THE CLAYS OF WISCONSIN.

ing a capacity of about 350,000 to 400,000 brick, three pug
mills, and a Frey-Sheckler stiff mud machine.
The clay occurs near the creek but could not be exam-
ined at the time the yard was inspected on account of the
water which filled the pits. The brick when properly
burned have a cheerful red color.
The plant of the Edgar Brick and Tile Company was
erected in 1897. The bank from which the clay is ob-
tained consists of one foot of loam which is stripped, one
foot of tough grayish black clay, and one to one foot and a
half of blue clay mottled with streaks of yellow iron oxide.
The clay is conveyed in dump cars from the bank to the
plant and tempered in a Potts wooden pug mill. The
brick are moulded in a Potts soft mud machine, dried on
pallets under sheds, and burned in scove kilns. It re-
quires about fourteen days to burn the brick and about
three-fourths of a cord of wood is consumed for each thou-
sand brick burned. When properly burned the brick have
a pleasing red color.
EDSON.
Edson is a small village located in Chippewa County
two and a quarter miles south of Boyd. The yard at this
place has been owned and operated for five years by J. T.
Somers but at the present time it is idle. The clay, which
occurs in a depression in which runs a small sluggish
stream, has a depth of about four feet underneath a cover-
ing of one foot of sod and loam. The color of the clay is
blue streaked with yellow iron oxide wherever roots of
grass or trees have penetrated. The clay contains consid-
erable sand as it occurs in the bank but more is added for
the manufacture of brick. This clay is typical for all this
region.
The clay is mined with pick and shovel and hauled in
carts to vats where it is soaked. The brick are made in a
Quaker soft mud machine, dried on pallets under sheds
and burned in scove kilns. The market for the brick which

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