WAR BREAD AND ITS CONSTITUENTS 29 



however, still remains in the form of particles which 

 are more or less coarse. This fraction undergoes a 

 second " break' process, passing between grooved 

 rollers which are nearer together than those used for 

 the first break, and usually have finer grooves. They 

 run, as before, at unequal velocities. A second " re- 

 duction" follows, then a third break, and maybe, even 

 a fourth, with the rollers coming each time closer 

 together. Each break is followed by a reduction, and 

 separation always follows both. Flour or husk which 

 comes out fine enough at any one stage is not passed 

 on to the next, so that waste of power is avoided. 

 The small amount of flour obtained at the first break 

 is of inferior quality, and is apt to be a little dirty, 

 because the fold or furrow which runs along the 

 surface of the seed tends to retain dust or dirt, and 

 this is not removable before the wheat has been torn 

 by the first pair of cylinders. The first reduction, on 

 the other hand, yields a large quantity of fine white 

 flour, which comes upon the market as ''patents". 

 The immediately succeeding stages also yield high- 

 quality flour, but the latest breaks and reductions 

 give products containing a good deal of husk, and 

 are known as " seconds". When the patents or 

 4 'extras" are mixed with the seconds we have 

 "straight-grade' flour, which contains about 70 per 

 cent of the whole wheat berry. 



What I have been able to say can give, of course, 

 only a very inadequate understanding of the milling- 

 process to those who have not seen it; but it is 

 perhaps enough to show that it has reached great 

 perfection. It is interesting to remember that its 

 remarkable development was stimulated, at any rate 

 at first, not so much by the demands of the consumer 

 as by the special properties of certain wheats. The 

 flours which are considered by the trade, and, for 



