140 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No. 3 



begins to be filled up with clay, then the wall 

 must be laised as high as n)ay allow the earth to 

 be thrown on without much ailditioual labor; and 

 care should be taken, during the burning, to keep 

 the wall fifteen or eighteen niches higher than the 

 top of the clay, in order to prevent the wind Ironi 

 acting on the surface of the fire. As soon as the 

 fire is strongly kindled, the mouths ol"all the flues, 

 except the one to windward, should be stopped, 

 and even that will only be of use at the com- 

 mencement of the process; lor, if the fire burns 

 with tolerable keenness, the sods of which the 

 flues are composed will soon be reduced to ashes. 

 Some people, therefore, dispense with the use of 

 flues altogether; but the trouble of making them 

 is very slight, and the want of them often occa- 

 eions difficulty in the management of the fire. 



The kiln may be increased to any size, by rais- 

 ing a new wall round the former when that one 

 has been burned through; and in this manner 

 kilns havebeqn made so large as to contain more 

 than 100 loads of ashes; but, as these walls can- 

 not be equally pulverized, they should be broken 

 down, and blended with the contents of the kiln, 

 as that is burning out. No precise period can be 

 fixed for the time which the operation will occupy, 

 as much will necessarily depend upon the quan- 

 tity of matter, the nature of the fuel, its manage- 

 ment, and the state of the weather; most accounts, 

 therefore, affirm, that it can be well accomplished 

 — this is to say, both sufficiently burned, and af- 

 terwards cooled, in a few days; some, in a fort- 

 night; others, in a month; but Mr. Burroughs 

 Bays, that it requires about six weeks, and that it 

 will not then be in good onler lor the land until 

 after two months longer, for it will take considera- 

 ble time to reduce it to powder. When the kilns 

 are burnt out, the ashes are still paler than the 

 original clay, and are generally in a powdery state, 

 or are easily rendered so by a slight stroke of the 

 shovel, either when filling the cart, or when they 

 are spreading upon the ground : this, indeed, 

 ehould never be neglected if there be any appear- 

 ance of lumps, for if the earth be not completely 

 pulverized, it will have little other eflect upon the 

 land than may be expected from bits ofbrick. The 

 expense of burning clay in the kiln here described 

 is stated to be, in Ireland, from 3c?. to 4d. an 

 Irish load, or about 40s. or 50s. the Irish acre, — 

 equal to about 32s. imperial measure; but, with 

 the usual inaccuracy observable in all accounts of 

 manure per load, we are left to guess at its con- 

 tent3. 



The chief art in burning is, to keep out the air, 

 and keep in the smoke; which can only be accom- 

 plished by having the walls made quite close, and 

 taking care to have the tops always lightly covered 

 with claj'. If the smoke should appear coming 

 out in spots here and there, cover those places 

 with sods immediately; for by thus half burning 

 or charring the earth, it is supposed that any ve- 

 getable matter which it contains will be preserved, 

 and that the staple of the land will not suffer. \n 

 short, the kilns must be carefully attended to, both 

 day and night, until the operation is completed. — 

 No rule can be laid down for the size of the clods, 

 but those firstlaid on will burn more readily if dug 

 up and dried a day or two before: if they be pro- 

 perly managed, that, however, is not absolutely 

 necessary, and if once the kiln is fairly set a-go- 

 ing, no further fuel of any kind is required; for the 



clay, though wet. will continue to burn, unless ex- 

 tinguished by carelessness, as even the changes 

 of the weather, except in very bad seasons, have 

 verv little efiect upon it. It may, however, be pro- 

 per to caution those who are not acquainted with 

 the process, from opening any part of the kiln in 

 order to ascertain its progress, for although, from 

 its outward appearance, they may imagine the fire 

 to be extinguished, it yet may be burning fiercely 

 in the interior; and if the air be admitted, the main 

 force of the fire will draw to that hole, where 

 it will blaze out, and thus the work will certainly 

 be retarded, if not entirely stopped. Although 

 the process is very simple, when well understood, 

 yet, like every thing else, it requires some experi- 

 ence, and mistakes are continually made by work- 

 men who, not being already acquainted with the 

 practice, are apt to burn the clay into lumps. It is, 

 indeed, difficult to describe the operation with suf- 

 ficient accuracy to enable those who have never 

 seen it done to burn properly. Men who under- 

 stand it can, however, be easily procured from dis- 

 tricts in which it is common, and, with the instruc- 

 tion of one of these, any of the laborers on the 

 farm can soon be rendered sufficiently exjiert; liut, 

 without such assistance, it would be inexpedient 

 to attempt it. 



Burning in heaps. 



Another common mode of burning earth, is to 

 dig up the surface of banks and headlands, or old 

 borders, and, when dry, to cart it to a heap. The 

 practice then is, to lay a foundation of earth, some 

 inches thick, then haulm, straw, dry weeds, and a 

 few bushes, whins, or anything of the kind, upon 

 which the pile is raised in the liirm of a cone, and 

 enclosed with a wall of turf in the manner alrea- 

 dy described. When fuel is scarce, an experi- 

 enced burner will light a small heap and increase 

 it to almost any extent, by pulling down part of 

 the wall, drawing out a portion of the fire, and 

 adding li-esh earth. They are not uncommonly 

 carried to twelve yards in diameter, and in that 

 case generally contain about 100 loads of ashes, 

 at 36 bushels to the load*. The digging and 

 burning is stated to be done, in Suffolk, by con- 

 tract, at from 6d. to Is. per chaldron; but the cart- 

 ing, filling, and spreading will cost, on an average, 

 Is. per load; or, according to the following esti- 

 mate, on 100 loads, as follows f : — 



£. s. d. 



Labor in digging and burning - 3 15 



Filling, Is. 6d. per score, 7s. 6d.; and 

 carting, with two carts and three 

 horses, 16s. - - - - 13 6 



Filling: and spreading, after burning, 

 at 3f/. per acre - - - - 15 



Carting, and laying out over two acres 16 



Total per 100 loads 



£6 9 6 



A nearly similar method is also much practised 

 in Suffolk, where the earth is burnt in mounds, 

 and it is called clod- burning. The clods are raked 



* Essay on Cfieap Manure, Anon., second edition, 

 p. 47. 



t Poppy, on Burning Clay, p. 6. 



