CHAPTER VII. 



OPERATION 



In operation the separator, like any other machine, 

 does its work best when properly adjusted and 

 managed. There is no machine which has a more 

 varied scope of work or which has to encounter so 

 many conditions. It is rare that there are two fields 

 of grain grown, ripened, cut and handled under like 

 conditions; one may be in a condition to shell from 

 the straw readily, while in another the kernels may 

 cling to the head so as to make it almost impossible 

 to dislodge them. One stack may be brittle and break 

 too readily, while the next may pass through without 

 this annoyance. One kind may be stiff and stubborn 

 and another soft and pliable; one lot may have many 

 blades or leaves on the stalks, another only the plain 

 stalks and heads; one kind may have a light, fluffy 

 chaff and heavy kernels, and another the reverse, 

 heavy chaff filled with sap and light kernels. 

 Some fields are filled with weeds and foreign matter 

 which the machine is expected to distinguish and 

 separate from the grain. 



Then again, there are conditions of the weather 

 which appreciably influence the working of the 

 machine, and cause a wide variation in the amount 

 of power required. Some days are bright and sun- 

 shiny, others damp and foggy. Some are warm or 



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