398 
Brick-Making. 
with fresh soil and water until there is a sulEcient body 
in the recess. On one side, but as near to the recess as 
possible, the ground is made smooth, and dug out about 
eighteen inches or two feet deep into a hollow square ; 
and the soil now becomes paste, and being thereby suiB- 
ciently washed, purified, and fluid, troughs are placed 
from the recess to this hollow ground, and it is ladled out 
with scoops or shovels into the troughs, carefully leaving 
the sediment at the bottom of the recess to be afterwards 
thrown out on the sides of it, together with stones, bones^ 
8jcc. Over this hollow square or pit the fluid soil diffuses 
itself, where it settles of an equal thickness, and remains 
until wanted for use, the superfluous water being either 
evaporated or drained from it, by its being exposed for a 
certain length of time in so thin a body. When they 
have got a sufficient quantity of washed earth in this pit, 
another is made alongside of it, and so they proceed until 
they have got as much thus prepared as they are likely to 
want during the season. 
The clamps for burning these better sort of bricks are 
individually the same with the others, but greater care is 
t^ken in not overheating the kiln, but in causing it to 
burn moderately, as equably and as diffusively at the 
same time as possible. 
In the country, bricks are always burnt in kilns, where- 
by less waste arises, less fuel is consumed, and the bricks 
are sooner burnt. The bricks are first set of placed in it, 
and then the kiln being covered with pieces of bricks or 
tiles, they put in some wood to dry them with a gentle 
fire : and this they continue until the bricks are pretty 
dry, which takes up two or three days, which is known 
by the smoke turning from a darkish colour to a transpa- 
rent smoker they then leave off putting in wood, and pro- 
ceed to make ready for burning, which is performed by 
putting in brush, furze, spray, heath, brake, or fern fag- 
