Britain at Work
A Pictorial Description of Our National Industries

40 BRITAIN AT WORK. The objects of malting having been explained we will proceed to describe the practical means by which these objects are attained. The maltster must first buy his barley. This he does either from farmers on local markets in the case of Eng- lish barley, or from merchants and importers, if he wants foreign material. English barley from the immediate neighbourhood generally arrives in the farmers’ waggons, or, if it has to come from a distance, by rail. Foreign barleys arrive at some large port, and are then delivered to the maltster either by rail, or by water in small vessels, if the maltster is lucky enough to occupy waterside premises. The barley is now cleaned, or screened, in order to remove all small corns, dirt, stones, seeds, and any other rubbish which it may contain, some barleys, especially foreign, undergoing a considerable loss of bulk in this way. Barleys grown in an uncertain climate, like that of England, are often insufficiently dried by the sun, and where nature has failed the maltster has to use artificial means. Such barleys are dried on a kiln, the corn being spread out on the perforated kiln floor, under which burns a smokeless anthracite coal fire. The products of com- „ 1 hoto : Cassell HOW THE BARLEY ARRIVES BY RAIL. <&• Co., Ltd. ■STEEP.” THE BARLEY IS RUN IN THROUGH THE SPOUTS IN THE WALL. Photo: Cassell & Co., Ltd. bustion have no other means of escape but through the perforations of the floor and through the barley on the floor, which is thus dried and mellowed in the same way as barleys from hotter countries are dried and mellowed by the sun. The barley will now keep satisfactorily for months, and is placed in stores or bins until required for malting. The first step in the actual malting process is to soak the barley in a cistern or “ steep.” This steeping is continued for two to three days according to the nature of the barley, the water being changed at intervals. Sufficient changes of water are very impor- tant, as mould and other disease organisms abound in the husks of the barley, and are stimulated by immersion, and in mild weather the whole steep would quickly become a mass of corruption if the contaminated water were not drawn off. At the end of the steeping period the water is finally drawn off, and the corn “ emp- from the steep, a heap on tied and laid in the malting floor. The malting floor is a plain floor of cement or other composition, and must be well ventilated and free from cracks and hollows where corn can lie and rot, as mould is extremely dangerous at