Today in 1889, US Patent 409956 A was issued, an invention of Joseph P. Gent, for his “Malting And Germinating Apparatus.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

My invention relates to apparatus for the continuous malt-ing or germinating of grain; and it consists in certain improvements in construction and combination of parts, hereinafter fully described.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. An apparatus for malting or germinating grain, consisting of an outer casing, a series of perforated floors one above the other, provided with automatically dumping sections, said floors having each a central aperture, an air-supplying pipe extending through said apertures and provided with apertures to discharge air beneath each of said floors, a shaft for rotating said floors, also extending through said openings, and a water pipe extending Within said openings and provided with a discharge above each floor, substantially as described.

2. An apparatus for malting or germinating grain, consisting of perforated floors one above the other, having central apertures in each, a shaft for revolving said floors extending vertically through said apertures, and a water-supply pipe extending also vertically through said apertures and having a spraying-discharge above each floor, the said floors having pivoted automatically-dumping sections, the dumping-point of each floor being a short distance in advance of the dumping point of the floor above, substantially as described.

3. An apparatus for malting or germinating grain, consisting of an inclosing-casing, revolving perforated floors one above the other, an air-pipe extending centrally through said floors and having a discharge-opening beneath each floor, an air-forcing and air moistening device communicating with said pipe, a water-supply pipe extending within said air-pipe and provided with a spraying discharge above each floor, and stirring and leveling devices above each floor, the said floors being provided with pivoted automatically dumping sections, the dumping-point of each floor being slightly in advance of the floor above, substantially as described.