174 MEDICINAL PLANTS. 



as it ruus from the kiln. After the kiln is marked out, they bring 

 the wood, ready split up, in small billets, rather smaller than are 

 generally used for the fires in England, and it is then packed as soon 

 as possible, with the end inwards, sloping towards the middle, and the 

 middle is filled up with small wood and the knots of trees, which 

 last have more tar in them than any other part of the wood. The 

 kiln is built in such a way, that at twelve or fourteen feet high it 

 will overhang two or three feet, and it appears quite compact and 

 solid. After the whole of the wood is piled on, they get a parcel 

 of small logs, and then place a line of turf, then another line of 

 logs, and so on alternately all the way up, and the top they cover 

 with two or three thicknesses of turf. After the whole is covered 

 in this way, they take out a turf in ten or a dozen different places 

 round the top, at each of which they light it, and it then burns 

 downwards till the whole of the tar is melted out ; and if it burns 

 too fast they stop some of the holes, and if not fast enough they 

 open others, all of which the tar-burner, from practice, is able to 

 judge* of. When it begins to run slow, if it is near where charcoal 

 is Vanted, they fill up all the holes, and watch it, to prevent the 

 fire breaking out any where till the whole is charred. The charcoal 

 is worth two-pence of three-pence, British sterling, per bushel. It 

 will take six or eight days to burn a tar-kiln; in some places they 

 burn it at such a distance from the shipping, that they have very far 

 to roll it, and even then sell it at from three and sixpence to five 

 shillings, British sterling, per barrel, sometimes taking the whole out 

 in goods, but never less than half the amount in goods; from all 

 which it will be reasonably supposed that tar-burning in that coun- 

 try is but a bad trade, as it must be a good hand to make more than 

 at the rate of a barrel a day; the barrels cost the burner about one 

 shilling and threepence, British sterling, each : the tar-makers are 

 in general very poor, except here and there one, that has an oppor- 

 tunity of making it near the water-side. 



" Pitch is made by either boiling the tar till it comes to a proper 

 thickness, or else by burning it ; the latter is done by digging a hole 

 in the ground, and lining it with brick, it is then filled with tar, and 

 they set fire to it, and allow it to burn till they judge it has burnt 

 enough, which is known by dipping a stick into it, and letting it 

 cool ; when burnt enough they put a cover over it, which stops it 



