Litchfield enquirer., 1879-11-20
peculiar thing in the whole story p said l. 'tWell?"
 Sending back your cheque l"-LOTsd0D S0ciRtu
Patent Flour.

The value of wheat, in making flour, con- sists largely in the amount of gluten contained in it. That white Winter-wheat raised in northern Missouri, southern Illinois and belt of country in the same latitude, contains large percentage of suchigluten and is corres- pondingly valued for flour making, while the Winter r-wheat of Wisconsin and Minnesota is greatly lacking in that important part. The softer kinds of Spring wheat also lack in this gluten, and are largely composed of starchy matter. s..
 But the wheat that COT tains the largest per centage of this valuable part, is the "Fife" or fiinty Spring wheat raised in Minnesota and Wisconsin. For years it was considered the poorest wheat that millers encountered, on &C., count of it's brittle and f1inty quality, causing it when put under the millstones to break up the bran, thereby making dark four. But since the discovery of the thew process" for making flour, that variety of wheat has increas- ed in favor and demand until it now con- mands the highest price, and Chicago has had to establish special grade for it, viz: 'sNorth- western" wheat. All of the best grades of the patent or thew process" four now SO popular are made from this class of wheat.
 This new process milling is process of re- peated granulations and cleanings rather than of grinding. By the old process or manner of making flour, which was to grind the wheat as
 
 through the fine bolting- cloths and not incur any loss, the impurities in and on the grain of wheat were necessarily ground to powder and bolted in with the flour, while large per- centage of the gluten of the wheat, which IS the hardest portion of the grain, being next to the bran, as we'll as the most nutritious part, on account of its hardness, would not grind as fine as the softer or starchy parts of the wheat, and consequently would not pass fho hOlf 10th but off into the taillngs or what is commonly known as middlings, used for feed.
 It was known to millers, for years, that this loss of the best part of the wheat was coutlnu- ally occurring, but no successful way of stop ping 1t was discovered until the invention of the ''niddlings purifiers" They have con- pletely revolutioniZed the manner of milling.
 Now, millstones are so constructed and ''dressed" as not to grind so fine, but rather to granulate the particles of wheat. In that process of granulatiOn there is, of course, some portion of the wheat that will be reduced so fine as to be flour. This is taken from it, leaving a collection of what millers call ''un- purified middlings," it being that portion of the wheat that has been granulated, but 1t is mixed with impurities in the shape of small or fine portions of bran, the fuzz that is on all wheat etc.
 These are all removed by passing the mid- ulIuSS tuTOuSu Lue puIlHoIS, SuOJOCUuS them to boiling process, during which sec tion of air passes through them, it being so closely adjusted as to perform an almost per feet separation by weighing the particles, the genuine middlings being heavy, pass down, while the impurities, being light, are lifted out by the air.
 The result is purified middlings," which are like granulated sugar, only, of course, some- what finer. This is then again ground into finer granules and bolted through finer cloth, making the 'patent'' or thew process" flour. You see it is granulatIon and purification all through. To destroy the granules of flour is to destroy the flour, for however fine we grind the flour the grain must not be destroyed It must have ''grit" to be good.
 Wheat containing large amount of gluten will make what bakers and millersc call ''strong" flour It means that there is strength enough in the dough, when the gases from the yeast expand it into little cells to hold it there until it is secured by baking. This makes light bread. Then the gluten is also very dry, ab- sorbing a large quantity of water, making from forty to sixty per cent more bread than flour made from softer wheats. This compen- sates somewhat for the increased cost of such grades of four
 Of bread making can say but little, but have heard it remarked frequently that with good, patent flour, it is almost impossible to make poor bread Young FOLts Rural.