will bear a board on it, without sinking in, you should
begin to pound it in all directions, from end to end, with pounders
made of two-inch plank, sixteen inches long, and from nine to twelve
inches wide, with a long handle reaching breast high, and to be placed
in the middle of this board; thus the operation of pounding will
proceed without stooping or much labour. One or two men, with
plastering trowels, should follow the pounders, wetting it with skimmed
milk as they go, and set the floor as even and close as possible. If
these two operations be well conducted there will not be found a single
crack in the whole floor from end to end, which is of great importance
to secure the making of good malt. Each loft should have uprights under
the centre of all the beams from end to end of the house; this
precaution is necessary to prevent the swagging or cracking of the
upper floor. Trap doors should be placed at proper distances in the
upper malt-house floor, to facilitate the shovelling of the couches
from the lower to the upper floor. A well constructed kiln is of great
importance to insure a successful result to the malting operation, and
if large enough to dry off each steep at _one cast_ so much the better.
The most approved covering for malt kilns in England (although not the
most economical) is hair cloth, as it is asserted, it dries the palest
and sweetest malt. Many prefer tiles, as less expensive and more
lasting; others dry on boarded floors, and if this construction be well
managed, I take it to be as good as any, and much cheaper than either
tiles or hair cloth. (See description page 23.) The dropping room for
receiving the malt as it comes off the kiln may be constructed
different ways; but I take it that a ground floor covered with a two
inch plank well jointed, and properly laid, is preferable to a loft for
keeping malt, and in this situation might be heaped to any depth
without injury or danger of breaking down. Malt thus kept, if well
dried before coming off the kiln, is never in danger of heating or
getting slack. The common mode of keeping malt is in bins situated on
upper lofts, often injured by leaks from the roof, and at all times
liable to the depredations of rats, which in the other way can be
effectually guarded against, and is a highly important object of
precaution to be taken by the brewer. Should weevils at any time get
into, or generate in your malt, which is common when held over beyond
twelve