Ex Libris 
 C. K. OGDEN
 
 X
 
 THE 
 
 mDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 IRELAND. 
 
 BY 
 
 ROBERT KANE, M.D., 
 
 HONORARY MEMBER OP THE ROVAI, DUBLIN SOCIETY, AND OP THE FLAX 
 
 IMPROVEMENT SOCIETY OF IRELAND; 
 
 SECRRTARY TO THE COUNCIL OP THE ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY; 
 
 PROFESSOR OF NATURAL PHILOSOPHY TO THE ROYAL DUBLIN SOCIETY, AND 
 
 OP CHEMISTRY TO THE APOTHECARIES' HALL OF IRELAND. 
 
 S>ccontf (IBlJition. 
 
 DUBLIN: 
 HODGES AND SMITH, GRAFTON-STREET. 
 
 LONGMAN AND CO., AND SIMPKIN AND CO., LONDON. 
 MACLACHLAN AND STEWART, EDINBURGH. 
 
 MDCCCXLV.
 
 DCBI.IN; 
 
 rRINTK.n AT THE DMVEnSITV I-RESS 
 
 11 Y M. 11. (iH.I..
 
 PREFACE 
 
 TO THE FIRST EDITION. 
 
 Some time since, being engaged with the delivery 
 of a course of Lectures on the physical principles 
 and mechanical construction of the prime movers 
 of machinery, I entered into some details regard- 
 ing the circumstances under which the sources of 
 mechanical power exist in Ireland, and took occa- 
 sion to correct the exaggerated ideas usually enter- 
 tained of the disadvantages under which this coun- 
 try labours, in regard to mechanical industry. 
 
 The discussions, into which I then entered, al- 
 though but collateral, attracted some attention, and 
 I was requested by the Council of the Royal Dublin 
 Society to proceed fiu'ther with those inquiries. 
 Passing beyond the question of mere mechanical 
 industry, I had occasion to examine the relations of 
 the coimtry to the prime materials of the chemical 
 and metallic manufactures, and finally to discuss 
 some important statistical and moral problems, af- 
 fecting the industrial progress of Ireland. 
 A 2
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Tliese inquiries inovlved, besides the examina- 
 tion and comparison of the works of various inde- 
 pendent autliors, a great number of series of new 
 mechanical and chemical investigations. For these 
 the materials had to be gradually collected, and I 
 take this opportunity of returning my thanks to the 
 numerous individuals, who kindly, indeed enthu- 
 siastically, in their separate departments, placed spe- 
 cimens and documents at my disposal, without the 
 assistance of whicli it would have been impossil)le 
 for me to proceed. 
 
 The facts I had thus collected, and the general 
 conclusions to which I had arrived, were embodied 
 in a course of public Lectures on the Sources of 
 Industry which exist in Ireland, delivered by me 
 at the Royal Dublin Society in the commencement 
 of the present year. On the conclusion of the course, 
 the Coiuicil of the Royal Dublin Society expressed 
 their sanction of the general facts and principles 
 therein contained, and requested that I should pre- 
 pare those Lectures for publication. 
 
 Such is the origin of the present work, in which, 
 however, I have not retained the form of the Lec- 
 tures described above. The discussion of each sub- 
 ject has been rendered more precise, and carried 
 more into numerical detail, than a lecture to a mixed 
 auditory would allow, and many topics which, owing 
 to the limited time of public lectures, were not then 
 noticed, are now treated of in their proper place. 
 
 In arrangement and extent the work has thus
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 assumed anotlier fonii, but iu no case have I found 
 occasion to correct a statement, or modify any con- 
 clusion, which I had expressed at lecture. 
 
 It must be understood, that in sanctioning the 
 general principles which I embodied in my course, 
 so far as to call upon me to prepare those Lectures 
 for publication, the Royal Dublin Society only 
 wished to draw public attention to the eminently 
 important subject of the industrial resources of Ire- 
 land, and not to thereby specially adopt all or any 
 of the conclusions to which I have arrived. The 
 various materials for this w^ork have been collected 
 by me as an individual ; all the experimental in- 
 vestigations which were carried on for its illustration, 
 were conducted in my laboratory ; and, therefore, 
 the responsibility of all facts, where no author is 
 quoted, and for all opinions expressed, or conclu- 
 sions drawn, where not otherwise described, rests 
 with myself 
 
 In a work thus iindertaken and carried out, it is 
 inevitable that many imperfections shall be dis- 
 covered, which more extensive means and greater 
 facilities for investigation should have enabled me 
 to obviate. The subject is, in itself, of siich a na- 
 ture, that the progress of experiment and of inquiry 
 uuist tend continually to modify our existing views, 
 to extend our actual knowledge, and to substitute 
 for the limited observations of our present field, the 
 wider and more exact investigations, which may 
 naturally result from the discussion of the great
 
 Tl PREFACE. 
 
 question of our industiy. In all such cases, tlie 
 first step, though the most difficiilt and the least ac- 
 credited, is still the most essential. 
 
 In other countries it has been the most anxious 
 care of Government, and of those intrusted with the 
 superintendence of education, to ascertain the na- 
 ture and amount of their means of promoting indus- 
 try, and extending the employment of the people. 
 It is thus that every year sees the Continental na- 
 tions making such giant strides in manufacturing 
 activity. It is thus that the physical disadvantages, 
 which had so long kept them back, are gradually 
 being lessened in importance. 
 
 If similar zeal and intelligence were manifested 
 in developing the resources of this country, there 
 would be no fear of the result. As circumstances, 
 however, do not admit of this being done, the pi\b- 
 lication of even the short and imperfect sketch, 
 which alone could be drawn up by an unaided in- 
 dividual, may be useful in awakening the attention 
 of those practically engaged upon such subjects, 
 and may lead to more extensive observation, and 
 more detailed inquiry. 
 
 R. K. 
 
 June 1, 1844.
 
 PREFACE 
 
 TO THE SECOND EDITION. 
 
 In preseuting to tlie Public a Second Edition of 
 " The Industrial Resources of L-eland," I feel it m}^ 
 duty, and certainly it is one peculiarly agreeable 
 to an author, to express my grateful recognition 
 of the kindness with which the work has been re- 
 ceived, and the very favourable judgments which 
 have been pronounced upon it by various competent 
 authorities. 
 
 I had, indeed, for many years devoted all the time 
 and energy, which an individual could well com- 
 mand, to obtain materials for the discussion of the 
 problem that presented itself to me upon every side, 
 and under various aspects ; the problem of,— what 
 field for ivork does Ireland really present ? I had 
 always found that real progress was effected only by 
 genuine labour. I knew that all that is sound and 
 permanent in England's industrial power grew, not 
 out of oratorical elegancies, but from hard-handed, 
 stern, and persevering work. By such work alone,
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 work of mind and of body, can a people hope to 
 lidvance, and the consideration of what departments 
 of industry presented most prospect of success, and 
 by wliat modes of action that success could be ren- 
 dered most facile and least remote, presented itself 
 to my mind, naturally, as of vast importance. The 
 expression of public opinion regarding the present 
 work has certainly proved that I was not wrong in 
 my general conceptions. The imperfections, and 
 even, perhaps, inaccuracies, almost inevitable in a 
 work embracing so wide a range of subject, have 
 been kindly overlooked by my indulgent critics, 
 who, agreeing with me in the importance of the 
 object, gave it their approval. 
 
 I did not, however, presume upon this forbearance, 
 but availed myself of every opportunity of adding to 
 the number of the facts, and to the accuracy of the 
 statements which the work contains. The interval 
 which has elapsed since its first publication has 
 been too short to allow of any very material alter- 
 ation, but in a variety of places, which it would be 
 tedious to enumerate, I have inserted additional 
 information, and rendered more definite and precise 
 that already given. In order also to represent to the 
 reader the more important physical features of the 
 coimtry, I have caused to be prepared, to accom- 
 pany this edition, four maps illustrating, 
 
 1 . The geological structure of Ireland. 
 
 2. The elevation of its surface. 
 
 3. The di.-trlbuiiou of bo^'and drainage. 
 
 4. Tiic mcan.s of internal intercourse.
 
 PREFACE. IX 
 
 Although not of large size, I believe these maps 
 will be found to supply a good deal of useful gene- 
 ral information. Detailed references to their con- 
 tents will be found in those chapters of the work 
 where the subjects to which they refer are specially 
 discussed. 
 
 In putting forward the Second Edition of the 
 " Industrial Resources of Ireland," I have done so 
 without pretension of any very material alteration 
 from the former, but still revised and corrected 
 to the present limits of our knowledge. The sub- 
 ject of promoting the development of industry 
 and of industrial knowledge in our country is one 
 that I have taken up, as the steady and well-con- 
 sidered object of my life; yet whilst following out, 
 in the laboratory or the workshop, the inquiries sub- 
 servient to that object, I have felt myself assisted 
 and encouraged in no ordinary degree by the ap- 
 probation which my countrymen of all classes and 
 parties have awarded to a work, which I consider 
 but a preliminary effort. 
 
 R. K. 
 
 Royal Dublin Society, 
 February \st, 1845.
 
 ERRATUM. 
 
 Page 35!^ line 2$, for " BalJina," retid ' ISalliiiHniore.'
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Chapter I. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Importanok of Fuel in the industrial Arts. Circumstances of Ireland 
 as to Fuel. Absence of Wood. Its former Abundance in Ireland. 
 Geographical Position of the Coal Districts. Coal Fields of Leinstcr, 
 of Tipperary, and of Munster. Their Geological Structure and Ex- 
 tent of Beds. Cost of the Coal produced. Anthraciteof the South. 
 Bituminous Coal of the North of Ireland. Coal Fields of Tyrone, 
 of Antrim, Monaghan, and of Connaught. Theii' geological and 
 economic Conditions. Position of the Lough Allen Coal Field. Its 
 Productiveness not well ascertained. Composition of the Irish Coals, 
 their Cost and practical Value. Numerical Results of their eco- 
 nomic and ultimate Analyses. Peculiarities in the Use of Anthra- 
 cite as Fuel. Its conversion into a flaming Coal by Steam. Its Use 
 with locomotive Engine Boilers. Wood Coal of Lough Neagh. Its 
 Situation and Extent. Results of its chemical Analysis, and of its 
 economic Examination. Extent and Mode of Formation of Bog in 
 Ireland. Different Kinds of Bog. Composition of Turf, its Cost 
 and practical Value. Modes of preparing it. Inilucnce of the Water 
 contained in Turf on its heating Power. Compressed Peat. Its Cost 
 and economic Value. Products of the Distillation of Turf. Prepa- 
 ration and Value of Charcoal from Turf, 1 
 
 Chapter II. 
 
 Necessity for determining the Influence which the Cost of Fuel exercises 
 on the Cost of Power, and the Means of economizing it. General 
 Prmciple of Steam Power. Evaporative Powers of different Kinds 
 of Fuels. Comparison of Anthracite with bituminous Coal. Unit 
 of Steam Power. Consumption of Coal with ordinary Steam Boilers. 
 Economy of Fuel obtained with Cornish Boilers. Mode of employ- 
 ing Steam iu Cornwall. Principle of Expansion. Money Value of 
 Coal in Ireland. Cost of Steam Power, with native and imported 
 Coals. Employment of Turf as Fuel. Its absolute and relative
 
 Xll CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 CV)st. Result."! of jiractical Trials. Practical Results of the fni- 
 ployment of Tiu-f in the Steamers on the Shannon and under fi.xed 
 Engines. Cost of the Horse Power of Steam with Coal and Turf 
 in different Districts in Ireland and in England. Influence of the 
 Cost of Fuel on the final Cost of the Products of Manufacture. Sta- 
 tistical Analj-sis of the different Elements of lOxpenditure besides 
 Steam Power in the Cotton Trade, in the Woollen Trade, in the Flax 
 Ti-ade. Final Conclusion as to how far the Cost of Fuel necessarily 
 affects Industry in Ireland. Elements of Calculation for evaporative 
 Steam I'ower, 45 
 
 Chapter III. 
 
 Of the Water Power of Ireland. Mode in which it originates. Amount 
 of Rain and Evaporation in different Parts of Ireland. Average as- 
 sumed. Influence of the Nature of the Surface on Evaporation. Ele- 
 vation alxn-e the Seii of the Surface of Ireland. Limestone Plain of 
 the Centre. Mountainous Districts of the North and South. Ave- 
 rage Elevation assumed as the average Height of Fall of Water 
 from the Land to the Sea. Total Amount of mechanical Force thus 
 generated; its Distribution. Arrangement of the principal Rivers 
 by which the Surface of Ireland is drained. Drainage of the central 
 Districts by the Shannon and its Adjuncts. Wicklow and Wexford. 
 Drainage I'asins of the Blackwater and the Lee. Basins of Lough 
 Neagh, of Lough Erne, and the Foyle. Relation of the Extent of 
 Surface drained to the mechanical Force. Water Power of the Shan- 
 non: of the Lee at Cork; of the Upper Bann ; of the Connaught 
 Lakes. Description of the most important \\'ater Engines. Dif- 
 ferent Forms of Water Wheels. Of the M'ater Pressure Engine. 
 Reaction Mill. Of the Turbine, Principle of its Action ; its Eco- 
 nomy; Constancy of its Power. Disadvantages of Water Power. 
 Necessity for economizing the Waters of Floods. Examples of the 
 I'ower of Floods. Formation of Reser^'oirs to secure Uniformity of 
 Water Power. Results of those erected on the Upper Uann and on 
 the Shaw's Water at Greenock. The Dodder. Lough Ennel and 
 the Brosna. Estimates of the Cost of \Nater Power. Relative Va- 
 lues of Water and Steam Power as Movers of Machinery. Extent to 
 which A\'ater Power is economized in England and in Ireland. Com- 
 *iination of Steam with Water Power. Application of the Force of 
 the Tide to mechanical 1 urposes. Peculiar Advantiigcs of the Tur- 
 bine as a IMde Mill. Advantageous Situation of many Points on the 
 Coast for employing the Tide as a Source ol mechanical Power, . . 71 
 
 C'haptkr IV. 
 
 Imiiortancc of Iron in the ,\rls. Ancient Manufacture of Iron in Ireland. 
 Ores of Iron. Magnetic Ironstone. Hematites. Bog lion Ores.
 
 CONTENTS. XIU 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Clay Ironstone of the Coal Districts. Distribution, Properties, and 
 Composition of the Ironstones of the Leinster Coal Field. Connaught 
 Coal District, fron Oresof Arignaand Slieve-a-Nieran; their Abun- 
 dance; their Composition, compared with the British and Scottish 
 Ores. Sketcli of the Process of Iron smelting, and Analyses of the 
 Elements of its Cost in Staffordshire and in Wales. Probable Cost 
 of making Iron at Lough Alkn. Effects of the Hot Blast on the 
 Iron ^Manufacture in Scotland. Its possible Influence in Ireland. Of 
 the smelting of Iron by Anthracite in Wales and Pennsylvania. Its 
 Feasibility in the Leinster Coal Field. Conversion of Pig into Bar 
 Iron. Analysis of the comparative Cost in England and at Lough 
 Allen. EmploTrTnenf of Turf in the Manufacture of Iron in Ger- 
 many and France. Analysis of the Cost of Production of Iron by 
 Turf. Refining of Iron with Turf ; its superior Quality. Influence 
 of the Cost of Fuel on the Iron Manufacture. Recent Processes for 
 economizing the waste Heat of Iron Furnaces. Utilization of Fuels 
 of inferior Uiiality, 118 
 
 Chapter V. 
 
 Geological Structure of Ireland. Granitic Rocks ; their Distribution and 
 Composition. Mica Slate ; its Extent, Clay Slate, upper and lower ; 
 its Mineral Contents and Area. Veins and Protrusions of Quartz 
 Rock. Sandstone Formations ; old Red and Yellow Sandstone.' ; 
 Conglomerates ; their Distribution. Carboniferous Slate. Rela- 
 tions of the Limestone and Coal Measures to the underlying and 
 superincumbent Rocks. New Red Sandstone. Chalk of Antrim. 
 Basalt and Trap Rocks of the North of Ireland. 
 
 Mining Districts of Ireland. Copper Mines. Ores of Copper. Mines of 
 the Wicklow District ; their Distribution ; Mode of working and 
 Produce. Mines of the Waterfnrd District ; their Structure and 
 Produce. Copper Mines of the South- Western District; their geo- 
 logical Relations and Produce. Copper District of Tipperary. Mines 
 in the Clay-slate north of Dublin. Metallurgic Treatment of Cop- 
 per Ores. Economy of Fuel in smelting. 
 
 Of the Lead Mines of Ireland. Ores of Lead, Lead Mines of Wicklow 
 and We.Kford; their Structure and Produce. Lead Mines of the 
 Northern and South -Western Slate Districts, Deposits of Lead Ore 
 in the Limestone of Ireland. Mines near Dublin. Mines of Clare. 
 Preparation and smelting of Lead Ores. Extraction of the Silver 
 from Lead. Richness of the Irish Ores in Silver. Economy of Fuel 
 in the Treatment of Lead Ores, I(i8 
 
 Chapter VI. 
 
 Gold Mines of Wicklow; their Situation and Produce. Native Silver. 
 Mines of Manganese, Antimony, Cobalt. Mineralsof Zinc, Nickel, and
 
 XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGK. 
 
 Tin. Sulphur Trade of Wicklow. Iron Pyrites. Deposits at Silverminc.s. 
 Decomposable Pyrites of the Coal Fields. Means of manufacturing 
 Copperas and Alum. Native Alums of Clare and Kerry. Varieties 
 of Clay found in Ireland. Porcelain Clay of I3altinglass and TuUow. 
 Pipe-Clay of Cahir and Roscommon. Clays of Coal Island, Kil- 
 kenny, Arigna, and Howth-. Flints and Quartzoze Sand. Manufac- 
 ture of Glass and Earthen M'are. Building Stones of Ireland ; their 
 Varieties and Qualities. Roofing Slates of Killaloe, Valentia, and 
 Wicklow. Minerals of Barytes and of Magnesia. List of Varieties 
 and Localities of Marbles 219 
 
 Chapter VII. 
 
 Of the Agricultural Industry of Ireland. Its Importance as an Occupa- 
 tion. Relations of Agriculture to Manufactures. Natural Fertility 
 of the Soil of Ireland. Statistical Valuation of its Produce. Dis- 
 tribution of the Surface of the Country. Office of Plants. Correla- 
 tive Functions of the Mineral, Vegetable, and Animal Kingdoms. 
 Composition of Plants. Origin of the Soil. Connexion between the 
 Fertility of the Soil and its Composition. E.xamples of fertile Dis- 
 tricts. Nature of the Soils of various Parts of Ireland. Composition 
 of Subsoils. Organic Elements of the Soil. Mechanical and Physi- 
 cal Offices of the soil. Of Drainage : its Importance to Irish Agri- 
 cultui-e. 
 
 Action of Plants on the Soil. Of Exhaustion. Composition of the most 
 important Crops. Of Manures, Composition and Properties of the 
 most important native Manures. Of Lime and Limestone ; Marl ; 
 Sea Sand. Coral Sand ; its Nature. Value of those Sands dredged 
 upon the North and South Coasts. Of Gypsum ; of Sea-weed ; of 
 Bones; Farm Yard Manure; its Composition and relative Power. 
 Importance of its Preservation and suitable Economy to practical 
 Agriculture, 249 
 
 Chapter VIII. 
 
 Agricultural Industry continued. Of Rotations. Relation of Corn Crops 
 and Green Crops. Amount of Food produced by various Systems of 
 Culture. Influence of different Cultures in the Exhaustion or Ame- 
 lioration of the Soil. Size of Farms in Ireland. Principle of Con- 
 solidation, not as applicable to agriculture as to Manufactures. Re- 
 lation of the Size of Farms to the Population. Relative Profit and 
 Employment afforded by large and small Farms. Average availa- 
 ble Farms for existing Population. 
 
 Secondary Uses of Food Crops. Manufactui-e of Potato Starch, Sugar, 
 and Spirits. Composition of different Kinds of Potatoes. Manufac- 
 ture of Beet Root Sugar ; its economic Circumstances. Of Fibre 
 Crops. Cultivation of Flax and Hemp. Composition of ligneous
 
 CONTENTS. XV 
 
 PAGK. 
 
 Fibre. Mode of Cultuxe and Preparation of Flax. Principles which 
 it gives oiF in steeping. Average Crop of Flax ; its Value. Uses of 
 the Flax Products as Food and as Manure. 
 Flax Manufacture and Linen Trade. Total Value of Flax grown in Ire- 
 land. Exertions of the Roj-al Dublin Society and Flax Improvement 
 Society, and their Results. EmplojTnent given by the Flax and 
 Linen Trade. Tables of Mill Power and of Exportation of Flax and 
 Linen. Localization of this Industry. Favourable Situations for it. 
 Culture and Composition of Hemp. Conclusion 29'-> 
 
 Chapter IX. 
 
 Importaneeof Means of internal Communication to the Industryand Mo- 
 rality of a People. Influence of the Construction of Roads on the 
 social Condition of the Inliabitants. The Expense repaid manifold 
 by the Increase of Revenue. Utility of public Grants to assist in the 
 Execution of Works of local Improvement. 
 
 Of Inland Navigation. Favourable natural Condition of Ireland. Na- 
 vigation of the Shannon. Expenditure on its Works. Amount of 
 Employment given. Traffic on the several Parts of the Shannon by 
 Steam and otherwise. Other navigable Rivers of Ireland. The 
 Barrow Navigation. Extent and Direction of the Canals of Ireland. 
 Grand and Royal Canals. Amount of Traffic and Tolls. Their 
 Branches. Lagan Navigation. Newry and Lister Canals. Tj'roue 
 and Boyne Navigations. Proposed Canal to place Ln Connexion 
 Lough Neagh, Lough Erne, and the Shannon. 
 
 Of the Irish Lakes in Relation to the Means of Intcrcoiirse. Loughs Neagh 
 and Erne. Lough Gill. The Connaught Lakes. Importance of 
 developing their Navigation. Probable Benefits to the Inhabitants 
 of that Province, and to the Country at large. 
 
 Of Railways as regards Ireland. Existing Lines. Dublin and Kings- 
 town. Ulster Railway. Drogheda Line. Report of Railway Com- 
 missioners. Lines recommended therein. Notice of the general 
 Conditions of the various Lines of Railway now proposed to be 
 formed. Cost of locomotive Power. Of the Atmospheric Railway. 
 Its peculiar Relations to this Country. Its mechanical and econo- 
 mical Advantages. 
 
 Importance of the Railway System as a Means of Intercourse to the Peo- 
 ple. Notice of the Question of Governmental Control in the Con- 
 struction and JIanagement of Railways, 344 
 
 Chapter X. 
 
 Circumstances of Ireland regarding certain staple Articles of Industry. 
 Cotton, Wool, Salt. Of the Cost of Labour hi Ireland. Skilled and 
 uiiskilled Labour. Cheap Labour and low Wages not identical. 
 Labourmg Force of Men estimated. Skilled Labour rare and dear
 
 XVI rONTRNTS. 
 
 PAGK. 
 
 in Trelaml. Freedom of Labour necessary to all industrial Progrcs'S, 
 rombiiiations in Ireland more injurious than in Great Britain. 
 How to be counteracted. Evidences of Improvement in the Habits 
 of the Working Classes. 
 
 Supposed Wpntof Capital in Ireland. Real Extent of its Influence. Eng- 
 ii.sh Capital not available for active Industry. Useful for the secon- 
 dary Operations of passive Imlustry, and tlius leaving native Capital 
 free for the more active Pursuits. 
 
 Necessity for industrial Knowledge in Ireland. Possessed by England 
 in an eminent Degree. Observations of M. Briavionne. False Ideas 
 of Education. Union of Science and Practice necessary for Industry. 
 Industrial Knowledge more extensive and more difficult to acquire 
 than professional Knowledge. Mannerof conducting it. E.xertions 
 of the Iioyal Dublin Society for promoting industrial Education. 
 Special Education in Agriculture, by the Royal Dublin Society, the 
 Royal Agricultural Society, and private Agricultural Schools. Of 
 the System of National Education, in regard to Agriculture. Rela- 
 tions of Industry to Morality, Temperance, and Intelligence. Con- 
 clusion, 301
 
 THE 
 
 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 OF 
 
 IRELAND. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 IMPORTANCE OF FUEL IN THE INDUSTRIAL ARTS. CIRCUM- 
 STANCES OF IRELAND AS TO FUEL. ABSENCE OF WOOD. ITS 
 FORMER ABUNDANCE IN IRELAND. GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION 
 OF THE COAL DISTRICTS. COAL FIELDS OF LEINSTER, OF 
 TIPPERARY, AND OF MUNSTER. THEIR GEOLOGICAL STRUC- 
 TURE AND EXTENT OF BEDS. COST OF THE COAL PRODUCED. 
 ANTHRACITE OF THE SOUTH. BITUMINOUS COAL OF THE 
 NORTH OF IRELAND. COAL FIELDS OF TYRONE, OF ANTRIM, 
 MONAGHAN, AND OF CONNAUGHT. THEIR GEOLOGICAL AND 
 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS. POSITION OF THE LOUGH ALLEN 
 COAL FIELD. ITS PRODUCTIVENESS NOT WELL ASCERTAINED. 
 COMPOSITION OF THE IRISH COALS, THEIR COST AND PRAC- 
 TICAL VALUE. NUMERICAL RESULTS OF THEIR ECONOMIC 
 AND ULTIMATE ANALYSES. PECULIARITIES IN THE USE OF 
 ANTHRACITE AS FUEL. ITS CONVERSION INTO A FLAMING 
 COAL BY STEAM. ITS USE WITH LOCOMOTIVE ENGINE 
 BOILERS. WOOD COAL OF LOUGH NEAGH. ITS SITUATION 
 AND EXTENT. RESULTS OF ITS CHEMICAL ANALYSIS, AND 
 OF ITS ECONOMIC EXAMINATION. EXTENT AND MODE OF 
 FORMATION OF BOG IN IRELAND. DIFFERENT KINDS OF BOG. 
 COMPOSITION OF TURF, ITS COST AND PRACTICAL VALUE. 
 MODES OF PREPARING IT. INFLUENCE OF THE WATER CON- 
 TAINED IN TURF ON ITS HEATING POWER. COMPRESSED PEAT. 
 ITS COST AND ECONOMIC VALUE. PRODUCTS OF THE DIS- 
 TILLATION OF TURF. PREPARATION AND VALUE OF CHAR- 
 COAL FROM TURF. 
 
 The question which presents itself almost on the threshold 
 of every industrial enterprise, is that of the amount and cost 
 of the fuel necessary to be consumed in executing the work : 
 
 B
 
 2 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 for in tho existing condition of the Arts, it may almost uni- 
 versally be considered, that, directly or indirectly, tho changes 
 which arc to be produced, whether in composition or in form, 
 in the raw materials of any manufacture, are effected by the 
 operation of heat. If we look to any of the various chemical 
 or metallurgic arts, we find the agency of heat necessary to 
 give liquidity to the substances employed, so that they may 
 be run into moulds, or separated from infusible components ; 
 to effect their perfect mixture, or to bring into play those che- 
 mical affinities, by which their constitution may be altered, 
 and new and more valuable products formed. Hence it is im- 
 possible to carry on those branches of industry in localities 
 destitute of fuel : and where this is scarce and high priced, 
 the cost of production of the manufactured article may be so 
 augmented, as to absorb all profit, and render the prosecution 
 of that trade only a source of loss. In a similar manner, al- 
 though not in the same degree, the mechanical arts are in- 
 fluenced by the cost of fuel. In localities where water power 
 is not available, it is necessary to employ steam. To produce 
 any given motion, to spin a certain weight of cotton, or weave 
 any quantity of linen, there is required steam ; to produce the 
 steam, fuel ; and thus the price of fuel regulates effectively 
 the cost of mechanical power. Abundance and cheapness of 
 fuel are hence main ingredients in industrial success. It is 
 for this reason that in England the active manufacturing dis- 
 tricts mark, almost with geological accuracy, the limits of the 
 coal fields. Hence it is easily conceivable, that in attempting 
 to describe the materials which exist for the prosecution of 
 industry in Ireland, the first step must consist in such an ac- 
 count of the sources of fuel at our disposal, as may determine 
 its practical value, its distribution, its nature, its probable 
 cost, and, as far as possible, its abundance. 
 
