144 



:MAXrFACTURES OF RUSSIA. 



]\[ A X U F A C T U K E S OF CAST IRON AND STEEL. 



The making' of cast iron in Russia dates from the first half of the seventeenth 

 oentury. In 1637 a Dutchman, named Viuius, established with the sanction of the 

 Tsar Michail Feodorovich the first cast iron foundry, near the village Torokhovo, 

 fifteen versts from Tula. The founding of steel was introduced in Russia only 

 recently. 



Two methods of making cast iron are to be distinguished; the first founding, 

 in high furnaces; and the second founding, in cupolas and hot blast furnaces. Most 

 of the cast iron wares in trade are made in the high furnaces, and this method of 

 manufacture has a direct influence upon the cheapness of such goods. In such manner 

 cast iron plate, artel kettles, diverse stove appliances, pipes and other articles are 

 made, requiring no special compactness of the metal nor marked resistance to mecha- 

 nical force. On the other hand, castings pertaining to different parts of machinery, 

 because of the higher quality of the material and of the precision required, are 

 always cast by the second process, that is, in the hot blast and reverberator^' 

 furnaces. 



The village workers, hustars, generally produce very little cast iron, and 

 that chiefly for implements of husbandry and machines of rural economy; thus, the 

 representatives of this kind of industry are mainly the mining works and mechanical 

 manufactories, as well as special cast iron foundries. The fuel used in founding cast 

 iron in hot blast furnaces is generally wood coal in the Urals, anthracite in the South, 

 and coke in all other localities; some of the Ural manufactories, however, find it 

 profitable to use coke, and even the dearer Donets coal, when founding cast iron in 

 the hot blast furnaces. 



The pipes required for aquaducts and gas mains were formerly brought exclu- 

 sively from abroad, chiefiy from England; but since the tariff of 1867 was intro- 

 duced, the casting of mains began to be established at the Russian works. Now there 

 are already several manufactories scattered in various places of Russia furnishing 

 wares of very satisfactory quality; many of them have lately introduced the machine 

 moulding process. Cast iron enamelled plate is equally made now in varying quan- 

 tities at the Russian high-furnace manufactories, chiefly established in central Russia, 

 namely, in the government of Kaluga and in the Vistula region, where the first 

 place is allotted to the Petrokov government. During the years 1880 to 1886 the 

 production of this kind of plate, with but few fluctuations, can be fixed at from 

 57,000 ponds in 1885, to 88,000 pouds in 1886, and from 1887 it has constantly 

 increased as shown below. 



YEARS. 



Pouds. 



1887 

 1888 

 1889 

 1F90 



158,000 

 205,000 

 254,000 

 289,000 



