Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/614

 590 COTTAGE, FARM, AND VILLA ARCHlTEC'l'URE. attained by ' getting the back well up,' as it is technically termed ; that is, by forcing and encouraging the seminal slioot, or acrospire, as it is called, till it is nearly fit to start through the skin, not actually to show itself; but only the protuberance occasioned by its progress under the skin. To effect this is the great art in malting ; and it requires from ten to fourteen days to accomplish it, after the barley has left the couch. Some maltsters are in the habit of loading the kiln before the acrospire is fully up, and of getting it up by means of a slow fire, and, of course, very gradual drying. I see no advantage in this ; preferring the getting it well up in the back, before loading the kiln, and then of drying it off in half the quantity, and about half the time, say fortj'-eight hours. During the operation of drying, the malt should be turned three or four times, or one part would get more fire tlian it ought, while another would perhaps, be raw. An equality in the drying process is essential to the manufacture of good malt. I do not stop to describe the different sorts of malt ; pale, amber, high-dried, &c. : the maltster ascertains the quality he wishes to make, and gives it more or less fire, according to circumstances. The quantinn of fire is ascertained by chewing it till reduced to pulp (using as little saliva as possible), and then examining it between the thumb and finger ; or, in default of that necessary article, good teeth, a small mill, somewhat like a pestle and mortar, only made of bone or hard wood, is frequently resorted to by way of substitute. Malt, when once well dried, should be kept in a dry room, as close as possible, or it will soon get clung (withered), and lose its fire (its crispness). 1263. " The Malt-kiln, to be hereafter described, is calculated to dry off a whole piece (say from 100 to 104 bushels) at once. The time required for this is about thirty- six hours ; sometimes (as, for instance, in close foggy weather) a few hours longer. The fuel may be either coke or stone-coal ; perhaps a mixture of each may be better, say two thirds of the former (by measure) to one third of the latter." Our contributor next describes, in succession, the upper working-floor, the lower working-floor, the kiln, and the furnace. 1264. The Upper Working- Floor is shown in fig. 1129, from a to &, 81 feet long, and 10 feet 6 inches wide ; c is the cistern, 8 feet 4 inches long, 9 feet wide, and 2 feet 4 inches deep, in one corner of which there inay be a plug to let off the watei-, and close to the outside of which may be a pump for supplying water ; d is the couch, of the same dimensions as the cistern ; e, a trapdoor, through which a part, generally one half, of the quantity steeped, is thrown from the couch down to the lower working-floor. There is another trapdoor at /, up which the contents of the lower floor are brought when suflSciently worked, in order to be put on the kiln. Over the upper working-floor there is, or ought to be, a floor or chamber for a stock of barley, which may be hoisted up to it with a crane, and there is a spout in the floor, to let it down into the cistern. 1265. The Kiln and Malt- Chamber. The kiln, fig. 1129 ff, is 17 feet square; it is connected with the malt-chamber, h, by the door, i. Into this chamber the malt is tin-own after being dried. There is another malt-chamber over this, the opening to which is shown at ?/, in fig. 1132. 1266. The Lower Working- Floor, fig. 1130, k, as it includes, in addition to the length of the upper floor, the length of the cistern and the couch, is about 100 feet long by 10 1129 11. .0 '' 1132 ^- OpO'r [["IJ 1131 1 '" 1 A- ,/> B

P