74 Industrial Experiments in Colonial America. 



a very inconsiderable quantity of the pitch and tar imported 

 from the colonies had been bought for the use of the Navy, in 

 proportion to the expense incurred by them. The premiums, 

 amounting to £80,000, had been a great clog to the Navy and 

 no advantage; and if any more bounties were granted, some 

 other provision for payment ought to be devised.^ They sent 

 to the Board of Trade a statement of the amount of their pur- 

 chases of plantation stores from 1713 to 1717, and the amount 

 of bounty paid.^ 



Total spent in premiums, £90,544 7s. 5d. Total amount of 

 stores bought : Pitch, 2,398 bbls.; tar, 4,438 bbls. The report 

 states that a great many stores were imported in these years, 

 for which the proprietors brought no certificates from the cus- 

 tom house, and so could not receive the premium. 



A great many complaints reached the Board of Trade that 

 the importers were so keen about getting the bounty that the 

 packing had been carelessly done, or else frauds had been pur- 

 posely practiced to increase the weight of the stores. In 

 March, 1718, a circular letter was therefore sent to the gov- 

 ernors of the plantations informing them of the poor quality of 

 the tar and pitch lately imported, the tar being full of water, and 

 the pitch mixed with sand and dirt for weight; so that certifi- 

 cates had been refused at the custom house. The governors 



^Navy Board to Secretary Burchett, B. T. New Eng., V: 145. 

 ^Account of premiums paid for naval stores by the Navy, B. T. 

 Plants. Gen. K: 121. 



1713. 



1714. 



1715. 



1716. 



1717. 



Premiums, 



Pitch, .. .. 

 Tar, 



Pitch 



Tar 



£. s. d. 



5,783-19-10 



£. s. d. 

 6,860-8-10 



£. s. d. 

 10,135-10-9 



715 bbls. 

 665 " 



£11-0-0 



9-0-0 



12-0-0 



II-O-O 



/. s.d. 



27,410-7-9 



75 bbls. 



/9-00 



/. s.d 



40,354-0-3 



1,608 bbls. 

 3.773 " 



/7-10-0 ton 

 6-10-0 

 ii-io-olast 

 II- 0-0 



