<h2 class='c004'>MATERIAL OF BREAD.</h2></div>
<p class='c010'>Wheat. Extent of climate favorable to it. Injured by improper
tillage. Removal of impurities. Washing of grain.
Separation of the bran from the nutrient particles improper.
Ancient Roman bread. Public bakers. Use of bad flour.
Adulterations. Poisonous agents used to disguise them.</p>
<p class='c007'>Among the materials used for making
bread in our country—and, in fact, of all
the known productions of the vegetable
kingdom in any country, wheat is decidedly
the best; and it is a remarkable fact,
that wheat comes nearer to man than perhaps
any other plant, in its power of
becoming adapted to different climates,
over a wide extent of the earth’s surface,
so that it may almost be said that wherever
the human species can flourish, there
wheat can be cultivated.</p>
<p class='c008'>“It is not certainly known,” says Prof.
Thomson, “in what country wheat was
first produced. Mr. Bruce informs us that
he found it growing wild in Abyssinia;
<span class='pageno' id='Page_32'>32</span>and in his opinion, that kingdom is the
native country of the plant. It would
seem,” continues the Professor, “to be
originally an African plant, since it thrives
best in Barbary and Egypt; and perhaps
the mountains of Abyssinia, though within
the torrid zone, may not differ much in
point of climate, from the more northern
plains of Egypt. Wheat is perhaps cultivated
over a greater extent of the globe
than any other plant. Excellent crops are
raised as far north as Sweden, in latitude
60°; it is cultivated in the East Indies,
considerably within the limits of the torrid
zone; and in the North of Hindostan, it
constitutes a chief article in the food of
the inhabitants. In India, however, the
plant seems to have deteriorated. It is
always dwarfish, and the crop is said to
be less abundant than in more northern
climates.” Yet a cold climate is not most
genial to the nature of this plant. “The
wheat of France is superior to that of
England; the wheat of Italy is still better
than that of France; and perhaps the
<span class='pageno' id='Page_33'>33</span>best of all is raised in Barbary and
Egypt.”</p>
<p class='c008'>Excellent wheat is raised in the southern,
and western, and middle portions of
the United States; and even in the northern
and eastern parts of New England,
very fine crops have been produced.</p>
<p class='c008'>But the wheat and other cultivated products
of the vegetable kingdom appropriated
to the nourishment of man, like
those on which our domestic animals
subsist, are too generally, in civilized life,
very considerably deteriorated, as to their
wholesomeness, by the improper tillage of
the soil. I have no doubt that it is true,
as stated by those who have made the
experiment, that the flour of wheat, raised
on a cultivated soil recently dressed with
crude, stable manure, may readily be distinguished
by its odor, from the flour of
wheat raised on a new and undepraved
soil, or from that raised on a cultivated
soil which has been dressed with properly
digested manure. And if such and similar
results of improper tillage can become
the sources of serious evil to the human
<span class='pageno' id='Page_34'>34</span>family, through their effects on the flesh
of animals which man devours, and on
the milk and butter which he consumes,
surely the immediate effects of such a
deteriorated vegetable aliment on the human
system, must be very considerable.</p>
<p class='c008'>They who have never eaten bread made
of wheat, recently produced by a pure virgin
soil, have but a very imperfect notion
of the deliciousness of good bread; such
as is often to be met with in the comfortable
log houses in our western country. It
is probably true that the new soil, in its
virgin purity, before it becomes exhausted
by tillage, and debauched by the means
which man uses to enrich and stimulate
it, produces most, if not all kinds of vegetables
appropriate for human aliment, in
a more perfect and healthy state, than
any soil which has been long under cultivation,
can be made to do. Nevertheless,
by a proper application of physiological
principles to agriculture, many
of the evils which now result from improper
tillage may easily be avoided, and the
quality of all those vegetable substances
<span class='pageno' id='Page_35'>35</span>which enter into the diet of man may be
very greatly improved, both in regard to
wholesomeness and deliciousness.</p>
<p class='c008'>But while the people of our country are
so entirely given up as they are at present,
to gross and promiscuous feeding on the
dead carcasses of animals, and to the
untiring pursuits of wealth, it is perhaps
wholly in vain for a single individual to
raise his voice on a subject of this kind.
