162 



THE FARMER'S MONTLY VISITOR. 



Carhouates of Lon &- Mangaueee, 5.54 



100.00 

 or it contains 51.03 per cent, of lime. 

 Lime of Lisbo.v. 



Limestone likewise abounds in tlie town of 

 Lisbon, near the S. VV. extremity of Mink ])Oud, 

 and is quarried and burnt for lime in several 

 places. 



The principal quarries whicb are wrought be- 

 long to Messrs. Orren Bionson, Thomas" Priest, 

 David Priest, and Uriah Oakes. The limestone 

 is a cry.stalline or coarse granular variety, marked 

 with blue and grey stripes, indicating the orig- 

 inal lines of stratification. It is occasionally niix- 

 ed with particles of mica, and a little quaRz. 

 The bed as formerly described, is contained be- 

 tvveeti strata of mica slate, and pursues a N. E. 

 and S. W. direction with the line of strike ol 

 the strata. 



Mr. Thomas Priest's quarry has been most ex- 

 tensively wrought, and the excavation measures 

 300 feet in lojigth. The breadth of the bed is 

 13 feet. Drainage is easily practicable to the 

 depth of more than 60 feet 



Fair specimens of this limestone were taken 

 for chemical analysis, and its composition is as 

 follows: 



100 grains of this stone analyzed in my labor- 

 atory by M. B. Williams yielded 



Carbonate of lime, 90.8 



Mica and quartz, 8.2 



Carbonate of iron and manganese, 1.0 



100.0 

 or it contains 51.11 per cent, of lime. 



David Priest's quarry is situated 1 1-2 miles 

 northeastward from the one above mentioned. 



A specimen of this rock analyzed in my labor- 

 atory by J. D. Whitney, Jr. yielded in 100 grs. 

 Carbonate of lime, 81.6 



Mica and quartz, 15.6 



Carbonate of iion and manganese, 2.8 



100.0 

 It contains 45.56 per cent of lime. 

 The lime is in good repute and is employed to 

 some extent in the vicinity. Mr. Ward Priest 

 says he has used it very successfully in agricul- 

 ture as a top-dressing. 



1 obtained at the kiln the following statistical 

 information fi-otii Mr. Priest. 



He burns from four to six kilns of lime per 

 annum, when not engaged in bis larniing oper- 

 ations. The kiln holds about 35 tierces of lime. 

 Each tierce holds 6 bushels. One which I meas- 

 ured was 2 feet 4 inches high, ; 1 foot i) inches 

 head diameter; bilges to 1 foot 10 inches. Cost 

 the casks 42 cts. each. 



The kiln is egg-shaped and measures 12 feet 

 3 inches in height, 4 feet diameler at the top, 6 

 feet 4 inches in diameter at the boshes (a little 

 below the centre.) Arch for fuel, 2 feet high. 

 The walls of the kiln are 2 feet thick, and are 

 made of mica slate lined with common bricks. 

 It costs $150. 



He says that the comtnon bricks soon daze 

 over on the surface, and withstand the heat suf- 

 ficiently well. Four days and three nights are 

 required for burning a kiln of lime, and 10 cords 

 of wood are consumed in the operation. From 

 two to three men are employed. The cost of 

 of wood cut, split and delivered at the kiln is $1 

 per cord. Tlie lime sells for $2 per tierce at the 

 kiln. 



Limestone near Fra.nconia. 

 Mr. Oakes' quarry is situated 2 miles west from 

 Franconia furnace, and is wrought to some ex- 

 tent for lime. This kiln is built like the one be- 

 fore described, but is of larger dimensions, con- 

 taining 100 tierces of lime. It is built of the 

 common rocks found in the vicinity, and is lined 

 with mica slate. The vvalls are from two to three 

 feet in thickness, and the lining is 1 foot thick, 

 llie cost of this kiln was $100. 



He sells his lime for $1.50 per tierce, without 

 the cask, and for $2 when packed in casks. 



