Fine and chilly. A very few drops of rain in the afternoon. Finished clearing out the garden & transplanted a few small plants which were in the way, so tomorrow the manure can be spread.
5 eggs. Got 6/6 for the two cockerels (ie. 7/- less commission). This works out at about 8d lb.
[NEWSPAPER CUTTING]
Making Coal Bricquettes. – Coal bricquettes are made from coal dust mixed to a paste with clay and water and pressed firmly into wooden, tapered moulds, hammering the mixture well down and then turning out the blocks to dry while others are made up. A.C.C. (Kingsbury). These will store for any length of time and are an easy and economical way of using up waste small coal.
Orwell Diaries 1938-1942 
Pingback: Twitter Trackbacks for 3.10.39 « THE ORWELL PRIZE [orwelldiaries.wordpress.com] on Topsy.com
Talk about dexterity: Briquetting charcoal, rescuing wee plants from a horrible fate, watching the sky for dive bombers and the tree line for snipers—all while calculating profit margins.
‘Tomorrow the manure can be spread’, sounds like the title of one of those pamphlets Orwell collected. Perhaps it’s a coded reference to the old addage, ‘When war is declared, Truth is the first casualty.’