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In the manufacture of bricks the general principle 

 is well illustrated ; if a piece of dry brick earth be ap- 

 plied to the tongue it will adhere to it very strongly, 

 in consequence of its power to absorb water ; but af- 

 ter it has been burnt there will be scarcely a sensible 

 adhesion. 



The process of burning renders the soil less com- 

 pact, less tenacious and retentive of moisture ; and 

 when properly applied, may convert a matter that was 

 stiff, damp, and in consequence cold, into one pow- 

 dery, dry, and warm j and much more proper as a 

 bed for vegetable life. 



The great objection made by speculative chemists 

 to paring and burning, is, that it destroys vegetable 

 and animal matter, or the manure in' the soil ; but in 

 cases in which the texture of its earthy ingredients is 

 permanently improved, there is more than a compen- 

 sation for this temporary disadvantage. And in some 

 soils where there is an excess of inert vegetable mat- 

 ter, the destruction of it must be beneficial ; and the 

 carbonaceous matter remaining in the ashes may be 

 more useful to the crop than the vegetable fibre, from 

 which it was produced. 



I have examined by a chemical analysis three 

 specimens of ashes from different lands that had un- 

 dergone paring and burning. The first was a quanti- 

 ty sent to the Board by Mr. Boys of Bellhanger, in 

 Kent, whose treatise on paring and burning has been 

 published. They were from a chalk soil, and 20O 

 grains contained 



80 Carbonate of lime. 

 11 Gypsum. 



