WAIRARAPA OATMEAL MILL, MASTERTON.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 2, Issue 636, 4 December 1880, Page 2

WAIRARAPA OATMEAL MILL, MASTERTON.

■■ e '■ ■ .. J We yesterday paid a.visit to the well- J ™ i WD mill situated on the banks of the f( Waipoua at Masterton, and believing that ai our readers and the Wairarapa generally fi take a warm interest in any attempt to tl start a new local industry duping the H present commercial depression, we will a endeavor to give a description, of this uenterprise of our energetic townsmen. a ! Messrs Bacon & Wrigley. The building 01 in which the business is carried on is a f very commodious one, being 65ft in length J by a wridth of 65ft, and consisting of three v < storeys. On the upper storey is the kiln, of measuring 20ft square,-on which the oats ur are dried, and the hoppers connected with pi two pairs of mill-stones. On the second to storey are- the stones, and on the first M floor the various bins, fans, etc., for J" separating the meal from the refuse, TM/M process of-, oatmealmaking heating the kiln, on the top of oats are spread to be They are then run down a'sliute into and placed in the first hopper to the second process—that of shelling. oats are allowed to travel down on stones at a certain rate, and after through they are no longer oats, ahellings." To enable the-miller may probably.be below) to know when hoppers are empty,■ an ingenious ranee is fixed so that a bell is rung fresh supply ,is put in 'or - the stopped, After passing down the irom tho first hopper, the next thing lo is to separate the husks from the ind .this is accomplished by means ai 'fi® The ahellings are nto a seive, and the fan plays on moh a manner that the husks are : nto a room provided for.the purpose, he rest separated into two bins, in finch is.what is called " mill-seed 1 -, ™ n the other" clips,'-.which is really very "fii oarse oatmeal.' Tn'is latter is then sent 1 ip-.Btair'g again, by. means' of isteam eleva- lind pre,- for the final, process. It is placed in brai second JiQppey,*and ; passed through an'- -thei ther pair-of stones into another seive, Btfd 'here the - fanning -procrss" *is xepetfed.j P& sis time separating it into twp. Lents, in one of which, is corndfist/Vnd ata I the other 'oatmeal,; ready .and ,®- 8 ' rod out.. The mill is oapable of turning """" ut a ton and a.-half in a day of ten hours, lit., at present ithe deinand- ii -n'bt s'tiffi-" x \ "Ikee'P the mjll, going every day," J_j bout yOO. bushels of oats have been'put Pace irough since the start, and we have no bring > ubt'.that before long the mill , will be butol »pt fairly going, •'- The whole of Waira-' mto

[is rapa and Wellingtoniahouldfeel'boundto co iauppoifc a 'local faotory, more .especially , iy when that, factory, as in the ease of the re, oatmeal mill under notice, turns ottk.a e» a superior , article, ; The oatmeal is wally It good, and, to our"mind/better than that )g imported into the district from elsewhere. )Q One drawback which. Messrs Bacon & s- Wrigley have to contend is. the id "difficulty of obtaining a really good sample 's of milling oat?. The oats grown in the I Wairarapajthough they producegood meal. d do not give a fair yielyj'aiid are a great i- contrast in this respect, .to oats groWn tr down South. Of courab, hitherto, . s. have not been grown in tneWairarapa firt^ I- milling purposes, and now that there is a 1- market for well-grown grain of this description, there will probably be a sup- }• ply forthcoming next harvest, is The other products of the oats—viz,, • 1 's mill-seed, corn-dust, and husks—are very d good as feed for .stock. The.corn-dust is ' i >s first-rate for pigs or poultry, and the mill- " y seed and husks form a very good addition y to oatspetc., for horse feed,'. This being is the case, our farmers and carriers should •• is; at any rate give them a trial, and thus >t benefit both themselves and the mill, h Messrs Bacon & Wrigley also '• bean-meal, pea-meal, arid maize-meal, m 'e The whole of the machinery (except e wood-work) for the oatmeal mill-wis 8 turned' out by Mr E. W. Lion Foundry, Wellington, and reflects'great ••• credit on tho maker. The kiln was built ■ d by Mr Check, of this town, and is a welld; executed piece of bricklayer's work, It e contains 16,000 ordinary' bricks and 600 k firebricks. It burns coke, so that there io is no smoke to carry off, ;e In connection with the oatmeal mill is is' the Waipoua Steam Planing Mill and it Sash and Door Factory, which is worked d under the superintendence of Messrs e Bacon & Wrigley, the oatmeal mill'being i- under the charge of Mr Erskine, who is e anexperienced.miller, . ./•> ff The whole of. the machinery for both >r mills ia worked by a 14-horse-power g engine, which also works a force-pump, >r sending the water into a tank above, I) to which hose can be fixed in the event e of a fire occurring on the preraiaej.' e The proprietors of these mills have in- • veited a good deal of capital in-their. ' n recent venture, and it may be long, before, they receive a thoroughly satisfactory return, but they will be certain to obtain i the support of all who have the interests - os the. district, at heart. Those who i admire pluck and enterprise in business, 5 as well as those who merely consider the » quality and price of the article supplied "• ' will deal with Messrs. Bacon is'Wrigley, so that the ultimate success of the-firth is certain. We only wish we had a fewi more manufacturers like them in the i district,