300 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



novel, interesting- and educational feature of the daily program was a 

 demonstration of "Art and Conservation in Clothing-." Garments were 

 shown on living models. Lectures were given by Miss Ruth Curtiss. The 

 exhibit was under the direction of Miss Ethelyn Dodson and was arranged 

 by the home economics department of the Iowa State College at Ames. 

 Another attractive and interesting feature was the thrift exhibit, showing 

 possibilities of made-over garments. Talks were given by Miss Cation, of 

 the Iowa State College at Ames, on Thursday and Friday. 



The Homestead, some months ago, printed an article descriptive of the 

 methods advocated by the authorities of the Iowa State College at Ames 

 for drying out soft coin. A display of the methods and a model of the 

 various appliances was one of the big features of the college exhibit at 

 Des Moines this week. That soft corn can be dried on the farm where 

 grown, so that it is safe for storage, at a cost of less than 5 cents a bushel 

 for fuel and power, was demonstrated in a series of tests carried on by 

 the farm crops section of the Iowa State Agricultural Station. The method 

 which was auccessfully tried out at Ames was suggested to the college 

 authorities by Mr. J. W. Winterbothem, of Waterloo, Iowa. The air was 

 heated with an ordinary house furnace, with 28-inch grate. The heated 

 air was pulled through the heating chamber of the furnace and carried 

 to the center of the crib by an exhaust fan located between the furnace 

 and the crib. From 1,200 to 2,000 cubic feet of air was delivered per 

 minute to the center of the crib at a temperature under the best condi- 

 tions of from 160 to 180 degrees Fahrenheit. The only way that this 

 volume of air could escape from the crib was by working out through and 

 between the ears of corn, this expanded air taking up a large amount of 

 water. The crib in wihich the corn was dried was 48 feet long and 8 feet 

 wide, with the corn varying in depth from 5 to 8 feet. It was an ordinary 

 crib, such as is to be found on practically, every farm in the corn belt. 

 In the first of four cribs dried in the initial experiment, the moisture con- 

 tent of the corn was reduced from over 30 per cent to less than 10 per 

 cent, in 24 hours' time, at a cost for fuel and power of approximately 3 

 cents per bushel. In this test the moisture was reduced much lower than 

 was necessary, or in fact, desirable, as ear corn containing 18 per cent of 

 moisture would be perfectly safe against molding and heating, so that the 

 cost for di'ying to a sufficient degree of moisture could have been reduced 

 to 2 cents a bushel. A second crib, approximating 600 bushels, was dried 

 from 30 per cent to 13 per cent at a cost for fuel and power of 2 cents a 

 bushel. When the experiments had been successfully completed. Prof. H. 

 D. Hughes, in charge, announced: "The type and size of the furnace may 

 vai-y greatly, depending- upon the amount of corn to be dried and the tem- 

 perature of the air. The best results can probably be secured by using 

 the blower of any type of silage cutter, this blower being used to force 

 the air into the chamber of the furnace, which, of course, must be made 

 airtight. A two- to four-ihorse power engine will operate almost any fan 

 or blower which may be used. If the corn is to ibe dried in a circular 

 crib, a circular ventilator two feet in diameter and four feet in height will 

 need to be constructed. A framework can best be covered with wire fence 

 material, as this will offer the least resistance to the heated air. If the 

 regular crib is used, it will be necessary to make a conduit about 16 inches 

 square to be placed on the floor down the center of the crib, with a two- 

 foot drop door arranged at proper intervals in the conduit. The corn may 

 be dried by blowing the air through the crib without heating it, but the 

 cost of power to run the fan long enough to do this will be much greater 

 than the cost of fuel to heat the air. The importance of heating the air 

 will be appreciated when it is stated that air heated to 160 degrees can 

 carry eight times as mvich moisture as at 80 degrees, and over 15 times as 

 much as at 60 degrees." 