 The materials which wo employ as fuel for our domestic and 
 industrial purposes, are all derived from the vegetable king- 
 dom, being either wood of modern growth, or else turf or coal, 
 which are themselves but masses of vegetable matter of an- 
 cient growth, compressed and decomposed until they present 
 th<!ir well-known aspect. In tliis country we may practically
 
 OF IRELAND. 3 
 
 exclude wood from our consideration as a fuel ; there is no 
 feature of an Irish landscape more characteristic than the 
 desert baldness of our hills, which, robbed of those sylvan ho- 
 nours that elsewhere diversify a rural prospect, present to 
 every eye a type of the desolation which has overspread the 
 land. This barrenness of trees is but of recent origin. Nume- 
 rous localities, in every part of Ireland, derive their names 
 from having been originally embowered in forests. In every 
 district where man's neglect, combined with nature's rank 
 luxuriance of vegetation, has given occasion to the formation 
 of those bogs, for which our country has become a by-word, 
 it is found that immersed in the turf are quantities of large 
 timber, generally fir, birch, and oak ; the former so impreg- 
 nated with resinous material, that a splinter burns like a can- 
 dle, and may be employed as such. This resin is partly the 
 native turpentine of the tree, but, for the most part, consists 
 of peculiar bodies produced by the decomposition to which the 
 wood is subjected, and by which, if the action were continued 
 for a sufficient length of time, true bituminous coal might be 
 produced. 
 
 That the country was some centuries ago remarkable for its 
 extent of forests, as it is now by the reverse, appears from all 
 our histories. Many causes conspired for their destruction. 
 In some districts they were extirpated to increase the arable 
 surface. In others in order to destroy the shelter which bands 
 of outlaws found in their recesses. An extensive export trade 
 in oak was at one time carried on, and two centuries ago the 
 manufacture of iron was in great activity throughout this 
 country, and led to the cutting down, as Boate says, of innu- 
 merable trees in order to prepare charcoal. During all this 
 time no one planted ; all sought their immediate profit and 
 cared not for the future, and the final result has been, that at 
 present the timber grown in Ireland is not sufficient for those 
 uses to which it specially is adapted, and as a fuel we may con- 
 sider it never to be employed. 
 
 There is no doubt but that the coal has had its origin in the 
 amassing together of great quantities of trees and plants, which 
 constituted the vegetation of our globe at a period far antece- 
 ij2
 
 4 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 (lent to the appearance of man upon its surface. There is 
 reason to suppose, that vegetable growth was then more ac- 
 tive than it is now in the same localities. The plants whose 
 forms may still be recognized in the beds of coal, belong, in 
 great part, not to the vegetation of the temperate climes, but 
 to that which characterizes the scenery of the tropics. In the 
 convulsions to which the superficial crust of the earth has been 
 subjected, these forests have been destroyed ; the growth of 
 an immense surface, probably carried together by currents, 
 has been ingulfed and covered with mud and sand, and was 
 thus subjected, under the influence of enormous pressure, and 
 probably of an elevated temperature, to those decomposing 
 agencies, by which vegetable matter, when in contact with 
 moisture, is incessantly affected. 
 
 Under such circumstances, wood is converted into coal. 
 The change is not sudden nor direct. It would be difficult to 
 recognize in the masses of coal we usually burn, the forms of 
 the plants from which it had its origin. But there are many 
 varieties of coal. In the deposits of the true coal formation, 
 the chemical changes have been carried on through such a 
 lapse of ages, and under circumstances so favourable to their 
 action, that it is now completed. But in geological epochs 
 less remote, masses of vegetable remains have also been im- 
 bedded, in which we can study the intermediate states of 
 change. It is thus by connecting the fossil wood or brown 
 coal with recent wood upon the one hand, and with true coal 
 upon the other, that we obtain an accurate view of the course 
 of alteration which has produced this important fuel. 
 
 The alteration in the chemical composition of wood, when 
 it is converted into coal, is capable of being accurately traced, 
 and requires attentive study, as on it rest the comparative 
 values of different kinds of coal as fuels. The composition 
 of wood, and of some of the most important of British coals, 
 is given in the following table : in which, . however, they are 
 .supposed to be free from ashes.
 
 OF IRELAND. 
 
 
 CARBON. 
 
 HYDROGEN. 
 
 OXYGEN. 
 
 Oak wood, . . . 
 Fossil wood, . . 
 Cannel coal, . . 
 Caking coal, . . 
 Anthracite, . . . 
 
 32-5 
 73-0 
 
 85-5 
 89-0 
 92-8 
 
 5-7 
 
 5 
 
 3-8 
 3-4 
 3-9 
 
 41-8 
 
 220 
 
 8-7 
 
 3-6 
 
 3-3 
 
 The alteration will hence be seen to consist in the removal 
 of most of the oxygen and some of the hydrogen of the wood. 
 These elements pass off combined with carbon, and are found 
 haunting the recesses of the coal mine, under the forms of those 
 damps or vapours so fatally known to miners, the oxygen and 
 carbon forming the carbonic acid, termed choke damp, the 
 hydrogen and carbon constituting the light cai'buretted hydro- 
 gen or fire damp. The quantity of carbon removed from the 
 wood being comparatively small, this element preponderates 
 the more in the residual coal as the decomposition has been 
 more perfect, until finally in the anthracite or stone coal we 
 find some specimens almost pure carbon. 
 
 When I bring before the reader the individual composition 
 of the varieties of Irish coal, I shall again notice this table, 
 and point out in what way the heating power of any kind of 
 coal is connected with its composition. For the moment I shall 
 lay it aside, in order to notice somewhat further the geological 
 relations of the various fuels. 
 
 The formation of coal in great masses appears to have oc- 
 curred but in one geological period, though this may have ex- 
 tended over a great length of time, as we find the various por- 
 tions of the coal formation to be separated from each other by 
 strata of slaty rock or sandstone, of such thickness as must 
 have required long years to form. Still the coal formation 
 stands quite distinct from the formations that lie under and 
 above it. In these there is no coal. In some localities of the 
 most recent (tertiary) geological age, limited deposits of fossil 
 wood are found, but they are unimportant, and we may consi- 
 der coal as limited in its distribution to those rocks which lie
 
 6 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 between the mountain limestone on the one hand and the new 
 red sandstone on the other. 
 
 It would not suit the objects of this work to attempt a con- 
 secutive description of the geological structure of Ireland, or 
 to enter upon the examination of its rocks and minerals in any 
 general point of view, as it is only in reference to their indus- 
 trial uses that they interest us, and the individual rocks can 
 be best noticed in relation to the products which they furnish 
 to the arts. On subsequent occasions, therefore, those rocky 
 strata which are inferior in position to the limestone shall be 
 noticed, as well as those more limited in their development in 
 this country, which lie above the coal formation ; but at pre- 
 sent the structure of the districts in which fuel is to be found 
 need alone occupy attention, briefly premising the dascriptioa 
 of the rock, the limestone, upon which our coal formation 
 rests. 
 
 In this country the limestone formation is more developed 
 than any other portion of the geological series. It is often 
 called the mountain limestone, because in England, where it 
 was first examined, it rises into hills of considerable elevation, 
 as in Derbyshire. With us that title cannot be applied. Its 
 extent may be inferred from the fact, that a direct line of 120 
 miles, drawn east and west, from Dublin to the Bay of Galway, 
 touches no other rock, and from north to south, although its 
 boundaries are irregular, its mean breadth may be considered 
 at 100 miles. Over this immense area, the surface is almost 
 entirely flat ; its average elevation over the sea not exceeding 
 230 feet, and, although imdulating in its surface, the eleva- 
 tions which it forms seldom rise more than two or three hun- 
 dred feet above the general level. This peculiar feature of 
 our country brings with it many disadvantages and some ad- 
 vantages, to each of which I shall advert in the proper place. 
 
 The great scale of the limestone formation in this coimtry 
 has allowed of its being recognized to be, not one homogeneous 
 rock, as it had been formerly described, but to consist of three 
 formations, essentially difierent in character, and even in 
 some degree as to the animal remains which they contain. Of 
 these divisions the lowest is by far the most widely extended.
 
 OF IRELAND. 7 
 
 It pi'< vails most in the midland and southern counties, and 
 furnishes us with some of the marbles of Galway and Kil- 
 kenny, Carlow, Mayo, and other places, which shall be again 
 noticed. 
 
 The neighbourhood of Dublin is occupied by the middle lime- 
 stone, to which the name of calp was given by our celebrated 
 countryman, Richard Kirvvan. It extends rather towards the 
 northern counties of Leinster, as Westmeath and Longford. 
 It occurs also in Galway. It is much less pure than either of 
 the other divisions of the limestone strata, containing often 
 layers of soft shales, of impure coaly matter, of earthy iron- 
 stone, and of flinty slate. The uses to which it is most appli- 
 cable shall be hereafter stated, and its chemical composition 
 shewn. 
 
 The upper limestone occupies a small area, and is at once 
 distinguished from the others by the physical character of the 
 country which it forms. This is steep and rugged, presenting 
 crags and precipices, with numerous caverns. To the localities 
 of this rock belong the peculiar interest, that on it the coal for- 
 mation rests. We hence find it encomjjassing those districts 
 in which coal is found, or in which it may be expected to be 
 discovered. To specially describe its distribution is> therefore, 
 needless, as in examining the limits of our local deposits, I shall 
 in fact, point out the localities where it is found. It is only 
 useful to remark, that its greatest development is on the southern 
 and eastern coasts of Galway Bay, where, rising from under 
 the great coal formation of the Munster district, it constitutes 
 the rugged mountains of Burren, and forms much of the country 
 between Galway and Sligo, the hilly character of which distin- 
 guishes it so remarkably from the greater flatness of surface 
 of the calp, and of the lower limestone counties of the centre 
 and south. 
 
 Interposed between the limestone and the true carboniferous 
 beds, there exists a great sandstone deposit, which, from one 
 of the most important uses of its materials, is known as the 
 millstone grit. The relations of this rock are so identified with 
 the coal measures, that the notices of localities are the same 
 for both, and need not be separated.
 
 O INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 In the geological map which accompanies the chapter spe- 
 cially devoted to the mineral resources of Ireland, those sub- 
 divisions of the limestone are not individually marked, but may 
 easily be traced by the reader according to the localities de- 
 scribed; the object of the map being only to indicate such 
 important geological features as influence practical industry. 
 The different shadings represent the different systems of rocks, 
 and for distinction sake, the space occupied by the limestone, 
 which is more than one-third of the entire area of the island, 
 has been left unshaded. 
 
 The coal formations, as marked on the map, include all strata 
 between the limestone and the new red sandstone (Permian). 
 Thus the area occupied by the millstone grit is contained in 
 that of the coal field of Lough Allen. Were these minor fea- 
 tures of the rocky structure represented, the map should be- 
 come so crowded, and its parts so minute, as to be unsuited for 
 general reference, and unintelligible, except to those already 
 conversant with the subject. 
 
 The coal formation of Ireland consists of a series of sand- 
 stone and slaty rocks, which rest upon the upper limestone, 
 and give an aspect of considerable elevation to the districts. 
 They are seven in number ; of these one is in Leinster, two 
 are in Munster, three in Ulster, and one in Connaught. These 
 districts differ materially in their produce, according as they 
 are situate to the north or to the south of Dublin. Those to 
 the north yield bituminous or flaming coal : those to the south 
 yield only stone coal or anthracite, which burns without flame. 
 There is no doubt but that this difference results from the geo- 
 logical circumstances of those portions of the island, but it 
 would not suit our purpose to enter into that question. 
 
 We will commence the history of our coal districts with that 
 of Leinster. 
 
 This deposit occupies the greater portion of the county of 
 Kilkenny, of the Queen's County, and part of Carlow. It is 
 bounded on the east, west, and south, by two great rivers, the 
 Barrow and the Nore, which run immediately at the base of 
 the Colliery Hills. Its general appearance, when viewed from 
 a distance, is that of a very steep ridge of high land running
 
 OF IRELAND. 9 
 
 in a direct line for many miles, rising from 800 to 1000 feet 
 above its base, and apparently flat on the summit. It presents 
 this character on every side, but, when viewed from the emi- 
 nence itself, it resembles a barren table land rising precipitously 
 above a flat and highly cultivated country. 
 
 This district constitutes a great mineral basin ; its strata 
 consequently incline from the edge towards the centre, the 
 undermost appear on the outer edge, and the uppermost in the 
 interior of the district. The strata consist of beds of slate 
 clay, containing abundant thin veins and nodules of ironstone, 
 compact sandstone, and sandstone slate ; with these are inter- 
 posed beds of fire-clay, and the coal beds, of which there are 
 altogether eight workable, arranged in regular succession. 
 These strata require to be more specially described. 
 
 Slate clay is usually the most abundant rock of the coal for- 
 mation. It is a dull earthy mineral, which easily divides into 
 thin flakes. It decomposes rapidly when exposed to air ; its 
 colour varies from black to grey ; it is sometimes very hard or 
 even flinty, which especially occurs where it comes into contact 
 with the subjacent limestone. The quantity of ironstone as- 
 sociated with this rock is very large, its composition and uses 
 will be hereafter noticed. 
 
 The sandstone of the coal formation consists of silicious sand 
 cemented by a paste of lime or clay. It contains numerous 
 vegetable impressions. This sandstone frequently becomes 
 micaceous and slaty, so as to split easily into layers, producing 
 the well-known Carlow flags. 
 
 The roof of the coal bed is sometimes sandstone, and some- 
 times slate clay. The floor of the bed is generally a clay, lo- 
 cally termed coal seat. This substance is soft and earthy : I 
 shall hereafter describe its composition ; at present I need only 
 mention, that it is equal to the best Stourbridge clay, for all the 
 purposes for which that substance is employed. 
 
 The beds of coal in the Leinster district are, as already 
 stated, eight in number, distinguished by the following names, 
 arranged in the order of their position from below upwards : 
 
 1. The Rossmore foot coal. 
 
 2. The first bed of slate coal.
 
 10 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 3. The second bed of slate coal. 
 
 4. The four foot coal. 
 
 5. The second foot coal or Drummagh coal. 
 
 6. The first three foot coal. 
 
 7. The double seam. 
 
 8. The second three foot coal. 
 
 The seventh and eighth beds, being those lying next the sur- 
 face and easiest worked, have been exhausted ; the sixth bed, 
 or first three foot coal, which for the last century has princi- 
 pally supplied the wants of the surrounding country, is now 
 considered by JMr. Griffith as nearly worked out. The inferior 
 beds have been but little, some not at all touched, and must be 
 the theatre of future mining operations. Of these the most 
 important is the four foot coal, and its description will serve as 
 an example of the rest. 
 
 The upper part of this bed is composed of five feet five inches 
 of slaty coal (locally termed helves), under which there are three 
 feet of hard coal, containing some sulphur pyrites, then a bed of 
 black slate clay of six inches thick, and lastly one foot of coal, 
 containing a thin bed of kelve near the bottom, making alto- 
 gether, a height of coal, kelve, and slate of ten feet, of which 
 but four feet are solid coal. Mr. Grifiith estimates the area 
 occupied by this coal at 5000 acres (Irish), and as its specific 
 gravity is 1-591, the total quantity of pure solid coal may be 
 calculated at rather more than sixty-three millions of tons. On 
 the average this bed appears to lie about eighty yards below 
 the first three foot bed of coal, and at a depth of from 100 to 
 140 yards from the surface. 
 
 Formerly the extraction of the coal was very badly managed. 
 The imperfect methods of drainage obliged many shafts to be 
 abandoned wlien they arrived at a certain depth, a large (pian- 
 tity of coal was left behind, and the amount of labour was ex- 
 cessive. Hence coal was high-priced ; 20s. a ton for coal, and 
 from five to eight shillings for small coal or culm. But since 
 Mr. Griffith's Report, and especially by the exertions of the late 
 Mr. Aher, much progress has been made in introducing a better 
 system. The use of the steam engine for draining has enabled 
 .shafts to be rc-worked that had been totally abandoned. The
 
 OF IRELAND. 11 
 
 quantity of coal raised is estimated at 120,000 tons per annum, 
 and it is sold at a price of about lis. 6(/. per ton for coal, and 
 4s. per ton for culm. 
 
 The chemical and economic qualities of this coal will be de- 
 scribed, when I have noted the geographical circumstances of 
 the remaining anthracite basins. 
 
 The Tipperary coal field is indeed a portion of that already 
 noticed, being separated from the Kilkenny coal field by a nar- 
 row intervening neck of limestone. It extends about twenty 
 miles in length from Freshford to near Cashel. It is about six 
 miles broad in its widest part ; the towns of Killenaule and of 
 New Birmingham mark its centre. It forms a range of hills 
 from 300 to 600 feet in height, abrupt on the north-western, 
 but sloping on the south-eastern side into the limestone plain. 
 The general nature and arrangement of the strata are the same 
 as have been above described, but they dip at a steeper angle 
 and undulate. Hence the coal lies in deep troughs, from which 
 arises a peculiar mode of working, the shaft being sunk in the 
 centre of the trough, and the coal wrought by working upwards 
 on both sides of it. 
 
 This district appears to contain but three beds of coal. The 
 lowest is but nine inches, the others are each two feet thick. Th 
 quantity of coal at present raised has been estimated at 50,000 
 tons per annum. The price at which it is at present sold may 
 be estimated at 12s. per ton for good coal, and 4s. per ton for 
 culm. 
 
 Proceeding further to the south and west, we arrive finally 
 at what is peculiarly termed the Munster coal field. This 
 tract, the most extensive development of the coal strata in the 
 British Empire, occupies considerable portions of the counties 
 of Clare, Limerick, Cork, and Kerry. In all four counties coal 
 has been discovered, and coal mines worked. The physical 
 features of the country are similar to those described in the 
 Tipperary district. The coal consequently lies in a series of 
 troughs, the hills usually striking from east to west, and the 
 strata dipping on either side, north and south, at considerable 
 angles, often perpendicular. From this peculiarity of struc- 
 ture, the estimate of the precise condition of the coal becomes
 
 12 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 difficult. The same beds fi'equontly re-appear in different parts 
 of the country, thrown up by contortions of the strata to tlie 
 surface, and might then, on supcrticial observation, be counted 
 as distinct deposits. From Mr. Griffith's investigations it ap- 
 pears, however, that there are six distinct layers of coal. Of 
 these, three of the most valuable, locally known as the bulk- 
 vein, the rock-vein, and the sweet-vein, have been recognizt^d 
 on the opposite sides of three of the undulations. The detailed 
 examination of this district has not, however, been as yet car- 
 ried on to a sufficient extent to enable us to trace the entire 
 arrangement of the strata. 
 
 The most extensive collieries at present worked in this dis- 
 trict are situate in the barony of Duhallow in the county of 
 Cork. The beds of culm present themselves in numerous 
 places over the west coast of Clare, and along the estuary of 
 the Shannon. The beds, although thus of enormous superficial 
 extent, are unfortunately not thick ; the coal is softer and more 
 slaty than in the Tipperary and Kilkenny districts. This ap- 
 plies, however, only to the thinner beds ; the veins mentioned 
 above in Duhallow, and which are from two to three feet in 
 thickness, produce an excellent anthracite, of which some ana- 
 lyses shall be hereafter given. 
 
 Such are the beds of non-flaming coal or anthracite which 
 occur in Ireland. We shall now pass to the description of the 
 coal of the northern portions of the country, which is bitumi- 
 nous coal. 
 
 A small but highly-interesting coal field occurs in Tyrone. 
 The country round it resembles a great geological museum, 
 containing rocks of every epoch, from the granite rising from 
 beneath all, to those tertiary clays which constitute the latest 
 term of the geological series, and of which, in relation to the 
 stores of fuel they contain, I shall soon have occasion to speak. 
 The limestone of Dungannon may be considered as forming the 
 base of the Tyrone coal district. It is covered by strata of 
 sandstone, limestone, and slate clay, with clay ironstone, fire- 
 clay, and coal. The external character of the country is simi- 
 lar to that of the southern coal (icjld ; it is an assemblage of 
 low hills, with steci) .leelivitios and llaltened summits. Hero,
 
 OF IRELAND. 13 
 
 however, when the hills exceed a couple of hundred feet in 
 height, they are capped with new red sandstone or trap, or 
 even with both. This district is geographically subdivided 
 into the Coal-island and the Anahone basins, the former of 
 which is by much the larger and the more important. 
 
 The Tyrone coal burns rapidly with flame, and evolves great 
 heat : its composition and economic power will be hereafter 
 noticed. The sandstone and slate are generally analogous to 
 those rocks in other coal fields, and need not be further no- 
 ticed. The ironstone and fire-clay will be specially described 
 further on. 
 
 The linear dimensions of the Coal-island field are six miles 
 by two ; its area about 7000 acres. The Anahone district con- 
 tains only 320 acres, yet recognized, but it may extend under 
 the new red sandstone through a much larger area. 
 
 Notwithstanding the smallness of this basin, its strata are 
 so much contorted and disturbed, as to cause great irregularity 
 in the workings by changes of level, and the occasional disap- 
 pearance of the bed of coal from amongst the broken strata. 
 Slips and shifts of the layers of rocks also occur, and rather 
 more frequently than in other coal fields. But notwithstand- 
 ing these drawbacks, this basin merits special attention. The 
 coal is excellent : it is not difficult to raise, and its quantity is 
 such as to be capable of diffusing the blessings of industrial 
 prosperity over an extensive area. 
 
 From Mr. Griffith's Report, it appears that there are in this 
 basin six workable beds of coal. The names of these beds, and 
 their usual thickness, are as follows : 
 
 BEDS OF COAL. THICKNESS. 
 
 Ft. In. Ft. In. 
 
 1. Annagher coal, 8 to 10 
 
 2. Yard coal, 2 0,, 3 
 
 3. Braghaveel coal, ....49,, 50 
 
 4. Balteboy coal, 9,, 3 
 
 3. Derry coal, 46,, 50 
 
 G. Gortnaskea coal, ....20,, 60 
 
 22 ,, 32
 
 14 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 From 22 to 32 feet of solid workable coal is thus found within 
 a depth of 120 fathoms, and it is remarked by Mr. Griffith that 
 amongst the numberless pits of the English coal fields, there is 
 no example of the same thickness of coal within the same dis- 
 tance from the surface. The collieries in this district are 
 worked, some by the Hibernian INlining Company, and some by 
 private companies of persons belonging to the neighbourhood. 
 The industry of the latter has been and is profitable. The 
 works of the former have hitherto been carried on at a loss. 
 Whence comes this difference ? The materials for answering 
 this question may present themselves in a subsequent portion of 
 this work. 
 
 The Anahone coal strata occupy a mineral trough about a 
 mile in length, and a half a mile in breadth. It is bounded on 
 the north by the carboniferous limestone, but on the other 
 sides it is met by the new red sandstone which lies over the 
 coal measures. The deepest pit sunk in it was to fifty-seven 
 yards, and there were found three beds of coal, one of three 
 feet, one of nine feet, and the lowest of two feet in thickness. 
 In some parts of the field certain other beds have been 
 noticed ; the only one actually worked was that of nine feet, 
 and this appears to have been nearly exhausted. It is an 
 excellent coal, and bears carriage without breaking. The 
 working of this basin has been carried only to the limits 
 of the coal strata on the surface, but there is no doubt 
 but that the beds penetrate under the new red sandstone, 
 and probably to a considerable extent. Investigations, under 
 that point of view, still remain to be made, and deserve 
 attention. 
 
 At the northern extremity of Antrim is found a coal district, 
 unimportant as to magnitude, but remarkable from its associa- 
 tion with the great basaltic mass from which the characteristic 
 scenery of Fairhead and the Causeway is derived. This coal field 
 differs from all the others in this country in wanting the under- 
 lying limestone, and resting directly on mica slate. In this, 
 certainly very rare peculiarity, it is not, however, without pa- 
 rallel ; the coal district of St. Etienne in France being similarly
 
 OF IRELAND. 15 
 
 circumstanced. The face of the precipices to the sea, where 
 sufficiently IVoe from the debris of the basaltic rock, presents 
 sections of this coal formation which fully illustrate its struc- 
 ture. At top the entire is covered by from 50 to 100 feet of the 
 columnar greenstone, which spreads over the entire district. 
 Under this are beds of reddish sandstone, slate, and coal. At 
 Murlougb Bay, the beds of coal are six in number, of which 
 four are bituminous and two anthracitous. The latter are 
 found, one immediately above, and the other close below a range 
 of columnar basalt of seventy feet in thickness, which lies in 
 amongst the coal strata. It might hence appear that these 
 beds also had been originally bituminous, and that the basalt 
 injected at an intense heat had distilled off their volatile por- 
 tions, converting the residue into anthracite. There are, how- 
 ever, other and strong reasons against such an idea. Thus the 
 beds of coal which lie close under the upper range of basalt are 
 fully bituminous, and the effects of heat shewn where trap dykes 
 traverse the bituminous beds, and convert them into true coke, 
 is quite different from anything visible in the lower beds, which 
 consist of a real anthracite. 
 
 The quantity of coal which remains in this district is so 
 small, that further detail concerning it is unnecessary. It ap- 
 pears to have been the oldest worked colliei-y in Ireland, per- 
 haps in the empire, as during the year 1770 the miners broke 
 into an old gallery, the walls of which were lined with stalac- 
 tites, evidently of great age, and antique mining tools were 
 found therein. The residents in the district had never heard 
 of a tradition of the mine having been anciently worked, and 
 the excavation must have been made at a very remote period 
 indeed. 
 
 The bituminous beds of coal are each about two feet six 
 inches thick. The upper bed of anthracite is also of the same 
 thickness : this latter appears, however, to be impure and 
 sulphurous. 
 
 In Monaghan a small coal basin rests on a patch of the car- 
 boniferous limestone which is insulated within the slate dis- 
 trict. The strata dip at so large an angle as to render the 
 working very difficult ; and as no beds exceeding twelve to
 
 16 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES . 
 
 fourteen inches in thickness have been found, this coal district 
 need not be considered as of any value. 
 
 We arrive now at the last of the coal fields of this country, 
 the Connaught district. It is one worthy of attention from its 
 peculiar geographical position, and from the circumstances 
 connected with the attempts made to establish the manufacture 
 of iron within its bounds. Those attempts, part of the history 
 of the too notorious Arigna Company, shall be treated of here- 
 after. The localities of the coal only need occupy us now. 
 
 The Shannon, the largest river in the British Islands, rises 
 in the centre of the Connaught coal field, and falls into the 
 Atlantic Ocean: dividing the counties of Clare and Kerry, and 
 cutting through the centre of the Munster coal formation. 
 Expanding in its inland course into a chain of extensive lakes, 
 it intersects, through a line of 247 miles, some of the richest 
 lands in Ireland, washing the banks of ten of the thirty-two 
 counties of which our island is made up. It has its origin in 
 the recesses of the Leitrim hills, where it springs almost with 
 its full power from a vast gulf, the depth of which has not 
 been yet ascertained, and almost immediately expanding forms 
 Lough Allen, of which the area is 8900 acres. The picture of 
 this district, as I saw it some two years since, has never left 
 my mind. The dark brown hills, heather clad, rose abruptly 
 from the water, excepting towards the south, where they were 
 separated from the lake by level spaces of marshy bog. The 
 patches of cultivation, small and rare, far from relieving the 
 aspect of the scene, served but to render its dreariness more 
 oppressive. The lake, smooth as a mirror, reflected the bril- 
 liant sky of midsummer. No wave disturbed it : the noise 
 and bustle of active industry were far away. The melan- 
 choly solitude of my walk was only broken by the approach of 
 some wretched men, who had heard of the piienomeiion of a 
 stranger's presence in their wilds, and pressed around, asking 
 whether I was about to do anything for the country, to give 
 employment. Alas ! it was not in my power. As I walked 
 on, there lay around my path masses of iron ore, equally rich 
 with the best employed in England. I knew that in those 
 hills, whose desolate aspect weighed upon my mind, there were
 
 OF IRELAND. 17 
 
 concealed all the materials for successful industry. A popula- 
 tion starving, and eager to be employed at any price; a dis- 
 trict capable of setting them at work, if its resources were 
 directed by honesty and common sense ; but all sacrificed to the 
 stock-jobbing speculations of a few men acting on the gross 
 ignorance and credulity of some others. If the industrial cir- 
 cumstances of this country were really known, such events as 
 the jobbing of the Arigna Company could not have occurred. 
 Let us hope that by the progress which science and education 
 have since made, and are now making, the occurrence of aught 
 similar may be for the future prevented. 
 
