Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1886-06-18
How Flour In Made.

Here is the mill. What a noisy, dus-
ry place, and what a perfect maze Of
machinery and men flying hither and
thither; but We will soon understand
this. When the wheat gets here 1t has
liz it oats, corn, rye and various weed
seeds; besides, many harvesters bind
with wire, and these bands are cut in
small pieces by the threshers. All
these foreign substances must be re-
moved before grinding. For long
time the bits OF wire bafiled every en-
deavor to remove them; finally brigh.
man invented machine which does 1t
without missing n wire. This consists
Of an inclined sheet Of zinc, under the
lower edge Of which is placed row Of
magnets; over this the wheat flows In 4
thin, golden stream; the magnets hold
every wire, which the scraper pushes
to one side. After this the wheat goes
to the oat separator, large cylinder In
the inner surface of which are pressed
dents just large enough to hold grain
Of wheat, but not sufficient size to al.
low of the entrance Of oats or corn.
The wheat runs into this cylinder,
drops into these hollows, and is carried
up one side as the cylinder revolves.
A brush is placed part way up the
side, just touching the cylinder; this
catches the oats and corn, butthe wheat
grains being in the cavities pass on,
while the oats drop to the bottom. As
soon as the wheat reaches given point
it falls on a series OF sieves like those of
tanning mill. The cookie separator Ia
the same in principle as the oat ma
chine, the difference being the cookie
seed are smaller than the wheat, and
the dents are made Of corresponding
size; thus the wheat can not fall into
the dents.
Next 1t goes to the shutter, which
clears it of all smut, and last Is the
Becker brush, in which the grain goes
through brushes which remove all the
dust and dirt and rubs of the fuzz, leav-
ing only the dirt in the crease Of the
kernel. Now it is ready TO be ground.
The wheat goes to the first reduction
rolls, of which there are eight sets
placed side by side, having eight cor
rugations in each roll. The second set
has twelve, and so on, increasing by
four to six, which has twenty-eight.
In passing through the first set the
wheat is cracked, the dirt in the crease
released and some Hour made; this now
goes to the upper story where it passes
over a wire cloth called a sculper; all
the flour and dirt here pass through the
cloth and form the lowest grade OF -four.
This is hardly fit for bread, but 1t Is
sometimes used for that purpose. The
cracked wheat now goes 10 the second
series of rolls and sculper, and again
the third, so continuing until the fifth,
each time higher grade of flour being
taken out. The middlings are now ia
Ike n to the purifier, where all the impu-
rites are winnowed out, which leaves
them ready to be ground; this is done
by running between porcelain rolls,
after which it goes to the bolts; the
flour passes throughlleaving still por-
ton to be ground again; this last part
is ground with brushes and bolted. AT
the sixth reduction the bran is carried
to the bran duster, where the adheriDg
flour Is separated from It, which Is car
ried to the lowest grade. The bran Is
conveyed to room and prepared for
shipment. While going through the
middlings-purifer portion Of the -four
is forced into the dust room. The con-
tents of this room are afterward re-
ground, and -four is carried to the low