110 - Grain cleaning machine

ENGINE WITH WHICH FARMERS USED TO CLEAN GRAIN. This 1884 Italian machine operated manually by mechanically rotating a 2.5 m long cylinder, which had screens with holes of different shapes and sizes. More specifically, the wheat was poured into the machine through a large slot at its top. It was transferred from there to a metal, woven surface, which the operators swang, in order to clean the seed from its impurities. Then, it was divided into sizes: depending on their size, seeds passed through smaller slots and fell on small trays that were placed at the bottom of the machine, numbered from one to nine, from where cereal were collected depending on their size. This particular machine was used by the parents of the donor at their shop at the square of Melissa village, where farmers went to sort wheat. The machine produced nine grades: the first went to the production of flour and the third to feed the animals. The parents of the donor were remunerated with 3% for pure wheat and 3.5-4% for meslin grain (barley and wheat).