a cut, the workman proceeds to give each of them in succession a gentle tap, so as to make them all fast; and for that purpose he uses a mall about 30 lb. weight (fig. No. 13), and having a handle 2 feet 9 inches long. He then goes over all the wedges, giving each of them a smart blow in regular, yet not too rapid succession, but allowing a little time for the parts of the stone to separate gradually. If the wedges be forced too quickly, there is great danger of the cut being spoiled by its flying out obliquely at one side, and thus not reaching throughout the whole depth of the block. The blocks, when thus subdivided by means of the wedges, are generally nearly of the size required by the rough moulds sent from the workyard, and are fit to be carried to the stone-cutter’s shed. [Illustration: Fig. 14.] As a conclusion to the above account of quarrying, it may perhaps be thought desirable to give some notion of the probable time required to perform certain parts of that sort of work. In boring holes of 1 inch to 1¹⁄₄ inch in diameter, it may be observed that they are generally done with the _hand mall_ (fig. No. 14), one and the same person striking with the mall with one hand, and turning the boring tool for himself with the other; and in most cases a man will bore 9 or 10 inches an hour in granite rock. If the bore be 1¹⁄₂ inch diameter, as for plugs, three men will generally bore two plug holes in one hour, each hole being about 9 inches deep. If the bore be for blasting and of 2 or 2¹⁄₂ inches diameter, three men will bore, at the rate of one foot per hour, to the depth of 6 or 7 feet; but if the bore be for a large blast of 13 or 14 feet deep, the hole must be 3¹⁄₂ inches in diameter at the top (diminishing to 2³⁄₄ inches at bottom), and will employ three men working hard between two and three days. Bores of that sort, indeed, cannot be made (at least by hand) to a greater depth than 14 or 15 feet, as the weight of a rod of iron, 17 feet in length, and 2 inches in diameter, makes it quite unmanageable for one man either to turn or to lift; while, from its great mass, the strokes of the mall produce little effect on it. The malls used in boring holes, which require three men, are 7 or 8 lb. weight, having handles 3 feet long (fig. No. 15), and are swung over the shoulder, while striking for _down bores_, in the same manner as a smith’s forehammer is used. An expert cutter with the wedges will make good wages by cutting holes at the rate of 2¹⁄₂d. for a dozen of holes, taking light and heavy cuts as they come to hand. [Illustration: No. 15.]