FIELD, FOREST AND FARM 



and mixed with charcoal and ashes. It was prefer- 

 able to the porridge, the insipid paste, of the earlier 

 time, but far inferior to the poorest bread of to- 

 day. To make a long story short, by trial after 

 trial success was at last attained in the making of 

 bread like ours. It became necessary then, without 

 possessing anything to compare with our mills, to 

 grind wheat in large quantities. 



"Flour was obtained by triturating the wheat in 

 a hollowed stone with a pestle. This latter was 

 sometimes light enough to be operated directly by 



hand ; sometimes, 

 to produce quicker 

 results, it was so 

 large and heavy 

 that it had to be 

 turned in its stone 

 mortar with the 

 help of a long bar. 

 Such was the first 

 mill. With appli- 

 ances of this sort I 

 leave you to im- 

 agine how long a 

 time was required 

 for the production 

 of a single handful 

 of flour. For bread enough to feed one person at 

 one meal, wretched slaves were kept toiling from 

 morning till night and from night till morning in 

 turning the pestle. ' ' 



Wheat 



