246 
On Burning Clay for Manure. 
burnins: clay and strong earth in kilns protected from rain ; the 
only difficulty having been, that many persons, and myself at first, 
produced a hard substance, more resembling brickbats than poiv- 
der. This difficulty I obviated by (previous to burning) well 
saturating the soil with water, working it, and treading it to the 
consistency of mortar ; for water will separate any particles, how- 
ever adhesive : and then the fire expelling the water and the car- 
bonic acid gas, leaves the particles previously separated, when 
burnt, in a state of very fine powder ; and if any should not at 
first be quite separated, it slacks immediately on the application of 
liquid. Having saturated the soil thus Avith 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 or 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. In a short time 
the balls, wet as they are, become set or firm, and will not run 
into one another from the accumulated weight, as they would do if 
thrown in together in a rude wet mass. These tiers of balls are 
then covered with a layer of small roots or wood (which become 
charcoal), and then over this wood the moist earth is laid on, 
in spits, as loosely as possible, till the kiln is nearly full, and 
finally topped up with turf, or rape-roots, or any vegetable 
rubbish. 
If the first tiers of balls be laid on over night, and the fire be 
kindled about seven next morning, all work of continuous burn- 
ing may be so forwarded as to enable the men to block up the 
mouth of the furnace with roots or stools by five o'clock p.m., 
leave it to burn, and go home ; and the next morning the whole 
will be found burnt out. In this way, there being three kilns, 
and one lighted every morning, one will be cooling, one will be 
unloaded and charged again with the balls, and one will be burn- 
ing out, and so on in rotation. And by burning off two kilns any 
one day at the close of the week, and leaving them to cool, seven 
kilns may be burnt in each week, each containing about 160 
bushels, and thus 1000 net bushels may be obtained weekly. 
When the ashes are taken out of the kiln they are sifted very 
fine, and made free from stones, chalk, &c., and wheeled to a 
covered shed, 50 feet long, and there laid out in beds, or pools, 
embanked by themselves all round, about two feet deep : a port- 
able cask and pump annexed then continually brings from various 
tanks the overflowings of the farm-yards, the liquor from the 
stables, cow-sheds, piggeries, the house, and the laundry, and dis- 
charges it into these beds of fine ashes, which, when they have 
absorbed the liquor, are covered with a coat of gypsum. 
They arc th(;n repeatedly turned, and repeatedly flooded, until 
