The Miller's, Millwright's and Engineer's Guide, by Henry Pallett, 1890.
PREFACE. The demand for my previous work being so great and satisfactory, I have conducted to publish this second edition, with considerable additional information, and greatly improved and enlarged illustrations. I shall give more cuts and models of different machinery now in use belonging to the Flouring Mills, than in my previous work. I have traveled though most of the States of the Union, I have had many opportunities of observing the different manner in which different millers manage matters in the mills under their care. And as many of them, from a confinement to a particular locality, have not had an opportunity of seeing Milling carried to a higher perfection than in their own locality, nor of observing the practice of millers more experienced than themselves, and who are anxious to improve themselves in their business, to such, I hope, this work will be of essential service. And, in fact, to all millers, I think some of the instructions in this work will be of considerable use, as we are all never too old to learn. I have never as yet seen a work on Milling alone. Some remarks on the business are frequently to be found in the Millwright's Guide and Companion, which, however, are never very explicit; being generally intermixed with other matters, and with mathematical calculations and terms that are seldom fully understood by those who have had but a limited education. I have endeavored to avoid such terms, and have kept each part by itself, so that the most illiterate may gain information by a careful and attentive perusal of this work. It often occurs that millers will tell their employers that there is nothing in any work, treating on the subject of the Flouring Mills, but what they fully understood and comprehend; and from their talk the mill-owner would suppose them perfect in their business, and that there is nothing on the early that could give them the slightest or minutest information on the subject of milling. Now such a miller I always set down as bigoted in his opinion; and in fact knowing but little, as I have found by experience. I have been assisted in the compiling of the following pages by experienced millers, who have been kind enough to peruse them before going to press. I have also had the assistance of good and practical millwrights in relation to speed, constructions of reels, etc., etc. The manner, the operation of the millstones, the action of the furrows, in cutting the wheat, can be readily understood by the transparent model attached to this work. From this part alone I hope considerable instruction and information may be derived. I have written this work in the hope that it will be useful in assisting the workman in obtaining a true knowledge of the art of milling, and to assist him in making the calculations connected with the machinery of mills; and also the engineer will find a great many rules and examples to assist and instruct him in a further knowledge of his business as will as the millwright. I am far from desiring that the rules contained in this work should be considered as an infallible guide, or implicitly found in all cases; for when I reflect that it is to be the workman that we have ever been indebted to for improvements in the arts, I would recommend to the miller, millwright, and engineer, a careful consideration of the many improvements that are daily taking place in the Flour Mill, and study carefully whether their adoption would not be beneficial to this important branch of industry, as well in a public as in a private point of view. In this work, my object is to instruct those who have not had the opportunity of judging the best ways of milling. I have endeavored to avoid unnecessary technical words, or scientific calculations, making no pretensions to literature myself. I have, therefore, aimed to make this work intelligible to those of the most limited education; with the wish, however, that it will induce them to a more careful study of the principles of their business; and I know of nothing more conductive to that end than combining the results learned from practice with a careful study of a good and practical scientific work. Being aware that this subject might have been more scientifically treated upon by men ore learned than myself, yet I feel confident that his work cannot be but a great benefit to many engaged in the business of milling,; therefore I trust my humble efforts to please will meet with the approval of all such, and I now subscribe myself, respectfully. Henry Pallett. St. Louis, March 1, 1866.
