Referring to the enquiry as to the purchase of grain, he
reports that large quantities of wheat were generally kept on sale at
Malta. As to quality, he says, Odessa wheat is hard and good, but can
only be ground by "lava stones;" Egyptian inferior, the biscuit made
from it not being liked; oats were to be had in abundance; barley
scarcer, but both of good quality. Mr. Trevelyan, on the part of the
Treasury, writes back in these terms to Deputy Commissary-General
Ibbotson: "It is my wish that a considerable quantity of grain should be
purchased at once, consisting altogether of Indian corn, if it is to be
procured, or, if not, partly of Indian corn, and partly of barley, oats,
and _wheat of an inferior_, but wholesome quality."[171]
In compliance with this order, a purchase of five hundred salms, or
quarters, of Indian corn was at once made, and the mills were set to
work; but there were not such stocks of grain in Malta as reported at
first, and once again the Secretary of the Treasury expresses his
suspicions that the French had been making food purchases in the
Mediterranean.[172]
To enable the people to be, to some extent, independent of mill-power,
it occurred to the authorities to revive the use of the old Irish
hand-mill, or quern.
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