Weather- Wisdom and the Harvest. 
1881.] 
575 
improved rapidly in condition since they were fed upon the 
machine-hay. 
We have already referred to the faCt that hay may now be 
saved in a sound condition which would otherwise have been 
spoiled and wasted. On this point it is interesting to hear 
the testimony of practical men. Mr. Roddick, of Quintain 
Hill, Waltham Abbey j says : — “ Nineteen loads of damaged 
hay, which would otherwise have been useless, were rendered 
fit for stacking at the rate of 2J loads per hour. I realised 
£ 60 to £y o by the day-and-half’s use of the Hay-dryer.” 
Mr. Mills says : — “ Heavy, wet hay, black with decay and 
dust, came out a good, fair colour ; the horses ate it freely. 
I estimate it as worth £5 a load in market, and have saved 
£20 by the half-day’s work.” Here, again, there may be 
something more than meets the eye. Damp, mouldy, ill-made 
or ill-kept hay has been recognised as unwholesome food for 
cattle. Now the moulds are minute plants, some of which 
are known to have a very injurious aCtion if introduced into 
the animal system. The spores or germs of these moulds, 
and of other low organisms, are known to be present in the 
air and to attach themselves to grass. Hence men of science 
who have experimented on so-called “ abiogenesis,” or spon- 
taneous generation, and those who have made microscopic 
organisms their study, have often selected infusions of hay 
as a material to work upon. 
Now it strikes us as far from improbable that the machine- 
drying process, involving as it does exposure to a considerable 
heat in a current of carbonic and sulphurous acids, might 
prove fatal to many of these germs, and might thus contri- 
bute to the good health of stock and their preservation from 
epizootics, entozoa, &c. This point is, we think, not un- 
worthy of experimental investigation. 
So far we have given our attention exclusively to hay- 
drying. But the same principle, with certain alterations in 
mechanical details, is equally applicable to corn of all kinds, 
to seeds, coffee, tea, megass, malt, hops, and a variety of 
agricultural products. Thus for wheat the current of hot 
air is forced in below the false bottom of a sheet-iron 
chamber. From the false bottom there arise conical tubes, 
upon which the sheaves are fixed. A current of hot air is 
thus delivered up the centre of each sheaf, and, forcing its 
way out in all directions, rapidly dries both grain and straw. 
Peas, beans, &c., when dried by this process, retain, as may 
be expeCted, much more of their natural flavour than when 
air-dried. Peas especially may be kept for months, and 
when soaked and boiled taste as if freshly gathered. For 