1. Explanation of Characters used. 2. Definitions of Words used in this Work. 3. United States Weights and Measures. 4. Decimal Fractions. 5. On the Selection of Millstones. 6. On the Dressing of New Millstones - making their Faces Straight, and ready for putting in the Furrows. 7. Furrows: the manner of Laying them out; their Draft, and cutting them in. 8. Directions for laying off and cutting the Holes for the Balance Ryne and Driver. 9. Directions for putting in the Balance Ryne and the Boxes for the Driver, and making them fast. 10. Of Setting the Bed Stone, and fastening the Bush therein. 11. Directions how to Bridge or Tram the Spindle. 12. Instructions for Grinding off the Lumps of New Stones, Turing the Back of the Running Stone, Rounding the Eye and Balancing the Stone. 13. Directions for Dressing and Sharpening Millstones when they become dull. 14. Respecting the Irons of the Mill. 15. Description of Plate 4. Showing the Principles upon with the Millstones work. 16. How to fit a New Back on a Stone that has been Running. 17. Of the Elevator, Conveyor, and Hopper-Boy. 18. Of Bolting Reels and Cloths, with Directions for Bolting and Inspecting Flour. 19. Directions for Cleaning Wheat. 20. Instructions for Grinding Wheat. 21. Directions for Grinding Wheat with Garlic amongst it, and for Dressing the Stones suitable thereto. 22. Directions how to put the Stones in Order for Grinding Wheat that has Garlic amongst it. 23. Directions for Grinding Middlings, and how to Prevent the Stones form Choking, so as to make the most of them. 24. Reels for Bolting the Middlings. 25. Instructions for a small Mill, Grinding different kinds of Grain. 26. Of the Manner of Packing Flour. 27. Table Showing the number of Pounds which constitute a Bushel, as established by Law in the States therein named. 28. The Duty of the Miller. 29. Pearl Barley or Pot Barley. 30. The Art of Distillation. 31. Of the Importance of Draughting and Planning Mills. 32. Cogs: The Best Time for Seasoning and Cutting them. 33. The Framing of Mill Work. 34. Windmills. 35. A Table of Mill Work. 36. Instructions for Baking. 37. Receipt for making Babbitt Metal, etc. 38. Cement. 39. Solders. 40. Table Showing the Product of a Bushel of Wheat of different Weights and Qualities, as ascertained form Experiments in Grinding Parcels. 41. Of Saw-Mills and their Management. 42. The Circular Saw. 43. Rules for Calculating the Speed the Stones and other pieces or parts of the Machinery run at. 44. To find the quantity, in Bushels, a Hopper will Contain. 45. Table of Dry Measure. 46. Spouts - the Necessity of making them Large. 47. To lay off any required Angle. 48. Of Masonry. 49. Of Artificer's Work. 50. Bricklayer's Work. 51. Bricks and Laths - Dimensions. 52. Timber Measure. 53. Table - Diameters in inches of Saw Logs reduced to inch board measure. 54. Of the Wedge. 55. Pumps. 56. The Screw. 57. Table showing the power of Man or Horses as applied to Machinery. 58. Measure of Solidity. 59. Rules for Calculating Liquids. 60. A table showing the Capacity of Cisterns, Wells, etc., in Ale Gallons and Hogeheads, in proportion to their Diameters and Depths. 61. Steel - Of the various degrees of Heat required in the Manufacture of Steel. 62. Composition for Welding Cast Steel. 63. Directions for Making and Sharpening Mill Picks. 64. A Composition for Tempering Cast Steel Mill Picks. 65. Governors for Flouring Mills. 66. The Governor or Regulator. 67. The Pulley. 68. Of the Velocity of Wheels, Pulleys, Drums, etc. 69. On Friction. 70. Belting Friction. 71. Of the Strength of different Bodies. 72. Falling Bodies. 73. Of the different Gearing for propelling Machinery. 74. The Crown or Face Gearing. 75. On matching Wheels to make the Cogs wear even. 76. On Steams and the Steam Engine. 77. Of Engines - their Management, etc. 78. Prevention of Incrustation in Steam Boilers. 79 Double Engines. 80. The Fly - Wheel. 81. Table of Circumferences and Areas of Circles, in Feet, Suitable for Fly - Wheels, etc. 82. To calculate the effects of a Lever and Weight upon the Safety - Valve of a Steam Boiler, etc. 83. Of the Slide Valve. 84. Boilers. 85. Chimneys. 86. Explosions of Boilers. 87. On the Construction of Mill - Dams. 88. Rock Dam. 89. Frame Dams. 90. Brush or Log Dam. 91. Gates. 92. Description of Water - Wheels. 93. Of Non-elasticity and Fluidity in Impinging Bodies. 94. Motion of Overshot Wheels. 95. The Breast Shot Wheel. 96. Overshot or Breast Wheels. 97. Table of the number of inches of water necessary to drive one run of Stones, with all the requisite Machinery for Grist and Saw Mills, under heads of water from four to thirty feet. 98. Table containing the weight of columns of water, each one foot in length, and of various diameters. 99. The Undershot Wheel. 100. Tub Wheels. 101. The Flutter Wheel. 102. The Laws of Motion and Rest. 103. Power of Gravity, Percussion, or Impulse, with the Reaction Attachment. 104. Table of the velocities of the Combination Reaction Water - Wheel per minute, from heads of from four to thirty feet. 105. Tables to reckon the Price of Wheat from Thirty Cents to Two Dollars per Bushel. Please Note: In the original work, text, book the sections were not given numbers. I have added them for clarity.
