us 



locked. 4. One important advantage attending the 

 threshing-machine, worked by any power, is the supe- 

 rior value of the grain ; as the speedy way in which the 

 work is executed, prevents that waste and damp, which 

 was produced from the long continuance of the corn 

 among the chaff, thereby rendering it not so fit for meet- 

 ing the market, and of inferior quality to the consumer*. 

 Hence, as Mr John Shirreff well observes, the corn, instead 

 of lying during one, two, or even three weeks, amidst 

 the chaff and other rubbish, in the corner of a barn, 

 till it becomes quite raw to the touch, and musty to the 

 mall, or, if the floor is damp, sometimes in part, springs, 

 grain when threshed by the machine, is instantaneously 

 separated from both straw and chaff, as well as every other 

 extraneous substance, and can be immediately measured 

 up into bags, to be disposed of as may best suit the 

 owner's interest. So great is the difference between 

 grain threshed by the flail and the machine, that any 

 person acquainted with the article, may go through 

 a. corn market, blindfolded, and note every bag. 5. Ano- 

 ther great advantage is, that the fanner can thresh 

 his seed-wheat when in a soft state, recently cut 

 and taken off the field, and without any injury what- 



* Communication by Mr James Cutbbertson. Mr Peter 

 Jack of Moncur, observes, that when grain was threshed by 

 the flail, it was ten or twelve days in the floor, the firat part 

 of the grain lying on the floor so lon^, became damp and 

 swelled, that though put to a proper granary, yet it soon be- 

 came foisted, from the damp that it carried from the cold 

 floor, and on dint account, n-ver ha i the fine flavour in flour, 

 that meal of all kinds now h.tve, never b'.ing suffered to lie 

 on the barn floor. North countiy oats and meal often lose 

 a nuirket in the south, or. account of the tcistej taste, it is so 

 apt 10 imbibe from damp floors. 



