THE COMMON METHOD. 699 



iii. Site for a Kiln. 



The site for a kiln should be level, sheltered from winds, with 

 water at hand, and either on the felling-area or close to it. Where 

 several hundred stacks of firewood are to be carbonised there 

 should be room for several kilns close together to save the cost 

 of transport. The nature of the ground below the kiln has 

 considerable influence on its rate of burning ; if the soil is loose 

 and porous it admits air to the interior of the kiln, which will 

 burn rapidly ; if heavy, the kiln will burn slowly. A sandy 

 loam is most suitable, as it allows a moderate inlet of air, 

 being at the same time porous enough to absorb the moisture 

 which descends from a burning kiln. The soil should be of 

 uniform nature under a kiln, in order that the inlet of air and 

 the rate of carbonisation may also be uniform throughout. 



A jiew site for a kiln is prepared as follows — the ground is 

 freed from all sticks, roots and stones ; the grass-sods are then 

 dug up and the soil prepared as smoothly as for a garden- 

 bed. The soil must be carefully freed from all stones likely to 

 heat any part of the kiln excessively. The site is then care- 

 fully levelled, a stake driven in at its centre and a circular 

 line traced as the boundary of the kiln. The centre is then 

 raised 8 — 12 inches (20 — 30 cm.) ; the higher, the stififer the 

 soil and the harder the wood, the site being made to slope off from 

 the centre in all directions towards the external circular line. 

 This arrangement is intended to increase the inward draught of 

 air and allow the liquids from the burning kiln to drain away, 

 also that the piled billets may stand on an edge and not on their 

 section. The site is then firmly trampled down and remains 

 lying unused for some time, generally during winter, in order to 

 settle and allow for any improvement which may be required. 

 Before piling the kiln a heap of dry firewood should be burned 

 on the site to dry it. 



However carefully a new site may have been prepared, it is 

 always inferior to one repeatedly used for kilns. The loss of 

 Avood in using a new site may amount to 10 — 17 or even 25 % 

 (according to v. Berg). The charcoal-burners therefore always 

 prefer old sites for kilns. In preparing an old site the same 



