The
trade of the Miller is important, since by means of
it the first step is taken in preparing wheat for
use. There is no article so well adapted for the
food of man as bread. It contains all the
ingredients necessary for forming and sustaining the
three principal solids of the human body, viz. the
fat, the muscle, and the bone; and hence it is a
wise providence that has scattered wheat so widely
over the earth so that most nations are acquainted
with it in some of its varieties.
Wheat consists of starch and gluten, together with a
little sugar and albumen. It is the business of
the miller to grind the wheat to flour, and
otherwise prepare it for its intended use; and the
building in which he does this is often picturesque
situated by the side of a stream, commanding · a
head of water for turning the water-wheel which
drives the machinery, or the mill may be situated on
a hill or breezy down, where the wind gives motion
to sails which drive the machinery, as in the common
·windmill; or thirdly, if the mill be situated in a
large town, and the horizontal be constricted on an
extensive scale, the steam-engine is the prime
mover.
The
most essential part of a corn-mill is a pair of
millstones, circular in form and placed one above
the other, but not sufficiently near to touch. The
lower or bed-stone is fixed, and from its centre
rises a spindle, on which the upper stone, called
the runner, moves. This spindle is moved by
means of cog-wheels in gear with it, and connected
with the prime mover. In the centre of the upper
stone is a hole, through which the corn passes to be
ground. The flat faces of the stones are cut
into furrows, which allow the flour to escape, as
the wheat is ground by the action of the
stones. The stones are covered in by means of
a large wooden case, opening at the bottom by means
of a shoot into troughs in the floor below.
There are several varieties of flour used in
London: they are known as
(1). Best Flour, or Pastry White
(2). Whites
(3). Households
(4). Number 2 or seconds.
(5). Thirds
(6). Fine Middlings.
There is also Dusting Flour, used to give a fine
colour and texture to the outside of loafs.
Each of the above varieties is produced by the
admixture of several kinds of wheat, well known to
the miller, as the variety of flour is to the
baker. For example: wheat containing much gluten
may be mixed with one that containing an abundance
of starch; a red wheat may be mixed with a white
one; a moist one with one that is dry; and so
on.
The
art of mealing, as it is called, consists in the
judicious choice of wheat and in the proper
arrangement of the machinery, so that the whole of
the flour which the wheat is capable of producing
may be obtained at one grinding. The proper
proportions of the wheat for grinding are mixed in a
bin, after which the grain is passed through a
blowing apparatus in order to separate dust and
light particles. It is next passed through a smut
machine (fig. 98), consisting of iron beaters
enclosed within a skeleton cylindrical frame covered
with wire, the spaces being wide enough to allow the
impurities of the grain to fall through. The
beaters revolve 400 or 500 times in a minute and by
their action against the wires scrub the wheat, and
remove portions of dust, smut, and impurities.
After this, the wheat is passed through a screen,
arranged spirally on a horizontal axis, the
resolutions of which scatter the seeds over the
meshes, and allow small shrivelled seeds to pass
through. The grain is next exposed to a current
of air from a fan, which completes the removal of
chaff, dirt, smutt-ball, etc. The result of all
this elaborate cleaning is greatly to improve the
whiteness of the flour, and also it’s wholesomeness;
and it’s necessity is evident from the accumulation
of impure matter in the cases of the screens. As
the wheat passes from the last cleaning machine, it
falls down a canvas tube into the hopper which
supplies the millstones (fig. 100), where a jigging
kind of motion is kept up, so as to shake the corn
into the trough over the stones in equable
quantities; and so long as this action is going on
properly, a little bell is made to ring, the motion
of which ceases with the supply of wheat.
It has been already stated that the stones are boxed
in to prevent the flour from being scattered by the
centrifugal force of the runner. According to the
old method, this is done very imperfectly, so that
there is considerable loss of flour, which fills the
air of the mill, covers the men, and injures their
health by being continually breathed.
