The Democratic advocate., 1904-03-05
Modern Flour Milling.
From the Scientific American,

bread and its supreme importance is indl
Gated by the fact that in all ages it has been
considered as the symbol of food The mill
ing of cereals is of great antiquity, and tits to
Egypt. that great granary of the ancient world.
that we owe the manufacture of -four, which
was first brought TO comparative perfection in
the Nile Valley, aud We know that in Roman
times it was the great center of the world s
supply. Strange to say, il is only within the
memory of those still living that any substan-
tial improvement was made.
Having described in several articles the
wheat farms of the West. where the most
powerful agricultural machinery in the world
is at work, it is time to consider how the vast
acreage of wheat is made useful to man by
producing a manufactured article-hour-
from the raw material-wheat. We have Sc
lected the largest mills in the world, those of
the Washburn Crosby Company, of Mime
apolis, Mimi. which have daily capacity of
80, 600 barrels of -four, consuming l25, 900
bushels of wheat day, or over 1876 carloads,
the product of 10 600 acres, or Is square miles
somewhat complicated subject Of milling, it
would be well perhaps 10 consider the grain
of wheat in the abstract. and the real nature
of -four, concerning which there is much mis-
information. Wheat is sown early in the year,
as it is peculiarly hardy grain, thriving even
in the cold Northwest. The seed is forced
into the plowed and narrowed ground by a
''seed pillow" and in short time the germ in
the kernel begins TO vitaEze, and shortly we
see the small green shoot, indicative of the
round of natures processes. From April TO
August its young life is menaced by many
dangers, but it is hardy. and battles with its
foes-heat, cold, humidity and insects-until
at last it ripens and invites the sharp snip
snip Of the reaper aud binder. The ihreshers
follow, separating the beautiful kernels from
the yellow straw, thus reducing an enormously
bulky crop to one which can be easily stored
and transported by mechanical means at low
expense. 1t is retained in elevators or sent
directly to the mill. All wheat is not worth
the same price; some farmers allow the ,ares
to grow up, and stunt the rugged growth Of
the grain, or other kernels may become mixed
with it, The chemist now comes in and ana
lyzes the samples, and decides what shall be
bought and the market fixes the price.
The great elevators, may store the grain
of thousands of farmers, but sooner or later
the carefully graded kernels arrive at the mills
in carloads containing 700 to 1900 bushels
each. The grain doors are torn down, and
with the aid of steam shovels it Is precipiiated
into chute, whence it is transported 10 the
top of the mill. where it is weighed in large
hopper scales by deputy State weigher 1t
is then elevated into storage bins, where 1t is
blended to secure an absolutely uniform pro
duct
Now the wheat grain is peculi-r. and is
more complex than is generally supposed.
Its outer hull or cellulosic coat is composed
of FIVE layers, and beginning with the outside
is known as the epidermis, epicarp, endooarp,
tesla aud inner coat of bran. Leaving these
botanical considerations to the botanist, the
miller takes upon himself the entire separation
of these coats from the inner starch and gluten
producing cells inclosed. The germ IS
useful as a breakfast food, but not for milling,
as it mpsirs the keeping qualities Of the -four.
Besides the starch cells there are gliaden and
glutenin cells; the lalIer two when combined
with water form gluten, which gives the -four
much of its value as food. The milling pro-
cesses must now remove the bran coats and
crush the gluten and starch TO a soft powder
of great fineness, and this Is only accomplished
BY a series of operations which are interde-
pendent. At this point, however. it might be
well to call attention TO popular error. Flour
is not dust or pulverized wheat; it really con
sists Of sharp grannles Of uniform size. com
posed of starch and z uten, all impurities hav.
ing been removed. The thought might arise
to what is known as whole wheat -four,
which created snch widespread interest a lew
years ago, on account Of its alleged great
nu,ritve value over white or ''pateHi" hour.
1t is perfectly true that the germ aud bran
have food value, aud if the human stomach
were capable Of performing all the operations
of the miller. this could be utilized. There Is
in the body Of 1t. bat who can eat an equal
weight of the former without the stomach's
rebelliug? A nalritive substance is not always
a digestive one. We give -four 10 men
aud women and bran 80 caitle. and all thrive,
but. a man Is no stronger than his stomach.
Milling is not done to make a white -four, but
to make a food product which will be easily
assimilated We left The graded aud blended
grain in storage bias. Il now goes into sep
arator. which ia brief consists OF two sleeves Of
perforated metal, those in the upper Que he
ing large enough to allow the wheat to pass
through, while the largest seeds, such a. bar
ley, oats, ETC., which are larger than the wheat.
are retained as screenings The perfora-
tions in the lower sieve are smaller than the
wheat kernel, so that all the smai seeds, such
as wild buekwheat or mustard seed, eau pass
through, the wheat being retained. The wheat
then passes into seourer, which consists es-
sentially Of perforated cylinder, inside Of
which are besters, revolving rapidly around
vertical shaft. The wheat being fed in at the
top is caught by The beaters. and brushed
against the cylinder.
In order 10 get the grain to uniform tenn
perature. il is run through wheat heaters.
which are of several types, the wheat passing
over coils heated by steam. Ii is then stored
in tempering bins, which equalize the heat.
From there il passes through an automatic
registering scale, and to the first set of rolls.
Millslones were formerly used. and still are
for some grades of -four These burr stones.
as they are called, are about four or five feet
in diameter, and consist OF bed stone and
top stone or runner" The upper stone re
wolves on a spindle, and the stock is fed in
between the two stones and is crushed-which
is the trouble The entire wheat kernel does
not want TO be crushed, but the interior con
tents must be shelled out, crushing the halls
as little as possible. This can only be done
by gradual reduction of the wheat between
corrugated steel rolls. The roller mill con
sists of a frame carrying Two pairs of steel
rolls. one roll of each pair being revoIved in
direction opposite TO the other. The rolls
run at different speeds by means of differential
belts. The prepared grain is fed between the
rolls, striking the slow rolls first, and is then
cut by the fast roll, so as to shell out the con
tents. The broken kernel is then elevated to
a sieve machine called ''scalper," which