Loaf

[Deskman]

Is the word flour? It makes sense but I can't see it.

Actually none of it makes sense but that's different!

"To tea at Rectory last night old B. made me roar with
laughter by hopeless kind of way in which he produced
[a] grain of Indian corn from a loaf & asked if it wasn’t
possible to keep it out. He is really very humorous in"

Thanks for any help. Bold text is thanks to help here

[ShaunJ]

..........produced a grain of Indian corn from a loaf.......

[lizdb]

I agree - "from a loaf"  not "flour loaf"

Not sure about the Indian bit, but cant come up with any better suggestion!

[Gadget]

Agree - I  see.

Indian corn from a loaf

The a looks as if it was added/squeezed in  later


Gadget

[ShaunJ]

"Indian corn" was a widely used synonym for maize in the 19th century (and before).

[dobfarm]

' Indian corn from a loaf ' does not make sense but ~ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuBXZaIxRxI does

[ShaunJ]

' Indian corn from a loaf ' does not make sense

It makes perfect sense. Mr B has found a whole grain of maize in his loaf of bread and he wonders why it isn't possible to keep such seeds out of loaves. Obviously not a great believer in roughage in the diet.

NB "Indian Corn" is so-called because it was named by early European settlers in North America, this strain of maize having been developed by indigenous native tribes. Nothing to do with India. (EDIT - apologies to Gadget who must have been typing Reply#8 as I was adding this "NB" to Reply#7)

[Gadget]

Also, Indian is as in North American indigenous people not the Indians who make roti, etc. as in the video link.

Add - http://whynameitthat.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/indian-corn.html
         https://www.britannica.com/plant/corn-plant

and a further addition - a quote from the above link:

Corn was first domesticated by native peoples in Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Native Americans taught European colonists to grow the indigenous grains, and, since its introduction into Europe by Christopher Columbus and other explorers, corn has spread to all areas of the world suitable to its cultivation. It is grown from 58° N latitude in Canada and Russia to 40° S latitude in South America, with a corn crop maturing somewhere in the world nearly every month of the year. It is the most important crop in the United States and is a staple food in many places.

[Deskman]

Apologies for the delay in replying. Thanks for bring clarity SahunJ and thanks everyone else for testing the phrase.

Now I can see "...produced [a] grain of Indian corn from a loaf..." which makes perfect sense. I couldn't read 'of' and couldn't cope with absence of the indefinite article.

Thats neat now.