102 



On the Economical Manufactory of 



been sold at from 20^. to 22s. by all manufacturers in the neigh- 

 bourhood, whether made by hand or machine." This statement 

 establishes the fact that tiles can be sold at the price of 22^. per 

 thousand, the price of coals being 23^'. per ton. The price for 

 which they can be made by those who possess kilns and brickyards 

 is stated by Mr. Beart as follows, in answer to my inquiries : — 



"The work here is farmed by the foreman: my contract with him is 

 15,?. per thousand for all tiles which are returned at my counting-house as 

 delivered. I have nothing to do with waste tiles, nor do I go to my tile-yard 

 ten times a-year. I contract to deliver the coals at 20^. per ton. The clay 

 in this county is the most expensive to raise, and requires the most tem- 

 pering and grinding of any clay that I ever saw (and I have visited yards 

 in most parts of th^ country), except where the clay requires washing to 

 free it from stones. "i^A^ to cost of fuel I have had 56,000 tiles burnt in a 

 kiln, with a consumption of 14 tons of coals, but the construction of our 

 kilns is on the best principle and on a large scale." 



This saving of fuel, indeed, appears to be a more essential part 

 of Mr. Beart's system than even his machine ; for he is able to 

 burn 3500 or even 4000 tiles with 1 ton of coals : but, as Mr. 

 Burke informs me, a ton of coals at least is required on the old 

 system for 2500 tiles, and he has generally found a ton or even 

 24 cwt. to be employed in burning 2000. It is not, however, the 

 form of the kiln alone that effects this saving of fuel : I find from 

 Sir Harry Verney, who has lately begun to use Beart's machine 

 with his own kiln, that the more accurate shape of the tiles is also 

 a source of great economy in the burning. He writes to me from 

 Buckinghamshire : — 



" My kiln contains 34,000 tiles without bricks or soles, being 8000 more 

 than I could pack into it when I made the tiles by hand. Ten tons of hard 

 Derby coals burn my kiln of tiles ; of softer Staffordshire coals a couple of 

 tons more would be required. In small fires in a dwelling-house the sea- 

 borne coal would go much further than eveUvthe hard Derby, a fourth or a 

 fifth further, but in the large furnace of a kiln we find the hard Derby coal 

 as enduring as the Newcastle coal." 



The subject is so important that I must add some calculations 

 with which Mr. Evelyn Denison has furnished me, as applying to 

 the manufacture of tiles in Nottinghamshire : — 



*'I am afraid the answer, which I now send to your question as to the 

 expense of making draining-tiles in this part of the country, will come too 

 late for one of the objects you had in view, but I have had the calculations 

 carefully gone over as to the cost of those made at my own yard, and I have 

 communicated with several of my neighbours who make tiles, so you may 

 depend on the accuracy of this statement. 



" No. 1. Draining-tiles ]2i inches long, 5 deep, 4^ wide, cost me at my 

 yard 17s. 6d. per 1000 : which may be divided under the following heads : — 



s. d. 



Getting clay in winter, making and burning the tiles , .10 0 



Coals 6 0 



Sand 0 6 



Horse labour grinding clay 10 



Total ... 17 6 



