Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1871-07-07
FARM AND GARDEN.
HOW no RURN lime,

Iuel, we SHOULD say, construct kiln OF
! logs 90 feet long, IL feet wide, and 10
feet high. In the centre of the top sur
face build chimney of sticks or rocks,
five feet high, and around this chimney
let rock, after they have been broken up
to the size of those used for making
turnpikes, be placed to its full
height until the whole surface is
covered to an average depth of four feet.
Some railing might be placed on the
edges to prevent the rocks from falling
off. The first layer of logs should be
up from the ground some six inches or
foot in order that the fires may be
kindled underneath. This can be eff.
fected by laying some logs crosswise at
the beginning. The logs used in the con.
strucion of the kiln should not be less
than one foot in diameter, and the inter
stices between them should be filed I'D
with dry wood. The chimney serves to
draw the fire to the middle and to burn on,
place in the center first and so make the
rocks fall toward the center as the kiln
burns. A kiln of this size will hold sew.
en- hundred and fifty bushels of rocks,
and will make, after they are slaked, from
good lime stone, fifteen hundred bushels of
lime. When there is plenty of fuel lime
can be burned in this way at a cost net
exceeding three cents per bushel.
If fuel is scarce we should advise the
construction of what is called perpetual
kiln. This kiln is constructed by build
ing on the side of hill two walls, an in
terror and exterior one, nearly in the shape
of an egg shell, with the narrow end
down. The inner walls should be of
quartz rock, mica slate or some fire.
proof stone, or brick, and the space be-
tween the two walls must be filed up
with ashes or cinder. Below are several
openings for furnaces which lead into the
main cavity few feet from the bottom;
and alternating with these are lower OPEN
ings for Withdrawing the lime. This is
taken out below, and the stone and wood
or coal, thrown in above in alternate
layers, and this may be kept up for an
indefinite time. A kiln thus shaped gives
a reverberatory heat to the upper mate
rails, and also facilitates the falling
down of the rocks and fuel rs
that below is pulled out. In a kiln of
this character the lime may be drawn
every twelve hours. 1t is found by ex-
perience, that fresh broken limestone
which is little moist, calcines much
more rapidly than when it has been ex-
posed to the atmosphere for considera-
BILE time, the vspor of the water promot-
ing the escape of the carbonic acid gas.
When coal is used in a kiln of this
sort, one bushel will make from eight to
ten bushels of slsked lime.
As the construction of such kiln as
the foregoing, would be moderately ex-
pensiye, it would be cheaper and better
to have cooperation with several neigh
bors. A small outlay and few days in
autumn, would enable those so co-ope-
rating to burn large amount of lime at
trifing cost.
An Intermittent kiln may be made of
the same form as the perpetual kiln, with
arched openings extending into the base
of the kiln. In filling the kiln with stone
the larger Jumps are built up in an arched
form, so as to. extend these openings
through to the back walls of the cavity,
leaving space under the mass of rocks
for fuel. Or in place of the arches be-
ing made of rock, they may be made of
brick as the eyes to a brick kiln, with
interstices between the brick for the
flames. Three days and nights are re.
quired in an intermittent kiln usually to
calcine the limestone. The construction
of it is more economical than the per-
petudI Kiln. The loss of heat, however,
is expensive whenever the kiln is allowed
to cool for withdrawal and for a fresh
charge. The utilization of the heat is
the chief excellence of the perpetual
kiln. The expense for fuel is largely d.
minished after the first charge, and in
burning large quantity of lime it costs
less by a third, when burned in q
perpetual kiln, than when burned on log
heap tor in an intermittent kiln. The
cost of perpetual kiln with capacity
of fifty barrels of stone is about 81, 900.
With consumption of two to two and a
half cords of wood product of seventy
five bushels is obtained daily. This is
about one measure of lime for three meas
ures of wood. 1t must be remembered
that this is unslsked lime and will make
double the quantity when slsked.
Lime for agricultural purposesis burned
in New York in kilns on the Hudson with
fuel of mixed dust and pea coal, costing
81 per ton, delivered. A ton burns 2OO
bushels of slaked lime, thus making the
cost of fuel one cent per bushel. 1t is
estimated that the whole expense of
slaked lime, delivered on board vessels is
1885 per 100 bushels, and it sells al
about $3.50 per 100 bushels which il
equivalent to 81 for unslaked. In the
burning of lime the quality of the lime
stone used deserves especial attention.
The whitest lime, and that freest from
any impurities is made from the dark
grey limestone which is found in unlimited
quantities in our State. That burned
from magnetism limestone, is supposed
to be injurious to the soil, owing to the
fact that the magnesia remains caustic for
long time after the application of it to
the soil This magnetism limestone, or
dolomite, may be known by its white
color, occasionally tinged with yellow,
green, red or brown, and sometimes black,
with vitreous lustre. 1t crumbles more
readily than the ordinary limestone and
efferyesces less freely when sulDhnric