-
ity will find the means of doing this
economically. Both domestic and
foreign consumers would pay more
for the flour and meal from grain thus
kept than for what Is made from
grain that is musty, smutty, mil
dewed, sweated, or infested with
weavel, such as too often comes from
our present system OF warehouse
storage. 1t is certain that all the
cereals are far better as food II con-
tanning normal moisture of about Is
per cent than after the moisture has
been artiflcially eliminated by kiln
drying or other manipulation.