The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom by P. L. Simmonds

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Professor Beck examined thirty-three different samples from various
parts of the United States and Europe, and he gives the preference to
the Kobanga variety from the south of Russia. There would probably be
a prejudice against it in this country, from the natural yellowish hue
of its flour and bread.

The value of the vegetable food, grain, potatoes, rice and apples
exported from the United States within the past few years is thus set
down:--

Dollars.
1847 57,970,356
1848 25,185,647
1849 25,642,362
1850 15,822,273

To this has to be added nine or ten million dollars more for tobacco,
72 million dollars for cotton, and 180,000 dollars for hops and other
minor agricultural staples--making the value of the raw vegetable
exports about 98 million dollars. There is further the value of the
products of the forest, timber, ashes and bark, tar, &c., which are
equal to nearly seven millions more, as shown by the following
figures:--

Dollars.
1847 5,248,928
1848 6,415,297
1849 5,261,766
1850 6,590,037

It appears from an official document of the American Treasury
Department, that the average value of the breadstuffs and provisions
annually exported from the United States from 1821 to 1836 inclusive,
was 12,792,000 dolls.; in 1837 and 1838, about 9,600,000 dolls.; from
1839 to 1846, 16,176,000 dolls.; and for the last seven years as
follows:--

Dollars.
1846 27,701,121
1847 68,701,921
1848 37,472,751
1849 38,155,507
1850 26,051,373
1851 21,948,651
1852 25,857,027

Out of the wheat crop in the United States in 1846 of 110 million
bushels raised, 10 millions were used for seed, starch, &c.; 72
consumed for food, and 28 million exported. The 460 million bushels of
Indian corn raised, were thus disposed of; exported to foreign
countries 22 million bushels; sold to and consumed by non-producers,
100 million; consumed on the farms and plantations of the producers
for human and animal food, seed, &c., 338 million bushels.

The United States now produce about 120 million bushels of wheat, and
nearly 600 million bushels of corn. Their surplus of wheat, for
export, may be taken at 20 million bushels, and of Indian corn an
almost unlimited quantity. They export about one and a quarter million
barrels of flour, and about one million of bushels of wheat to other
markets besides those of Great Britain or her North American colonies,
viz., to Europe, Asia, Africa, the West Indies and South America,
California and Australia, manufactured flour being the article
required for these latter markets. Nearly four million bushels of
Indian corn, and 300,000 barrels of corn meal, are exported from the
United States to the West Indies and other foreign markets.

From the abstracts of statistical returns prepared at the American
Census office, it appears that Pennsylvania, in 1850, was the largest
wheat producing State of the Union. I have had the curiosity to
compare the most prominent States in respect to this crop, and give
them below, with the crop of each, as shown by the returns:--

Bushels.
Pennsylvania 15,482,191
Ohio 14,967,056
Virginia 14,516,900
New York 13,073,000
Michigan 4,918,000
Maryland 4,494,680

That the United States could export 6,000,000 bushels of wheat, and
its equivalent in flour in 1845; 13,000,000 in 1846, 26,000,000 in
1847, and then fell back to 13,000,000 in 1848, and 6,000,000 in 1849,
with their production of wheat constantly increasing throughout this
period, shows a wonderful elasticity, and extensive home market. If
the price of wheat is higher in proportion than for corn, the
Americans export the former and consume the latter; if the demand for
corn be also great, they kill their hogs and export corn, for the pork
will keep. If there be no great demand for either, they eat their
surplus wheat, feed their hogs with the corn, and export pork as
having the greatest value in the least bulk.

