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Steam, Its Generation and Use by Babcock & Wilcox Company, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . BRICKWORK BOILER SETTINGS here BRICKWORK BOILER SETTINGS A consideration of the losses in boiler efficiency, due to the effects of excess air, clearly indicates the necessity of maintaining the brick setting of a boiler tight and free from air leaks. In view of the temperatures to which certain portions of such a setting are subjected, the material to be used in its construction must be of the best procurable. Boiler settings to-day consist almost universally of brickwork—two kinds being used, namely, red brick and fire brick. The red brick should only be used in such portions of the setting as are well protected from the heat. In such location, their service is not so severe as that of fire brick and ordinarily, if such red brick are sound, hard, well burned and uniform, they will serve their purpose. The fire brick should be selected with the greatest care, as it is this portion of the setting that has to endure the high temperatures now developed in boiler practice. To a great extent, the life of a boiler setting is dependent upon the quality of the fire brick used and the care exercised in its laying. The best fire brick are manufactured from the fire clays of Pennsylvania. South and west from this locality the quality of fire clay becomes poorer as the distance increases, some of the southern fire clays containing a considerable percentage of iron oxide. Until very recently, the important characteristic on which to base a judgment of the suitability of fire brick for use in connection with boiler settings has been considered the melting point, or the temperature at which the brick will liquify and run. Experience has shown, however, that this point is only important within certain limits and that the real basis on which to judge material of this description is, from the boiler man’s standpoint, the quality of plasticity under a given load. This tendency of a brick to become plastic occurs at a temperature much below the melting point and to a degree that may cause the brick to become deformed under the stress to which it is subjected. The allowable plastic or softening temperature will naturally be relative and dependent upon the stress to be endured. With the plasticity the determining factor, the perfect fire brick is one whose critical point of plasticity lies well above the working temperature of the fire. It is probable that there are but few brick on the market which would not show, if tested, this critical temperature at the stress met with in arch construction at a point less than 2400 degrees. The fact that an arch will stand for a long period under furnace temperatures considerably above this point is due entirely to the fact that its temperature as a whole is far below the furnace temperature and only about 10 per cent of its cross section nearest the fire approaches the furnace temperature. This is borne out by the fact that arches which are heated on both sides to the full temperature of an ordinary furnace will first bow down in the middle and eventually fall. A method of testing brick for this characteristic is given in the Technologic Paper No. 7 of the Bureau of Standards dealing with “The testing of clay refractories with special reference to their load carrying capacity at furnace temperatures.” Referring to the test for this specific characteristic, this publication recommends the following: “When subjected to the load test in a manner substantially as described in this bulletin, at 1350 degrees centigrade (2462 degrees Fahrenheit), and under a load of 50 pounds per square inch, a standard fire brick tested on end should show no serious deformation and should not be compressed more than one inch, referred to the standard length of nine inches.” In the Bureau of Standards test for softening temperature, or critical temperature of plasticity under the specified load, the brick are tested on end. In testing fire brick for boiler purposes such a method might be criticised, because such a test is a compression test and subject to errors from unequal bearing surfaces causing shear. Furthermore, a series of samples, presumably duplicates, will not fail in the same way, due to the mechanical variation in the manufacture of the brick. Arches that fail through plasticity show that the tensile strength of the brick is important, this being evidenced by the fact that the bottom of a wedge brick in an arch that has failed is usually found to be wider than the top and the adjacent bricks are firmly cemented together. A better method of testing is that of testing the brick as a beam subjected to its own weight and not on end. This method has been used for years in Germany and is recommended by the highest authorities in ceramics. It takes into account the failure by tension in the brick as well as by compression and thus covers the tension element which is important in arch construction. The plastic point under a unit stress of 100 pounds per square inch, which may be taken as the average maximum arch stress, should be above 2800 degrees to give perfect results and should be above 2400 degrees to enable the brick to be used with any degree of satisfaction. The other characteristics by which the quality of a fire brick is to be judged are: Fusion point. In view of the fact that the critical temperature of plasticity is below the fusion point, this is only important as an indication from high fusion point of a high temperature of plasticity. Hardness. This is a relative quality based on an arbitrary scale of 10 and is an indication of probable cracking and spalling. Expansion. The lineal expansion per brick in inches. This characteristic in conjunction with hardness is a measure of the physical movement of the brick as affecting a mass of brickwork, such movement resulting in cracked walls, etc. The expansion will vary between wide limits in different brick and provided such expansion is not in excess of, say, .05 inch in a 9-inch brick, when measured at 2600 degrees, it is not particularly important in a properly designed furnace, though in general the smaller the expansion the better. Compression. The strength necessary to cause crushing of the brick at the center of the 4½ inch face by a steel block one inch square. The compression should ordinarily be low, a suggested standard being that a brick show signs of crushing at 7500 pounds. Size of Nodules. The average size of flint grains when the brick is carefully crushed. The scale of these sizes may be considered: Small, size of anthracite rice; large, size of anthracite pea. Ratio of Nodules. The percentage of a given volume occupied by the flint grains. This scale may be considered: High, 90 to 100 per cent; medium, 50 to 90 per cent; low, 10 to 50 per cent. The statement of characteristics suggested as desirable, are for arch purposes where the hardest service is met. For side wall purposes the compression and hardness limit may be raised considerably and the plastic point lowered. Aside from the physical properties by which a fire brick is judged, it is sometimes customary to require a chemical analysis of the brick. Such an analysis is only necessary as determining the amount of total basic fluxes (K2O, Na2O, CaO, MgO and FeO). These fluxes are ordinarily combined into one expression, indicated by the symbol RO. This total becomes important only above 0.2 molecular equivalent as expressed in ceramic empirical formulae, and this limit should not be exceeded. [75] From the nature of fire brick, their value can only be considered from a relative standpoint. Generally speaking, what are known as first-grade fire brick may be divided into three classes, suitable for various conditions of operation, as follows: Class A. For stoker-fired furnaces where high overloads are to be expected or where other extreme conditions of service are apt to occur. Class B. For ordinary stoker settings where there will be no excessive overloads required from the boiler or any hand-fired furnaces where the rates of driving will be high for such practice. Class C. For ordinary hand-fired settings where the presumption is that the boilers will not be overloaded except at rare intervals and for short periods only. gives the characteristics of these three classes according to the features determining the quality. indicates that the hardness of the brick in general increases with the poorer qualities. Provided the hardness is sufficient to enable the brick to withstand its load, additional hardness is a