. Bulletin of the Department of Agriculture. Agriculture; Agriculture. THE MILLING OF RICE. ing the grain. The mortars, enlarged to a capacity of 4 to 6 bushels each, were lined with iron, and the pestles, covered with the same metal, weighed 350 to 400 pounds each. All machinery in these mills was operated by power secured from small wood-burning steam engines. The pestles were raised and dropped into the mortars by means of a huge horizontal revolving drum, fitted with spokes which, as the drum revolved, passed into and under slots in the pestles, raising them up, passing, out, and drop
. Bulletin of the Department of Agriculture. Agriculture; Agriculture. THE MILLING OF RICE. ing the grain. The mortars, enlarged to a capacity of 4 to 6 bushels each, were lined with iron, and the pestles, covered with the same metal, weighed 350 to 400 pounds each. All machinery in these mills was operated by power secured from small wood-burning steam engines. The pestles were raised and dropped into the mortars by means of a huge horizontal revolving drum, fitted with spokes which, as the drum revolved, passed into and under slots in the pestles, raising them up, passing, out, and dropping them suddenly with a heavy thud into the mass of rice in the mortars. Machine- driven screens and fans were adopted, and the capacity of a mill employing six or eight mortars was over TOO bushels of rough rice per day. Mills of this type, which were lo- cated at various points along the South Atlantic coast, were the first to attempt a separation of the clean rice into grades according to size. This was done by the use of flat metal screens. Very largely increased production in southwestern Louisiana and a demand for a more highly polished product resulted in further mechanical developments in the mills of that region. The rice was first screened to re- move foreign matter, such as straw, weed seeds, and mud lumps. It then passed to a pair of hulling stones, a new machine introduced to perform a part of the work formerly done by the mortar and pestle. The rice fell through an opening in the upper stone, and the revolution of this stone, or " runner," over the " bed stone," which was stationary, caused the grains to incline in a semiupright position between the two stones. The " runner," which revolved over the " bed stones " at a distance above it equal to about two-thirds the length of the rice grain, cracked or split the hull,. Fig. 3. Wooden mortar and pestle used in milling rice by Please note that these images are extract
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