and China-clay of Cornwall. 57 
When required for exportation, these square blocks are 
scraped by a number of the clay women, who, armed with 
their “ Dutch Hoe”’-like instruments, as they surround their 
scraping tables, present a rather formidable appearance ; 
after this the clay is piled in waggons, to be sent from one of 
the nearest ports, or is packed in a number of small casks, 
each capable of holding about half a ton, in which it is 
sent off. 
The prices of these clays vary much with the quality of the 
article, though those of a superior stamp seldom alter, as 
they have held their price for the last ten or fifteen years, 
and always command an excellent sale in the market at from 
36s. to 46s. per ton; while those of an inferior quality may 
be procured at any price below this down to 17s. per ton, 
varying with their purity, hardness after calcination, degree 
of whiteness both in and out of water, and, lastly, the degree 
of shrinking they undergo on calcination or fusion. 
Having already entered, as fully as the limits of the pre- 
sent essay will permit me, on the subject of the uses of kao- 
lin, further information on that head must be dispensed with ; 
but, before concluding, I must introduce to your notice a few 
facts, bearing directly on the influence the preparation and 
production of this article exercises on this, the central por- 
tion of the county. The first and most important of which 
is the number of people employed in its preparation, and the 
amount of capital expended annually in labour ; next, I shall 
shew the amount of the cost of land dues; thirdly, that of 
land carriage, which will necessarily afford additional aid to 
the labourers in the vicinity, as the whole of this work is 
executed by a number of small farmers, each of whom is ge- 
nerally provided with his waggon and team of from three to 
four horses. ‘The cost of cooperage and quay-dues is next 
on the list, forming a total of £240,500 spent in the prepa- 
ration and production of this article in this county alone. 
But it should also be recollected that no less than 80,000 la- 
bourers are employed in the neighbourhood of the Stafford- 
shire potteries, and 20,000 more in those of Derby, Worces- 
ter, Wales, and Bristol, in its subsequent manufacture; for 
which, prior to its arrival in or at either of these districts, a 
