608 The Trials of Grist Mills and Disintegrators at Plymouth, 
when, as in Bamford's case, the exhibitor's attendant was a 
remarkably quick and intelligent man, in a few moments. 
Each competitor received about ^ cwt. of maize wherewith to 
make his adjustments, but no notes were taken by the Judges 
of these " preliminary " essays. During the trials proper, -| cwt. 
each of maize, beans, and oats were served successively to each 
mill, and, where the machine promised well, a final ^ cwt. "of 
barley was added. The time occupied in grinding each dose of 
grain was taken by chronograph, while the power absorbed 
during that time was registered by the recording dynamometer. 
Samples of the meal produced were collected in numbered boxes, 
from time to time, as the work went on, and these samples 
were judged " blindfold," or without knowing which was which, 
on the morning after all the trials had been concluded. 
Eight mills were soon found to be, more or less, "in it"; 
and it is proposed to confine this report to notices of their per- 
formances, since nothing would be gained by chronicling demerit, 
while the reader of Show statistics deserves every possible con- 
sideration at the hands of a reporting Judge. The mills in 
question comprise those of Corbett (3460), Woodroffe (3441), 
Barford (2420). Bamford (3366, 3364, 3363), Blackstone (2565), 
and Lister (2400). It will, probably, assist the reader to general 
conclusions if, disregarding the order of trial, these mills are 
described in the order of classification already established, viz. : — 
No. 
Type 
Represented by 
1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
("Conical metal roller and breast with endwise 1 
Blackstone; Lister 
Corbett 
Bamford 
Woodroffe 
Barford 
Type I. Millstones. — It has already been stated that millstones 
are inferior to metal mills for the purpose of gristing, and, while 
it is quite true that both Blackstone and Lister produced ex- 
cellent samples of meal, this was done at an undue expenditure 
both of time and power. Between the two stools of miller and 
farmer both these machines fell to the ground, the work being 
too good for the farmer and not good enough for the miller ; 
while " general adaptability for grinding various kinds of 
produce," worth 10 points out of 100 in this competition, was 
certanly not characteristic of the stone mills. In addition, 
millstones themselves are more costly than castings, besides 
requiring constant and skilled care in dressing. Hence, nothing 