 The hills which surround Lough Allen form the Connaught 
 coal field ; they occupy large parts of the counties of Roscom- 
 mon, Sligo, Leitrim, and a portion of Cavan in Ulster. The 
 greatest length of the district is sixteen miles, which is also 
 its greatest breadth. The total area is about one hundred and 
 fourteen thousand Irish aci'es. Seen from the south, they 
 present a steep and straight ridge of from 1000 to 1200 feet in 
 height ; the summits flat, and usually covered with bog. The 
 centre of this district is occupied by Lough Allen. The cir- 
 cuit of the lake may be conveniently divided into four parts, 
 with respect to its content in coal. The rocks are similar to 
 those of the other coal fields : they consist of sandstone, sand- 
 stone slate, slate clay, clay ironstone, and fine fire clay. The 
 strata are very regularly arranged, conformably to the lime- 
 stone on which they rest, and contrary to the declivity of the 
 hill. Slips occur, as in all coal fields ; they do not present any- 
 thing peculiar here. 
 
 West of Lough Allen the River Arigna divides the field into 
 the southern and western portions. The former consists of 
 one great mountain ridge named Brahlieve : at its base are 
 the Arigna Iron Works. The western division extends be- 
 tween the Arigna and Dorobally rivers. These two portions 
 have almost the same internal structure. Upon the limestone 
 rests slate clay, in thickness from 300 to 600 feet. This rock 
 is remarkable for the rich beds of ironstone which it contains. 
 These ai-e exposed in the channel of the River Arigna in incre- 
 dible numbers. Higher up occur numerous beds of sandstone,
 
 18 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 and noxt, the fire clay, which, as in the Leinster district, forms 
 the seat of the coal. 
 
 The beds of coal found in this district are three in number, 
 and were first described with detail in Mr. Griffith's Report on 
 the Connaught coal formation. As the extent and character 
 of these beds of coal will be found of high importance, and 
 that opinions differ regarding them, I shall transcribe in full, 
 the most important of Mr. Griffith's observations. 
 
 " Of the first Bed of Coal. — The fire clay is succeeded by a 
 bed of coal, which varies in thickness from one to three feet : 
 it is known in the country by the name of the crorv coal. It 
 contains numerous thin laminaj of black slate clay, which render 
 it of little value, except for burning lime. When first brought 
 to the surface it is moderately solid, but on exposure to the air 
 it soon divides into thin flakes. 
 
 " This bed has never been wrought. If it were, I have little 
 doubt its average thickness would be found to amount to three 
 feet, but it has never been seen excepting at the outgoing. In 
 the vale of the Arigna, near the iron works, where the fire clay 
 was wrought, this coal was three feet thick. This coal runs 
 parallel to the three foot coal which lies above it, and its out- 
 going may be traced along the face of the hills through the 
 greater part of the southern and western division of the dis- 
 trict. 
 
 " Of the three Foot Coal. — The future prosperity of the Con- 
 naught coal district may be said to depend entirely on the pro- 
 duce of this bed, which, though of moderate thickness, is 
 fortunately of great extent. Its quality as fuel for domestic 
 purposes is excellent, and if used for smelting iron, it is among 
 the best in the empire. According to the analysis of Kirwan, 
 100 grains are composed of 
 71 '42, carbon. 
 
 23*37, mixture of asphalt and maltha. 
 5*21, grey ashes. 
 
 "Specific gravity, 1-351. 
 
 " The thickness of this coal is rarely less than three feet, or 
 more than three feet four inches. 
 
 " In its outgoing, commencing at the iron works, it may bo
 
 OF IRELAND. 19 
 
 traced without difficulty along the northern face of Brahlieve 
 mountain, without any material interruption, for four miles and 
 a^half, by Aughabehy colliery, nearly to Geeva point in the coun- 
 ty of Sligo, and from thence back again on the opposite side of 
 the hill to Tullylions colliery, and afterwards round the eastern 
 end of the mountain to the point above the Arigna works. 
 
 "In the western division of the district the extent of coal 
 is not so great as in the southern. This division may contain 
 about 1200 acres of the three foot coal, which, added to 2800 
 acres contained in the southern division, make a general total 
 of about 4000 acres. 
 
 "From this calculation we should deduct one-fifth part to 
 allow for impurities in the coal and the loss occasioned by slips 
 and undulations. This, at the rate of 7840 tons per acre, will 
 leave upwards of thirty millions of tons of coal as the probable 
 quantity which may be raised out of the southern and western 
 divisions of the district. 
 
 " The third bed of Coal varies from eight to nine inches in 
 thickness. It is the uppermost bed of coal in the district, and 
 has not been met with except in the southern division." 
 
 On the three foot coal several collieries are worked. Of 
 these the Rover and the Aughabehy are the principal : the 
 former are situated very near the iron works, the latter farther 
 distant. Coal from the Celtnaveena and from the Meenashama 
 pits will also be found amongst those of which the composition 
 will be given farther on. 
 
 These coal beds being at a higher level than the general 
 surface of the coimtry, admit of being worked under the most 
 favourable circumstances. The expense of raising the coal is 
 very small ; Mr. Griffith calculated that the cost of it at the 
 pit's mouth was four shillings per ton, and when the iron works 
 were in operation, it was contracted for at five shillings per 
 ton. 
 
 At the time that Mr. Griffith visited the locality and reported 
 on it, the collieries were in such a wretched condition, flooded 
 with water, their machinery out of repair, and the persons 
 engaged about them so ignorant, that complete accuracy in 
 the information he obtained could not be expected, and it would 
 c2
 
 20 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 appear that the results above given require some alteration. 
 1 shall, therefore, in order to indicate as fully as possible the 
 special circumstances of the district, detail, though briefly, 
 the results of examinations of certain portions of it, made by 
 mining engineers, none of whom, however, it must be re- 
 marked, inquired into the general structure of the locality, as 
 Sir. Griffith did, nor were any of them in that position which 
 would justify equal authority being attributed to their indivi- 
 dual reports. 
 
 After the first exposure of its extraordinary proceedings, 
 when it became indispensable to pay some attention to its pro- 
 per business, the Arigna Iron Company commissioned Mr. 
 Twigg of Chesterfield, a person practically conversant with 
 collieries and iron works, to examine their holdings in this 
 district, and he made several Reports on the subject, of which 
 a very excellent digest has appeared in the Survey of Roscom- 
 mon, published by Mr. Weld. 
 
 From Mr. Twigg's Reports it would appear, that the bed of 
 coal, as it sinks into the mountain, rather diminishes in thick- 
 ness. He found it in the chisel pit at Aughabchy two feet 
 seven inches thick. Mr. Weld found it in a pit which he exa- 
 mined to be less than two feet. Mr. Twigg estimated the 
 working coal ground at Aughabehy at 160 English acres, and 
 that at an average of 2550 tons per acre it should yield 408,000 
 tons of coal. The working area of the Rover colliery he valued 
 at from 80 to 100 English aci-es. Mr. Twigg made no survey 
 of the general area of coal in the district, such as that made 
 by Mr. Griffith (4000 Irish acres). 
 
 In 1823 the Mining Company of Ireland instituted some in- 
 quiries as to the conditions of a portion of this coal field, and 
 had Reports prepared by mining engineers of reputation, for 
 access to which documents, I am indebted to the kindness of 
 Mr. Purdy. The coal bods on Mounterkenny Hill were found 
 by Mr. Kenneth to consist of two distinct patches, that to the 
 north containing 204^, and that more southerly 106 Irish acres 
 of coal. No workings were carried on in the larger, but Tul- 
 lynaha colliery is situated in the smaller portion. In this pit, 
 which was twenty-two yards deep, and very badly worked, he
 
 OF IRELAND. 21 
 
 found the coal but 20 inches thick, consisting of twelve inches 
 of head coal, 2f inches of slaty coal, and 5^ inches of crow 
 coal. The coal was then laid on the bank for 4§. 6d. per ton, 
 but he considered that, by proper workings, it could be done 
 for 3s. or 3s. 6d. 
 
 Mr. Kenneth calculates the total quantity of coal in the 
 Mounterkenny part of the field as follows : the north portion, 
 containing 204^ acres, averaging two feet thick, gives 
 House coal, . . 667,897 tons. 
 Slaty coal, . . 400,820 ,, 
 The south portion, 106 acres, same thickness, 
 House coal, . . 345,869 tons. 
 Slaty coal, . . 207,564 ,, 
 making a total of 1,622, 150 tons, of which, however, a third 
 must be subtracted, to allow for loss in actual working for sale. 
 Mr. Geddes, examining the Tvdlynaha pit almost at the 
 same period, reported that it shewed two beds of coal, the 
 upper, or crow coal, three feet thick, the second, eight yards 
 lower, two feet thick : the latter coal, which was of superior 
 quality, was the only bed worked. The field being basin- 
 shaped, a fitting, sunk forty-four yards in the centre, drained 
 the entire. Owing to bad management, the coal then cost 
 5s. 6d. per ton, but, he says, it could be raised for 3s. id. to 
 the bank, and paying 9d. royalty, and Is. carriage, could be 
 placed on quay at Lough Allen for 5s. Id. per ton. 
 
 The mountains, which form the northern portion of this dis- 
 trict, do not pi'esent such favourable pictures as that last de- 
 scribed. The thick beds of coal have not as yet been traced 
 upon them, and indeed some featm-es in their structure render 
 it improbable that they exist ; several thinner beds have, how- 
 ever, been found ; and a further examination is desirable. The 
 eastern portion of the district, separated from the last by the 
 River Owenmore, consists of one mountain group, Slieve-a-Nie- 
 ran (the Iron Mountain). Its structure and stratification differ 
 only in detail from that of the southern and western portions, 
 and it contains also three beds of coal, of which the superficial 
 extent is very great. The total thickness of the coal is less, 
 however, and the strata are more broken. It has not been
 
 22 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 much workod. Indeed for a long time the southern and western 
 divisions will fully suffice for all industrial wants. 
 
 Such ai'e the circumstances of the coal Held of Lough Allen. 
 Although subsequent examination has sobered down the ex- 
 pectations of its produce which were once held, it must still be 
 considered as capable of becoming an important centre of in- 
 dustry for the interior of this country. The causes which led 
 to the failure of the iron manufacture at Arigna might have 
 acted as forcibly in Staffordshire or at Merthyr. Those causes 
 may be removed. The quantity of coal available is certainly 
 sufficiently great for domestic trade, and it must be recol- 
 lected, that on the surface of the hills which surround Lough 
 Allen, there is a supply of fuel, probably not inferior to that 
 which is contained within them. I have mentioned already 
 that Mr. Griffith considers his original estimate of thirty mil- 
 lions of tons as too high. An estimate given in the Report of 
 the Railway Commissioners in 1838, may probably be consi- 
 dered as embodying all accurate observations made. The 
 Lough Allen district is there stated to contain 20,000 acres of 
 coal, equal to twenty millions tons. At present there is very 
 little coal raised. The quantity does not exceed 3000 tons 
 per annum. 
 
 Having described the geographical and geological condi- 
 tions of the coal fields of Ireland, I shall now proceed to trace 
 the composition of the coals they yield, and ascertain how far 
 they are adapted for use. To represent their constitution I 
 have given in every case the practical analysis, which shews 
 the quantity of gas given off at a red heat, and that of the 
 coke produced ; the actual weight of coke being the sum of the 
 ashes and of the pure coke. The heating power of each fuel 
 was experimentally determined, and in most instances the 
 elementary analysis has been executed. 
 
 The minute quantity of nitrogen which exists in all ordi- 
 nary varieties of fuel was not separately determined in those 
 analyses, as it does not exercise any influence on their indus- 
 trial value. Its amount is therefore in all cases included in 
 the number given for the quantity of oxygen present in the 
 specimen of fuel analysed.
 
 OF IRELAND. 23 
 
 COAL OF THE CONNAUGHT BASIN. 
 
 This coal is described by Mr. Griffith as intermediate to the 
 open-burning or quick-blazing coal of Scotland and the caking 
 coal of Whitehaven. Mr. Twigg called it a coking coal of 
 good quality. I have foimd it moderately bituminous, bui*ning 
 with flame, and leaving a white ash in moderate quantity. Its 
 only disagreeable character was a great degree of friability, 
 
 I have submitted to accurate examination four kinds of it, 
 transmitted to me through the kindness of Colonel Jones, Mem- 
 ber of the Shannon Commission. I shall describe the results 
 which I obtained. 
 
 AUGHABEHY COAL. 
 
 A rich black coal, easily broken. Its specific gravity 1 "274. 
 When heated it gives off a good deal of inflammable gas, and 
 leaves a light, porous, gi'ey, coherent coke. Analysed in this 
 way it was foimd to give from 100 parts : 
 
 Volatile matter, 23-10 
 
 Pure coke, 66-15 
 
 Ashes, 10-73 
 
 100-00 
 Its economic value as a fuel was determined by measuring 
 the quantity of oxygen it was capable of absorbing on ignition 
 with litharge. One part of it reduced twenty-six parts of lead 
 to the metallic state ; 100 parts of it, therefore, represent 
 seventy-seven parts of pure carbon. 
 
 CELTNAVEENA AND MEENASHAMA COAL. 
 
 These two coals are almost identical in external appearance. 
 Their specific gravities about 1-290; when ignited they give 
 off inflammable gas, but do not froth ; they produce a mode- 
 rately dense coke^ and leave, when burned away, white ashes. 
 Their analysis was found to be, in 100 parts : 
 
 CELTNAVEENA. MEENASHAMA. 
 
 Volatile matter, 19-10 18-90 
 
 Pure Coke 6587 61-46 
 
 Ashes, 15-03 19-64 
 
 : 100-00 100-00
 
 24 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 Ignited witli litharge, one part of Celtnaveena coal gave 
 twenty-six of lead, and one part of Meenashama coal twenty- 
 five of lead. Hence, 100 parts of Celtnaveena coal corresponded 
 to seventy-seven, and of Meenashama to seventy-three of pure 
 carbon. 
 
 ROVER COAL. 
 
 This coal is rather brown in aspect, and has a remarkable 
 tendency to split into cubical fragments. Its specific gravity 
 is 1*287. When ignited it gives out gas, but does not froth. 
 Its coke is porous, slightly coherent. It contains less foreign 
 matter than any of the other kinds. On analysis, its composi- 
 tion was found to be 
 
 Volatile matter, 17 '70 
 
 Pure Coke, 74-89 
 
 Ashes, 7-41 
 
 100-00 
 One part of it gave, by ignition with litharge, 28-4 parts of 
 lead, hence 100 parts of the coal con'espond to 84 of pure 
 carbon. 
 
 The pi'ices of these coals, as given in a notice attached to 
 the specimens, are 
 
 Rover coal, 4s. 9d. per ton. 
 
 Meenashama, 5 6 ,, 
 
 Celtnaveena, 5 6 ,, 
 
 Aughabehy, 6 4 ,, 
 
 The Aughabehy and the Rover coal being the most important 
 of this district, I thought it interesting, in addition to the more 
 practical kind of analysis given above, to determine their 
 actual elemental composition, which I found to be as follows : 
 
 AUGHABEHY. ROVER. 
 
 Carbon 79-69 8104 
 
 Hydrogen, 6-24 4-91 
 
 Oxygen, 3-32 6-64 
 
 Ashes, 10-75 7-41 
 
 10000 100-00 
 
 It is thus .seen, that the Aughabehy is a much more bitumi-
 
 OF IRELAND. 25 
 
 nous coal than the Rover, which approaches nearer in its cha- 
 racter to the anthracites of the south. I do not know whether 
 in the geological relations of the district there is anything 
 capable of explaining the fact. The Celtnaveena and Meena- 
 shama coals have an intermediate quality. 
 
 COAL OF THE TYRONE BASIN. 
 
 This coal burns rapidly, and gives out intense heat. It 
 cakes but little, and strongly resembles Ayrshire coal. My 
 colleague, Mr. Davy, examined the Braghaveel coal from Coal 
 Island, and the Kingarrow coal of Dungannon. The former 
 had specific gravity of 1"266, and gave 65*9 per cent, of coke 
 containing 29'4. The latter had specific gravity of 1-307, and 
 gave 66'9 per cent, of coke, containing 37*0 of ashes. The 
 following analyses by myself give the composition and pro- 
 perties of specimens of coal from the new Drumglass colliery, 
 and from the pits of Messrs. Caulfield at Coal Island. 
 
 COAL FROM DRUMGLASS NEW COLLIERY. 
 
 It is brilliant, black, friable, frequently mixed with the 
 pyrites, which oxidize on exposure to the air ; its ashes conse- 
 quently usually reddish. On ignition it gives off much gas, 
 froths, and gives a light porous coke. It was found to be 
 composed of. 
 
 Volatile matter, 48-70 
 
 Pure coke, 34-00 
 
 Brown ashes, 17*30 
 
 100-00 
 One part of it gave with litharge 22 parts of lead, hence 100 
 parts correspond to 65 parts of pure carbon. 
 
 COAL FROM THE COAL ISLAND PITS. 
 
 This coal has a slaty structure, is dull coloured, but tolera- 
 bly pui'e. Its specific gravity is 1 -267 ; when ignited it gives off 
 much gas, tumesces, and leaves a very porous coke. Its 
 practical analysis gave, 
 
 Volatile matter, 38-96 
 
 Pure coke, 49-39 
 
 White ashes, 11-63 
 
 100-00
 
 2f) INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 It is, therefore, much purer than the Drumglass coal. One 
 part of it gave, with litharge, 26"5 of lead ; hence 100 parts 
 correspond to 78 of pure carbon. 
 
 To illustrate further the composition of the coal of this basin, 
 its ultimate constitution was determined : it was as follows : 
 
 Carbon, 69-08 
 
 Hydrogen 586 
 
 Oxygen, 13-41 
 
 Ashes, 11-65 
 
 100-00 
 
 COAL OF THE ANTRIM DISTRICT. 
 
 I found the coal of Ballycastle dull, black in colour, its spe- 
 cific gravity 1-279. On ignition it gave out much gas, frothed 
 very much, and left a porous coke. It consisted of, 
 
 Volatile matter, 36"96 
 
 Pure coke, 4594 
 
 Ashes, 17*10 
 
 100-00 
 One part of it gave 25 of lead ; hence 100 parts of it corres- 
 pond to 71 '4 of pure carbon. 
 
 Of the economic relations of these coals nothing need be said. 
 They are applicable to every use in industry, to which coal is 
 applied in England. The remaining kind of coal, the anthra- 
 cite of the South of Ireland, will require more consideration 
 in that respect. 
 
 A remarkable feature in the coal fields of the South of Ire- 
 land is tlie large quantities of iron pyrites which are associ- 
 ated with the coal, and which, evolving sulphurous fimies when 
 burned, renders much of it totally unsuited for domestic use, 
 and even for many purposes in the arts. The thicker beds 
 are, however, free from this objection, and it is to the pure 
 anthracite that I shall apply the follo\\ing observations. The 
 composition of anthracite is very uniform. From its not 
 caking or burning with flame it is very generally termed 
 mineral charcoal, and considered to be pure carbon mixed only 
 with ashes. Hence its composition is generally expressed as
 
 OF IRELAND. 27 
 
 in the following instances. Mr. GrifSth, in his valable Report 
 on the Leinster district, gives the composition of the 
 
 FIRST BED OF SLATE COAL. 
 
 Carbon, 92 
 
 Ashes, 8 
 
 100 
 
 FOUR FOOT COAL. 
 
 Carbon, 96-25 
 
 Ashes, 3"73 
 
 100-00 
 
 The specific gravity of the four foot coal was found to be 
 1-591. 
 
 What is here termed carbon, is really the whole combustible 
 and volatile material of the coal. This will appear from the 
 following examination of the Ii'ish anthracites which I made 
 for the purposes of this work. 
 
 The specimens which I analysed were from 
 
 The Rushes coal. Queen's County, Leinster district. 
 The Pollough coal, Castlecomer, ,, ,, 
 
 The Sweet-vein, Kanturk, Munster district. 
 
 The anthracites have no tendency to froth or cake in coking. 
 They give off Uttle or no inflammable gas on being ignited, but 
 usually the masses break up quite small, especially if the heat 
 be suddenly applied. The ashes are almost always red, owing 
 to oxide of iron remaining after the combustion of the pyrites, 
 which the anthracite usually contains. 
 
 By the practical mode of analysis these coals yielded : 
 
 RUSHES. POLLOUGH. SWEET-VEIN. 
 
 Volatile matter, . . 9-85 10-40 10-35 
 
 Pure carbon, . . . 86-42 79-71 81-13 
 
 Ashes, 3-73 989 8-52 
 
 lOU-00 100-00 10000
 
 28 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 The results of ignition with litharge was, that one part of 
 the 
 
 Rushes anthracite gave 31 "8 of lead. 
 Pollough „ ,, 26-7 „ 
 
 Sweet-vein ,, ,, 29'0 ,, 
 
 Hence they correspond respectively, 
 
 100 parts of Rushes to 93-5 of pure carbon. 
 
 100 ,, Pollough to 73-5 
 100 ,, Sweet-vein to 83-3 ,, ,, 
 I determined the elementary composition of these three 
 varieties of anthracite, and found it to be as follows : 
 
 RUSHES. POLLOUGH. SWEET-VEIN. 
 
 Carbon 9004 81-36 86-37 
 
 Hydrogen, .... 3-50 2-41 3-71 
 
 Oxygen 273 634 140 
 
 Ashes, 3-73 9-89 8-32 
 
 100-00 100-00 100-00 
 
 Of those coals the Sweet-vein was perfectly free from sul- 
 phur ; the Rushes contained very little, but the Pollough a 
 good deal. As this sensibly affects the determination of the 
 carbon in the above analyses, I determined the exact quantity 
 in this last coal, and found it to be 6-18 per cent., and hence 
 the true composition of the Pollough coal was : 
 
 Bisulphurct of iron, 11-58 
 
 Ashes without iron, 2-19 
 
 Pure anthracite, 86-23 
 
 100-lX) 
 The pure anthracite thus considered separate from ashes or 
 sulphur consisted of, 
 
 RUSHES. POLLOUGH. SWEET-VEIN. 
 
 Carbon, 93-53 92-37 94*39 
 
 Hydrogen, .... 363 2-40 4-03 
 
 Oxygen 2-84 523 1-56 
 
 10000 100-00 10000
 
 OF IRELAND. 29 
 
 Hence these coals, when pure, differ principally in the 
 amount of hj'drogen ; the Sweet- vein containing most, and the 
 Pollough least. The Rushes maybe considered as representing 
 the usual composition of this kind of coal. 
 
 The anthracite is thus shewn to be by no means mere 
 mineral carbon ; it contains a sensible quantity of hydrogen 
 and a trace of oxygen. But these elements are not present 
 in such proportion as admit of flame or smoke in burning, or 
 the production of bituminous vapour or gas by distillation at a 
 red heat. 
 
 This peculiar composition of anthracite affects its use as a 
 fuel in the arts in an important degree, being the source of 
 many advantages and of some defects, which, together with 
 their remedies, it is necessary to describe. In consequence of 
 its density and closeness of texture, anthracite is difficult to 
 burn, except when in large masses, and it conducts heat but 
 slowly. For this reason also it is liable to splinter up into 
 small fragments. These peculiarities are easily accommodated 
 in practice. One much more important to consider arises from 
 the fact that it contains very little volatile combustible ma- 
 terial, but consists almost entirely of dense, solid carbon, and 
 produces, in good draft, a most intense heat, which is, how- 
 ever, almost confined to the immediate neighbourhood of the 
 fire. Thus, if anthracite be used as the fuel under a steam 
 boiler, the heat in the fire-place may become so great, as to 
 melt away the bars of the grate, and to burn out the bottom of 
 the boiler, and yet the air passing into the flues may not be of 
 such temperature as to produce an evaporation by any means 
 economical. In such case we must call in the aid of science to 
 free our fuel from this disadvantage. It is at once done by 
 passing the vapour of water through the mass of red hot 
 anthracite ; the water is decomposed ; its oxygen combines 
 with carbon, and forms carbonic oxide ; its hydrogen is set 
 free. These mixed combustible gases pass into the flues, and 
 inflaming in the excess of air which enters, give a sheet of 
 flame which I have seen to extend for thirty feet under and 
 through a boiler. The anthracite is thus converted into a
 
 30 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 flaming coal. There is no loss of heat ; there is no gain of 
 lieat either, as some persons have supposed to occur, but the 
 action, beneficial in its result, is to absorb, in the first place, 
 the excessive heat which was doing local injury, and to distri- 
 bute it over the entire surface of the flues, where its maxi- 
 mum of good can be obtained. The principle of this method 
 has been long kno\vn. Its application has been patented in 
 England, but such patents can only stand for the particular 
 mode of applying the watery vapour therein described, if even 
 for so much. 
 
 Anthracite burning without smoke, and giving an intense 
 though local heat, assimilates itself to coke, the most costly of 
 our fuels, and hence it is interesting to inquire whether it can 
 be used in what is now the principal employ of coke, in the fires 
 of locomotive engines. On this point but little has as yet 
 been experimentally ascertained. In England it is not of 
 much importance; but one trial has been made which gives 
 promise of its being perfectly successful in that use. I extract 
 from the Mining Journal, quoting a Report to the Directors of 
 the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. 
 
 " In the first instance the engine ran out with a load about 
 six miles, and the coal was found to do very good duty, with- 
 out any difficulty being experienced either with the tubes or 
 the getting up of the fires. The engine brought back a load of 
 coal waggons from the Heyton Colliery, and acquired, thus 
 loaded, a speed of twenty-one miles an hour. Another trial 
 was made in the evening with the same engine for the whole 
 distance to Manchester, taking five loaded waggons. The 
 journey was accomplished in an hour and twenty-five minutes. 
 The consumption of anthracite was only 5i cwt., although a 
 large portion was wasted, from the fire bars being too wide 
 apart for the economical use of this fuel. The engine would 
 have used upwards of 7^ cwt. of coke for the same journey 
 with the same load." 
 
 Should tliis result be confirmed by experiments continued for 
 a longer time, it may exercise important influence on the rail- 
 way economy of this country.
 
 OF IRELAND. 31 
 
 The heating power of anthracite is very great. I have found, 
 and my results confirm those of Berthier, that it is capable of 
 reducing to the metallic state, from 28 to 32 times its weight 
 of lead. Pure carbon gives 35 parts of lead. The bituminous 
 fuels give from 25 to 30. Now the economic value of a fuel, 
 the quantity of water it can boil, or the quantity of iron it can 
 melt, will be found proportional to these numbers, and hence, 
 where the other conditions are rendered suitable for the employ- 
 ment of anthracite, it must be considered one of the best fuels. 
 
