\VINNOWING-MACHINE. 



WINNOWING-MACHINE. 



ism in England or Scotland. All, however, 

 agree that the idea, design, or model was origi- 

 nally furnished from Holland, earlier, however, 

 than the date of any of the*e by at least a pe- 

 riod of twenty years. We learn from the pa- 

 pers of Robert Somerville of Haddington, that 

 in 1710, pursuant to articles of agreement be- 

 tween himself and Fletcher, laird of Saltoun, 

 James Meikle (father to Meikle of thrashing- 

 machine memory) visited Holland for the pur- 

 pose of learning "the perfect art of sheeling 

 barley," in order to the introduction of the bar- 

 ley-mill. The same authority, 1805, states, 

 "that on Meikle's return he made the first fan- 

 ners which were seen in Britain ;" and that 

 these were in use only a few years before that 

 date at the Saltoun barley-mills. That the ma- 

 chine was not made public till many years 

 afterwards may be attributed to a clause in the 

 above-mentioned agreement, by which Meikle 

 was bound, on leaving Saltoun's service, "not 

 to profit any more by this mill, nor communi- 

 cate the arts he had learned to any other." In 

 1737, through the medium of Rogers of Cavers 

 and others, it was brought into more general 

 use; and in 1768, A. and R. Meikle obtained a 

 patent for a machine of this kind. Although 

 a very considerable advantage over the plan 

 of dressing by hand, these still appear to have 

 been but very imperfect, the corn having to be 

 passed through them twice or thrice, in order 

 to be perfectly separated. And in 1798, R. 

 Douglas, in his Agricultural Survey of Roxburgh- 

 shire, remarking upon these defects, mentions 

 an improvement invented by one Moodie of 

 Lilliesleaf, "in which he had happily combined 

 some properties of other fans, so that the grain 

 at one operation could be both separated from 

 the chaff and lighter seeds, and completely rid- 

 dled of all sorts of refuse." 



Other patents had been taken out which do 

 not appear to have involved much real im- 

 provement, till, in 1800, 1. Cooch of Northamp- 

 ton patented the machine which has since been 

 known by his name, and has obtained deserved 

 commendation, being in use and approved be- 

 yond most at the present day. This machine 

 dresses all kinds of seeds, and its work is per- 

 formed in a perfect manner: its principle in- 

 volved more mechanical combinations than 

 were at that time generally understood by the 

 class for whose use it was intended; and this, 

 together with its then cost, retarded its more 

 general adoption. 



In 1812, John Elmy obtained a patent for 

 improvements in winnowing-machines, and 

 produced a very efficient implement; the ar- 

 rangement of its various parts were simple, 

 and greater effect was obtained from the blast. 

 Comparing this with the drawings and descrip- 

 tion of one we find in the Edinburgh Journal of 

 Agriculture, and with that described by Profes- 

 sor Low, we have little doubt of their general 

 identity with this, the model upon which the 

 machines in general use are now made. 



In 1839, T. F. Salter obtained a patent for a 

 machine for winnowing and dressing corn and 

 seeds, which at the R. A. S. E. meeting at Cam- 

 bridge was exhibited, and obtained the silver 

 medal. 



In this invention are combined the princi- 

 1148 



pies of Grant's hummelling machine, described 

 in Fritish Husbandry, vol. xi. p. 204, and of 

 Hall's smut machine (London s Enry. of dgr. p. 

 439, fig. 403), with the operations of the com- 

 mon winnower. 



.The undressed grain from the hopper passes 

 through a cylindrical sieve, having within it a 

 rotary spindle, upon which short blunt arms 

 are arranged in a spiral direction; these agi- 

 tate the grain as it passes along, and thus se- 

 parate the small dirt and dust as well as the 

 awns of barley, which fall through in a closed 

 box or cupboard. The cylinder is placed in a 

 slanting direction, and is provided at each end 

 with slides, which regulate the quantity and 

 speed with which the grain shall pass. Through 

 the slide aperture at the lower end the grain is 

 introduced upon other sieves, which, having a 

 backward and forward motion, distribute it 

 equally over their surface, when it is subjected 

 to the blast of the fan, driving obliquely through 

 the sieves; this carries the chaff out of the 

 machine ; the grain falls on a screen, which, 

 having a similar motion to the sieves, separates 

 from it all small seeds, and the dross corn is 

 carried away in a division formed for the pur- 

 pose. The grain, dross, corn and chafF are 

 thns all thoroughly separated from each other, 

 and the dust, dirt, and small seeds, having fallen 

 in an enclosed box from the cylinder, may be 

 entirely removed. 



We have heard this machine highly ap- 

 proved by many, and when pains are taken to 

 separate the corn* from the short straw, &c., 

 previously to submitting it to the machine, we 

 believe it to be very effective; but as there is 

 some degree of complication in its details, it is 

 chiefly suited to those to whom a high degree 

 of excellence in the manner of "making up 

 their corn" is a matter of more importance 

 than the time or labour it may require. 



We now come to the description of the win- 

 nower used in combination with the thrash- 

 ing apparatus at Whitfield, in which the prin- 

 cipal feature is the improvement of the fan or 

 blower. Having noticed that the ordinary form, 

 and position of the fans, which are flat boards, 

 radiating from the centre, tended to keep the 

 air contantly whirling within the casing, rather 

 than to force it forwards ; and that if, instead 

 of being flat, they were curved forward in the 

 direction of their motion, they would draw the 

 air in from the tube and force it out at the 

 sides, J. Clyburn of Uley, the engineer by 

 whom the machinery at Whitfield was executed^ 

 constructed a blower, in which, by a certain 

 curvature of the fans, and a different arrange- 

 ment of the chamber in which they revolve, 

 the tendency to form a vacuum is considerably 

 increased, and greater force is consequently 

 obtained from the blast. 



We are not disposed to leave this part of 

 our subject without some allusion to an inven- 

 tion for still further carrying out the process 

 of cleaning corn, known as Tuxford's reeing- 

 machine. This consists of a series of sieves, 

 | to which a rotatory motion is given : the grain is 

 by this means separated from any small dust 

 I and dirt, which passes through the wires of 

 j the sieve, while all the lighter rubbish is by 

 the motion brought to the top, whence it is re- 



