Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 128, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 June 1918 — HOW CORN IS UTILIZED [ARTICLE]

HOW CORN IS UTILIZED

,•» 1 li’K; ‘ . ’■*' '.HI *’) i M f Numerous Products Are Manufactured From the Raw Material ! ■•it' ( ... 1.. ' ■ -■

| Infoodproduction per acre, corn excels all other staple crops/ In pounds of protein' produced per acre A Is exceeded only by soy beans and beans, says the United States department of agriculture. The great stock feeding and dairy industries of the country are based largely upon the corn crop, as are also important manufacturing industries, such as starch, glucose, corn oil, and related products, various food products, and alcoholic beverages. Corn Is the great feed crop of the nation. Fed with legumes and grasses it jis unequal* ' as an economical raw material for the production of meat, aitf butter. Because its high starch and oil content makes it primarily a fattroducin feed, corn is of almost inestimable value in finishing stock for mhr.-.et. The remarkable development of the pork Industry in this country his b en due to the high feed value and abundant yields of the corn crop. Of all types of stock feeding, the pork industry is associated most closely with the com crop. -■■■•*' 1 ; Of the 85 per cent of the crop consumed on the farm, all except a small/ percentage milled for human food is used for stock feeding. The extent of the dependence of the feeding Industry upon the com yields is indicated by the fairly consistent relationship maintained between com and live-stock prices. By far the greater part of the corn used in feeding is fed as ear cbm, with the dry stalks and blades used aS roughage, either as pasturage in the field or as cut stover. To a less extent the grain is fed in the form or Shelled com, milled products, and various manufactured feedstuffs. Another form in which com is largely fed is silage. Silage, at present, is of more Importance to the dairy Industry than to the stock-feeding industry, but its use in fattening steers is increasing* rapidly. Its most extensive use is found in the sections where dairying is a leading type of farming. While the silo has become a more or less familiar sight to almost every section where com is grown, it is used most extensively in Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, jfew York, and New England. It is used also largely in other states of the cbm belt and In the central Eastern states. Among the common cornmeal dishes eaten in the South are hoe-cake, a mixture of cornmeal and water with or without salt, cooked in a frying pan or griddle.; corn bread or pone, made with the addition of baking powder or its equivalent and baked in the oven; griddle cakes, prepared from a thin batter with the addition of a leavening agent; egg or spoon bread, differing „ifkom ordinary corn bread in that eggs are used; and com dumplings, usually cooked with either meat or vegetables. Cornmeal is used in puddings, waffles, poultry dressing, meat, and fish dishes. In the North, where corn products are consumed to a less extent, the preference is usual!., given to meal made from yellow com, although the socalled hominy (grits) made from white com Is a common breakfast cereal. f Hasty puddin. (corn mush) and Johnny cake (corresponding to the hoecake of the South) have been made in New England households since colonial days. . Indian pudding, a popular dessert prepared from cornmeal, milk, and eggs, has long been regarded as one of the necessary adjuncts to the New England Thanksgivin dinner. . Other'forms in which corn is consumed are grits, consisting of the hard portions of the kernels, but not milled so finely as meal, eaten as a breakfast ■' cereal orbs a side dish with meats; hominy, the same as grits but milled more coarsely ; and lye hominy, or hulled corn, prepared from the whole giain after removal of the hull with caustic soda. The latter products are usually eaten as, dinner dishes and serve largely to replace vegetables. Aside from its direct uses for stock food and for human food, corn is the raw material from which numerous products are manufactured. These products include articles both suitable and not suitable for food purposes. J 2 1 1