DESTINATION OF FLOUR SHIPPED FROM THE UNITED STATES.
-------------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------
WHERE TO. | 1847 | 1849 | 1850 | 1851
-------------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------
Swedish West Indies | 7,366| 7,573| 8,757| 5,315
Danish ditto | 52,150| 49,568| 44,802| 60,102
Dutch East Indies | 1,150| 4,625| 1,600| 1,873
Dutch West Indies | 11,387| 17,221| 18,354| 19,217
Holland and Belgium | 73,871| 727| 1,177| 594
England |2,475,076| 953,815| 369,777|1,004,783
Gibraltar | 23,974| 6,265| 2,543| 195
British East Indies | 3,034| 791| 1,646| 1,600
British West Indies | 320,363| 303,551| 250,776| 294,731
British American Colonies| 272,299| 294,891| 244,072| 252,380
France | 612,641| -- | -- | --
French West Indies | 28,966| 5,554| 5,480| 7,902
Hayti | 40,257| 10,903| 31,504| 43,867
Cuba | 50,046| 7,154| 5,584| 5,611
Spanish West Indies | 17,780| 6,429| 7,074| 2,285
Madeira | 4,856| 4,358| 6,321| 7,006
Cape de Verds | 1,634| 501| 455| 838
Mexico | 5,928| 11,633| 9,736| 14,964
Honduras | 10,686| 4,125| 4,725| 5,912
Central America | 550| 4,180| 746| 2,573
Columbia | 39,403| 32,251| 41,072| 47,477
Brazil | 270,473| 328,129| 295,415| 374,711
Argentine Republic | 10,684| 6,599| 4,901| 22,612
Chili | 5,977| 5,129| 2,848| 4,327
South America | 2,128| -- | 40| 200
West Indies | 4,902| 3,984| 1,702| 4,079
Africa | 25,728| 4,617| 5,524| 5,430
North-west Coast | 764| 1,180| 858| 2,593
Other ports | 29,866| 35,017| 18,949| 19,158
|---------|---------|---------|---------
Total--Barrels |4,382,496|2,108,013|1,385,448|2,202,335
|---------|---------|---------|---------
Average price | 5.95| 5.35| 5.00| 4.77
-------------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------

Wheat, where the soil and the climate are adapted to its growth, and
the requisite progress has been made in its culture, is decidedly
preferred to all other grains, and, next to maize, is the most
important crop in the United States, not only on account of its
general use for bread, but for its safety and convenience for
exportation. It is not known to what country it is indigenous, any
more than any other cultivated cereals, all of which, no doubt, have
been essentially improved by man. By some, wheat is considered to have
been coeval with the creation, as it is known that upwards of a
thousand years before our era it was cultivated, and a superior
variety had been attained. It has steadily followed the progress of
civilisation from the earliest times, in all countries where it would
grow. In 1776 there was entailed upon America an enduring calamity, in
consequence of the introduction of the Hessian or wheat fly, which was
supposed to have been brought from Germany in some straw, employed in
the debarkation of Howe's troops on the west end of Long Island. From
that point the insect gradually spread in various directions, at the
rate of twenty or thirty miles a year, and the wheat of the entire
regions east of the Alleghanies is now more or less infested with the
larva, as well as in large portions of the States bordering on the
Ohio and Mississippi, and on the great Lakes; and so great have been
the ravages of these insects that the cultivation of this grain has in
many places been abandoned.

The geographical range of the wheat region in the Eastern Continent
and Australia, lies principally between the 30th and 60th parallels of
north latitude, and the 30th and 40th degrees south, being chiefly
confined to France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Sicily, Greece, Turkey,
Russia, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Poland, Prussia, Netherlands,
Belgium, Great Britain, Ireland, Northern and Southern Africa,
Tartary, India, China, Australia, Van Diemen's Land, and Japan. Along
the Atlantic portions of the Western Continent, it embraces the tract
lying between the 30th and 50th parallels, and in the country
westward of the Rocky Mountains, one or two more degrees further
north. Along the west coast of South America, as well as in situations
within the torrid zone, sufficiently elevated above the level of the
sea, and properly irrigated by natural or artificial means, abundant
crops are often produced.

The principal districts of the United States in which this important
grain is produced in the greatest abundance, and where it forms a
leading article of commerce, embrace the States of New York, New
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky,
Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin, and Iowa. The chief
varieties cultivated in the Northern and Eastern States are the white
flint, tea, Siberian, bald, Black Sea, and the Italian spring wheat.
In the middle and Western States, the Mediterranean, the Virginia
white May, the blue stem, the Indiana, the Kentucky white bearded, the
old red chafet, and the Talavera. The yield varies from ten to forty
bushels and upwards per acre, weighing, per bushel, from fifty-eight
to sixty-seven pounds.

