The Grenada gazette. (Grenada, Miss.) 1885-18??, 1885-10-31
STARCH.M MAKING.
The Various Processes Necessary to Con-
vert Corn Into starch.

STARCH.MAKiNG.
The Various Processes Necessary to Con-
vert Corn Into starch.
Corn is first carried by a belt, or 9th
orwiso, FROM Tie crib to Tie shellei.
After the corn is shelled it is carried to
the cleaner where all the dust and dirt
is removed. 1t is then, by means of an
elevator, deposited in long bins in the
upper story of the mill. By means OF
separate spouts tho corn is then con.
veyed into large 'steep tanks" holding
say six hundred bushels each. After
being covered with hot water it is al.
lowed to remain six days, or until it is
sufficiently soured. 1t is then by a
screw conveyer and elevator taken to
the millstone's hopper. Just before it
reaches this point, it passes through q
revolving wire screen which separates
the corn from the water.
1t is then conveyed to the mills, be.
ing mixed again with water, and, after
going through two sets of four-foot
millstones, it passes below to the
shakers" These are vibrating boxes,
open at one end and covered with a
wire and satin sieve. Here the starch
and gluten are separated from the solid
particles of the corn, which is called
.'coarse feed" This descends into a
well and is pumped up by means of a
powerful force-pump and run off into
watts for its reception where it is drained
and is ready for use.
After passing through the shakers"
the starch and gluten are conveyed to
the 'run-house," receiving on their
way a stream of water. The run
house" is generally a ROOF containing
many troughs about eighteen inches
wide and one hundred feet in length.
These runs are slightly inclosed, and
while passing through them the starch
settles to the bottom, while the watery
part passes off. and is run into the
gluten vat The starch is then con.
veyed to the agitator wells, and being
mixed with cold water, is thoroughly
agitated, by means Of q revolving-rake.
1t is all ready then to bepumped up and
passed through a boiling reel, where all
the impurities are settled, and the pure
starch conveyed, by means of pipes, to
settling tubs. The water is then drawn
of, and the starch, pure and white, is
conveyed to a large receptacle, where
it is placed into the mould-boxos. After
remaining in the mould boxes three tc
four hours it is cut into blocks about six
inches square, lifted to the second floor,
placed on cars and run into the crust
ing-room, where it remains over night.
The next morning the blocks are
scraped, or, rather, the crust cut
off, with sharp knives, and are
wrapped in blue or bronze paper by
one person, at the rate of eight hun
bred packages per hour. These pack
ages are placed on cars with Slated
frames, holding three hundred and
ninety-two packages each. As they are
filled they are run into the dark room,
which is kept at an average temperature
of one hundred and sixty degrees. The
starch is kept here until it is thorough.
ly dried into the prismatic form in
which it is purchased in the market,
These cars are run to a wareroom, and
the packages wrapped in blue paper
are packed in boxes, while those in
brown paper are conveyed to the pack.
er and packed in barrels.
To obtain a superior quality Of starch,
the corn must first be properly stepped,
requiring skill and experience on the
part of the operator: To secure starch
from corn in paying quantities it must
be properly ground. The next impor.
tant point is in the sieving. The smell.
est hole in the sieve will admit impure
matter, which it is hard to eliminate.
Particular attention is required in the
precipitation of the starch on the in
clined plane. In the dry-room great
attention must be paid to the tempera-
ture. One too high will produce a
scorch, and one too low a mold. -Bos-
ton Budget