SEED -KILNS. 675 



horse-shoe shaped heating-apparatus round the interior of the 

 chamber and sometimes sunk partly into the floor. The stove 

 must he made of brick-work, or trachite (Bachstein) ; otherwise 

 a steady temperature is not obtainable. 



When, however, hot air is admitted into the seed-kiln, an 

 iron stove and hot-air pipes are placed in a heating-chamber, 

 from which the hot air passes, as required, into the drying- 

 chamber, being replaced by the admission of cool air. Most 

 large seed-kilns are made on this principle. As the heating is 

 effected more rapidly the more directly the stove communicates 

 with the air, the apparatus is arranged generally so that the 

 drying-chamber is traversed by a long series of hot-air pipes, 

 which only after many convolutions communicate with the 

 chimney of the stove. 



Although all seed-husking establishments more or less 

 follow the above plan, they differ from one another in their 

 heating apparatus, arrangement of the gratings, etc., so that 

 hardly any two of them are alike. They may, however, be 

 arranged in groups, according as the wire-trays are moveable, 

 fixed or cylindrical. 



(a) Moveable Trays. In this case, the light wooden frames 

 of the trays are moveable and not too heavy for a man to lift 

 easily : they are placed pretty close one above the other, 

 generally on supports above the hot chamber. Thus they can 

 be removed and replaced easily for changing the cones. 

 Hundreds of these frames are used in large establishments. 



Mr. Schott, a seed-merchant, of Aschaffenburg, has an 

 establishment somewhat similar to that just described 

 (Figs. 362, 363). A is the heating-chamber containing the 

 convoluted iron pipes and surrounded by a thick masonry 

 wall, which is pierced on two opposite sides by doors opening 

 into the drying-chamber B through which the trays can be 

 removed and fresh ones supplied. As both the heating- and 

 drying- chambers are surrounded by the moderately cool air of 

 the building, the heat is concentrated as much as possible. 

 The stove is at (a), the smoke escaping through (m). The 

 wooden trays (//, h, h) are provided with a base of thin wooden 

 bars, except the lowest of them, which have fine wire-bottoms 

 to prevent the seed from falling into the heating chamber. 



x x 2 