It appears that on the whole crop of the United States there was a
gain during the ten years ending 1850, of 15,645,373 bushels. The crop
of New England decreased from 2,014,000 to 1,078,000 bushels,
exhibiting a decline of 936,000 bushels, and indicating the attention
of farmers has been much withdrawn from the culture of wheat. Grouping
the States from the Hudson to the Potomac, including the district of
Columbia, it appears that they produced, in 1849, 35,085,000 bushels,
against 29,936,000 in 1839. In Virginia there was an increase of
1,123,000 bushels. These States embrace the oldest wheat-growing
region of the country, and that in which the soil and climate seem to
be adapted to promote the permanent culture of the grain. The increase
of production in the ten years has been 6,272,000 bushels, equal to
15.6 per cent. The area tilled in these States is 36,000,000 acres,
only thirty per cent. of the whole amount returned, while the
proportion of wheat produced is forty-six per cent. In North Carolina
there has been an increase of 170,000 bushels, but in the Southern
States generally there was a considerable decrease. Indiana, Illinois,
Michigan, and Wisconsin contributed to the general aggregate under the
sixth census only 9,800,000 bushels; under the last they are shown to
have produced upwards of 25,000,000 bushels, an amount equal to the
whole increase in the United States for the period.

When we see the growth of wheat keeping pace with the progress of
population in the oldest States of the Union, we need have no
apprehension of a decline in the cultivation of this important crop.

The amount of flour exported from New Jersey in 1751, was 6,424
barrels. From Philadelphia in 1752,125,960 barrels, besides 85,500
bushels of wheat; in 1767, 198,816 barrels, besides 367,500 bushels of
wheat; in 1771, 252,744 barrels. From Savannah, in 1771, 7,200 lbs.
From Virginia, for some years annually preceding the revolution,
800,000 bushels of wheat. The total exports of flour from the United
States:

in 1791 were 619,681 barrels, besides 1,018,339 bushels of wheat;
in 1800, 653,052 barrels, besides 26,853 bushels of wheat;
in 1810, 798,431 barrels, besides 325,924 bushels of wheat;
in 1820-21, 1,056,119 barrels, besides 25,821 bushels of wheat;
in 1830-31, 1,806,529 barrels, besides 408,910 bushels of wheat;
in 1840-41, 1,515,817 barrels, besides 868,585 bushels of wheat;
in 1845-46, 2,289,476 barrels, besides 1,613,795 bushels of wheat;
in 1846-47, 4,382,496 barrels, besides 4,399,951 bushels of wheat;
in 1850-51, 2,202,335 barrels, besides 1,026,725 bushels of wheat.

In the London Exhibition very little wheat was exhibited equal to that
from the United States, especially that from Genessee county, in the
State of New York--a soft white variety, to the exhibitor of which a
prize medal was awarded by the Royal Commissioners. The red
Mediterranean wheat exhibited from the United States attracted much
attention. The wheat from South Australia was probably superior to any
exhibited, while much from the United States fell but little behind,
and was unquestionably next in quality.

From the Second Report on the Breadstuffs of the United States, made
to the Commissioner of Patents, by Lewis C. Beck, M.D., I am induced
to make some extracts. He states:--

The analyses of several samples, the growth of various foreign
countries, have afforded me an opportunity of comparing the American
and foreign wheats and flours. With a few exceptions of peculiar
varieties, it will be seen from the results that with ordinary care
the wheat of this country will compare advantageously with that of
any other. Indeed, on reviewing my analyses, I question whether
there is any part of the world where this grain is generally of a
finer quality than it is in the United States. But all the
advantages which we possess in this respect will be of little avail
so long as inferior and damaged breadstuffs are shipped from our
ports.

In addition to the analyses which I have executed of the various
samples of wheat and wheat flour according to the mode heretofore
pursued, I have performed a series of experiments for the purpose of
settling the important question in regard to the relative value of
the fine flour of wheat, and the "whole meal." I have also consulted
every work within my reach which could throw any light upon the
different points that have presented themselves during the progress
of the investigation.

