Britain at Work
A Pictorial Description of Our National Industries

212 BRITAIN AT WORK. is also cultivated in Alsace, Holland, Italy, and other European lands, the British manu- facturer does not find it necessary to supple- ment his own crops to any serious extent, so that mustard may be classed as a national product in a more complete sense than any other table condiment. The seed is sown annually, the crop is harvested with a sickle, as if it were a vetch, and the tiny pods are threshed upon the farm with a flail. which fifty weigh a grain, are conveyed in sacks to the factory, where they are stored in readiness for the long process of manu- facture. The seed of black mustard is smaller than the other, but it contains a larger proportion of the volatile oil to which the aroma of mustard is clue. On the other hand, the white seed contains a larger share of the ferment which develops the pungent qualities of the seed, and it is therefore usual to mix the produce of the two kinds in order to obtain mustard in its highest form. After being thoroughly cleaned, the seed is dried in a hot kiln, a process which occupies much time, and it is then ready for the crushing mills. It is first shot into a machine wherein it encounters the implacable energies of a pair of smooth steel rollers, and passes thence to a system of wooden mallets shod with steel and working upon an eccentric crank, with the result that it is pounded past recog- nition. From this machine the pulverised seed — which is held together by the presence of oil, forming a third of its weight —is transferred to the sifting room. The sieves, of considerable diameter, are formed of silk cloth so closely woven that the number of meshes to the square inch reaches the The seeds, of enormous total of 30,276. The sifters are men of experience and judgment, for it is their task to watch the vibrating mass and to stop the machine at the precise instant when the whole of the flour has sunk into the bin and the coarser particles of the epidermis left behind. The bin now contains nothing but pure flour of mustard, and in this form the pungent principle attains its most concentrated shape. It could be used as a condiment without any further treatment, but in this state it is found to be unsuited to the ordinary palate. More- over, if left to itself ferment would develop, and a brown crust be formed upon the surface. It is therefore customary to mix with the pure flour a certain proportion of wheaten flour, the effect of which is to act as a sort of buffer and prevent the ferment from coining into contact with adjacent particles. This is not an adulterant, even in the sense in which chicory might be called an adulterant of coffee; but is a necessary ingredient of the mixture. It is, however, usual to sell it as an admixture, to comply with the Acts of 1875-1900, al- though law and custom now- adays recognise that the article called mustard is not a simple vegetable extract, but a com- mercial preparation in which farinaceous materials form an essential part. The admixture of the various ingredients is carried out according to the ex- perience of each individual manu- facturer, and the proportions are valuable trade secrets. It is in the packing depart- ment that the element of human labour is brought more con- spicuously into play, and the task of making and filling the