FIELD, FOREST AND FARM 



CHAPTER I 



THE STAFF OF LIFE 



WITH his nephews as willing companions and 

 eager listeners, Uncle Paul continued his 

 walks and talks in the pleasant summer afternoons. 



"Bread is made of flour," he began, "and flour is 

 wheat reduced to powder under the millstone. What 

 an interesting mechanism that is, the flour-mill, 

 driven by water, by the wind, sometimes by steam ! 

 What wearisome effort, what waste of time, if we 

 had not this invention and were forced to do its work 

 of grinding by sheer strength of arm ! 



"I must tell you that in ancient times, for want of 

 knowing how to grind wheat, people had to content 

 themselves with crushing it between two stones after 

 parching it a little over the fire. The coarse meal 

 thus obtained was cooked in water to a sort of por- 

 ridge and eaten with no further preparation. Bread 

 was unknown. 



"Later the plan was hit upon of kneading the meal 

 with water and of cooking the dough between two 

 hot stones. Thus was obtained a crude sort of bis- 

 cuit, about as thick as your finger, stodgy and hard, 



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