288 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 



Except in the formation of loaves, perhaps, there seem to 

 have been no marked improvements during the last 25 years. 



The Modern Bakeshop. The statutes generally require 

 bakeshops to be inspected and kept in healthful condition. 

 Each baker contracts by the year with a specialist to keep 

 insects out of his establishment. The specialist visits the 

 place at least once every three months whether insects appear 

 or not. He receives a notification if but a single bug appears. 

 His work is performed so thoroughly that it is exceptional if 

 a bug is seen at all. 



The following description is of a representative, moderately 

 large-sized bakeshop which uses from 25 to 60 barrels of flour 

 per day, and daily bakes from 7,500 to 20,000 loaves of bread. 

 Each day the flour for the next day's baking is sifted. The 

 sifter consists of a rotary brush running over a sieve, and it 

 sifts the flour as fast as an attendant empties the barrels, 

 about one each minute. All machinery is operated by elec- 

 tricity. The bakeshop is three stories high, and the sifting is 

 done on the third floor. The sifted flour descends to a bin 

 under the ceiling of the second floor. Under this bin, and on 

 the second floor, is located the mixer. It has a capacity of four 

 barrels of flour. The water, milk, lard, sugar, yeast, malt ex- 

 tract and salt are first placed into the mixer, and then the 

 flour is added. Two parts of moisture are used to one of flour. 

 Compressed yeast is used, and more is required in winter than 

 in summer. The arms of the mixer revolve at a comparatively 

 slow rate, about once in every two seconds, throwing the dough 

 from side to side. The mixing operation requires 30 minutes. 

 A large spout extends through the floor to the room below. 

 As soon as the dough is in proper condition, the mixer is 

 turned over, and the bread descends through' the spout to the 

 floor below, into the large bread trough which has been rolled 

 under the spout. In this trough it rises about three hours. 

 Thus far no hand has touched the bread, but some handwork 

 now becomes necessary. Enough dough is weighed for 12 

 loaves, which are then cut out at one operation with an air 

 pressure machine. After the loaves are cut they are molded 

 by being run through the molding machine, of which the 

 capacity is theoretically 60 loaves a minute, but in practice 

 only about 40. The loaf is molded or rolled by an endless 