 Before entering on the history of our coal strata, I noticed 
 some of the more ancient rocks on which they rest, and which 
 I shall fully describe when examining the circumstances of our 
 metallic veins. Above the coal formation, there are also ex- 
 tensive series of rocks, the new red sandstone, the oolite, the 
 lias, and the chalk, which occupy in England large portions of 
 the surface, but with us are developed only in the north-eastern 
 corner of the island, forming the County Antrim and part of 
 Derry, and overtopped by these masses of igneous rocks, the 
 trap, and basalt, which chiefly characterize the locality. Some 
 details of special industrial applications of these rocks may 
 hereafter require notice, but I shall now pass from them in 
 order to describe a very peculiar deposit of fuel, more recent 
 than the coal — the Lignite of Lough Neagh. Encompassing 
 the southern half of the lake from Washing Bay in Tyrone, to 
 Sandy Bay in Antrim, this deposit consists of alternations of 
 white, brown, and bluish clay, with white sand and beds of 
 lignite or wood-coal ; and, on the margin of the lough, of the 
 silicified wood for which that lake is so celebrated. In some 
 parts of this deposit the lignite is so abundant, that pits are 
 sunk to raise it when other fuel is scarce. The vast quantity 
 of lignite may be judged from a boring at Sandy Bay, described 
 by Mr. Griffith. In seventy-six feet of depth there occurred 
 three beds of lignite, one of twenty, one of twenty-five, and one 
 of fifteen feet thick, giving a total thickness of strata of fuel 
 of sixty feet; the remaining sixteen feet were clay. Else- 
 where the beds of lignite are not so much developed, but as 
 the area of this tertiary basin extends over one hundred square
 
 32 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 miles, the quantity of fuel therein contained may be considered 
 of much public interest. The clays of this basin are analogous 
 to those of Bovey, where pipe-clay is obtained, along with lig- 
 nite : whether good pipe-clay can be had in the basin of Lough 
 Neagh has not as yet been tried. 
 
 The lignite has been already described as intermediate be- 
 tween wood and coal. This is shewn in its composition, given 
 in the following analyses from this distinct. 
 
 The lignites examined retained all the structm-e of wood, 
 and were of a deep brown colour. ^Vhen ignited they gave off 
 gaseous matter, which burned brilliantly, and left a dense 
 black charcoal. In this way they were foimd constituted of, 
 
 No. 1. No. 2. 
 
 Volatile matter, 57-70 53-70 
 
 Pure charcoal, 33-66 3009 
 
 Ashes, 8-64 16-21 
 
 100-00 100-00 
 
 By ignition with lithai-ge.. No. 1 gave 19-6 times its weight 
 of lead, and No. 2 gave 16-7 times its weight. Hence, 
 100 parts of No. 1, correspond to 58 of pure carbon, 
 100 „ No. 2, „ „ 50 
 
 Their elementary composition was found to be as follows : 
 
 No. 1. No. 2. 
 
 Carbon, 58-56 51-36 
 
 Hydrogen 5-95 7-35 
 
 Oxygen, 26-85 25-08 
 
 Ashes, 8-64 16-21 
 
 100-00 100-00 
 
 The economic value of the lignite appears from those analy- 
 ses about two-thirds that of average coal. The heat which it 
 produces is more diffused than that from coal, and less intense. 
 Indeed in all respects as to application to industrial uses, the 
 position of lignite is between those of coal and wood. 
 
 The last of our sources of fuel that I shall proceed to de- 
 scribe, is of comparatively modern formation, and is considered 
 most specially characteristic of this island; it is our turf. Our
 
 OF IRELAND, 33 
 
 bogs may become, under the influence of an enlightened energy, 
 sources of industry eminently productive. It is a fuel of ex- 
 cellent nature. We see it in ordinary use spoiled by its mode 
 of preparation. It is here my duty to point out how it can be 
 properly prepared, and economically used. Its importance to 
 Ireland will, I trust, justify me in entering into some detail as 
 to its nature, its composition, and its preparation. The ex- 
 cessive moisture of this climate, and the tendency to the growth 
 of certain mosses, are the primary causes of bogs. The process 
 of their formation is well described by Captain Portlock, in 
 the Memoir of the Ordnance Survey of Londonderry : 
 
 " In the production of bog, sphagnum is allowed on all hands 
 to have been a principal agent, and superabundant moisture 
 the inducing cause. To account for such moisture, various 
 opinions have been advanced, more especially that of the de- 
 struction of large forests, which, by obstructing in their fall 
 the usual channels of drainage, were supposed to have caused 
 an accumulation of water. That opinion, however, cannot be 
 supported, — for, as Mr. Aher remarks in the ' Bog Reports,' 
 ' such trees as are found have generally six or seven feet of 
 compact peat under their roots, which are found standing as 
 they grew, evidently proving the formation of peat to have 
 been previous to the growth of the trees' — a fact, which, in 
 relation to firs, may be verified in probably every bog in this 
 parish, turf from three to five feet thick undei-lying the 
 lowest layer of such trees. It is, indeed, so strongly marked in 
 the bog, which on the Donegal side bounds the road to Muff, 
 that the turf-cutters, having arrived at the last depth of turf, 
 find timber no longer, though formerly it was abundant, as is 
 proved by their own testimony from experience, and by the few 
 scattered stumps which still remain resting on the present sur- 
 face. Not so, however, with oaks, as their stumps are commonly 
 found resting on the gravel at the base, or on the sides of the 
 small hillocks of gravel and sand, which so often stud the sur- 
 faces of bogs, and have by Mr. Aher been aptly called 'islands.' 
 He further adds, that in the counties of Tipperary, Kilkenny, 
 &c., they are popularly called ' derries,' — a name deserving 
 
 D
 
 34 INDUSTRIAL UESOURCES 
 
 attention, whether viewed as expressive of the existing fact, 
 or as resulting- from a lingering traditionary remembrance of 
 their former condition, when, crowned with oaks, they were dis- 
 tinguishable from the dense forest of firs, skirting the marshy 
 plains around them. The strong resemblance to ancient water- 
 courses of the valleys and basins which now contain bog, and 
 the occurrence of marl and shells at the bottoms of many, na- 
 turally suggest the idea of shallow lakes, — a view of the sub- 
 ject adopted in the ' Bog Reports,' by Messrs. Nimmo and 
 Griffith. Such lakes may have originated in the natural ine- 
 qualities of the ground, — or been formed by the choking-up of 
 channels of drainage by heaps of clay and gravel — or they 
 may have been reduced to the necessary state of shallowness 
 by the gradual wearing away of obstacles which had dammed 
 up and retained their waters at a higher level. Mr. Nimmo 
 describes the mode in which the basin of a bog has been banked 
 in by the alluvial deposits of a river (during freshets), and, in 
 a similar manner, numerous examples might be adduced of 
 bogs separated by banks of clay and gravel, owing to rivers 
 running at their base, and below their level. 
 
 " In some cases also clay, which is so frequently found spread 
 over gravel at the bottom of bogs, has produced a kind of pud- 
 dle, which, by retaining the waters of floods or springs, has 
 facilitated the formation of muddy pools. 
 
 '• Inall such cases the process may be thus stated : — A shal- 
 low pool induced and favoured the vegetation of aquatic plants, 
 which gradually crejit in from the borders towards the deeper 
 centre. Mud accumulated round their roots and stalks, and a 
 spongy, semi-fluid mass was thus formed, Avell fitted for the 
 growth of moss, which now, especially sphapium, began to 
 luxuriate : this, absorbing a large quantity of water, and con- 
 tinuing to shoot out new plants above, while the old were de- 
 caying, rotting, and compressing into a solid substance below, 
 gradually replaced the water by a mass of vegetable matter. 
 In this manner the marsh might be filled up, while tlie central, 
 or moister portion, continuing to excite a more rapid growth 
 of the moss, it would be gradually raised above the edges,
 
 OF IRELAND. 35 
 
 until the whole siu'face had attained an elevation sufficient to 
 discharge the surface water by existing channels of drainage, 
 and calculated by its slope to facilitate their jjassage, when a 
 limit would be in some degree set to its further increase. 
 Springs existing under the bog, or in its immediate vicinity, 
 might indeed still favour its growth, though in a decreasing 
 ratio ; and here — if the water proceeding from them were so 
 obstructed as to accumulate at its base, and to keep it in a 
 rotten, fluid state — the surface of the bog might be ultimately 
 so raised, and its continuity below so totally destroyed, as to 
 cause it to flow over the retaining obstacle, and flood the 
 adjacent country. 
 
 ' ' In mountain districts the progress of the phenomenon is 
 similar. Pools, indeed, cannot in so many instances be formed, 
 the steep slopes facilitating drainage, — but the clouds and 
 mists, resting on the summits and sides of mountains, amply 
 supply their surface with moisture, which comes too in the 
 most favom-able form for vegetation — not in a sudden torrent, 
 but unceasingly and gently, drop by drop. The extent of such 
 bogs is also affected by the nature of the rock below them. On 
 quartz they are shallow and small ; on any rock yielding by 
 its decomposition a clayey coating, they are considerable — the 
 thickness of the bog, for example, on Knocklaid, in the county 
 of Antrim, which is 1685 feet high, being near twelve feet. 
 The summit bogs of high mountains are distinguishable from 
 those of lower levels, by the total absence of large trees." 
 
 The total area of Ii'eland is twenty millions of acres. The 
 total area of bog is estimated at 2,830,000 acres; nearly one- 
 seventh of the entire sm'face of the island. Of these bogs 
 there are 1,576,000 acres of flat bog ; the remaining 1,254,000 
 acres are mountain bog. The former is spread over the cen- 
 tral portions of the great limestone plain ; the latter is princi- 
 pally distributed through the hilly country which ranges along 
 the coast. In an industrial point of view, it is the central dis- 
 trict of bogs which deserves attention. Some special circum- 
 stances which affect certain localities may require considera- 
 tion in a different point of view ; at present the subject must 
 d2
 
 36 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 be consiilcrcd mider its general relations as to the constitution 
 and application of this fuel. 
 
 All idea of the amount of area occupied by bog, and of its 
 geographical distribution, sufficiently exact for the general 
 consideration of industrial problems, may be deduced from the 
 accompanying map, in which the localities and extent of the 
 larger bogs, surveyed by the Bog Commissioners, have been 
 laid down. It will be seen that the district west of the Shannon 
 contains by far the greatest proportion, and that a chain of 
 bog passes almost from Dublin to that river through the cen- 
 tral counties. In Leitrim, Kerry, and in Antrim, there is also 
 a large extent of bog. This map does not include such small 
 patches of bog as are scattered through various parts of Ire- 
 land, but which, although useful as sources of fuel to the inha- 
 bitants of the district, are totally without interest with regard 
 to industry. 
 
 As turf includes a mass of plants in different stages of 
 decomposition, its aspect and constitution vary very much. 
 Near the surface it is light coloured, spongy, and contains the 
 vegetable remains but little altered. Deeper, it is brown, 
 denser, and more decomposed ; and finally, at the base of the 
 greater bogs, some of which present a depth of forty feet, the 
 mass of turf assumes the black colour, and nearly the density 
 of coal, to which also it approximates very much in chemical 
 composition. The amount of ash contained in turf is also 
 variable, and appears to increase in proportion as we descend. 
 Thus in the section of a bog forty feet deep at Timahoe, those 
 portions near the surface contained 1^ per cent, of ashes; the 
 central portions 3^ per cent., whilst the lowest four feet of turf 
 contained 19 per cent, of ashes. In the superficial layers it 
 may also be remarked, that the composition is nearly the same 
 as that of wood, the vegetable material being but little altered; 
 and in the lower we find the change into coal nearly complete. 
 Notwithstanding these extreme variations, we may yet esta- 
 blish the ordinary constitution of turf with certainty enough 
 for practical use, and on the average specimens of turf selected 
 from various localities, the following results have been ob- 
 tained.
 
 OF IRELAND. 37 
 
 Turf, in Ireland, is usually sold by measure, not by weight, 
 and as our results refer to weight, it is necessary, in compar- 
 ing cost, to ascertain the density of average turf, as sold. The 
 specific gravity of the light surface turf is about 400, water 
 being 1000, and from this it increases, with the compactness 
 of the structure, to nearly the density of coal. A cubic yard 
 of good turf, packed close in sods, weighs about 9001b. The 
 densest turf well packed will go so far as llOOlb per cubic 
 yard ; but the light turf, of which so much is burned, may not 
 weigh more than 500tb. The density of the turf, which these 
 numbers illustrate, affect many of its technical uses, as shall 
 be hereafter shewn. For comparison I may mention, that the 
 cubic yard of solid coal weighs nearly a ton ; but the coal in 
 fragments, as sold and burned, weighs but 13 cwt. per cubic 
 yard : it fs, therefore, about twice as dense as average turf. 
 Furnaces, to burn the same weight of coal and turf, should re- 
 quire double the capacity for the latter. 
 
 By means of the following analytical results, the general 
 practical qualities and the chemical composition of turf may be 
 considered to be established. The specimens were selected 
 from Cappoge in Kildare, and Kilbeggan in Westmeath, on 
 different sides of the great Bog of Allen, and from Kilbaha in 
 Clare, where an extensive district of bog exists. 
 
 When ignited, the turf gives off inflammable gas, much wa- 
 ter, and leaves a light, easily combustible charcoal. I found 
 the specimens analyzed to yield. 
 
 
 LIGHT TURF. 
 
 DENSE TURF. 
 
 
 CAPPOGE. 
 
 KILBEGGAN. 
 
 KILBAHA. CAPPOGE. 
 
 Volatile matter. 
 
 . 73-63 
 
 75-50 
 
 . 72-80 70-10 
 
 Pure charcoal, 
 
 . 23-82 
 
 22-67 
 
 . 19-14 23-66 
 
 Ashes, . . . 
 
 . 2-55 
 
 1-83 
 
 806 6-24 
 
 10000 100-00 100-00 100-00 
 
 By ignition with litharge it was foxmd that 
 
 One part of Cappoge turf gave 13 of lead. 
 ,, Kilbeggan ,, 14-2 ,, 
 
 Kilbaha „ 138 „
 
 38 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 Hence 100 parts corresponded 
 
 Of Cappoge turf to 37 of pure carbon. 
 Kilbeggan ,, 41 ,, ,, 
 Kilbaha >> 40 „ ,, 
 
 I determined also the elementary composition of these turfs: 
 the results were as follow : 
 
 CAPPOGE. KILBEGGAN. KILBAHA. 
 
 Carbon, 51-05 61-04 5M3 
 
 Hydrogen, 6-85 6-67 6-33 
 
 Oxygen, 3955 30-46 34-48 
 
 Ashes 2-55 1-83 8-06 
 
 10000 100-00 10000 
 
 Turf contains much less nitrogen than coal. Hence the 
 liquor obtained in distilling turf contains no free ammonia. 
 On the contrary it is acid from acetic acid, but even of this it 
 yields so little that it cannot become, as occurs in the case of 
 wood, an object of manufacture. 
 
 The calorific power of dry turf is about half that of coal. 
 It yields, when ignited with litharge, about fourteen times its 
 weight of lead. This power is, however, immensely diminished 
 in ordinary use by the water which is allowed to remain in its 
 texture, and of which the spongy character of its mass renders 
 it very difficult to get rid. There is nothing in the industrial 
 economy of this country which requires more alteration than 
 the collection and preparation of our turf. Indeed I may say, 
 that for practical purposes, this valuable fuel is absolutely 
 spoiled, as it is now prepared. It is cut in a wet season of the 
 year ; whilst drying, it is exposed to the weather ; it hence is 
 in reality not dried at all. It is very usual to find the turf of 
 commerce containing one- fourth of its weight of water ; al- 
 though it then feels dry to the hand : but let us examine how 
 that affects its calorific power. One pound of pure, dry turf 
 will evaporate six pounds of water ; now in one pound of turf, 
 as usually found, there are three-quarters of a pound of dry 
 turf, and oncvquartcr of a pound of water. The three-quarters 
 of a pound can only evaporate four jiounds and one-half of wa-
 
 OF IRELAND. 39 
 
 ter. But out of this it must first evaporate the quarter of a 
 pound contained in its mass, and hence the water boiled away 
 by one pound of such turf is reduced to four poiuids and a quar- 
 ter. The loss is here 30 per cent. ; a proportion which makes 
 all the difference between a good fuel and one almost unfit for 
 use. When turf is dried in the air, under cover, it still retains 
 one-tenth of its weight of water, which reduces its calorific 
 power 12 per cent. ; one pound of such turf evaporating five 
 and one-third pounds of water. This effect is sufficient, how- 
 ever, for the great majority of objects. The further desicca- 
 tion is too expensive and too troublesome to be used, except in 
 some especial cases, of which the more important shall be here- 
 after noticed. 
 
 The characteristic fault of turf as a fuel is its want of den- 
 sity, which renders it difficult to concentrate within a limited 
 space the quantity pf heat necessary for many operations. The 
 manner of heating of turf is, indeed, just the opposite to that 
 of anthracite. The turf yields a vast body of volatile inflam- 
 mable ingredients, which pass into the flues and chimney, and 
 thus distribute the heat of combustion over a great space, 
 whilst in no one point is the heat intense. Hence for all flaming- 
 fires, turf is applicable ; and in its application to boilers it is 
 peculiarly useful, as there is no liability to that burning away 
 of the metal, which may arise from the local intensity of the 
 heat of coke or coal. If it be required, it is quite possible, 
 however, to obtain a very intense heat with turf, as I shall no- 
 tice when speaking of the manufacture of iron. 
 
 I have already noticed the area over which turf may become 
 available for industry. It comprises the central limestone 
 plain, extending also over Galway and Mayo, with parts 
 of Clare and Kerry, The cost at which turf may be con- 
 sumed in the immediate neighbourhood of the bogs, I consider 
 to be, from pretty numerous inquiries, not above 3s. 6d. 
 per ton, but in our subsequent calculations I shall take 4s., 
 in order that the error, if any, may be in excess of cost. 
 I shall consider, however, that the turf is dried in the air un- 
 der cover, which, if our industry ever becomes active, and our 
 fuel economized, must be the ordinary practice. Its economic
 
 40 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 value may then be practically assumed as 44 per cent, of that 
 of ordinary coal. The turf at 4s. per ton costs as much to 
 give a certain heat as coal at 9s. Id. 
 
 The removal of the porosity and elasticity of turf, so that it 
 may assume the solidity of coal, has been the object of many 
 experimenters, who have proposed mechanical and other pro- 
 cesses for the purpose. Amongst those we may mention Lord 
 Willougby D'Eresby, whose anxiety to improve the condition 
 of the industrial classes deserves the highest praise. Lately 
 with us I\Lr. Charles Wye Williams has brought into use va- 
 rious preparations of turf, and has given considerable impulse 
 to the utilization of this kind of fuel. It has been found, that 
 the elasticity of the turf fibre presents great obstacles to com- 
 pression : and the black turf which is not fibrous, is of itself 
 sufficiently dense. The only modes that present promise of 
 successful issue, are those invented by Mr. Williams. One of 
 these consists in drying the turf well, and then impregnating 
 it with tar, which renders it waterproof, as it were, besides 
 augmenting its calorific power. Turf so prepared has no ten- 
 dency to re-absorb moisture, which is the serious failing of 
 turf that has been perfectly dried, and the expense of thus 
 bitumenizing the turf is, I understand, very trifling. It is said 
 to be manufactured for from (is. to 8s. per ton, and from the 
 trials that have been made with it upon a very considerable 
 scale, it appears to have a calorific power little inferior to coal. 
 All of those machines which have been invented for pressing 
 turf, sod after sod, by manual labour, become ultimately too 
 expensive to allow of their being profitably used. It is only 
 by operating on a great scale, and with powerful machinery, 
 in fact, only by manufacturing compressed peat largely for 
 sale, that the operation can be made to succeed practically. 
 This is what Mr. Charles W. Williams has so well effected at 
 Cappoge. The turf, when fresh cut, has its fibre broken up 
 as far as possible, and is then placed between cloths, and 
 pi'essed by a hydraulic press of great power. The condensation 
 is to about one-third of the volume, and it loses about two- 
 fifths of its weight, by the water, which is forced out in the 
 pressing, and subsei^iuently dried out. The sods of turf so
 
 OF IRELAND. 41 
 
 prepared, even when formed of the very upper and spongiest 
 stratum of the turf, are denser than wood. They have little 
 or no tendency to grow damp, and it is found that including 
 all labour, wear and tear, and original cost, this compressed 
 peat can be delivered at the works for 5s. per ton. When this 
 compressed peat is carbonized it gives a fine coherent coke, 
 which contains very little ash, and amounts to about 30 per 
 cent, of its Aveight, when the coking is properly carried on. 
 The density of this coke is greater than that of wood charcoal, 
 being found to range from 913 to 1040; the turf from which it 
 was made having a specific gravity of from 910 to 1160. Its 
 cost when manufactiu*ed does not exceed 20s. per ton. 
 
 The employment of turf as a source of heat in industry is 
 extending ; already it supplies exclusively the steam boats on 
 the Shannon and a great number of distilleries and mills. From 
 the numerical facts that have been given, the economy of its 
 use may be inferred and compared with that of other fuels. 
 
 Not merely may we utilize turf in its natural condition, or 
 compressed, or impregnated with pitchy matter, but we may 
 carbonize it as we do wood, and prepare turf charcoal, the pro- 
 perties of which it is important to establish. The methods of 
 carbonization are of two kinds. 1. By heating the turf in 
 close vessels ; by this mode loss is avoided, but it is expensive, 
 and there is no compensation in the distilled liquors, which do 
 not contain acetic acid in any quantity. The tar is often small 
 in quantity, and the gases are deficient in illuminating power. 
 Hence the charcoal is the only valuable product. Its quantity 
 varies from 30 to 40 per cent, by weight of the dry turf. The 
 products of the distillation of 1 137ft> of turf, were found by 
 Blavier to be : 
 
 4741b charcoal or . . 41 "1 per cent. 
 
 2261b watery liquor or . 19*3 ,, 
 7tb tar or ... . 6 ,, 
 
 430tb gaseous matter or 39'0 ,, 
 
 1157 100-0 
 
 The quantity of tar is very variable; thus the turf used in
 
 42 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 the iron furnaces at Voitoumra gives, when coked in close 
 
 vessels : 
 
 Charcoal, 40-23 
 
 Tar, 24-50 
 
 Watery liquor, 14"00 
 
 Gaseous matter, 21 "25 
 
 100 -00 
 The economical cai'bonization of turf is best carried on in 
 heaps, in the same manner as that of wood. The sods must be 
 regularly arranged, and laid as close as possible : they are the 
 better of being large, fifteen inches long by six broad and five 
 deep. The heaps, built hemispherically, should be smaller in 
 size than the heaps of wood usually are. In general 5000 or 
 6000 large sods may go to a heap, which will thus contain 
 1500 cubic feet. The mass must be allowed to heat more than 
 is necessary for wood, and the process requires to be very care- 
 fully attended to, from the extreme combustibility of the char- 
 coal. The quantity of charcoal obtained in this mode of car- 
 bonization is from 25 to 30 per cent, of the weight of the dry 
 turf. 
 
 The charcoal so obtained is light and very inflammable. It 
 possesses nearly the volume of the tm"f. It usually burns with 
 a light flame, as the volatile matters are not totally expelled. 
 This is she\\Ti by the composition of a specimen analysed with 
 the following result : 
 
 Carbon, 89-90 
 
 Hydrogen, 1-70 
 
 Oxygen and nitrogen, 4-20 
 
 Ashes 4-20 
 
 100-00 
 This charcoal is usually very light and friable. It is hence 
 peculiarly fitted for the manufacture of gunpowder, and Mr. 
 Derust, Pyrotechnist to Vauxhall, who experimented with it 
 at the request of Mr. Williams, reported that it stood the 
 several tests, and was 20 per cent, more combustible than 
 wood charcoal.
 
 OV IRELAND. 43 
 
 For many industrial uses, the charcoal so prepared is too 
 light, as, generally speaking, it is only vnth fuels of consider- 
 able density that the most intense heat can be produced ; but 
 by coking compressed turf, it has been already shewn, that 
 the resulting charcoal may attain a density of 1040, which is 
 far superior to that of wood charcoal, and even equal to that 
 of the best coke from coal. The importance of this result in 
 the metallurgic relations of this fuel I shall hereafter notice. 
 As to calorific effect, turf charcoal is about the same as coal 
 cokes and little inferior to wood charcoal. This is shewn in 
 the table, page 47, and it has been found to give from twenty- 
 six to thirty parts of lead by its reducing action upon litharge. 
 It is peculiarly important in the preparation of the charcoal 
 from turf, that the material should be selected as free as pos- 
 sible from earthy impurities, for all such are concentrated in 
 the coke, which may be thereby rendered of little comparative 
 value. This is remarkably shewn by observing the composi- 
 tion of the coke from the four varieties of turf, the analyses of 
 which are given in page 34. Thus the cokes consisted in 100 
 parts of 
 
 LIGHT TURF. DENSE TURF. 
 
 CAPPOGE. KU.BEGGAN. KILBAHA. CAPPOGE. 
 
 Pure coke 90-3 90-6 70-4 79-1 
 
 Ashes, 9-7 94 296 20-9 
 
 10000 10000 100-00 100-00 
 
 Hence the coke from surface turf contains not 10 per cent, 
 of ash, whilst that of the dense turf of the lower strata con- 
 tains from 20 to 30 per cent. This latter quantity might 
 altogether unfit it for practical purposes. 
 
 Such is the description of om* sources of fuel, as far as I have 
 been able to collect facts regarding them. I have been anxious 
 to remove exaggerated ideas of opposite characters which 
 have been entertained. Although destitute of the grand de- 
 velopment of mineral fuel which has rendered the sister king- 
 dom the centre of the industrial arts, we yet possess several 
 coal districts of considerable extent, and yielding large supplies 
 of fuel, and moreover, there is in our bogs amassed a quantity
 
 44 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 of turf, which, if the peculiar characters of that fuel be suita- 
 bly attended to, may become of eminent importance to the 
 country. 
 
 All the applications of fuel depend, however, on its cost, and 
 the amount and consequences of the cost of fuel in Ireland shall 
 form the next subject of inquiry.
 
 OF lUKLAND. 45 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 NECESSITy FOR DETERMINING THE INFLUENCE 1\'HICH THE 
 COST OF FUEL, EXERCISES ON THE COST OF POWER, AND THE 
 MEANS OF ECONOMIZING IT. GENERAL PRINCIPLE OF STEAM 
 POWER. EVAPORATIVE POWERS OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF 
 FUELS. COMPARISON OF ANTHRACITE WITH BITUJIINOUS 
 COAL. UNIT OF STEAM POWER. CONSUMPTION OF COAL WITH 
 ORDINARY STEAM BOILERS. ECONOMY OF FUEL OBTAINED 
 WITH CORNISH BOILERS. MODE OF EMPLOYING STEAM IN CORN- 
 WALL. PRINCIPLE OF EXPANSION. MONEY VALUE OF COAL 
 IN IRELAND. COST OF STEAM POWER, WITH NATIVE AND 
 IMPORTED COALS. EMPLOYMENT OF TURF AS FUEL. ITS 
 ABSOLUTE AND RELATIVE COST. RESULTS OF PRACTICAL 
 TRIALS. PRACTICAL RESULTS OF THE EMPLOYMENT OF TURF 
 IN THE STEAMERS ON THE SHANNON AND UNDER FIXED EN- 
 GINES. COST OF THE HORSE POWER OF STEAM WITH COAL 
 AND TURF IN DIFFERENT DISTRICTS IN IRELAND AND IN ENG- 
 LAND. INFLUENCE OF THE COST OF FUEL ON THE FINAL 
 COST OF THE PRODUCTS OF MANUFACTURE. STATISTICAL 
 ANALYSIS OF THE DIFFERENT ELEMENTS OF EXPENDITURE, 
 BESIDES STEAM POWER, IN THE COTTON TRADE, IN THE WOOL- 
 LEN TRADE, IN THE FLAX TRADE. FINAL CONCLUSION AS TO 
 HOW FAR THE COST OF FUEL NECESSARILY AFFECTS INDUS- 
 TRY IN IRELAND. ELEMENTS OF CALCULATION FOR EVAPO- 
 RATIVE STEAM POWER. 
 
 The distribution, amount, and composition of the fuels of 
 Ireland having been described so far as information could be 
 obtained upon the subject, it remains to examine the cost at 
 which by their means the more important mechanical opera- 
 tions can be effected. 
 
