384 CONTRIBUTIONS TO ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, 1902. [bull. 213. 
The clay pits and stoneware plants visited will be described in order, 
from those near Holly Springs, Miss., at the south, to those near Paris, 
Tenn. , at the north. 
HOLLY SPRINGS, MARSHALL COUNTY, MISS. 
The plant of the Holly Springs Stoneware and Firebrick Company 
is located near the tracks of the Kansas City, Memphis and Birming- 
ham Railroad, and within 100 yards of the station. Little fire brick 
is made, the principal product being stoneware. The clay used at 
this plant is obtained from the pits described below. On arrival at 
the works it is ground, after the addition of sufficient water, in a 
"chaser mill" (i. e., edge-runner mill), no seasoning at all being given 
the clay. Four kilns are in use, two downdraf fc and two updraft, the 
former having been, of course, installed at a later date than the latter. 
Eighteen hands are employed in the plant, four of whom are potters; 
and the product of the establishment is about 8,000 "gallons" of 
stoneware per week. Two slips are used. One is the usual Albany 
slip clay, which gives a brown glaze, the other a slip made up of 
"flint" (pulverized quartz) and "spar" (pulverized feldspar), both 
the ingredients being purchased at East St. Louis. 
The clay pits of this firm are in two widely separated groups, located 
2^ miles west and 1 mile east of the railroad station. 
The west pits furnish the best grade of clay. About 05 acres of 
land are owned (on which these west pits are located). Of this area 
about 10 acres have been worked in the usual fashion. 
The usual size of these pits is 8 to 10 feet in depth, with an area of 
from 4 by 6 to 8 by 15 feet. One negro with one team of horses does 
the hauling. Three trips a day can be made. 
No Lafayette (orange-red sands) was in this area. A typical pit 
showed from the top downward — 
Feet. 
Clayey and sandy soil 3 
Yellow sand and clay in alternate 2-4 inch hands 3 
Gray clay 6 
The eastern pits, located a mile east of the station, show (in pits 
and gullies) about 20 feet of clay, with much interlami nation of white 
and yellow sands. Six trips per day can be made to these pits. 
Peyton Allison runs a small pottery, with one updraft kiln, about 
one-half mile east of the station, obtaining his clay from very near 
the east pits of the preceding firm. 
GRAND JUNCTION, HARDEMAN COUNTY, TENN. 
The plant of the Grand Junction Potter}?- Company, controlled by 
Mr. W. T. Follis, is located near the station. Clay is bought from 
various pits in the vicinity and manufactured mostly into stoneware, 
though fire brick is occasionally made. One downdraft kiln, with a 
capacity of 6,000 gallons of stoneware, is in use. 