detriment rather than an advantage. Table 61 This table An approximate determination of the quality of a fire brick may be made from the appearance of a fracture. Where such a fracture is open, clean, white and flinty, the brick in all probability is of a good quality. If this fracture has the fine uniform texture of bread, the brick is probably poor. In considering the heavy duty of brick in boiler furnaces, experience shows that arches are the only part that ordinarily give trouble. These fail from the following causes: Bad workmanship in laying up of brick. This feature is treated below. The tendency of a brick to become plastic at a temperature below the fusing point. The limits of allowable plastic temperature have already been pointed out. Spalling. This action occurs on the inner ends of combustion arches where they are swept by gases at a high velocity at the full furnace temperature. The most troublesome spalling arises through cold air striking the heated brickwork. Failure from this cause is becoming rare, due to the large increase in number of stoker installations in which rapid temperature changes are to a great degree eliminated. Furthermore, there are a number of brick on the market practically free from such defects and where a new brick is considered, it can be tried out and if the defect exists, can be readily detected and the brick discarded. Failures of arches from the expansive power of brick are also rare, due to the fact that there are a number of brick in which the expansion is well within the allowable limits and the ease with which such defects may be determined before a brick is used. Failures through chemical disintegration. Failure through this cause is found only occasionally in brick containing a high percentage of iron oxide. With the grade of brick selected best suited to the service of the boiler to be set, the other factor affecting the life of the setting is the laying. It is probable that more setting difficulties arise from the improper workmanship in the laying up of brick than from poor material, and to insure a setting which will remain tight it is necessary that the masonry work be done most carefully. This is particularly true where the boiler is of such a type as to require combustion arches in the furnace. Red brick should be laid in a thoroughly mixed mortar composed of one volume of Portland cement, 3 volumes of unslacked lime and 16 volumes of clear sharp sand. Not less than 2½ bushels of lime should be used in the laying up of 1000 brick. Each brick should be thoroughly embedded and all joints filled. Where red brick and fire brick are both used in the same wall, they should be carried up at the same time and thoroughly bonded to each other. All fire brick should be dry when used and protected from moisture until used. Each brick should be dipped in a thin fire clay wash, “rubbed and shoved” into place, and tapped with a wooden mallet until it touches the brick next below it. It must be recognized that fire clay is not a cement and that it has little or no holding power. Its action is that of a filler rather than a binder and no fire-clay wash should be used which has a consistency sufficient to permit the use of a trowel. All fire-brick linings should be laid up four courses of headers and one stretcher. Furnace center walls should be entirely of fire brick. If the center of such walls are built of red brick, they will melt down and cause the failure of the wall as a whole. Fire-brick arches should be constructed of selected brick which are smooth, straight and uniform. The frames on which such arches are built, called arch centers, should be constructed of batten strips not over 2 inches wide. The brick should be laid on these centers in courses, not in rings, each joint being broken with a bond equal to the length of half a brick. Each course should be first tried in place dry, and checked with a straight edge to insure a uniform thickness of joint between courses. Each brick should be dipped on one side and two edges only and tapped into place with a mallet. Wedge brick courses should be used only where necessary to keep the bottom faces of the straight brick course in even contact with the centers. When such contact cannot be exactly secured by the use of wedge brick, the straight brick should lean away from the center of the arch rather than toward it. When the arch is approximately two-thirds completed, a trial ring should be laid to determine whether the key course will fit. When some cutting is necessary to secure such a fit, it should be done on the two adjacent courses on the side of the brick away from the key. It is necessary that the keying course be a true fit from top to bottom, and after it has been dipped and driven it should not extend below the surface of the arch, but preferably should have its lower ledge one-quarter inch above this surface. After fitting, the keys should be dipped, replaced loosely, and the whole course driven uniformly into place by means of a heavy hammer and a piece of wood extending the full length of the keying course. Such a driving in of this course should raise the arch as a whole from the center. The center should be so constructed that it may be dropped free of the arch when the key course is in place and removed from the furnace without being burned out. Care of Brickwork—Before a boiler is placed in service, it is essential that the brickwork setting be thoroughly and properly dried, or otherwise the setting will invariably crack. The best method of starting such a process is to block open the boiler damper and the ashpit doors as soon as the brickwork is completed and in this way maintain a free circulation of air through the setting. If possible, such preliminary drying should be continued for several days before any fire is placed in the furnace. When ready for the drying out fire, wood should be used at the start in a light fire which may be gradually built up as the walls become warm. After the walls have become thoroughly heated, coal may be fired and the boiler placed in service. As already stated, the life of a boiler setting is dependent to a large extent upon the material entering into its construction and the care with which such material is laid. A third and equally important factor in the determining of such life is the care given to the maintaining of the setting in good condition after the boiler is placed in operation. This feature is discussed more fully in the chapter dealing with general boiler room management. Steel Casings—In the chapter dealing with the losses operating against high efficiencies as indicated by the heat balance, it has been shown that a considerable portion of such losses is due to radiation and to air infiltration into the boiler setting. These losses have been variously estimated from 2 to 10 per cent, depending upon the condition of the setting and the amount of radiation surface, the latter in turn being dependent upon the size of the boiler used. In the modern efforts after the highest obtainable plant efficiencies much has been done to reduce such losses by the use of an insulated steel casing covering the brickwork. In an average size boiler unit the use of such casing, when properly installed, will reduce radiation losses from one to two per cent., over what can be accomplished with the best brick setting without such casing and, in addition, prevent the loss due to the infiltration of air, which may amount to an additional five per cent., as compared with brick settings that are not maintained in good order. Steel plate, or steel plate backed by asbestos mill-board, while acting as a preventative against the infiltration of air through the boiler setting, is not as effective from the standpoint of decreasing radiation losses as a casing properly insulated from the brick portion of the setting by magnesia block and asbestos mill-board. A casing which has been found to give excellent results in eliminating air leakage and in the reduction of radiation losses is clearly illustrated on page . 306 Many attempts have been made to use some material other than brick for boiler settings but up to the present nothing has been found that may be considered successful or which will give as satisfactory service under severe conditions as properly laid brickwork. About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Babcock & Wilcox Company (2007). Steam, Its Generation and Use. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/22657/pg22657-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at , located at . www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

