FLOUR MILLING, American. Flour milling is of two kinds; one the primitive, small industry that supplies a natural local demand; the other a commercial enterprise, which goes into the open markets for its raw material and disposes of its product in the markets of the world. One dates from the early settlement of the country, or as soon as wheat was grown in America; while the other had its beginning about the time of the Revolution, though it assumed no really great importance until after the middle of the last century. While the country has, and probably always will have, a large number of small mills situated in the rural districts, the flour-milling industry proper considered commercially — is on a larger and more important scale than ever before. In fact, the special census of 1914 gives it fourth place among the manufactures of the United States in value of products following: (1) slaughtering and meat packing; (2) foundry and machine shop products; and (3) iron and steel products of steel works and rolling mills.
The small mill that supplies a purely local village or rural demand may properly be termed an °agricultural and, from this point of view, the history of farming in this country is the history of the grist-mill. Its early growth is of some interest. In 1626, a horse-'power mill was built on Manhattan Island, and a windmill in New England, near Watertown, about two years later. Windmills soon became common on the Atlantic coast. The first water-mill in New England was probably built on the Dorchester side of the Neponset, in 1634. Before the middle of the century, New England was exporting wheat and flour to Portugal. In 1649, Virginia had four windmills, five water-mills and numer ous horse-mills, and was also an exporter of wheat and flour. By 1678, New York had a number of mills, and, moreover, had a monop oly on the process of bolting flour.
For over 100 years the development of mill ing reflected the growth of the country, with some extension of trade in the West Indies and South America. Still, the processes were crude, and the industry, with few exceptions, had hardly gone beyond the agricultural or local basis. Not until the mills began to cen
tralize, until amilling centres' began to form, did the industry shape itself on a commercial basis. The period commenced shortly after the Revolution. Yet milling then, as compared with to-day, was as the stage coach of 1776 compared with the luxurious express train of the present century. The mills of Delaware, however, were celebrated for their flour. This district on the Brandywine, had 130 mills within a radius of 40 miles, and Wilmington was an exporter of usuperfin0 flour.
The next milling centre of importance, and which later took first rank, was Baltimore. In 1787 the mills of that city made 325 barrels of flour daily, and it was there that the first marked improvements in the process of flour making were adopted. Up to 1785 the different stages of milling were separate and largely done by hand, as they are even to-day in the Hungarian process. But Oliver Evans introduced the ele vator and conveyor, and combined the several steps into a contumbus system; thus dispensing with much labor, and making a saving in the cost of production. Owing to the failure of the Delaware millers to adopt these improve ments, Baltimore became the more important centre, and the Patapsco River, with its fine water power, became celebrated during the next 50 years. In 1840, the Patapsco, within 30 miles in which the fall is 800 feet, had 60 mills, which ground several hundred thousand barrels of flour a year. A considerable export trade was done with the West Indies.
Still another milling centre was formed at Richmond, Va., at the falls of the James River. The district is now not known as a milling point but in 1845, Richmond had the largest mills in the United States, the °Gallego° and the °I-Taxan.° The number of mills there was 21, and their trade besides the local and nearby territory, was with South America. The °Gal lege mills, in 1864, had 31 pairs of buhrs or millstones, with an annual capacity of 190,000 barrels of flour. The "Haxall' mills had a capacity of 160,000 barrels.