The Millbuj of Wheat in the Cnited K'uuidom. .'>5 



from the same wheat. From the semolina of high specific 

 gravity and almost free from husk, come the high grade flours 

 of commerce ; from the later grindings of those particles when 

 the proportion of husk is greatly increased by the previous 

 abstractions of flour, also from those primary particles which 

 contain much husk, and from the original grindings of the 

 wheat, come the lower grade flours. The highest grade bread 

 flours of commerce are not made from very starchy wheats. 

 Thej' must contain a large proportion of nitrogenous matter, 

 or they would not yield large well-aerated loaves. The white- 

 ness or brightness of such bread is due largely to the fact that 

 the flour used has been produced from the semolina freest 

 from husk. 



Furthermore, it is wrong to say that these highest grade 

 flours have been very finely " dressed," for there is no necessity 

 to use a sifting medium of very fine mesh, having regard to 

 the fact that the semolinas from which they are produced are 

 themselves so free from husk. It is nevertheless true that the 

 highest grade flours do contain, as a rule, slightly less nitro- 

 genous matter than the lower grade flours produced from the 

 same wheat. They also contain less phosphates than the 

 corresponding lower grade flours, but the phosphates which are 

 in the former appear to be of superior quality. I will not 

 elaborate that detail, for space is almost exhausted, nor will I 

 enter into the question as to whether nitrogenous matter and 

 phosphates contained in wheaten husk are of high or important 

 food value, but assuming for present purposes that everything 

 said by food reformers is true, and that we may take the 

 higher nitrogen and phosphate (P2O5) figures of lower grade 

 flours at their face value, I still maintain that modern develop- 

 ments of flour milling are good. 



Assuming that the whole 70 per cent, of the cleaned wheat 

 ordinarily produced as white flour went into one grade, the 

 price of it on any one day would be a certain figure, say for 

 the sake of illustration 30s. per sack. But if the flour be 

 divided up into two grades and half of it realises say 32s., the 

 price of the remaining half of lower quality would be 28s., 

 and the miller would obtain the same return. If this lowering 

 of the price of the " households " quality meant that poorer 

 people obtained dietetically the worse article, food reformers 

 or the poorer people themselves would have some cause for 

 complaint, but the very opposite is the case, as we have seen 

 or assumed. But people who can afford a higher price for 

 bread and flour live on a mixed or highly mixed diet, and in 

 all probability obtain from meat, fish, eggs, and other sources 

 all the nitrogenous and phosphatic materials they require. 

 The instinctive preference for the whitest bread may be 



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