32 N. C. Experiment Station 
t 
at the ends for circulation of air. This too was unsatisfactory since great 
differences of temperature were found to prevail between the different bas¬ 
kets, the thermometers in the different baskets from the bottom upward 
showing 125, 110. 93, 81 and 75° C. 
A larger oven was improvised from an old seed incubator which had 
shelves in the form of wire bottomed pans 21 inches square and 3 inches 
deep. About one peck of seed was heated at a time on one of these shelves, 
the seed being stirred at frequent intervals during the period of heating. 
Although by this procedure a much more uniform temperature could be 
maintained throughout the mass of seed, the results were unsatisfactory, 
both from the standpoint of regulation of the temperature and control of 
the anthracnose disease. Moreover, the method demanded the almost con¬ 
stant attention of the operator. 
The difficulties which must ordinarily be overcome when one attempts 
to treat seed of any sort with dry heat are accentuated by the presence 
of the fuzz commonly found on cotton seed. When cotton seed is heated 
in bulk, the layers of fuzzy seed on the outside very effectively insulate 
the seed within the mass. When .it was found that diseased seed could 
not be satisfactorily treated in bulk in ordinary gas and electric ovens, it 
was decided to build a special machine for the purpose. Accordingly, a 
machine which should keep the seed agitated while it is being heated was 
designed by the writer and built by Mr. V. W. Busbee, formerly of the De¬ 
partment of Mechanical Engineering. This seed treating machine is pic¬ 
tured in Plates I, II, and the construction is illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4. The 
rectangular body of the machine is 30 in. long, 18 % in. tall and 22 inches 
wide and consists of a framework of heavy angle iron (g) welded into one 
piece. Asbestos board, inch, is bolted to the iron framework to form 
the sides and ends, and heavy galvanized iron sheeting is used to form 
the bottom. One end is hinged to make a tightly fitting door. The corner 
angle irons extend 5 inches below the bottom to serve as legs. The semi- 
cylindrical hood or top (1) is composed of heavy sheet iron lined with sheet 
asbestos and is hinged so that it may be swung back out of the way when 
the machine is being loaded, unloaded or cleaned. A double row of % inch 
holes in the bottom and a single row of 10 one-inch holes in the top pro¬ 
vided with sliding shutters (m) serve to regulate the ventilation. The two 
upper end pieces of the angle iron frame carry bearings (e) for a shaft which 
supports a cylindrical drum (a) for holding and agitating the seeds while 
they are being heated. This drum is 24 inches long by 18 inches in 
diameter. The ends are made of heavy metal to which galvanized wire 
screening (b) having S meshes to the inch is fastened to form the curved 
sides. This screening is also fastened to flanges along the outer edges of 6 
metal shelves (c) which are fastened between the ends of the cylinder in 
such a position as to lie in the plane of the radii of the cylinder. As the 
cylinder revolves, the shelves raise the seed from the bottom to near the top 
of the cylinder, and, while making this journey, the seed slide gradually off 
the shelf, falling to the bottom of the cylinder again. Thus the seeds are 
being constantly mixed and stirred and the hot air is kept circulating among 
them while the treatment is in progress. A small section of the side is so 
