470 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[November, 
those that had the highest kinds of keeping. Ani¬ 
mals are much like plants, as they do not thrive 
well if transplanted from a rich to a poor soil. 
How Grain-in-Bulk is Handled. 
The enormous and ungainly structures which, to 
the number of six or more, disfigure our harbor and 
remind one of Chicago or some other Western 
grain mart, as one after another they have gone up 
near the termini of the great railroads, have excited 
much curiosity among our own citizens, and of 
course are objects of interest and wonder to stran¬ 
gers. Figure 1, is a view of one of the most con¬ 
spicuous of these “ Elevators,” for so they are 
called, though they might be called Store Houses 
with greater propriety. This one was built for the 
Erie Railway Co., and is calculated to hold a million 
and a half bushels of grain. This amount is, how¬ 
ever, considerably in excess of its actual working 
capacity. This structure stands upon piles driven 
to the depth of 60 feet into the mud in what was 
called Harsimus Cove, between the terminus of 
the Erie Railway (Pavonia Ferry) on the north, and 
that of the Pennsylvania Railroad at Jersey City 
proper, on the south. The piles were sawed off 
below low-water mark, a flooring of heavy timber 
placed upon them and bolted fast, and the granite 
piers upon which the building stands, placed upon 
this flooring. So long as this wooden foundation 
remains beneath the water, it will remain sound; 
The main part of the building, all that from the 
piers to the first roof, is of wood, and is wholly 
occupied by grain bins. In the construction of 
these bins 2 by 6-inch yellow pine plank were used; 
Fig. 2.— UNLOADING THE GRAIN CARS. 
2 by 12-inch plank being used for the outside course 
all around. These planks are all laid flat and pin¬ 
ned together. Of course they break joints through¬ 
out, and the whole structure is as solid and sub¬ 
stantial as it is easy to imagine. The upper portion 
of the building is occupied by arrangements for 
weighing the grain and distributing it into the 
different bins. This will be hereafter described. 
Receiving' the G-rain. 
The grain cars, in which the grain comes from 
the West, enter the building on double tracks. 
The cars are placed over grated openings in the 
floor, between the track and a little to one side. 
The cars contain about 600 bushels each, and are 
filled about half full. When in position one door 
of the car is opened and some of the grain flows 
out. Then two 
men appear, each 
having a broad 
shovel nearly 
square, perhaps 3 
feet wide by 2i 
feet high — hav¬ 
ing one edge and 
the sides and top 
furnished with 
guards. A rope 
is attached to 
each shovel by 
short chains, and 
the men spring 
into the car with 
their shovels. 
Motion is given 
to the rope at 
once, and each 
end, with the 
shovel attached, 
guided by the 
man in charge of 
it, is drawn alter¬ 
nately towards 
the door of the car, moving perhaps 20 bushels 
out of the car at each motion. The men have 
lively work for a short time, and in about 
eight minutes the car is empty. This opera¬ 
tion is shown in figure 2. Meanwhile the grain 
has passed into a great hopper beneath the track, 
aud has been steadily rising to the very top of the 
building, by means of a common contrivance of 
metal buckets upon a band, shown in partin fig. 2, 
known in grist-mills as an Elevator, but in these 
grain “ elevators ” called a “leg.” This name no 
doubt comes fromthe floating “elevators,” in which 
the grain is raised by band elevators contained in 
wooden trunks upon the outside, which look a 
little like great bracing legs. There are twenty of 
these “legs” in the building, and it is through them 
that all the grain is elevated to the top, there to be 
weighed, screened if necessary, and distributed 
into the various bins throughout the building. 
The system by which the grain is distributed to 
the different bins is very simple. It requires con¬ 
stant vigilance on the part of the weighers, who 
have the whole of this department in charge, and 
who have an enormous blackboard, marked off in 
squares, and numbered to represent each bin, 
whereon they keep a record of exactly what kind 
of grain each one contains, and of the quantity. 
Cleaning 1 the Grain. 