BRICKWORK BOILER SETTINGS

Scientific American Supplement, No. 365, December 30, 1882 by Various, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . WHEAT TESTS. here WHEAT TESTS. There was considerable complaint last season, on the part of wheat raisers in sections tributary to Minneapolis, on account of the rigid standard of grading adopted by the millers of that city. It was asserted that the differentiation of prices between the grades was unjustly great and out of proportion to the actual difference of value. In order to ascertain whether this was the case or not, the Farmers' Association of Blue Earth County, Minn., decided to have samples of each grade analyzed by a competent chemist in order to determine their relative value. Accordingly specimens were secured, certified to by the agent of the Millers' Association of Minneapolis, and sent to the University of Minnesota for analysis. The analysis was conducted by Prof. Wm. A. Noyes, Ph.D., an experienced chemist, who has recently reported as follows: "The analyses of wheat given below were undertaken for the purpose of determining whether the millers' grades of wheat correspond to an actual difference in the chemical character of the wheat. For this purpose samples of wheat were secured, which were inspected and certified to by M. W. Trexa on April 13th of this year. The inspection cards contained no statement except the grade of the wheat and the weight per bushel, but the samples were all of Fife, for the purpose of a better comparison. The analyses of the wheat were made during October in this laboratory. In each case the wheat was carefully separated from any foreign substances before analysis. The results of analysis were as follows: Grade No. 1 Grade No. 2 Grade No. 3 Weight per bushel 59 lb. 56½ lb. 55 lb. Grains to weigh 10 grains 366 Per ct. 474 Per ct. 491 Per ct. Foreign matter (seeds, etc.) 0.41 0.20 1.57 Nitrogen 2.09 2.08 2.17 Phosphorus 0.35 0.46 0.46 Water 12.34 11.31 11.85 Ash 1.59 1.92 1.97 Albuminoids (nitrogen multiplied by 6¼) 13.06 13.00 13.56 Cellulose 2.03 2.37 2.50 Starch, sugar, fat, etc. 70.98 71.40 70.12 "The analyses require but little comment. The only substances in which there is evident connection between the results of analysis and the grades of wheat are the cellulose, ash, and phosphorus. As regards the last substance, grades two and three seem to have the greatest food value. But it seems quite probable from the results that greater difference would be found between different varieties of wheat of the same kind than is shown here between different grades of the same variety of wheat. However, it does not necessarily follow from this that the different grades of wheat are of nearly equal value to the miller for the purpose of making flour. That is a question which can be best answered by determining accurately the amount and character of the flour which can be made from each grade of wheat. If possible, the investigation will be continued in that direction." As Prof. Noyes justly remarks, the value of the different grades of wheat can best be determined by a comparison of the results of reducing them to flour, but an intelligent study of the table given above would of itself be sufficient to indicate the justness of the grading. In the first place, even were the percentages of the different components exactly the same in each grade, still the difference in weight would of itself be sufficient to justify a marked difference in price. This requires no proof, for, other things being equal, fifty-nine pounds is worth more than fifty-five pounds. Again, the figures show that No. 3 contained nearly four times as much foreign matter as No. 1. Millers certainly should not be expected to pay for foreign seeds or other substances valueless for their purpose, at the price of wheat. Finally, if the analysis proves anything, it proves that the lower grades contain a decidedly larger percentage of components which it is generally agreed, whether directly or the reverse, ought not to be incorporated with the flour, and are, therefore, of comparatively little value to the miller. This is shown by the relative amounts of cellulose, ash, and phosphorus present. Cellulose, as every one knows, is the woody, indigestible substance which is found in the bran, and the greater the amount of cellulose, the heavier will be the bran in proportion to the flour producing elements. According to the figures presented, No. 3 contained nearly one-quarter more cellulose than No. 1, while the amount in No. 2 was slightly less than in No. 3. The ash, too, which represents the mineral constituents of the wheat, is directly dependent upon the quantity of bran. Here, too, the lowest grade is shown to yield about one-quarter more than the highest. The larger percentage of phosphorus in the lower grades is suggested by the analyst to indicate their greater food value in this respect. So it would, were we in the habit of boiling our wheat and heating it whole, or of using "whole wheat meal." But, fortunately or unfortunately, the bread reformers have not yet succeeded in inoculating any considerable portion of the community with their doctrines, and hence the actual food value of any sample of wheat must be ascertained, not directly from the composition of the wheat, but from the composition of the flour made therefrom. Now, as already stated, phosphorus, like the other mineral components, is found almost entirely in the bran. Its presence in greater quantity, therefore, simply adds to the testimony that a larger proportion of the low grade wheat must be rejected than of the higher grade. It should be evident to the complaining farmers that the millers were in the right of the question, on this occasion at least. It is expected that further analysis will be made, this time of the flour made from the different grades of wheat. If these investigations be properly conducted, we have no doubt that they will simply confirm the evidence of the wheat tests. A chemical analysis alone, however, will not be sufficient. The quantity of flour obtained from a given amount of wheat must also be ascertained and its quality further tested by means best known to millers, as regards "doughing-up," keeping qualities, color, etc. And then the result can be no less than to show what millers already knew—that the best quality of flour, commanding the top prices in the market, cannot be obtained from an inferior quality of wheat.— Milling World. About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Various (2006). Scientific American Supplement, No. 365, December 30, 1882. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/18763/pg18763-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at , located at . www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

WHEAT TESTS

MR. KIRKPATRICK, Q.C.

