280 



THE BOOK OF WHEAT 



hundred pounds were about the same for grain and flour, it 

 was comparatively less expensive to ship flour than wheat, for 

 an equal weight of flour had the greater value. This was 

 true in both the domestic and foreign trade. On the other 

 hand, it has been maintained that transportation companies can 

 ship and handle wheat more easily and cheaply than flour, and 

 that consequently there is a tendency for foreign countries to 

 buy our wheat and manufacture it into flour themselves. 

 Chicago annually grinds between four and five million bushels 

 of wheat, which is about one-seventh of its total receipts. 



The rank as to production of flour in 1900 of the twelve chief 

 flour-producing states of the United States was, in decreasing 

 order of importance: Minnesota, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, New 

 York, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Kansas, Michigan, 

 Tennessee and Kentucky. In portions of the south, it is 

 thought that wheat growing would become more profitable and 

 would increase, if local flour mills were established. There 

 are some roller mills in northwestern Georgia, and even in 

 central Georgia, but an increase in milling capacity would in- 

 crease the demand for wheat. 



In the table below is shown the flour milling industry in the 

 United States as given by the last census. The most rapid in- 

 crease in the number of establishments was from 1860 to 

 1870. From 1880 to 1890 there was a decrease in the num- 

 ber of establishments on account of combinations. From 1890 

 to 1900 there was again a remarkable increase. The annual 

 milling capacity of the United States is over one billion barrels. 



(All figures are in round millions, except the number of 

 establishments,) 



Milling in Foreign Countries. Excepting for the United 

 States, Hungary leads the world in the manufacture of 



