DRYING.
The brick generally remain upon the drying floor for about twenty-four hours, that is, in good drying weather.
The first step in the drying of hand-made brick is to turn those upon edge that were made the day previous ; if there are no indications of rain, the brick are "turned up" early in the morning, and allowed to stand upon edge, exposed to the sun, until about about four o'clock in the afternoon, when each man "takes in his share," and carefully hacks them in the drying shed ; usually they are hacked about eight courses high on the edge and the hacks kept separate, to allow circulation of air. There is a space left between the brick of one-half inch, and a "head" or pier is built at each corner of the "rows." If there should be indication of rain before the usual time for " taking in of the brick," and any of the brick are hard enough to handle, they are wheeled into the shed ; if riot firm enough, they are left to be " washed," that is, the brick on edge are again laid flat, and the rain falls upon them.
Some clays will stand this, but brick made of other clays are entirely destroyed, if not by the rain, then by the sun, as they break in half as soon as the heat again strikes them.
Brick that will stand " washing" are wheeled into the shed and set for salmon or arch brick, when they go into the kiln.
The brick having been exposed to the rain are called "washed brick ;" they have a rough appearance, and are gen erally not much esteemed, but they make the strongest brick that come out of a kiln ; and when hard-burned, they have no equal for foundation or sewer work! After being exposed to the action of the sun for a sufficient length of time, each member of the moulding gang carries a certain number of the brick to the drying shed and hacks them upon edge. It is the custom to construct the drying-shed im mediately adjoining the brick floors, and these sheds are built in a cheap manner. The usual measurement is about 28 ft. in width between the outside posts, and the height on the side adjoining the brick floors is about ft., and from these low sides the pitch of the roof runs to an incline of about 35 de grees on each side of the ridge-pole, which is supported by chestnut posts planted in the centre of the shed. The roof of the drying-shed requires to be constructed in such a manner that there will be no drip from the boards which form the roof, as the brick which the shed will contain would thereby be ruined. It is the custom in constructing these drying-sheds to
put them up in a temporary manner, and the roof is formed by extending the boards from the stringers at the sides, or low parts of the shed, and allowing them to rest upon the ridge pole, the bottom boards being separated sufficiently far to be covered with a lap-board. It is essential that no support of any kind should be placed between the ridge-pole and the stringers at the sides of the sheds, for the water which falls upon these temporary roofs not only runs down the top of the board, but also follows the under side ; and should this water in its passage meet any obstruction, like a stringer or support of any kind, before it should reach the end of the board, the water would thus drip into the drying shed and ruin the bottom of the shed, as well as the brick which might be hacked therein. The boards which form the roofs of these temporary sheds should be free from large or loose knots, and wane edges, which are liable to split and thus form drips. The board roofs over these drying sheds commonly sags in the centre, but if the boards are of good quality and free from the imperfections which we have above mentioned, it is seldom that water finds its way into the shed, or that the boards break on account of this sagging. It is customary to close the ends of the sheds with boards, but the sides are commonly left open for the free admission of air ; light battened doors hung on leather hinges are sometimes used to protect the sides from driving rains. The period which the hand-made brick remain in these drying sheds is usually about two or three weeks, but during rainy seasons a longer time is, oi course, required. Improved forms of drying sheds are so constructed that the roof can be made to open in sections, thus exposing the hacks of green brick to the direct action of the heat of the sun.
When brick are moulded by what is known as the " slop" method, they are sometimes hacked upon the drying floors by means of " pallets." In the " slop" method of moulding, the moulds are wetted with water instead of being sanded as we have before described. " Pallets" are flat boards, each of which holds about five or six brick, and by means of cleats at each end the green brick are prevented from being crushed by the piling of one "pallet" above another. After the stock has been properly dried, the next operation is that of