32 



THE YEAR-BOOK OF AGRICULTURE. 



Ventilating Flour Barrel. 



THE annexed engravings represent an improvement in flour barrels, recently patented by 

 Thomas Pearsal, of Smithboro', New York. Fig. 2 represents a vertical section through the 

 centre of the barrel, showing the ventilating tube. 



It is well known that all commodities containing in themselves the constituents necessary 

 to produce fermentation will, when closely packed in bulks of sufficient size to prevent the 

 air from perietrating them, sooner or later generate heat at the centre, which gradually 

 diffuses itself through the mass; hence the enormous quantity of flour, meal, &c. spoiled 

 in transportation and storing. It is also well known that decomposition invariably com- 

 mences at the centre of the bulk, owing to the increased pressure there, and to its being 

 farther removed from the refrigerating influence of the atmosphere : it is a common occur- 

 rence on opening a barrel of flour to find it perfectly sweet and good at top, bottom, and 

 around the outside of the bulk, while at the centre it will be both hot and sour. While 

 this is common in bulks of the size of a flour barrel, it is rare in a half-barrel. On 

 this theory the invention is based, and to remedy this evil there is inserted a tube or tubes 

 longitudinally through the cask in which such commodity is to be packed, for the free cir- 

 culation of air therethrough, so that the centre of the cask is no longer the centre of the 

 mass ; as in proportion as you increase the diameter of the pipe, you increase the number of 

 centres in the bulk, thus mathematically dividing the mass into as many parts as required, 

 which is equivalent to dividing the mass into as many smaller packages. 



A represents a flour barrel with holes B' in each end in the centre of the heads A / , to 

 receive the tube B. In filling the cask, the head A is taken out, and the tube B inserted in 

 the hole in the lower head of the cask ; the desired quantity of flour or meal is then packed 

 therein, and the upper head A is put into the cask again, the tube B protruding through the 

 holes in each end of the cask, about half an inch, more or less, which is to be hammered 

 down, forming a flange on the heads. Thus the air can circulate freely through the centre 

 of the bulk, and its liability to heat is obviated, and at the same time the cask is materially 

 strengthened. When larger casks are used, several tubes may be inserted in the same 

 manner, if found necessary. These tubes may be made of iron, tin, wood, or any other 

 suitable material porous, perforated, or otherwise. 



