204 



MONTHLY JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE. 



portation. Numerous experiments having 

 proved the impossibility of obtaining a mii- 

 form heat from hot air, as also the low de- 

 gree of heat capable of producing a deterio- 

 rating change in the flavor of grain, flour and 

 meal, when undergoing the process of dry- 

 ing ; the Patentee is now confident that steam 

 is the only agent that can be successfully 

 used. 



There is at present but one of the Pat- 

 entee's Revolving Machines, on a large scale, 

 in operation : this one is in the mills of E. W. 

 Leonaixl, Esq., Elyria, Ohio, on which have 

 been dried about 2.000 bbls. of Indian corn 

 meal, a pait of which is now on its way to 

 Europe. Mr. Leonard's New-York coiTe- 

 spondents -write the Patentee that the meal 

 sold has undergone a very severe scnitiny, 

 and has been universally approved of by the 

 Inspectors, and others who have used it. 



The Cleveland Iron Manufacturing Com- 

 pany, who owai the right for the Western Re- 

 serve, Ohio, are now erecting works for the 

 manufacture of " StaSbrd's Dryers." 



The recent partial destraction by fire of 

 the celebrated Cleveland City Mills, prevents 

 the Patentee from exhibiting samples of dried 

 ■wheat flour, from a mill of known reputation, 

 the Dryer for that mill having been nearly 

 completed when the fire occm-red. The 

 patent havmg been but recently issued, the 

 above-named are the only practical tests in 

 which the Diyer has been applied ; still suf- 

 ficient is known to prove its practicability, 

 and that its merits exceed those of any other 

 other Dryer invented. 



The surplus corn of the country, up to the 

 present time, has been fitted for exportation 

 by being dried with hot air, or by direct ap- 

 plication of heat upon the surface of pans and 

 in the inside of cylinders, which plans stand 

 foremost in general adoption among the va- 

 rious methods which the importance of the 

 cause has thro\\'Ti into use, but aU of which, 

 although guided by great experience and im- 

 divided attention, impart to the gi'ain or meal 

 that scorched appearance and parched flavor 

 which have effectually prevented home con- 

 sumption, our own people preferring the 

 natural color and taste, thereby leaving it for 

 the consumption of the slave and colored 

 population of the West Indies and South 

 America. 



The British Government having been com- 

 pelled to throw open their ports for the ad- 

 mission of ibreign grain, a demand has been 

 produced which the people of the United 

 States have been unable to supply. That 

 demand has been, bread-stuff's in a good stale 

 of preservation. What have they received? 

 Recent accounts inform us that nothing but 

 the excitement which has now subsided, 

 could have rendered mai'ketable the article 

 manufactured by the Drying Machines of all 

 kinds which have been erected in almost 

 every county in the corn-growing portion of 

 the States. 



The flood of emigration to our shores, to- 



(444) 



gether with the natural increase of popula- 

 tion, are causing a yearly increase in the sur- 

 plus bread-stuffs of the United States at a 

 ratio unprecedented in the annals of any 

 nation. 



Our home demand and export to the West 

 Indies and South America have heretofore ab- 

 sorbed our surplus, wliile the portion of sur- 

 plus exported the past year has brought into 

 requisition a great portion of the navy of the 

 world. All will admit that the surplus of the 

 coming year must exceed that of the past. 

 What is to be done with it ? What is to be 

 done with the surplus of succeeding years 1 

 Capitalists or shippers will not invest in 

 wheat, cprn, flour, or meal, without deduct- 

 ing the risk of their becoming heated or 

 soured on then- hands. What is that risk ? 

 Does it not exceed one-fifth of the usual cost 

 of the articles where produced or manufac- 

 tured 1 If so, how essential to all who pro- 

 duce or deal in bread-stuffs, is a mode of cer- 

 tain presers-ation ! 



British manufacturers and British operatives 

 have succeeded in opening British ports, that 

 they may overcome the competition of Ger- 

 many and other manufacturing States, and 

 continue to supply the markets of the world. 

 This they will efl^ect if they encourage the 

 use of Indian corn, as food for themselves, 

 their cattle and swine. From the pecuUar 

 adaptation of our soil, Indian corn must al- 

 ways be produced with us in quantities to 

 defy competition ; which, preserved without 

 deterioration, must become a chief supply of 

 food to the poorer classes and the domestic 

 animals of Europe. It is equally essential 

 that the flour ground in the gi-eat wheat dis- 

 ti-icts ol' the United States should have its 

 moisture aitificially expelled. It is generally 

 known that Northern wintcr-gi-ound flour 

 sours readily if the ensuing summer is wann 

 and moist. Wheat grown south of the natural 

 district has less moisture because it gi-ows in 

 a less humid climate, and the atmosphere is 

 better adapted to carry off the moisture dur- 

 ing the process of manufacturing. The losses 

 to millers, factors and consumers from this 

 source within our own limits is gi-eater than 

 most persons would credit. These losses are 

 so diversified that it is impossible to attain 

 any correct estimate of the actual sum that is 

 yearly lost by our people. If we send it 

 abroad, subjected as it is to the damp and 

 confined influence of a vessel on a long voyage, 

 what losses will not then accrue ? 



If, during the process of drying, the grain 

 is not well and perfectly ventilated when 

 subjected to the gi'eatest heat, the steam dis- 

 engaged destroys its vitality and renders it 

 unfit for food. 



The usual mode of drying is to pass the 

 grain rapidly over higHy heated surfaces 

 which burn more or less of the bran, thus fla- 

 voring the meal. The grain being highly 

 heated is thrown into a pile where the hot 

 steam generated irom its internal moisture, 

 passing tlu'ough the mass, completes the work 



