Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1901-08-08
MACARONI WHEAT.
The Staple Food of Great Body OF
Population.

The arid region of this country is
west of the Mississippi and east of the
Rocky mountains, and covers broad
belt from north to south, embracing
western Texas, Indian territory most
of Kansas and Nebraska, and the two
Dakotas. 1t is we'll known that the
soil OF this vast region is very fertile,
lacking only water to make 1t the
richest agricultural country on earth.
But. IN addition to its other extraor-
binary capabilities, the department of
agriculture has just announced it to
be an ideal region for the production
of the kind of wheat from which mac
aroni is made.
Macaroni, which is the staple food of
great bod Of population along the
coasts and islands of the Mediterranean
Sea, is made from wheat peculiarly
rich in gluten, which is that part OF
wheat -four corresponding to the lean
or muscle Of meat, while the starchy
constituent corresponds to the fat. Or
binary wheat -four will not make good
macaroni because it is deficient in glu-
ten.
Gluten, as II Is found in macaroni
is an excellent diet, corresponding in
many respects to lean meat and being
quite as nourishing.
Macaroni wheats differ radically
from the ordinary bread wheats, and
in the field look more like barley than
wheat. The heads are fiat, compressed
and bearded. the bread often being
black; the chaff is usually golden yell
low, but sometimes black; and the
grains are large, hard, yellowish white,
and clear, or, in wheats of the best
quality, sometimes translucent. There
are also occasionally velvet chaff vari-
cites. In Europe they are known sim
ply as hard wheatS, or durum wheatS.
The grain is so much harder than that
of the hardest bread wheats, and in
the best varieties contains an unusual
amount of nitrogen and a correspond
ingly small amount of starch. The
quantity and quality of the gluten
make them exceedingly valuable for
making macaroni. They are extreme
ly resistant to drouth and resist the
attacks of leaf rust and SHUTS to an
unusual degree.
The macaroni wheats at present in
use in Europe are chiefly from the Rus
sian plains or steppes. A commissioner
from the department of agriculture was
sent to Europe, after inspecting the
corresponding region in the United
States, and he found precisely the same
conditions. There is declared to be a
certainty of good demand for all the
hard wheat that can be grown, and the
chief markets are Marseilles, Bordeaux,
Genoa and Naples.
According to the official returns,
about 100000 pounds of foreign mac
aroni is imported TO this country each
year, solely because, being made from
true macaroni wheat. it IS considered
to be of better quality than our do
nestle mac3roni, which is made al
most entirely from bread wheats. More
over, the imported macaroni sells at a
much higher price. Of course, all the
cost of the imported product will be
saved to this country if the farmers
and millers will furnish our factories
with the right kind of material, which
they can easily do, and the factories
are anxious to have the material.
Although these wheats are consid-
cred to be of value chiefly for making
macaroni the idea that they do not
make good bread is quite erroneous.
A very large amount or macaronl wheat
is annually employed in Russia
France, Italy Spain, Greece and other
Mediterranean regions for making
bread, which is considered to be OF
excellent quality, as it is certainly
most valuable as a food product. On
account of its real merits. the con-
sumption of this wheat, rich in gluten
cannot be too great or general.