Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/623

 MALT-HOUSES, KILNS, HOP-OASTS, ETC. 599 1155 when this is the case the drauglit is always greatest ; its height need never exceed fonr feet six inches, which is sufficiently high to admit a person to enter the dunge. When the manager of the furnace is once within, he imme- diately finds six feet of head room ; there being a pier, e, nine inches by eigliteen inches carried up on each side of the door, along with the outside wall, in as fig. 1154, which is a section on the line L M, for the purpose of forming abutments for the four-inch arch, /, which carries the double flue, the end of which, at the point where one returns on the other, is shown at g. The furnace and flues should be blackened exteriorly, in order to increase the radiation of heat, and the inside of the surrounding walls ought to be white- washed, to prevent them as much as possible from absorbing it. The cowl moves altogether independently of the curb which forms the opening under it : it consists of one strong back piece, into which the upright spindle is framed, as may be seen in the section, fig. 1149, at I. Attached to the spindle and the back board is the fly-boai-d, fig. 1155, A, which serves, like a rudder, to keep the back of the cowl to the wind. The boards forming the cowl overlap each other fi'oni the back piece, or rib, towards the sides ; and they are nailed to iron hoops, as indicated 5 " ^ in the section I K, fig. 1155, and also in the < — 1 ' ' — ^ — ' ' '■ — ' ^fi. section, fig. 1149. In the former section, h is the fly-board ; i, the back rib ; k, the upright spindle ; I, the iron hoop ; and m the boarding. Fig. 1156, which is a section on the ine G H, shows the manner in which the upright spindle works against a collar-piece, which is fixed across the centre of the curb, at the kiln top. This piece being fixed, and the collar containing the spindle bolted on to it, the bottom piece, in which the pivot of the spindle works, can, before it is fixed, be moved backwards and forwards on the collar beam till the spindle is brought to a perfectly upright position, and made to work freely. 1279. Estimate. The expense of these four kilns, exclusive of the cooling-room, was about j£700, which amounts to about 2',(l. per cubic foot. 1280. Remarks. The great superiority of the circular kiln to that described in the preceding Design is so obvious, that we only wonder, con- sidering it has been extensively used in Kent and Sussex for upwards of thirty years, that it has not found its way to Farnham. It must be obvious that not only any description of fuel may be used in ]Mr. Read's kilns, but that, from the great length of the flues, a much greater quantity of heat will be rendered available for passing through the drying-floor. The circumstance of the flues ascending at a considerable slope is highly favourable for promoting a draught, and consequently for thoroughly consuming the fuel. ]Mr. Read informs us that he has superintended the erection of some hundreds of these kilns ; and that in one year he erected seventy, all within the counties of Kent and Sussex. This being the case, it strikes us with astonishment that Mr. Read's improvement has not been adopted by the hop-growers of either Farnham or Worcestershire, and the proprietors of malt- kilns every where. For our own part, we have no hesitation in saying, that we con- sider the malt kiln, Design III., though it be of the most improved construction, and the Farnham hop kiln, Design IV., though it comes from a district so celebrated for its hops, as discreditable to the science of this country. No man who understands Read's kiln would erect either. 1156