THE USES OF WHEAT PRODUCTS 183 



with other foods, it is invaluable and well deserves 

 its title, " the staff of life." 



Methods of Bread Making. - - In past years bread 

 making was done almost exclusively in the home, 

 but, like many other domestic arts, it has been 

 largely taken over by the factory. The home has, 

 however, only with a great deal of reluctance 

 given up the baking of bread. Until recent years 

 the home-baked loaf was far superior to the prod- 

 uct of the factory. This was shown in the con- 

 tempt that people had for baker's bread and in 

 the delight that patrons of bakeries expressed when 

 afforded an opportunity to eat home-made bread. 

 Though now factory-made bread is usually of excel- 

 lent quality, the reputation of the home-made arti- 

 cle is still superior. The strength of this opinion is 

 shown in the fact that practically every town and 

 city has a bakery using the label ' ' Home-made ' 

 or " Mother's Bread ' for its product. 



Although bakeshops are as old as history, for 

 many centuries there was but little progress in 

 them. Within recent years, however, the baking 

 business has been revolutionized to such an extent 

 that even the men who have been responsible for 

 the rapid changes are still marveling at them. 

 While some bakeries still exist in which there are 

 few indications of progress, in the great majority 

 of cases new and better ways are displacing the 

 old. 



