200 GEOLOGICAL REPORT. (1841, 342 



of the State ; but in this point of view, it will be discussed in the 

 agricultural portion of the Report (see especially "Yellow Loam 

 Region"). It subserves, however, another purpose, which to a 

 State so poor in building stones, is of no small importance ; viz : 

 that of brick-making, to which purpose it is in general admirably 

 adapted. 



"¥et while few States, perhaps, possess so great an abundance of good brick- 

 clays as does Mississippi, in few probably is the average quality of the article 

 manufactured a poorer one. The claim generally conceded to brick, of having 

 their material seasoned and tempered in a moderate degree at least, before 

 moulding, is most flagrantly disregarded by many brick-makers in Mississippi : 

 the consequence being that oftentimes, among ten bricks in a kiln, we will 

 scarcely find more than one or two that will bear being taken up by one corner, 

 without breaking by their own weight. Yet in consideration of the fact, that 

 the clay as dug from the pit, after receiving a dash of water, is almost instantly 

 transferred to the clay-mill, where it experiences a merely nominal kneading ; 

 and that, when we break a newly made brick as it comes from the mould, we 

 shall frequently find it to consist of a conglomerate of dry lumps and slush : 

 too much cannot be said in commendation of the brick-clays which, under simi- 

 lar treatment, will still yield brick of moderately good quality. Yet not unfre- 

 <juently, the inroads of the weather, and more especially, of frost, render the 

 duration of buildings constructed of such brick, a matter of calculation; and all 

 know that the duration of brick pavements is most unwarrantably brief, in most 

 of our towns. Were brick used here as largely as it is in some commonwealths, 

 and were buildings of such enormous dimensions as we often see them else- 

 where, constructed of this material, experience would soon teach the necessity 

 of greater care in its manufacture, than is bestowed at present. I have seen 

 feut very few cases indeed, in which the complaints made against the quality of 

 brick in this State, have been owing to defects in the brick-clay itself. 



341. It would be important for brick-makers to remember, that the mechani- 

 cal working of the clay or loam, which is to effect its thorough mixture with the 

 water, may be replaced to a very great extent, by previous exposure for some 

 time (especially during winter) to the action of the atmosphere — in a locality 

 where it will not get too dry ; and that clay thus disintegrated or "seasoned," 

 works much easier, and yields a much better quality of brick, than that which 

 comes fresh from the pit. A great advantage is also gained by allowing the clay 

 to remain in a pit, wetted with as much tvater as it may require for loorking, as 

 long as possible — even a fe*> T hours time would be a great improvement on the 

 present method of simply mixing it with a hoe, for a minute or two, preliminary 

 to its transler to the clay mill. And since neither the previous digging, nor the 

 pitting of the clay, involves any extra expenditure of any consequence, these 

 simple expedients surely ought to be generally adopted. The desiderata for com- 

 mon brick are, on the whole, very nearly the same as those for fire-brick 

 (167). 



IV. THE SECOND BOTTOM, OK "HOMMOCK" DEPOSITS. 



342. Many of the first bottoms (now annually overflowed by the 

 streams), and in many cases, the channels themselves, of the rivers 

 of Mississippi, are bordered by level tracts of land, sometimes 

 several miles in width, which are now rarely reached by the over- 

 flows, and whose vegetation is intermediate, as it were, between 

 that of the uplands and of the bottom. The materials composing 

 their soil and subsoil give evidence, in the alternation of sandy 



