393 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



[No. 7 



The iiiouider works at a tfible or bench in the open 

 iiir, covered by a s!ic(i roof only, to protect hinn 

 from sun and rain, and ilie clay is brouii-lit to him 

 in ci barrow li-om 'he tempered heap, and is placed 

 liy the boy who brinix-s it on ', he left hand end of 

 his tal)le ; another boy supplies him with dry sili- 

 cious sand previously dug or provided, and placed 

 on the right hand end uf the table, and a third 

 boy stands in front to remove the bricks as last as 

 tiiey are formed. The mould is Ibrmed of ma- 

 Jiogany or other hard wood, bound willi iron lor 

 strength, aaii cased with iron plate on its top and 

 bolioin, or is sumeiimes lined with thin iron 

 throughout; moulds have been Ibrmed wholly of 

 iron, bat liiey are loo heavy for cxijedilious work, 

 and too cold to iiandle in early sprimr. Tiie mould 

 is lour siiies o{' a box without either lop or boltom, ! 

 as the moulding table forms the boiioni, and must I 

 be very smooth, on which account, and to [irevent 1 

 wear, it may be covered with sheet-iron. The 

 moulder first covers iiis table thinly with sand, and ] 

 cutting off' a sufficient quantity of the prepared I 

 clay wiiit iiis iwo hands, finger-end to fi n, '_>•.■' r- i 

 eiid, to form about a l)rick and a (juarter, he kneads | 

 it on the table, by pressini^ on it with the palms 

 of the hands, liisl drawing it towards him and 

 then pushing it from him, and [tatting the ends to i 

 bring It to a ii)rm similar to the mould into wiiich 

 it is to be introduced, (die mould having been pre- 

 viously sunded,) and presses it down with Ibrce, so 

 as to fill up all the corners. The superfluous earth 

 is now cLit off by running a steel tool like a large 

 thick knife, called a plane, along the top of the 

 mould, when the top of the brick is sanded, 

 and a thin board, called a turning board, as wide 

 as the mould, nnd three inches longer tiiaii it is, 

 is laid over it, and the whole being inverted, 

 the mould may be raised carefully by the two 

 hands, and tlie soft brick will be left on I he 

 turning board, in which state it is taken away. 

 Should any clay remain about llie mould, it is now 

 cleaned out and sanded, to prepare it lor the next 

 brick. It should here be observed, that the mould 

 must be full half an inch or more longer, and a 

 (juarter inch wider and Idgher, ihan the brick in- 

 tended to be produced, as all clay will shrink thus 

 much in drying, and sometimes more. 



In order to receive the bricks when moulded, a 

 high and open i)iece of ground is provided called 

 the floor, and this is li)rmed into what are called 

 hacks. The iiacks are perfectly level projeclions 

 of earth about two feet wide, and rising six or 

 eight inches above the surface of the floor, and 

 are iitty yards or more in length, for receiving tlie 

 bricks to be dried; and they should run in a north 

 and south direction, in order that both sides of the 

 pile may receive its due proportion of sun-shine, 

 and they tnust be about liiur (ijet apart to allow 

 wheeling with a barrow between them. The boy 

 that receives the bricks from the moulder, holds 

 ihem by the ends of the turning-board and places 

 them on a barrow constructed for the purpose, 

 with a high raised stage of frame- work, that is le- 

 vel when the barrow is running, and hokls twentv 

 bricks. It must run upon planks lo prevent con- 

 cussion to the yet lender bricks. He carries them 

 to a hack and lays them regularly upon it, leaving 

 the turning boards under them until the row is 

 nearly filled, and this allows time lor the bricks to 

 dry and become a little hard on the surlace, which 

 they will do in half an hour in fine weather. An- 



other who ia in attendance at the hacks, takes 

 them up and moves them to the next adjoining 

 hack, previously covered wiih sand raked smooth; 

 and ill lining so, places them on their edijes by in- 

 clining the turning-board with one hand, and ap- 

 plying the other to the brick, while he slides away 

 the boards to be returned in the empty barrow to 

 the n)oulder. The soft bricks are thus disposed in 

 an angular manner like a worm fence, but in no 

 case more than two inches asunder in the widest 

 part, and not touching any where. The row or 

 liack being finished, the bricks are sanded on their 

 lops, and if the hack is long, the bricks at the end 

 first put down, will be dry enough to peraiit a se- 

 cond tier to be laid upon them, and so on until 

 eight tiers or layers are so disposed, which is the 

 greaiesi number that can be placed without dan- 

 ue.r of crushing or spoiling the shape of the lower 

 bricks, and this number should not be attempted 

 unless the hacks are long, and the weather fine 

 and dry. The object of placing the bricks in this 

 open manner, is to permit the air to blow through 

 and dry them as elieclually as possible, but they 

 must not dry too rapidly, as that will cause them 

 to crack. Should the sun be two powerful, the 

 hack will require shelter, which is obtained by 

 conslructiuiT a number of ligiil Irames of a kind of 

 basket work of twigs and straw interwoven. 

 They are six feet long, as high as the hacks, and 

 made as light as possible. The straw hurdles are 

 so uscliil, no brickmaker should be without them ; 

 they aflord shelter against both sun, rain, and 

 fl-ost, (which are tlie greatest enemies of the brick- 

 maker in tliis stage of the business,) or they are 

 set up in ansrular positions to catch and direct ihe 

 wind into the hacks, if the bricks dry too slowly. 

 Should violent rains come on which might destroy 

 all the work, the top of the hacks nmsi be thaich- 

 ed, by placiui]!: long wheat or rye straw transversely 

 across their tops, keeping it from blowing away by 

 planks laid lengihwise on them. The hacks are 

 raised above tlie natural soil, lor the purpose of 

 keeping the lower tier of bricks out, oj" the wet, 

 should rain occur. 



In about a week the bricks will be sufficiently 

 dry lor lurniiifj, which is done by moving them 

 from the hack on which they were first dried, to 

 the ailjacent one left empty to receive them. They 

 are now disposed as belbre upon their eilges, but 

 are put parallel lo each other, about one inch apart, 

 and the side that was belbre downwards is turned 

 upwards. In the second tier or course, each brick 

 is placed over the opening between the two below, 

 and so of all courses that succeed iiniil the eight 

 tiers are again completed. In this manner ihey 

 still expose considerable surface to the air, and as 

 ihe bricks have now become tolerably dry, and do 

 not require sun, the last drying hacks are some- 

 times covered lor their whole extent with a slight 

 thatched rool^ to protect ihem from rain ; or if the 

 kiln is not ready, they are sometimes moved into a 

 building lor safety. The hacks someiimes require 

 turning three or lour times before the bricks are 

 sufficiently dry for the kiln, and the drying usu- 

 ally takes from three to five weeks, depending on 

 the state of the weather. 



Bricks are always made by piece work near 

 London, where a skillul moulder, having all things 

 in good order around him, will mould and hack 

 from five to seven thousand in a day of fourteen 

 hours work, or about five hundred bricks per hour; 



