3. DRYING THE BRICK
Four crews of two workers stacked the brick on kiln carts, or brick buggies, and when the carts were loaded, other crews put the bricks in the dryers. Several types of dryers were available: dryer sheds, dryer tunnels and drying yards. Dryer sheds were located within the factory. These were rooms with large fans, run by steam engines, at each end of the shed to dry the brick. Dryers had to be kept at a constant temperature. Tunnels were also used for drying.

These dried brick were called "green brick". Eighty thousand to 100,000 green brick were manufactured in a day. Again quoting from Ricks-Bricks: For yard drying, "the moulded bricks were stacked in a herring bone pattern to dry in the air and the sun. The moulded bricks were first left to dry for two days at which time they were turned over to facilitate uniform drying and prevent warping. During this time tools called dressers or clappers were used by "edgers" to to straighten the bricks and obtain a smooth surface. After four days of dry hot weather the bricks were sufficiently hard to allow them to be stacked in a herringbone pattern with a finger's width between them to allow further drying. This area was called a hack or a hackstead and the bricks were covered under roof or with straw to protect them from the rain or harsh sun. After two weeks the bricks were ready to be burned."

George V. Hutton (a descendent of the founder of the Hutton Brick Company in East Kingston, NY) describes the drying yards at the Hutton factory: "they consisted of 10" of gravel for drainage, then 6 to 8" of blue clay on top, then 3" yellow clay on top of that and finally a coating of sand to keep the bricks from sticking. The beds were rolled flat and the workers had to remove their shoes." It would take 3 days of drying before the bricks were ready to be moved to the kiln.