Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1916-07-20
fire PROTECTION FOR THRESH-
ING MACHINES EASILY PROVIDED

of the State College has perfected a
fire extnguisher for threshing separators
which can be made by any plumber or
pipe-fitter at cost of not to exceed
twenty or twenty-five dollars for
material and installation. The contain
er is a thirty or fifty gallon tank at
tached to the side of the separator and
communicating with the interior of
sprinking system especially arranged
and tested for giving maximum eff
cheney for distribution and gas and
water. This extinguisher works by the
use of carbon dioxide gas and water
under pressure and with it the interior
of threshing separator can be COM
pletely filled with vapor and carbon
dioxide gas in less than thirty seconds
after fire starts.
Plans and specifications for this ap-
paratus, including the springling sys-
TEN, can be had upon application to the
State Agricultural Experiment Station
at Pullman. The Station is also pre-
pared to furnish plans and directions
for wiring separators in order to con-
duct off the static electricity. At
tention should be called to the fact
that faulty wiring may be more harm
than good. Therefore these directions
should be followed in detail.
In the proceedings of the tenth an
nual convention of the Washington
Grain Growers, Millers and Shippers
Association, held in Pullman last win
ter, there is published an article by
Professor o. l.. Waller, and "The Es-
sentials of Effective Fire Extinguishers
for Smut Explosions in Threshing
Machines. Reprints of this article,
bulletins, may be obtained for the ask
ing from the Experiment Station at
Pullman.
Among the most important devices
thus far invented for meeting this fire
problem is a fan invented by j. o.
Scone of 4 a4lield, Washington. This
fan is attached to the separtor with its
intake just above the cylinder and is
operated by pulley and belt from the
cylinder pulley. Its operation requires
about one half horsepower and very eff
fectively removes the larger portion OF
smut and dust from the grain, carrying
it thru a pipe to one side Of the sepe-
rator, thus not only greatly diminishing
| the danger of fire from the presence
of this material, but producing much
cleaner threshed grain which will grade
better and sell at higher price than
ordinary grain. This device also has
the further advantage of collecting the
smut which may be run into large bags
of burlap and destroyed, thus reducing
greatly the contamination of the fields
by the blowing about of smut spores
1t has been pointed out in bulletin No
l26 of the Washington Experiment Sta
ton that so per cent or more of oui
difficulty from smut arises from the
contamination of the fields with smut
dust blown about at threshing time
Anything, therefore, which will reduce
this amount of scattered smut vii
make for crop improvement and lesser
the amount of smut the succeeding year
The Station, therefore, strongly re
commends the use of this fan or some
similar cleaning device.
In order to aid and encourage the
installation of these various protective
devices the Experiment Station a
Pullman is prepared to furnish an ex
pert to any machine owner Tor the In
stallation of any or all of these device
at actual cost for work and travelling
expenses. For particulars address tn
Experiment Station, Pullman, Wash
ington.