680 Report on the Trials of Implements at Reading. 
until evening. A man and a strong lad relieved each other at 
intervals, and without fatigue kept up 60 turns of the handle, 
or 1050 revolutions of the fan per minute. From this day the 
fan was worked for the greater part of each day until the 20th, 
when only one hour was given. On the 21st and 22nd, IJ day's 
work was done, after which the fan was removed to the ex- 
hibitor's second stack. By the 27th, however, the heat had 
risen to 165', and little impression seemed to be made by 
working the fan. It seemed probable that the settling of the 
stack had brought the flue out of connection with the shaft, 
and the condition of the hay was tested by driving a barbed 
rod into it, and withdrawing it with a lock of hay in the barb. 
Although this sample of the interior was brown, it did not give 
any indication of danger. Later on, before thatching the stack, 
a hole was bored from the roof downwards by means of Phillips's 
Stack Borer (Catalogue, No. 5242), and a larger sample of the 
interior was obtained.* This boring showed that the hay was 
not near firing-point, and the hole which had been cut was 
left open for a while to ventilate the stack ; the top of the stack, 
which had settled out of shape, was taken off and shaken out 
before it was replaced. This ventilating shaft relieved the stack 
of some of its heat, and the stack began to cool down (see 
Table VIL, p. 707). 
When cut, it was found that the cage, which was originally 
8 feet high, had been driven into the ground until the top of it 
was only 4 feet high. On this a thick mat of black and mouldy 
hay, which was quite impervious to the air, had been formed. 
Above this the hay had apparently not been influenced by the 
fan, and while the lower portion of the stack up to and a little 
above the height of the settled cage was mouldy, the remainder 
of the stack was fairly good hay rather over-heated. It is a 
noticeable fact that all tliat part of the stack which was least 
affected by the fan was by far the best in quality. 
Second Tkials of Hay-Dryers. 
In order to obtain farther experience of the working powers 
of the different fans, the Judges had from the outset desired to 
have the opportunity of putting them to a second trial, in which 
they might disregard the wishes of the exhibitors, and put the hay 
together in such condition as to test the fan-system. When all 
hope of any work on Plots 5, 6, 7, and 8 had to be abandoned, it 
* This borer is a steel cvlinder about 6 inches diameter, with a pointed coik- 
screw rod in the axis, whic-li is prolonged beyond the base so as to_ enter the hay 
and obtain a hold before tlie cutting edge of the cylinilcr touches it. The in- 
strument is worked by two men turjiiiig a bar handle which fits on to the central 
rod of the borer; additional joints for li iigtlu niiig tliis rod are supplied, and the 
whole implement is enclosed in a i)ortable wooden ease. Thougli rather difficult 
to work, this is a useful tool. 
