The Milling Process
The farmer brought the grain to the mill where it was unloaded into the
basement by way of a trap door. A test was given to determine the moisture level
of the grain. It was then loaded into the grain shoot
where it was sent upstairs by the elevator to the separator. The
function of the separator was to clean off the dust and separate the
grain from the chaff.
Depending on the moisture level of the grain, it was then stored for up to 10 days in one of eight bins which held 850 bushels each. The wheat was then ground into flour by the mills. The flour went into one section and the wheat bran (the outside of the kernel) went into another. A 400 pound mixer added the salt and other ingredients necessary to make the flour either plain or self-rising. The flour then traveled through shoots to be packaged in 5, 10, 15 or 50 pound bags. The mills could grind 22 bushels of wheat in one hour (60 pounds to a bushel). This resulted in approximately 400 pounds of flour every 28 minutes.
Cornmeal was processed in the same way as flour and then packaged in 2,
5, 20 and 25 pounds bags.
The package design name for flour was "Home Rule" and for cornmeal, "Our
Best"..
A hammer mill ground corn, oat, and barley for animal feed. Heavy steel rollers mashed the grain flat. 2,200 pounds of horse feed could be processed at one time. Blackstrap molasses (10-12 pounds per 100 pounds of feed) was then sprayed on.
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