When grain—wheat for example—is to be cleaned, 
it is of course at the owner’s expense, and may be 
done more or less thoroughly or “hard.” It is car¬ 
ried up to the screen by a “leg,” and discharged 
into it. On entering the grain is spread out into a 
thin fan-like stream which falls-upon a perforated 
metal table, the grain in its fall being subjected to a 
strong stream of air which is sucked through it by 
a “blower.” This draft of air is sufficient to carry 
up, not only the dust and dirt, straw, etc., but light 
grains and oats, and if applied with sufficient 
power will even carry up the wheat itself. The 
best of the grain falls through upon the perforated 
table or screen, which is subjected to a rapid shak¬ 
ing motion, like the screens of a common fan-mill. 
The wheat passes through the screen, the kernels 
of corn, sticks, nails, jack-knives, nuts, bolts, 
silver quarters, and such things, remain, and are 
shaken off at the tail of the screen. 
"Weighing the Grain. 
The grain is weighed when screened and when 
shipped. The scales are as high up as they can 
coveniently be placed. The tops of the “ legs,” 
Fig. 1.— A SIDE VIEW OF THE ERIE GRAIN “ELEVATOR.” 
and the cleaners are higher, then comes the weigh¬ 
ing floor, below this the system of spouts for con¬ 
ducting the grain to the different bins. The scales 
are capable of weighing a car load at a time, in fact 
more, but they are not usually more heavily taxed. 
A weighing is called a “draft,” and the “drafts,” 
for convenience of figuring, are of 500 bushels, 
which, of wheat, is 30,000 pounds, 28,000 of corn or 
rye, and 16,000 of oats. The grain is delivered by 
a “leg” into the great hopper-shaped “scale-pan” 
so to speak, which is so nicely adjusted as to tip 
the beam as accurately as any grocer’s scale. A 
pane of glass in the side of the hopper-shaped 
grain holder shows whether it is full or empty, 
and there is an opening for sampling each “draft,” 
as the grain is received, when that is desirable. 
Shipping the Grain. 
When grain is to be shipped, the steamer or sail¬ 
ing vessel may come along side the “elevator,” and 
the grain may be discharged directly into her as fast 
as weighed. This, however, is not now the usual 
way. The grain is first run into canal boats, for 
the steamers will not leave their own berths, and 
at the same time that they are receiving grain, other 
freight may be taken on board at the docks. The 
loading of a canal boat is seen in figure 3, and 
four shutes are directed into the hatchways, and a 
boat is filled in about 35 minutes when three “legs” 
are used. A canal boat will hold about 8,000 
bushels, 480,000 pounds, which is 240 tons or some¬ 
thing over 13 car loads. This work goes on so 
rapidly, that when done as fast as possible, the canal 
boats can be filled quicker than they can be put in 
place and taken away from the side of the elevator. 
Motive Power. 
This whole machinery is moved by two lines of 
shafting in the upper part, which are run by two 
very plain, but excellent smooth-running and econ- 
Fig. 3.— LOADING THE CANAL BOATS. 
omical vertical beam engines, of 500 horse power 
each, and exact duplicates of one another. Each 
one is capable of doing the whole work, and they 
are run alternately a week or so at a time. The 
shafting is connected with the engines by long 
belts of rubber, about 40 inches wide, and each en¬ 
gine runs independently its own line of shafting. 
General Management. 
The receiving scales, at the time of our visit, 
were those along the south side, and the shipping 
scales on the opposite side. These two sets of 
scales beiDg exact duplicates, may change work. 
The “ Elevator” is or may be run day and night, 
and in order to do night work, gas is carried all 
over the building where work is done. This night 
work must cause a greater danger from fire, than 
would otherwise occur. There is always some 
danger, where there is heavy machinery, more or 
less liable to friction where it is inaccessible, and 
when the materials are so very inflammable. To off¬ 
set this, a pumping engine is kept constantly at 
work throwing water into a tank in the highest part 
of the “ Elevator.” From this there is a constant 
flow, small indeed, but large enough to indicate to 
the engineer that everything is all right. If this 
outflow ceases, he immediately puts on more power 
and pumps more water according to the demand. 
The water is distributed along the principal floors, 
and hose are kept attached ready for instant use. 
