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GRINDING OF CEREAL
The mill itself consists of several parts. The grain pours into a basket made of thin planks in the form of a rounded pyramid. It is placed above the millstone, and is hung with metal hooks on two small cylindrical beams. The lower oval part of the basket, allowing the grain to drop onto the millstone, is usually made of oak wood.
The flow of wheat is regulated by using a slat with a hole and a round bottom placed at the bottom of the basket. A wooden wedge, set in the hole, is tied to the basket with a rope. The flow of the grain is regulated by tightening and releasing the wedge.
Another device also eases the flow of the grain – the chatter, a short piece of wood one end of which is placed on the millstone, and the other, forked, beneath the slat with a round bottom in the opening of the basket. While the mill is working, the millstone jiggles the chatter and the chatter itself shakes the grain in the basket that slowly sifts the grain into the hollow of the millstone.