The Romance of Modern Mechanism by Archibald Williams is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . CHAPTER XXIV here AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY PLOUGHS — DRILLS AND SEEDERS — REAPING MACHINES — THRESHING MACHINES — PETROL-DRIVEN FIELD MACHINERY— ELECTRICAL FARMING MACHINERY Agriculture is at once the oldest and most important of all national industries. Man being a graminivorous animal—witness his molar, or grinding, "double" teeth—has, since the earliest times, been obliged to observe the seasons, planting his crops when the ground is moist, and reaping them when the weather is warm and dry. Apart from the nomad races of the deserts and steppes, who find their chief subsistence in the products of the date-palm and of their flocks and herds, all nations cultivate a large portion of the country which they inhabit. Ancient monuments, the oldest inscriptions and writings, bear witness to the prime importance of the plough and reaping-hook; and it may be reasonably assumed that the progress of civilisation is proved by the increased use of cereal foods, and better methods of garnering and preparing them. For thousands of years the sickle, which Greek and Roman artists placed in the hand of their Goddess of the Harvest, and the rude plough, consisting of, perhaps, only a crooked bough with a pointed end, were practically the only implements known to the husbandman besides his spade and mattock. Where labour is abundant and each householder has time to cultivate the little plot which suffices for the maintenance of his own family, and while there is little inducement to take part in other than agricultural industries—tedious and time-wasting methods have held their own. But in highly civilised communities carrying on manufactures of all sorts it is difficult for the farmer to secure an abundance of human help, and yet it is recognised that a speedy preparation and sowing of the land, and a prompt gathering and threshing of the harvest, is all in favour of producing a successful and well-conditioned crop. In England, eighty years ago, three men lived in the country for every one who lived in the town. Now the proportion has been reversed; and that not in the British Isles alone. The world does not mean to starve; but civilisation demands that as few people as possible should be devoted to procuring the "staff of life" for both man and beast. We should reasonably expect, therefore, that the immense advance made in mechanical science during the last century should have left a deep mark on agricultural appliances. Such an expectation is more than justified; for are there not many among us who have seen the sickle and the flail at work where now the "self-binder" and threshing machine perform the same duties in a fraction of the time formerly required? The ploughman, plodding sturdily down the furrow behind his clever team, is indeed still a common sight; but in the tilling season do we not hear the snort of the steam-engine, as its steel rope tears a six-furrow plough through the mellow earth? When the harvest comes we realise even more clearly how largely machinery has supplanted man; while in the processes of separating the grain from its straw the human element plays an even smaller part. It would not be too much to say that, were we to revert next year to the practices of our grandfathers, we should starve in the year following. This chapter will be confined to a consideration of machinery operated by horse, steam, or other power, which falls under four main headings,—ploughs, drills, reapers, and threshers. PLOUGHS The firm of Messrs. John Fowler and Company, of Leeds, is most intimately connected with the introduction of the steam plough and cultivator. Their first type of outfit included one engine only, the traversing of the plough across the field being effected by means of cables passing round a pulley on a low, four-wheeled truck, moved along the opposite edge of the field by ropes dragging on an anchor. Another method was to have the engine stationary at one corner of the field, and an anchor at each of the three other corners, the two at the ends of the furrow being moved for every journey of the plough. In, or about, the year 1865 this arrangement succumbed to the simple and, as it now seems to us, obvious improvement of introducing a second engine to progress vis-à-vis with the first, and do its share of the pulling. The modern eight-furrow steam plough will turn ten acres a day quite easily, at a much lower cost than that of horse labour. For tearing up land after a crop "cultivators" are sometimes used. They have arrowhead-shaped [321]coulters, which cut very deep and bring large quantities of fresh earth to the surface. The ground is now pulverised by harrows of various shapes, according to the nature of the crop to be sown. English farmers generally employ the spike harrow; but Yankee agriculturists make great use of the spring-tooth form, which may best be described as an arrangement of very strong springs much resembling in outline the springs of house bells. The shorter arm is attached to the frame, while the longer and pointed arm tears the earth. DRILLS AND SEEDERS In highly civilised countries the man carrying a basket from which he flings seeds broadcast is a very rare sight indeed. The primitive method may have been effective—a good sower could cover an acre evenly with half a pint of turnip seed—but very slow. We now use a long bin mounted on wheels, which revolves discs inside the bin, furnished with tiny spoons round the periphery to scoop small quantities of seed into tubes terminating in a coulter. The farmer is thus certain of having evenly planted and parallel rows of grain, which in the early spring, when the sprouting begins, make so pleasant an addition to the landscape. The "corn," or maize, crop of the United States is so important that it demands special sowing machinery, which plants single grains at intervals of about eighteen inches. A somewhat similar device is used for planting potatoes. Passing over the weeding machines, which offer no features of particular interest, we come to the REAPING MACHINES, on which a vast amount of ingenuity has been expended. At the beginning of the nineteenth century the Royal Agricultural Society of Great Britain offered a prize for the introduction of a really useful machine which should replace the scythe and sickle. Several machines were brought out, but they did not prove practical enough to attract much attention. Cyrus H. McCormick invented in 1831 the reaper, which, with very many improvements added, is to-day employed in all parts of the world. The most noticeable point of this machine was the bar furnished with a row of triangular blades which passed very rapidly to and fro through slots in an equal number of sharp steel points, against which they cut the grain. The to-and-fro action of the cutter-blade was produced by a connecting-rod working on a crank rotated by the wheels carrying the machine. The first McCormick reaper did wonders on a Virginian farm; other inventors were stimulated; and in 1833 there appeared the Hussey reaper, built on somewhat similar lines. For twelve years or so these two machines competed against one another all over the United States; and then McCormick added a raker attachment, which, when sufficient grain had accumulated on the platform, enabled a second man on the machine to sweep it off to be tied up into a sheaf. At the Great Exhibition held in London in 1851, the judges awarded a special medal to the inventor, reporting that the whole expense of the Exhibition would have been well recouped if only the reaper were introduced into England. From France McCormick received the decoration of the Legion of Honour "for having done more for the cause of agriculture than any man then living." It would be reasonable to expect that, after this public recognition, the mechanical reaper would have been immediately valued at its true worth. "Yet no man had more difficulty in introducing his machines than that pioneer inventor of agricultural implements. Farmers everywhere were slow to accept it, and manufacturers were unwilling to undertake its manufacture. Even after the value of the machine had been demonstrated, everyone seemed to fear that it would break down on rocky and uneven fields; and the inventor had to demonstrate in person to the farmers the practicability of the reapers, and then even guarantee them before the money could be obtained. Through all these trying discouragements the persistent inventor passed before he saw any reward for the work that he had spent half a lifetime in perfecting. The ultimate triumph of the inventor may be sufficient reward for his labours and discouragements, but those who would begrudge him the wealth that he subsequently made from his invention should consider some of the difficulties and obstacles he had to overcome in the beginning." [24] In 1858 an attachment was fitted to replace the second passenger on the machine. Four men followed behind