540 AUXILIARY FOREST INDUSTRIES. 



at another place and so on all round, until there is nothing 

 left but its centre, consisting of small pieces of charcoal, earth 

 and ashes, which eventually are raked out and allowed to cool. 

 Once the charcoal has been removed, it is sorted according 

 to size, the small pieces being sifted from the ashes. What is 

 left is mixed with the ashes, etc., and serves for covering the 

 next kiln. The partly carbonised pieces may be kept for 

 filling or kindling other kilns, or carbonised in small kilns 

 made specially for the purpose. 



(b) Alpine* Method of Charcoal-making. 



The method of charcoal-making employed in many parts of 

 the German Alps differs in some respects from the ordinary 

 method. The Alpine kilns are usually in fixed places near 

 river-booms, in timber-depots or at the base of an extensive 

 mountainous tract. The wood thus carbonised is almost 

 exclusively coniferous (chiefly spruce wood and less frequently 

 that of larch and silver-fir) and generally in round pieces 

 2 meters (6J feet) long. The site for the kiln is prepared as in 

 the ordinary method, except that it is quite flat, a wooden base 

 being supplied to the kiln. 



The base is formed, as shown in Fig. 314, by placing split 

 billets radially from the flue outwards, on them other pieces 

 are placed sufficiently close together so that all the wood to be 

 carbonised can rest on them, but sufficient intervals are left 

 for a draught of air. 



The flue is formed by three stout poles often kept in position 

 by iron rings and is filled, as before, with kindling material. 

 Piling the wood, on account of the size and weight of the pieces, 

 is a heavy piece of work. The kiln is formed of two tiers, and a 

 dome with two thin layers of wood, and is from 5 to 6 meters 

 (1(5 to 11) foot) high. The wood should be piled as closely as 

 possible, all tho larger interstices being filled with split wood. 

 The kilns are usually larger than ordinary ones, but excessively 

 large ones containing 1,500 to 2,000 cubic meters (50,000 to 

 70,000 cubic feet) are made no longer. 



* [Also termed the lt;ili:ui method, lull Gayer states that usually Italians 

 follow the ordinary method with kindling from above. Tr.] 



