198 
Irbn . 
entirely confined in the hands of men of great capital : the 
extent of their manufactures require that a large tract of 
country be devoted to their supply ; a natural consequence 
is, that innumerable small tracts of land are overlooked, 
or held unworthy of notice, merely because they cannot, in 
a period necessary to clear a great capital and insure a for- 
tune, afford the necessary supply of materials. Such situ- 
ations, according to the present state of the iron business, 
must remain unexplored. Should, however, a desire for 
truth once gain footing in the manufactories of iron, and 
should this natural impulse of the unprejudiced mind keep 
pace with other branches of intellectual information, we 
may not despair of seeing many imperfections removed, 
which were the unavoidable consequence of the period of 
their creation. 
In the application of iron-stone in the blast-furnace, the 
following particulars ought rigorously to be attended to ; 
1. Their mixtures, whether clay, lime, or silex : their 
relative proportions to each other, judging according to 
the rules formerly laid down ; which of them may admit 
of a diminution of fuel ; which of them will afford the 
quality of iron at the time requisite ; and which of them 
will be most likely, by a judicious arrangement, to give 
the greatest produce of metal, united with value and (eco- 
nomy. Iron-stones, united with large portions of silex, 
have already been stated to require a greater proportion 
of fuel to carbonate their metal than the other genera. 
When ballast or forge-pigs are wanted, it stands to reason 
that siliceous iron-stones ought to be used ; not that they 
contain a greater quantity of iron, but because they form 
a substitute for the other kinds, which may be more ad- 
vantageously smelted for the production of more valuable 1 
2. The quantity of metal which each individual iron- 
stone may contain, is another object of consideration. 