to tie up the grain as it was shot off the machine. Inventors tried to abolish the need for these extra hands by means of a self-binding device. A practical method, employing wire, appeared in 1860; but so great was the trouble caused by stray pieces of the wire getting into threshing and other machinery through which the grain subsequently passed that farmers went back to hand work, until the Appleby patent of 1873 replaced wire by twine. Words alone would convey little idea of how the corn is collected and encircled with twine; how the knot is tied by an ingenious shuttle mechanism; and how it is thrown out into a set of arms which collect sufficient sheaves to form a "stook" before it lets them fall. So we would advise our readers to take the next chance of examining a modern self-binder, and to persuade the man in charge to give as lucid an explanation as he can of the way in which things are done. Popular prejudice having once been conquered, the success of the reapers was assured. The year 1870 saw 60,000 in use; by 1885 the output had increased to 250,000; and to-day the manufacture of agricultural labour-saving machines gives employment to over 200,000 people; an equal number being occupied in their transport and sale in all parts of the globe. In California, perhaps more than in any other country, "power" agricultural machinery is seen at its best. Great traction-engines here take the place of human labour to an extraordinary extent. The largest, of 50 h.p. and upwards, "with driving-wheels 60 inches in diameter and flanges of generous width, travel over the uneven surface of the grain fields, crossing ditches and low places, and ascending the sides of steep hills, with as much apparent ease as a locomotive rolls along its steel rails. Such powerful traction-engines, or 'automobiles' as they are commonly called by the American farmers, are capable of dragging behind them sixteen 10-inch ploughs, four 6-foot harrows, and a drill and seeder. The land is thus ploughed, drilled, and seeded all at one time. From fifty to seventy-five acres of virgin soil can thus be ploughed and planted in a single day. When the harvest comes the engines are again brought into service, and the fields that would ordinarily defy the best efforts of an army of workmen are garnered quickly and easily. The giant harvester is hitched to the traction-engine in place of the ploughs and harrows, and cuts, binds, and stacks the golden wheat from seventy-five acres in a single day. The cutters are 26 feet wide, and they make a clear swathe across the field. Some of them thresh, clean, and sack the wheat as fast as it is cut and bound. Other traction-engines follow to gather up the sacked wheat, and whole train-loads of it thus move across the field to the granaries or railways of the seaboard or interior." For "dead ripe" crops the "header" is often used in California. Instead of being pulled it is by mules, and merely cuts off the heads, leaving the straw to be trampled down by the animals since it has no value. Swathes as wide as 50 feet are thus treated, the grain being threshed out while the machine moves. pushed One of the most beautiful, and at the same time useful, crops in the world is that of maize, which feeds not only vast numbers of human beings, but also countless flocks and herds, the latter eating the green stalks as well as the ripened grain. The United States alone produced no less than 2,523,648,312 bushels of this cereal in 1902, as against 987,000,000 bushels of wheat, and 670,000,000 bushels of barley. Now, maize has a very tough stalk, often 10 feet high and an inch thick, which cannot be cut with the ease of wheat or barley. So a special machine has been devised to handle it. The row of corn is picked up, if fallen, by chains furnished with projecting spikes working at an angle to the perpendicular, so as to lift and simultaneously pull back the stalks, which pass into a horizontal V-shaped frame. This has a broad opening in front, but narrows towards its rear end, where stationary sickles fixed on either side give the stalk a drawing cut before it reaches the single knife moving to right and left in the angle of the V, which severs the stalk completely. The McCormick machine gathers the corn in vertical bundles, and ties them up ready for the "shockers." THRESHING MACHINES In principle these are simple enough. The straw and grain is fed into a slot and pulled down between a toothed rotating drum and a fixed toothed concave. These tear out the grain from the ear. The former falls into the hopper of a winnowing and riddling machine, which clears it from dust and husks, and allows it to pass to a hopper. An endless chain of buckets carries it to the delivery bins, holding just one sackful each, which when full discharge the grain through spouts into the receptacles waiting below their mouths. An automatic counter records the number of sackfuls of corn that have been discharged, so that dishonesty on the part of employés becomes practically an impossibility. While the grain is thus treated, oscillating rakes have arranged the straw and shaken it out behind in a form convenient for binding, and the chaff has passed to its proper heap, to be used as fuel for the engine or as food for cattle. PETROL-DRIVEN FIELD MACHINERY On water, rail, and road the petrol engine has entered into rivalry with steam—very successfully too. And now it bids fair to challenge both steam-engine and horse as the motive power for agricultural operations. Probably the best-known English petrol-driven farmer's help is that made by Mr. Dan Albone, of Biggleswade, who in past times did much to introduce the safety bicycle to the public. The "Ivel" motor is not beautiful to look upon; its sides are slab, its outlines rather suggestive of an inverted punt. But it is a willing and powerful worker; requires no feeding in the early hours of the morning; no careful brush down after the day's work; no halts to ease wearied muscles. In one tank is petrol, in another lubricating oil, in a third water to keep the cylinders cool. A double-cylinder motor of 18 h.p. transmits its energy through a large clutch and train of cogs to the road wheels, made extra wide and well corrugated so that they shall not sink into soft ground or slip on hard. There is a broad pulley-wheel peeping out from one side of the machine, which is ready to drive chaff-cutters or threshers, pump, grind corn, or turn a dynamo at a moment's notice. Hitch the "Ivel" on to a couple of reapers or a three-furrow plough, and it soon shows its superiority to "man's friend." Here are some records:— We may quote a paragraph from the pen of "Home Counties," a well-known and perspicacious writer on agricultural topics. "It is because motor-farming is likely to result in a more thorough cultivation of the land and a more skilful and more enlightened practice of agriculture, and not in a further extension of those deplorable land-scratching and acre-grasping methods of which so many pitiful examples may be seen on our clay soils, that its beginnings are being sympathetically watched by many people who have the best interests of the rural districts and the prosperity of agriculture at heart." [25] Will our farmers give the same welcome to the agricultural motor that was formerly accorded to the mechanical reaper? Prophecy is risky, but if, before a decade has elapsed, the horse has not been largely replaced by petrol on large farms and light land, the writer of these lines will be much surprised. ELECTRICAL FARMING MACHINERY In France, Germany, Austria, and the United States the electric motor has been turned to agricultural uses. Where water-power is available it is peculiarly suitable for stationary work, such as threshing, chaff-cutting, root-slicing, grinding, etc. The current can be easily distributed all over a large farm and harnessed to portable motors. Even ploughing has been done with electricity: the energy being derived either from a steam-engine placed near by, or from an overhead supply passing to the plough through trolley arms similar to those used on electric trams. The great advances made recently in electrical power transmission, and in the efficiency of the electric motor, bring the day in sight when on large properties the fields will be girt about by cables and poles as permanent fixtures. All the usual agricultural operations of ploughing, drilling, and reaping will then be independent of horses, or of steam-engines panting laboriously on the headlands. In fact, the experiment has been tried with success in the United States. Whichever way we look, Giant Steam is bowing before a superior power. FOOTNOTES: 24. Cassier's Magazine. The World's Work, vol. iii. 499. 25. About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Archibald Williams (2014). The Romance of Modern Mechanism. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/46094/pg46094-images.html. This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at , located at . www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY

REAL ESTATE AND INSURANCE

Business English: A Practice Book by Rose Buhlig is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . DISTRIBUTION here DISTRIBUTION Correct buying and the most efficient methods of manufacture play a large part in the successful carrying on of a business, but the most important consideration is the successful marketing or distributing of the product after it has been manufactured or bought. Very few products are so superior in quality that they sell themselves purely on merit. Competition in business to-day is so keen that, in order to find a market for his product, a merchant must create a demand for it. Thus at its very foundation, distribution is merely a process of creating a demand and then filling that demand. For instance, the retail merchant is concerned with bringing the customers to his store rather than to his competitor's across the street. The wholesale merchant is concerned with having the retailers handle his goods rather than those of another firm. The mail order merchant is concerned with getting the farmer's business before some other dealer gets it. The salesman is concerned with writing the order before a rival from another house writes it. In the first place, the merchant must handle those things that his customers consider necessary or desirable. Overcoats cannot be sold in August, ashsifters on the equator, nor electric fans in Iceland. Different peoples, different times, and different conditions create different demands, and it is the merchant's business to study those demands and to fill them. In the second place, he must leave no stone unturned in endeavoring to make his product more desirable than that of his competitors. This may mean extensive advertising campaigns, expensive displays, outlay for costly catalogues and booklets, the expenditure of money for inducements to bring customers, or the hiring of expert salesmen. In fact, thousands of plans are carried out every year in this endeavor to increase trade. The getting of new and additional business, however, is only one of the important considerations that the merchant must always have in mind. He must also keep what business he already has by maintaining the standard of his goods and by giving his customers satisfactory service. One of the first essentials in this question of service is promptness and exactness of delivery. In this the merchant must depend very largely on the transportation companies, and therefore a brief study of these facilities will be especially in place at this point. Transportation Transportation is an essential item in the problem of distribution. If you wished to drink a cup of coffee and found that none could be had except in Brazil, you would begin to realize how much the steamship company and the railroad company have done in transporting and hauling it where you might buy it. The same is true of our oranges from California and Florida, our apples from Washington and Oregon, and our grain from the Middle States. In fact, in the case of many products the most important item is not growing them, but bringing them to market, since the transportation charges are often much greater than the actual cost of producing. Thousands of barrels of apples rot on the ground every year because their quality does not warrant the high transportation charges, the lack of transportation rendering them useless. In a smaller measure, the delivery wagons in our cities and towns are essential to us because they save us the trouble of carrying our purchases about. Thus, the element of transportation enters into our lives every day, saving us inconvenience, bringing to us necessities that we demand and luxuries that we like, and, at the same time, increasing the price of commodities. Common carriers, as transportation companies are called, are of two general classes: Those operating on water—the steamship companies. Those operating on land—the railroad companies. The Steamship Company Steamship companies operate three general kinds of lines: (1) lines consisting of the largest and fastest steamers which carry only passengers, mail, and valuable parcels; (2) lines using slower steamers which carry both passengers and freight; and (3) lines employing vessels—steamers, sailing vessels, and barges—which carry only freight. The cost of hauling cargoes by water is in every case less per mile than that of carrying the same quantity of goods on land. It costs, for example, over four times as much to carry a bushel of wheat from Chicago to New York by rail as it does to carry it across the Atlantic. It is for this very reason that the traffic on our navigable rivers, the Ohio and the Mississippi, and on the Great Lakes is so heavy. Whenever a cargo can be shipped as well by water as by rail and there is no hurry for delivery, it is shipped by water. However, because so much of our freight must be rushed from place to place, the railroads get the bulk of the inland traffic. The Railroad Company The services of the railroad company embrace the hauling of freight, the carrying of passengers, and the transporting of express and of mail. The hauling of freight is the most important item in the railroad business, about three-quarters of the total income being derived from this source. Each year over one billion tons of freight are turned over by shippers to the railroads, who use almost two and one-half million freight cars to carry it. About one-half of this tonnage is minerals, mainly ore and coal; about one-seventh consists of manufactured articles; and one-twelfth of agricultural products. Commodities are grouped into from ten to fourteen classes, on each one of which the freight rate is different from that of the others. By freight rate is meant the cost of shipping a certain unit, usually 100 pounds or a ton, from one place to another; it is dependent on the distance. There are certain bulky commodities like coal, livestock, lumber, grain, and cement, which are almost always handled in carload lots. They are not included in the freight classification, but have a special ex-class freight rate. Freight rates depend also on whether the goods are shipped by slow or local freight or by fast or through freight. There are a hundred different kinds of papers used in carrying on the railroad freight business. Only four of the most important will be considered here. When a shipper turns over his goods to the railroad company at its freight depot, he gets from the agent a receipt for freight, which is merely a receipt for the goods he has turned over. In the ordinary course of business these receipts are exchanged at the company's office for a bill of lading in triplicate. The original and one copy are given to the shipper. The second copy is kept by the railroad. This bill of lading may be of two kinds, straight or order. If a straight bill of lading is given, the original is sent to the person to whom the goods are shipped, who is called the consignee, who on the presentation of the bill of lading is entitled to the goods after paying the charges. An order bill of lading is much like a check, in that it can be assigned to another person. Like the straight bill it states the name of the consignee or the person for whom the goods are intended and his address, but the consignee cannot get possession of the goods until he has paid for them. To collect payment, the shipper attaches to the order bill of lading a draft for the amount of the goods and the freight, and through his bank and the bank of the consignee the amount is collected. The consignee then gets possession of the order bill of lading, which entitles him to possession of the goods. This is more fully explained on page 344. The railroad's most important paper is the way bill, which shows the conductor or the agent of the company just what articles are included in the shipment, so that it can be checked when unloaded. When the goods arrive at their destination, the consignee is notified and is sent a freight bill showing the freight charges. When he presents his bill of lading and pays the charges, the freight bill is receipted and the goods are his. In quoting prices on goods, manufacturers and distributors usually designate whether they will pay the freight or whether it is to be paid by the consignee. In the latter case the price is quoted f. o. b. at the place from which the goods are shipped, which means freight on board at that point. That is to say, if a distributor located at Detroit quotes his automobiles f. o. b. Detroit, he means that he will see that the goods get into the railroad company's hands at Detroit, but that the consignee pays the freight from Detroit to the destination. The latter is the common practice in shipping. In the following exercises we shall treat the subject of distribution under four heads: I. 	The Retail Merchant.
II. 	The Wholesale Merchant.
III. 	The Mail Order Merchant.
IV. 	The Salesman. About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Rose Buhlig (2011). Business English: A Practice Book. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/38046/pg38046-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at , located at . www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

