The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1880-11-04
Science In Flour Manufacture,

Until recently 1t was believed that the
only thing to be sought for IN the protiuc-
tlon of a good article of flour was more or
less fine dislntegration of the kernels OF
wheat. AS long as mlilers held to the the
ory that grinding was all that was required,
large percentage Of tho flour had its nu-
tritive powers greatly reduced by being
ground to an impalpable dust. Science,
by aid of the microscope, has shown that
no really good bread can be made from
hour'in which any large portion of the
starch globules have been thus broken
down. The rising of bread is due to the
starch glObules which remain whole, whilst
the dust from the disentegrated ones, by
souring, impairs the lightness and sweet.
ness of the loaf. 1t is but recently that
! these facts have been made known to mil
lers, and since that time they have been
dlscarding their old theories and machinery
and devising improvements with the view
to separating the starch globulcs, rather
than pulvcrizing them. Another import
ant advance in this industry consists of an
Improvement In boiling machines. Until
recently the bran was separated from tho
flour by powerful ar blast, which blows
OIL the light particles of bran. Considerable
power is rcquifed for this process, and al
though It is carried Oh in closed room,
there Is not only great waste of the finer
particles OF flour, but the impalpablc dust
pGnetrates every part of the mil and often
gives rise to destructive explosions. BY
recent invention, electricity Is made to
| the wire boiling cloth, which has rapid
reciprocal motion, number Of hard rub
Der cylinders are kept slowly revolving and
rubbing against strips of shecpskn, by
which large amount of fractional electric
ityis evolved. Then, as the middings arc
sieved by the reciprocal motion, tho light
er bran comes to the top, whence, instead
OF being blown away by all air blast, il Is
attractcC to the electricallay charged cylin-
ders, as light substances arc attracted 10 a
piece of paper, or stick of sealing wax
which has been smartly rubbed. The re-
moval OF the bran from the rollers, and It's
deposit on one side, are readily affected,
while the flour is carried in another dlrec-
ticn. The separation is thus made COM
plete, with very little loss of dust. Still
another device has been introduced, to re.
move from the wheat, before being ground,
small pieces Of iron, which, despite the ut
most care, will find their way into the
grain, working great injury to mill ma
chinery. This trouble Is now remedied by
the use of series of magnets, directly under
which all the grain is made to pass. These
magnets readily catch all the stray pieces
of iron from the wire bands used In bind
ing; and they have also revealed the sim
guar tact that, of the scraps of iron and
steel which find their way into the
grain, fully one third are something be-
sides the binding wire. They are Of larger
proportions, of varying character, and
much more hurtful to the machinery than
the wire. Thus i; Is that science is con-
stantly coming to the aid of all the various
industries, tightening the labor of tho
workmcn, decreasing the cost of products,
and in every way improving all the various
processes which arc involved in the i'm
proved and constantly advancing civiliza-
tion of the age