394- 
AMERICAN AaRICULTURIST, 
[November, 
The Manufacture of Drain Tiles. 
In our last number (page 356) Mr. J. W. Pen- 
field, of Willoughby, Ohio, described the sheds, 
kiln, etc., of his tile 
vorks. We reluctantly 
divided the article, and 
so in what follows must 
refer our readers to it for 
a fuller understanding 
of the subject. The clay 
pit is a semi-circular 
dishing place'udthin the 
horse track, with plank 
sides. From this, the 
clay, of such qiiality as 
is described in the article 
referred to, is shoveled 
into the tile machine. 
Here it is worked by 
horse-power and mould¬ 
ed into the shape of tiles, 
the clay being forced out 
horizontally througli 
dies at the bottom of 
the machine. The clay 
tubes are received upon 
drying boards, as they 
are pressed through the dies, cut into suitable 
length for the tiles, allowing for shrinkage in 
drying and burning, and placed at once upon 
the drying racks. These for convenience of 
switch is provided at each end of the shed to 
transfer empty cars. Fig. 5 shows a switch; 
timbers C x G inches square, and 8 feet long 
make the rails of the switch track, and 2x4 
Fig. 2.— DRYING RACK. 
moving are cars upon a rail-track, described by 
Mr. P. as follows: 
“ The Drying Backs or Cars, should be 12 
or 14 feet long, and the length of three tiles 
wide (14x3—42 inches), divided into 
three spaces tor holding the drying 
boards. The bed pieces for car are 
made of 4 x 4 hard wood scantling; ax¬ 
les 3 x 3 of the same stuff. Wheels may 
be made of a log hard to split, 1 foot 
in diameter, turned with a flange, 2 ®| 4 
inch holes being made for the axles. 
After the axles are spiked on the bed 
pieces, then spike on 4 2x4 scantlings, 
as long as the car is wide, flatwise on 
the top, and it is ready for the first 
course of shelves. The shelves are inch 
boards, 5 inches wide. Planks 2 inches 
thick, 5, 6 ,7 and 8 inches wide are set edgewise, 
and nailed fast, to support the rest of the shelves. 
A car when finished is 6 feet high, and will 
hold 1,0C0 2-inch tiles. Tracks for the cars to 
run on ate made of 4 x 4 hard wood scant¬ 
ling, and firmly spiked to ties bedded in the 
ground. Fig. 4 shows the best way to splice 
the rails, in making tiles, a car is run to 
the machine, and when filled, is drawn 
by a horse or pushed by two men under 
the drying shed on its way to the kiln. A 
Fig. 1. —DRYING SHEDS. 
scantling set edgewise partly “halved” with the 
underside of the rails hold the rails, and form 
bearings for the gudgeons of the switch wheels. 
These cars are a great saving of labor in mov¬ 
ing and handling tile, and will 
soon save their expense. Tiles 
dry quicker and straighter, and 
less than one-half the expense 
for lumber, will dry more tiles 
in this way than wdien packed 
close in a wide shed, on sta¬ 
tionary shelves. The liability 
to breakage is materially les¬ 
sened, as much of the handling 
is avoided, the tiles remaining 
on the cars till dry, and fre¬ 
quently not handled, till taken 
from the drying boards, to go 
_ into the kiln. The drying 
boards vary in wddtli to suit 
difiTerent sizes of tiles. In the en¬ 
graving some are shown filled with tiles, and in 
place in the car, others are piled up in the mid¬ 
dle division. When thoroughly air-dried, the 
tiles are removed from the cars to the kiln. 
on the top, nor at the sides of the kiln, as there is 
more liability for them to crack or be poorly 
burned. After the 8 th course is set, four or five 
courses can be laid horizontally over the tops, 
close together, all over 
the kiln. Then put on 
two courses of bricks 
flatwise, and so as to 
break joints over them, 
and the setting is com¬ 
pleted. After the d^or 
is bricked up, the kiln is 
ready to fire. A moder¬ 
ate fire for the first six 
honrs should be made,- 
by using large sticks of 
wood, and ^ilacing them 
entirely outside the 
flues, building the fire at 
the end next the flue. 
In this way the wood 
will burn slower than if 
the fire were made at the 
other end. A little heat 
and smoke is all that 
is necessary at first to 
start the tile sweating, 
and prepare them to 
receive more heat, which may be made by push¬ 
ing the brands partly into the flue. At the ex¬ 
piration of six hours more, the wood may be 
3. —BED PIECE OR DOUBLE TRUCK. 
Setting and Burning Tiles .—Tiles are set on 
end one course above another, putting small 
ones in the large ones—li-inch go inside 3-inch, 
2-inch go in the 4-inch, 3-inch in the 5-inch, and 
Fig. 5.— SWITCH FOR CARS, 
put the wdiole length into the flues and the 
doors closed, with a good draft under them. The 
flue doors should be hung on an iron frame, 
fastened in the arches, vdien the flues are build¬ 
ing. They are used to regulate the 
draft at all limes during the burning. 
After the doors are closed, there is but 
little danger of too much firing, if the 
fires are allowed to burn evenly, and are 
kept at the ends of the flues. As soon 
as the corners and heads of the kiln get 
red hot, a, full blast of fire may be kept 
up until the flues come to a wliite heat 
the whole length. By this time the 
heads of the kiln will be burned, and 
the heat tending to the center. Care in 
firing should now be used, as the flues 
and lower course of tiles are easily melt- 
Sufflcient time must be given after a fire 
ed. 
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Fig. 4. —SPLICE FOR RAILS. 
the 4-inch in the 6 -inch. Larger tiles than 3 
inch should not be set on the bottom course, nor 
is built to let it burn down, and the flues allow¬ 
ed to darken before building another. If there 
appears any trouble in getting the heat to run to 
the center, the draft at both ends can be in¬ 
creased by leaving the doors partly open, 
which will drive the heat to the center, and 
with a few good fires the whole length of the 
flues, the middle of the kiln will begin to settle. 
In case the fire should leave the heads before 
they settle or are properly burned, the middle 
