Flour, the meal of wheat, rye, etc. finely ground and sifted.

We have already stated, that corn is the prey of a variety of in-sects : when converted into flour, it is subject to the depredations of another race of destroyers, which multiply in it so rapidly, that in a very short time they wholly consume its substance. These insects are of an oblong, slender form; their heads are provided with a kind of proboscis or snout, with which they take in their food; their body is composed of several rings. They do incalculable damage to the flour deposited in magazines for armies or other public uses ; and after they have insinuated themselves into any parcel, the only method that can be adopted for saving the whole quantity is, to convert it immediately into bread.

In order to prevent such noxious vermin from breeding in flour, this valuable commodity should be kept thoroughly dry, as well as the barrels into which it is packed : with such precautions, if the flour be placed in a cool and airy room, it will be effectually preserved.— Sometimes, however, it happens, that though every attention be bestowed on it, flour becomes sprit, or damaged, and thus acquires an unpleasant flavour. This may be remedied by mixing a quantity of ground rice (in the proportion of one pound to ten of flour) with the usual quantity of yeast and water ; keeping the mixture before the fire for the space of two hours; at the expiration of which time, the whole may be wrought into bread, in the common manner : thus it will be totally divested of its disagreeable flavour. - See also Baking, vol. i. p. 150.

The proportion of flour, which a bushel of grain affords, greatly varies. A bushel of Essex wheat, Winchester measure, weighs upon an average about 60lbs., which, when ground, will yield (exclusive of the loss incurred by the grinding and drying) 45|lbs. of the flour called seconds, which alone is used for baking throughout the greater part of England, and which affords the most wholesome, though not the whitest bread. Beside the seconds, such a bushel of wheat yields 13lbs. of pollard and bran : the total loss in grinding seldom exceeds one pound and a half.

A correspondent of the Editors of the Supplement to the Encyclopedia Britannica (Art. Bread), states, that he weighed 2bushels,Winches-ter measure, of white and red wheat, the whole of which amounted to 122lbs. This wheat was ground under his own inspection, and yielded 121 1/2 lbs. of meal, so that-the waste or loss in grinding the two bushels, amounted only to half a pound. The meal was also dressed in his presence, and produced 931/2 lbs. of seconds, and 251/2lbs. of pollard and bran, so that the whole loss in the two bushels, both by grinding and dressing, did not exceed two pounds and a half. The bran and pollard were also dressed in a bolting mill, and produced lbs. oz Sharps - 6 0 Fine Pollard -58 Coarse ditto - 7 8 Broad Bran -5 8 24 8 One pound only was thus lost in the bolting, and if the sharps had been sifted, they would have afforded three pounds, of good flour. We are inclined to think, from these and similar data, if the price of wheat were given, that of flour might be easily ascertained, and those frauds which are now practised with impunity, could be effectually prevented.

Many valuable substitutes for flour have already been mentioned under the head of Bread, vol. i. p. 332, and foll. In this place, therefore, we shall only observe, that the most plentiful and the cheapest of these articles, in times of great scarcity, would doubtless be the Chesnut (of which we have given an account in its alphabetical order); and likewise the different roots growing wild under fences, near ditches, and frequently on extensive commons. Of these beneficial vegetables, the attentive reader will find numerous instances recorded in the progress of this work, as well as a distinct enu-meration in the pages before cited.

One pound only was thus lost In? the bolting, and if the sharps had been sifted, they would have afforded three pounds of good flour. We are inclined to think, from these and similar data, if the price of wheat were given, that of flour might be easily ascertained, and those frauds which are now practised with impunity, could be effectually prevented.

Many valuable substitutes for flour have already been mentioned under the head of Bread, vol. i. p. 332, and foll. In this place, therefore, we shall only observe, that the most plentiful and the cheapest of these articles, in times of great scarcity, would doubtless be the ChEsnut (of which we have given an account in its alphabetical order); and likewise the different roots growing wild under fences, near ditches, and frequently on extensive commons. Of these beneficial vegetables, the attentive reader will find numerous instances recorded in the progress of this work, as well as a distinct, enumeration in the pages before cited.