Clerihew Stores. 203 



vour to give an idea of the way in which this is 

 brought about with air at its natural temperature. 8 



To begin with, the store being divided into two 

 storeys, the floor of the upper apartment must be 

 open, with coir matting laid over one-inch reepers 

 (an inch apart from each other) which, in their 

 turn, rest upon joists. 



It is necessary that these joists should run with 

 the length of the building. 



In order to provide a ceiling for the lower apart- 

 ment, cloth must now be tacked on the lower sides 

 of these joists, and well washed with boiled rice- 

 water (or "congee") and whitewash, in order to 

 render it as near as possible air-tight It will now 

 be evident that above this ceiling-cloth, and below 

 the coir-matting floor of the upper apartment, there 

 will be a continuous space, or passage, some six or 



8 During the picking season of 1844, in Ceylon, they had 

 rainfall on the Hunasgiria range that lasted for more than 

 a month, during the thick of the picking. There were very 

 large crops on the Hunasgiria estate, and Mr. Gordon 

 (then estate engineer) informs me he erected a temporary 

 building, and, applying hot air, dried the whole of the crop, 

 while most of the estates in the neighbourhood lost half their 

 crops. This was before Mr. Clerihew came to Ceylon. It 

 is impossible for the planters to g'et their crops properly dried 

 during the picking season, but if they can get them partially 

 dried, then, with a close store through which a current of 

 fresh air is allowed to pass, the coffee is always kept fresh 

 and sweet. 



