AN IMPROVED. MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR HARVESTING CORN AND OTHER CROPS, AND VEN- TILATING GRANARIES
Year: 1860

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Roberts at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 29th September
1860.
I, JOHN ROBERTS, of Upnor, in the County of Kent, Terra Cotta Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED.
MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR HARVESTING CORN AND OTHER CROPS, AND VEN-
TILATING GRANARIES," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to preserve from the effects of damp cereal
and other crops, whether stacked or under cover.
The Invention relates, firstly, to a mode of securing ventilation in stacks,
whether of corn or hay, and thus when the stack has been hastily formed
during unfavorable weather, affording the means of discharging the moisture
therefrom. To effect the drying of stacks of grain and grass, or clover hay,
built up while the produce was in a damp state, I place in the stacks, while
being built, perforated ventilating tubes, say a vertical in the centre of the
stack, and horizontal pierced tubes radiating therefrom, the ends of all of
which project slightly beyond the stack that is at the sides and top thereof.
The horizontal tubes I place around the central tube, so that they will form
air channels through the stack at levels of about a foot or more apart. To the
outer ends of the tubes I fit valves or doors, which, when opened, will admit
currents of air. These doors must, however, be opened only in dry weather,
air will then circulate through them, and carry off the moisture that would

page_text: otherwise be confined in the stack.
When the weather proves unfavourable,
the doors must be closed. With these appliances hay and clover may be
made into stacks while in a damp state, without injury. Wheat and other
grain may be cut and stacked directly without incurring the ordinary loss by
"shedding out" consequent on cutting when the straw is partially green and
the grain is fully matured. Another advantage is that the husks will be
thinner, and the flour whiter and better than if left to get thoroughly ripe.
And, further, by the application of this Invention, grass and clover fodder may
be cut and safely stacked in twenty-four hours, thereby saving great expense,
particularly in doubtful weather.
To dry wheat or other grain in granaries or stores, I form openings in the
outer walls on a level with the flooring, and cover each opening with per-
forated zinc inside and out, fitting a sliding door inside to admit or prevent
the access of currents of air to the corn. Opposite these openings I place
perforated tubes of zinc or other suitable material, the tubes being long enough
to extend across the building to corresponding openings in the opposite outer
wall. By this means I provide for the circulation of air through the grain,
and if the bulk of grain be large, then I employ vertical tubes in connexion
with the horizontal tubes, according to the quantity on the floor, as the more
air is admitted in dry weather the faster will the grain be dried, and less
attention will be required to turn it over, whereby a saving of labour will be
effected sufficient soon to repay the outlay for the apparatus.
Grain in bulk on board ships or other craft should have horizontal tubes at
the bottom, with vertical tubes communicating with them, and windsails from
the upper deck to force the air into the tubes. By this means the grain will
be prevented from heating, and it will have a tendency to keep in good
condition.
The ventilating tubes may be made either cylindrical or rectangular, and
the pierced plates or sheets of zinc (that being the metal I prefer) may be
strengthened by a wooden framing, or by metal bracings. The valves fo
closing and opening the exposed ends may either swing on hinges, or slide in
grooves, as found most convenient.