On Malting. IBS 



fordshlre malts, they urge no complaint against that quarter, 

 or appear to consider ihe niallsters there as at all ihcir rivals; 

 but thev speak of being greatly injured by what ihey call the 

 low country and coast maltsters ; and they all adn-.it that the 

 inferior priced malts made there can only arise from fraud 

 and watering, admiituig, certainly, that their own fraud* 

 have been juppresstd while the others are still going on. 



Havins:; thus had opporlunil'.es of personally examining 

 the two different modes of manutacturing malt, 1 can now 

 speak more confidently on the practical merits of each. la 

 Hertfordshire they are endeavourins to preserve all the sub- 

 stance they possibly can in the malt f^r the purpose of ob- 

 taining weight, whereas in the west they are purposely 

 driving the substance out of the gram, in order to blow up 

 the bulk of the malt. Both objects admit of dff' rent de- 

 grees of abuse. In Hertfordshire I could observe that some 

 of the maltsters were taking their iualt too early to tbe kiln, 

 and were drying it there less perfectly than it ought in both 

 cases to promote its weight. In the west, besides wasting 

 the corn by running out a second root, the acrospire was 

 allowed to shoot up out of the grain, ni order that it might 

 spread over the back and increase the measure. It is also 

 material to remark, that the lighter the malt is, the less it 

 •will press down in the bushel, and thereby measure the 

 more. The Hertfordshire abuse has its limits, and can 

 never extend to any mischievous length without defeating 

 itself, but the watering abuse supports itself by the emolu- 

 ment rising in a nearly proportionate ratio. 



Of the relative values of the respective mdls it would be 

 simple to make a question ; it is even decided by the very 

 principles upon which the two parties proceed : the one la- 

 bours to preserve the substance of the malt, the other pur- 

 posely to dissipate it. The emolument of the former hangs 

 on the specific gravity of the commodity, and that of the 

 latter on its levity. 



The practice of watering upon the floors, I httml.ilv pre- 

 sume, has never had or can have anv other object in view 

 than that of the individual interest of the maltster, and as the 

 sacrifice which he makes in the Jight and impoverished arti- 

 cle 



