_Different Behavior of Coarse and Fine Ore._—In taking up a shovelful of ore, the fine will be observed to predominate in the bottom and center, and the coarse on the top and sides. When thrown from the shovel, the coarse will outstrip the fine and fall beyond it. In making a conical pile the coarse ore will roll to the base, leaving the fine near the apex. This difference in the action of the mobile coarse ore and the sluggish fines is the key to the practical side of feeding, both manual and mechanical. It is not sufficient to tell the feeder to throw the coarse in the middle and the fine against the sides; if it be easier to do it some other way such instructions will count for little. The desired result can be best secured by making the right way easier than the wrong way. It is generally conceded that the open-top furnaces, fed by hand through a slot in the floor-plates, do not give as satisfactory results as the hooded furnaces with long feed-doors on both sides. In the open-top furnace it is comparatively difficult to throw to the sides; the narrower the slot the greater the difficulty. The major part of the charge will drop near the center, making that place higher than the sides. The fine ore will tend to stay where it falls, while the coarse will tend to roll to the sides, thus leading to an arrangement of the charge just the reverse of what it ought to be. In the hooded furnace most of the material will naturally fall near the doors, causing the sides to be higher than the center toward which the coarse will roll, while the force of the throw as the ore is shoveled in will also have a tendency to concentrate the coarse material in the center. Once a proper balance of conditions has been found, absolute regularity of routine is the secret of good results. An experienced and intelligent feeder owes his merit to his conscientious regularity of work. He may have to vary his program somewhat when he encounters a furnace that is suffering from the results of bad feeding by a predecessor; but his guiding principle is first to restore regularity, and then maintain it. A poor feeder can bring about, in a single shift, disorders that will require many days to correct, if indeed they are corrected at all during the campaign. The personal element is productive of more harm than good.