Smithsonian Contributions - Smithsonian Institution Libraries
Smithsonian Contributions - Smithsonian Institution Libraries
Smithsonian Contributions - Smithsonian Institution Libraries
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134<br />
DIGGING THE CLAY<br />
View of clay pits where L: In any direction that we want to go with-<br />
Lanier and Edwin are in two miles of this place, we get most<br />
digging clay. any kind of clay we was looking for.<br />
You'll usually find three or four different<br />
kinds of clay in one clay pond. Course it<br />
is... we have to dig it in the fall of the<br />
year when the water in the ground is at a<br />
low tide. There's no clay that I ever<br />
found that would work by itself that<br />
come from a pond. You've got to go to<br />
two or diree more anyhow and get the<br />
clay from them and mix it all together so<br />
it'll work good. I have five different kinds<br />
right there. Three of them is a<br />
yellow. . . four of them is a yellow clay<br />
and the other one is a blue clay. Mix two<br />
of them together, you still can't use it.<br />
Mix the other three with it, then it makes<br />
a good turning clay. You can go on widi<br />
it.<br />
PROCESSING THE CLAY ("GRINDING")<br />
View of mule-powered L: Well, we call it a clay mill. It's for mixing<br />
pug mill. the clay. . .we call it grinding die clay.<br />
You see die way these pegs are put in diis<br />
staff going up and down, the way they're<br />
trimmed? They're flat on the bottom and<br />
kind of rounded off toward the top on die<br />
front side, and that gives the clay an uplifting<br />
motion, as the mule pulls diis<br />
thing around. And as it comes up, it<br />
leaves a hole behind that peg, and the<br />
clay just rolls back in and just keeps it<br />
mixed up real good. It takes about an<br />
hour and a half to two hours to grind a<br />
mill in this with a mule, and that's<br />
enough to last about a day and a half for<br />
one man, if he wants to work at it. If he<br />
don't, he can make it last a week long.