^laliiiKj and barniiKj DrauiiiKj Tiles. 
5j3 
was the building one in my brick yard in July last, and the con- 
stant use of it until the wet weather at the commencement of this 
winter compelled its discontinuance, but not until it had burnt 
nearly 80,000 excellent tiles ; and in the ensuing spring it will 
be again in regular use. 
I shall now proceed to take in order the six points enumerated 
under the 9th head of the Prize Essays for 1845, as printed in the 
last volume of the Royal Agricultural Society's Journal, viz. ; — 
1st. Mode of working clay according to its quality. 
2nd. Machine for making tiles. 
3rd. Sheds for drying tiles. 
4th. Construction of kiln. 
5th. Cost of forming the establishment. 
Gth. Cost of tiles when ready for sale. 
1st Point. Working the clay. 
All clay intended for working next season must be dug in the 
winter, and the earlier the better, so as to expose it as much as 
possible to frost and snow. Care must be taken if there are 
small stones in it, to dig it in small spits, and cast out the stones as 
much as possible, and also to well mix the top and bottom of the 
bed of clay together. It is almost impossible to give minute 
directions as to mixing clay with loam, or with marl when neces- 
sary, for the better working it afterwards, as the difference of the 
clays in purity and tenacity is such as to require distinct manage- 
ment in this respect in various localities ; but all the clay dug for 
tile-making will require to be wheeled to the place where the 
pug-mill is to work it ; it must be there well turned and mixed in 
the spring, and properly wetted, and finally spatted down and 
smoothed by the spade, and the whole heap well covered with 
litter to keep it moist and fit for use through the ensuing season 
of tile-making. 
2nd Point. Machine for making tiles. 
For the reasons already alluded to, I prefer Hatcher's machine. 
Its simplicity of construction, and the small amount of hand-labour 
required to work it, would alone recommend it; for one man and 
three boys will turn out nearly 11,000 pipe tiles of one-inch bore 
in a day of ten hours, and so in proportion for pipes of a larger 
diameter ; but it has the great advantage of being moveable, and 
those who work it draw it along the shed in which the tiles are 
deposited for drying previously to their being burnt : thus each 
tile is handled only once, for it is taken off the machine by the 
little boys, who stand on each side, and at once placed in the rows 
on either side of the drying shed ; thus rendering the use of shelves 
in the sheds wholly unnecessary, for the tiles soon acquire a solidity 
to bear row upon row of tiles till they reach the roof of the sheds 
on either side ; and they dry without warping or losing their shape 
in any way. 
