Britain at Work
A Pictorial Description of Our National Industries

io6 BRITAIN AT WORK. There is not much to add concerning cakes, the manufacture of which is practically em- bodied in, or attendant upon, the manufacture of biscuits. T he processes are much the same up to the dough stage, when they go their different ways, biscuits to the rolling and cutting machines, cakes to the tins, I he most popular cakes are those which are called “ slabs,” which are subsequently cut into wedges or slices by the retailer. In connec- tion' with this department, large quantities of lemon, orange, and citron peel arc dealt with in their raw state, and preserved by special processes. Wedding cakes occupy a department of their own, but a recital of their methods of manufacture would partake largely of a repetition of the above. 1 he component ingredients are richer, and the icing more elaborate ; albeit full-blown roses and graceful scrolls may be formed while you wait. There are hundreds of different kinds of biscuits and cakes, and new ones are con- stantly being put on the market. Certain biscuits, such as the “ Osborne,” “ Oswego,” “ Milk,” “ Ginger Nut,” “ Lunch,” etc., have a well established demand, but the public are ever looking for new forms, and will some- times unwittingly welcome an old friend in a new guise. Fresh ideas for biscuits, both as regards shape and form and blending of flavours, are constantly being tried. The leading firms, whose names are household words, work well together. Among the best known may be mentioned Messrs. Peek, Frean and Co., Limited, at whose manu- factory our photographs were specially taken for the purposes of this article. This company’s establishment at Ber- mondsey covers three and a half acres of ground, where between 1,700 and 1,800 people are employed. In one of the rooms there is a large mixer which during the Franco- German War was kept busy turning out huge quantities of biscuits for the relief of Paris. It is stated that 700 tons were despatched in a single day, being part of upwards of ten million pounds of biscuits supplied by the firm for the purpose within a fortnight. H. L. Adam. SORTING AND PACKING BISCUITS.