Of the Elevator, Conveyor and Hopper-Boy. Every mill should have the following machinery attached to it, viz: the elevator, conveyor, and hopper-boy (a description of which I subjoin), which will perform nearly every necessary movement of the grain and meal, from one part of the mill to another, or from one machine to another, through all the various operations, cooling the flour and so forth, from the time the grain is emptied from the wagoner's bag until it be completely manufactured into flour, whether it be superfine or of other qualities, and separated ready for packing into barrels for sale or exportation, the whole propelled by the motive power of the mill, very little being required to drive them, thus lessening the expense of the attention, etc. on flour mill considerably. The Elevator. The Elevator is an endless strap, revolving over two pulleys, one of which is situated at the place where the grain or meal is to be hoisted, the other where it is to be delivered. To this strap are fastened a number of buckets, which fill themselves as they pass under the lower pulley, and empty themselves as they pass over the upper one. To prevent any waste of grain or meal, which might spill out of the buckets, the strap, buckets, and pulleys are all enclosed, and work in tight cases. The strap should be made of the best leather or gum belting well stretched, and having strong buckles sewed on one end, that it may be made tight in the event of it becoming loose. The buckets are made of sheet iron or tin, not quite so wide as the strap, and fastened thereon, having an equal space between each bucket, and placing them from twelve to fifteen inches apart. In fastening them lay your square on the leather strap, holding one edge true with its edge, and mark it straight across; then with the edge of your bucket to this mark, punch it, and fasten on your buckets. It is best these buckets should be large, without being crowded, and made of the best material, such as sheet iron or tin. When made of tin, be sure they are made of the thickness and heaviest you can find. IF made of light tin, they will last but a short time. I prefer putting them on the belt with screws instead of rivets; for this reason: when any one needs removing the old one may be removed without injuring the belt. The proper way to put the buckets on the belt, is with stout screws, about one inch long, and with sharp points. Make your holes in the bucket, then lay one of them on the belt, and with a sharp point make a mark, and punch these holes through the belt the proper size for the screws. Cut some thick leather about one and a half inch square, put the screws through the belt and bucket into this leather which is inside of the bucket, and screw them tight. If the belt runs straight without rubbing on its edge, the gum belt will answer as well and last nearly as long as leather, costing considerably less. The strap and buckets are made to revolve with sufficient rapidity to carry the grain or meal requisite. The pulleys for the elevator should be at least twenty-four inches in diameter, and about one inch thicker than the width of the belt, and nearly half an inch higher in the middle than at the sides, to make the strap keep on. These pulleys should have a motion of twenty-five revolutions per minute. The buckets should be about fifteen inches apart. One hundred and twenty-five buckets will pass per minute. They will carry hundred and sixty-two quarts, and hoist three hundred bushels per hour. If this is not fast enough, make the strap wider and the buckets larger, increase the velocity of the pulley (not to be above thirty-five revolutions per minute), nor place more buckets than one for every twelve inches, or they will not empty. The Conveyor. The conveyor is an endless screw of two continued spirals, put in motion in a trough. The conveyor had eight sides to its shaft, set on all sides with small inclined boards, called flights. The shaft should be made of yellow pine, which is light, and the least liable to spring. It should be made from thirty to thirty-five revolutions per minute. The flight can be made so that the grain or meal may be conveyed and run out at any point of the trough; or be altered to drive either forward or backward; and when the flour is full of specks, the miller can, by altering the flights in the flour chest, cause the flour to be brought back to the return spout, to be bolted over again; the conveyor, therefore, is one of the most useful parts of the machinery in a mill. Wheat may be run into several garners or bins from one conveyor, holes being cut in the bottom of the trough, and slide attached with spouts under each hole, and having the flights so arranged that the wheat will run out at any part of the trough into any of the bins; and should the miller want to separate the different qualities of wheat, he can do so by altering the slides, allowing the wheat of a superior quality to run into one bin, while that of an inferior quality runs into another; or he may mix them, by allowing both to run into one bin, as he things proper. The Hopper-Boy. The hopper-boy consists of perpendicular shaft having a slow motion (not above six or seven revolutions per minute), carrying round with it a horizontal piece of wood called the arm or rake. In the center of this arm or rake, a hole is made large enough for the bottom end of the shaft to work easy in, and to rise and fall as required from the accumulation of flour in the hopper-boy. The under side of the rake is set full of small inclined boards called flights, so as to gather the meal toward the center, and to the part or hole that feeds the bolt. At the part of the board is set broadside foremost, and fastened to the rake, which is called the sweeper, and which carries the meal before it until it drops into the shoe leading to the bolt or bolting cloths, while it passes over it. Thus you perceive, that as the meal falls from the elevator it is spread out to cool and mixed together at the same time. There are two other arms put through the shaft and near its top, to the ends of which, and to the ends of the rake, a line or lines are attached to help to carry it round. Near the upper end of the shaft, also, there is a mortise cut in which works a small pulley. Over this pulley is a line, having one end attached to the rake, the other to a weight, that the rake may work more easy, by rising and falling in proportion to the feed in the hopper-boy, as sometimes the meal will not bolt so fast as it is ground; while again you may want to stop the bolts without stopping the mill; for when the meal bolts too freely the flour is apt to be full of specks. It is better, therefore, to let the meal accumulate in the hopper-boy, until there, is sufficient to give the bolts a heavier feed. The shoe that feeds the bolt should not be less than twelve or fourteen inches long as it will then apply the feed more regularly than if shorter.
