CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



on hire in both England and Scotland. As they 

 are without feeding-rollers, and do not break the 



straw like the common beater drums, they are in 

 great demand for the making of thatch. 



Fig. 19. Clayton and Shuttleworth's Thrashing-machine and Portable Steam-engine. 



Winnowing is a process performed by the aid 

 of wind, by which the chaff of corn is separated 

 from the grain. Winnowing-machines, or fanners, 

 as stated before, are frequently attached to thrash- 

 ing-mills, and they are a necessary appendage to 

 every farm, either in conjunction with the thrash- 

 ing-mill, or separately. Some farmers winnow 

 their grain by hand-fanners, but a steadier motion 

 when driven by machinery has lately been secured ; 

 so this mode increases, and the grain is at once 

 fit for market. By the process of winnowing, chaff, 

 bits of straw, the seeds of weeds, and other refuse, 

 are separated from the grain ; and it is a wise 

 precaution to boil the latter before putting them 

 on the dunghill, which will effectually destroy 

 their vegetative powers. The different qualities 

 of grain are also separated from each other, by 

 which it is rendered more valuable than when the 

 good and bad are mixed together. The thorough 

 cleaning and dressing of grain are of great import- 

 ance to the farmer ; and he will find it to add to 

 his profit in the end to have this effectually done. 



Barley undergoes a process called httmmelling, 

 by which the awns are broken off from the grain. 

 The machine is composed of a vertical spindle 

 inclosed in a cylinder, and furnished with arms 

 which act upon the grain. It is sometimes 

 attached to the thrashing-mill, and sometimes 

 driven by a separate power. The grain is put in 

 at the top of the cylinder, and as it passes through, 

 the awns are broken off by being struck by the 

 arms attached to the spindle. A more simple 

 process is, after the barley is thrashed, to take off 

 the head of the drum, and put on another cover of 

 tin, perforated with small holes about three-six- 

 teenths of an inch wide. The barley is passed 

 through the rollers, and by this the awns are 

 rubbed off. 



After being dressed and made ready for market, 

 grain should be kept very dry, in a granary free 

 from damp, and impervious to the incursions of 

 vermin. It is, however, the best plan not to 

 thrash grain till it be required for market, because 

 it loses in weight, or shrivels in bulk, by keeping. 

 It also loses in weight, though to a much less 

 extent, by being kept long in ear in stacks ; and 

 therefore the sooner grain is thrashed and carried 

 to market, the greater will be the return, supposing 

 there be no rise in price. 



532 



ECONOMY OF ROTATIONS. 



The majority of the crops which have already 

 been noticed are cultivated to a greater or less 

 extent on most farms ; but peculiarities of soil 

 and climate, distance from markets, besides many 

 other circumstances, conspire to render particular 

 crops more prominent objects in the rotation of 

 one district than another. Indeed, the practical 

 economy of British rotations is a most interesting 

 subject, though one that has received compara- 

 tively little attention. Our space being necessarily 

 limited, we shall only discuss the more important 

 heads. 



Norfolk has long been celebrated for its agri- 

 culture ; and though the art has made great 

 advances within the last century, it is curious that 

 the rotation of crops in that county has undergone 

 little change during so long a period. Mr Caird 

 has fallen into the common error of attributing 

 the founding of the Norfolk four-course rotation 

 turnips, barley, clover, wheat to the late Lord 

 Leicester ; whereas the truth is, this rotation was 

 generally practised long before his lordship became 

 a farmer. Mr Coke only came into possession of 

 his estate in 1776 ; but Arthur Young made his 

 celebrated tour through Norfolk six years before 

 this date, and he then gave the following account 

 of this rotation : ' It is a noble system, which 

 keeps the soil rich, though some farmers depend- 

 ing on their soils being richer than their neigh- 

 bours' for instance, all the way from Holt by 

 Aylsham down through the Flegg Hundreds 

 will steal a crop of peas or barley after wheat ; 

 but it is bad husbandry, and has not been followed 

 by those who have made fortunes.' In recom- 

 mending a change in this system of cropping, 

 Arthur Young shews us that high farming had 

 already taken hold in Norfolk. The modern 

 improvements that have taken place have not 

 been in the direction which this accurate observer 

 anticipated. He writes : ' If I may be allowed to 

 hazard an idea on this point, I should venture to 

 condemn the ploughing up the clover the first 

 year, and for these reasons : it is exhausting the 

 land more ; two crops of corn in four years ex- 

 haust much more than two in five years ; hence 

 appears to me the modern necessity of buying 



