Generally speaking, the loss of an eye would not interfere, nor would dullness of hearing. The loss of an arm would only interfere in certain occupations and not in all. This is true especially if the person has an artificial hand provided with a hook or other holding device and for the more simple occupations and manipulations. Stiffness of the arm and incomplete movements of the joints of the arm or fingers would, if considerable, disqualify a man for general employment in the milling industry. Men affected with shell shock might be able to do good work in a mill. Minor injuries, such us the loss of a finger or toe, or facial injuries, need not interfere with a man’s ability to do any kind of work in a flour mill. When a person has mastered the milling business he may be a successful miller, even though he has lost an arm. One of the best millers in this country has only one arm.
What training and education are required and what may reasonably be expected in the form of wages or salary?—A portion of this question has already been answered. A high-school training is the most that is essential, although many of our best millers have far less education than that. As for the other occupations in the mill a common-school education will, for the most part, suffice for all necessary purposes. The training, however, depends necessarily upon the nature of the position and the responsibility which a man must assume. To become a good head miller a man should have some theoretical training for a year or two and then an opportunity for practice. To take charge of the flour packer no great amount of training is essential. Practically no education is necessary for many of the occupations found in a mill. To be a second miller, from three to nine months’ training in a trade school followed by experience as an apprentice are required. The man with a good training would certainly have an advantage especially when qualifying for the position of head miller in a large mill.
Where to Get Training in Milling
There are very few schools in this country where educational courses relating to milling are given. The three best known are connected with the Kansas Agricultural College at Manhattan, Kans., and with State College at State College, Pa., also the Oregon Agricultural College, Corvallis, Oreg. Each of these schools has a small mill of about 75 barrels daily capacity, fitted however, with all the machinery generally found in a large mill. The training in milling, as given in these schools requires four years and leads to the degree of bachelor of science in milling engineering. A collegiate preparatory schooling is generally required for entrance and the studies pursued are equivalent to those found in the ordinary college course. As a rule the course includes mathematics, milling technique, free-hand and mechanical drawing, chemistry and physics, languages, etc. The course is indeed a regular four-year university engineering course, greater emphasis being laid upon the engineering problems relating to milling technology and mill design. A man may obtain a fair knowledge of milling, however, in a trade school in three months, and if this is followed by experience as an apprentice for two or three years, he may reasonably expect to qualify as a miller. He should have at least an eighth-grade schooling. A good miller should have an understanding of flour-mill machinery, chemical and physical properties of wheat and flour. This requires considerable school training or a long apprenticeship. The best kind of training, however, for most men striving to become millers is an apprentice in a mill, working in each of the various occupations until a knowledge of all the milling processes is fundamentally and thoroughly learned. Such training might best be obtained in a small mill where an apprentice would be required to do the work of a number of different occupations. In this way money is being earned at the same time as a profession is being learned. Very little preparatory schooling is required, when milling is learned as an apprentice.
The salaries paid to millers run anywhere from $125 per month to several thousand dollars per year. The wages of the various occupations of the milling industry are commensurate with those in similar industries. The less skilled occupations pay laborers’ wages, while occupations requiring skill pay more. It should always be remembered that a worker in any occupation in a mill has a legitimate ambition if he strives to become a head miller. The head miller in any one of our large mills making anywhere over 1,000 barrels of flour per day is in a position of great trust and responsibility and he should be a man of absolute honesty and integrity and a leader of men. Such men command very high salaries.
There are 150 mills in the United States with a daily capacity of over 500 barrels. These are the mills whose millers command the large salaries. There are about 1,200 mills, however, with a capacity of over 100 barrels and all of these employ millers and millers’ assistants. With such a large number of mills employing head millers and second millers, the chances for promotion must be considered good. Promotions, however, depend much upon the efficiency of the miller. To acquire and to maintain a certain degree of efficiency, it is helpful if one will become connected with organizations of millers, and if one will read books and journals on milling, and thus keep abreast of the times. One should not expect promotion too rapidly. If you apply yourself diligently to any of the occupations in the milling industry, and if you show a disposition to learn you will find that “it’s a long trench that has no turning” toward your goal. Do not be like the “lazy loon that wants no learning” and is satisfied to remain untrained and unearning. Your Government is willing to finance you while you are learning, so there is every inducement for you to get into the milling game, if you feel any aptitude for this work.
The hours of labor in the various occupations in a mill are gradually being standardized to those of union labor in general; the head miller, however, who has considerable responsibility, does not as a rule limit his working hours to eight.
There are some 21 mills in this country with a daily capacity between 5,000 and 10,000 barrels. The millers of these mills must necessarily have splendid personal qualifications, as well as training. That he must be a leader of men goes without saying. He must be able to win the confidence and best co-operation of his assistants. He must be imbued with a love for his work; must have an aptitude for milling; capable of planning, resourceful and observant; a good mechanic and have sound judgment. Each one who aspires to become a head miller must develop these qualifications. To be successful in any occupation in the mill one should be industrious and willing to learn.
The earnings of a mill are largely determined by the miller. Ordinarily about 4.5 bushels of wheat, or 270 pounds, will suffice to make a barrel of flour. If a miller can succeed in making a barrel of an equally good flour by the use of less wheat, say 267.5 pounds, he is just that much more valuable than his competitor who can not obtain the same result. A saving of even 2.5 pounds of wheat per barrel of flour, in a 1,000-barrel mill, would mean the saving of 2,500 pounds or 42 bushels of wheat per day.
Flour milling may justly be recognized as one of the most essential professions. Most of the milling is carried on in the great wheat belt, situated for the most part in the great central, north central, and Pacific coast regions of this country. The following States are the great wheat producers: Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas, Ohio, Oklahoma, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Washington, Montana, Texas, Michigan, Nebraska, Idaho, Colorado, and Oregon. These States produce about 80 per cent of the whole wheat crop of the United States.