Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 2, 1802).djvu/426

394] , at about five or six guineas: one on a larger scale might perhaps amount to twenty guineas; a sum which, in either case, enhances the price of corn only at a rate of less than four-pence per quarter, on the first cargo. These machines, if well painted and properly preserved, will continue useful for many years.—A more minute account of Mr. 's invention is contained in the volume of the "Letters," &c. before quoted, where its various parts are specified and illustrated by an engraving.

To preserve corn in barns or granaries, Dr. observes, it is requisite first to make them dry, and, secondly, to keep them in that state; because no seeds will vegetate without moisture. In order to dry seeds, the heaps should be frequently turned over in warm dry weather: hence, in this climate, the doors and windows of granaries should open towards the south, for the reception of the warmth of the sun, with air-holes round the building, for sufficient ventilation; and which apertures might to be sheltered from rain or snow, by boards placed for that purpose on the outside.—Heaps of corn should be surrounded with planks, in order to prevent them from touching either brick or stone walls; because, when cold north-east winds are succeeded by moist and warm south-west winds, such walls frequently precipitate the moisture from the atmosphere, and communicate it to those bodies which are in contaet with them.—According to Mr., the safest method of preserving a large quantity of wheat is, to dry it gradually in a malt-kiln on a hair-cloth, with no other fuel than clean straw, and with a heat scarcely exceeding that produced by the rays of the sun.—In this temperature, the grain is to remain from 4 to 12 hours, in proportion to its previous dampness. The vegetative principle of the corn is not destroyed by this process; as instances have occurred of its growing when sown, after it had been thus kept for seven years.

With respect to the best method of securing grain from insects, &c. we refer the reader to the article, pp. 68, 69.  GRANATE, or, a genus of fossils, classed among siliceous earths, and containing three species, the principal of which is the crystallized granate. It is ranked among precious stones, but is one of the least valuable, as it varies in its colour, and the form of its crystal, more than any other; being sometimes of a deep red, sometimes yellowish or purplish, and, at others, of a brown or black tint. It is inferior both in lustre and hardness to all other gems, and yields to the file, though it will strike fire against steel.

Granates are either oriental or occidental: the former are brought from the East Indies, and the latter from Spain, Bohemia, and Silesia. They are found of various sizes, from that of a large pin's head, to one inch in diameter, but seldom exceed one-fifth of an inch.  GRANITE, in Natural History, a genus of stones, consisting chiefly of quartz, feldspath, and mica; forming rough and very large masses of great hardness, yielding fire with steel, not fermenting with acids, and slowly but imperfectly calculable in a great heat.—The most stupendous ridges or chains of mountains on our globe, are composed of this fossil, which