 It is possible that to some, who are already habituated to 
 the consideration of such topics, the details, with the discussion 
 of which the present chapter will be occupied, may appear 
 unnecessary, as such persons, knowing the price of fuel as 
 already given, may follow out from their own experience all 
 the practical consequences of importance to which it leads. 
 But comparatively few persons are in so favourable a position. 
 Misconceptions of very varied, but of serious character, are 
 entertained of the degree in which the price of fuel influences
 
 46 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 the industrial arts, and it is of great importance to remove 
 those erroneous impressions. I shall, therefore, endeavoui* to 
 exhibit, in as definite a form as the nature of the subject ad- 
 mits, the degree in which the price of fuel is an element in the 
 cost of the final products of manufacture, and to illustrate the 
 mode in which the greatest economy can be secm'ed in its ap- 
 plication. 
 
 In giving motion to machinery, fuel does not act directly, 
 but through the medium of water, which when heated is con- 
 verted into vapour, increasing enormously in bulk, and exer- 
 cising a pressure on the containing vessel which is capable of 
 overcoming the greatest resistance, provided the heat be sup- 
 plied to a sufficient extent. It is thus that the steam engine, 
 that wonderful creation of the highest mechanical genius, 
 transfers the power originally resident in the fuel to the most 
 remote elements of a complicated system of machinery. The 
 power transferred is, generally speaking, proportional to the 
 fuel burned, and thus the cost of power identifies itself for the 
 most part with the cost of fuel. It is not my purpose to de- 
 scribe the steam engine. There are published special works 
 in which all the details of its history and construction are 
 given, but in order that the question of fuels may be placed in 
 a proper point of view, it is necessary to notice some of the 
 more important features of its action. 
 
 In the complete steam engine there are two distinct parts, 
 which involve totally difterent scientific conditions. The mo- 
 tive agent is a certain bulk of steam. Now the first problem 
 in working the engine is to generate that bulk of steam with 
 the least possible expense, and the second is, having obtained 
 the steam, to apply it under the mechanical conditions most 
 favourable for its final result. According to the degree of at- 
 tention to these points is the ultimate cost of power, audit 
 is hence absolutely necessary for us to endeavour to realize 
 them. 
 
 The unit of power assumed in all mechanical questions in 
 these countries is the horse power. The word does not now 
 by any means signify the actual work a horse could do, but 
 is understood to mean a force sufficient to elevate 33,000lh of
 
 OF IRELAND, 47 
 
 water one foot per minute. That is about 884 tons of water 
 raised one foot in an hour. Now as the increase of water in 
 bulk when converted into steam at the ordinary boiling point 
 is just 1700 times, and that its pressure is then I5tb on each 
 square inch, this force of a horse power will be brought into 
 play when water is vaporized at the rate of 0'54 of a cubic 
 foot per hour ; very little more than half a cubic foot. This 
 makes no allowance for loss of fuel, friction of machinery, &c. 
 It is the purely theoretical result, to which all practical results 
 must be applied as to a measure of their economy. We shall 
 now proceed to examine some of the results of practice, pm*- 
 sued according to various methods, which shall be thereby 
 contrasted. 
 
 From an extensive series of trials made by Peclet, Parkes, 
 and others, we may deduce the following numbers as express- 
 ing the absolute heating power of fuels, and as they will be of 
 frequent reference I shall insert them here. 
 
 One pound of each fuel evaporates in pounds of water : 
 
 Hydrogen, .... 46-8 Average coal, . . . 120 
 
 Pure charcoal, . . . 14"6 Best turf, .... 6-0 
 
 Coke, 13-0 Dry wood, .... T'O 
 
 Best turf coke, . . 12*8 Wood not dried, . . 5*2 
 
 The economic value of coal is so well determined by the ex- 
 perience of English engineers, that I shall hereafter assume 
 their results without going into any detail, but as the use of 
 turf is still a subject of doubt and discussion in this country, 
 I shall notice some examples of its present employment, and 
 endeavom* to deduce from them its economy. It may be easily 
 understood that the evidence collected is not from England ; 
 the superabundance of coal there causes a neglect of all other 
 fuels, and it will hence be necessary for us in this, as in many 
 other instances, to take our examples from countries equally 
 unfortunate with ourselves, where the paucity and dearness 
 of fuel render its economy important, and where the high state 
 of scientific education renders their results satisfactory and 
 attainable. 
 
 The numbers given above, as to the evaporative power of
 
 48 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 coals, are for the usual bituminous coals, represented in tliis 
 country by those of the Loujj;h Allen basin which are the least, 
 and those of Tyrone which are the most bituminous. As so 
 much of the coal of Ireland is anthracitous, and as this variety 
 has been but very little employed in practice in England, it 
 will be useful, as more firmly establishing the grounds of future 
 conclusions, to notice what the practical results of its use have 
 been in some cases where accurate numbers have been record- 
 ed. Dr. Fyfe in Edinburgh published the results of some ex- 
 periments which he carried on to compare the evaporative 
 power of the anthracite with that of bituminous coal. The re- 
 sult was, that with the same furnace lib anthracite evaporated 
 7*94tt) of water, whilst the coal evaporated G-62. The compo- 
 sition of the two he found to be : 
 
 ANTHRACITE. BITUMINOUS COAL. 
 
 Moisture, 4*3 7"3 
 
 Volatile matter, . . . 13-3 34-3 
 
 Fixed carbon, .... 71 "4 30"3 
 
 Ashes, 10-8 7-3 
 
 100-0 100-0 
 
 Dr. Fyfe concluded from his experiments, which were con- 
 tinued for a long time, and were very carefully conducted, 
 that in any fuel the heating power is proportional to the quan- 
 tity of fixed carbon, that is, pure coke, which the fuel yields. 
 This would make the practical value of anthracite about one 
 and a half times that of ordinary bituminous coal. This, how- 
 ever, can occur only where the volatile parts of the coal are 
 not well burned, as certainly occurred in Dr. Fyfe's experi- 
 ment. 
 
 It has been shewn that average coal will evaporate, when 
 perfectly consumed, and the heat perfectly economized, twelve 
 times its weight of water. The heating effect of anthracite is 
 too local to allow of its being fully utilized if merely burned on 
 an ordinary grate, but if the flaming character be given to it 
 by means of a current of steam in the manner described in page 
 29, the economy of heat is much increased, although its ab- 
 solute amount is not altered. In experiments carried on with
 
 OF IRELAND, 4^ 
 
 an anthracite furnace, of which the furnace bars dipped in 
 water troughs, and thus fui'nished steam to the fuel as patented 
 by Mr. Kymer, it was found that in an engine boiler work- 
 ing under twenty-eight pounds pressure to the square inch, 
 lljtt) of anthracite evaporated lllStb of water, that is, one 
 pound to nine pounds and a half. It is hence evident that the 
 anthracite is at least fully as effective as the average bitumi- 
 nous coal, and consequently in future it is not necessary to 
 make any distinction between them under this point of view. 
 
 One of the most eminent mechanical engineers of the present 
 day, Mr. Scott Russell, has given the following as the working 
 conditions of the evaporation of water and generation of power. 
 
 One cubic foot of water evaporated per hour, is a horse 
 power. 
 
 lllb of coals evaporate a cubic foot of water. 
 lib of coals evaporates 6*6tb of water. 
 
 Here the quantity of water necessary to generate a horse 
 power of steam, is nearly double the purely theoretical result, 
 and the quantity of coal necessary to evaporate the water is 
 also nearly double that which has been indicated (page 47), 
 as the proper duty of average coal. This enormous difference 
 originates in the peculiar construction of the most usual form 
 of steam boilers, which, having been invented in a country 
 rich in fuel, and where its economy was, then at least, unim- 
 portant, produces a waste of the source of power very neces- 
 sary for us to avoid. 
 
 If you enter the engine house of a factory in Lancashire or 
 Lanark, unless it be of quite novel and peculiar construction, 
 you will observe the steam boiler to be of that kind so well 
 named waggon-shaped; under it are situated great fires, the 
 flues from which winding round the boiler pass into a chimney, 
 from the aperture of which are emitted vast volumes of dense 
 black smoke. The fire-man has but two cares, to keep his boiler 
 full of water, and his fire-place full of coals. These he throws 
 in with astonishing good will ; they are so cheap. In these 
 waggon boilers the relation which the heated portion of the 
 boiler bears to its entire surface seldom exceeds one-half; and
 
 50 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 it has boen found by ]\Ir. Parkes, from experimrnts of a very 
 precise character, that with such boilers the highest evapora- 
 tive effect that can be obtained is 8"86lb of water for one 
 pound of coals. In those districts where fuel is so cheap, the 
 waste is often even greater ; thus Mr. Parkes values the ave- 
 rage consumption of the best engines in Manchester at one 
 hundred and a half of coals per horse power per day; that is 
 fourteen pounds per hour. We may consider, therefore, that 
 with the common waggon boiler, and ordinarj' steam engine, 
 the horse power is represented by a cubic foot of water evapo- 
 rated per hour, and that this requires the combustion of at 
 least ten pounds of coals. 
 
 We in Ireland are not by any means the only people who are 
 badly off for fuel. In one of the most industrious districts of 
 England, in Cornwall, in the midst of its mineral wealth, there 
 is want of fuel for steam power to drain the mines. The en- 
 gineers in Cornwall, therefore, could not shovel in coals like 
 their brethren in the North. They had the problem distinctly 
 set before them, — how much work can be got out of a bushel 
 of coals ? and certainly their residts have been surprising. 
 The facts were denied for a long time by the Lancashire en- 
 gine makers ; the reports of duty of the Cornish engines were 
 quoted as a mechanical romance ; but that is now all past, 
 and as our condition is nearly the same as that of the Cornish 
 men, I shall describe what they have effected. 
 
 In place of the waggon boiler already noticed, there is used 
 a long cylindrical boiler, perforated by one, two, or even three 
 flues; so that, although on a greater scale, it is not very un- 
 like the tubular boiler of a locomotive engine. Sometimes the 
 fire-place is in the centre flue, at others, under the boiler. The 
 flue passes also round the boiler, so that a far greater sur- 
 face of water, in proportion to its mass, is presented to the 
 action of the heat than in the waggon form. The result is 
 found to be, that, by Mr. Parkcs's trials, one pound of coal in 
 a Cornish boiler will evaporate twelve pounds of water, thus 
 fully giving the result I have taken as the standard. The eva- 
 poration of a cubic foot of water from a Cornish boiler should 
 take 5-2lb of coal ; little more than one-half of what the waggon
 
 OF IRELAND. 51 
 
 boiler in average requires, even when well worked. Henee, 
 where fuel is dear thei'e should be no question of waggon boil- 
 ers. The manufacturer who burns two pounds of coal where 
 one pound should be sufficient, pays twice as much as is neces- 
 sai-y for his power, which must of course be deducted from his 
 profits. 
 
 But the improvements in the Cornish steam engine are not 
 restricted to a better construction of the boiler. Another is still 
 more remarkable, inasmuch as its principle is much more 
 latent. We have seen that to generate the steam, the elastic 
 force of which represents the horse power, we must evaporate 
 0'54 cubic foot of water. Now this weighs 33^lb, and, avoid- 
 ing minute fractions, we may consider that it might be eva- 
 porated in a Cornish boiler by three pounds of coal. In place 
 of fourteen pounds as given by Parkes, or eleven pounds as 
 taken by Scott Russell, for practice, the theoretical result be- 
 comes three pounds. This, however, allows no loss for fric- 
 tion in machinery ; no loss of motion in transmission through 
 the parts of the engine ; no waste of steam. Yet all these are 
 sources of loss, and nevertheless they are compensated for 
 in the Cornish engine, and a duty or performance obtained in 
 practice, which, when reduced to the horse power, becomes 
 three pounds of coal burned per hour ; and even in some in- 
 stances falls below it, so that the work really done with all 
 friction of machinery, is greater than that indicated by theory 
 without loss or friction. 
 
 In the ordinary way of working a condensing engine, the 
 
 steam is let on the piston fully throughout its course, and we 
 
 may assume the working pressure at lifteen poimds per square 
 
 inch. This pressure is to be multiplied by the length of the 
 
 stroke to obtain the effective power. Let us take the stroke 
 
 at forty-eight inches. The force exerted will therefore be, per 
 
 square inch, 
 
 15 X 48 = 720. 
 
 Now an engine of forty-eight inch stroke, and consuming 
 the same quantity of steam, is worked differently in Corn- 
 wall. The steam (for example) is generated at a pressure 
 of sixty pounds per square inch, that is of four atmospheres. 
 E 2
 
 52 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 It is let on thp piston until this has moved through ono-fourth 
 of its stroke, that is through twelve inches. The valve is then 
 closed, and the steam allowed to move the piston by its own 
 elasticity through the remaining space. The steam hence ex- 
 pands so as finally to fill the whole cylinder, and in so doing 
 gradually lessens its elasticity, so that at the end its pressure is 
 fifteen pounds, the same as it was all through in the first ex- 
 ample. Let us calculate what is the difference of result. The 
 working pressure, when the steam enters the cylinder, is sixty 
 pounds, and at that pressure it moves the piston twelve inches. 
 The supply is then cut off; the steam expands to double its 
 volume, and moves the piston through another twelve inches. 
 By expanding, however, it reduces its elasticity to one-half, 
 that is to thirty pounds ; and its mean pressure through this 
 space is to be reckoned at forty-five pounds. Continuing to 
 expand, it moves the piston through another twelve inches, but 
 its pressure is then reduced to twenty pounds, and hence the 
 m an pressure through this portion of its course is twenty-five 
 pounds ; and finally, when the piston has been pushed to the 
 end of the cylinder, and the steam quadrupled in volume, its 
 effective pressure is reduced to fifteen pounds to the square 
 inch, and the mean pressure during the last twelve inches of 
 movement has been seventeen pounds and a half. Now let us 
 sum up these results. The piston moved 
 
 In first period through 12 inches with a constant pressure of fiOlb ;= 720 
 In second „ „ 12 „ with an average pressure of -lolb = 540 
 In third „ „ 12 „ „ „ „ of 251b = 300 
 
 In fourth „ „ 12 „ „ „ „ ofl7^1b=210 
 
 Total, 1770 
 which is the measure of the effective power, being two and 
 a half times that given by the same quantity of steam used 
 without the expansive action. These numbers would require 
 small corrections to be made quite accurate ; so great a pres- 
 sure as sixty pounds is also not used in practice, but for the 
 object of popularly illustrating the principle of expansion on 
 which the Cornish engines are worked, it is quite sufficient. 
 
 The great economy of fuel which is effected in Cornwall, de- 
 pends thus on the form of boiler, and on the use made of the
 
 OF IRELAND. 53 
 
 steam. These are two points to which our attention must be 
 steadily devoted, for the diffei'ence between burning fourteen 
 pounds of coal per hour, and burning three pounds, is all im- 
 portant in industry. 
 
 Now it must be remarked here that a fault to which every 
 steam engine is liable, is most developed in the Coi'nish engine, 
 that is, an inequality in the velocity of the piston. In a com- 
 mon engine, the action of the steam being constant tends to 
 give the piston an accelerated velocity, and in the Cornish en- 
 gine, the force of the steam being variable, gives a velocity of 
 piston also variable within wide limits. This is partly ob- 
 viated by the crank and the fly-wheel, the mass of which serves 
 to regulate the motion, but some disadvantage still remains. 
 It affects the application of the steam engine to many delicate 
 operations, and I shall return specially to the subject when I 
 come to speak of another source of industrial power. 
 
 These explanations regarding boilers and steam engines, 
 Cornish and common, being premised, it is now possible to dis- 
 cuss the question— what is the expense of steam power in Ire- 
 land ? The horse power is to be taken as the unit. The cost 
 of 100 horse power is of course 100 times the cost of one. 
 
 I have already noticed the prices of coals in the coal fields 
 of Ireland, but I shall give them here in a tabular form for 
 comparison. 
 
 LARGE COAL. SMALL COAL. 
 
 Leinster coal field, . . . . lis. 6d. 4s. Od. 
 
 Tipperary ,, .... 12 40 
 
 Tyrone ,, .... 12 j 
 
 Connaught, ,, from 4s. 9J. to 6 4 
 
 Now for generating heat, a mixtm-e in equal parts of large 
 and small coal may be very conveniently burned. Indeed small 
 coal almost alone might be used, but I do not wish to push an 
 ideal economy so far. In the immediate neighbourhood of the 
 pit mouth, therefore, the cost per ton of fuel adapted to all 
 heating pm-poses, may be taken as averaging 8s. per ton. In 
 carriage to a distance, it may be assumed that 3d. per ton per 
 mile is a sufficiently high charge, and taking the radius of sup-
 
 54 INDUSTRIAL RESOliRCES 
 
 ply of a pit at twenty miles, the price should ]w at the extreme 
 limit 8»-. + (3(/. X 20) := 13.s. per ton. Hence the average price 
 of such coal (mixed large and small) in the district, should be 
 10s. 6d. per ton, and I shall take it at 12*-. per ton, in order to 
 be on the safe side. 
 
 It has been shewn that with the waggon boiler and ordinary 
 condensing engine, the horse power of steam is generated by 
 the combustion of ten pounds of coals per hour. This is 120tb 
 per working day of twelve hours. Now as one ton (22401b) 
 costs \2s., 1201b will cost 7^d. Thus, in the interior of the 
 country, within the distance of twenty miles from the coalpits, 
 the cost of fuel for steam power may be taken at 7^d. per 
 horse power per day. 
 
 None of our coal districts come near enough to the coast to 
 meet the competition of British coal. Round the island, there- 
 fore, and for some ten or twelve miles inland, and also along 
 the course of the navigable rivers, we must consider steam as 
 generated by the combustion of coal brought from England. 
 From this we may except the upper and middle Shannon, which, 
 however, does not influence the result we seek. The price of 
 English, and especially of the Welch and Scotch flaming coals, 
 which answer excellently for industrial purposes, has lately 
 fallen very much in this country, owing principally to the re- 
 duction of ireight from the want of other occupation for a great 
 number of ships, in the recent depressed state of trade. The 
 price may rise somewhat, but not materially, and we may con- 
 sider the average of native coal consumed at 12s. to represent 
 also the price at which furnace coals may be laid in on the eastern 
 coast, and some distance up the rivers which open into it. On 
 the western and southern coast, the cost of carriage should be 
 higher, but not materially to aff^ect the price; for in Limerick, 
 which is the only locality where the question becomes impor- 
 tant, the concurrence of Arigna coal and the abundance of 
 turf would prevent much alteration. I shall hence take the 
 cost of fuel for a horse power as being the same, 7^d. per 
 working day, burning English coal within range of the coast. 
 
 In the central counties, where the vast turbaries of the lime- 
 stone plain supply abundance of fuel, the cost of it will vary
 
 OF IRELAND. 55 
 
 very much according to its mode of preparation. I shall put 
 out of question here the compound fuels proposed by Mr. Wil- 
 liams, and even compressed peat; not that I am insensible of 
 their value, but that I am anxious to place the question of cost 
 on the basis most easily realized. I suppose, therefore, that 
 the turf has been only vt^ell dried. In this case its heating 
 power, when perfectly dry, is one-half that of coal. But under 
 ordinary circumstances it retains so much moisture, that it 
 may be practically taken at somewhat more than two-fifths. 
 That this result is founded on sufficient data may be judged 
 from the following evidence. 
 
 I have been favoured with returns of the work and consump- 
 tion of a condensing engine of thirty-four horse power, which 
 is employed to grind corn in one of our central counties, and 
 imder the boiler of which the turf of the vicinity is buxmed. 
 The result is found to be, that in twelve hours there are con- 
 sumed fifty boxes of 280tb each ; that is, thirty-four pounds of 
 turf per horse power per hour. Now as we may consider a 
 cubic foot (62-3tb) of water evaporated per hour as the mea- 
 sure of a horse power, it results that the turf in this instance 
 does not evaporate quite twice its weight of water. In fact it 
 is used damp ; it is badly managed in the furnace, and I notice 
 it only as an instance of what we shall require to correct. In 
 this mill the box of turf costs 6d., which is just 4s. per ton. 
 The cost of fuel is 9d. per horse power for the day of twelve 
 hours. This we shall hereafter find to be excessive. 
 
 Mr. Purdy, by whose exertions our mineral industry has 
 been so materially benefited, has furnished me with a note of 
 the performance of turf under a steam engine erected for drain- 
 ing a lead mine at Derrynoos in Armagh, formerly worked by 
 the Mining Company of Ireland. The district is very unfa- 
 vourably circumstanced as to fuel. Coal, whether from Coal- 
 Island or Newry, could arrive only after a land carriage, which 
 alone costs 10s. per ton. The turf was black mountain turf, 
 giving much ash ; its cost, reduced to weight, was 6s. lO^d. 
 per ton. In this the locality was exceptional. The work of 
 the turf was compared with the work of average Cardiff coals 
 in the same engine and under the same circumstances.
 
 56 INDUSTRIAL RESOUUCES 
 
 lib coal raised 3G5,591tt) water one foot high. 
 
 1 ft turf raised 121, 489tb 
 Reduced to the bushel (941b) it becomes : 
 A bushel of coals raised 34,3G5,354tt) water one foot high. 
 A bushel of turf „ ll,419,9GGtt). ,, 
 
 Hence the effect of the turf is one-third of that of average 
 coal. This was inferior turf, and yet the effect is much greater 
 than in the former case, where much better turf was used. 
 
 The engine burned per horse poAver per day, twenty-four 
 pounds of turf, and for the day of twelve hours the cost of fuel 
 per horse power was lO^d. 
 
 Now it must not be forgotten, first, that the fire places of 
 those engines were not constructed for turf but for coal, and 
 that consequently they could not burn turf in a suitable man- 
 ner; and second, that the turf is prepared without suitable 
 desiccation. Hence the proportionally greater cost of power. 
 
 The high price of fuel in Cornwall has led not only to the 
 wonderful economy produced by the principle of expansion, 
 but also to endeavours to replace the imported coal by the na- 
 tive turf of that district. Mr. Wickstead has given an ac- 
 count of an engine with which comparative trials of these fuels 
 were made. The engine, working five horse power, consumed 
 in twenty- four hours three bushels and one-third of coal (3101b). 
 In the same time and doing the same work it burned three 
 cubic feet of turf, which cost 8^d. I think that in the volume 
 of the turf, an error has crept into Mr. Wickstead's paper, 
 which prevents my estimating the weight of turf consumed, 
 but the cost enables us to judge. At 10s. per ton the coals 
 should cost IJcl., and hence the turf did the same work for just 
 half that price. 
 
 This result was so decisive, that Mr. Grout, on one of whose 
 engines the trial was made, is getting the fire-places of all his 
 engine boilers altered, that turf may be exclusively burned in 
 them. 
 
 Mr. Hurstall of Bristol has published the results of his use 
 of turf with a high pressure engine. The steam was of thirty 
 pounds pressure, and there were consumed seventy-four pounds
 
 OF IRELAND. 57 
 
 of turf (which he describes as bad) per hour. The quantity 
 of water evaporated from the boiler per hour was in average 
 360R>. The turf consequently evaporated nearly five times its 
 weight of water. This result approximates to what theory 
 leads us to expect, but the turf certainly was not bad, although 
 it is so described by Mr. Burstall. 
 
 In the factory of Garnier at Beauvais, the tiu-f of Breles is 
 burned under a twenty horse power high pressure engine. 
 This turf is black ; it contains 7 per cent, of ashes, and gives 
 40 per cent, of coke. The turf necessary was double the 
 weight of the coal previously employed. Its cost was one- 
 fourth. 
 
 The following results, as to the comparative eifective power 
 of turf and coal, are derived from the working of the Lans- 
 downe, one of the steamers of the Inland Navigation Company 
 which ply upon the Shannon with goods and passengers. They 
 have been kindly placed in my hands for my present object, by 
 Mr. C. W. Williams. Before the use of turf was introduced, 
 there was burned in a week, which comprises forty-nine hours 
 of work, twenty-four tons of coal, which costing in average at 
 Killaloe, 15s. per ton, amount to £18, or 7s. 5d. per hour. To 
 do the same work at present, burning nothing but turf, there 
 are consumed per week 315 boxes of turf, which at Id. per 
 box costs £9 12s. Id,, or 3s. \\d. per hour of work, — but a 
 shade more than half the cost with coal. The engines of the 
 Lansdowne are condensing, of thirty-eight inches and a half 
 diameter, and three feet and a half stroke. The usual velocity 
 is twentj'-five strokes per minute. 
 
 The box of turf contains twenty cubic feet ; not very closely 
 packed. It weighs about three cwt. and a half; so that the 
 ton weight of turf costs about 3s. Qd. The weight of 315 boxes 
 is hence fifty-five tons and a quarter, and the practical value 
 of the turf is to that of the coal as 24 to 55^, or as 43 to 100. 
 Almost exactly the same as calculated in page 39, from the 
 average composition of good turf. It is interesting to consider 
 the influence which the substitution of turf for coal in the 
 Shannon steamers has on the population residing near its banks. 
 In the year 1839, there was no turf burned, and the coals con-
 
 58 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 sumed on board the Company's boats amounted to 3108 tons. 
 In 1843 there were burned but 724 tons of coal, although the 
 amount of trade was much increased. The quantity of turf 
 consumed was upwards of 7000 tons, which at 3s. Gd. per ton 
 gives an expenditure of more than £1200 distributed in wages 
 of labour, by which almost the entire cost of the turf is made 
 up. Tlie equivalent quantity of coals would have cost above 
 £1800, so that at the same time the Com2)any saved £600 a 
 year. 
 
 Those remarkable facts are well exhibited in a letter written 
 by Mr. Williams to the Board of Admiralty, which is subjoined, 
 as it illustrates some additional circumstances. Mr. Williams' 
 estimate of the saving is greater than mine, for in the pre- 
 ceding analysis of the results, I have taken coal at a lower 
 price than is assumed in his letter. The reason is, that it has 
 fallen since those results were obtained, and I have calculated 
 from what the price is, whereas he calculated from what it 
 Avas at the time quoted. 
 
 (Copy). 
 
 '' Admirulty, V2th Jiihj, 1843. 
 "Sir, — My Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty having 
 received a proposition to cut peat at the Falkland Islands, for 
 the service of such of H. M. steam vessels as may proceed to 
 the Pacific, I am commanded by my Lords to request that you 
 will favour my Lords with some information as to the propor- 
 tionate duration of turf to coal in the Dublin Steam Packet 
 Company's boats, which ply up the Shannon from Limerick. 
 " I am, Sir, 
 
 " Your most humble Servant, 
 " Sidney Herbert. 
 " To the Secretary of the 
 Dublin Steam Packet Company, 
 Eden Quay, Dublin." 
 
 (Copy). 
 "(), Princes-slreel, Cavcndia/i-srjuarc, 
 ''July -list, 1843. 
 " Sir, — 1 have had the hi>iioui- to receive your letter of the 
 12th Inst., addressed to the Secretary of the City of Dublin
 
 OF IRELAND. 59 
 
 Steam Packet Company, inquiring, for the information of the 
 Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, the proportionate du- 
 ration of turf to coal in the Company's boats which ply up the 
 Shannon from Limerick, to which I beg to give the following 
 reply, derived from experience of the boats on that river. 
 " L The Lansdowne, a steamer with two engines, 
 38|^ inch cylinders, at 3 ft. 6 in. stroke, con- 
 sumed upon an average 120 tons of coal per 
 month, running daily (except Simday) a dis- 
 tance of forty-six miles, at 18s. per ton, co- 
 vering expenses, £108 
 
 " The same duty is done with 1419 boxes of turf 
 of twenty cubic feet, about 230 ton weight, 
 at 7d. per box, 417 9 
 
 Difference in the cost of the fuel per month, £66 12 3 
 ' ' 2. The difference in weight is, therefore, as two of turf to 
 one of coal, and on the Shannon the difference in price is 
 less than one-half that of coal. 
 "3. Its proportionate duration may be estimated by the quan- 
 tity required, compared with coal, to perform the same 
 duty, that being double its weight its duration in the fur- 
 nace is half that of coal. 
 "4. From recent experiments with turf in the experimental 
 boiler in the Company's yard at Liverpool, it is found that 
 turf can only be profitably used when it is of the quality 
 that is obtained in good seasons. If bad or damp, its eva- 
 porative power is reduced one-third and more. To improve 
 the evaporative power of this fuel, however, results have 
 shewn, that an addition of 40 per cent, of a preparation of 
 turf by an improved method which I have been engaged 
 upon for some years, will render it cheaper than coal used 
 with bad turf, or than coal burned alone ; and that the 
 same per centage of this prepared fuel added to good turf, 
 greatly increases its evaporative power, with a very tri- 
 fling addition to the cost. 
 "From these facts it is evident that turf may bo used ad- 
 vantageously in localities where it abounds, and where there
 
 60 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 is an absence of coal. Care, however, must be taken that the 
 furnace bars are lowered, not only to admit a greater bulk of 
 fuel, but also to prevent too great a volume of air passing in 
 the ash-pit, and then through the bars. I may add also, that 
 in burning turf it is highly essential that air be admitted in the 
 air chamber behind the bridge, in consequence of the rapidity 
 with which the gases from this kind of fuel fly off. If it be 
 excluded there upon the common furnace principle, the weight 
 and bulk of fuel will be increased, the evaporative power re- 
 duced, and the cost proportionably greater. 
 