The farmer will continue to be most eager
to increase the number of his acres, and
to extort from those acres the greatest
amount of produce, with the least expense
of tillage, and with little or no regard to
the quality of that produce in relation to
the physiological interests of man; while
the people generally, are contented to
gratify their depraved appetites on whatever
comes before them, without pausing
to inquire whether their indulgences are
adapted to preserve or to destroy their
health and life. Yet if some one does not
raise a voice upon this subject which shall
be heard and heeded, there will soon reach
us, as a nation, a voice of calamity which
<span class='pageno' id='Page_36'>36</span>we shall not be able to shut our ears
against, albeit we may in the perverseness
of our sensualism, incorrigibly persist in
disregarding its admonitions, till the deep
chastisements of outraged nature shall
reach the very “bone and marrow” of
the human constitution, and fill our land
with such a living rottenness, as now in
some other portions of the earth, renders
human society odious and abominable.</p>
<p class='c008'>Whether, therefore, my voice shall be
heard and heeded or not, I will obey the
dictates of my sense of duty, and solemnly
declare that this subject demands the
prompt and earnest attention of every
agriculturist and of every friend to the
common cause of humanity; for it is most
certain, that until the agriculture of our
country is conducted in strict accordance
with physiological truth, it is not possible
for us to realize those physical, and intellectual,
and moral, and social, and civil
blessings for which the human constitution
and our soil and climate are naturally
capacitated.</p>
<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_37'>37</span>When proper attention has been paid
to the character of the wheat itself, the
next thing is to see that it is thoroughly
cleansed.</p>
<p class='c008'>Sometimes, in consequence of the peculiarities
of the season, or climate, or soil,
or some other cause, there will be a species
of disease affecting the wheat and other
grains; and this may be of such a character
as not easily to be removed nor counteracted
by any means; but more generally
the rust, and smut, and dust, which
attach themselves to the skin of the grain,
may, by proper care, be so far removed, as
at least to render the meal or flour far
more pure and wholesome than it otherwise
would be. And here let me remark,
that they are greatly deceived, who suppose
that the bolting cloth which separates
the fine flour from the outer skin or bran,
also separates the impurities attached to
the outer skin from the flour. By the
process of grinding, these impurities are
rubbed from the outer skin, and made
quite as fine as any portion of the flour,
<span class='pageno' id='Page_38'>38</span>and for the most part pass with the fine
flour through the bolting cloth.</p>
<p class='c008'>To remedy this, it is perhaps generally
true, that in large flouring establishments,
a kind of smut or scouring mill is in operation,
through which the wheat passes, and
is pretty thoroughly rubbed or scoured
without being broken; and after this, it
passes through a screen or winnowing
mill, and thus is tolerably well cleansed
and prepared for grinding. Yet this process
by no means renders the wheat so
perfectly clean and wholesome as washing.</p>
<p class='c008'>Those who have given little attention to
this subject, will probably think that the
trouble of washing all their bread-stuff
before it is ground, would be much greater
than any benefit which would result from
it. But a short experience in the matter,
would convince every one who has a proper
regard for the character of his bread,
that the trouble of washing his grain bears
no comparison to the improvement effected
by it. Indeed, they who become accustomed
<span class='pageno' id='Page_39'>39</span>to washing their grain, will soon
cease to regard it as a trouble; and the
improvement in the whiteness and sweetness
of their bread will be so great, that
they would be extremely unwilling to
relinquish the practice.</p>
<p class='c008'>When people are so situated that they
can have things as they wish, they will
also find that their bread is much richer,
if the grain is ground but a short time
before it is cooked.</p>
<p class='c008'>The best way, therefore, is, for every
family to raise or purchase a sufficient
quantity of the best new wheat that can
be produced by proper tillage in a good
soil, and put that away in clean casks or
bins, where it will be kept perfectly dry
and sweet; and, according to the size of
the family, take, from time to time, as they
need it, one or two bushels, and wash it
thoroughly but briskly in two or three
waters, and then spread it out on a drying
sheet or table, made for the purpose, and
which is considerably inclined, so that
the water remaining with the wheat will
easily run off.</p>
<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_40'>40</span>The skin or bran of the wheat is so
well protected by its own oily property,
that little or no water will penetrate it,
unless it be suffered to remain in the water
much longer than is necessary. Being
thinly spread out upon the sheet or table
in a good drying day, it will be sufficiently
dry in a few hours for grinding.
