Modern Improvements in Corn-Milling Machinery. 99 : 
of some kind ; or secondly, by mixing them with some desci-ip- ' 
tion of very brittle wheat, and allowing the mixture to lie for I 
a considerable time. With regard to the first expedient, few ■^ 
mills are provided with such an apparatus, though formerly in j 
Ireland a kiln was the necessary accompaniment of almost every ■ 
mill. The objection to the provision of a drying apparatus is [ 
that it occupies much space, is required only in some seasons or ' 
parts of seasons, and that wheat can seldom (especially if the 
i provision exist) be bought cheaply enough to pay for the loss of 
I weight of the water evaporated and the expenses of the opera- 
[ tion. Moreover, unless skilfully performed, there is a danger of 
damaging the wheat by overdrying or irregularity of drying, : 
and, after all, the dried wheats yield Hour of jDOor quality and ' 
flavour. Any neglect in the direction of allowing the moisture 
which has been evaporated to condense on the surface of the 
grain, causes a sour or bitter taste. Artificial drying is in no j 
sense a satisfactory substitute for sun-drying, and it is the j 
misfortune of our farmers that our climate is not well adapted ' 
for producing dry wheats, whatever its influence may be in 
producing large yields. As there is now an abundant supply 
of suitable wheat of foreign growth, millers will not take the 
trouble of drying home-grown wheat unless they can make money 
\)x doing so. The other way of alleviating the evil of damp- 
n -ss is by mixing the damp wheat with some description of very 
dry foreign wheat. Californian, Indian, and Russian wheats are 1 
thus employed. The mixture must lie together for some weeks, 
and the dry corn, which is selected because it is too brittle to 
manufacture alone, absorbs some of the moisture of the native 
wheat, to the mutual advantage of each sort. 
In some mills each variety of wheat is treated separately, 
and the resultant flours are sold either separately or mixed, so as 
to produce the required standard of quality. Nearly all wheats 
differ in physical characteristics : some are hard, others soft. 
There are gradations of difference : some wheats, while tender or 
mellow, are yet of a firm texture ; others are soft, and moist or j 
pasty. Some hard wheats are brittle, others are tough ; and I 
experience shows that wheats possessing these different charac- 
ters require different treatment in the mill. For instance, it is 
obvious that the farinaceous part of a mellow or tender wheat 
will fall into flour more readily than that of a hard firm wheat. 
Tlie latter would demand closer gi-inding and a more frequent 
repetition of the process to reduce the interior to flour of the 
-ame degi'ee of fineness as would be obtained by less severe and 
less frequent treatment of soft wheat. Thus the mode of grind- 
no; which is well adapted for the one Avould not be suitable for ( 
he other. For this reason the better practice is to grind the 
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