The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-09-13
INDIAN CORN IN BELGIUM
Where Most Of the Crop of the United
states Goes.

states Goes.
Alfred A Wiuslo-y. the United States
consul al Li.=e, Belgium, has forwarded
,o the State Department. the following re
port on the subject Of Indian corn
Since tho United States raises, accord
ing To- the Department OF Agriculture,
more than three-fourths of the Indian
corn crop OF the world, il should Dee
matter of interest % the millions of per
sons SO closely connected with it's pro
duCtion To know what becomes of a large
portion of il. and 90 learn Of lis posi-
biIitiss
In 1891 the United States exported 3d.
IGNZ13 bushels af corn. of which 22lGG-2..
bushels we've taken by Europe. while in
1914 we exported 29.2lSg-3 bushels. of
which Europe took I925Ig.7S5 bushels
This wonderful increase in exports was
partly the outgrowth Of the corn propa-
ganda inauEJrat-d by Col Charles j.
Murphy in 1855. as special commissioner Of
the Department of Agriculture. and since
50 ably supplemented by individual en-
terprise-
Belgium. from the first. showed the
greatest interest in the investigation of
the value Of corn as human food. and Of
fercd all possible Inducements and even
TO this day cora enters Belgium free Of
duty. while France imposes 10 cents per
busheI thereon and Germany proposes 20
increase its already high duty. Belgium
is SO dense!y populated-ther being more
than 800 persons Jo the square mile or
about one 10 the acre-that it is utterly
. impossible to produce within its borders
much more than one-half the necessary
food supply. During 1900 there w-re con
Sumed in this country 3J.igll41 bushels Of
corn. Of which the United States furnish
ed 1851, 456 bushels and the Argentine Re
public 5.,85iS bushels. During the same
time 40 81 80 bushels Of wheat were inn
ported. of which the United States sup
piled S-24I.905 bushels and the Argentine
Republic u,lI3,Sg6 bushels. When it is
understood that no corn is raised in this
country, while large quantities Of wheat
and other cereals are grown. it will be
seen there is a great opening here for
corn.
or the l92.519.7 S5 bushels Of corn ex-
ported from the United States to Europe
In 1850 il Will be seen that the 6.SI5054 in
habitants of Belgium CONSUMED II 56l, f55
bushels. or about two bushels per head
against lS0.95S.329 bushels for the other
56'"3o3 inhabitants of Europe. OF only
about half a bushel per head
1T VIII be noted that the United States
furnishes Belgium only little more than
one-half of the corn consumed. During
the last FIVE years. however. the c0nsump-
ton Of corn in this country has only
little more than doubled while our por-
ton has increased from 2.7ODOD0 bushels
in 1898 70 1l55l.i5G bushels in 1900 This
speaks volumes for our energy and for
the fine quality Of our corn. which il rec
ognized as the best.
The uses 10 which corn is put in this
country are constantly on the increase
Most OF the bread consumed by the la
boring classes contains Is per cent TO %
per cent of corn meal. One bakery com
pdny IT. this city Informs me that during
1880 II put llZ.Zu1 pounds OF white corn
meal Ia It's bread, and this Is only one Of
the ZlG bakeries in Litge The iugnlrt-
auce Of such general use Of corn by the
bakers viii be better understood when II is
known that more than niuc-teuths Of -he
bread consumed I'm Belgium IS made by
LFrrl- II IS or a very good quality ami Is
sold cheaper than most bakers bread in
the United States. one bakery in this
city makes on an average ] am Informed.
10000 lpaveS per week of what Is known
as Pain Murphy. OF Murphy bread.
which contains more than - per cent Of
white corn meal II gets its name from
Col. Charles J. Murphy, late Commission
or q the Department Of Agriculture.
Corn is also very extensively used by
the 800 brewers and uistillers Of this
country and with great profit In some
cases, as hlg4 as I'D per cent OF CDrumeal
Is used with the malt On making beer.
There are now IN operation Iu this
country eleven extensive mills where
corumeal is ground. one mill at Alost /
am informed by the prOprietOrs. has a ca
pacity Of 100000 pounds per year IL is
said that all the mills are crowded at
present
''lu view of the shortage or the cereal
crop in Europe this year. there should be
great effort 70 extend the corn propa-
Eauda- The 3HD.gj1 UJU-busheI mark for
Europe should be reached in 1872 and a
market found for 100000 bushels In this
intensely Industrial country. Belgium
az present furnishes an exceptionally good
field. because OF the Industrial crisis it is
passing through. which uegessitates econ
omy on the part Of the Iaboring classes.
Cooking schools should be held I'm the
large manufacturing centres Of the Con
tnent for several months at q time
where free Instructions could De given the
working classes iu the preparation OF this
most nutritious Of foods. and where sam
pies "f the cooked articles could be- freely
distributed. IN order TO cultivate "a taste
for il. A large proportion Of the common
people Of Europe think corn is only d.
10 feed animals and do not at fire. Ike
the taste Of edIhles made 0f corn meal
The corn propaganda at the Paris Ex-
position in lJ" did good work. but .h-
trouble was il did not reach the MASSES
"i The l-upL, who $50 much need this uu-
tUuGus food IT Is the poorly paid work
ing people Of Europe that should De reach
'a-iAr people who work for from 4H cents
e. CD cents Der day There are millions
ol this class on the Continent and Bel
GUM has more than its proportion who
W"Hla consume much more corn each year
n they were aware Of its value as human
I'M nd ". .r.. rsTr.f