Artificial Harvesting 



33 



brick, into which a continuous stream of hot 

 air is driven by a fan propelled by a portable 

 steam-engine, as used for ' thrashing ; and the 

 hay or sheaves when sufficiendy dried, are 

 thrown out and elevated by means of an 

 "atmospheric hoist," which, driven by the 

 same engine that works the hot blast, is 

 capable of sending up sheaves of wheat to 

 the top of a stack 22 feet high, at the rate 

 of 960 per hour. Mr Gibbs states that a 

 shed, 12 feet by 24 feet, "would enable 

 the farmer to dry sixty-four sheaves in fifteen 

 minutes, or 256 per hour." This number 

 of sheaves represents " the produce of rather 

 more than half an acre, hence twelve acres in 

 the twenty-four hours could be cleared by this 

 means." Larger quantities can be dealt with 

 by increasing the size of the shed, and the 

 volume of hot air. An eight-horse engine 

 will drive four or five fans, and additional 

 heat can be easily supplied by simple means. 

 As to the question of expense, Mr Gibbs 

 enters into details, shewing " a final total of 

 8s. per acre, which, with a four-quarter yield 

 would put 2s. per qr. on the wheat thus saved. 

 For this extra expense, however, it should be 

 fairly allowed that the straw as well as the wheat 

 is secured in better condition, and the in- 

 creasingly high value of that part of the crop 

 makes this an important point in the calcula- 

 tion." 



Mr Gibbs submits for the consideration of 

 practical men a few reasons in favour of his 

 plan, and some of the probable advantages that 

 would follow its wide adoption. These reasons 

 are as follow : — 



•' In the first place, it is not a mere theoiy, existing 

 only on paper, or in the imagination of a sanguine in- 

 ventor, but a palpable and very visible fact, that has 

 been, and can be, put to the severest test of practical 

 working. 



"2d. It is a powerful yet inexpensive arrangement, 

 with no complex nor delicate machinery which would 

 render it liable to break down, clog, or otherwise get 

 out of order. 



"3d. It is portable and easily adjusted, and adapted 

 to most varieties of engines without requiring any 

 alterations in them. 



"4th. It leaves the hay and clover, whilst drying, 

 constantly open to the examination of the men, so 

 that the exact requisite point of dryness may be seen 

 and seized upon ; whilst with the cereals a definite 

 j-ime can be established by the tirst batch of sheaves, 

 VOL. I. 



after which, the same time may be depended upon for 

 producing the same results without further watching. 



" 5th. It does not pretend to supersede nature, to 

 set aside experience, or to change old and approved 

 modes of hai-vesting, but merely adds to them a large 

 and easily-managed power of securing with certainty 

 and rapidity each crop in succession. 



" 6th. It does not involve any new system of things, 

 but with an apparent natural sequence ' follows the 

 (steam) plough,' and in the rotation of the seasons 

 helps to harvest the increased growth which that plough 

 has helped to produce. 



" 7th. It fits in most conveniently and practically 

 with the existing mode of hiring engines, offering a 

 good means of paying employment to their owners just 

 at the time of year when they have been hitherto idle, 

 and yet not putting the farmer to one penny of cost, if the 

 rare chance of a fine season for eveiy one of his crops 

 renders him happily independent of all need of help. 



" 8th. It would be a boon to the harvestmen, pro- 

 viding them with ^^■ork through wet and dry, saving 

 them the loss of wage, and temptation to drink that 

 follows when they are turned off, to lounge about the 

 village, waiting for a change of weather ; and enabling 

 them to get through with one job of harvest work in 

 time enough to get another elsewhere." 



There is one important fact noticed by Mr 

 Gibbs — namely, thatthe high temperature used 

 in the drying, from 220° to 320°, does not 

 affect the germinating powers of the grain, 

 as he had five plots sown with the wheat 

 thus dried ; and at the time when he wrote — 

 last June — the plants were as well forward as 

 any wheat in the neighbourhood. 



It is impossible, of course, to decide defi- 

 nitely, as to the practical merits of the plan 

 invented by Mr Gibbs. That it has merits 

 sufficiently strong to warrant, at least its con- 

 ditional reception, by practical men, seems 

 evident, not only from the results given by 

 him, but also from the mere fact that such 

 eminent agriculturists as Messrs Morton, 

 Read, and Hoskyns have approved of it. 

 That it will be thoroughly tested we have no 

 doubt, and possibly some further improve- 

 ments introduced in its working details. 

 Waiting, therefore, further confirmation of Mr 

 Gibbs' experience, we close our remarks for the 

 present by quoting the concluding paragraphs 

 of his really interesting essay : — 



" If, therefore, it be remembered that this new 

 adjunct of the steam-engine begins its work with the 

 first crop of hay, can next be applied to wheat, oats, 

 barley, and the whole range of cereals, is then at hand 

 to finish the second crop of hay, and enables us to dry 



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