The Hopper-Boy, drawing (The Flour Cooling Machine or Hopper-Boy, Figure 2) from: Kick, Friedrich, "Flour Manufacture, A Treatise of Milling Science and Practice," second English edition 1888, first German edition 1871, London, Crosby Lockwood and Son, 1888. The hopper-boy is mentioned in many of Henry Pallett's articles found in The Miller's, Millwright's and Engineer's Guide.
Instructions for Grinding Wheat. In grinding wheat into flour, the end we have in view is to reduce it to such a degree of fineness as is proved from experience to fit it to made the best bread, and to put it into such a state that the flour made be most effectually separated from the bran or skin of the grain by sifting or bolting. Having, therefore, your stones dressed and ready for grinding, and your wheat well cleaned, you start the mill gently, putting power on gradually, until full power that is required is on. The feed should be put on in a similar way. Then lower your stone down gently, until the meal feels soft and even. As to the quantity of feed a mill should have, I can lay down no rules to follow, and therefore it must be left to the miller's own judgment; observing however, that where the feed is either too great or too small, the stones cannot do their work; and it is here the experience of the miller is called into requisition, in regulating the feed to suit the speed the stoned run at, and their state for grinding. To the inexperienced I beg to offer some hints for his guidance in this matter, viz: Catch some of the meal as it falls from the stones, and feel it between your fingers and thumb; if it feels even and smooth, not being greasy, and the motion of the stones being right, it will then bolt well and make good flour. If the meal feels coarse, or the stones run too slow, takes off the feed, and keep altering until they do good work and run their proper speed; while again, if the meal feels greasy, raise the stone a little, regulating your feed to suit. It requires practice to be enabled to judge of the requisite fineness of the meal; as a general rule, however, it cannot be ground too fine, provided you have sharp stones and the feed properly regulated. Some think that by grinding too fine you destroy the life of the flour, as it is called. It is not the fineness that destroys the life, but the heat produced by too great a pressure, from the stones rubbing together when grinding, as nearly all the flour may be taken out of the wheat which will pass for superfine. Millers also require to pay particular attention to the grinding and bolting with regard to the different qualities of wheat. This needs repeated watching, some lots or parcels being soft and damp. In these cases, less feed is required than when the wheat is dry and hard. If damp wheat be ground with a heavy feed, the bran will not be cleaned, nor the flour be good. Neither should it be ground with dull stones; in that case the meal will be clammy, and stick to the cloth, thus preventing it from bolting freely; besides, it prevents its rising in baking. Damp wheat requires as little pressure as possible, and this cannot be done with dull stones. To test the matter, hold your hand near the spout, and catch some bran as it falls from the stones, and separate it from the flour; if the bran feels soft, and is clean, and of an even thickness, then are the stones sharp and grinding well. While again, if it is not clean, and cut fine, alter your stones; and if that does not alter the quality of the bran, the fault lies in the furrows, or the face not being true, but rough and uneven. If the stones grind too hot, it is often caused by the stones being too high round the eye, or the furrows not being of sufficient depth. Catch a handful of meal as it falls from the stones, and shut your hand quickly; if the meal will fly out and escape between your fingers, it proves it to be in a lively state, the stones sharp, and it will bolt well; the greater the quantity that remains in the hand, the more faulty will be the flour. If the face of the stones are untrue, some parts being higher than others, these parts will rub harder, thus causing a heavy friction, and making the flour of a dark color, and full of specks, and keeping other parts of the stones too far apart, thus causing too much middlings to be made, and not cleaning the offal. When the stones get too close, and rub together, so that the meal falls greasy, they ought to be taken up and well cleaned. If continued running in this