Wood cut and delivered at the kiln costs $1 

 per cord. Fifteen cords of wood are required 

 to burn a kiln of lime. Burning requires four 

 days and three nights. Three men are employ- 

 ed m attendance on the kiln. 

 Estimate or cost and prokits on one kiln 



OK LIME. 



Cost of quarrying and hauling to 



kiln, S4I 



Breaking and filling in, 6 



Filling out, 10 



J 5 cords of wood, 15 



Labor, 7 



100 casks at 42 cts. 42 

 Interest and incidental expenses, say 5 



Cost, 



100 casks of ; 



ell for 



S146 



$200 



Profit on one kiln of lime, fg54 



By chemical analysis of a specimen of this 

 limestone, Mr. Williams obtained in 100 grains, 

 Carbonate of lime, 78 



Silica and mica, 20 



Carbonate of iron 2 



100 

 Hence it contains 43.9 per cent, of lime. 



This limestone is situated favorably for supply- 

 ing the Franconia furnace with a Hux to be used 



in smelting their iron ores, and 1 belli 



; thev ob- 



tain it for that purpose 



Mr. Oakes has employed bis lime successfully 

 in agriculture as a top-dressing in the [iroportion 

 of one tierce to the acre. This year he has mix- 

 ed it with compost manure and applied it to his 

 potatoe crop, which, he says, aj)pears unusually 

 flourishing. 



Limestone of Lyme. 

 Chemical analysis of specimens of limestone 

 from the town of Lyme were also made by my 

 pupils during the winter, but we have not yet ob- 

 tained information respecting the quarries and 

 the manufacture of the lime. The localities will 

 be visited during the next season, and the defi- 

 cient information will be obtained. Meanwhile 

 we present the analyses. 



The light colored crystalline limestone of Lyme 

 yielded in 100 grains, 



Carbonate of lime, 71.70 



Siliceous matter, 2,5.70 



Carbonate of iron and manganese, 2.(10 

 Carbonate of magnesia u-aces, 



100.00 

 It contains 40.35 per cent, of lime. 

 Analysis of dark colored linie.sloiin from Lyme. 

 100 grains, yield, 



Carbonate of lime, 83.6 



Silica and mica, 15.0 



Carbon, 0.2 



Carbonate of iron, 1.2 



100.0 



It contains 47.04 per cent of lime. 



A poorer variety of limestone occurs in Clare- 

 mont, but it is only useful for agricultural |)Ui- 

 poses, and must be burnt at a very carefully reg- 

 ulated red beat, otherwise it will form a slag. 

 Remarks on the burning or Lime. 



From the statistical accounts which- I have 

 been able to collect respecting the burning of 

 lime, it will appear that large kilns are much 

 more profitable than small ones, since a smaller 

 amount of fuel is required, and there is less waste 

 of heat. The kilns which are used in Smithfield, 

 R. I., hold 500 casks of lime each, and they are 

 by far the best that I have seen in operation. 



When the demand for lime will justify the at- 

 tempt, I should strenuously advise the liiiie burn- 

 er to construct bis kilns after that model, where- 

 by lime may be produced in large quantities and 

 at a less cost. 



In my Report on the Geology and Agriculture 

 of Rhode Island, will be seen the statistics of the 

 business, and we have only to change a few items, 

 particularly that of the price of wood and of the 

 rock, and then the same statistics will apply to 

 tlie cost of making lime in New Hampshire. 

 The Haverhill lime quarry will doubtless require 

 a kiln of the largest class, for when the lime be- 

 comes known it will be sought for by people res- 

 ident in all the surrounding country where lime- 

 stones have not been found. 



Since this Report went to press, I have been 

 informed by His Excellency Governor Page, that 

 Mr. Gannett has erected new kilns after the mod- 

 el which I described to him, but of smaller di- 

 mensions, and that he is now actively engaged in 

 burning lime, which meets with a ready market 

 and is in high repute. It is brought to wilhin 20 

 miles of Concord by teams. 



