to it. For this reason they are wheats which are able to resist continued dry weather and high temperature. These wheats do not grow well in acid soils but flourish best in an alkaline soil of fine texture and well supplied with humus and the necessary plant foods. The largest quantity of macaroni wheat is grown in east and south Russia. These wheats have given very good results in the semi-arid regions of the United States. The appearance of the wheat as it grows in the field is shown in the accompanying plate.
The domestic macaroni is now made in many factories in the United States and there is a continually increasing demand for the domestic article. The hardiest varieties of wheat are used in the manufacture of this article in the United States, especially the hard Kansas winter wheat.
Composition of Domestic Macaroni.—In the table below is given the mean composition of twenty samples of macaroni of domestic origin, made from domestic wheat. In the second column is given the mean composition of five samples of imported macaroni.
Domestic Product. Foreign Product.
Moisture, 10.27 10.32
Fat or ether extract, .40 .35
Crude fiber, .49 .53
Protein, 11.61 12.27
Starch and sugar, 76.52 76.10
Preparation of Flour for Macaroni.—The term Semolina or Semola (Italian) or Semoule (French) is usually applied to the flour used in the manufacture of macaroni. In the United States the flour which is used is obtained by selecting the hardest wheat and preparing the flour in the usual manner. In France and Italy the preparation of semolina is accomplished in separate mills. The devices for grinding are essentially the same as those for producing the best grade flour, the main difference being that the wheat is moistened slightly before grinding and the flour is less fine than ordinary baking flour.
Evidently very slight changes in the method of milling would enable the ordinary mill to produce a fine grade of macaroni flour either from the macaroni wheat or from any very hard glutinous wheat grown in the United States.
Manufacture of Macaroni.—As practiced in the best districts of Italy, macaroni is manufactured according to the following method:[1]
The durum wheat is ground into semola and sieved to remove the starchy part of the grains and leave the clear, light amber, or glutinous part. Three or four grades of quality are made, and these depend on the size of the sieve meshes.
The semola is put into a special iron mixer, shaped like an old-fashioned artillery mortar, except that it is square instead of cylindrical, and furnished in the bottom with special screw-shaped fans with which to stir the paste
- ↑ Fairchild, U. S. Dept. Agr., Bureau of Plant Industry, Bulletin 25.
