of the kiln, are 7 feet high, and tapering to tlie 

 thickness of 2 feet at the top ; this will deter- 

 mine tlie sloirt! of the exterior face of the kiln. 

 The inside of the wall is carried up perpendicu- 

 larly, and tlie loam plastering inside becomes, 

 alter die first burning, like a brick wall. The 

 kihi may bo safely erected in March, or when- 

 , ever the danger of injury from frost is over. — 

 After the suniniei' use of it, it must be protect- 

 ed by faggots of litter against the wet and the 

 frost of winter. A kiln of these dimensions will 

 contain 47,000 1 inch bore pipe tiles. 

 32,500 li 

 20,000 IJ " 



12,000 2i 



and Uie last-mentioned size will hold the same 

 number of the inch-pipes inside of them, making, 

 tlierefore, 24,800 of both sizes. In good weather 

 thi.s kiln can be filled, burnt and discharged once 

 every fortnight; and 1.5 kilns may be obtained in 

 a good season, producing — 



705,000 1 inch pipe tiles ; 

 Or. 487,500 Ij " 

 Or, 300,000 l| " 

 and so on in proportion for other sizes. 



N. B. If a kiln of larger diameter be built, 

 there must be more fire-holes, and additional 

 shed room. 



5th Point. Cost of forming the establishment. 

 The price charged by Messrs. Cottam and Hal- 



len for the machine, with its complement of 



dies, is £25 



Price of pug-mill ^ 10 



Cost of erecting kiln 5 



Cost of sheds, straw ! 10 



Total .±50 



The latter item presumes that the farmer has 

 hurdles of his own. 



6tli Point. Cost of tiles when ready for sale. 



As this must necessarily vary with the cost of 

 fuel, rate of wages, easy or difficult clay for 

 vvorking or other local peculiarities, I can only 

 give the cost of tiles as I have ascertained it 

 here according to our charges for fuel, wages, 

 &c. &c. Our clay is strong, and has a mixture 

 of stones in it, but the machine is adapted for 

 working any clay -vvhen properly prepared. 



It requires 2 tons 5 cwt. of good coals to bum 

 the above kiln full of tiles. Coals are charged 

 here at 2as. per ton, or 1,000 brush faggots will 

 effect the same purpo.se, and cost the same 

 money; of coui-se some clays require more 

 burning tlian others ; the stronger the clay the 

 less fuc.l required. 



The cost of making, the sale prices, and num- 

 ber of each sort that a wagon with 4 horses will 

 cai-rj', are as follows : 



Cost. Sale Price. Wagon 



*• d. s. holds 



1 mch pipe tiles.. 4 9 per 1,000 12 8,000 



U " .-6 " 14 7,000 



li " -.8 " 16 5,000 



.10 " 20 3,500 



2| " .12 " 24 3,000 



Elliptical tiles 24 ) 



Soles..... loj.... 2,000 



All these tiles exceed a foot in length when burnt 



The co.st price alone of making draining tiles 

 will be the charge to every person making his 

 own tiles for his own use. If he sell them, a 

 higher price must, of course, be demanded to 

 allow for some profit, for credit more or less 

 long, for bad debts, goods unsold, &c. &c. ; but 

 he who makes his own saves all expense of car- 

 riage, and, as his outlay will not exceed £50, the 

 interest on tliat sum is too trifling to be regarded 

 (209) 



and he has no additional rent to pay ; and after 

 he has made as many tiles as he wanted, his ma- 

 chine and pug-mill will be as good as ever with 

 reasonable care, and will fetch tlicir value. 



I fear tliat no drawing could be made that 

 would ensure a person erecting one of these 

 kilns by it from the chance of failure ; and I do 

 not know any way by which the.se kilns can be 

 erected, and the mode of using them taught, so 

 as to obviate disappointment, except by Mr. 

 Hatcher being engaged to erect one or two in a 

 county, which will sei-ve as models. 



It will not be improper to put those who may 

 adopt any machine for tile-making upon their 

 guard against the prejudices of tile-makers. 

 The necessity and the demand for draining tiles 

 has infinitely outstripped the possibility of the 

 supply being furnished by hand-work alone in 

 the old way : but as the services of every man 

 who has been used to this work will be more 

 than ever needed, the employer will find his 

 account in securing them for the working of his 

 machine by giving liberal wages, and by con- 

 vincing the men that their earnings by work, 

 not so laborious, but more effective, will be at 

 least equal, and they will soon really be greater 

 than they obtained ti-om their former occupation. 



I hope that this paper will prove the means of 

 saving a large expenditure on buildings of a per- 

 manent character, where draining tiles only are 

 wanted to be made ; as such buildings, under 

 such circumstances, will become useless when 

 they have supplied the district immediately 

 around them : for land once thoroughly drained 

 with tiles, and on true principles, is, generally 

 speaking, drained for ever. 



With sincere regard I remain, my Lord 

 Very truly yours, TH03. LAW HODGES. 



Hemsted, Kent, Dec. 18, 1844. 



NOTE BY JIR. PUSEY. 



If Mr. Hodges should succeed in rendering 

 the making of draining-tiles a domestic manu- 

 facture, he will have set the seal to their cheap- 

 ness, and thereby conferred a great boon on 

 Farmers. As there is no point in which our 

 Society has been more successful than in re- 

 ducing the cost of drainage, we may take this 

 occasion of looking back to what we have done. 



In the first Number of our Journal, published 

 in 1839, I find the following passage : — " The 

 expense (of thorough-draining) is estimated from 

 £3 to £12 per acre, according to the fre- 

 quency of their apphcation." The price in my 

 own neighborhood and m the Isle of Wight 

 was then 60s. per 1,000 for tiles, and 30s. for 

 soles, being 90.s. for every 1,000 feet of materials. 



In 1841, we discovered that Mr. Beart in 

 Huntingdon.shire was selling tiles of about the 

 same size for 22s. and the soles for about 10s. be- 

 ing 32s. for every 1000 feet of materials. 



In 1843 we found that pipes of various shapes 

 were sold in Suffolk and Kent at 20s. per 1000, 

 being 20s, for every 1000 feet of materials. 



I was thus enabled in May, 1843 to give the 

 following reduced estimate for draining an acre 

 of land : — 