way, the face becomes polished, the furrows fill up, and no air can pass in or through the stones to carry off the heat generated by the friction in grinding. If the bran is uneven, some being thick and white with flour, and some clean and cut up into small particles, or if the grain escapes grinding, there is evidently a defect in the stones. Sometimes the furrows may be too deep, the face not straight, or it may be a low part in the face of the stone. It then requires that a miller, on watch, should have nothing else to do than attend to the regulation of the feed, the working of the tones, and the rest of the machinery, and to do this properly in a large mill, is as much as one man can attend to. It is requisite that the stones of a mill should be taken up and dressed every week, when running night and day. Some, indeed, let them run longer; but in that cause they cannot grind so well, nor will the flour be so lively, nor the bran be clean. Indeed, the difference will full repay the trouble and expense of dressing, as, after dressing, the bran is so much cleaner and larger. A great oversight by many millers, and one where the interest of their employers is not studied as mush as it should be, is grinding too fast; the flour is thereby heated, the yield is deficient, and the offal not so clean. A four and a half feet pair of millstones, properly dressed, and making one hundred and sixty-revolutions per minute, and driven with sufficient power, ought to grind not more than from ten to twelve bushels of wheat per hour to make clean and good work.
Directions for Grinding Middlings, and how to Prevent the Stones form Choking, so as to make the most of them. After the wheat has been ground in the best manner you possibly can, there will yet appear in the bolting a species of coarse meal, called middlings, of a quality between superfine and shorts, and which is frequently made into coarse bread. But as the meal in this state sells at a low rate, it is more profitable to grind it over, so that the superfine flour that is in it may be taken from it, and disposed of to a greater advantage than what the middlings will sell for. If there are more than one pair of stones in the mill, the better plan is to run one pair for middlings, and the other with poor wheat, so that both can be bolted together, which will be of advantage to the middlings, as they require bran among them to prevent the bolting cloths from clogging, and it will bolt cleaner and better. There should be a rod put through the bar that supports the upper end of the damsel, the lower end reaching inside the eye to the balance ryne, to prevent the middlings from sticking to the eye of the stone, so it cannot feed. If there are but one run of stones in the mill, and you want the middlings made into superfine flour, you can, by a little simple machinery, run them into the eye of the stone, and grind them with the wheat; therefore, both will be bolted together. Be careful to avoid too much pressure when grinding middlings by themselves, as there is then not bran to prevent the stones from running to closely together. If the stones are run as close as when grinding wheat, the flour will be killed; while, if it be pressed but lightly that is, the stones kept at the requisite distance, the flour will be lively, and make good bread. When middlings are ground by themselves, it will be necessary to add some bran to the bolting; the bran prevents the bolting cloths from choking, thus causing it to bolt more freely and cleaner. If ground and properly bolted, there will not be any thing left after to pay for grinding, or doing any thing more to it. It will be fit only for feed. Every mill that is making from one hundred to two hundred barrels of flour in twenty-four hours, should have a pair of stones expressly for grinding middlings, of three or three and a half feet in diameter, of a rather close texture, having one inch to the foot draft, with ten or eleven quarters, and three furrows to each quarter; these furrows one and a fourth inches broad, and one fourth inch deep at the eye. This stone should not run more than one hundred and thirty revolutions per minute; when run too fast they will not feed. The eye of the stone should be five inches in diameter at the top, and ten inches at the bottom or face of the stones. The wide part of the eye should be lined with zinc or tin from the face to a little above the balance ryne; if these instructions be followed, there is no danger of choking.