I have also been informed that the depth of 



the spring, where the limestone was first discov- 

 ered, was only three feet ; but the excavation ex- 

 tended horizontally to the distance meniioned in 

 another section of this Report. 

 Iron Ores. 



Iron holds the first rank among the useful met- 

 als, and is essential to civilized man, for most of 

 the arts are dependant upon it for the suiiply of 

 instruments which are absolutely necessary for 

 their prosecution. 



Civilized man alone makes use of iron, and to 

 that metal he in a great degree owes his superi- 

 ority over the savage. Science and skill in the 

 arts, and a fixed abode, are essential to its man- 

 ulacture, and theiefbre it never has been reduced 

 fiorn its ores by any but civilized people. 



Its magnetic properties guided the skilful nav- 

 igator across the ocean, and enabled European 

 civilization to extend itself to this continent 

 Arms manufactured from it enabled the first set- 

 tlers to withstand the inroads of barbarians, while 

 the more peacel'ul implements, the axe and the 

 the plough, constructed also of this metal, en- 

 abled the colonists to subdue the forest and to 

 cultivate the soil. 



Steel is but a modification of iron, prepared by 

 the introduction of a small proportion of carbon 

 of charcoal. Cast iron is a coarser combination 

 of iron with carbon, often accompanied also by 

 some impurities, such as the bases of sile.x, alu- 

 mina, and occasionally a little phosphorusor sul- 

 phur. 



Wrought or bar iron is nearly free from these 

 impurities, and is in a great measure deprived of 

 its carbon by the processes of manufacture. 



The ores of iron which can be profitably man- 

 ufactured are the oxides of the metal. 



Those usually employed are the magnetic iron 

 ore, cr>nsisting of a combination of the prot-ox- 

 ide of iron with the pcr-oxide, in the propor- 

 tions of 



Prot-oxide of iron, 31 ) contain. oxygen=28.2]5 

 I'er-oxide of iron, 69 ^ Iron 71.784 



The ores of this class are black, give a black 

 powder when pulverized, which is strongly at- 

 tracted by the magnet 



Its specific gravity varies from 4.74 to 5.09, ac- 

 cording to its purity and rompactneBB. 



It occurs crystallized in the lorm of the pri- 

 mary octahedron, and in its secondary form the 

 rhombic dodecahedron : also in lamina;, and in 

 grains more or less rounded, and in compact mas- 

 ses. 



The superficial portions of a vein of magnetic 

 iron ore always possess strong polarity, in direc- 

 tions coinciding with the magnetic meridian of 

 the place. This kind of iron is very abundant in 

 New Hampshire, and in many jilaces may be 

 economically wrought for iron. 



The Franconia Works make use of the gran- 

 ular magnetic iron ore exclusively, and u very 

 tough and excellent iron is made from it. 



The average product of cast iron is 60 per cent 

 on the ore smelted, but the pure ore contains 69.- 

 04 per cent of iron, as will be seen by the fol- 

 lowing analysis: 



100 grains of the granular magnetic iron ore 

 of Lisbon iron mine contain 



Prot and per-oxide of iron, 96.90 



Silica, 2.30 



Titanic acid, 1.50 



100.00 



96.20 per cent of the above oxides contain 

 69.04 per cent of metallic iron. 



Capt. Putnam, the agent o{ the Franconia Iron 

 Works, kindly furnished me with all the statisti- 

 cal information which was desired. 



The New Hampshire Iron Manufacturing Com- 

 pany was incorporated in June, 1805, when a 

 forge was erected and bar iron was made. 



In 1811 a blast furnace was erected, which has 

 been kept in operation since that time, and pro- 

 duces from 250 to 500 tons of excellent cast iron 

 per annum. This is partly sold in the form of 

 castings; and a part is converted into bar iron in 

 the forges. 



From 100 to 140 tons of bar iron are made per 

 annum. 



The furnace is kept in blast from 16 to 26 

 weeks at a time. 



The stack of the furnace was built of granite, 

 and it is lined with mica slate, which Is (bund in 

 the vicinity. 



