THRESHlNCx. 



advantageous, as well as t)ie moft fuitablc, to tlic fort of 

 farm which lie holds. 



TiiUESiilNG-F/oor, the floor on which grain is threflied 

 out in the barn or other place. All floors ot this fort 

 fhould be well formed and conllrufted, of whatever fort of 

 materials they arc made, as without it they -give way and 

 fall to pieces. When the material employed in this inten- 

 tion is wood, the timber (hould always be of the bell kind, 

 and well feafoned, being put together in a careful and firm 

 manner ; and when of the earthy kind, the difi"erent matters 

 be well reduced, wrought together, and laid up for fome 

 length of time before the floor is formed, being then laid 

 down in a fmooth even manner, and made firm and folid 

 by frequent ramming with a proper tool for the purpofe, 

 until the flooring fubllance, whatever it may be, becomes 

 quite dry. 



It has been obferved, that as grain is threflied out by 

 machinery, from the circumllance of its being ieparated 

 from the llraw immediately, and not permitted to remain 

 upon the floor for above an hour or two, when brought to 

 market, is always much drier, looks better, and brings a 

 higher price than that which is threflied by the hand, and 

 fuffcred to remain upon the floor for weeks, where it 

 becomes mufty, lofes its colour, and is fo raw, that much of 

 it is bruifed and rendered ufelefs in the working. There- 

 fore, if the flail-mode of threfliing is flill purfued, it is fup- 

 pofed that the inconveniences above-mentioned may, in fome 

 degree, be remedied, by paying proper attention to the 

 materials of which the floor is made, and raifing it fuffi- 

 ciently above the reach of moiilure. Where the barns are 

 very extenfive, and the price of wood uncommonly high, as 

 is the cafe at prefent, a very good and durable threming- 

 floor may fometimes be made by laying an uniform ftratum 

 of round gravel, covering it with a coat of well-tempered 

 clay ; above which, a mixture of clay, brick-dufl;, forge- 

 afhes, and a fmall proportion of lime, will make it a hard 

 uniform floor, proper and fuitable for the purpofe of threfli- 

 ing upon. It is obferved that the brick-duft and forge- 

 afties fliould previoufly be beaten very fmall, and well in- 

 corporated with the clay, ufing a fufiiciency of water to 

 bring the whole to the confiftcnce of mortar ; in that ftate 

 the lime, having been previoufly flaked, fliouId be incor- 

 porated with the other ingredients ; the whole fmoothed 

 over with the back of the fpade, and allowed to remain in a 

 round heap for two or three weeks, at the end of which time 

 it fliould be turned over in the fame manner as plafter lime, 

 and after being rendered fufFiciently foft with water, it may 

 be fpread upon the floor, an operation that will require fome 

 pains on the part of the workman. The floor, in the flrfl: 

 inllance, fhould have the coat of clay, that is laid above the 

 gravel, rendered perfeftly fmooth and uniform, by rolling, 

 beating, or otherwife ; the finifliing coat, compofed of the 

 mixture above-mentioned, may then be applied, taking care 

 to break the furface of the clay with fhallow lines, in the 

 way praftifed by plaiterers, for the purpofe of making one 

 foat adhere to another in a finn and perfeft manner. 



Many other forts of materials, fomewhat of this nature, 

 are made ufe of for threfliing-floors in different .diftrifts of 

 the kingdom. 



The following plan has been fuggefl:ed as the means of 

 excluding rats and mice from the barn and threfliing-floors. 

 Firft, that when the floor is entirely of wood, the fpace 

 between the fleepers, upon which the boards are laid, (hould 

 be entirely filled with waflied gravel, well beat down, an 

 operation which, when properly done, will effeftually pre- 

 vent the entrance of either rats or mice ; where this precau- 

 tion is not taktn, when- the floor is laid, .openings ibould be 



made at the bottom of the wall large enough to admit cats, 

 a contrivance that will have the two-fold cftedl of deilroying 

 the vermin, and afl"ording a free circulation of air. Secondly, 

 that when the floor is of clay, the vermin generally burrow 

 under the foundation, and have the entry to their retreats at 

 the bottom of the wall : in fucli cafes, their accefs into the 

 barn will be, in fome nieafurc, if not entirely, prevented, by 

 mixing a confidcrablc quantity of broken glafs with the 

 materials with wiiicli the threfliing-floor is made. It does 

 not appear necefl'ary lo mix the glafs with the clay over the 

 whole floor ; perhaps two feet from the wall quite round 

 will be fufficicnt. And thirdly, that the top of the wall, 

 as furniihing a temporary retreat for vermin, deferves alfo 

 to be noticed : in every inllance it is cuftomary for the 

 mafon to level the top of the wM previous to the roof being 

 put on, which, when the building is finiflied, is left in that 

 Hate, by which a confiderable fpace remains for the flielter 

 of rats and other vermin : to prevent this, as foon as the roof 

 is finiflied, the building of the wall on tlie iniide fliould be 

 continued upwai'ds till it joins the roof, to which it fliould 

 he clofely united by hard plailering. It is fuppofcd, by 

 thefe precautions, and fmooth plaft^ering, the walls of barns 

 as well as the threfliing-floors may be preferved free from 

 vermin. 



"TiiREHHiKG-Machine, an engine of the mill kind, con- 

 trived for the purpofe of threfliing grain, feeds, and pulfe 

 out of the ilraw or the ear. 



This is a fort of mill or machine that has been chiefly con- 

 ftrufted on the fame principles as thofe of the flax-mill, and 

 which is capable of being wrought by different powers, as 

 thofe of horfes, oxen, wind, water, and ft:eam ; but thofe of 

 water and animals are the mofl; proper and convenient in 

 moft inftances : in fome cafes, the grain being beaten or 

 fwingled out of the ears by means of beaters attached to a 

 cylinder that has much velocity, while in others it is rubbed 

 out by fuitable means againft: confined cylinders, as will be 

 more fully feen and explained in what is faid below. 



There is fome reafon to fuppofe, that the original hint or 

 notion ot thefe mills or machines, was derived a long time 

 ago from Holland or the Low Countries, and thence 

 brought into tlie northern parts of this country, where the 

 different parts of the machinery of them have fince been 

 gradually undergoing much modification and improvement, 

 to render them more fuitable and efficient for the purpofe ; 

 fo that they have now attained a confiderable ftate of per- 

 feftion in moft parts of the kingdom. The firft of thefe im- 

 proved machines was, as Mr. Somerville fays, invented by a 

 Mr. Menzies, brother to the then fheriff' depute of the 

 comity : the machinery was driven by a water-wheel, 

 which put in motion a number of flails of the fame kind 

 with thofe ufed in threfliing by the hand. Trials made with 

 thefe machines were fo far fatisfaftory, that a great deal of 

 work was done in a given time, but owing to the velocity 

 required to do the work perfedly, they foon broke, and 

 the invention fell into difgrace. 



Some time in the year 1758, another attempt was made 

 by a farmer in the parifli of Dumblane, in Perthfliire. His 

 machine was conftrufted upon principles fimilar to the flax- 

 mill, having an upright fliaft with four arms inclofed in a 

 cyhnder, three feet and a half in height and eight in diameter, 

 within which the fliaft and its arms were turned with con- 

 fiderable velocity by a water-wheel. The flieaves, being 

 prefented by the hand, were let down from the top upon 

 the arms, by which the grain was beat out, and together 

 with the ftraw defcended through an opening in the floor, 

 where they were feparated by riddles and fanners, alfo 

 turned by the water-wheel. 



And 



