Britain at Work
A Pictorial Description of Our National Industries

THE MALTING INDUSTRY. 41 this stage. There are generally three or more floors to each steep, one over the other. The corn is now left lying in the heap, or “ couch ” as it is called, till it begins to show signs of germination. The time needed for this naturally depends upon the weather, a few hours being enough on mild days, while in the winter it often happens that no apparent change will have taken place after a couple of days. The couch or heap is now broken up, and the corn divided on to the different floors of the malt-house, where it is evenly spread out just thick enough for its own natural warmth to advance the process of germina- tion. Great care must be exer- cised by the maltster with regard to the depth at which the growing “piece” lies, as corn “turning after “ploughing”: showing furrows LEFT BY “ PLOUGHING- ” AND SMOOTH SURFACE AFTER “TURNING.” too thickly heaped up soon gathers a far greater heat than will allow of its growing naturally and producing satisfactory malt, while the growth is unnecessarily checked by too thin spreading, and consequently time and money thrown away. It will be seen, therefore, that to insure even growth through- out the “ piece ” the corn must be quite evenly spread out, the depth being as nearly as possible the same at all points. Let us suppose that the weather has been cool, and that the corn, having lain in the couch for twenty-four hours, is now divided on to the different floors and spread out to a depth of five or six inches. On examina- tion, we find that the grains are all showing a small white excrescence at one end. This is the first appearance of roots, and the maltster hopes to see them all appear together, as uniformity is important at all stages of the malting process, and most of all at the beginning. The grains are now all growing plants, Photos: Cassell & Co., Lt a. “ PLOUGHING.” and like every form of life, whether animal or vegetable, they require air to breathe, and generate heat in the process. The corns lying on the surface naturally have^ an unlimited air supply, and are thereby kept cool, while those below, being closely confined, tend to gather heat and to stifle themselves, the interstices between the corns becoming filled with carbonic acid gas, the poisonous gas generated by the respiration of animal and vegetable life. Thus we see that the effect of leaving the piece untouched would be first of all that the lower layers of the grain would grow faster than the corns on the surface, owing to their higher temperature, and that they would then die by the process of asphyxiation. To counteract this tendency, and to insure even growth throughout, the piece is “ turned,” or “ ploughed,” by the maltster. The first- named process is by far the more thorough and laborious of the two. It is difficult to convey an accurate idea in black and white 6