 " It will give me much pleasui'e to furnish you with any fur- 
 ther information in my power. 
 
 " I have the honour to be, Sir, 
 
 "Your obedient, humble Servant, 
 "C. W. Williams. 
 " To Sidney Herbert, Esq., 
 " Admiralty." 
 
 I have already noticed, that from my own inquiries the best 
 turf may be had in the turf districts for 3s. Qd. per ton, and 
 as it is a fuel that will never be drawn far for any industrial 
 use, we may take 4s. per ton as the practical value of turf well 
 dried within the range of the central counties. At this price, 
 and allowing to it 44 per cent, of the calorific effect of coal, the 
 horse power should cost Gd. per day, that is one-fourth cheaper 
 than coal. Mr. Williams, using the same sort of fuel as is 
 employed at the corn mill noticed page 55, and paying Gd. 
 per box, but drying it well, found that, with a large working 
 waggon boiler, there were 3-871b of water evaporated per 
 pound of turf, and that it cost 3s. Td. to evaporate 100 cubic 
 feet of water. Now this is at the rate of b^d. per horse power 
 per working day. When the turf was burned in the furnace 
 without Mr. Williams' peculiar mode of effecting perfect com- 
 bustion, the cost per horse power was G^d., coinciding with 
 the result which 1 have derived from other sources. 
 
 From all those examples, it may be decisively concluded, 
 tliat in Ireland the horse power of steam costs per day in fuel : 
 Using coals, whether British or native, l^d.
 
 OF IRELAND. 61 
 
 Using turf properly dried, .... 6d. 
 Using turf in Mr. Williams' mode, . 5jd. 
 
 This is when the waggon boiler and the ordinary non-expan- 
 sive engine are employed. 
 
 Now without entering into details which any person can de- 
 duce from what has been already said, I may lay down the dis- 
 tinct principle, that using the Cornish system, both as to 
 boiler and mode of using the steam, the fuel per horse power 
 is reduced to one half. Therefore the cost in Ireland becomes : 
 
 With coals for 12 hours, S^d. 
 With turf ,, ,, 3d. 
 
 That is to say, that any mechanical operation, grinding or 
 sawing, or weaving, spinning, or threshing, or any other, 
 which requires the same labour as to raise 1000 tons of water 
 ten feet high, can be effected in almost any part of Ireland by 
 the consumption of a quantity of coals, costing 3|c/., or by 
 turf, costing 3d. 
 
 How utterly unimportant is the cost of fuel in these mecha- 
 nical operations ! 
 
 It may be said, however, that small as this cost is when so 
 described, it becomes very serious when taken for a year of 
 300 working days, and for an 100 horse engine. It is then 
 found, in fact, that the fuel at 3^d. per horse power per day, 
 costs £484 7s. 6d. per year, and for the other estimates in pro- 
 portion. So that in England, where fuel is very abundant and 
 cheap, the horse power is had for half the money : and thus in 
 the article of coals a difference of £500 a year may exist, ruin- 
 ous to the manufacturer in Ireland. It is necessary to examine 
 how far this can operate. 
 
 In some parts of Lancashire, coals are sold at the pit mouth 
 for 3s. \0d. or 4s. per ton. About Bury they are from 5s. to 
 5s. 3c?. In the north of Lancashire they are from 6s. 3d. to 
 8s. From personal inquiries I am informed that furnace coal 
 is never had in Manchester under 8s., and Dr. Ure, in his Phi- 
 losophy of Manufactures, states facts from whence it results, 
 that he assumes the cost of coal in Manchester to be 12s. 4d. 
 per ton.
 
 62 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 Mr. Henwood, who has calculated the total quantity of coals 
 raised in Lancashire and their price, gives as the resulting 
 average cost per ton, 10s. ^0d. 
 
 We may take Lancashire as the example of the other manu- 
 facturing parts of England. In none is coal materially cheaper, 
 and we shall certainly not bo far wrong if we assume as the 
 average price of coal in English industry, two-thirds of what 
 we have assumed for the cost in Ireland, that is two-thirds of 
 12s., or 8s. per ton. 
 
 But in order to estimate the cost of a horse power per day, 
 we must see what is done in England. The cheapness of fuel 
 there leads to an excessive waste of it, so that hitherto only 
 in Cornwall was economy attended to ; and even now improve- 
 ment in that respect is but slowly taking place. According to 
 Dr. Ure the consumption of coal in Manchester is twelve 
 pounds per hour ; according to Mr. Parkes it is fourteen 
 pounds per hour. Mr. Fairbairn, in his Report on the Bann 
 Reservoirs, also considers twelve pounds as the usual consump- 
 tion. Mr. Scott Russell's estimate for standard performance 
 is eleven pounds. Now taking as an average twelve pounds, 
 the horse power costs per working day, 6^d. We have seen 
 that by ordinary attention with the waggon boiler, ten pounds 
 per hour suffices, and this in Ireland costs 7^(1- The difference 
 in favour of England from the cheap fuel is therefore but 1|</., 
 being nearly balanced by the waste which the idea of cheap- 
 ness encourages. 
 
 If the Cornish system be employed, and that both English 
 and Irish be anxious to save fuel, the result is also nearly to 
 equalize, as the saving of money is more on the Irish side than 
 on the English. Thus five pounds of coal per hour per horse 
 power are burned ; this costs for twelve hours in England 
 2^d, ; in Ireland it should cost 3^d. ; the difference is \^d. 
 But this economy will not be practised in England. It is not 
 important enough to make them change their system, but it is 
 highly important to us, as we have still our industrial system 
 to organize, and there is no principle more essential to our fu- 
 ture prosperity, than a clear and profound perception of the 
 means of economizing fuel.
 
 OF IRELAND, 63 
 
 Mr. Baynes, of Blackburn, whose locality is, however, very 
 favourably circumstanced for fuel, considers that at 6s. per 
 ton for coal, the horse power costs per week 2s. 4d., including 
 warming the mill. This is at the rate of twelve pounds per 
 hour. But it is a mill of the largest size, and is admirably 
 managed. I shall refer to its details again. The daily cost 
 per horse power with him is but 4^d. 
 
 We must recollect, however, that it is not steam power 
 that is to be sold : it is but an agent in subsequent operations, 
 of which the final product is to be brought to market. The 
 true question is, whether the greater cost of steam power in 
 Ireland than in England seriously affects the manufactures in 
 which it is employed. I shall proceed to exhibit some facts 
 which will throw light upon that point. 
 
 Mr. Baines, of Leeds, in his excellent History of the Cotton 
 Manufacture, gives an analysis of the elements of its value for 
 the year 1833, which has been allowed by all judges to be cor- 
 rect, and although the absolute value of the manufacture may 
 have altered since, we may safely assume that its elements 
 remain in the same proportion to each other. His numbers 
 are : 
 
 The value of the cotton wool employed was altogether 
 £8,244,693. 
 
 The total value of the manufactured cotton goods was 
 £31,338,693. 
 
 The capital employed in the manufacture was £34,000,000. 
 
 This branch of industry supported altogether 1,500,000 
 persons. The number of operatives receiving wages was 
 487,000. 
 
 Theamount paidin wages to thoseoperativeswas£10,419,000. 
 
 The power employed was 44,000 horse, consisting of 
 Steam power 33,000 horse power. 
 Water power 11,000 ditto. 
 
 From these data the elements of cost may be calculated. 
 For the cost of power : 
 
 Suppose the whole 44,000 horse, all steam power, and each 
 burning twelve pounds of coals per hour. Then in a year of
 
 64 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 300 working days of twelve hours, the total coals consumed 
 is 636,900 tons, and at the average of 8s. per ton this costs 
 £339,680. Hence tlie elements of cost of the manufactured 
 cotton are : 
 
 Cotton wool, . . . £8,244,693 or per cent. 26-27 
 
 Wages, 10,419,200 „ 33-16 
 
 Interest on capital, . 3,400,000 „ 1084 
 
 Coals, 339,680 „ 1-08 
 
 Rent, taxes, insurance, 
 
 other charges and 
 
 profit, 8,935,3-20 „ 28-65 
 
 £31,338,693 10000 
 
 As so much of the capital of mechanical industry is invested 
 in machinery, not merely liable to rapid injury and wear, but 
 also constantly thrown out of use by the pressure of new im- 
 provements, I have considered 10 per cent, of interest on it to 
 be fairly allowable. We may also deduce from these numbers, 
 that in 1833, Mr. Baines assumed the average rate of wages 
 in the cotton manufacture to be 6s. 6d. per week. These re- 
 sults are, however, but collateral. What we have now to do 
 with is the fact, that in manufacturing cotton by steam power, 
 the cost of fuel is scarcely more than one part in 100 of the 
 value of the manufactured article. Wages make up 33 per 
 cent., a third of the entire; the raw material a fourth of the 
 entire; rent and taxes also a large proportion. Now in Ireland 
 wages are lower, rent is low-er, taxes are lower, and there is a 
 difficidty about coals, of which the increased cost is not more 
 than a half per cent., which may be obviated by attention to 
 economy, or which is neutralized by a difference of average 
 wages of Id. per week. 
 
 I shall notice some other examples, but without entering 
 into so much detail. 
 
 An eminent woollen manufacturer, one to whom industry 
 both in England and Ireland is under great obligations, fa- 
 voured me with the following statement. 
 
 Coals at his factory in Leeds cost 3s. 4d. per ton. A forty 
 horse power engine burns three tons per day, which costs
 
 OF IRELAND. (J5 
 
 £200 per yeai". The wear of engine, oil, and engineer's salary 
 are £310, making total expense of power £510. The wages 
 paid are £14,000 per year, and the total value of the produce 
 £50,000. 
 
 In Dublin coals are four times as dear, but the other charges 
 of the engine being the same, the total cost of power for a 
 similar factory is £1310. The total cost of power in Leeds is 
 thus 1 -2 per cent, of the value of the product, and in Dublin 
 2-62. The difference is more than balanced by the wages in 
 Dublin. In Leeds wages form 28 per cent, of the value of 
 the produce. 
 
 In the Irish Railway Report, Messrs. Mulholland of Belfast 
 give an account of their excellent flax mill, one of the largest 
 factories we possess iu Ireland. 
 
 The engines are (nominal) 100 hors.i power. They con- 
 sume weekly 90 tons of coals. There are employed 800 per- 
 sons, who receive weekly £200 in wages. The coals include 
 a supply of Cannell coal for gas works on the establishment, 
 but although thus placing the result in the most unfavourable 
 view for my argument, .1 shall charge the entire as the source 
 of power. The price of coals in Belfast at the time was 13s. 
 per tou. 
 
 The cost of coal for the year was £3042. The sum paid in 
 wages £10,400. The value of the manufactured produce 
 £80,000. The coals for power and gas make 3-8 per cent. ; 
 the wages paid are 13 per cent, of the price of the products. 
 
 Change this factory to England, the average price of coal 
 being 8s. Its cost becomes 2-3 per cent.; saving 1*5. The 
 average rate of wages, from 5s. at Belfast, becomes at least 
 6s. 6d., and makes up 16-9 per cent., losing 3-9 per cent. ; 
 £22 10s. per week saved in coals, and £G0 per week lost in 
 wages. Such should be Mr. Mulholland's great factory in 
 England. The disproportion is, I am satisfied, much greater 
 in fact, as pei'haps not two-thirds of the coals should be really 
 charged to the steam engines, unless they do a great deal of 
 night work. 
 
 Since 1833, when Mr. Baines' estimate was formed, wages 
 have risen in England, as we find that Mr. Symons, in his ex-
 
 66 INDUSTRIAX, KESOUItCES 
 
 collent work, Afts and Artisans at Homo and Abroad, con- 
 cludes tlie average of Lancasliire to be 10s. 6d. This was in 
 1839. Now Mr. Farey, describing the organization of a cotton 
 mill, states that a factory employing 750 persons will be driven 
 by an engine of 100 horse power. 
 
 The wages per week in such a factory, taking Mr. Symons' 
 average, are £393 15s. 
 
 The engine requires fuel, which, at 8s. per ton, costs £19 per 
 week. At 12s. per ton it costs £28 10s. Thus a difference 
 of one-fortieth in the average rate of wages compensates for 
 whatever difference can arise in the cost of fuel from the prices 
 in Ireland and in Lancashire. 
 
 I have already noticed the cost of fuel in Mr. Baynes' mill 
 at Blackburn, which is £26 15s. per week, for an engine woi'k- 
 ing 233 horse power. I shall enumerate the machinery driven 
 by this engine, in order that it may be seen to be a factory of 
 the largest size. 
 
 22,500 self-acting spindles. 
 5,400 throstle spindles. 
 800 power looms.- 
 3 blowing machines. 
 3 cap machines. 
 120 single carding engines. 
 1(> drawing frames. 
 (JOO slubbing spindles. 
 1,800 roving spindles. 
 
 Mr. Baynes does not give the number of persons employed 
 in his mill, but from its size it cannot possibly be under 800. 
 Taking Mr. Symons' estimate of wages, 10s. (id., the amount 
 paid weekly in such a mill is £420 ; the cost of coals for power 
 being £20 15s. In Ireland the coals might cost half as much 
 more, but by how much less might the wages be ? 
 
 In concluding this department of my subject, in which I have 
 probably wearied many of my readers by those columns of 
 figures and per cents., I shall subjoin some numerical illustra- 
 tions taken from Mr. Symons' work already noticed. They 
 exhibit, on the authority of eminent English manufacturers,
 
 OF IRELAND. 67 
 
 the numerical proportions of outlay in factories such as now 
 occupy us. 
 
 The cost of erecting a power loom factory of 500 looms, 
 calculated to weave good calico, should be about £18,000. 
 
 Its annual produce should be 150,000 pieces of twenty-four 
 yards at 6s., £45,000, which cost as under: 
 
 Interest of capital and wear of machinery, . £1,800 
 Steam power, oil, tallow, keeping up machi- 
 nery, utensils, &c., 2,000 
 
 Yarns and flax, 32,000 
 
 Wages to workmen, 7,500 
 
 Profit 1,700 
 
 £45,000 
 
 Probable expense of a spinning cotton mill, with hand-mules 
 to produce No. 40, would be £23,000. With self-actors £2000 
 more. 
 
 The produce annually, taking the present prices of cotton, 
 should be £25,000. 
 
 Cost of which as follows : 
 
 Interest of capital and wear and tear of ma- 
 chinery £2,300 
 
 Cotton, 14,000 
 
 Steam power, oil, tallow, gas, and general 
 expense of keeping up utensils and machi- 
 nery, and repair, 1,800 
 
 Wages to workmen, 5,400 
 
 Profit, 1,500 
 
 £25,000 
 
 The produce is taken at 10,0001b weekly. 
 
 Now what is to be considered in these estimates is the fact, 
 that coals, or even steam power altogether, is not an impor- 
 tant item, but is only inserted along with oil and tallow, gas, 
 repairs, &c., all of which together amount in the first instance 
 to 4^ per cent., and in the second to 7'2 per cent, of the value 
 of the products. 
 
 In order to exhibit the proportion which the cost of fuel 
 f2
 
 68 INDUSTKIAL RESOURCES 
 
 bears to the other elements of manufacture in Ireland, as well 
 as in the sister kingdom, I have been favoured with the follow- 
 ing return from a factory for spinning and weaving cottons, 
 which is situated near one of the large cities on the eastern 
 coast, and uses coals and cotton, both imported from England. 
 
 The value of cotton as bought in Liverpool for a year, was 
 £11,177 9s. Gd. The freight and other expenses of carriage 
 to Ireland was £332 5s. The average number of hands em- 
 ployed was 273, and the total amount of wages paid in the 
 year was £4832 8s. The coals consumed were 1669 tons ; 
 of these about one-fifth was for heating and drying purposes, 
 but as this use, although not for steam power, is still for the 
 manufacture, there need not be any distinction drawn. The 
 coals cost rather under \2s. per ton, but that sum may be 
 taken, and hence there was paid for the coals £901. The 
 total value of the manufactured article was £24,099 17s. 
 
 Now from these data it follows : 
 
 That the value of t^^e raw material was . 46*4 per cent. 
 
 The charge on its carriage to Ireland, . 1'4 ,, 
 
 The wages oflabour, 20-0 
 
 The fuel for steam power and for drying 
 
 and heating, 2*7 >> 
 
 of the cost of the manu actured article. Now the difference 
 in the cost of fuel is, as has been already shewn, but about 4s. 
 per ton in favour of Lancashire, and this one-third of 2-7 forms 
 not one per cent, of the value of the final product of industry. 
 
 The average rate of wages paid is found to be Gs. 9d. per 
 week. The average in Lancashire is 10s. 6d. How much 
 more important does this difference appear to be than that of 
 fuel. It is, however, not possible to compare them directly. 
 It is a topic which will require some explanation in a future 
 chapter. 
 
 Besides the two steam engines of twenty-five horse nominal 
 power, there is on this concern a breast wheel which is em- 
 ployed whenever water is available. It is not large, and could 
 not in any material degree modify the above result. I have, 
 therefore, not taken it at all into account. 
 
 From all that has been described, I conclude that there is
 
 OF IRELAND. 69 
 
 no locality in Ireland where fuel for industrial purposes may 
 not be had, either native or imported ; and that the cost of that 
 fuel may not exceed, by more than half, the average cost of 
 fuel in the manufacturing districts of England, and certainly 
 need never be the double. That the cost of fuel to generate 
 steam power bears so small a proportion to the value of the 
 products of mechanical industry, as to be totally unimportant, 
 in comparison with money-wages and raw material, regarding 
 which this country labours certainly under no natural disadvan- 
 tage, and that finally, by attention to the mode of burning 
 fuel and using steam, the difference in price of coal may even 
 in itself be compensated for, and other specially favourable 
 circumstances may be rendered available to the success of in- 
 dustry in Ireland. 
 
 I have noticed at such length the question of the cost of fuel 
 and of steam power, not from my own opinion of its ultimate 
 importance, but that we might at once break down that barrier 
 to all active exertion, which indolent ignorance constantly re- 
 treats behind. The cry of, " what can we do ? consider Eng- 
 land's coal mines," is answered by shewing that we have avail- 
 able fuel enough. The lament that coals are so dear with us 
 and so cheap in England, is, I trust, set at rest by the evidence 
 of how little influential the price of fuel is. However, there 
 are other sources of power besides coals ; there are other 
 motive powers than steam. Of the 83,000 horse power em- 
 ployed to give motion to mills in England, 21,000, even in the 
 coal districts, are not moved by fire but by water. The force 
 of gravity in falling water can spin and weave as well as the 
 elasticity of steam ; and in this power we are not deficient. 
 It is necessary to study its circumstances in detail, and I shall, 
 therefore, next proceed to discuss the condition of Ireland with 
 regard to water power. 
 
 In finally passing from the subject of fuel and steam power, 
 I shall subjoin, for convenience of reference, a tabular com- 
 parison of the peculiarities of the ordinary and of the Cornish 
 steam boilers, taken from IMr. Scott Russell's work on the 
 steam engine :
 
 70 
 
 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 CONBITIONS. 
 
 ORDINARY 
 STANDARD. 
 
 CORNISH 
 BOILERS. 
 
 Area of fire grate in square feet, . . 
 Area of heating surface in do., . . . 
 
 1 
 
 15 
 60 ft. 
 
 10ft. 
 
 lOtb. 
 
 61b. 
 
 2 
 
 60 to 70 
 150 ft. 
 
 5iH). 
 
 2|lb. 
 
 ll|tb. 
 
 RESULTS. 
 
 Fuel per horse power per hour, . . . 
 Fuel consumed per hr. per ft. of grate. 
 Water evaporated by each lb of coal. 
 
 To the statement made in this chapter of the cost of power 
 from various sources, it may be added that practical mecha- 
 nists and'engineers habitually value the cost of steam power 
 on the east^of Ireland, within a range of seven or eight miles 
 from the coast, at one shilling per horse power per day, which 
 includes wages, interest, repairs, and every other expenditure, 
 as well as fuel. This estimate fully agrees with that of the 
 cost of fuel deduced from my own results.
 
 OF IRELAND. 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 
 OF THE WATER POWER OF IRELAND. MODE IN WHICH IT ORIGI- 
 NATES. AMOUNT OF RAIN AND EVAPORATION IN DIFFERENT 
 PARTS OF IRELAND. AVERAGE ASSUMED. INFLUENCE OF 
 THE NATURE OF THE SURFACE ON EVAPORATION. ELEVA- 
 TION ABOVE THE SEA OF THE SURFACE OF IRELAND. LIME- 
 STONE PLAIN OF THE CENTRE. MOUNTAINOUS DISTRICTS OF 
 THE NORTH AND SOUTH. AVERAGE ELEVATION ASSUMED AS 
 THE AVERAGE HEIGHT OF FALL OF WATER FROM THE LAND 
 TO THE SEA. TOTAL AMOUNT OF MECHANICAL FORCE THUS 
 GENERATED ; ITS DISTRIBUTION. ARRANGEMENT OF THE 
 PRINCIPAL RIVERS BY WHICH THE SURFACE OF IRELAND IS 
 DRAINED. DRAINAGE OF THE CENTRAL DISTRICTS BY THE 
 SHANNON AND ITS ADJUNCTS. WICKLOW AND WEXFORD. 
 DRAINAGE BASINS OF THE BLACKWATER AND THE LEE. 
 BASIN OF LOUGH NEAGH, OF LOUGH ERNE, AND THE FOYLE. 
 RELATION OF THE EXTENT OF SURFACE DRAINED TO THE 
 MECHANICAL FORCE. WATER POWER OF THE SHANNON ; OF 
 THE LEE AT CORK ; OF THE UPPER BANN ; OF THE CON- 
 NAUGHT LAKES. DESCRIPTION OF THE MOST IMPORTANT 
 WATER ENGINES. DIFFERENT FORMS OF WATER WHEELS. 
 OF THE WATER PRESSURE ENGINE. REACTION MILL. OF 
 THE TURBINE. PRINCIPLE OF ITS ACTION ; ITS ECONOMY ; 
 CONSTANCY OF ITS POWER. DISADVANTAGES OF WATER 
 POWER. NECESSITY FOR ECONOMISING THE WATERS OF 
 FLOODS. EXAMPLES OF THE POWER OF FLOODS. FORMATION 
 OF RESERVOIRS TO SECURE UNIFORMITY OF WATER POWER. 
 RESULTS OF THOSE ERECTED ON THE UPPER BANN AND ON 
 THE SHAW's WATER AT GREENOCK. THE DODDER. LOUGH 
 ENNEL AND THE BROSNA. ESTIMATES OF THE COST OF WATER 
 POWER. RELATIVE VALUE OF WATER AND STEAM POWER 
 AS MOVERS OF MACHINERY. EXTENT TO AVHICH WATER 
 POWER IS ECONOMIZED IN ENGLAND AND IN IRELAND. COM- 
 BINATION OF STEAM WITH AVATER POWER. APPLICATION 
 OF THE FORCE OF THE TIDE TO MECHANICAL PURPOSES. PE- 
 CULIAR ADVANTAGES OF THE TURBINE AS A TIDE MILL. AD- 
 VANTAGEOUS SITUATION OF MANY POINTS ON THE COAST FOR 
 EMPLOYING THE TIDE AS A SOURCE OF MECHANICAL POWER. 
 
 The land being placed on the surface of our globe at a level 
 superior to that of the ocean, by which its coasts are washed, 
 there is produced continually, by atmospherical conditions, a 
 circulation of the mass of water, which, evaporating from the
 
 72 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 surface, ascends as vapour to tbe higher and colder regions of 
 the air, whore it is condensed into clouds. These float until 
 the electrical condition which characterizes their peculiar mo- 
 lecular state being dissipated, they fall as rain, as hail, or snow, 
 and the water thus regaining the solid or liquid form, tends 
 continually by its gravity to a lower level, until it joins the 
 general mass of ocean, from whence it had been originally de- 
 rived. The rain or snow thus falling in the interior and ele- 
 vated districts of the country, forms at first rivulets, then 
 streams, finally rivers, and the force of the descending water 
 is capable of application to give motion to machinery : it is 
 the source, best known and mo*t simply applicable, of water 
 power. 
 
 If all the water which falls upon the surface of a country, as 
 rain, passed regularly to the sea, and that the average height 
 through which it passed, as well as its weight, were capable 
 of being determined, it should be a simple problem to calculate 
 the entire mechanical force thus brought into play. But there 
 is no country in which these data are absolutely known ; with 
 us, at least, such inquiries are but in their infancy ; and al- 
 though the importance of the subject will not allow me to pass 
 from it without endeavouring to obtain at least an approxi- 
 mation to its value, yet I can only discuss in a general point of 
 view the circumstances which affect the water power of this 
 country, and having brought forward the imperfect materials 
 that I have been able to collect, endeavour to excite others to 
 a sense of what still remains to be done. 
 
 It is but lately that observations of the quantity of rain that 
 falls in Ireland have been made with accuracy over a number 
 of points. Exposed to the first brunt of the Atlantic storms, 
 a vast body of rain is carried to these Islands by the southerly 
 and westerly winds. In average half as much more rain falls 
 in England than on the Continent of Europe. Here there is 
 probably not more actual rain than in England, but there is 
 more damp. Long since Arthur Young noticed the difficulty 
 of drying agricultural produce in this country, and assigned to 
 this humidity the rapid vegetation which clothes our surface 
 with natural herbage, even where there is scarcely a trace of
 
 OF IRELAND. 
 
 73 
 
 soil. It is hence that this island has been called the Emerald 
 set in the ring of the sea. The moistixre of the air in Ireland 
 is thus greater than in England, and the quantity of rain that 
 actually falls is in average certainly not less. The results 
 that have been obtained up to the present time, by various ob- 
 servers, are as follows : 
 
 In the table are given the name of the observers, the locali- 
 ties, and the mean quantity of rain deduced from observations 
 of a certain number of years. 
 
 LOCALITY. 
 
 STATED BY | QUANTITY. 
 
 1 
 
 AVERAGE OF 
 
 Dublin, 
 
 Belfast, 
 
 Castlecomer, 
 
 Cork, 
 
 Cork, 
 
 Derry, 
 
 Apjohn, 
 
 Portlock, 
 
 Ahcr, 
 
 Smith, 
 
 Roy. Inst., 
 
 Sampson, 
 
 30-87 
 34-96 
 37-80 
 40-20 
 36-03 
 3112 
 
 Six years. 
 Six years. 
 Eighteen years. 
 Six years. 
 Six years. 
 Seven years. 
 
 It is thus seen that Dublin is one of the dryest, and Cork 
 one of the wettest places where observations have been made. 
 Indeed both here and in England a great difference exists be- 
 tween the quantities of rain which fall on the eastern and west- 
 ern coasts, but our west coast has not hitherto been in such 
 a social condition as admits of consecutive scientific observa- 
 tions. There is no doubt, however, but that the amount of 
 rain falling on the west coast equals the highest number given 
 above (that of Cork) ; and we shall certainly not exceed if we 
 value the average quantity of rain that falls over the entire 
 surface of Ireland at thirty-six inches. 
 