Correct buying and the most efficient methods of manufacture

The Romance of Modern Mechanism by Archibald Williams is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . CHAPTER XVI here THE HANDLING OF GRAIN THE ELEVATOR — THE SUCTION PNEUMATIC GRAIN-LIFTER — THE PNEUMATIC BLAST GRAIN-LIFTER — THE COMBINED SYSTEM THE ELEVATOR On or near the quays of our large seaports, London, Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol, Hull, Leith, Dublin, may be seen huge buildings of severe and ugly outline, utterly devoid of any attempt at decoration. Yet we should view them with respect, for they are to the inhabitants of the British Isles what the inland granaries of Egypt were to the dwellers by the Nile in the time of Joseph. Could we strip off the roofs and walls of these structures, we should see vast bins full of wheat, or spacious floors deeply strewn with the material for countless loaves. The grain warehouses of Britain—the Americans would term them "elevators"—have a total capacity of 10,000,000 quarters. Multiply those figures by eight, and you have the number of bushels, each of which will yield the flour for about forty 2-lb. loaves. In these granaries is stored the grain which comes from abroad. With the opening up of new lands in North and South America, and the exploitation of the great wheat-growing steppes of Russia, English agriculture has declined, and we are content to import five-sixths of our breadstuffs, and an even larger proportion of grain foods for domestic animals. It arrives from the United States, India, Russia, Argentina, Canada, and Australia in vessels often built specially for grain transport; and as it cannot be immediately distributed, must be stored in bulk in properly designed buildings. These contain either many storeys, over which the grain is spread to get rid of superfluous moisture which might cause dangerous heating; or huge bins, or "silos," in which it can be kept from contact with the air. Experiments have proved that wheat is more successfully preserved if the air is excluded than if left in the open, provided that it is dry. The ancient Egyptians used brick granaries, filled from the top, and tapped at the bottom, in which, to judge by the account of a grievous famine given in the book of Genesis, their wheat was preserved for at least seven years. During last century the silo fell into disrepute; but now we have gone back to the Egyptian plan of closed bins, which are constructed of wood, brick, ferro-concrete, or iron, and are of square, hexagonal, or round section. They are set close together, many under one roof, to economise space; as many as 2,985,000 bushels being provided for in the largest English storehouse. Such vast quantities of grain require well-devised machinery for their transport from ship to bin or floor, weighing, clearing, and for their transference to barges, coasting vessels, or railway trucks. The Alexander Grain Warehouse of Liverpool may be taken as a typical example of a well-equipped silo granary. It measures 240 by 172 feet, and contains 250 hexagonal bins of brickwork, each 80 feet deep and 12 feet in diameter. The grain is lifted from barges by four elevators placed at intervals along the edge of the quay. The elevator is a wooden case, 40 or 50 feet high, in which an endless band furnished with buckets travels over two rollers placed at the top and bottom. These are let down into the hold and scoop up the grain at the rate of from 75 to 150 tons per hour, according to their size. As soon as a bucket reaches the top roller it empties its charge into a spout, which delivers the grain into a bin, whence it is lifted again 32 feet by a second elevator to a bin from which it flows by gravity to a weighing hopper beneath; and as soon as two tons has collected, the contents are emptied automatically into a distributing hopper. After all this, the grain still has a long journey before it; for it is now shot out on to an endless, flat conveyer belt moving at a rate of 9 to 10 feet per second. It is carried horizontally by this for some distance along the quay, and falls on to a second belt moving at right angles to the first, which whisks it off to the receiving elevators of the storehouse. Once more it is lifted, this time 132 feet, to the top floor of the building, and dropped on to a third belt, which runs over a movable throwing-off carriage. This can be placed at any point of the belt's travel, to transfer the grain to any of the spouts leading to the 250 bins. Here it rests for a time. When needed for the market it flows out at the bottom of a bin on to belts leading to delivery elevators, from which it may be either passed back to a storage bin after being well aired, or shot into wagons or vessels. From first to last a single grain may have to travel three miles between the ship and the truck without being touched once by a human hand. The vertical transport of grain is generally effected by an endless belt, to which buckets are attached at short intervals. The grain, fed to the buckets either by hand or by mechanical means, is scooped up, whirled aloft, and when it has passed the topmost point of its travel, and just as the bucket is commencing the descent, it flies by centrifugal force into a hopper which guides it to the travelling belt, as already described. Of late years, however, much attention has been paid to pneumatic methods of elevating, by which a cargo is transferred from ship to storehouse, or from ship to ship, through flexible tubes, the motive power being either the pressure of atmospheric air rushing in to fill a vacuum, or high-pressure air which blows the grain through the tube in much the same way as a steam injector forces water into a boiler. Sometimes both systems are used in combination. We will first consider these methods separately. THE SUCTION PNEUMATIC GRAIN-LIFTER is the invention of Mr. Fred E. Duckham, engineer of the Millwall Docks, London. The ships in which grain is brought to England often contain a "mixed" cargo as well; and that the unloading of this may proceed simultaneously with the moving of the wheat it is necessary to keep the hatches clear. As long as the grain is directly under a hatchway, a bucket elevator can reach it; but all that is not so conveniently situated must be brought within range of the buckets. This means a large bill for labour, even if machinery is employed to help the "trimming." Mr. Duckham therefore designed an elevator which could easily reach any corner of a ship's interior. The principal parts are a large cylindrical air-tight tank, an engine to exhaust air from the same, and long hoses, armoured inside with a steel lining, connected at one end to the tank, and furnished at the other with a nozzle. These hoses extend from the receiving tank to the grain, which, when the air has been exhausted to five or six pounds to the square inch, flies up the tubes into the tank. At the bottom of the tank are ingenious air-locks, to allow the grain to pass into a bin below without admitting air to spoil the vacuum. The locks are automatic, and as soon as a certain quantity of grain has collected, tip sideways, closing the port through which it flowed, and allowing it to drop through a hinged door. Two locks are attached together, the one discharging while the other is filling. An elevator of this kind will shift 150 tons or more an hour. Mr. Duckham claims for his invention that it has no limit in capacity. It is practically independent of everything but its own steam power; and the labour of one man suffices to keep its flexible suckers buried in grain. No corner is inaccessible to the nozzle. The pipes occupy only a very small part of the hatchway. They can be set to work immediately a vessel comes alongside. As many as a quarter of a million bushels are handled daily by one of these machines. The pneumatic elevator is often installed on a floating base, so that it may be moved about in a dock. THE PNEUMATIC BLAST GRAIN-LIFTER differs from the system just described in that the grain is through the pipes or hoses by air compressed to several pounds above atmospheric pressure. A small tube attached to the main hose conveys compressed air to the nozzle through which grain enters the tube. The nozzle consists of a short length of metal piping which is buried in the grain. One half of it is encased by a jacket into which the compressed air rushes. As the air escapes at high speed past the inner end of the piping into the main hose, it causes a vacuum in the piping and draws in grain, which is shot up the hose by the pressure behind it. As already remarked, the action of this pneumatic elevator is similar to that of a steam injector. driven THE COMBINED SYSTEM Under some conditions it is found convenient to employ both suction and blast in combination: suction to draw the grain from a vessel's hold into elevators, from which it is transferred to the warehouse by blast. Special boats are built for this work, the , which has on board suction plant for transferring grain from a ship to barges, and also blowing apparatus for elevating it into storehouses or into another ship. The has the hull and engines of an ordinary screw steamer, so that it can ply up and down the Shannon and partly unload a vessel to reduce its draught sufficiently to allow it to reach Limerick Docks. Floating elevators of this kind are able to handle upwards of 150 tons of grain per hour. e.g. Garryowen Garryowen About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Archibald Williams (2014). The Romance of Modern Mechanism. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/46094/pg46094-images.html. This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at , located at . www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