The large number of samples of wheat and wheat flour which have been
placed in my hands for examination, have left me no time for the
analysis of our other breadstuffs.

It cannot be denied that the amount shipped to foreign ports during
1849 is considerably less than for the two preceding years. In the
meantime, however, a new and important market has been opened in our
territories on the Pacific. It may also be safely affirmed that the
causes for foreign demand, and which must hereafter operate, still
remain. These are the cheapness of land in this country, and the
peculiar adaptation of our soil and climate to the growth of the two
important cereals, wheat and maize.

Another fact, it seems to me, is of sufficient interest in
connection with this subject, to be here noticed. The failure of the
potato crop in various parts of the world for several years past has
engaged the attention of scientific and practical men.
Unfortunately, the nature of the blight which has seized upon this
tuber has eluded the most careful inquiries; but it has been shown
by well-conducted analyses that potatoes at their late prices are
the most expensive kind of farinaceous food. This will be evident
from the following statement:--

"Potatoes contain from about seventy to seventy-nine per cent. of
water, while the proportion in wheat flour is from twelve to
fourteen per cent; and while the gluten and albumen in potatoes
scarcely rise to one per cent., in wheat flour the range may be set
down at from nine to thirteen per cent. Again, the non-nitrogenous
principles are as about seventy-five per cent. in wheat flour
against fifteen or sixteen in potatoes. In short, whilst potatoes
supply only twenty per cent. of heat-forming and nutritious
principles, taken together, wheat supplies more than seventy per
cent. of the former, and more than tea of the latter. The value of
wheat to potatoes, therefore, is at least four to one; or, if wheat
sells at fifteen shillings sterling per cwt., potatoes to be equally
cheap, ought to sell at between three and four shillings."

The preceding results, for which I am principally indebted to Dr.
Daubeny, Professor of Chemistry at Oxford,[25] show that unless a
great change occurs in the culture of the potato, there must be an
increased demand for other kinds of farinaceous food. And it is
worthy of notice that while this blight is one of the causes which
bring to our shores the starving population of Europe, the raising
of the cereals not only furnishes profitable employment to the
emigrant, but enables him to make the best return to those who are
still obliged to remain.

_Adaptation of the soil and climate of the United States to the
culture of the cereals_.--That the soil and climate of many portions
of the United States are well adapted to the cultivation of the more
important cereals, is fully shown by the results of all the
researches which have thus far been prosecuted. I have indeed seen
it asserted that the climate of England is the best for the
cultivation of wheat, and preferable to any in our country; its
humidity being the peculiarity to which this superiority is
ascribed.[26] But this is undoubtedly the testimony of a too partial
witness. A recent statement by an English author is the result of a
more correct knowledge of the facts. He acknowledges that there is
no ground for the expectation which has been entertained concerning
the advantageous growth of maize in England. "Nor is ours," says he,
"the most favorable country for wheat, but skill in husbandry has
overcome great difficulties."[27] The mistake on this subject may
have originated from the occurrence of a larger and plumper grain in
the more humid climate; but analysis shows that the small grain
raised in the hotter and drier air oftentimes greatly surpasses the
former in its nutritious value.

Russia is said to be the great rival of this country in the growth
of wheat, but I think it doubtful whether she possesses superior
natural advantages; and I am sure she will find it difficult to
compete with the industry and skill which here characterize the
operations of husbandry, and the manufacture and shipment of
breadstuffs.

_Export of sophisticated and damaged flour_.--It is a matter of deep
regret that circumstances have occurred which must have a most
injurious influence upon the trade in breadstuffs between this
country and Great Britain. I refer to the mixtures of damaged,
inferior, and good kinds of flour, which it appears on authentic
testimony have been largely exported during the past year. Whether
this fraudulent operation, which is said to have been principally
confined to New York, is the result of the change in the inspection
laws, as some assert, I am unable to say. But it requires no great
foresight to predict that, if continued, it will create a distrust
of our breadstuffs in foreign ports which it will be very difficult
to remove. It cannot but excite the indignation of the many
honorable dealers, that the unworthy cupidity of a few individuals
should lead to such disastrous consequences.

