CHE REFERENCE LIBRARY - Pole Shift Survival Information

42
Heavy canvas or burlap, 216 square feet.
A steaming pan,to roller an area of about 72 square feet.
Attachmeilts for the steaming pan, consisting of 4 ring bolts 6
inrhes long, with S-inch rings; 4 bars or ax handles; felt packing
2 inches wide, sufficient in length to extend around the pan; the
same length of 4-inch hoop iron or of 2-inch angle iron; one i-inch
nipple 6 or 7 inches long, threaded on both ends; two $-inch leather
gaskets; two &in& nuts or threaded washers.
“The boiler is the item of greatest expense, the rest of the equipment
being comparatively inexpensive. With proper care the entire apparatus
should last for a. number of yews.
“A boiler of sufficient capacity is the essential factor in successfu1
sterilization, because large volumes of high-pressure st.eam are required.
Lperience has shown that a boiler of at least 20-horsepower is necessary
for efficient steam production when using a steaming pan of the size mentioned
above. In some localities, where seed-beds have been sterilized
with steam for a number of years, farmers are supplied with their own
boilers ; in other places one boiler is used coiiperatiwly by several planters.
Road rollers, steam tractors and packing-house boilers are frequently
called into use for seed-bed work. In some sections the owners of steam
tractors or portable boilers go from place to place, sterilizing beds at fixed
prices. Such operators are usually supplied with all necessary equipment,
though sometimes they provide only the boiler and a fireman.
“In the permanent seed-bed the pan is of such width as to fit snugly
within the sides of the frame, and its length varies according to requirements.
A pan ha\ving an area of i:! square feet is sufficient for a 20- or
25horsepower boiler, -and a larger pan is difficult to move. On a bed 6
feet wide the pan should be 12 feet long. Where only a small boiler is
available, the area of the pan should be correspondingly reduced, so that
the boiler can maintain the desired pressure of at least 80 pounds.
“Sterilizing pans made of galvanized iron have been extensively employed,
but as wooden pans are cheaper and are easily made at home, wood
is the material now coming into general use. The wooden pan further
possesses the distinct advantage of redwing the loss of heat b7 radiation.
“The pan is simply a shallow box (Figs, 21, 22), 4 inches being the preferred
depth. If it is deeper, much of the desired effect is lost through the
more rapid cooling of the steam in the larger space exposed above the soil.
The frame is made of 2 by 4 inch material; across this are laid matched
boards (g by 4 inches). It. is advisable to put white lead in the grooves
to prevent the escape of steam. The boards must be securely nailed in
the tongue and at the sides to prevent, drawing, as they swell by absorp-