" To one about to undertake the making of brick by the dry process, no better advice can be given than the following : First, secure the services of a competent brick engineer, with long experience in the process, to lay out the yard, select and arrange the machinery, and put everything in good running order. Do not mind the salary you may have to pay him ; if he is the right man he will save you ten times the amount, and perhaps prevent financial ruin.
" It is important to store a large quantity of clay in sheds, enough for two or three months' run, or longer. With some clays this is absolutely necessary in order to get good results. Now, the finer the clay, the freer from stones and lumps, the sooner will it become fit for use. The plan of setting a coarse pulverizer and stone separator just at the entrance to the shed is a good one. This would make the further separation of the clay much easier, and would not increase the cost to any appreciable extent. One difficult operation, however, still remains, before the clay is fit for the press. Supposing the clay to be well tempered, of the proper degree of moisture and uniform throughout the pile, yet it is not fine enough to be made into a good brick, and must be put through another pulverizer. The
clay may be dry enough to press well, and yet so damp as to clog the pulverizer and cause so much waste in tailings that the presses must be stopped occasionally for lack of clay ; not only this, but the pulverizer will sooner wear out and need repairing, perhaps necessitating more stops. In order to make the busi ness prosperous, the process must be kept running, for every minute that a press making 15,00o bricks a day is stopped, a loss is entailed of 25 to 50 cents. Five to ten dollars a day may easily be lost in this way, and perhaps at the end of the season leave a balance on the wrong side of the ledger.
"Some manufacturers may have no trouble in this or may have success in obviating it. An ingenious man will often pro vide a remedy. The clay can be easily pulverized dry, too dry for the press, and afterwards dampened by placing a steam pipe, perforated with small holes and wrapped with cloth, just at the end of the shoot leading from the pulverizer."