GRINDING OATS IN SUSSEX. 



131 



Light Brahma, which was much Hked. In the 

 Irish chickens the Rock cross predominates ; in 

 the local, the Light Brahmas (next to the Sussex 

 stock just described). All have gone to white 

 legs on the Sussex ground. The Buiif Orpington 

 is also being introduced, and is much liked : here 

 also we have a measure of Cochin blood in a 

 first-class table fowl. Several had tried the 

 cross between Indian Game and Dorking, and 

 with singular unanimity they did not seem to 

 care for it. They admitted that the produce 

 made the finest fowls, if reared to the proper age 

 and properly fatted ; but the birds did not, they 

 said, suit the average Sussex system, or " pay " 

 so well under it, a point which will be more 

 fully discussed a little farther on. A few were 

 kept for special fowls at the top price. 



We may pass now to the food given to the 

 birds, and first of all under that heading to the 

 ground oats so universally used in Sussex, in 

 which the entire grain is ground up 

 Sussex jfijQ fjj^g meal without taking any 



Oats. of the husk out, yet with no husk at 



all visibly apparent. Writers have 

 discussed whether the Sussex poultry fattening 

 arose from the peculiarly suitable Surrey fowl 

 once common, or whether (as Mr. Rew thinks) 

 the industry created the fowl ; the real fact is 

 that this peculiar meal is the basis of both, and 

 that the poultry industry now dominates the 

 milling of the county, the mills running much 

 more on oats and kindred grains than upon 

 flour.* The more extended production and use 

 of this admirable meal, we are satisfied, is 

 intimately connected with the profitable exten- 

 sion of poultry-feeding into other districts of 

 England ; but many attempts to produce it in 

 other localities have failed, so far as we are 

 aware, and various statements have been made 

 as to the nature of what has been written of 

 as a mysterious secret. Some have said that 

 partially worn stones — neither freshly dressed 

 nor worn down- — are employed ; others that the 

 stones must be very closely run, at great risk of 

 fire ; others that special grain must be used, 

 such as the Russian oats mentioned above. 



The great and general importance of this 

 part of the subject deserved special investiga- 

 tion, and by the aid of introductions kindly 

 furnished us by Mr. C. E. Brooke and several 

 others, and great courtesies shown in response 

 by several Sussex millers, we were enabled to 

 learn everything about this matter in the actual 

 mills, where all was explained to us, and we saw 

 stones dressed, and were able to sketch on the 



* Even in France, it will be seen later on that increase of 

 poultry production has been accompanied by an increase in the 

 area under oats. 



spot the illustration on the next page. None of 

 such explanations as mentioned above are 

 correct, the stones being used quite newly 

 dressed until re-dressing is required, and 

 American oats being ground as often as 

 Russian, both being taken chiefly for cheapness, 

 and English oats being also used, though the 

 black oats common in the county are not 

 suitable for this purpose, giving the flesh a bad 

 colour. We also found distinct difi"erences in 

 the meal produced, and in milling practice, to ( 

 be curiously distinctive of different localities ; 

 and, finally, we found that even in Sussex 

 certain smaller mills turned out samples with 

 considerable husk in it, and that, where this 

 occurred to any extent in the meal used, rearers 

 complained of deaths amongst their very young 

 chickens in consequence. 



Before discussing stones and methods, an- 

 other point requires mention. What is usually 

 sold as "pure" ground oats is not absolutely pure, 

 but contains a certain per-centage of barley. It 

 is not done for economy, for the barley costs as 

 much if not more ; but this grain is so much 

 drier in character, that it assists grinding a great 

 deal. The usual mixture is one sack of barley 

 to eight sacks of oats for what is conventionally 

 called "pure" oats.* This is so little that it 

 would hardly be noticed in a handful of grain 

 casually taken up, and besides the help in 

 grinding, such a mixture is positively preferred 

 and found better as food by most of those who 

 use it. Much beyond this proportion, however, 

 is found to " heat the blood " of the chickens, as 

 it is termed, the birds beginning to peck them- 

 selves and each other, which is most injurious 

 to fattening ; such greater mixtures (not made 

 for economy in grain, but because still easier to 

 grind) are not considered fair if sold as " pure " 

 ground oats. Oats are, however, also ground 

 really pure, but at a rather higher price, because 

 requiring more care as to speed and precise 

 distance of the stones. It will be seen from 

 these facts that a consumer will do well to be 

 definite as to what he is purchasing. 



The really fundamental matter is the dressing 

 of the stones, and Fig. 66 represents a mill-stone 

 as dressed for oat -grinding by the Sussex 

 millers. The stones always used are Peak stones 

 from Derbyshire, and as a rule about four feet 

 in diameter. We found in various mills stones 

 with as few as eight " quarters " or sections, and 

 as many as twelve ; but the ten quarters here 



• In Messrs. Thorpe & Son's latest plant at Rye, by means 

 of a fan attached to the elevator that conveys the meal from 

 the stones, and an "e-xhaust," much of what is termed the 

 " sweat " is carried off, with the result thai it is found that only 

 iV. part of barley need be incorporated. 



