THE MILLER.
1. The Miller belongs to that class of employments which relates to the preparation of food and drinks for man. His business consists, chiefly, in reducing the farinaceous grains to a suitable degree of fineness.
2. The simplest method by which grain can be reduced to meal, or flour, is rubbing or pounding it between two stones; and this was probably the one first practised in all primitive conditions of society, as it is still pursued among some tribes of uncivilized men.
3. The first machine for comminuting grain, of which we have any knowledge, was a simple hand-mill, composed of a nether stone fixed in a horizontal position, and an upper stone, which was put in motion with the hand by means of a peg. This simple contrivance is still used in India, as well as in some sequestered parts of Scotland, and on many of the plantations in the Southern states of our Union. But, in general, where large quantities of grain are to be ground, it has been entirely superseded by mills not moved by manual power.
4. The modern corn and flour mill differs from the primitive hand-mill in the size of the stones, in the addition of an apparatus for separating the hulls and bran from the farinaceous part of the grain, and in the power applied for putting it in motion.
5. The grinding surfaces of the stones have channels, or furrows, cut in them, which proceed obliquely from the centre to the circumference. The furrows are cut slantwise on one side, and perpendicular on the other; so that each of the ridges which they form, has a sharp edge; and, when the upper stone is in motion, these edges pass one another, like the blades of a pair of scissors, and cut the grain the more easily, as it falls upon the furrows.
6. By a careful inspection of the following picture, the whole machinery of a common mill may be understood.
A represents the water-wheel; B, the shaft to which is attached the cog-wheel C, which acts on the trundle-head, D; and this, in turn, acts on the moveable stone. The spindle, trundle-head, and upper stone, all rest entirely on the beam, F, which can be elevated or depressed, at pleasure, by a simple apparatus; so that the distance between the stones can be easily regulated, to grind either fine or coarse. The grain about to be submitted to the action of the mill, is thrown into the hopper, H, whence it passes by the shoe, or spout I, through a hole in the upper stone, and then between them both.
7. The upper stone is a little convex, and the other a little concave. There is a little difference, however, between the convexity and the concavity of the two stones: this difference causes the space between them to become less and less towards their edges; and the grain, being admitted between them, is, consequently, ground finer and finer, as it passes out in that direction, in which it is impelled by the centrifugal power of the moving stone.
8. If the flour, or meal, is not to be separated from the bran, the simple grinding completes the operation; but, when this separation is to be made, the comminuted grain, as it is thrown out from between the stones, is carried, by little leathern buckets fastened to a strap, to the upper end of an octagonal sieve, placed in an inclined position in a large box. The coarse bran passes out at the lower end of the sieve, or bolt, and the flour, or fine particles of bran, through the bolting-cloth, at different places, according to their fineness. At the head of the bolt, the superfine flour passes; in the middle, the fine flour; and at the lower end, the coarse flour and fine bran; which, when mixed, is called canel, or shorts.
9. The best material of which mill-stones are made, is the burr-stone, which is brought from France in small pieces, weighing from ten to one hundred pounds. These are cemented together with plaster of Paris, and closely bound around the circumference with hoops made of bar iron. For grinding corn or rye, those made of sienite, or granite rock, are frequently used.
10. A mill, exclusively employed in grinding grain, consumed by the inhabitants of the neighborhood, is called a grist or custom mill; and a portion of the grist is allowed to the miller, in payment for his services. The proportion is regulated by law; and, in our own country, it varies according to the legislation of the different states.
11. Mills in which flour is manufactured, and packed in barrels for sale, are called merchant mills. Here, the wheat is purchased by the miller, or by the owner of the mill, who relies upon the difference between the original cost of the grain, and the probable amount of its several products, when sold, to remunerate him for the manufacture, and his investments of capital. In Virginia, and, perhaps, in some of the other states, it is a common practice among the farmers, to deliver to the millers their wheat, for which they receive a specified quantity of flour.
12. The power most commonly employed to put heavy machinery in operation, is that supplied by water. This is especially the case with regard to mills for grinding grain; but, when this cannot be had, a substitute is found in steam, or animal strength. The wind is also rendered subservient to this purpose. The wind-mill was invented in the time of Augustus Cæsar. During the reign of this emperor, and probably long before, mules and asses were employed by both the Greeks and Romans in turning their mills. The period at which water-mills began to be used cannot be certainly determined. Some writers place it as far back as the Christian era.
13. Wheat flour is one of the staple commodities of the United States, and there are mills for its manufacture in almost every part of the country, where wheat is extensively cultivated; but our most celebrated flour-mills are on the Brandywine Creek, Del., at Rochester, N. Y., and at Richmond, Va.
14. In our Southern states, hommony is a favorite article of food. It consists of the flinty portions of Indian corn, which have been separated from the hulls and eyes of the grain. To effect this separation, the corn is sometimes ground very coarsely in a mill; but the most usual method is that of pounding it in a mortar.
15. The mortar is excavated from a log of hard wood, between twelve and eighteen inches in diameter. The form of the excavation is similar to that of a common iron mortar, except that it is less flat at the bottom, to prevent the corn from being reduced to meal during the operation. The pestle is usually made by confining an iron wedge in the split end of a round stick, by means of an iron ring.
16. The white flint corn is the kind usually chosen for hommony; although any kind, possessing the requisite solidity, will do. Having been poured into the mortar, it is moistened with hot water, and immediately beaten with the pestle, until the eyes and hulls are forced from the flinty portions of the grain. The part of the corn which has been reduced to meal by the foregoing process, is removed by means of a sieve, and the hulls, by the aid of the wind.
17. Hommony is prepared for the table by boiling it in water for twelve hours with about one fourth of its quantity of white beans, and some fat bacon. It is eaten while yet warm, with milk or butter; or, if suffered to get cold, is again warmed with lard or some other fat substance, before it is brought to the table.
