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169 
is once kindled, to charge about a half a ton of anthracite coal broken 
to the egg-size, then 300 to 350 bushels of limestone in lumps of 20 to 
30 pounds each, and at the end of 12 hours another charge of coal and 
limestone, and so on, until the kiln is filled. They then draw out 
about 350 bushels of lime from the bottom, and introduce another charge 
of coal and limestone, and every twelve hours this process is repeated. 
This operation is continued for months, as in a high furnace for smelt- 
ing iron. A great economy is thus introduced,* the kiln being alw^ays 
kept heated, and the caloric which would escape in the common mode 
of manufacture, is here expended in heating other portions of limestone, 
and preparing it for the high temperature necessary to expel the carbonic 
acid. About 700 bushels of lime are thus obtained daily from each 
kiln, with a consumption of a little less than a ton of coal. 
Coal is delivered at the kiln at $6 per ton, so that the expense of 
fuel is less than one cent per bushel, and that of attending the kilns 
does not exceed one cent more, and the expense of raising and cart- 
ing the stone is very trifling. 
Lime is sold on the wharf at 6i cents per bushel, and vessels are al- 
ways waiting for their cargoes, and take the lime as fast as it is burned. 
This manufacture is the only business of any importance in Barne- 
gat; six kilns are in constant operation, and there are others in the vi- 
cinity. About 6,000 bushels are burnt per diem for nine months in the 
year, equal to 720,000 bushels per annum. There are numerous other 
lime kilns in Dutchess county, and it cannot be far from the truth to 
estimate their annual product at 1,500,000 bushels. This at 6k cents 
per bushel would yield an income of $93,750, and a nett profit of at 
least $30,000. 
This lime is not as strong as that of Thomaston or Rhode Island, and 
does not make as white walls. Most of the lime made at Barnegat is 
employed as a manure in New-Jersey on their sandy soils, and it is found 
to be an excellent fertilizer. 
*The relative economy introduced by this method of burning, may be calculated form the 
fact that in Connecticut, where lime is burnt with wood, and the kilns allowed to cool be« 
iween each burning, 35 cords of wood are employed to burn 700 bushels at Brookfield, and 40 
cords to burn 1,200 bushels at Reading.* Allowing wood to be worth $2.50 per cord, the ex- 
pense of fuel for burning is 12^ cents per bushel m the first, and 83 cents in the second case. 
The perpetual kilns of Pennsylvania yield 700 bushels of lime for every eight cords of wood, and 
one and a half tons of Anthracite consumed. t In New- York 2,000 bushels of lime are burnt 
with 12 cords of wood.f We see here a striking example of the variable quantity of combus- 
tible to produce the .same effect, and how great a saving may be made in this manufacture by 
judicious management. We have no knowledge of any lime kilns that employ so small a 
quantity of combustible as those of eastern New- York. 
•Shepard's Mineralogical Report of Connecticut, p. 82. fldem, p. 87. tl<lem. 
fAssem. No. 200.J 18 
