The production of wheat has so rapidly increased that a review of the present condition and future prospects of its manufacture becomes deeply interesting and eminently proper in a history of the agriculture of our country.  At the end of the last century, and early in the present, under the lead of Ewans, Ellicot, and others, great improvements were made in flour mills. Not only were these improvements in the style and finish of manufacture, but still more in the ease and consequent cheapness with which so heavy a commodity was carried through its various processes. The wheat and meal were “elevated” and “conveyed” into different parts of the mill. “Furrows” were introduced into the faces of the stones, which were consequently run at far higher speeds, and the meal was more rapidly ground; and the “hopper boy” was replaced by his mechanical substitute for feeding the bolts. These are a few, but the principal improvements which mark that day—they were great improvements, and seem to have satisfied the manufacturers of flour for a long series of years, and, except in minor details, the work of Oliver Evans laid down the rules by which succeeding mills were built.

Within a few years past the margin of profits has so rapidly decreased, arising from various causes, but more especially from the demand for wheat rather than flour for export, that when the present Congress formed its system of taxation, it was found that this branch would be seriously crippled by the imposition of a tax of ten cents per barrel, and it became necessary to relieve it from any burdens of this kind. From whatever causes this reduction in profits to the miller may arise, it is an evidence of good and a cause of good; an evidence that the producer is receiving the very highest price for his wheat, and, on the other hand, a spur to invention and to economy in manufacture. We may fairly state that the lethargy which has for so many years surrounded such a very important branch of business has now been cast aside, and an interest aroused from which we may augur the most important results.

In this short article we have thought that rather than give a description of the present condition of milling, it would be better to point out where it is defective, and where we should seek to improve our manipulations, premising, however, that many of these have already been introduced into mills, but they have not received that general attention which their importance deserves.

In the first place, the mill should be constructed for the purpose of holding the machinery, and not be turned into a warehouse for the storage of grain.  This has been adopted in some instances, but is not general, and new mills are constantly built which have no other storage room than that which is afforded in the same building. This is a grave error. No machinery can run truly and properly under the varying effects of a greater or lesser amount of wheat stored in the same building and on the same foundation. In cities, where the supplies are not expected to be large, this does not make so much difference; but in the country, where supplies must be obtained when offered, and where thirty thousand bushels or more are put in the mill at one time, such a weight will necessarily derange the whole of the machinery. The warehouse should be built as near the mill as practicable, but on a different and independent foundation.

In the next place, greater attention should be shown as to the relative height and breadth of the mill building, so that in elevating wheat or meal it may be spouted into every portion where it may be needed to be taken, without the intervention of conveyers, often a needless expense of money and power, if a proper height had been originally given to the building. Here let us add that, as the decrease in profits and the hopes of increasing them is the spur to all improvements, economy of power and of manual labor is always to be borne in mind in the arrangement of the mill.  Very much may be saved in this way in original cost, in power used, and in the amount of manual labor, and its presence or absence measures the mind of the master who directs its construction. In some of our mills nearly one-half of the shafting and machinery might have been avoided if originally better planned. So, also, with the duties of the miller, which are so scattered and so poorly arranged that whilst attending to one duty others equally important are neglected. The cleaning of the wheat, the grinding, and the bolting, are equally important, and, so far as possible, they should all, at the same time, be under the command of the eye and ear of the miller on duty. In proportion as these points are observed so is labor saved, and saved without the sacrifice of careful manipulation. So, also, should be observed with equal care an economy of labor in receiving the wheat, in packing the flour, and in the disposition of the offals. The expense of all may be greatly lessened, and that, too, without increasing the original cost of the mill. Tt all depends upon the arrangement of the different parts. We have laid great stress upon the attention which should be paid to economy, but no more than it deserves. Our margin of profits is, in a great measure, destroyed by the foreign miller coming to our very doors and buying the wheat which we should manufacture at home. It is unnecessary for us here to enter into an explanation of the causes of this state of things; it is sufficient for, our purposes to know the fact. To remedy the evil we must manufacture more cheaply, and manufacture better than the foreign miller. This we can and must do.  We have heretofore led in improvements in mills, and our mills are even now better than those abroad. But this is not sufficient.  We must make them very much better, in order to preserve our foreign trade in flour; and by the economy of our manufacture, and by the superiority of our flour, make it to the interest of our exporters to send abroad the manufactured rather than the raw material. Look at that vast stream of wheat flowing in that form towards Europe; every bushel of it should be manufactured here, the profits of manufacture saved here, the offals be fed here, and the barrels be made from our own timber.  Here is an object for which we should struggle, and that, too, with all our might. How can we attain the prize? The answer is plain. Economize the expense of every process of manu?acture, and make more and better flour from the same amount of stock. We do not wish, however, in our remarks, to be understood as advocating a reduction in wages. Far otherwise. Intelligent labor is always the cheapest. Thorough economy in manufacture cannot be made without the best talent, and talent in every line of business should be encouraged and rewarded.  What we mean is this: Do not waste your capital and power by building and driving unnecessary machinery. Apply that wasted power to increased production, (it requires no more attention;) arrange every part of the mill so that it may be carried on with the least manual labor; bring all the processes as near together as possible, so that whilst one is being attended to the others will not be neglected; and improve the grade of your flour. This is the economy we advocate. The mill being suitably arranged, the next object to be attained is to increase the amount and quality of flour; and, for this purpose, there is the cleaning of the wheat, the grinding, and the bolting, each in a near measure equally important, and, unless great care is observed in each, no really successful results can be expected.