Of the Manner of Packing Flour. To the owners of mills, I would recommend the flour to be run from the bolts into the bin, to be cool and well mixed. Then each barrel of flour will be equally alike. The best plan of barreling the flour is with an auger machine, as you can then grind all night and barrel all day, saving a great expense; and it is more expeditions way of packing than any other. I cannot recommend the rolling (wooden) packers for this reason: the flour comes dame and warm from the bolts, and is very likely to sour if kept any length of time. When the flour is pressed hard in the barrels, it being damp, had no vent, and thus the flour sours. If the flour be warm without being damp, it will keep a long time. There will always be a difference in the quality of the flour, if packed when coming directly from the bolts, caused by the stopping and starting of the mill, and also by the different changes of wheat that you grind. If you have no auger machine, I would recommend it, anyhow, to be run in the bin, mix it well, and pack it in the barrels with a shovel, which will, as I said before, render it all of one quality. My experience had proven that wheat or flour goes though a sweating process. If wheat be threshed out before stacking and ground immediately, without going through the process, the flour, when ground and barreled, may be perfectly white; but on standing a short time will appear of a dark color, while the process of sweating is going on; it will afterwards, however, return again to its original color. Flour barrels should be made of the best seasoned timber, to prevent the hoops from becoming loose in shrinking, as well as the adhesion of the flour to the inside of the barrel. The barrels are generally made nineteen inches in diameter, at both ends, and twenty seven inches in length, bound with ten hoops. After the packing, additional hoops or linings are put inside the heads and nailed; it takes thirty-six nails. They are then ready for shipping. Barrels after being made, should be accurately weighted, and the weight marked thereon, so that the exact quantity of one hundred and ninety-six pounds of flour can be put in afterward. The operation of packing being done often in a hurry, it is requisite the barrels should be tested occasionally; otherwise more than the proper weight of flour may be put in the barrel, thereby causing a great loss to the owner. The branding of the flour requires great care; for, if the flour is poorly or badly branded, it very often injures its sale. This, although frequently done carelessly, without sufficient attention to its neatness, requires the miller's attention to see that the quality of the flour is equal to the brand it bears. This is an essential which every respectable mill should keep inviolate. A barrel of flour should weigh one hundred and ninety-six pounds, exclusive of the barrel.
Duty of the Miller We suppose that the mill, in all its various departments, is completely finished and ready for grinding, and supplied with a stock of grain, flour barrels, nails, brushes, picks, shovels, scales, weights, etc., when the millers enter upon their duty (properly speaking: I have therefore thought it both right and proper, in a work of this kind, to add the following remarks, in order to show of what the duty consists. In a large mill, where three millers are employed, there should be one head miller, to whom is entrusted the whole management of the mill, and who directs the other millers and work hands about the mill the work they have to do. The head miller should be at the mill early in the morning, and take, charge of it during the day;see that every part of the mill is doing its work properly before he leaves at night, and that there is sufficient wheat cleaned to last throughout the night, as the other millers, when on watch during the night time, should have nothing else to attend to by the grinding and bolting. In the day time, however, it is best to take up one pair of stones daily and have them dressed. The head miller can test the face of the stones with the staff, and give instructions to the other millers in which way he wishes them dressed; while in this manner, each of the other millers dresses a stone in his watch. The night is divided into two watches, the first of which ends at one o'clock in the morning, and belongs to the second miller; the third miller then takes the watch, and continues on till one o;clock in the day. When the mill has only two millers, one of these is called the head miller, being responsible for all the work done in the mill; therefore, he should have full management of it, and his instructions the second miller should observe attentively, and do the work accordingly, The head miller should, however, consult and be agreeable with his partner; thus they will work cheerfully and pleasantly together, each taking his watch, and having charge of the mill, time and time about. The miller should not be entirely governed by the mill owner as to the time the stones should be dressed, the owner often wishing them to run a long time without dressing, thereby loosing no time in the working, but very, very often loosing a great deal otherwise by spoiling the flour. A miller should therefore, stipulate to have it in his power to take up the stones and dress them whenever he thinks they want it. The mill should be kept clean, as nothing looks much worse than a dirty mill. To make the machinery run easy and smooth, the cogs should be well greased with a mixture of black lead and tallow every day, and the gudgeons should be oiled in each watch. A few drops of oil are better than pouring on a large quantity; when a few drops only are applied, they stop there and serve for purpose, whereas a large quantity runs off, is wasted, and creates dirt and filth. When a large gudgeon takes to heating, it is often stopped by laying a piece of rusty bacon on the top. The cause of the gudgeon heating is from the friction of the parts rubbing together, and the velocity with which the move. If grease will not stop heating, cause a small quantity of water to drop on the gudgeon, but not so much as to destroy the polish made by the grease. If the owner of the mill is not a practical miller himself, yet he may form some idea of the capability of the miller from examining the quality of the flour made; if it is white and free from specks, and the offal light and clean, he may feel satisfied that the mill is doing good work.
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