Draining- Tiles and Soles. 



103 



You will see that nothing is here charged for the prime cost of the buildings, 

 the kiln, the sheds, &c., or for the clay. 



" But the outlay for the buildings is not large ; 250/. would cover the ex- 

 pense of sheds and a kiln sufficient to make 300,000 tiles in the course of 

 the summer, so if you add 2*. per 1000 to the IZ^-. 6d. for the interest of the 

 money and the value of the clay, you allow more than is sufficient. 



*' With this addition the total expense of the tiles would be I9s.6d. per 

 1000. I should say that this is not an estimate, but the actual price paid 

 to my tile-maker. 



" I built the kiln and sheds, and the tile-maker delivers the tiles to me at 

 the rate of charge stated above. He is answerable for all accidents by frost 

 or weather, and for all breakage, I pay only for perfect tiles fit for use. 



*' Throughout this part of the country the actual cost of making tiles 

 varies from 18s. to 20*. per 1000. The current price at which they are sold 

 is from 27*. to 29*. per 1000. Coals costing about 14*. a ton. 



" The price of coals, you see, forms a very important ingredient in the 

 cost of producing tiles : a ton of coai will burn between 2000 and 3000 tiles, 

 varying with the quantity of the coals and the construction of the kiln. 



" Lord Wenlock, who has taken great pains with this branch of rural 

 economy, and who has a very large brick and tile yard admirably conducted, 

 tells us that by a combination of Lord Tweeddale's machine to press the clay, 

 and of Beart's machine to assist in making, he has reduced the cost of 

 tiles to }3s. 6d. per 1000, —not of course including any interest on buildings 

 or machinery." 



Ossington, Dec. 9, 1840. 



The variation in the price of draining-tiles certainly proves the 

 necessity of communication among the agricultural body. In 

 parts of Gloucestershire and Somersetshire they cost more than 

 40^. per 1 000 ; in my own neighbourhood they cost bOs. and even 

 60^. for the same quantity ; while in Huntingdonshire they have 

 been sold for five years at '22s. ; the price of coals is ''2?>s, there, 

 and here 2Ss., which would justify a difference of l^". 6q?. only 

 per 1000. The cost for tiles in draining a farm of 200 acres, if 

 the drains were laid at the moderate interval of 33 feet, would at 

 this moment be less than 290/. in Huntingdonshire ; 528/. in 

 Somersetshire ; and here in Berkshire 660/. or even 792/. It is 

 not, however, a mere question of economy, but of improvement or 

 no improvement. A high price of draining-tiles is almost prohi- 

 bitory of draining. Yet there are many large districts of Eng- 

 land, as the Weald of Sussex and Kent, which without this im- 

 provement in the first instance can be scarcely benefited by any 

 other. There are, probably, at least 10,000,000 acres in England 

 which require to be tile- drained, perhaps many more. A saving, 

 therefore, of 20s. in the price of tiles is a gain of 10,000,000/. ; 

 but it is more, for upon that saving may depend the power of 

 farming them as they ought to be farmed. 



It may be convenient to insert an estimate of the prices at 

 which tiles may be sold on Mr. Beart's system, according to the 

 various prices at which coals can be obtained for burning them ; 

 and also of the expense at which landed proprietors who possess 

 kilns may make their own tiles. I should think that, in their 



