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PROCESS
OF
MALTING.
71
ficiently
steeped
when,
on
being
strongly
rubbed
between
the
hands,
it
is
completely
crushed,
without
leaving
any
solid
or
irreducible
particle.
All
the
other
means
resorted
to
to
recognise
the
period
of
its
termination
are
analogous
to
the
latter;
such
is,
for
instance,
that
of
cutting
it
by
the
nail
or
crushing
it
between
the
teeth.
By
these
means
and
a
little
practice,
you
may
always
convince
yourself
that
not
the
least
particle
^f
corn
has
escaped
the
penetrating
and
softening
action
of
the
water
—
for
this
is
the
only
object
of
steeping.
To
guide
the
operator,
he
is
informed
that
the
grain
is
sufficiently
softened
and
penetrated
after
having
remained
from
thirty
to
forty
hours
in
the
water,
according
to
the
season
and
the
mate-
rials
made
use
of.
It
is
necessary
to
remark
that
it is
sometimes
essential
in
the
heat
of
the
summer
to
renew
the
water
once
or
twice,
because,
without
that
precaution,
a
fermentation
might
take
place,
which
would
always
prove
injurious
to
future
results.
When
the
corn
has
been
sufficiently
soft-
ened,
and
is
placed
under
one
of the
conditions
necessary
for
germination,
it is
extremely
swollen,
and
increases
conspicuously
in
bulk
;
this
is
the
reason
why
it
has
been
recommended
not
to
fill
the
back
entirely.
Then
the
water
is
let
out
of
the
back
through
an
open-
ing
made
in
the
lower
part
of
it,
and
continues
to
be
drained
for
ten
or
twelve
hours
previously
to
the
suc-
ceeding
operation,
the
object
of
which
is
to
cause
the
grain
to
germinate.
The
corn,
having
been
suitably
steeped
in
the
way
above
described,
is
placed
on
the
malting-Jloor,
near
to
which
the
steeping-back
should
be
placed,
to
save
labour