 If all the rain that falls on the surface of Ireland in a year 
 were collected, it should thus cover the island to the depth of 
 thirty-six inches ; and as the area of Ireland amounts to 
 20,808,-271 square acres, containing 100,712,631,640 square 
 yards, there are hence this number of cubic yards of water pre- 
 cipitated on the surface of Ireland every year. Of this a quan- 
 tity, which we shall now seek to determine, becomes available
 
 74 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 for industrial purposes. All this mass of water does not reach 
 the sea. Tlie spontaneous evaporation which is carried on by 
 every point of surface that is not absolutely dry, raises again 
 into the atmosphere a large proportion of it. This proportion 
 is difficult to determine, indeed impossible to determine, with 
 accuracy : it may still be approximated to in the following 
 manner. 
 
 Mr. Dobson made experiments at Liverpool, to ascertain 
 how much water evaporated in a year from a surface of water, 
 The mean quantity of rain was 37 '48 inches. The mean quan- 
 tity of water evaporated was 36'78. Hence, if there was no 
 dry land the rain and evaporation should balance ; but the soil 
 evaporates much less than a surface of water, and a rocky sur- 
 face or dry ground scarcely evaporates at all. The illustrious 
 Dalton carried on experiments, in conjunction with Mr. Hoyle, 
 in Manchester, on this point. He had a box filled with soil, 
 and tried how much less water came oft' from it than from a rain 
 guage : the difference of course was due to evaporation ; the 
 rain was 33-56 inches; the evaporation was 25-16 inches. 
 The evaporation from water was at the same time forty-four 
 inches. 
 
 That the evaporation from a surface of water is in these 
 islands so low as the results of Dobson and Dalton indicate, is 
 due to the moisture of the climate ; our atmosphere being 
 already more or less loaded with vapour, and thereby prevent- 
 ing any further increase. This is seen in the great amount 
 of the evaporation from a surface of water in the continental 
 states removed from the ocean. Thus, at IVIanheim, the eva- 
 poration is seventy-three inches, whilst the rain is but twenty- 
 one. 
 
 Dr. Thomjjson values the average evaporation from the sur- 
 face of Great Britain at thirty-two inches As the evaporation 
 from soil is less (twenty-five by Dalton's result), and from 
 shallow soil or rocky surface still inferior, we cannot be far 
 from the truth in considering the quantity of rain that is not 
 returned to the atmosj)here from the surface, to be one-third of 
 that which falls. Tiie conclusion to wliich Ikiron Dupin ar- 
 rives in discussing, for France, a question similar to that which
 
 OF IRELAND. 75 
 
 occupies us here, is ultimately the same, although some of the 
 principles from which he calculates cannot, as I conceive, be 
 considered as applicable to this country, as the extent of eva- 
 poration is affected to an important degree by the geographi- 
 cal contour of the surface, by the neighbourhood of the ocean, 
 and by the prevailing winds. 
 
 We have, in fact, considered the evaporating surface to be 
 as the surface receiving the rain, horizontal and equal. But 
 in nature such does not occur. Take the instance of a valley, 
 bounded by sloping hills, clothed with a scanty verdure. It 
 is evident that during rain the water flows rapidly down the 
 sides of the hills, and collecting in the valley, converts its tran- 
 quil rivulet for a time into a mountain torrent. The water is 
 here removed from the surface of the hills before it has time 
 to evaporate. It is accumulated under an area of probably 
 not one-tenth of that on which it fell, and its tendency to eva- 
 porate is reduced in the same degree. That such condition is 
 not merely the fancy of a theorist, but is considered as real by 
 the best practical authority, is fully shewn in the admirable 
 Report on the proposed reservoirs of the Upper Bann, drawn up 
 by Mr. Fairbairn. After general observations, nearly similar 
 to those I have now made, he says : "in the case of the Deer 
 Meadow Lake, bounded by movmtains M'hose ridge forms a rain 
 guage of 1802 acres, with an average height of 500 feet above 
 the reservoir, of which the area is 215 acres. Here the basin 
 is to the reservoir as 1802 to 215, or 8 to 1 ; and as there can 
 be but little evaporation, except from the reservoir, the loss is 
 very small in proportion with the supply." Under these circum- 
 stances he considers five-sixths of the rain that falls represents 
 fairly the supply running into the reservoirs. We shall here- 
 after see that the quantity of water rendered available by those 
 reservoirs even exceeded Mr. Fairbairn's expectations. 
 
 Without more circumstance, I shall therefore assume, that 
 out of the thirty-six inches of rain that annually fall in Ire- 
 land, twelve inches finally arrive at the sea, and in its course 
 may become available to industry with a force proportional to 
 the height through which it falls. This height requires also 
 an approximated termination.
 
 76 INDUSTRIAL RESOUKCES 
 
 The limestone plain which occupies the central districts of 
 the country rises to an elevation of about 300 feet, which is 
 the height of the summit levels of the canals by which it is 
 traversed. The mountainous districts of the north and south 
 raise the average of the island much beyond this number, and 
 we may arrive at a very tolerable approximation to the truth 
 from the following considerations, which are based upon mea- 
 surements conducted by the officers of the Ordnance Survey, 
 and very kindly placed in my hands for the present object, by 
 Captain Larcom, the distinguished officer uuder whose local 
 direction the operations of that important work have been so 
 ably carried on in Ireland. 
 
 The total area of Ireland being 32,509^ square miles, it is 
 found that there are, 
 
 Between sea level and 250 ) , „ ^ -> 
 
 . , , . , c • • • • 13, 242b square mues. 
 feet of vertical height, 3 > « ^ 
 
 Between 250 and 500 feet of height, . 11,797^ 
 „ 500 and 1000 „ . 5,797J 
 
 „ 1000 and 2000 „ . 1,5S9| 
 
 Above 2000 in vertical height, ... 82| ,, 
 
 Now if we consider the average elevation of these zones to 
 be the arithmetic mean of the extremes, and that the average 
 of the last term be 2500, which, although not, perhaps, abso- 
 lutely true, cannot bo far from the truth, it results that the 
 surface of Ireland is, in average, elevated above the level of the 
 sea, to a height of 387 feet. 
 
 Calculated on similar principles, the average elevations of 
 the provinces are, 
 
 Leinster, 378 feet. 
 
 Ulster, 432 ,, 
 
 Connaught, 266 ,, 
 
 Munster, 453 ,, 
 
 The number for Leinster is very materially influenced by 
 Wicklow, of which the average elevation is 823 feet. With- 
 out Wicklow the average of Leinster is reduced to 327 feet. 
 
 The distribution of the surface at these various elevations 
 above the sea, is graphically represented in the accompanying
 
 OF IRELAND. 77 
 
 map, in which the proportionate space occupied by the ground 
 less than 250 feet in height, is left unshaded, whilst the areas 
 between 250 and 500, between 500 and 1000, and between 1000 
 and 2000 are distinguished by shadings of different and pro- 
 portionate intensities. The areas of more than 2000 feet in 
 height, being but a few points, principally in Wicklow and in 
 Kerry, are not represented, as on a map of such scale, they 
 could not be rendered sufficiently distinct, -without danger of 
 their areas being exaggerated. 
 
 The relation of the watercourses to the vertical elevation of 
 the surface, is by this map rendered very evident. The height 
 of the districts in which the rivers take their rise, and the di- 
 rection of the lines of greatest elevation which separate the 
 catchment basins of the different rivers, can be estimated by 
 its means. The exact outlines and other characters of the 
 catchment and drainage basins are, however, precisely marked 
 on another map, that on which the extent and localities of the 
 principal bog deposits are shewTi. To this map reference will 
 be again made. 
 
 A comparison of the map of elevations with the geological 
 map, ■will at once shew how uniformly the limestone occupies 
 the country under 500 feet, and how instantly it is replaced by 
 other rocks, where a greater elevation is obtained. 
 
 By calculations founded on such principles, we arrive at the 
 conclusion, that the average elevation of the surface of the 
 country being 387 feet, the water which flows in our rivers to 
 the sea, has an average fall of 129 yards, and now finally we 
 may calculate the total water power of Ireland. We had for 
 the total quantity of rain falling in a year 100,712,031,640 
 cubic yards ; of this one-third flows into the sea, that is 
 33,237,343,880 cubic yards, or for each day of twenty-four 
 hours, 91,061,216 cubic yards, weighing 68,467,100 tons. This 
 weight falls from 129 yards, and as 884 tons falling twenty- 
 four feet in twenty-four bom's is a horse power, the final result 
 is, that in average we possess, distributed over the surface of 
 Ireland, a water power capable of acting night and day, with- 
 out interruption, from the beginning to the end of the year, 
 and estimated at the force of 3227 horse power per foot of fall,
 
 78 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 or, for the entire average fall of 387 feet, amounting to 1,248,849 
 horse power. 
 
 But mechaaieal power is never thus unintormittingly driven, 
 and if we reduce this force to the year's worli of 300 working 
 days, of twelve hours each, we find it to represent 3,038,865 
 horse power : that is more than three millions of horse power. 
 Of course much of this enormous quantity of force exists in 
 localities where other circumstances may prevent it becoming 
 useful. The perfect economy of the water for mechanical 
 power may be inconsistent with other equally important ob- 
 jects. Thus the drainage of the districts for agricultural pur- 
 poses, or the maintenance of navigations, may require constant 
 discharge and loss of a certain quantity of water. The various 
 water machines also incur a certain loss of force in working, 
 which may be estimated at a third. But still it may be con- 
 sidered as decisively established that there is derivable from 
 water power, of which I have here noticed only one source, an 
 amount of mechanical force sufiicient for the development of 
 our industry on the greatest scale. 
 
 The manner in which this force is geographically distributed 
 may be inferred from the position of the principal rivers, the 
 structure of the country through which they flow, and the 
 areas of catchment basins from which, through their tribu- 
 taries, they derive their supply of water. 
 
 The great central limestone district may be considered as 
 transmitting its waters to the sea, by means of the 
 
 Shannon, whose total basin is 4544 square miles. 
 Barrow, Nore, and Suir, ,, 3400 ,, ,, 
 And partly also by the 
 
 Galway waters (Loughs Corrib and 
 
 Mask), whose basin covers . . . 1374 square miles. 
 
 Moy, ,, „ „ . . . 1033 ,, 
 
 Blackwater in Meath, and Boyno, . 1086 ,, ,, 
 
 Liftoy, Dodder, and Tolka, ... 568 ,, 
 
 But tlu'se rivers derive a great deal of their supply from the 
 mountainous districts of Wicklow, Tippcrary, Cavan, and Con- 
 nemara, by which the limestone plain is bounded.
 
 OF IRELAND. 79 
 
 The eastern flank of the Wicklow and Wexford mountains 
 is drained principally by the 
 
 Slaney, from a basin of 815 square miles. 
 Avonmore, ,, 200 ,, ,, 
 
 Avoca River, ,, 281 ,, ,, 
 
 The southern counties of Munster supply the waters of the 
 large rivers, which flowing in parallel valleys, east and west, 
 discharge into the ocean on the south-eastern coast. These 
 are : 
 
 Blaekwater, Waterford, from a basin of 1219 square miles. 
 Lee, Cork, ,, ,, 735 „ „ 
 
 Bandon River, ,, ,, 228 ,, ,, 
 
 In the north of Ireland there are three principal outlets for 
 the waters ; by Lough Erne at Ballyshannon ; by the Lower 
 Bann at Coleraine, and by the Foyle at Derry. The areas 
 from which these rivers and their tributaries collect their 
 waters are : 
 
 Erne, 1585 square miles, 
 
 Foyle, 1476 „ 
 
 Bann, LTpper and Lower and the 
 
 Main, 1266 ,, 
 
 Blaekwater, Armagh, .... 526 ,, ,, 
 
 Moreover, the littoral counties pour into the sea a large 
 portion of their drainage waters, by means of a number of 
 rivers of short course, and individually of trifling area of basin; 
 of these may be taken as examples the Lagan at Belfast, drain- 
 ing 227 square miles ; the Roughty at Kenmare, from 475 
 square miles ; the Main and Inney at Killarney, from 511 
 square miles ; the Feale and Gale, which unwater the south- 
 western portion of the Munster coal district and discharge 
 into the sea near Listowel, from a basin of 479 square miles. 
 
 The relation of these areas from whence the rivers derive 
 their supply of water, is rendered evident by inspection of 
 the map, where it will be seen that the districts through 
 which the various rivers flow, are separated from each other 
 by mai'ked lines, which run along the crest of the highest in-
 
 80 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 tervening ground, so that the rain falling on opposite sides of 
 such line must flow in opposite directions, and the drainage 
 be consequently conducted to a different outlet, by which its 
 waters may escape to the sea. The area thus enclosed and 
 penetrated by a river will form the catchment basin of that 
 river, and the watercourses provided must be of sufficient 
 cai^acity and of sufficiently rapid descent to carry off all the 
 water that may fall within that area, otherwise the district 
 will be exposed to floods, and the surface being kept wet and 
 cold, the soil may become marshy and unfit for profitable 
 agriculture. 
 
 The area of catchment basin, and the vertical height of fall, 
 are thus the primary elements in relation to water power. 
 The capacities of the various watercourses are also involved 
 in the important questions of drainage and of inland naviga- 
 tion. 
 
 Now from the consideration that in average thei-e passes 
 to the sea from the surface twelve inches of water, which from 
 the entire area of Ireland, 32,513 square miles, is capable of 
 generating 3227 horse power per foot of fall, it follows that 
 it requires the drainage of just ten square miles to give water 
 for an average horse power per foot of fall ; and on this prin- 
 ciple the force capable of application from the waters of the 
 individual rivers may be estimated. Of course it will be un- 
 derstood, that the force of a tributary, or of the upper por- 
 tions of the river itself, will not be that derivable from the 
 total catchment basin, but from the portion of the basin which 
 actually supplies water to the point where the power is re- 
 quired. 
 
 For most of the estimates of areas of drainage basins given 
 above, I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. Mulvany, Com- 
 missioner of Drainage. 
 
 In some, though few, instances, I have obtained values for 
 the water power of certain localities, which may give rather 
 more special interest to the subject, after the general discus- 
 sion that has just closed. 
 
 The Shannon, that great river, which, penetrating the in-
 
 OF IRELAND. 81 
 
 terioi- of Ireland, navigable from the ocean to its source, rising 
 in one coal formation, emptying itself through another, and 
 washing the banks of our most fertile counties, delivers into 
 the sea the rain collected from an area, which, according to 
 Mr. Mulvany's estimate, embraces 3613 square miles of coim- 
 try, north of Killaloe. This noble river, which at Lough Allen, 
 near its source, is but 146 feet above the level of the sea, 
 passes slowly along, falling but fifty feet in 150 miles, until it 
 arrives at Killaloe, where its waters rush down the great 
 rapids towards Limerick, and in a space of fifteen miles pre- 
 sent a difference of level of ninety-seven feet, of which the 
 available power may be estimated, at least with tolerable ap- 
 proximation, from the returns and reports published by the 
 Commissioners for the improvement of its navigation. 
 
 In the geographical character of the basin of the Shannon, 
 we find all the conditions for great evaporation fulfilled. The 
 country, whose waters it receives, is flat, its streams sluggish, 
 the soil upon its banks either deep and retentive clays, or ex- 
 tensive bog. Expanding into numerous lakes of considerable 
 size, often overflowing the lowlands on its banks, it may be 
 considered as almost in the condition of presenting a true water 
 evaporating surface. Still the quantity of water it carries to 
 the sea is of extraordinary power. It has been observed that 
 in wet weather, the level of the water in Lough Derg often 
 rises two or three inches in twenty-four hours ; and has been 
 known to rise twelve inches. As the area of the Lough is 
 30,000 statute acres, this extent of water weighs 3,000,000 
 tons for each inch, and hence, so much as 36,000,000 of tons 
 have accumulated in a single day and night. 
 
 The average diiference between summer and winter level of 
 the Shannon at Killaloe, where narrowing from Lough Derg, 
 it reassumes the river form, is about six feet, but the total of 
 the rises of the water during the year are found, from a dis- 
 cussion of the observations of three years, to be eleven feet. 
 The rising of the waters occupied in average seventy-seven days : 
 in falling to the summer level they occupied 107 days. The 
 quantity of water thus accumulated in the great natural reser- 
 voir of the Lough was 532,534,096 cubic yards, or 403,416,600 
 
 G
 
 82 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 tons, which is discharged in 107 days at the rate of 155,92f$ 
 tons per hour. By this, a force continuous day and night of 
 177 horse power per foot of fall may be produced. An equal 
 force is of course available whilst the river is rising, and thus 
 through 184 days, or six months of the year, this enormous 
 power is in action, independent of the ordinary discharge 
 which goes on when the waters are at the lowest. 
 
 When the river is high, the motive force available is far 
 greater than that just now mentioned. An example furnished 
 to me by Mr. Mulvany will shew this sufficiently. " On the 
 2nd of December, 1836, when the water was 13 feet on the 
 upper sill of Killaloe lock, the observed discharge was 882,450 
 cubic feet per minute, and on the 10th of that month, the 
 height was 14 ft. 1 in., on the 18th 14 ft. 4 in., at which height 
 it continued until the 25th, with of course a yreutly increased 
 discharge ; on the latter day it began to descend gradually. 
 During the period mentioned, the whole lake rose four inches 
 between the 3rd and 4th, and five inches in two days, between 
 the 5th and 7th, and two inches in other days. These grand 
 rises, at that height of water, extended over the flooded lands 
 as well as the lake, that is, over a surface of from 36,000 to 
 38,000 statute acres." Now the discharge for the month of 
 December, 1836, may certainly, from the description above 
 given, be taken at one million cubic feet per minute, that is, 
 one and two-third million of tons of water per hour, capable of 
 producing 1885 horse power per foot of fall. 
 
 The minimum discharge of the Shannon at Killaloe has been 
 estimated by Mr. Mulvany, in the dryest summer, so low as 
 100,000 cubic feet of water per minute. This is equal to a 
 force of 188 horse power per foot of fall. At this minimiun, 
 however, the flow is kept but for a very short time, certainly 
 not more than a month in the year, which is also the duration 
 that may be allotted to the maximum elevation of the waters. 
 
 Although it is not possible to deduce from these returns the 
 actual average force exerted by the waters of this river, yet I 
 consider from all the facts I have been able to collect, regard- 
 ing its discharge at various seasons, that the mean cannot fall 
 below .S50 horse power per foot of fall. For as tlie summer
 
 OF IRELAND. 83 
 
 level of the river, for which the minimum discharge is taken, 
 does not last more than two months, and that during the six 
 months of the rising and the falling of the waters, the force is 
 at least 188 + 177 horse power per foot of fall, and finally, 
 that the maximum delivery at winter level, lasts at least a 
 month, there are nine months of which the force per foot of 
 fall are 
 
 2 months at 188, 376 
 
 6 months at 365, 2190 
 
 1 month at 1885, 1885 
 
 Which give an average of 495 horse power. The other 
 three mouths are certainly not below the six months of rising 
 and falling, but in order that the final results may not be pos- 
 sibly liable to any suspicion of exaggeration, I shall take the 
 average force of water available per foot of fall, at 350 horse 
 power, which gives for the ninety-seven feet of fall between 
 Killaloe and Limerick, a total of 33,950 horse power in con- 
 tinuous action, day and night, throughout the year. 
 
 This, however, is by no means the whole power of the river, 
 for although in the upper portion of its course it flows through 
 a district unusually level, there is yet between Lough Derg 
 and Lough Allen a total available fall of forty-six feet six 
 inches. We may consider, that at the several points on the 
 river, the supply of water will bear the same proportion to that 
 at Killaloe, as exists between the respective areas of their 
 catchment basins, and this is shewn to be a very legitimate 
 assumption, since at Carrick, where the area of basin is about 
 350 square miles, the minimum quantity of water passing in 
 summer through the bridge has been determined by Mr. Mul- 
 vany to be 10,000 cubic feet per minute. This is just a tenth 
 of the minimum at Killaloe, the basin at which is ten times the 
 area of the surface drained at Carrick. 
 
 The distribution of the falls on the upper and middle Shan- 
 non will be, when the improvements now in progress are com- 
 pleted, as follows. The area of catchment basin of the river, 
 at each fall, and the average resuitiug horse power continuous, 
 is given in the accompanying column of the table. 
 r. -2
 
 84 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 
 AREA 
 
 HEIGHT 
 
 TOTAL 
 
 
 OF BASIN. 
 
 OF FALL. HORSE POWER, 
 
 Mouth of Lough 
 
 Allen, 146 square 
 
 miles 13 feet . 
 
 199 
 
 JamestowTi, 
 
 . . 400 
 
 6 „ . 
 
 252 
 
 Rooskey, . . 
 
 , . 650 
 
 H„ . 
 
 239 
 
 Tarmonbarry, 
 
 . . 780 
 
 8 „ . 
 
 656 
 
 Athlone, . . 
 
 . . 1321 
 
 8 „ . 
 
 1109 
 
 Meelick, . . 
 
 . . 2657 
 
 8 „ . 
 
 2232 
 
 The total continuous power is, therefore, 4,717 horse, which, 
 added to that of the river from Killaloe, 33,950, gives a force 
 existing between Limerick and Lough Allen of 38,667 horse 
 power, supposed in constant action. 
 
 The vast inequality of force at different seasons is the most 
 remarkable disadvantage of water power. It can be perfectly 
 and economically compensated for, as shall be seen hereafter. 
 
 To judge of the evaporation which goes on in the basin of the 
 Shannon, we must compare those practical results with what 
 theory indicates. 
 
 The area of the basin of the Shannon above Killaloe is 3613 
 square miles, and as thirty-six inches of rain give 0-3 continuous 
 horse power per foot of fall for every square mile of basin, the 
 total power of the Shannon, without evaporation, should be 1084 
 horse power per foot of fall. Its average is found to be about 
 350, and hence the Shannon transmits annually to the sea 11*6 
 inches of water collected from its extensive basin, a result re- 
 markably in accordance with that of twelve inches (one-third 
 of the rain) which I have taken as the average of Ireland. 
 
 If we pass moi'e to the south we shall find a river in which 
 different circumstances prevail. The Lee, rising amidst the 
 picturesque solitudes of West Muskerry, passes by a direct and 
 rapid course through mountainous country to Cork, where it 
 joins the sea. I have calculated the area of country, above Cork, 
 drained by the Lee at 562 square miles. The average rain 
 should, therefore, produce 169 horse power per foot of fall. 
 Some measurements were made at my request by a most intel- 
 ligent friend, at a period when the river was very low, and ad- 
 mitted of greater accuracy than at other times. lie found that 
 there passed through the river in twenty-four hours, 442,800
 
 OF IRELAND. 85 
 
 tons of water. This is at the rate of twenty-one horse power 
 per foot. The water passing to the sea was, therefore, just 
 one-eighth of the rain. This is in summer. The average 
 delivery of tlie River Lee is certainly more than treble this. 
 The power calculated from the average for Ireland of one-third 
 of the rain, should be fifty-six horse power per foot of fall. 
 But the rain in the west of Cork is above the average ; the course 
 of the river is direct, and the slope of its basin precipitous. 
 
 A river in the north of Ireland, concerning the practical 
 efficiency of which we possess numerical data, is the Upper 
 Bann; it rises in Down in the mountains of Mourne, and 
 falls into Lough Neagh, near Lisburn. This river is the most 
 fully economized in Ireland ; its banks present a picture 
 of industry, of comfort, and intelligence, which I am glad to 
 hold up as a pattern to other districts. The natural supply 
 of the river was not enough for the demands of its industrious 
 occupiers ; and Mr. Fairbairn, employed to examine how its 
 capabilities could be increased, made a Report to which I have 
 already had occasion to refer. I have calculated the total 
 available catchment basin of the Upper Bann to be 256 square 
 miles. Hence, without evaporation, and with the rain at 
 thirty-six inches, which coincides very closely with the fact, 
 in that locality, the horse power per foot of fall is seventy- 
 seven. Now Mr. Fairbairn had estimated the force obtainable, 
 when the water was fully brought into play, at eight working 
 horse power. It has resulted, from even the partial execution 
 of his plan, that the river is capable of increase, even beyond 
 that, and ten working horse power per foot is what appears 
 may be calculated on. Now this ten working horse power cor- 
 responds to fifteen horse power on the theoretical standard I 
 have assumed, which supposes there is no loss offeree, and hence 
 the water practically available is exactly one-fifth of the rain. 
 
 Such are the few facts regarding the actual water power of 
 certain localities which I have been able to collect. It shews 
 how much remains to be done in this department of practical 
 science. If it in any way indicates the route ; if among my 
 i-eaders some may be induced by these explanations to occupy 
 themselves, whilst in the provinces, in those operations, really
 
 86 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 simple, only requiring care, by which the sectional area and 
 the velocity of the current in a river are determined, the coun- 
 try will be positively benefited ; for such determinations are 
 at the basis of all investment of capital for industrial objects, 
 and the want of them has often occasioned considerable loss of 
 time and money. 
 
 Before quitting this subject I may mention, that Mr. Bald 
 has published some estimates of the water power of certain lo- 
 calities. He considers that eighteen inches of rain pass to the 
 sea. This is certainly above the truth. Consequently all his 
 numbers are too high. 
 
 Mr. Henessy, who has recently published an estimate of the 
 total water power of Ireland, supposes, that four-fifths of the 
 rain become available for industry. This proportion, although 
 it may exist in certain mountainous districts, where the water 
 collects rapidly in basins of small area, and passes with a short 
 course to the sea, is certainly too large for an average esti- 
 mate, and he has not attempted to support his views upon any 
 definite numerical results. But Mr. Bald's measurement of 
 the areas of the basins, and of the heights of fall of localities 
 of water power in the west of Ireland, are very valuable, and I 
 have from them calculated the available horse power of the Con- 
 naught lakes, which, together with the area of catchment basin, 
 and the mean height of fall, is given in the following table: 
 
 LAKES. CATCHMENT AREA. FALL. HORSE POWER. 
 
 Conn and Cullin, 900 ... 27 ... 2430 
 
 Mask, 7 ,„^, .36; 
 
 Con 
 
 "'; S ■ ■ ■ 1374 . . . fl 
 irnb, ) 14 > 
 
 6850 
 
 Total horse power, 9280 
 
 We have now sufficiently discussed the manner in which the 
 water power of Ireland originates, its distribution, and, so far 
 as our materials allow, its amount. We cannot, however, part 
 from the subject without describing, though briefly, its prac- 
 tical application. It is not my purpose to discuss the me- 
 chanical details of water engines. This is done by special 
 mechanical writers. Some engines are fitted for some uses and
 
 OF IRELAND. 87 
 
 for some localities, others for different conditions ; and it is 
 essential to the connexion of our subject that a certain analysis 
 of the economic efficiency of each should be given here. 
 
 We may reduce the water engines to four classes. In the 
 first the water acts by its weight ; of this kind is the overshot 
 water-wheel. In the second the action is by impulse, as in the 
 undershot wheel. In the third it is by pressure, as in the water 
 pressure machine. In the fourth, it is by reactive pressure, as 
 in Barker's mill ; and similarly reactive impulse gives origin to 
 the horizontal wheel or turbine. 
 
 The overshot water-wheel is the most important engine of 
 water power. It is applicable under a great variety of cir- 
 cumstances, and from its inertia it serves as a regulator as 
 well as a producer of the velocity of machinery placed in con- 
 nexion with it. Its construction requires considerable mecha- 
 nical skill that its powers maybe brought fully into play; 
 the form of the buckets; the quantity of water let into each 
 bucket ; the point of the circumference at which the water is 
 to be let on ; the exact centreing of it, so that its motion may 
 be absolutely uniform ; all these are points to be carefully ex- 
 ecuted, as the injurious results of a fault in the prime mover 
 might be very serious. When an overshot water-wheel is well 
 made, and well proportioned to the supply of water, we may 
 consider that there is absorbed by the machine one-fourth of 
 the power of the water, and that three-fourths are delivered 
 capable of producing useful effect. In some wheels 80 per cent, 
 of useful effect is obtained, but this seldom occurs. 
 
