With an X, made with the cold chisel.
54. How should balls be preserved?
They should be carefully lacquered as soon as possible after they are received. When it becomes necessary to renew the lacquer, the old lacquer should be removed by rolling or scraping the balls, which should never be heated for that purpose.
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55. How should grape and canister shot be preserved?
They should be oiled or lacquered, put in piles, or in strong boxes on the ground floor, or in dry cellars; each parcel marked with its kind, calibre, and number.
56. How are balls piled?
Balls are piled according to kind and calibre, under cover if practicable, in a place where there is a free circulation of air, to facilitate which the piles should be made narrow, if the locality permits; the width of the bottom tier may be from 12 to 14 balls according to calibre.
Prepare the ground for the base of the pile by raising it above the surrounding ground so as to throw off the water; level it, ram it well, and cover it with a layer of screened sand. Make the bottom of the pile with a tier of unserviceable balls buried about two-thirds of their diameter in the sand; this base may be made permanent: clean the base well and form the pile, putting the fuze-holes of shells downwards in the intervals, and not resting on the shells below. Each pile is marked with the number of serviceable balls it contains. The base may be made of bricks, concrete, stone, wood, or with borders and braces of iron.
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