34 . THE YEAR-BOOK OF AGRICULTURE. 



siderable breakage of wire takes place, but still the wire cylinders maintain the precedence 

 over cloths, so far as regards the quantity of work performed. 



"An improvement on this plan, known in England as the Yorkshire machine, resembles 

 somewhat the foregoing, save that iron is used instead of wood for the ribs supporting the 

 wire ; and the cylinder, instead of being stationary, has a slo^w revolving motion given to it. 

 A series of brushes revolves on the outside of the wire for the purpose of keeping it clean, 

 thus doing away with the necessity of hand brushing. The interior brushes affixed to the 

 shaft are capable of being adjusted by means of a screw, so as to stand at any required dis- 

 tance from the interior surface of the wire, which they are never allowed to come in contact 

 with. The whole of these motions of the cylinder and the outside and inside brushes are 

 obtained from gearing fixed at the head of the machine. These machines have been largely 

 used, and are very efficient, but they are liable to continual breakage of the wire gauze, more 

 particularly at the ribs which are used to support the wire, as in the machine before 

 described. This machine is fixed at the same inclination as the one in which the cylinder 

 was stationary. It is clear that the numerous ribs in all these machines form obstructions 

 to the passage of the flour through the wire gauze. It occurred to Mr. Egan that if he 

 could get rid of these ribs, the quantity of flour dressed per hour would be much increased, 

 without in any way adding to the pressure on the wire ; and that, at the same time, economy 

 would result if, as was supposed, the breakage of the wire gauze was due to the ribs. In 

 his machine, the only ribs used are those necessary to form the junctions between the sheets 

 of wire ; the distance between them thus being about eight or nine inches, instead of two 

 and a half or three inches, as in the old machines. The inside brushes, instead of revolv- 

 ing with their surface parallel to the gauze, and being continuous throughout the length of 

 the cylinder, as in the Yorkshire machine, are divided into separate portions, corresponding 

 with each sheet of wire gauze, and are at an angle, so that one end of the brush is nearer to 

 the cylinder than the other. The outside brush, instead of revolving, has a motion given 

 to it similar to hand brushing. By these means the frequent breakage of the wire is obvi- 

 ated, besides dressing a larger quantity of flour per hour." 



Improvements iir Flouring and Bolting. 



A PATENT has been recently granted to Messrs. Stouffer, Brough, and Barr, of Chambers- 

 burg, Pennsylvania, for an important improvement in flouring and bolting. 



The nature of the improvement consists in entirely separating the bran and the flouring 

 particles previous to subjecting the stuffs to regrinding, by passing them through the super- 

 fine bolt, and then through a second one under it. The advantages of this improvement are 

 set forth in the specification, as follows: "In the bolting process and apparatus an insig- 

 nificant quantity of brown stuff is made, (which is only bran ground fine,) and avoiding 

 entirely the production of middlings, at the same time increasing the production of superfine 

 flour of uniform quality or brand; with good wheat, a barrel being produced from four 

 bushels to four bushels and six pounds. 



It is also stated in the specification, that all efforts heretofore made to produce a barrel 

 of superfine flour from less than four bushels and twenty-five pounds of wheat, have failed 

 to procure a regular run of quality, on account of the bran husk being reground with the 

 farina, and imparting a red cast to the flour. The regrinding of all the offal, on account of 

 gluten, has also a tendency to clog the bolts. The great quantity of bran also, in proportion 

 to the flour, which is passed through the auxiliary mill, consumes a great deal of power. 



A full description of this improvement, with a diagram, may be found in the Scientific 

 American, vol. x. 



Feeding Flour-Bolts. 



SAMUEL TAGQART, of Indianapolis, Indiana, has obtained a patent for an improvement in 

 feeding flour-bolts, the essential feature of which consists in feeding the meal at all times 

 uniformly to the bolts. The usual method of feeding the meal to bolts in making flour is by 

 spouts having a drop-shoe under each. These drop-shoes receive a shaking motion by 



