Winnowing
Videos
Winnowing is a process by which chaff is separated from grain. It can also be used to remove pests from stored grain. Winnowing usually follows threshing in grain preparation. In its simplest form, it
Rice winnowing, Uttarakhand, India
Winnowing in a village in Tamil Nadu, India
Chinese rotary fan winnowing machine, from the Tiangong Kaiwu encyclopedia (1637)
Le vanneur (The Winnower) by Jean-François Millet, a 19th-century depiction of winnowing by fan
Winnowing barn
Videos
Winnowing barns were structures commonly found in South Carolina on antebellum rice plantations. A winnowing barn consists of a large shed on tall posts with a hole in the floor. Raw, husked rice was
Winnowing
…several to France from China by 1720. Until the beginning of the 18th century, no rotary winnowing fans existed in the West. The development of the winnowing barn allowed rice plantations in South Carolina to increase their yields dramatically. In 1737 Andrew Rodger, a farmer on the estate of Cavers in Roxburghshire…
The winnowing barn at Mansfield Plantation, Georgetown, SC. The last remaining winnowing barn in Georgetown County.
Looking up into the winnowing barn at Mansfield Plantation, Georgetown, SC
View from inside the winnowing barn at Mansfield Plantation. Note the hole in the floor where the unpurified grain was dropped