And I say again, let any one who loves
good bread, wash his grain a few times in
this manner, and he will be very reluctant
to return to the use of bread made of
unwashed grain.</p>
<p class='c008'>It would be difficult to ascertain at how
early a period in the progress of society,
mankind, in the preparation of wheat for
bread-making, began to put asunder what
God has joined together, and to concentrate
the more purely nutrient properties,
by separating the flour from the part commonly
called the bran. The Bible speaks
of fine flour or meal, as a portion of the
meat offerings of the temple, but it is not
probable this approached very near to the
superfine flour of the present time.</p>
<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_41'>41</span>We are informed also that the Romans,
more than two thousand years ago, had
four or five different kinds of bread—one
of which was made of the purest flour,
from which all the bran was separated.
This was eaten only by the rich and luxurious.
A second kind, in more common
use, was that from which a portion of the
bran was taken; and a third kind, which
was more generally used than any other,
was that which was made of the whole
substance of the wheat. A fourth kind
was made mostly of the bran, for dogs.</p>
<p class='c008'>But at whatever period in the history of
the race, this artificial process was commenced,
certain it is that in direct violation
of the laws of constitution and relation
which the Creator has established in
the nature of man, this process of mechanical
analysis is, at the present day,
carried to the full extent of possibility;
and the farina, and gluten, and saccharine
matter of the wheat, are almost perfectly
concentrated in the form of superfine flour.
Nor is this all—these concentrated nutrient
properties of the wheat are mixed
<span class='pageno' id='Page_42'>42</span>and complicated in ways innumerable,
with other concentrated substances, to
pamper the depraved appetites of man,
with kinds of food which always and
inevitably tend to impair his health and to
abbreviate his life.</p>
<p class='c008'>Even the bread, which is the simplest
form into which human ingenuity tortures
the flour of wheat, is, by other causes
besides the concentration I have named,
too frequently rendered the instrument of
disease and death, rather than the means
of life and health, to those that eat it.</p>
<p class='c008'>In cities and large towns, most people
depend on public bakers for their bread.
And I have no doubt that public bakers,
as a body, are as honest and worthy a
class of men as any in society. I have
no wish to speak evil of any one; and it
is always painful to me to find myself
compelled, in fidelity to the common
cause of humanity, to expose the faults
of any particular class of men, when probably
every other class in society is as
deeply involved in errors which, in the
<span class='pageno' id='Page_43'>43</span>sight of God, evince, at least, an equal
degree of moral turpitude.</p>
<p class='c008'>But public bakers, like other men, who
serve the public more for the sake of securing
their own emolument than for the
public good, have always had recourse to
various expedients in order to increase the
lucrativeness of their business.</p>
<p class='c008'>To secure custom and profit at the same
time, they have considered it necessary,
that a given quantity of flour should be
made into a loaf as large and as white as
possible, and free from any disagreeable
taste, while at the same time it retains the
greatest possible weight.</p>
<p class='c008'>From a variety of causes, the quality
and price of flour have always been very
unstable. Sometimes the crops are small,
or the foreign demand for flour or the
home consumption is unusually great, or
the season is unfavorable to the health of
grain, and the wheat becomes diseased, or
the harvest time is unfavorable, and the
wheat sprouts before it is secured, or large
quantities of flour become soured or musty,
or in some other manner damaged.</p>
<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_44'>44</span>To counteract these things, and to make
the most profitable use of such flour as
the market affords them, the public bakers
have been led to try various experiments
with chemical agents, and there is reason
to believe that in numerous instances, they
have been too successful in their practices,
for the well-being of those who have been
the consumers of their bread.</p>
<p class='c008'>According to treatises on bread-making,
which have within a few years past appeared
in European scientific journals,
“alum, sulphate of zinc, sub-carbonate of
magnesia, sub-carbonate of ammonia, sulphate
of copper, and several other substances,
have been used by public bakers
in making bread; and some of these substances
have been employed by them to a
very great extent, and with very great
success in the cause of their cupidity.
