MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, EGYPT. 



Bulletin No. 11. 



(ENTOMOLOGICAL, SECT1OX.) 



-SIMON'S HOT-AIR MACHINE 



FOR THE TREATMENT OF COTTON SEED 



AGAINST PINK BOLL WORM. 



A machine of the type used in England for drying malt, manu- 

 factured hy .Messrs. Hit-hard Simon & Sons of Nottingham, was, during 

 the course of las) year, brought to this country by .Messrs. Mosseri, 

 Curiel & Co., and erected at the factory of Messrs. Choremi, 

 Benachi & Co. at Kafr el Zaiyat, the .Ministry of Agriculture being 

 invited to carry out experiments with it with a view to testing its 

 suitability for the treatment of cotton seed against the pink boll 

 worm. 



The machine consists of a horizontal cylinder in which revolves 

 a skeleton comprising five longitudinal steam pipes and an equal 

 number of bars carrying flanges which serve to mix up the seed. 

 The seed is fed in at the top at one end of the cylinder and makes 

 its way out through a hole in the side near the other end. 



Experiments have now been carried out which sufficiently 

 demonstrate the possibilities of the machine. The earlier experiments 

 were largely spoilt by the lack of accessories such as an elevator for the 

 seed and a governor for the engine, the absence of which made it almost 

 impossible to keep the machine working regularly. However, by 

 April 27, most of these defects had been remedied, and on that date 

 an extended trial was carried out, the results of which are shown 

 in Table I. In Table II the treated samples are divided into three 

 approximately equal series according as the temperature of the treated 

 seed lay (i) between 51- 5 and 54- 5 C., (ii) between 55 and 56 C., 

 or (iii) between 56- 5 and 60- 5 C. Table III shows the summarized 

 results of the last eighty minutes' running when an attempt was 



