Some time after this the wheat was taken to one of the great mills to be ground into flour. The largest of these mills manufactures about fifteen thousand barrels of flour every day. This is the largest flour mill in the world.
When the kernels reached the mill, they were put into machines called separators, to be separated from all companions such as grass seed, mustard seed, and wild buckwheat. They were then placed in an iron box in which brushes were revolving rapidly, and were scoured to free them from fuzz and dirt. Those that were very dirty were washed.
Fig. 5.—The Flour Mills in Minneapolis.
Fig. 6.—The Largest Flour Mill in the World.
The kernels were steamed, in order that the coating, called bran, might not break into small pieces. This is called tempering. The kernels now thought that their trials were over, but they were mistaken. Soon they found themselves being crushed between rollers. After they came out they were sifted, and then run between other rollers. This was repeated six times, and each time the flour was a little finer, for the rollers were closer together. The flour was then run through tubes of flannel. These took out whatever dust it contained. It was then ground still finer. The flour was then put into sacks or barrels, which were marked for shipment to other parts of the country.
Only the wheat intended for the very best grade of flour is treated as carefully as this was.
What industry does the use of barrels bring in?
