52 



Burning Land for Manure, 



as adapted to the particular soil to he burned. In illustration of 

 this position, I may observe that Mr. Pym states, voh iii. ' Royal 

 English Agricultural Journal/ p. 323, The great art is to let 

 the clay burn slowly, which depends very much upon the proper 

 formation of the walls" (clamps), " which are of turf, as the ashes 

 then turn out black for the most part, and are considered much 

 better than when they are red and clinking, like bricks." Again, 

 p. 325, Mr. Pusey gives, on the authority of another corre- 

 spondent, " The heat should always be slow and steady, never, if 

 possible, burning the clay red ; though this is very difficult indeed 

 to manage, depending very much on the wind ; and it is best 

 effected by making heaps of not less than 60 or 100 loads each, 

 and these will take from two to three months to burn. All inex- 

 perienced hands use too much fuel, get their fires too fierce, lay 

 their stuff too hollow^ make a great deal of smoke — whereas the 

 less they make the better — get their heaps to a red heat, and 

 burn them through in a week or ten days; and the consequence 

 is, that, when these heaps are opened, instead of ashes, or lumps 

 that will fall into ashes by exposure to the air, out roll knobs as 

 hard and as useless as brick-ends." *^ Much also depends upon 

 the size of the clay lumps, and their state of humidity ; if too dry 

 they will burn too fierce, if too ivet they will not burn at all." 

 Other writers have found exposure of clay clods' to the atmosphere 

 advantageous ; yet in contrast to the above we have the evi- 

 dence of Mr. Long,* who states, in allusion to this subject, that 

 on his soil — a thin, dry, flinty loam upon chalk — the only 

 difficulty being, that many persons, and himself amongst the 

 number, at first produced a hard substance, more resembling 

 brickbats than powder '"^ This difficulty he obviated by (previ- 

 ous to burning) well saturating the soil with water, working and 

 treading it to the consistency of mortar ; for water will sepa- 

 rate any particles, however adhesive, and then the fire, expelling 

 the water and the carbonic acid gas, leaves the particles previously 

 separated, when burnt, in the state of very fine powder ; and if 

 any should not at first be quite separated, it slacks immediately 

 on the application of liquid." Mr. Long further proceeds to state, 

 " Having saturated the soil thus with water, as much as a spade 

 will hold is rolled up to the size of a large cannon-ball, and is 

 handed to a man in the kiln, who places it on the bars of the 

 coping of the brick arches over the furnace. He places each ball 

 as he receives it side by side, for two or three tiers, one above the 

 other, and then lights the bavins in the furnace," &c. For further 

 particulars, as also for the plan of the furnace, I must refer to the 



* Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society, vol. vii. p, 245. 



