150 



Burnt Clay as a Manure. 



Vol. II L 



whereof has been well limed and otherwise! 

 manured. Burning heaps of straw 1 have; 

 found efficient. Leaves and other trash from| 

 liedoe rows, chips and brush, have given | 

 fertility to barren spots — most evidently and j 

 durably. . . . Having frequently turned thei 

 subject in my mind, 1 have not been able toj 

 account for it in a manner satisfactory to my-: 

 self. Tlie ashes of such light substances 

 soon spend their force. No ashes will soi 

 durably evidence fertilizing effects — be they 

 even of wood, coal, or other solid material. 

 It must, therefore, be some unaccountable 

 result, produced on the soil, by the agency of, 

 FIrC." — Memoirs Phila. Jigrkuliural Socielv, \ 

 Vol. III. page 214. ' i 



A late work, the Practical Farmer and I 

 Gardener, in an interesting article on j11u-\ 

 ruinous Earths, states that some trials havej 

 been made in this country of using burnt! 

 clay as a manure, and recommends its use j 

 for all dry arable lands not inclining to clay. 

 The first step in preparation for burning 

 clay, is to have a large quantity of this clay 

 dug up in spits, and laid to dry in the sun ; 

 when pretty well dried you prepare for burn- 

 ing by raising a little pile of dry wood in the 

 shape of a pyramid, say 4 or 5 feet high — 

 round this you build up the dry spits of clay, 

 leaving a hole at the bottom for the entrance 

 of the air, and another at the top for it to 

 pass oft'. Such, at least, was the method 

 formerly practised, but the modern improve- 

 ment of retaining the smoke within the 

 mass, as directed by Cobbett, for burning 

 earth, ought to be pursued in the burning of 

 clay. After tlie fire has been set to the 

 wood you continue digging up fresh clay 

 and piling it around and over the heap, as 

 fast as the fire penetrates the mass, taking 

 care, however, not to pile on so much at 

 once as to extinguish the fire. If there be 

 danger of its becoming extinguished, it may 

 be advisable to make one or more holes in' 

 the sides of the heap by running a pole into 

 it. The fresh earth is to be added during 

 pleasure, or until a sufficient quantity is 

 burned. After the heap has cooled it is fit 

 for use, either by mixing with the soil as 

 directed by Mr. Cobbett, for applying burnt 

 earth, of which we will next speak. 



" By a late improvement, earths, other than 

 those of clay are successfully converted into 

 good manure by the process of burning. It 

 is effected by retaining the smoke within the 

 mass of earth while in a state of ignition. 

 Mr. Cobbett says he has tried this manure 

 for the Ruta Baga crop, and found it as effi- 

 cacious as barn dting. His manner of pre- 

 paring It, and which we believe would also 

 be the best method of preparing burnt clay, 

 is as follows : — 



*' I make a circle or oblong square. I cut 



sods and build a wall all round three feet 

 thick and four feet higl.. I then light a fire 

 in the middle with straw, dry sticks, boughs, 

 and such like matter. I go on making this 

 fire larger and larger, until it extends over 

 the whole bottom of the pit or kiln. I put 

 on roots of trees or any rubbish wood, till 

 there be a good thicki:ess of strong coals, I 

 then put on the rfr/'e.'!/ of the clods that 1 have 

 ploughed up round about, so as to cover all 

 the tire over. The earth thus put in will 

 burn. You will see the smoke coming out 

 of little places here and there. Put more 

 clods wherever the smoke appears. Keep 

 on thus for a day or two. By this time a 

 great mass of fire will be in the inside. And 

 now you may dig out the clay or earth any 

 where round the kiln, and fling it on without 

 ceremony, always taking care to ktep in the. 

 smoke, for if you suffer that to continue 

 coming out at any one place, a hole will 

 soon be made; the main force of the fire 

 will draw to that hole, a blaze, like that of a 

 volcano will rush out, and the fire will be 

 extinguished. 



" A very good way is to put your finger 

 into the top of the heap here and there, and 

 if you find the fire very near, throw on more 

 earth. Not too tnnch at a time, for that 

 weighs too heavily on the fire, and keeps it 

 back; and at first will put it partially out. 

 You keep on thus augmenting the kiln, till 

 you gel to the top of the walls, and then you 

 may, if you please, raise the walls, and still 

 go on. No rain will aflfect the fire, when 

 once it has become strong. 



" The principle is to keep out air, whether 

 at the top or the sides, and this you are sure 

 to do if you keep in the smoke. 1 burnt, this 

 summer, about thirty wagon loads in one 

 round kiln, and never saw the smokt? at all 

 after the first four da5^s. I put in my finger 

 to try whether the fire was near the top, and 

 when I found it approaching 1 put on more 

 earth. Never was a kiln more completely 

 burnt. 



" Now this may be done on the skirt of 

 any wood where the matters are at hand. 

 This method is far pi-eferable to the above 

 i!;ronnd burning in heaps, because in the 

 tiext place, the smoke escapes there, which 13 

 the finest or best part of the burnt matter. 

 Soot, we know well, is more powerful than 

 ashes ; and soot is composed of the t^ossest 

 parts of the smoke. That which flies oat of 

 the chimney is the best part of all. 



In case of a want of wood wherewith to 

 begin the fire, the fire may be lighted pre- 

 cisely as in the case of paring and htirnin<r. 

 If the kiln be large, the oblong square is the 

 best figure ; about ten feet wide, because 

 then a man can fling the earth easily over 

 every part. The mode they pursue in Eu- 



