adhering dust, the scouring machine being too harsh in its action, breaking
the kernels of wheat, and so scratching and weakening the bran that it
broke up readily in the grinding. The scouring process was therefore
lessened, and was followed by brush machines, which brushed the dirt,
loosened up and left by the scourer, from the berry. Other machines for
removing the fuzzy and germ ends of the berry have also been introduced,
and everything possible is done to free the grain from extraneous
impurities before the process of reduction is commenced. In all the minor
details of the mill there has been the same marked change, until the modern
merchant mill of to-day no more resembles that of twenty-five years ago
than does the modern cotton mill the old-fashioned distaff. The change has
extended into the winter wheat sections, and no mill in the United States
can hope to hold its place in the markets unless it is provided with the
many improvements in machinery and processes which have resulted from the
experiments begun in this city only ten years since, and which have
made the name of Minneapolis and the products of her many mills famous
throughout the world. The relative merits of the flour made by the new
process and the old have been warmly discussed, but the general verdict
of the great body of consumers is that the patent or new process flour is
better in every way for bread making purposes, being clearer, whiter, more
evenly granulated, and possessing more strength. Careful chemical analysis
has confirmed this. As between winter and spring wheat flours made by the
new process and gradual reduction systems, it maybe remarked that the
former contain more starch and are whiter in color, while the latter,
having more gluten, excel in strength. In milling all varieties of wheat,
whether winter or spring, the new processes are in every way superior to
the old, and, in aiding their inception and development, the millers of
Minneapolis have conferred a lasting benefit on the country.

"Minneapolis, Minn., December 1, 1880."