THE CARE OF FLOUR AND GRAINS IN THE TROPICS.
By Isadora Spies
(Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.) Very few persons here bake their own bread, because they think it must be made fresh every day. But I have no trouble in making good, sweet bread, which will keep one week at any time in the year. I recommend all to follow the instructions given in the REVIEW of December 12. And I would add that I have found it a good plan the first bright day after, or during, the rainy season (if it lasts two weeks, as it does sometimes), to spread the flour in the sun; or, if I have not a great quantity on hand, dry it in the oven. Corn meal will keep quite a length of time if sifted and slightly roasted before putting it away. It should be kept in a tin can. Rice and barley are also much better if slightly roasted. All grains, if put away without heating, will be found woven together in balls in a short time. Many of the farmers treat their beans to a thorough heating as soon as harvested. We found that graham flour is an unknown thing here. But at the flour mills we bought wheat; and, after a thorough heating, put it away in tin cans, to be ground in a hand mill when needed. Thus, with a little attention, bread, which should be the principal food in a vegetarian family, may always be nourishing and palatable.