I have as yet been unable to obtain samples of these sophisticated
flours, and the only information which I have in regard to them is
the general fact above stated, and concerning the truth of which
there can be little doubt. No means should be left untried to
devise some mode by which these frauds can be easily and certainly
detected.

_Injury sustained by breadstuffs during their transport and
shipment._--During the past year, I have had abundant means of
determining the nature of the injuries which are often sustained by
our breadstuffs in their transport from the particular districts in
which they are grown and manufactured to our commercial depots, and
in their shipment to foreign ports. As this is one of the most
important points connected with these researches, I have devoted
much time to its investigation. From the results of numerous
analyses, I think it may be safely asserted, that of the wheat flour
which arrives in England from various ports of the United States, a
large proportion is more or less injured during the voyage. The same
remark may be made in regard to many of the samples sent from the
Western States to the city of New York. Their nutritive value is
considerably impaired, and without more care than is usually
exercised, they are entirely unfit for export.

In my former report, I adverted to one of the great causes of the
deterioration which our breadstuffs often suffer during their
transport and shipment. This was the undue proportion of the great
disorganizing substance, water, under the influence of what usually
occurs, viz., an elevation of temperature above the ordinary
standard. My recent investigations have served only to strengthen
these views. There is no doubt that these are the conditions which
cause the change of the non-nitrogenous principles into acids (the
lactic or acetic), while a portion of the gluten is thus also
consumed.

I have tried a series of experiments in reference to the action of
moisture upon various samples of wheat and wheat flour. The samples
were placed for twelve hours in the oven of a bath with a double
casing, containing a boiling saturated solution of common salt, the
temperature of which was about 220 deg. Fahr. Subjected to this
test,

100 grains of Milwaukie wheat lost 12.10 grains.
" " Guilderland (Holland) wheat lost 9.35 "
" " Polish Odessa red wheat " 10.55 "
" " Soft Russian wheat " 8.55 "
" " Kobanga wheat " 8.15 "

After an exposure of the dried samples to the air for two or three
days, they increased in weight from one to three grains in the
hundred originally employed.

Nineteen different samples of wheat flour, which lost by exposure to
the above heat from ten to fourteen grains in the one hundred, when
similarly exposed to the air for eighteen hours, again increased in
weight from 8.40 to 11.60 in the hundred grains originally employed.

These experiments show, what might indeed have been predicted as to
the general result, that wheat in grain, if not less liable to
injury than flour, yet if once properly dried, suffers much less
from a subsequent exposure to air and moisture.

It is now ascertained that in presence of a considerable proportion
of water, wheat flour under the influence of heat undergoes a low
degree at least of lactic fermentation, which will account for the
_souring_ of the ordinary samples when exposed to warm or humid
climates. The same result will inevitably follow from their careless
exposure in the holds of vessels. That this is particularly the case
with many of the cargoes of wheat flour shipped to Great Britain,
there is little reason to doubt. This may be partly owing to the
great humidity of the English climate, as the deterioration is
observed as well in the flour which is the produce of that country
as in that which is received from abroad.

It is stated by Mr. Edlin, quoted in an article on Baking, in the
_Encyclopaedia Britannica_, that, "as a general rule, the London
flour" is decidedly bad. The gluten generally wants the adhesiveness
which characterizes the gluten of good wheat."

I have observed that, in the analyses of some of the samples of
damaged flour, the proportions of what is set down under the head of
glucose and dextrine are unusually large. This is perhaps due to the
change produced in the starch by the action of diastase, and which
may under certain circumstances be formed in wheat flour. It would
seem, according to M. Guerin, that starch may thus be acted on even
at slightly elevated temperatures. In one of his experiments, at a
temperature no higher than 68 deg. Fahr., a quantity of starch, at
the end of twenty-four hours, was converted into syrup, which
yielded seventy-seven per cent. of saccharine matter.[28] It may be
thought that I have overrated the importance of this subject, but it
is believed that a careful examination of the facts will relieve me
from this charge. I am now satisfied that, if the proportion of
water in our exported breadstuffs could be reduced to about five or
six per cent., one of the great causes of complaint in regard to
them would be completely removed.