In cleaning wheat many difficulties arise. The staple comes from the farmer mixed with many foreign substances, sticks, straws, stones, rye, barley, oats, cockle, chess, smut, &c. These can only be removed by processes particularly adapted to each. In the only mills in which we have known wheat to be really well cleaned the different machines were so numerous as to encumber the mill, and being scattered, they greatly increased the labors of the miller. We think there is room for great improvement here, and if a machine could be constructed to combine the various processes in a compact form, without sacrificing their efficiency, it would be a great desideratum. We are apt to expect too much from the single machines now in use, and too much is promised for them by their builders. Screens are good as far as they go, and so are blast-fans.  Suction-fans were a great improvement, and are the main dependence for light dirt, but they are, from very necessity, limited in their power. A very small stream of wheat only can be cleaned in a suction-fan, and if more is required the fans must be multiplied, or the operation must be again and again repeated.  In cleaning wheat the separations should be made before it goes to the scourers, the sticks and stones be removed, and the smut and rat-balls carried off unwoken; then, when passed through the scourers, the beard with the adhering dirt can be easily removed. When these separations are thoroughly performed the scouring of the wheat is easily accomplished, and there are many machines which would give satisfaction. There is a prejudice in the minds of some millers against thorough cleaning; they think the weight of their yields may be lessened by throwing away so much that would otherwise go into the flour.  Without more than adverting to the morality of the question, and the but decent honesty which should impel every one engaged in manufacturing food for man to render it as clean and wholesome as possible, we think such a miller mistakes his interests. He certainly cannot make a good grade of flour, and we do not think as much. The cleaner and the more even the stock the better it-can be ground and the more thoroughly it can be bolted, and the latter process can be carried on until the very least possible amount of flour is left in the offal. This cannot be done where you have foreign substances to contend with.

The wheat being cleaned, we next proceed to the grinding. We think there is here less cause to complain than in any other branch of the business.  Our millers, as a-general rule, can grind well, and when there is neglect it is but too often caused by the ill-arrangement of the mill, which calls the miller too much from his post. There are some interesting questions yet to be definitely solved in reference to the best size of the stones, the speed with which they should be run, and especially the shape, position, number, and draught of the furrows. The action of the stones on the meal and the course of the meal through the stones form some very beautiful problems for the mathematician, and well worthy of his study. He might throw a light upon and solve long-mooted questions, which would be of great value to the miller. In using coarse bolting cloths, the ill effects of uneven grinding are hardly felt, but with fine cloths the run of “seconds" becomes so heavy that the use of fine cloths is disparaged, when the greater portion of the fault lies in the bad grinding.

