Messrs. Clayton M. Van Orman and James M. Hagenbaugh, of Athens, Mich., have patented an improved Grain Separator, in which the arrangement of the screens, feedboard, and blast of a fanning mill effect the thorough removal from the grain of all impurities. Only two screens are employed.
An improved Churning Apparatus has been patented by Messrs. William H. Foster and Isaac C. Roberts, of Louisburg, Kan. It is simple, inexpensive, convenient, and effective in operation. It will bring the butter very quickly, and at the same time gather it.
An improved Plow has been patented by Mr. Robert B. Mitchell, of Minneapolis, Kan. The object of this invention is to improve the construction of sod, stirring, and other plows, so that the cutter may be moved forward as it is worn or ground off. It prevents roots, grass, and other trash from gathering upon the share.
Messrs. John B. Martin and William T. Carothers, of Clarence, Mo., have patented an improved Hay Loader capable of placing hay upon stacks or ricks, or upon wagons. It is simple in its construction and effective in its operation.
Naphtha and Benzine.
We have often been asked the difference between benzine and naphtha, many people wanting to know whether naphtha didn't include benzine, or whether it wasn't the same thing under a marketable name. A prominent refiner says that benzine is the first product that arises from the process of refining crude oil, and bears the same relation to naphtha that that distillate does to refined oil. In other words, benzine is crude naphtha. The reason it is not quotable under the name of benzine, therefore, is because it has to be reduced to naphtha before it is marketable in any extensive quantity.
The process that benzine is subject to, to produce naphtha, is not a separate business, but is carried on by the regular oil refiners in the same stills and retorts that the refined oil is produced. The benzine is treated with sulphuric acid, and the result is naphtha, which is in wide demand in Europe, especially in France, for the purpose of producing aniline dyes, while it is also put to many other purposes.
This demand is partially instrumental in keeping up its price, but its rapid evaporation also has a tendency in that direction, as any large seller of it has to take into consideration the depreciation that might take place by the time he sells it on that account, and for the same reason buyers give no more orders than immediate necessity requires.