THE IRISH MILLING INDUSTRY. 



407 



The present position of the miller is that, on the one side, he sees the 

 numbers of his customers gradually dwindling away, while, on the other, he 

 is menaced by increasing competition from foreign made flour. In addition 

 to this, technical knowledge in milling is becoming more necessary every 

 day, while the rapid improvements in machinery make it necessary that the 

 miller should have a large capital in order to enable him to keep abreast 

 with these improvements, and to meet foreign competition. 



The following Table gives some idea of the extent and character of 

 the Milling Industry in Ireland since 1891. It must be remembered that 

 the majority of these Mills are very small concerns : — 



Table C. — Showing the Number of Corn Mills for the years 1891 to igor, inclusive, 

 classified according to the Power used, the kind of the Corn chiefly ground, and the 

 Average Quantity (in cwts.) ground per week when the Mills are at work. 



In conclusion, there is one feature in connection with the use of foreign 

 flour in Ireland which is generally lost sight of, and more especially by the 

 Irish farmer. Ireland has developed considerable importance as a country 

 for the raising of cattle and pigs, and these must be finished off for the 

 market on bran, tailings, etc. These commodities are the bye-products of 

 the manufacture of flour, a given quantity of wheat yielding about 70 per 

 cent, of flour, and 30 per cent, of bran, pollard, and tailings. If, therefore, 

 the home production of flour is curtailed, it follows that the farmer must pay 

 higher prices for these bye-products, while the American, whose flour our 

 farmer is consuming, has these food-stuffs for his cattle at a lower rate in 

 consequence of the manufacture of a quantity of flour in America for the 

 foreign market. This enables the American farmer to put his beef and 

 pork into competition with Irish beef and pork on more favourable terms. 

 This is a matter which is of the utmost importance to the Irish farmer, and 

 it frequently happens that bran, etc., is sold at far lower rates in neighbour- 

 ing countries than in this, owing to the increasing importations of foreign 

 flour, and the consequent decline in Irish milling. 



