350 [Assembly 



Twelve molecules of carbon and fourteen of water form un- 

 erystallizable sugar. Carbon cannot enter plants. 



[Journal of tlie Society of Arts, London, April 1, 1&54.] 



PRESERVATION OF GRAIN AND GRAIN PRODUCERS. 

 Joseph in Egypt kept grain on hand, and probably the dry 

 climate had much to do with its preservation. Possibly some of 

 the mummy wheat of our day may have been of the identical 

 grain hoarded by Joseph. 



The want of efficient storage for grain, is one of the causes, not 

 merely of fluctuation in price, but higher prices than if we could 

 store it with the same certainty as timber and coal. Being made 

 safe, there would be more dealers in it. There does not seem 

 much difficulty if we can only divest ourselves of preconceived 

 ideas — such as that a granary must have floors and windows more 

 or less in altitude. 



In England we put our flour in sacks. Brother Jonathan puts 

 his in barrels, so that through the cracks and pores of his barrel 

 he lias a spoiled crust — musty — of nearly an inch thick on the 

 flour next the heads and staves, and sometimes the whole mass. 

 When Brother Jonathan wants to keep his flour or crackers 

 undamaged, he makes them tlioroughly cool and dry, and her- 

 metically seals them in tin cans. So the Chinese line their tea 

 boxes with metal. In all cases, tlie object is to exclude air and ver- 

 min. We preserve meat, fruit &;c., in hermetically sealed metal 

 cases. The question, also, is one of expense. Let us examine this. 

 We use canisters. Why not put grain in iron canisters, large enough 

 for the farmer to put his crops in, or the grain dealer to hold his 

 stock — the interior galvanized, to prevent rust, and the outside 

 also, if desirable. These large canisters maj be mounted so as to 

 be moveable from place to place. They should be hermetically 

 tight, havjng only a man-hole to enter by, and that stopped air 

 tight. In such canisters, wheat put in free from vermin would 

 keep sound for any number of years. But an additional advan- 

 tage would be an air pump; all vermin casually in it would be 

 killed, and the same pump might be used to draw warm air 

 through the mass to remove all moisture. As these canisters 



