, 1882-07-21
FIGURING Mills,

The difference between the mills now
used for the manufacture of -four and
those of half century ago are rs marked
rs those between the modern wooden
mill and the old. fashioned loom in which
homespun cloth was manufactured for
the purpose OF providing stout and SER
viceable garments to clothe the hard
working farmer and his sons. In an
cient times wheaton bread was the ex-
ception the daily bread of the rural
household was made of rye and Indian
corn. Two or three bushels of wheat
was regarded MS n sufficient allowance
for moderate family, and that ground
into flour was kept for such state occa-
sions as cuttings. weddings, Thanks
giving anu other holidays, when the
good wife was wont to exercise her Gull
nary skill III compounding shoItcake to
grace the bountifully-spread table. 1t
was also considered the proper thing to
have loaf or two of wheat bread on
hand in the house should the clergyman
or other respected visitor come to take
tea. The grinding of the wheat was
usually matter Of considerable solici-
tude on the part of the owner of the
grist. A hr>hel or two was measured up
in bag and thrown acros, the back Oft
gentle aud trusty farmhouse, and the
owner would wend his way to the grist
mill, where, while waiting for it to be
ground, he would have an opportunity
to indulge in little social gossip with
the dusty coated miller, who WAS Z ,u-
orally well posted in ull the local news.
The miller, having satisfied the farmer
that the run of stone was perfectly clean
and that there WAS no danger Of un nd
mixture of rye flour or corn meal, the
wheat would be Transferred To the hop.
per and ground; aud, when finished,
The f.rmer would ioyiully wenl his way
hOmeward, knowing that the good wife
would test the fiom on his arrival
and that his chances were favorable for
an excellent supper Of shortcake and
golden butter. Ibis WIS the grist mill
Of early days.
The modern Touring mill is q huge
structure, employing many men, and the
wheat is turned into flour by the freight
train loaded daily. One Of the monster
mills i'll Minneapolis, MINI, covers an
area of $50 by 50 feet, and is several
stories in height. Its capacity is 4,20O
bushels of wheat, or fifty carloads, to
keep the mill III operation. 1t does not
depend upon the ol,l-fishioned burr mill
stones to convert the wheat into Hour,
but the process of manufacture is to first
run the wheat through IL brushing ma
chine, the old-fashioned smut machines
having been discarded. After the wheat
has been cleaned by being run through
the brush machine, it is run through
corrugatsd IRON rollers, which split the
crease uf tlae berry open, thus liberatipg
the dust which lies III the crease, 80 that
1t can he removed by holting. A very
small percentage OF low-grude flour is
made during this first redu :tion. The
gruin then passes through q process
technically known rs q scalping reel, to
remove the dirt and -four, after which it
passes through second set OF corrugated
rollers, hy whi;h it is further broken.
Then it is passed through second reel,
which removes the flour and middlings.
This operation is repeated successively
until the flour portion of the berry il
entirely removed from the bran, the
necessary separations being made after
each reduction, sometimes requiring five
or six. The middlings from the several
operations are reduced to flour, after be-
ing run through the purifiers, by sue
cessive reductions, on smooth iron or
porcelain rollers. One of the principal
objects sought hy this system of grind
ing is to avoid all bruising OF the grain;
another, to extract all the dirt from the
crease OF the berry; and third, to thor
oughly free the bran from the flour. in
oreier to obtain AS large yield as posi-.
hie.-AEaaY EVening Times.