B L A 



B L A 



The demand for iron niiicles of all kinds in this country 

 not only coniinuid luiabntcd after the ptiiod of I79f>> but 

 kept incrcafiug in a greater ratio than formerly ; fo that, in 

 the fliort foace oi tivc years, fituations were occupied for 

 nearly 50 additional furnaces, or additions made to efta- 

 blilhed works of that extent. Betwixt 1801 and \i.'oi, it 

 was afcertained that the following new furnaces were either 

 building or adually in blaft, in England, Wales and Scot- 

 land. 



In England and Wales. 



Blowing. Cuildiiig. 

 . - . I o 



Silvcrdale, 



SnedlhiU, 



Wibfey Moor, 



Ketiey, 



Madely Wood, 



Burnet's Leafow, 



Newcaftlc, Staffordfliire, 



Cvf.irtha, South Wales, 



Lianellv, Do. 



Sirhiwy, Do. 



Bcaukrt, Do, 



Plymouth, 



Union, 



Aberdare, 



T'pton, near Billion, 



Bloorafield, 



Longacres, 



We.incfburv, 



Staffo-.dihir'e, 



Coleford, Gloucefterfhire, 



Jack field, 



Old Park, 



Donnington Wood. 



Deepfield, Staffordfliire, 



Gornall Wood, Do. 



Ericrly Hill, 



BilftoP, 



, near Wolverhampton, 



Dudley Wood, 

 Billingfly, Shropfhire, 

 Ncwcaftle upon Tyne, 



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Furnaces. 



England and Wales, in 1796, lo^. 

 Ditto, fince that period, 40 



Scotland, in 1796 - 17 



Ditto, fince that period, 7 



Tuni. 



ioS,903 

 40,000 



144 — 



16,086 

 7.000 



1 48,99 J 



24 



23,086 



Grand Total in Britain, 



168 making (72,079 



Blowing and bulding in Great Britain ; the produce of 

 which fupj.'jfing them all to have gone to work at the rate 

 of 1000 tons per annum, from each furnace, would 

 amount to, from 47 furnaces, 47,000 tons. 



Manufafturtd at, and previous ? 

 to 1796, ia 



' > 121 furnaces, 125,079 



168 furnaces, 172,079 tons. 



The refpeftive proportions of this aflonidiing produce in pig 

 iron manufactured in England and Wales, aiid in Scotland, 

 will Hind thus : 



In recapitulating the interefting fafls which will refult from 

 a review of the gii;antic progrefs of this irannfaCtorv, the 

 regular piogrtfTive quantity made at a furnace is remarkable, 

 or, which is the itiioc, a diminution o*^ the number of lur- 

 naces to perform tne fame quantity of labour. 



Dudley reprefents, that in h'S day, 1620, there 

 exifttd, in England and Wales alone, 300 blaft 

 furnaces, for ttie ioie making of pig iron, to each 

 of thele have been afligned the yearly pro- 

 duce of .... 250 tons. 



At a period confiderably after thi', arid before 

 the ufe of pit-coal was found profitable in the fur- 

 nace, 59 funipces produced yearly 17,350 tons of 

 ohaicoal iron, or each furnace average, - 294 



In 1788, there Hill exillcd in England 24 char- 

 coal furnaces, wiiich yearly maiiufattured 13,100 

 tons of metal, or from each furnace, on an 

 average, - - - - - 545 



At the fame period, in England and Wales, 53 

 blaft furnaces, at which coke was uftd, manufac- 

 tur. d yearly 48,100 tons, which upon an average 

 was nearly, tiom each furnace, - - 907 



The fame year, in Scotland, 8 furnaces produced 

 7000 tons of iron, or irom tach furnace, . 875 



In 1796, the number of furnaces in England 

 and Wales amonnted to 104, and yielded 108,993 

 tons of metal, which from each furnace was 

 equal to - - - - IO48 



Tne fame year, in Scotland, i7 furnaces manu« 

 faft'.Med 16,086 tons of pig iion, which is from 

 each furnace, .... g^S 



Thefe are by no means fufficient data to form an accurate 

 opininn of the real progrefs or improvement of our blowing 

 machinery in Britain. In the collection of turnacts in 1796, 

 a number of charcoal biafts were included, which, irom 

 then- general fmall produce, blowing only four, lix, or nine 

 months a yrar, reduces the average cnnfiderably on the 

 whole. It may now be fafcly aftcrted, that the average 

 produce in iron at pit-coal blaft furnaces in England and 

 Wales, is at malting iron works, - 1 200 tons 



Do. at forge p.g works, - - 2000 



Thi$ bears a very ftriking contraft to the early exertions 

 of the manufacturers in the fixteenth and feventeenth centu- 

 ries, and exhibits a wonderful example of the general and rapid 

 iniprovemtriit of machinery in the laft 50 years. With the 

 imp*-! v. n;ents of macliir.ery, the advancement of the manu- 

 fa'^rurt- ot iron in general, and particularly of coke pig iron, 

 has kept equal pace. Nor have we facriticed quahty to 

 quantity, but the reverfe ; for the melting pig iion of our 

 time is much more calculated for every variety of cafting, 

 than iron, equally faturated with the coally principle, made 

 with wcod charcoal. 



By comparing the value of a ton of pig iron at different 

 perii,ai> 'or the laft 200 years, a pretty accurate opinion may 

 be foifl ed of the increafed price of labour at iron works, 

 and of the increafed value of an objedt of univerfal utility in 

 all our arts and manuia£lurcs. 



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