Ian D. Thompson, U.E.- Modern Memories -March 1, 2017
Previously, I toured you through the mechanics of the Mill, today I'll tell you how the machinery and workers completed the 'daily grind' and produced flour from wheat at the Caledonia Mill.
From it's conception, the Caledonia Mill produced the finest quality flour in a variety of makes. For several decades, Daisy Mills Flour was produced, marketed locally as 'Clover Leaf'- all purpose, 'Peerless or Perfection'- pastry, 'Manitoba Elect'- bread flour, 'bridal veil'- for cakes and delicate pastries. Earlier brands included Golden Crown and White Daisy. The Caledonia Milling Company produced its full range of products until 1961, at which time a generic all-purpose flour was substituted and production of the other grades was suspended. Focus was placed on animal feeds and 'Grand River Cereal'- a porridge - until the company surrendered its charter in 1964.
It was the end of flour production in Caledonia- though some of the equipment within the mill, which had been operating for over 120 years, was still in use until the mid-1970s to produce animal feeds to specifications of the national firms Blatchford and Shur-Gain.
The process began outside the Mill at the front loading dock. Two trap-doors at the South end flip up to reveal a large wooden hopper where farmers deposited their wheat for weighing.
At the basement level, an auger pulled the wheat along to a set of 'bucket elevators.' These elevators terminated on the first floor of the Mill where the wheat was weighed. The weight was reported to the farmer and he was paid for the supply after inspection.
Once weighing was completed, a grate was opened up in the bottom of the scale and the wheat fell through to a wooden hopper in the basement. Another auger pulled this weighed wheat towards another set of bucket elevators. This set of elevators scooped the wheat and transported it up to the 4th floor attic of the Mill.
On the first floor, a worker turned the wheel pictured here to align a spout at the top of the elevators which would direct the wheat to the different stages in the milling process.
On most occasions the wheat was sent for cleaning first- if a worker turned the wheel to point to 'Cleaning' it would fall down a large wooden chute to the basement where it was cleaned and would eventually be scooped up by the elevators again.
The worker would turn the wheel again and send the flour to be 'ground', 'dressed', 'purified and separated', each time it would be scooped up by the elevators to get to the next stage in the process.
Eventually, perfect flour would be produced to Daisy Mills specifications- it would then be stored in large coopered hoppers that ran three stories high. A cart would be pushed under the hoppers, atop the cart would be a barrel, a fabric sack, or a paper bag which a worker would manually fill with flour. The cart would be pushed atop the scale and weighed to ensure consistency.
Finished product was sold to local families from the Feed Store on the corner of Argyle St. N. and Caithness St. E. (Where Arrell Law is located today), sold direct to farmers in bulk from the South Loading Dock of the Mill (along Forfar St. W.), or shipped to stores throughout Ontario and the Northern United States.
The process involved little manual labour- unless a piece of equipment required repair, in which case it could take hours or even days of hard work and heavy lifting. If the River was flowing optimally and wheat was in good supply the Mill could produce one hundred 198 lb. barrels each operating shift (685,256 lbs per year).
As technology, highways, and shipping methods changed and improved it became less efficient to operate a 30,000 sq. ft. building using 100+ year old equipment. The Caledonia Mill wasn't the last Mill to operate in the area- the Scott family, who managed the Milling Co. saw that decline was beginning and decided to surrender the charter in 1964. They split the profit of the sale of the mill properties with all of the local farmer-shareholders, ensuring that the families who had invested in the company would get the most out of their investment. Each shareholder received a modest sum after the profits were divided. Had the Scott family waited even five more years, it's likely the shareholders would have received very little as the value of the buildings and business would have all but disintegrated.
It's no surprise that the successors of the Milling Co. were in business less than two years before they leased the building out to another company. In 1975 it was abandoned and ownership transferred to the Grand River Conservation Authority.
Visit next week to get a sneak peak at some of the hidden features of the Mill- and a detailed history of it's ownership.
