860 BELL ON THE VALUE OF 



instances, to great depths. It will presently be shown that some 

 of the workable slate bands in Canada are very much more exten. 

 siye. 



In Britain all the best slate quarries have been opened long ago, 

 and capitalists are now spending large sums in developing indiffer- 

 ent locations ; still with proper management, fortunes are being 

 made in working even comparatively new places. The large 

 yearly profits derived from i"oofing slates have already enabled the 

 owners of the quarries to amass immense sums of money, and the 

 increasing demand, not only for roofing, but also for sanitary and 

 other purposes to which slate has heen applied, foreshadows the 

 brightest prospects for the future. Great as is the number of 

 slates manufactured, the supply is not equal to the demand, and 

 hence the producers have of late, been able to dictate all the 

 terms and conditions of purchase to the buyers. The " rules and 

 regulations" respecting the sale of slate at some of the quarries 

 have very much the tone of the laws in the statute books. 



Some quarries have orders booked for forty to sixty weeks in 

 advance. In consequence of the enormous demand, prices have 

 lately advanced several times, and if they were again raised 20 

 per cent, (says the Mining Journal from which these facts are prin- 

 cipally derived) the sale would not be affected — so many new mar- 

 kets are continually opening. In addition to the rapidly increasing 

 demand in Britain itself, orders for slates are sent from all parts of 

 the world. Large numbers are constantly shipped to Russia, 

 France, Spain, Germany, Denmark, Prussia, Austria and America, 

 although the demand from the last mentioned quarter has not 

 been so great for the last two years. 



Slates, equal to those of Wales, are obtained in the west of 

 Scotland and in the Delabole district, parish of Tintagel, in the 

 north of Cornwall, where quarries are now worked paying 30 per 

 cent, profit on the outlay. It would be needless here to enter 

 into the merits of the slates of these regions, since my object is 

 merely to shew the great value of this source of wealth in Great 

 Britain, for which it is hoped the facts given in regard to Wales 

 are sufficient. 



The roofing slates of Great Britain and France belong to Lower 

 Silurian strata, which are believed to be equivalent to the 

 Quebec Group of this continent, and which comprises many of 

 the slate bands of Eastern Canada and New England. 



Since competition in the slate market of this continent, and per- 



