MINING. 2G1 



tlie n«l(]le-box. If the rocker hnve only one man, lie must 

 stop rocking after washing every pan and get more dirt. This 

 delay is injurious to tiie i)roce.ss of washing, because it allows 

 the dirt in the bottom of the cradle to harden and pack, and 

 Bome gold is always lost as a consequence. If the dirt and 

 water be convenient not more than two men can work to a 

 profit with a rocker. But sometimes it happens that water 

 cannot be led to the claim, and in such case the dirt must be 

 carried to the water, a greater w^eight of which is used than 

 of dirt. At least three times as much water as dirt is required 

 for Avashing. If the distance from the hole to the water be 

 not over ten or twenty feet, the miners will usually carry the 

 dirt in buckets ; if farther they will use wheelbaiTows ; and 

 sometimes for greater distances pack-mules or wagons. The 

 greater the distance, the more the men required for carrying 

 the dirt. Sometimes, too, it happens that the claim is troubled 

 by water, and then one man may be constantly employed in 

 baling. 



It is of great importance in mining with the cradle, to have 

 the cradle placed within four or five feet of the hole from 

 which the pay-dirt is obtained, and to have a good supply of 

 water at the head of the cradle, and then to have a good de- 

 scent below the cradle, so that the tailings may all be carried 

 away by the water, so as not to accumulate. The rocker 

 washes about one-half the amount of dirt that can be washed 

 by an equal number of men with the tom, one-fourth of w^hat 

 can be washed with the sluice, and one-hundredth of the 

 amount that can be Avashed Avith the hydraulic process; but it 

 is peculiarly fitted for some kinds of diggings. Many little 

 gullies, containing coarse gold in their beds, cannot obtain 

 water for washing except during rains, and then only for a feAV 

 days at a time. In these gullies the cradle can be used to the 

 best advantage, for it can easily be transported, and it is very 

 good for saving coarse gold. While dirt that would pay 

 from ten to tAventy-five cents, Avas abundant at the surface of 

 the earth in the Cahfornian mines, the cradle Avas extensively 



