THE IRISH MILLING INDUSTRY. 403 



has been separated from the husk or bran. The semoUna is separated from 

 the flour, and the latter is then thoroughly cleared of all particles of bran by 

 machines called " purifiers." The flour is then ground between a series of 

 smooth iron rollers, and the product of this grinding is sifted, and the flour 

 thus produced is of the highest quality. The great superiority of the new- 

 over the old process lies in the different grades of flour, some being of very 

 superior quality, which it is possible to obtain thereby. In the old method of 

 grinding by stones it was only possible to obtain one quality of flour, and the 

 tearing of the outside of the wheat berry by the stones produced a small 

 quantity of dark powder, which mixed with the flour and tended to discolour 

 it. It is unnecessary to go further into details, the above description being 

 sufficient to show the differences between the two systems, and the superio- 

 rity of the new over the old. 



The roller system was introduced into Ireland between the years 1875 

 and 1880, and the millers who hesitated about adopting it soon found that 

 they were being outclassed by their more enterprising rivals. Unfortu- 

 nately for some manufacturers there were several competing roller systems, 

 and, information as to which was the best being difficult to obtain, many 

 of them adopted a system which was defective. The faulty system was 

 soon found to be worse than the old process, and many millers in different 

 parts of the country were utterly ruined by it, while others after a short 

 trial of it threw out their new and costly machinery, and reinstated the 

 stones. Those who had the good fortune to adopt the proper system at 

 first, or who, having found that the first machinery which they had put in 

 was defective, had the courage to face the situation, and to replace it by 

 the right system, soon reaped the benefit of their enterprise. Its superiority 

 was so great that those who, from want of the necessary capital, or from lack 

 of enterprise did not adopt it, were year by year gradually driven out of the 

 trade. Owing to the lack of industries in the country, most of the mills 

 which were thus thrown idle have remained idle since, thus causing a 

 tremendous waste of capital sunk in the buildings and the machinery with 

 which they were equipped. 



Let us now endeavour to analyse the causes which led to the decHne in 

 the industry, which, as we have already pointed out, has been a constant 

 feature during the last twenty years. The chief reasons of the decline 

 were two — the steady decline in the population of Ireland, which has been 

 going on since 1845, ^"d the keen competition of imported against Irish- 

 made flour. Of the tw), the first, the falling off in the population of the 

 country, has undoubtedly been the more potent cause of the dechne in our 

 milling trade, inasmuch as this meant a falling off in the numbers of the 

 consumers. Up to about the year 1877 Ireland, and especially the South of 

 Ireland, actual'y had a considerable export trade in flour, and sent large 

 quantities annually to Wales, Liverpool, and other places in the West of 

 England, and even as far north as Glasgow. Up to that period these 

 localities had not sufficient milling capacities of their own, and Ireland, 

 which was then growing nearly five times as much wheat as at the present 

 time, supplied the deficiency. America had, however, adopted the roller 

 system before it had been introduced into the United Kingdom, and by 

 1875 it had been generally adopted in the great wheat-growing States of 

 that country. The mills which were erected had a capacity far beyond the 

 requirements for home consumption, and were getting good prices for what 

 they sold at home, and they were thus enabled to employ their surplus 



