be first planed;
the inside of the chimney and register should be also paid with the alum
solution. On the top of the kiln should be placed a ventilator to draw off
the steam of the malt, this may be done by means of a loover or cow;
the latter turns with the wind, the former is stationary.
There should be skirting boards, nine inches deep, to lie close to the
floor and walls of the kiln, plastered with hair mortar on the top. This
construction of kiln has been introduced by the Dutch, and will be
found the most economical of any, joined to the peculiar advantage of
being capable of drying malt with any kind of fuel, without danger of
communicating any sort of bad flavour to the grain, while the heat can
be securely raised to 120 degrees without any danger of ignition or
burning; a higher heat is not wanted to dry pale malt. Of this, however,
I have some doubts, as wood is a non-conductor of heat, and possibly is
not susceptible of transmitting such a heat to the malt without danger of
ignition. I should think that thin metal plates, one foot square, cast so as
to lap on each other, or tiles, of the same make or form, would be a
better covering; they certainly would convey the heat more rapidly and
securely to the malt or grain intended to be dried on it, never requiring
less fuel than the wooden covering, and precluding all danger of fire.
[Illustration:
A A A A A ground section of the vats. B the section of elevation.]
A new and economical construction of Vats for keeping Beer, which, in
this way, may be rendered fire proof, whilst, at the same time, it
secures a temperature for the liquor equal, it is expected to the best
vaults: it further affords the convenience of having them above ground.
These vats may be constructed in different forms, either square, oval, or
round; the latter I should prefer, as stronger, and less liable to leak.
These circular vats, to save expense, may be bound with wood hoops
instead of iron ones the splay to be given them as little as possible
barely sufficient to have the hoops tight, and the vessel staunch. The
bottoms of these vats should be elevated at least three and a half, or
four feet from the ground, and solidly bedded in clay, earth, or sand;
the clay, if convenient, to be preferred. As the earth rises, at every five
or six inches, around these vats, it should be firmly pounded down and
compressed, as in the case of tanners' vats; and this mode of
surrounding the vats with dry earth well pounded and rammed is
continued to the top; a stout, close, well-fitted cover of two inch plank
is then placed on each vat, with a hole sixteen inches square, to let a
man down occasionally; this hole should have a short trunk of an inch
and a half plank firmly nailed to its sides, and about fourteen inches
high; then a covering of earth, twelve inches deep, should be placed all
over the tops of these vats, and this earth well rammed and compacted
together; and when levelled off, covered with composition or a floor of
tiles. Each of the trap doors should have a well-fitted, wooden cover on
the top, with a ring of iron in the centre; this cover should be made fire
proof on the outside. The brick wall in front of these vats need not, I
apprehend, exceed fourteen inches thick, if of brick, just sufficient to
resist the force of pressure from ramming the clay; vats thus placed,
with their contents, may be considered fire proof, and possessing as
cool a temperature as if placed fifteen feet under ground; joined to this,
they will last six times as long as those in cellars or vaults, although
bound in iron, at a considerable higher expense. Two ranges of these
vats may be placed in one house, leaving a sufficient space for a
passage in the centre, with a window at each end to light it. I have
never before either heard or read of this construction; but I have little
hesitation in saying it will in many cases be found preferable to the
present mode of placing vats--it being more convenient, cleanly,
economical, and secure, and, to all intents and purposes, as effectual in
point of temperature as those expensively placed deep under ground.
Under the inside of the head of these vats, and across the joints, should
run a piece of scantling six inches wide, and four inches deep, with an
upright of the same dimensions in the centre, in order to support the
covering on the head, and to
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