86 Modern Improvements in Corn-Milling MacJunertj. 
particles of flour, and not being forced through the meshes, 
passed on to and out of the tail of the machine. The silk reel 
was especially efficient in separating the " middlings " (already ' 
described) for regrinding. The flour having been obtained, the ' 
" offals," whether from wire or silk machine, were generally 
rebrushed in another wire machine and separated into " bran,'*' i 
" sharps," or other subdivisions, according to the custom or { 
demands of the district. And thus ended this comparatively I 
simi)le process, which, with various slight modifications, more ! 
especially connected with the production of middlings, their 
purification, and reduction to flour, was that in general use in 
this country up to about twelve years ago. It was well adapted 
for the manufacture of native wheats, and if these had con- 
tinued to form the larger part of the supply of the country, it is 
possible that the revolution in the art of milling which has | 
taken place might have been slower in realisation or might I 
have taken another direction. 
But, however that may be, the system now generally adopted i 
is based on different principles. It is called " gradual reduc- 
tion," a name which well describes the process. While the old 
"low-grinding" system was seen at its best in working upon | 
soft tender wheats, the "gradual-reduction" process requires ' 
dry and rather hard wheats to make good work. Its adoption 
in this country was contemporaneous with the introduction of \ 
" roller mills " as substitutes for millstones. The system was ' 
practised on the Continent long before rollers were brought into 
use ; but the drawbacks of the system, when millstones and 
tender wheat were used, wei'e so great that it was practically 
confined to districts where the produce of the country was hard 
wheat. Hungary undoubtedly took the lead and developed the 
system most completely, aud succeeded in producing from her 
harsh, brittle, brown wheats flours of unrivalled quality, while the 
same wheats when treated by " low-grinding " gave wretched I 
results. The North-West States of America produced wheats of i 
very similar character to the Hungarian wheats, and the Ameri- ' 
cans, by treating these wheats in a similar manner, achieved 
a great commercial success, as evidenced by the creation of 
the enormous mills of Minneapolis, worthy rivals of those of 
Budapest. The advance in the value of the wheat grown in 
the North- West by the millers' adaptation of the Hungarian j 
process is enormous. A few years ago the hard spring wheats | 
of this region were worth from os. to I'Ss. per quarter less than j 
fine winter wheat of the more eastern States, while for several j 
years past this very same good hard spring wheat has ranked 
higher in value than fine winter wheat. As wheat is the 
pioneer and main crop of the North-West, the adoption of the 
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