GRAIN CONSERVATION 129 



conditions of storage by means of ample ventilation, 

 that air - tight storage, unless the grain were 

 thoroughly dry, might lead to disastrous results, 

 and indeed this objection has actually been raised 

 in opposition to our views. If, however, you have 

 followed what has been said as to the nature of 

 heating and how it results from the processes of 

 destructive metabolism which go on in damp grain 

 — the so-called '^ respiration " — you can hardly fail 

 to realise that the probabilities are that air-tight 

 storage will prevent heating just as it prevents the 

 attacks of insects and of moulds. For destructive 

 metabolism implies combustion, for which a supply 

 of oxygen gas is necessary, and, apart from the 

 question of anaerobic fermentation, which ought 

 certainly to be investigated, but which does not 

 seem at all likely to lead to serious results, the 

 amount of damage which is possible must be 

 directly proportional to the amount of air sup- 

 plied. We cannot, however, content ourselves with 

 mere theory in a matter of such vital importance, 

 and the first question that has to be answered 

 definitely one way or the other is this — Does grain, 

 even when in a moist condition, undergo heating 

 when hermetically sealed up or does it not ? 



Of course, in actual conditions of storage, heating 

 only takes place in relatively large masses of grain, 

 in which the heat produced can accumulate to the 

 necessary extent. The same result may, however, 



