, and the fires are
lighted. For a day and night, sometimes for two days and two nights,
the fires burn. The heat goes up to 2000 deg. or 2500 deg. F. Every few
hours test pieces, which were put in for this purpose, are taken out.
When they are found to be sufficiently baked, the fire-holes are bricked
up and the furnace is left for two days longer to cool. The ware is then
called "biscuit."

Biscuit is dull and porous. It is soon to be glazed, but first whatever
underglaze decorating is desired may be done. Sometimes the decorations
are painted by hand, and sometimes they are printed on thin paper, laid
upon the ware, and rubbed softly till they stick fast. After a while
the paper is pulled off, but the colors remain. Gold must be applied
over the glaze, and the article fired a second time.

After this decorating, the ware is generally passed to a man who
stands before a tub of glaze, and dips in each article, though
sometimes he stands before the pieces of ware and sprays them with an
air brush. Many different kinds of glaze are used, made of ground
flint, feldspar, white clay, and other substances. Common sea salt
works exceedingly well, not in liquid form, but thrown directly into
the fire. The chief thing to look out for in making a glaze is to see
that the materials in it are so nearly like those in the ware that
they will not contract unevenly and make little cracks. This glaze is
dried in a hot room, then looked over by "trimmers," who scrape it off
from such parts as the feet of cups and plates, so that they will not
stick to the saggers in firing. Besides this, little props of burned
clay are used to hold the dishes up and keep them from touching one
another. These props have fanciful names, such as "spurs," "stilts,"
"cockspurs," etc. Often you can see on the bottom of a plate the marks
made by these supports.

[Illustration: IN THE POTTERY

Pieces of coarse pottery being delivered to the kiln for firing.]

The articles now are sent to a kiln to be fired. When they come out
there is another chance for decorating, for colors may be put on, and
another firing will make them look like underglaze painting If the
decorator wishes the ware to have the appearance of being ornamented
with masses of gold, he can trace his design in yellow paste, fire it,
cover it with gold, and fire it again. To make the "gilt-band china"
so beloved by the good housewives of the last century, the decorator
puts the plate upon a