Acknowledgment
This monograph was prepared by J. A. LeClerc, chemist in charge of the laboratory of plant chemistry, Bureau of Chemistry, Department of Agriculture. Acknowledgment is due M. A. Gray, chemist of the Pillsbury Flour Co., Minneapolis, and Prof. C. H. Bailey, of the University of Minnesota, for assistance in the preparation of this article.
Modern flour milling dates back to the early eighties of the last century. Before that time, a good white flour was indeed made, but the machinery used consisted generally of two grooved stones, between which the wheat was crushed and the flour extracted. To-day in all mills of this country, except in some of the backwoods, and in some of the small mills, flour is made by the so-called gradual reduction process which consists in the use of an elaborate system or steel rolls and of an equally complicated system of purifiers and bolting machines. The flour made to-day is whiter and much freer from the bran and fibrous material than was the flour made with burr stones. While milling relates to the production of flour from all kinds of grains, flour milling, unless so stated, means wheat milling and it is wheat flour milling that is meant throughout this monograph, when milling is mentioned. If you are interested in milling you may want to know the answers to the following questions:
1. What is milling, and what kind of work is carried on in a flour mill?
2. What physical disabilities will bar one from successfully pursuing any one of the various occupations connected with milling; what handicaps are serious?
3. What education and apprentice training are required, and where to get training?
4. What salaries or wages are generally paid, and what are the chances for promotion?
5. How many hours per day do millers work?
6. What personal characteristics and qualifications should be possessed?
7. Where do millers work, and in what section of the country is milling mostly done?
8. What need is there for millers, i. e., is there a large open field in this occupation?
In the United States there are about 7,000 merchant mills grinding wheat flour. Their total output is about 120,000,000 barrels per year. They require about 550,000,000 bushels of wheat. Thus it is seen that to produce 1 barrel of flour about 4.7 bushels of wheat must be milled. Milling may be quite simple or most complicated, depending upon the kind and size of mill operated and the quality of the flour to be made. A good sized mill will require men to perform the following kinds of work here described.
It should be stated, right here, that several of these occupations may be carried on by one and the same man, especially in the smaller mills.
Unloader[46]
Description: The unloader unloads the wheat or other flour products from the cars by use of the power scoop, shovel, or other means.
Qualifications: He must be physically strong and have good lungs.
[46] These descriptions are taken from the pamphlet entitled “Descriptions of Occupations in Flour Milling,” published by the Department of Labor.