20 



The above figures, which show a quite inappreciable loss of 

 germination, are based on no less than 2,400 separate tests, and so may 

 be regarded as fairly reliable. However, for the benefit of those who 

 are always sceptical of anything in the nature of " scientific " tests, 

 one may mention that the seed in question has been reported by 

 Mr. MacGillivray, of the Sudan Plantations Syndicate, to be well 

 up to the normal both as regards germination and as regards the 

 subsequent growth of the plants, and that careful search has failed 

 to reveal the presence of the pink boll worm in the district in which 

 the seed was sown. 



Similar consignments of seed have also been treated in this 

 machine for British East Africa, Somaliland, and Algeria. 



Although the machine has proved very useful for experimental 

 purposes and for treating these consignments for export, it is not 

 to be recommended for use in ginneries, as a machine of this type 

 with the necessary output would be a very clumsy cumbrous affair 

 compared with some of the other types that have been suggested 

 more recently. 



For further particulars see the report referred to above or apply 

 to the Ministry of Agriculture. 



(7) The Hess Drier. A modification of a machine used for 

 conditioning corn has been proposed by an American firm. It consists 

 of a tall rectangular tower containing a succession of oblique plates 

 fixed alternately on opposite sides, which make the seed, which 

 is fed in at the top, occupy a space which zigzags from one plate to 

 another from top to bottom. While in this tower, the seed is subjected 

 to a strong current of hot air, by which it is heated to the requisite 

 temperature. It then falls into a second similar tower, in which it is 

 subjected to a current of cold air, by which it is cooled down again to 

 its initial temperature. This air, which has been used for cooling the 

 seed and has itself been heated very considerably in the process, is 

 then used for heating the seed in the upper tower after being passed 

 through a chamber containing coils of steam-tubes by which extra 

 heat is added to the system to make up for the unavoidable losses. 



The machine has been in use for some time past for drying grain 

 of various kinds, all the insects it contains being killed at the same 

 time. For treating cotton seed successfully, the manufacturers 