We now approach a branch of milling in which the greatest advance has been made in the past, and where we may expect the greatest improvement in the future; we refer to the bolting of the flour. We approach this subject with hesitation, for we know its importance, and that here is the end and measure of the miller’s skill.  We are also well aware of the diversity of views held by millers, and the numerous different modes that have been tried, and the warm advocates which each possess, and that very beautiful flour is made by many as proof of these theories. Mere superiority, however, of the first grade of flour is not the only test, and, under the present condition of the trade, possibly not the most important. What are the yields per bushel, and how great a percentage of first grade is produced, and the relative value of the second grade? Until these questions are solved by more accurate tests than are yet made, and from trials of the same kind and quality of wheat, we are left to theory and private judgment to guide us. It is a lamentable fact, and one we must urge upon our millers to correct, that but few make any tests of their yields, and that the amount of stock required to make a barrel of flour is not known with any sure accuracy. Until this is corrected, and as long as we carry on our business blindfolded, how can we expect improvement?

In nothing are the present mills more marked, in their difference to those of the past, than in the great increase of bolting cloth used in making a given amount of flour. When we remember the small amount formerly used, and how coarse and irregularly it was woven, we are surprised that they should ever have made flour counted as superior, and still more at the positiveness with which some of our dear old grandmothers assert that the flour of the present day cannot be compared to that of “old times.” We must, however, remember the large amount of stock then required to make a barrel of flour.  Not only have we increased the quantity of cloth, but we use much finer numbers than formerly, and here commence our troubles. Bolting cloth is made of silk threads covered with gum, to make a smooth, hard surface to facilitate the passage of the flour through the meshes. The meal, fresh from the stones, is hot—much hotter than formerly, when stones were run at lower speeds; as the mills are increased in capacity, there is less facility for cooling this meal before it goes into the bolting chest. The action of this heat is to soften the gum on the threads, making it sticky, with a tendency to retard, rather than aid, the passage of the flour; furthermore, as the air becomes warmer the more moisture it will absorb, and the air in the chest becomes so surcharged with dampness as to swell the threads of the cloth by this much lessening the size of the mesh, and still more interfering with the bolting.  This is a very trying evil to the miller, and it has been one great obstacle to the use of fine cloths. A favorite mode of overcoming this difficulty is by the use of what are called “knockers,” which, striking continually the ribs of the reel, jolt the flour through; this does not, however, remove the cause of the difficulty, and has a tendency to “speck" the flour. Every housekeeper who has ever used the common hand-sieve knows from experience that the more gently it is used the better the sieving is done, and though a tap on the side of the sieve will increase the quantity, it is at the expense of the quality of the work.

The continued ventilation of the bolting chest by the admission of cool, dry air, and especially if this should be increased to a strong current passing through the cloth, thus hardening the gum, keeping the thread dry and its original size, and at the same time carrying with tfie current of air the floating dust of flour which otherwise would hang upon and cloud the cloth, was an obvious remedy, and has been tried; but there were found to be so many and such serious difficulties to be overcome, that until the improvements of Mr. William F. Cochrane were introduced the use of fine cloths where much flour was required to be made and continuously, without reference to the temperature and the condition of the wheat, was by no means safe, and, in fact, was impracticable. With the aid of these improvements, which are marked with great originality of thought, simplicity of design, and a wonderful adaptation to the objects to be attained, the use of the very finest cloths becomes eminently practicable in mills of the largest capacity, and a quality and quantity of first grade flour can be obtained, we think, entirely beyond any other mode of bolting. We are convinced that by the aid of fine cloths a greater percentage of high grade flour can be made, and further, that to avoid “speck,” the operations of bolting must not be forced but carried on by gentle means, and that the solution of these difficulties is through the aid of a current of air passing through the cloth and through and out of the chest, aiding the bolting and carrying off the moisture. When we furthermore remember that the greatest difficulty in the choking of the cloths is immediately after harvest, when the crop is coming in most rapidly, and when the miller is most desirous of manufacturing rapidly, the importance of the improvement becomes the more apparent. With the use of fine cloths, however, must not be neglected the improvement in grinding, for any irregularity will be shown in the increased quantity of second grade flour to the injury of the first grade, for the first grade, if from meal too much ground, is apt to be “clammy” and “lifeless.”  Good cleaning, good grinding, and good bolting on fine cloths, must go hand in hand together.

