468 
Huic to establish a Tile - Yard: 
which the coverinor x is made. A new kind of shed is adopted in 
Scotland at some tile-works. Each shed, about 12 feet long, 4 feet 
wide, and 6 feet high, is made movable on wooden or iron rails^ 
which are so laid that the sheds may be pushed close up to the 
machine, and, when filled, be left to dry, and wheeled on to the 
kilns without the tiles being moved. Several advantages arise from 
this ; there is not so much breakage, and something is saved in the 
cost of manufacture. 
Tiles made singly require shelving to keep them straight, 
which increases the outlay in buildings very considerably, but is 
necessarily adopted when many of the various machines are used. 
4. Construction of the Kiln. 
The variety of kilns renders it no easy matter to advise on the 
cheapest, and, at the same time, the best, their excellence being 
determined bv the smallest consumption of fuel, with due regard 
to the quality of the article produced. 
I prefer them so constructed as to hold about 30,000 to 40,000 
of tiles 3 in. by 2 in. 
The kiln in plan 3, as shown upon the drawing, is not so good 
in principle as those in plans Nos. 1 and 2, as it consumes more 
fuel per 1000 than the others, but it is much the cheapest, and, 
if properly built, will last many years. 
I will shortly describe the three. No. 1 is a double kiln, each 
kiln being 12 feet 6 in. by 1 1 feet, inside; built of bricks (or of 
Norfolk clay lumps,* lined with brick as being much cheaper), 
♦ Norfolk clay lumps are made in the manner here described : — Clay, 
dug from a pit, is mixed with as much sand as it will carry to remain 
tenacious, say 1 yard of clay to half a ton of sand; sometimes a small 
quantity of straw is thrown in, the whole trodden by a horso until it be- 
comes of one consistency, when it is thrown into moulds, or wooden boxes 
made very stronj^, 18 inches long, 12 inches wide, and 7 inches deep. 
"When removed from the box they are left to harden partially, and are 
turned constantly on their ends and sides so as to dry straight, and when 
nearly dry, are piled in stacks until required for use. These lumps are 
always made on the spot where they are used, on account of the expense 
of carriage. 
The box or mould is made of deal, 2h inches thick, and well bound 
round the corners with hooji-iron ; the bottom and top edges are also 
cased with iron, to prevent tiiem wearing. 
In Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex, these are made at from 5s. to 7.*. per 
100. Walls are built, at 10(/. and l*. per yard square (or 9 feetj, 1 foot 
thick, including the pinning and foundation. 
Cottages, houses, and farm buildings are generally built of this mate- 
rial in the above-named counties, especially in the clay districts, and they 
are not liable to brick-duty. 
