Electricity in farm crop-drying

An important part of farm mechanization is the development of methods for drying crops artificially. Such operations being static applications in and about the farmyard, they offer scope for the employment of electricity. It is important for the electrical engineer to appreciate not only the trends of modern developments in farm crop-drying, but the basic principles by which these trends are guided. The authors are of the opinion that the trend is towards simplified methods of drying in which the maximum advantage is taken of the drying properties of unheated air and towards techniques which lend themselves to a favourable and economic use of electric heating of the air. Herbage drying is dealt with and also the likelihood of more importance being paid to hay drying. Grain drying is tending away from direct drying with high heating requirements to in-bin and platform drying where the heating requirements and the whole technique are more favourable to the all-electric idea. The platform dryer as an all-purpose machine is envisaged. Hop drying remains, of our major farm dryings, relatively inefficient and resistant to improvement in drying efficiency and technique.