THE WAREHOUSING OF GRAIN. 127 



The great superiority of the band over the screw as 

 regards economy of power, was thus clearly shown. The 

 band was also shown to have another important advantage. 

 When the screw was used, injury was done to the grain by 

 the revolving blades ; but the grain, when carried by bands, 

 sustained no such injury. 



To get grain from the vessels into the warehouse, it is 

 raised out of the ship's hold to the top of the building by 

 means of cranes and bucket elevators, taking about a ton 

 at each lift, and it is then discharged into hoppers, weighed, 

 and, by a system of horizontal bands and vertical shoots, 

 conveyed to various parts of the building. Portable cup 

 and band elevators are now also used for the same pur- 

 pose. 



The two grain warehouses referred to belong to the 

 Mersey Dock Board, and were designed by Mr. Lyster, the 

 Docks Engineer. Both buildings are of great capacity. 

 The one at Waterloo Dock has a floor area available for 

 the storage of grain of 48,918 yards, which, at four quarters 

 per yard, would give a storage capacity of 19G,000 quarters. 

 The other, at the Great Float, Birkenhead, has a storage 

 capacity of about an equal amount. At the Birkenhead 

 granaries there are in addition 4G silos, each 6 feet square 

 and 40 feet in height. Each of these silos is fitted with a 

 central air funnel, IG inches in diameter, made of perforated 

 sheet iron. Air is forced up these funnels by means of fans, 

 and, escaping through the perforations, it thoroughly venti- 

 lates the grain. These silos are used for grain which arrives 

 in bad condition. All the machinery of these warehouses 

 is worked by hydraulic power. 



In the United States of America, bands, or belts as they 

 are called there, are greatly used. At Duluth there are a 

 number of large granaries, and belts are used on a more 