In the older forms of bolting chests, the richest portion of the offals, called "returns,” were carried to the head of the first reel, and again passed through that reel; all the flour was made on this one reel; it is now considered more proper to pass it to one or more other reels, where it may be treated on other cloths, and in a manner especially adapted to its condition, and where only so much of the flour suitable for first grade may be separated from that which should go with the second grade. It is in view of these processes that fine cloths become valuable, for it enables us from impoverished meal to obtain a clear flour, which could not otherwise be done. The quality of the first grade flour being the same, the percentage, or number of pounds per bushel of wheat, is the measure of success. This percentage of first grade to second varies very greatly in different mills; even where the first grade is intended to be of the same quality, we are certain that in all it is much less than it might be.  We are well aware there is a limit beyond which we cannot pass without deteriorating our flour by the too great admixture of “middlings,” but we do not think that limit has yet been reached.

After the first grade of flour has been made, there yet remains the "middlings” to be treated; by this term is generally included all of the richest offals from which we expect to make a second and, in some mills, a third and fourth, grade of flour. We believe a more proper term to apply would be “seconds,” and that “middlings,” properly so called, is, in its nature, different from the starchy body of the grain from which is made the finest flour. We think it is made from the germs of the grain; it is tenacious and difficult to grind, rolling out into vermicelli under the action of the stones. It is sweet to the taste, and, however clear of offal, the flour made from it doughs up of a dark color, and is so characteristic that flour with any large quantity in it is always easily distinguished. If the processes of grinding and bolting were carried on in perfection, there would be left but a small percentage of this grade; under the - present methods the seconds are mixed with so much badly-ground meal, which is too coarse to pass through the cloths, and so much of fine flour which has been left by imperfect bolting, the amount which is to be treated becomes very considerable. In the treatment of these “seconds’” and “middlings” we believe there is as yet less skill shown than in any other branch of milling. We believe that instead of being immediately re-ground they should be treated with suitable cloths, and "cleared up” in this way as far as possible, and that only that portion should be re-ground which cannot, in any other way, be “cleared up.” Our experience would indicate that re-grinding has an injurious effect upon the product, and that it loses in color and quantity by it, and further that it requires as much or more cloth to treat the seconds than to make the first grade of flour, and think it may be laid down as a rule, that where two or more grades of flour are produced, and the second grade doughs up white and clear, that there is a too large admixture of meal that should have been worked into the first grade, and is a proof that the percentage of first grade is not as large as it should and could have been made by better processes of manufacture.

The flour having been made, as much of the first grade as possible, and the second as well treated as its low character will admit, we will again turn our remarks to the economic management of the mill—to the packing of the flour and the handling of the offals. Of course, hand packing is no longer to be thought of. We are not altogether satisfied with any of the devices now used; that of the angur pattern is probably most used, but an objection has been urged against it which, we think, should be considered, viz: the flour in the centre of the barrel is not sufficiently pressed, leaving a loose column there; this is particularly observable with the rollers where they are used for packing.  This difficulty, we think, could be rectified with a little care.

There yet remain to be mentioned the offals, the last product of the mill, not the least important to the miller, when, as is too often fhe case, all the other products are required to pay the cost of stock and labor, and he finds his profits, if anywhere to be found, in his bran pile. These offals are bulky, and the labor in handling them should be reduced as much as possible by stocking them in garners where they may be drawn down with the least possible labor. The value of bran as a food for young and growing stock can scarcely be too highly recommended. For young mules and colts it is particularly adapted. It is of easy digestion, and gives growth without the tendency to fatten that lies in the too gross corn with which they are so often fed. The French chemists have made some valuable discoveries in their analyses of wheat bran, and they have found in it a product which they have denominated "cerealine,” which is found to dissolve all other kinds of food when subjected with it to warmth and moisture, and consequently is a great aid to digestion. This is proved to be true by the use of Graham bread, which is made from unbolted meal, and in which the bran is retained. It has also been tested in feeding it to young stock with the very best results. This point, however, can only, like many others to which we have referred in this article, be merely noticed, leaving it for others to experiment and to record, in a fuller manner, their experiences.  The subject of milling is too broad and its manufacture too intricate—its results too important to be treated in a short article. Only the more important features can be pointed out; the details would fill a volume, and must be left to other hands.  If we have proved that the present manner of manufacture is imperfect, and may be improved very greatly by improved processes, we have attained all that we have designed by our remarks.