They have not only succeeded by such
means, in making light and white bread
out of extremely poor flour, but they have
also been able so to disguise their adulterations,
as to work in with their flour, without
being detected by the consumers, a
<span class='pageno' id='Page_45'>45</span>portion of the flour of beans, peas and
potatoes—and even chalk, pipe clay and
plaster of Paris, have been employed to
increase the weight and whiteness of their
bread.”</p>
<p class='c008'>“The use of alum in bread-making,”
says a distinguished chemist, “appears to
be very ancient. It is one of those articles
which have been the most extensively
and successfully used in disguising
bad flour, and the various adulterations of
bread. Its injurious action upon the health
is not to be compared with that of sulphate
of copper, and yet, daily taken into
the stomach, it may seriously affect the
system.”</p>
<p class='c008'>“Thirteen bakers were condemned on
the 27th of January, 1829, by the correctional
tribunal of Brussels, for mixing
sulphate of copper or blue vitriol with
their bread. It makes the bread very
white, light, large and porous, but rather
tasteless; and it also enables the bread to
retain a greater quantity of water, and
thereby very considerably increases its
weight. A much larger quantity of alum
<span class='pageno' id='Page_46'>46</span>is necessary to produce these effects; but
when of sufficient quantity, it strengthens
the paste, and, as the bakers say, ‘makes
the bread swell large.’”</p>
<p class='c008'>If the statements of our large druggists
can be relied on, the public bakers of our
own country probably employ ammonia
more freely, at present, than any other
substance I have named. Pearlash or
saleratus is also used by them in considerable
quantities.</p>
<p class='c008'>But even where these adulterations are
not practised, the bakers’ bread is very
rarely a wholesome article of diet.</p>
<p class='c008'>If any dependence is to be placed on
the testimony of several of the principal
bakers and flour merchants in New York,
Boston and other cities, the flour which
most of our public bakers work into bread,
is of a very inferior quality to what is
called good “family flour,” and for which
they pay from one to three dollars less per
barrel; and they sometimes purchase large
quantities of old spoiled flour from New
Orleans and elsewhere, which has heated
and soured in the barrel, and perhaps
<span class='pageno' id='Page_47'>47</span>become almost as solid as a mass of chalk;
so that they are obliged to break it up,
and grind it over, and spread it out, and
expose it to the air, in order to purify it in
a measure from its acid and other bad
properties; and then they mix it with a
portion of much better flour; and from
this mixture they can make, as they say,
the very largest and finest looking loaf.<SPAN name='rB' /><SPAN href='#fB' class='c011'><sup>[B]</sup></SPAN></p>
<p class='c008'>But should the public bakers always
use the best of flour, their bread, as a general
statement, would still be very inferior
to well made domestic bread, in point
of sweetness and wholesomeness. Their
mode of manufacturing bread—to say the
least of it—destroys much of the virtue of
the flour or meal; and hence their bread
<span class='pageno' id='Page_48'>48</span>is only palatable—even to those who are
accustomed to it—within twelve, or at
the longest, twenty-four hours after it is
baked.</p>
<p class='c008'>But I must repeat, that in making these
statements, I am not prompted by any
unkind feelings towards public bakers; I
have no doubt that they are as honest in
their calling as any other class of men;
but perhaps there is no other class pursuing
an interest founded on the necessities
of their fellow creatures, whose expedients
to increase the lucrativeness of their business,
are so immediately and universally
injurious to the health of those on whom
they depend for support.</p>
<p class='c008'>If any of my statements are thought to
be exaggerated or incorrect, I can only
say, that with honest and benevolent intentions,
I have diligently sought for the
truth; and if I have been in any respect
betrayed into error, I have been misinformed
by public bakers themselves, who
certainly ought to know the truth in this
matter; and who could have no conceivable
reason for making the general character
<span class='pageno' id='Page_49'>49</span>of their calling appear worse than it
really is. Nevertheless, I have no question
that there are individuals in every
city employed as public bakers, who are
too honest—too conscientious—too upright
in heart, to be guilty of any practice which
they consider fraudulent or improper.</p>
<p class='c008'>Still, truth compels me to declare, that
if we would have good and wholesome
bread, it must be made within the precincts
of our own domestic threshold; and
by those whose skill and care are exercised
more with a view to secure our
health and happiness, than their own
pecuniary interest.</p>
<div class='chapter'>
<span class='pageno' id='Page_51'>51</span>
<div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />