No. 10. 



Granary — Preservation of Life. 



301 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Granary — Preservation of Life. 



Mr. Editor, — On a late visit to a branch 

 of the Cooper family, New Jersey, I observed 

 that the granary, or place for stowing away 

 grain of different descriptions, was fitted up 

 with binns in the shape of very large and 

 strong iron-bound casks of the usual shape; 

 and in these the wheat, &c., was preserved 

 for any period, no matter how long, without 

 fear of weevil, grain-worm, or any other spe- 

 cies of vermin, or damp and mouldiness; the 

 grain being introduced by means of a funnel 

 through the bung-hole, which, when the cask 

 is full, is very carefully closed and made air- 

 tight; the casks also being kept in repair and 

 perfectly air-tight, the hoops being driven oc- 

 casionally to cause them to become so. Now 

 by this very simple arrangement, the whole 

 crop of grain on a farm may be preserved for 

 years, as perfectly free from dampness or dis- 

 ease of any kind, as though it had been kiln- 

 dried; the convenience of stowage being as 

 great as in open binns; the casks standing on 

 low tressels or sleepers, admitting a bushel 

 measure under, they can bo rolled on to the 

 bung; or the grain might be drawn off by a 

 large tap made tor the purpose. 



By these means, we see how perfectly free 

 from injury of any description could grain and 

 seeds of every kind be broug-ht by shipping 

 from any part of the world : it is but to enclose 

 them in stout air-tight casks instead of boxes, 

 bags, or loose barrels, and no injury need 

 be apprehended from the heat of the hold or 

 the leakage of tiie vessel. I declare it seems 

 wonderful that this mode of packing has not 

 been universally adopted; the simplicity of 

 the arrangement must be the cause of its 

 having been overlooked. And this mode of 

 packing would be efficient in the preservation 

 of many other articles, which, if too bulky for 

 admission through the bung-hole, could be 

 performed by removing one of the heads and 

 replacing it when the cask was full, seeing 

 that the hoops were driven so as to insure 

 perfect closeness. Thus might fruit-trees, 

 flowers, and fruit itself, be preserved dur- 

 ing long voyages, and we could be supplied 

 with the choicest specimens of either, from 

 the most distant parts of the globe. I very 

 well remember that when Mr. Zollikofer re- 

 ceived his remarkably fine sample of seed 

 cone-wheat from England the last year, that 

 it smelt very musty, and handled wet and 

 clammy in the bags in which it had been 

 shipped; exhibiting every sign of having un- 

 dergone fermentation during the passage: 

 and I find, upon inquiry, that a large portion 

 of the seed did not vegetate when sown in 

 the autumn, the failure arising, no doubt, from 

 this cause. And this leads to the question, 



is not the almost proverbial ill success attend- 

 ing the growing crops of beets, &c., from 

 imported seed, to be thus accounted for, the 

 general mode of packing for ship-board being 

 in loose barrels or bags, exposed to the damp 

 and putrid atmosphere of the hold of the ves- 

 sel — which is often leaky — during a passage 

 of sometimes 80 or 90 days'? All which evil 

 could be prevented by merely packing in per- 

 fectly air-tight casks — a consideration of very 

 great moment, but one that by its simplicity 

 will be very apt to be disregarded, like many 

 other things of the greatest and most vital 

 importance, one of which I will just mention. 

 It is the snagging of steamboats on the west- 

 ern rivers, which could be prevented merely 

 by plating their bows with sheets of boiler- 

 iron, sufficiently strong to withstand the force 

 with which the boat is propelled, and which 

 would in almost every instance be compara- 

 tively slight; for, as it would not happen, 

 perhaps, once in a thousand times, that the 

 blow or collision would take place point- 

 blank, the boat would be merely driven out 

 of her course, the snag gliding along the iron 

 plates; and thus she would be made to escape 

 a consequence, by which millions of dollars 

 and thousands of lives are sent to destruction ; 

 or she might be brought up without injury, 

 provided the plates were strong enough to 

 withstand the shock : at all events, the saving 

 of life and property would be almost incalcu- 

 lable, at a charge of — comparatively nothing! 

 Now, I would just ask, is it possible that those 

 who are continually exposed to such frightful 

 accidents and losses — of whom there are 

 many thousands — can have been sleeping- 

 over so simple a contrivance to insure their 

 safety, for such a number of years'? 



There is just one other evil — an evil which 

 is peculiarly the besetting sin of our country 

 — I mean, the shedding of blood in duels — 

 which might, I think, be prevented, by as 

 simple and natural a contrivance. Now, 

 I dare say there will always be duelling, for 

 it seems to be the only safety-valve with 

 which some honourable gentlemen are fur- 

 nished for the purpose of letting of steam. 

 Well, let them indulge their propensity to 

 their heart's-blood content; my object is, 

 merely to prevent any injury that might 

 arise to either party, the satisfaction sought 

 being amply sufficient to cure the largest 

 wound in any man's honour. My proposal 

 is simply this — on coming to the ground, let 

 each principal — not second — load his own 

 weapon, and magnanimously exchange with 

 his antagonist: think you that either would 

 be so great a fool as not to be careful to slip 

 the ball on one side, when he knew that, else, 

 the very next moment it would be hurled at 

 his own head'? It might, in this arrange- 

 ment, be necessary to restrict the belligerents 



