212 SKETCHES OP RURAL AFFAIRS. 



thrown out of the upper into the lower rooms, and back 

 again, that it may be the better turned and aired. The 

 screens are made with two partitions, to separate the 

 dust from the corn. By these and similar precautions, 

 wheat has been kept in our granaries thirty years ; and 

 it is observed, that the longer it is kept, the more flour 

 it yields in proportion to the corn, and the purer and 

 whiter the bread is. At Zurich, in Switzerland, corn has 

 been kept eighty years by such means as the above. 



Public granaries are generally built in situations where 

 ships may come up to their very walls to be loaded with 

 grain ; yet if well built, and if good methods are em- 

 ployed for preserving the corn, it neither becomes damp, 

 nor receives any injury from the near vicinity of the 

 water. These granaries are mostly seven, eight, and nine 

 stories high ; and have a funnel in the midst of each 

 floor, to let down the corn from one stoiy to another. 

 In Russia, grain'is preserved in subterranean granaries 

 of the figure of a sugar-loaf, wide below and narrow 

 above ; the sides being well plastered, and the top co- 

 vered with stones. The summer in that country fs too 

 short to allow of the corn being effectually dried in the 

 field ; therefore it is afterwards subjected to the heat of 

 kilns, that it may be in a fit condition to store away for 

 future use. This practice is not confined to Russia, but 

 is prevalent throughout the north of Europe ; and it has 

 been suggested that the example might be followed in 

 this country, in wet and "catching" seasons, with bene- 

 ficial results. Kiln-drying is not unknown in England, 

 but this applies to the grain when threshed out from the 

 straw, and not to wheat in the sheaf When corn is 

 harvested in a very damp state, the grain is sometimes 

 laid to the depth of three or four inches upon a raised 

 and tiled floor, heated by coke, wood embers, or peat. 

 It is frequently turned for twenty-four hours, or there- 

 abouts, when it is generally dry enough to be stored. 

 Great care is necessary to prevent scorching. 



The continental practice is as follows : A simple 



