lOO 



MONTHLY JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE. 



not all that conld reasonably be expected from 

 it, I still felt that the heavy expense of erecting 

 kilns, as they arenow constructed, together with 

 the necessary sheds and other buildings inciden- 

 tal to a regular brick and tile yard, reijuircd so 

 large an outlay, that the price of draining tiles 

 would still continue too high for universal use, 

 notwithstanding every improvement in the me- 

 chanical production of them. To this difficulty 

 another must be added, uo less serious, in at- 

 tempting to reduce the price of tiles, viz. the ex- 

 pense of carriage of an article so bulky. Every 

 one must be aware that beyond a certain dis- 

 tance from everj- brick and tile manufactory 

 (unless it stands on the bank of some navigable 

 water,) the expense of carnage of tiles will im- 

 pose the limit of their application to land drain- 

 age. What, then, is to become of those immense 

 districts in the United Kingdom that are so sit- 

 uated ? It will not much reduce the evil to in- 

 cur all the heavy expenses of erecting kilns, 

 sheds, &c. &c. after the usual manner; for inter- 

 est on capital embarked in thfc business, togeth- 

 er with reut, must be added to the co.st of mak- 

 ing them ; and after all, if the object be to make 

 draining tiles only, it is obvious that these build- 

 ings of a permanent and expensive character 

 will become useless, whenever the circle around 

 them is furnished with tiles, the extent of that 

 circle being always detennined by the expense 

 of carriage beyond it. 



Reflecting on these obstacles to universal 

 drainage, where required, I conferred with Mr. 

 John Hatcher on the possibility of erecting a kiln 

 of common clay, that would be effectual for burn- 

 ing these tiles, and of cheap construction — and 

 the result was the building one in my brick- 

 yard in July last, and the constant use of it until 

 the wet weather at the commencement of this 

 winter compelled its discontinuance, but not 

 until it had burnt nearly 80.000 excellent tiles ; 

 and in the ensuing spring it will be again in reg- 

 ular use. 



I shall now proceed to take in order the six 

 points enumerated under the 9th head of the 

 Prize Essays for 1845, as printed in the last vol- 

 ume of the Eoyal Ag. Society's Journal, viz. : — 



1st. Mode of working clay according to its 

 quality. 



-•Sd. JIachine for making tiles. 



3d. Sheds for drying tiles. 



4th. Constniction of kiln. 



5th. Cost of forming the establishment. 



<5th. Cost of tiles when ready for sale. 



Ist Point. Working the clay. 



All clay intended for working next season 

 must be dug in the winter, and the earlier the 

 better, so as to expose it as much as possible to 

 frost and snow. Care must be taken if there 

 are small stones in it, to dig it in small spits, and 

 cast out the stones as much as possible, and also 

 to well mix the top and bottom of the bed of 

 clay together. It is almost impossible to give 

 minute directions as to mixing clay with loam, 

 or with marl when necessary, for the better 

 working it afterwards, as the difference of the 

 clays in purity and tenacity is such as to require 

 distinct management in this respect in various 

 locahties; but all the clay dug for tile-m.aking 

 •will require to be wheeled to the place where 

 the pug-mill is to work it ; it must be there well 

 turned and mixed in the spring, and properly 

 wetted, and finally spatted down and smoothed 

 by the spade, and the whole heap well covered 

 w^ith litter to keep it moist and fit for use 

 through the ensuing sea-son of tile-making. 

 (208) 



2d Point Machine for making tiles. 



For the reasons already alluded to, I prefer 

 Hatcher's machine. Its simplicity of construc- 

 tion, and the small amount of hand-labor re- 

 quired to work it, would alone recommend it ; 

 for one man and three boys will turn out nearly 

 11,000 pipe tiles of one-inch bore in a day of 

 ten hours, and so in proportion for pipes of a 

 larger diameter; but it has the great advantage 

 of being moveable, and those who work it draw 

 it along the shed in which the tiles are deposit- 

 ed for drj'ing previously to their being burnt : 

 thus each tile is handled only once, for it is ta- 

 ken off the machine by the little boys, who 

 stand on each side, and at once placed in rows 

 on either side of the drying shed; thus ren- 

 dering the use of shelves in the sheds wholly 

 unnece8.sar3', for the tiles soon acquire a solid- 

 ity to bear row upon row of tiles till they reach 

 the roof of the sheds on either side ; and they 

 diy without warping or losing their shape in 

 any way. 



The price of the machine is £25 ; and it may 

 be proper to add, that the machine makes the 

 very best roofing-tiles that can be made, and at 

 less than half the price of those made by hand, 

 as well as being much lighter, and closer, and 

 straighter, in conisequence of the pressure 

 through the die. 



It is necessarj-, in order to ensure the due 

 mixing of the clay, as well as to form it into the 

 exact shape to fill the cj'linders of the machine^ 

 to have a pug-mill. Messrs Cottam and Hallen 

 make these also, and charge £W for them. — 

 This mill must be worked by a hor.se ; in gene- 

 ral one day's work at the mill will hirnish rather 

 more prepared clay than the machine will turn 

 into tiles in two days. 



3d Point. Sheds for diying. 



The sheds necessary for this system of tile- 

 making will be of a temporarj' kind : strong 

 hurdles pitched firmly in the ground in t\yo 

 parallel straight lines, 7 feet apart, will form the 

 sides of the sheds, and the roof will be formed 

 also of hurdles placed end^vays and tied togeth- 

 er at the top, as well as to the upper slit of the 

 hurdle, with strong tarred twine, forming the 

 ridge of the roof exactly over the middle of the 

 shed. They must then be l!«ghtly thatched with 

 straw or heath, and the sharpness of this roof 

 will effectually protect the tiles from rain. Two 

 of these sheds, each 110 feet long, will keep 

 one of the kilns hereafter described in full 

 work. 



N. B. — These sheds should be so built as to 

 have one end close to the pug-mill and the clay- 

 heap, only leaving just room for the horse to 

 work the mill, and the other end near the kiln. 

 Attention to this matter saves future labor, and 

 therefore money. 



4th Point. Construction of kiln."?. 



The fonn of the clay -kiln is circular ; 1 1 feet 

 in diameter, and 7 feet high. It is wholly built 

 of damp earth, rammed firmly together, and 

 plastered inside and out w-ith loam. The earth 

 to form the walls is dug out round the base, 

 leaving a circular trench about 4 feet wide and 

 as many deep, into which the fire-holes of the 

 kiln open. If wood bo the fuel u.sed, three fire- 

 holes are sufficient ; if coal, four will be need- 

 ed. About 1200 common bricks are wanted to 

 build these fire-holes and flues : if coal is used, 

 rather fewer bricks will be wanted, but then 

 .some iron bars are necessary — six bars to each 

 fire-hole. 



The eartlien walls are 4 feet thick at the floor 



