110 On the Manufacture of Bar Iron in India. 



25 cwt. were required to make a ton of bar iron, and that 

 therefore nothing was gained, as the same could be done by 

 refining and puddling cast iron. 



17. The expense of bar iron made in the Native bloom- 

 eries is about 90 rupees a ton, and I have made an error 

 in my former estimate, by not making a proper allowance for 

 the waste in forging. It is certain, however, that from the 

 number of men required to work them, the Natives do not 

 earn two annas a day, because they gladly accept that pay- 

 ment for working as common labourers. 



18. The Native bloomeries, from their small size, might 

 be called portable furnaces, as they might be carried and 

 worked with advantage in a waggon in the train of an army; 

 and if the method of working them had been known at Jel- 

 lalabad, they might have been the means of furnishing our 

 beleaguered forces with the iron they required so much for 

 tools. 



19. For the expenses of the German " stench often" as 

 given in Porter's Chemistry of the Arts: supposing the 

 rough lump to be a " bloom weighing 15 cwt. ; and sup- 

 posing this to yield when forged into bar iron 7| cwt., and 

 supposing that the produce is only 25 per cent, of the ore, 

 then 30 cwt. of ore will be required, which at 24J pounds 

 for 1 anna, will be 8| rupees. As about 400 pounds of 

 charcoal are used to make 100 pounds of bar iron, about 

 30 cwt. of charcoal would be used; and at 100 pounds for 

 2 annas, this will cost about 4J rupees ; and supposing 8 

 men for a whole day are required to work the furnace, the 

 labour at 2 annas a day will cost 1 rupee; or 14 rupees for 

 7\ cwt. ; or about 36 rupees a ton for finished bar iron ; and as 

 the iron made in these furnaces is of the finest quality, 

 there can be no doubt that they are well suited for intro- 

 ducing the manufacture into India. Although the product 

 of the furnace from the ore is seldom above 35 per cent., 

 yet the produce is really not less than in high blast furnaces, 



