FLOUR :\1ANUFACTURE IN THE UNITED STATES. In Colonial days large quantities of wheat were raised and converted into flour in America; but with the Hessian soldiers of the Revolution was imported the Hessian fly, a scourge which liter ally drove the production of wheat across the Alleghanies. Since that time the centre of wheat and flour production has steadily moved to the Northwest. In 1815 a steam flour-mill, having a capacity of 700 barrels per week, was built at Cincinnati. The first merchant mill in Minneap olis was erected in 1854. During the last half century the importance of the latter city as a milling centre has increased so rapidly that it now rank; first in the world as a producer of flour. With the new process of flour manufacture came the era of the big flour-mill. This was due partly to the fact that the machinery involved is too complicated and expensive for the small manufacturer, and partly because this change is simply in line with modern industrial develop ment. In the bulletin on flouring and grist-mill products of the TT, S. census of 1900 a distinction is made between merchant and customs mills, and from the statistics given it is evident that mill ing on a small scale IS still a flourishing industry. Customs mills are defined in this report as mills grinding 'wheat, corn. and other grain furnished
from farms in the neighborhood. and are usually denominated grist-mills. :Merchant mills are large manufacturing establishments supplying the home market, and exporting flour to the prin cipal foreign countries. In more munhers the customs or exchange mills constitute 59 per cent. of the total number of milling establishments. The largest number of small mills was found in Pennsylvania. and of mills of the greatest ea parity in Mimics()laa. The total number of flour and grist-mills grinding wheat was 13,188, of which I655 belong to the class producing less than 100 barrels per :1111111111. The growth of the milling industry in general during the last half century is shown by the following statistics; hi 1850 there were 11,891 establishments in the United States engaged in milling cereal products; in 1900 there were 25,2,58 such In 1850 the capital thus invested amounted to $51, 415,581, and the value of the annual product to $136,056,736; in 1900 the capital invested amounted to $218,71•1,104, and the annual to $560,719,063. Of this total product, 18,099,194 barrels of wheat flour, valued at $67,760,886, were exported.