THE HANDLING OF GRAIN

Business English: A Practice Book by Rose Buhlig is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . SPELLING RULES here SPELLING RULES Exercise 29—Plurals of Nouns ( ) a dress, dresses ( ) b chair, chairs splash, splashes wave, waves business, businesses book, books church, churches pencil, pencils fox, foxes paper, papers The usual way of forming the plural of English nouns is illustrated by the words in column ( ) above. What is it? b If you add to the singular form , could you distinguish the pronunciation of the plural from the pronunciation of the singular? Does this suggest a reason for adding to form the plural? s dress es How many syllables must you use to pronounce the plural of fox? Does this suggest another reason for adding to form the plural? es Every word that ends in a sibilant or hissing sound ( , , , , , ) forms its plural like . Give several illustrations. ch s sh ss x z fox Rule 1.—Nouns regularly form the plural by adding , but those ending in a sibilant must add .\Exercise 30 s es ( ) a lady, ladies ( ) b valley, valleys ally, allies alley, alleys soliloquy, soliloquies journey, journeys Name five words belonging to group ( ) above. Does a vowel or a consonant precede the in each case? a y Name other words belonging to the group ( ) above. Does a vowel or a consonant precede the in each case? b y **Rule 2.—Nouns ending in preceded by a consonant (and nouns ending in ) form the plural by changing to and adding .\Exercise 31—Words ending in o y quy y i es ( ) a potato, potatoes hero, heroes mulatto, mulattoes tomato, tomatoes buffalo, buffaloes cargo, cargoes negro, negroes echo, echoes motto, mottoes ( ) b solo, solos piano, pianos memento, mementos halo, halos lasso, lassos canto, cantos zero, zeros quarto, quartos soprano, sopranos stilletto, stillettos The older English words ending in form the plural by adding , as in potatoes; those more recently taken into the language form the plural by adding , as in quartos. o es s Exercise 32—Nouns in f and fe leaf, leaves calf, calves wife, wives loaf, loaves sheaf, sheaves shelf, shelves half, halves wolf, wolves elf, elves life, lives beef, beeves wharf, wharves (or wharfs) self, selves knife, knives ith the exception of the words given above, nouns ending in an sound form the plural in the regular way; as, f hoof, hoofs scarf, scarfs beliefs, beliefs chief, chiefs reef, reefs grief, griefs Exercise 33—Irregular Plurals Some nouns form their plural by a change of vowel; as, man men foot feet woman women tooth teeth goose geese mouse mice A few words retain the old time plural as, en; brother    brethren child children ox oxen A few words are the same in both singular and plural; as, sheep, trout, deer Some nouns have two plurals which differ in meaning; as, Singular Plural brother brothers brethren penny pennies pence pea peas pease die dies dice Consult a dictionary for the difference in meaning between the two plurals of each word. **Exercise 34—Compound Nouns Singular Plural brother-in-law brothers-in-law father-in-law fathers-in-law court-martial courts-martial commander-in-chief commanders-in-chief man-of-war men-of-war major general major generals goose quill goose quills bill of fare bills of fare spoonful spoonfuls cupful cupfuls Rule 3.—Compound nouns usually add the sign of the plural to the fundamental part of the word. Note.—In the thought is of one spoon many times full. spoonfuls Plural of Letters and Figures Rule 4.—Letters and figures form the plural by adding the apostrophe (') and as, s; a a's 3 3's w w's 5 5's The same rule applies to the plural of words which ordinarily have no plural; as, Don't use so many and . and's if's Exercise 35—Foreign Plurals Some nouns derived from foreign languages retain their original plural. The following are in common use. Consult a dictionary for their pronunciation and definition. Singular Plural Singular Plural crisis crises stratum strata thesis theses radius radii hypothesis hypotheses parenthesis parentheses focus foci synopsis synopses datum data basis bases alumnus alumni automaton automata alumna alumnae analysis analyses oasis oases nucleus nuclei axis axes phenomenon phenomena genus genera Some words admit of two plurals, one the foreign plural, and one the regular English plural; as, Singular Plural beau beaux beaus formula formulae formulas vertex vertices vertexes index indices indexes cherub cherubim cherubs seraph seraphim seraphs bandit banditti bandits Consult a dictionary to see whether there is any difference of meaning between the two plurals of these words. **Exercise 36—The Formation of Participles , , Rap rapping rapped , , Reap reaping reaped is a monosyllable ending in a single consonant preceded by a single vowel. The final consonant in such words is doubled before a suffix beginning with a vowel is added. Rap In the final consonant is not doubled because it is preceded by two vowels. reap Make the participles of the following verbs: chat lap suit step cheat leap sit steep rot train sop trot root trim soap treat , , Trap trapping trapped , , Track tracking tracked Why is the final consonant in doubled before or is added? trap ing ed The final consonant in is not doubled because ends with two consonants. track track , Pin pinning , Pine pining drops the silent because the tendency in English is to drop endings that are not needed for pronunciation before adding a suffix beginning with a vowel. Pine e Form the participles of the following verbs: knot rob flop note robe elope deal swim quit ( is not here a vowel) u clap strike crawl ( is here a vowel) w stop oil wax ( equals ) x cks peal rush bow ( is here a vowel) w Exercise 37 Exercise 36 applies also to words of more than one syllable accented on the last syllable, if they retain the accent on the same syllable after the suffix is added. Thus we have Rule 5.—Monosyllables or words accented on the last syllable, ending in a single consonant preceded by a single vowel, double the final consonant before adding a suffix beginning with a vowel. Form participles from the following words that are accented on the last syllable: prefer intervene escape expel refer reveal acquire contain occur repeal secure forbid permit pursue conceal incur interfere erase arrange forget retain control acquit repel Form participles from the following words not accented on the last syllable: benefit travel marvel shelter revel answer exhibit render quarrel profit shovel limit Words in which the accent changes do not double the final consonant before adding a suffix beginning with a vowel; as, confer conference infer inference refer reference prefer preferable Explain why the final consonant is doubled in each of the following words: not neglect neglecting lean leaning prefer preference select selecting creep creeping receipt receipting wonder wondering answer answering Exercise 38 Rule 6.—In forming the present participle of verbs ending in , retain the before adding as, y y ing; study studying obey obeying carry carrying convey conveying pity pitying In forming the perfect participle, if in the present tense the is preceded by a consonant, the is changed to and added; if the is preceded by a vowel, the is retained; as, y y i ed y y study studied carry carried pity pitied but obey obeyed convey conveyed Compare with . Rule 2 Exercise 39 Rule 7.—In words containing a long sound spelled either or , follows follows one of the other consonants; as, e ie ei ei c; ie ei ie deceive relieve siege perceive believe yield receive belief grief conceive chief field conceit priest piece receipt niece wield reprieve lien —Either, neither, weird, seize, leisure. Exceptions. The following couplet may help in remembering when to write and when to write ie ei: When the letter you spy, Put the before the . c e i Exercise 40—The Pronunciation of and c g The letter is pronounced sometimes like and sometimes like . c s k What sound does have before Illustrate. c a? Before Illustrate. e? Before Illustrate. i? Before Illustrate. o? Before Illustrate. u? Before Illustrate. y? If is pronounced like , it is called hard and is marked . c k [\c] If is pronounced like , it is called soft and is marked . The mark used to indicate the soft is called the . c s ç c cedilla Make a statement telling when is hard and when it is soft. c What sound does have before each of the vowels, as in , , , , g game gone gymnasium Gunther gentle? Rule 8.— and usually are soft before , , and .\Exercise 41 C g e i y Words ending in silent , according to Rule 5, drop the before a suffix beginning with a vowel. Exceptions occur when the is needed to preserve the soft sound of and . Tell why is dropped in and retained in . e e e c g e encouraging courageous In words containing , as in and , the gives the the soft sound, and there is no need to retain the before adding a suffix, as in . dg judge lodge d g e judgment Rule 9.—Words ending in silent usually drop the before adding a suffix beginning with a vowel, unless the is needed to preserve the pronunciation; as after soft and , when the suffix begins with or . e e e c g a o Tell why the is retained before the suffix in the following: e noticeable damageable pronounceable outrageous courageous peaceable serviceable manageable Tell why the is dropped before adding the suffix in the following: e managing curable erasure besieging admirable realization receiving obliging precedence perseverance The fact that has two different sounds causes a slight peculiarity in words ending in . Final has the sound of . When words end in , the letter is usually added before a suffix beginning with either , , or , to show that is not pronounced like as, c c c k c k e i y c s; frolic       frolicked       frolicking If the is not added, the changes its pronunciation; as, k c public       publicity Exercise 42 It follows by inference from Rule 9 that words ending in silent retain the before a suffix beginning with a consonant; as, e e move movement disgrace disgraceful defense defenseless fate fateful arrange arrangement fierce fiercely noise noiseless manage management severe severely rude rudeness —Truly, duly, wisdom, awful, wholly. Exceptions. Bring to class a list of twenty words that retain the final before a suffix beginning with a consonant. e Exercise 43 What spelling rule does each of the following words illustrate? advantageous gigantic boxes admittance mimicking piece libraries occurrence arrangement receipt keys acquittal Exercise 44—Abbreviations Write abbreviations for the months of the year. Are there any that should not be abbreviated? The abbreviations for the states and territories are: Alabama, Ala. Maryland, Md. Arizona, Ariz. Massachusetts, Mass. Arkansas, Ark. Michigan, Mich. California, Cal. Minnesota, Minn. Colorado, Colo. Mississippi, Miss. Connecticut, Conn. Missouri, Mo. Delaware, Del. Montana, Mont. District of Columbia, D.C. Nebraska, Nebr. Florida, Fla. Nevada, Nev. Georgia, Ga. New Hampshire, N.H. Idaho, Idaho New Mexico, N. Mex. Illinois, Ill. New York, N.Y. Indiana, Ind. New Jersey, N.J. Iowa, Ia. North Carolina, N.C. Kansas, Kans. North Dakota, N. Dak. Kentucky, Ky. Ohio, O. Louisiana, La. Oklahoma, Okla. Maine, Me. Oregon, Ore. Pennsylvania, Pa. Utah, Utah Philippine Islands, P.I. Vermont, Vt. Porto Rico, P.R. Virginia, Va. South Carolina, S.C. Washington, Wash. South Dakota, S.D. Wisconsin, Wis. Tennessee, Tenn. West Virginia, W. Va. Texas, Tex. Wyoming, Wyo. Note.—It is much better to write the full name rather than the abbreviation whenever the former would make the address clearer, especially as regards similar abbreviations, such as Cal. and Colo. Exercise 45—Abbreviations of Commercial Terms A 1, first class doz., dozen @, at E. & O.E., errors and omissions excepted acct., account ea., each adv., advertisement e.g., for example agt., agent etc., and so forth a.m., forenoon exch., exchange amt., amount ft., foot app., appendix f.o.b., free on board atty., attorney gal., gallon av., average i.e., that is avoir., avoirdupois imp., imported bal., balance in., inches bbl., barrel inst., this month (instant) B/L, bill of lading Jr., junior bldg., building kg., keg B/S, bill of sale lb., pound bu., bushel ltd., limited C.B., cash book mdse., merchandise C., hundred mem., memorandum coll., collection, collector mo., month Co., company M.S. (MSS)., manuscript C.O.D., cash on delivery mtg., mortgage cr., creditor N.B., take notice cwt., hundredweight no., number D., five hundred O.K., all right dept., department per, by disc., discount p.m., afternoon do., ditto %, per cent dr., debtor, debit St., street pkg., package str., steamer pp., pages ult., last month pr., pair U.S.M., United States Mail pc., piece viz., namely pk., peck vol., volume prox., next month W/B, way bill pt., pint wt., weight Sr., senior About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Rose Buhlig (2011). Business English: A Practice Book. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/38046/pg38046-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at , located at . www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

BUSHEL

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Since 2017

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BUSHEL

bushelpowered.com

51-200 employees

Since 2017

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BUSHEL

EVERGREEN INDEX #1675

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