 Wherever the supply of water is moderately large, and that 
 the height of available fall lies between fifteen and fifty feet, 
 the overshot wheel is certainly the engine to be adopted under 
 ordinary circumstances. It is not liable to injury; it is easily 
 repaired; and its prime cost, in relation to its power, is not 
 considerable. In order to derive from it all its power, it must 
 be recollected, however, that the water should act only by its 
 weight ; the principle on which its maximum action depends 
 being, that the water should enter the wheel without impulse, 
 and should leave it without velocity. To fulfil this condition, 
 as far as possible, should be the object of the engineer.
 
 88 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 In level countries, where, though the (juantity of water may 
 be large, the height of fall may be but a few feet, the under- 
 shot wheel is often employed. The water acquiring a velocity 
 from rushing down an inclined race, strikes the float-boards 
 near the bottom of the wheel, and communicates to the ma- 
 chinery a portion of its own motion. The float-boards are 
 generally set radial ; but sometimes they make an angle of 20° 
 with the radius. In the latter case the water acts slightly by 
 its weight ; but there does not appear to be much difference in 
 the practical results. Now this undershot wheel must be un- 
 derstood to be an imperfect machine. In the overshot wheel the 
 theoretic value of the water is equal to its weight multiplied 
 by its height of fall, and of this force three-fourths are actually 
 available in practice. In the undershot, on the other hand, the 
 theoretic power is but half the weight of the water multi- 
 plied by its height of fall, and of this but two-thirds are avail- 
 able in practice. Hence, the final performance of the undershot 
 wheel is but one-third of the total theoretic power of the 
 water expended. This machine should, therefore, never be used 
 where any other is practicable : it is the least economic. Still 
 in the level districts of Ireland numerous positions occur, where 
 a large quantity of water falls through a height of from two to 
 six feet. Here one-third of the power may be economized by 
 an undershot wheel, and may suffice for all the industrial wants 
 of that particular locality. Beyond six feet, however, I con- 
 sider this machine not to be recommended. From six feet to 
 fifteen feet of fall, the interval between the effective limiting 
 height of water for the undershot and overshot wheels, a form 
 of wheel intermediate to those, indeed compounded, as it were, 
 of them, is most advantageously employed; this is the breast 
 wheel. 
 
 The breast wheel has float boards like the undershot, but 
 instead of moving in an open race, it revolves in a carefully 
 constructed channel, the sides of which are so closely fitted 
 to its frame, as with the float boards to form in some degree 
 a set of buckets. The water is let on somewhat below the 
 axis, and entering the channel with some velocity, it acts at 
 once by weight and impul.se. The power of the breast wheel
 
 OF IRELAND. 89 
 
 is intermediate to those of the wheels ah'eady noticed. It is 
 in fact compounded of the two, and in the words of Barlow : 
 ♦* The effect of the breast wheel is equal to that of an iinder- 
 shot whose head is equal to the difference of level between the 
 surface of the reservoir and the point at which it strikes the 
 wheels, added to that of an overshot whose height is equal to 
 the diiference of level between the point where it strikes the 
 wheels and the level of the tail water." Now this gives for the 
 breast wheel a theoretic power of 83 per cent, of the whole ef- 
 fect of the water. In practice about a third of this is absorbed 
 by the machine, and hence the available working effect of the 
 breast wheel may be taken at 55 per cent., rather more than 
 half of the calculated force of the water. 
 
 M. Poncelet has proposed to form the breast wheel still more 
 on the model of the overshot, by giving to the float boards a 
 curved form, that they may act more effectually as buckets. 
 He considers also that the principle of the overshot should be 
 used in letting on the water, that is, that it should enter with- 
 out impulse and leave without velocity. A model wheel con- 
 structed on his plan gave a useful effect of 74 per cent, of the 
 total power, and working wheels, of which many of large size 
 have been erected in France, are found to economize from 70 
 to 60 per cent., below which none have fallen. They may 
 be considered as giving in average two-thirds of the total 
 power of the water, and are hence better than the breast wheels 
 of ordinary construction. 
 
 In conclusion I add, in a tabular form, the proportional 
 available power by each kind of wheel and the heights of fall 
 within which its use may be recommended. 
 
 WHEEL. 
 
 ECONOMY OF POWER 
 
 LIMITS or HEAD 
 
 Overshot, 
 
 . . 75 per cent. 
 
 . . 15 to 50 feet. 
 
 Breast, 
 
 . . 55 
 
 . . 6 to 13 „ 
 
 Undershot, 
 
 . . 33 
 
 . . 2to 6 „ 
 
 Poncelet, 
 
 . . . 66 
 
 . . 6 to 15 „ 
 
 A question may naturally be asked by those not practically 
 conversant with those matters, "why then ever use one of those 
 infei'ior wheels ? if you have a fall of twelve feet, why use a
 
 90 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 breast wheel of thirty feet which economizes but two-thirds of 
 the power, and not an overshot of fourteen feet, which might 
 economize three-fourths ?" It is that there is a great practical 
 advantage in large wheels. The motive force acts to more 
 advantage at the extremity of a longer lever. The angular 
 velocity becomes small, which is one of the conditions neces- 
 sary to a maximum economy, and the mass of the wheel acts 
 as a fly wheel, and by its inertia preserves a regularity of 
 movement which is of the highest importance in practice. Hence 
 the wheels should always be as large as the mechanical circum- 
 stances of their locality admit, and thus the practical limits 
 above assigned are fixed. 
 
 It will be seen from the numbers now given, that the average 
 performance of breast and overshot water wheels, taken to- 
 gether, is close to two-thirds of the calculated power of the 
 water they expend. On this is founded a practical estimate of 
 the power of mill streams, frequently employed by engineers, 
 and which it is useful to know. It is that twelve cubic feet of 
 water falling one foot per second is a horse power available. 
 Now this is 720 cubic feet per minute, and as the cubic foot of 
 water weighs 62-5tb, the weight is 45,0001b falling a foot 
 per minute. This is four-thirds of the theoretic horse power, 
 as I have stated at page 42, and thus one-third additional 
 power is assumed as expended in transference to the machines. 
 
 The water-pressure engine is a machine but little known in 
 this country. In fact, borrowing as we do our mechanical ideas 
 from England, a country, generally speaking, so rich in fuel 
 as to render the economy of water power imimportant, water 
 engines do not fix the attention of mechanists as they deserve. 
 In mechanism the water-pressure engine is essentially the same 
 as a steam engine, usually single acting. The valves and pas- 
 sages are large, as water cannot be wire-dra\^^l like steam. A 
 main-pipe from a reservoir at a distance brings the water to 
 the valve box, through which it enters the cylinder, which, rais- 
 ing the piston, it gradually fills : the entrance valve closes, the 
 water is let off by the opening of an exit valve, and the piston 
 falls by the weight of the macliinery with which it is in con- 
 nexion. Some engines are madf (luubio-acting, in which case
 
 OF IRELAND. 91 
 
 they are absolutely constructed as the simple high pressure 
 steam engine, but they use cold water in place of steam. 
 
 Now as to the mechanical power of these engines. The water 
 acts, not by its weight or impulse, but by its pressure. The 
 height of head to give this pressure must, therefore, be con- 
 siderable, but the quantity of water consumed may be very 
 small. In a mountainous district, a reservoir is formed among 
 the hills. From it the water is conducted, not by a costly em- 
 bankment, but by a pipe of a few inches diameter. The ma- 
 chine is erected at the most convenient locality. For every 
 thirty-five feet of head, the pressure is one atmosphere on the 
 piston ; fifteen pounds to the square inch. A head of 350 feet 
 gives, therefore, ten atmospheres, and in mining districts, 
 where such elevation is often available, those engines are pe- 
 culiarly suitable. AYith such a head and a piston of a square 
 foot of surface, moving with a mean velocity of two feet per 
 second, there should be produced a force of seventy-eight 
 horse power, and as the engine is foimd to deliver in practice 
 70 per cent, of the theoretical amount, the working efficiency 
 of such an engine should be fifty-four horse power. The expen- 
 diture of water would be 120 cubic feet per minute. 
 
 The expenditure of the same water, acting by the same head, 
 on an overshot wheel, would give seventy-three theoretic horse 
 power, and in practice fifty-five horse power. The efficiency 
 of the water pressure engine is, therefore, a little less than 
 that of the overshot wheel, but it is to be remarked, that 
 a head of 350 feet could not be made use of with any wheel. 
 A wheel cannot be practically used over fifty feet, and hence 
 300 feet of fall should go to waste, five-sixths of the entire 
 power, all of which is economized with the water-pressure 
 engine. 
 
 On the Continent the employment of water-pressure engines 
 is very general. At Freyberg, one of the deepest silver mines, 
 the Altemord Grube, is drained by an engine working with two 
 single acting cylinders, which is fixed itself 360 feet below the 
 surface. Its effective duty is seventy per cent, of the cal- 
 culated power. In Bavaria, where the water-pressure engine 
 has received its most remarkable improvements, from the hands
 
 92 INDL'STRTAL RESOURCES 
 
 of Reichenbach, the brine, from the saltmines of the neighbour- 
 hood of Salzburg, is ti'ansmitted over the mountains, 1200 foot 
 high, for a distance of seven miles, by means of a series of nine 
 engines, that the evaporation may be carried on in a district 
 where fuel is cheap. The effective duty of these engines is 
 from 60 to 72 per cent, of the theoretical force. In France in 
 various localities they are erected. One at Huelgoat in Finis- 
 terre, which works with a column of water, sixty-five yards 
 high, and draws up the waters from the lead mines from a depth 
 of 305 yards, delivers 64 per cent, of the theoretical force, and 
 when it is placed in connexion with the deeper pits, for which 
 it was constructed, is expected to increase its efficiency to at 
 least 70 per cent, of theory. 
 
 These machines are now also being introduced into Corn- 
 wall. Mr. Fairbairn and Mr. Darlington have erected water- 
 pressure engines in the mines of that country. One erected 
 by the latter engineer has two cylinders of fifty inches diame- 
 ter and ten feet stroke. It is worked by a column of water 
 thirty inches diameter and forty-four yards high. It works 
 four to six strokes in the minute. The blow produced by the 
 valve is almost totally gotten rid of by jieculiar mechanical 
 arrangements invented by Mr. Darlington, but which need not 
 be desci'ibed here. The power of this machine, calculated by 
 the principles given above, from its dimensions and the supply 
 of water, should be 166 horse power, which at 70 per cent, 
 becomes 116 horse power of practical efficiency. 
 
 I must remark, however, two disadvantages of this machine : 
 1st. The water flowing with a constant pressure into the cy- 
 linder, imparts to the piston an accelerated motion, so that 
 finally the stroke is terminated by a shock from the inelastic 
 water, whilst in the steam engine, the steam acts as an elastic 
 cushion, by which the piston is brought to rest, and injury to 
 the machinery prevented. To remedy this, in the water en- 
 gine, many plans are devised; an air vessel on the cylinder; 
 springs under the working beam ; a cavity containing air in 
 the piston. By means of such provisions this disadvant.agc is 
 removed, and although the motion is not regular enough for 
 certain delicate uses, yet for draining mines, and numerous
 
 OF IRELAND. 93 
 
 other purposes, it is most effectual. The second disadvantage 
 is, that its parts, being like those of the steam engine, are 
 somewhat complicated, and require more repair and atten- 
 tion than those of water wheels. But in this it is not more 
 troublesome than the steam engine, which nobody faults on 
 that account. 
 
 The machine which is popularly known as Barker's mill, and 
 in which water issuing from an orifice gives motion to machi- 
 nery by its reactive force, is not one with which I need occupy 
 attention. Its theory indicates the maximum effect to be but 
 one-half the true power of the water, and as in practice further 
 deduction must be made, it is likely that not one-third is really 
 economized. It is hence one of the worst water engines, and 
 I only name it here because a modification of it by Messrs. 
 Whitelaw and Skerrit of Glasgow has lately been brought for- 
 ward, said to economize power in as great a degree as the 
 overshot wheel. In the new form the horizontal arms are 
 curved in such a manner, that the water, when passing from 
 the centre, moves in a straight line, the arms by their curva- 
 ture reti'eating as it advances. In this way the centrifugal 
 force of the water, which, in the old straight arms, partly 
 acted against the reactive force, is obviated ; indeed as it is 
 exerted along the axis of the tube, it is added to the power 
 generated by the reaction. The results of the use of this en- 
 gine published by the patentees are highly favourable to it, 
 but I understand, that in many instances it has not fulfilled 
 expectation. Without intending, therefore, at all to dispa- 
 rage this improved form of the reaction mill, I may observe 
 that more extended practical knowledge of its power is re- 
 quired before we can rank it with those useful machines already 
 noticed. 
 
 Finally, I have to describe a water engine of quite modern 
 invention and of remarkable efficiency, the turbine, invented 
 by M. Fourneyron. Coals being abundant, the steam engine 
 is invented in England ; coals being scarce, the water-jiressure 
 engine and the turbine are invented in France. It is thus the 
 physical condition of each country directs its mechanical 
 genius. The turbine is a horizontal wheel furnished with
 
 94 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 curved float boards, on which the water presses from a cylin- 
 der which is suspended over the wheel, and the base of which 
 is divided by curved partitions, that the water may be directed 
 in issuing, so as to produce upon the curved float boards of the 
 wheel its greatest efl'ect. The best curvature to be given to 
 the fixed partitions and to the float boards is a delicate prob- 
 lem, but practically it has been completely solved. The con- 
 struction of the machine is simple ; its parts not liable to go 
 out of order, and as the action of the water is by pressure, 
 the force is under the most favourable circumstances for being 
 utilized. 
 
 The efl^ective economy of the turbine appears to equal that 
 of the overshot wheel. But this economy in the turbine is ac- 
 companied by some conditions which render it peculiarly va- 
 luable. In a water wheel you cannot have great economy of 
 power without very slow motion, and hence where high ve- 
 locity is required at the working point, a train of mechanism 
 is necessary, which causes a material loss of force. Now in 
 the turbine, the greatest economy is accompanied by rapid 
 motion, and hence the connected machinery may be rendered 
 much less complex. In the turbine also a change in the height 
 of the head of water alters only the power of the machine in 
 that proportion, but the whole quantity of water is economized 
 to the same degree. Thus if a turbine be working with a force 
 often horses, and that its supply of water be suddenly doubled, 
 it becomes of twenty horse power ; if the supply be reduced to 
 one-half, it still works five horse power ; whilst such sudden 
 and extreme changes would altogether disarrange water wheels, 
 which can only be constructed for the minimum and allow the 
 overplus to go to waste. 
 
 Mr. Riihlman, who has published a very full Report on the 
 theory of this machine, and on the practical performance of 
 the more important of those erected on the Continent, con- 
 cludes, that it is certainly wrong to suppose that turbines can 
 altogether do away with the use of vertical wheels, and that 
 the economy of 80 per cent, of the theoretical effect, obtained 
 by Fournoyron with some wheels, cannot be expected in all 
 cases ; but tliat certainly in practice from GO to 70 per cent.
 
 OF IRELAND. 95 
 
 may be depended on. As to the choice between turbines and 
 vertical wheels, his decision is, that where there is a fall of a 
 certain height, which may be economized by means of an over- 
 shot wheel, such is to be preferred to the turbine, for when 
 carefully arranged, the overshot wheel economizes more than 
 70 per cent, of the theoretical power ; the only exception to 
 this may be in those cases, where, as in corn mills, the horizon- 
 tal motion of the turbine may be directly utilized, or where 
 the engine must work against considerable backwater, in which 
 case the effect of the turbine is but very little affected, though 
 the ordinary wheel loses considerably in power. 
 
 But in all cases of very high or very low falls, Mr. Riihl- 
 man, as well as all other engineers who have written on the 
 subject, gives decided preference to the turbine, and considers, 
 that their universal application to such circumstances can only 
 be retarded by want of foresight and of knowledge of their 
 actual performance. 
 
 The extreme conditions under which the turbine will act, 
 are shewn very satisfactorily by the result of one erected at 
 St. Blasien, and by which is driven the machinery of a cotton 
 mill, containing 8000 sj^iudles, with carding machines, beaters, 
 and all other necessary engines. The flow of water was one 
 cubic foot per second, but a height of 332 feet was available. 
 On a fifty foot overshot wheel, this quantity of water would 
 give but five and three-fourths theoretical, and but four and 
 one-fourth practical horse power ; but the water, being col- 
 lected at a distance of two miles, is brought to St. Blasien by 
 a metal pipe eighteen inches diameter, and delivered to the 
 tiu-bine with all its pressure available. The wheel of the tur- 
 bine is but one foot diameter, and it makes about 2250 revo- 
 lutions in a minute. Its theoretical force is thirty-eight horse 
 power, of which nearly three-fourths or twenty-eight horse 
 power is delivered in practice. 
 
 Contrasted with this machine, are the great turbines erected 
 at St. Maur, near Paris, to grind corn. The wheel of each 
 turbine is six feet in diameter ; its paddles ten inches high. 
 The head of water averages 11 ft. 9 in., and the discharge is 
 thirty-four cubic feet per second. Each turbine drives ten pair
 
 96 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 of millstones, with all accompanying cleansing machinery, and 
 in twenty-four hours grinds fifteen tons of corn. The theore- 
 tical power of each turbine equals forty-five and a half horse 
 power ; the practical efficiency is thirty-three. In another 
 case where the height of the fall of water to a turbine was but 
 thirteen inches, the economy in practice was 55 per cent, of the 
 theoretical power. 
 
 Having thus considered the machines by M'hich water power 
 is rendered available to industry, it remains to examine some 
 circumstances affecting it, which are not of inferior impor- 
 tance. 
 
 The worst feature of water power is, that its production 
 does not depend upon the will of the person who employs it. 
 Originating in cosmical laws, which, from their complexity, 
 have as yet totally defied the predicting power of science, the 
 amount of water flowing along any given river cannot be es- 
 timated for any time in advance, and hence the manufacturer 
 has open to him one or other of but two courses, each of which 
 is beset with disadvantages, which I shall endeavour to enu- 
 merate. In the first place, having estimated the smallest 
 quantity of water that is available in summer, he may propor- 
 tion his machinery, and work to that amount of power. But 
 by doing so, he sees pass by him through the greater portion 
 of the year, power many times as great as that which he eco- 
 nomizes. The forces of nature flow by his door, but he knows 
 not how to control them. The powers which could execute in 
 a day that which occupies his factory for a week, are running 
 to waste, but the intelligence which might arrest them in their 
 course, and make them pay tribute, is not possessed by the 
 manufacturer whose case we have taken, and hence he drags 
 along an existence dull and unprofitable, until some turn of 
 commercial circumstances seals his ruin. The alternative 
 course by which the machinery is constructed of power suf- 
 ficient for the employment of the average quantity of water, is 
 accompanied by not less evils. In fact, in the dry season, in- 
 dustry is arrested ; there is not water enough to work the 
 mill : workmen unemployed, their families possibly without 
 food, a prey to discontent, are conscciuencos sufficiently se-
 
 OF IRELAND. 97 
 
 rious ; whilst orders remaining unexecuted, contracts unful- 
 filled, may entail loss of the most serious kind upon those whose 
 capital is invested in such works. In addition we must consi- 
 der, that upon a river, factories, by which its water is econo- 
 mized, present great obstacles to the flowing of the current, 
 and hence in case of sudden floods, by the arresting of the 
 stream at the mill works, the lands higher up are rendered 
 liable to inundations, which may be destructive to property 
 and even life. Thus the employment of water power is liable 
 to interruption, and may be productive of injury, affecting not 
 merely the interests of the workmen and the capitalists who 
 share in its advantages, but also of those at a distance who 
 derive no benefit from its use. 
 
 I believe that the disadvantages to which water power is 
 liable, are fully expressed in the above statement. Now I do 
 not hesitate to say, that they are all capable of being removed. 
 If we give to the conditions of water power the same care that 
 is bestowed upon the circumstances of steam power, those dis- 
 advantages disappear, and we obtain from water, dm-ing the 
 year, a steadiness of supply, and a regularity in work, that 
 leave nothing to be desired. 
 
 In fact, as we have under the earth vast deposits of coal, 
 the source of steam power, from which we draw, at desire, the 
 necessary supply, so is it necessary to organize on the surface 
 vast depositories of water power to be made available at our 
 will. In place of wretched mill ponds, by which a stock of 
 water is scarcely secured for a week, there should be a basin 
 so capacious, that the floods of an entire winter might be re- 
 ceived, and thus invested for most profitable expenditure in 
 summer. This is the course actually pursued where industry 
 is most active and enlightened. I shall proceed to detail the 
 circumstances of one or two such cases, in order that they may 
 serve as examples of what may be done. 
 
 The quantity of mechanical force that is brought suddenly 
 into existence by the waters of a winter flood, and which, for 
 want of sufficient reservoirs, is altogether lost in almost every 
 case, may be exemplified by considering the quantity of water, 
 which, during a few days of the winter of 1840, accumulated in 
 H
 
 98 INDUSTRIAL HESOUHCES 
 
 Lough Derg. Tho depth of water on the upper sill of Killaloe 
 lock on tho respective dates were : 
 
 November 13th, 9 feet 8^ inches. 
 
 16th, 9 „ 9 
 
 17th, 10 „ 9 
 
 18th, 11 ,, 1 
 
 Stationary until, 
 
 December 8th, 10 „ 9 „ 
 
 9th 11 „ 
 
 10th, 11 ,, 6 
 
 11th 11 „ 11 
 
 In the twenty-four hours of the 16th and 17th November, 
 the water rose twelve inches, and in the three days and nights 
 of December 8th to the 11th, it rose fourteen inches. Now 
 each inch of water on this lake amounts to 8,000,000 of tons in 
 weight. These floods, therefore, l)rought down, first in one 
 day, 36,000,000, and then in three days, 42,000,000 of tons of 
 water, over and above the vast discharge constantly going on 
 at the orifice of the lake. Now if these masses of water could 
 have been, by suitable engineering arrangements, preserved 
 from immediate and useless expenditure ; if their discharge 
 could have been spread over the entire year, these two quan- 
 tities alone, of twelve and fourteen inches of rise of surface, 
 the fruits of four days and nights of winter flood, would be 
 able to generate, on the fall of the river below Killaloe, a force 
 acting throughout the entire year, night and day, of 967 horse 
 power. 
 
 The mill owners On the Upper Band were exposed to all the 
 disadvantages above stated. Floods drowning their mills in 
 winter ; drought stopping their works in summer. Mr. Fair- 
 bairn was employed to survey the district, and proposed the 
 formation of three reservoirs, the circumstances of which I 
 shall briefly describe in his own words. 
 
 " Lough Island Heavy, which is the best situated reservoir, 
 is a natural lake bounded north and south by land of conside- 
 rable elevation. It has good feeders, which, with the overplus 
 waters of the River Muddock, would give ample supplies, and 
 fill tho reservoir once or twice in the year. The present area
 
 OF IRELAND. 99 
 
 of the Lough Is nhiety-two and a half statute acrea. On this 
 is to be raised thii'ty-five feet of water, and drawn to a depth 
 of forty feet under that height. The area thus enlarged will 
 be 253 acres, equal to 140 acres thirty-five feet deep and 1 13 
 acres fifteen feet deep, making a total of 287, 278, 200 cubic 
 feet of water. 
 
 " The Deer's Meadow, embanked to 100 feet above the level 
 of the river, will flood 215 acres to twenty-four feet average 
 depth, having 224,769,600 cubic feet of water. The feeders 
 are uncertain, being but the drainage of 1802 acres. This 
 reservoir should, therefore, be the last executed. 
 
 " Corbet Lough is a valuable auxiliary to the other two. It 
 has excellent feeders, and controls every mill from its outlet 
 to Lough Neagh. It may be raised eighteen feet above its 
 summer level. It should then cover seventy-four and a half 
 acres, and contain 46,783,440 cubic feet of water. The supply 
 is from the flood waters of the Bann by a canal cut and land 
 feeders. 
 
 ' ' The sum of the three reservoirs : 
 
 CUBIC FEET. ACRES. 
 
 Lough Island Reavy, . 287,278,200 covering 253 
 Deer's Meadow, . . . 224,769,600 „ 213 
 Corbet Lough, . . . 46,783,440 „ 74^ 
 
 Cubic feet of water, 558,831,240 542:|- 
 
 " This total amount, at sixty cubic feet per second, will 
 afford a constant discharge for 108 days, or for 216 days, 
 working twelve hours ; and as twelve cubic feet per second 
 falling a foot, is a working horse power, the reservoirs alone 
 give five horse power per foot of fall for 216 days in the year. 
 Now as there are 350 feet fall, this is a total on the Bann, of 
 1750 horse power, and, adding the water of the river com'se, 
 the power may be considered as eqiuvalent to 2800 horse 
 power." 
 
 The above is extracted from Mr. Fairbairn's Report ; he pro- 
 ceeds to some estimates of the cost of these reservoirs. The 
 total expenditure he values at £32,000, and deduces, that the 
 annual cost of delivery of water should be £1860, arranged as 
 h2
 
 100 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 below, and that oach reservoir gives for a shilling expense, the 
 following number of tons of water : 
 
 TOTAL EXPENSE. GIVES FOR A SHILLING 
 
 Lough Island Reavy, j£700 33 tons water 
 
 Corbet Lough, ... 260 12 
 
 Deer's Meadow, . . 900 14 ,, 
 
 Mr. Fairbairn calculates that steam power to do the same 
 work should cost £9050, and hence the water power should 
 produce a saving of £7191 per annum. 
 
 Such was Mr. Fairbairn's plan ; I was aware that it had not 
 been all carried into execution, but that such parts of it as 
 were cai-ried out had produced even greater effects than he had 
 estimated. Through the kindness of Mr. Bergin I was enabled 
 to communicate with Mr. Bateman, who was Mr. Fairbairn's 
 colleague in the execution of the works, and received from him, 
 in answer to certain queries, replies which I subjoin. 
 
 "Of the works authorized by Act of Parliament, the Lough 
 Island Reavy Reservoir has been completed, and been in ope- 
 ration for upwards of three years. 
 
 " The land for Corbet Lough Reservoir is purchased, and 
 the Deer's Meadow Reservoir abandoned. 
 
 " Previous to the construction of the Lough Island Reavy 
 Reservoir, the River Bann, where most closely occupied by 
 mills and bleach works, had not water power mon; than equal 
 to one or one and one-half horse power upon each foot of fall, 
 during the dry periods of the year, for months together. 
 
 *' The lowest power now is about five horse power to a foot 
 of fall, being a gain, by means of the reservoir, of about three 
 and one-half horse power per foot, and the regular full quan- 
 tity is uniformly maintained. 
 
 " Should tiie Corbet Lough Reservoir ever be completed, the 
 minimum power of the river, below its outlet, will be brought 
 up to about ten horse power per foot of fall. 
 
 " In dry seasons, when the river has fallen to its lowest vo- 
 lume, the discharge may probably be equal to from seventy to 
 one hundred cubic feet per second. In floods it amounts to 
 3 or 4000 cubic feet per second.
 
 OF IRELAND. 101 
 
 "Below the Lough Island Reavy Reservoir there is a fall of 
 124 feet upon the River Muddock, partially occupied by small 
 corn and flax mills. 
 
 " On the River Bann, from its junction with the Muddock 
 to the Corbet Lough Reservoir, there is a fall of forty-four 
 feet and a half, at present occupied by limited establishments, 
 which are capable of great improvement. The regular power 
 now is never less than about five horse power per foot of fall. 
 
 " Below Corbet Lough to the last mill on the river there is 
 a fall of 168 feet ; on this portion the more extensive establish- 
 ments are situated, — the whole fall being occupied. The river 
 is now equal to about five horse power per foot of fall, and by 
 an outlay of between 2 and £3000 on Corbet Lough may be 
 increased to ten horse power per foot. 
 
 "The mills have been gradually increasing since the im- 
 provement of the river, but few are yet enlarged to the extent 
 they may be. 
 
 " The annual rate levied upon the river for the cost of the 
 improvement is £10 per foot of fall, which will diminish as 
 the works increase in value, and the river is more extensively 
 occupied. As the measure of a river, when no other assistant 
 power can be applied, must be taken at its minimum, the gain 
 already acquired is about three and one-half horse power per 
 foot, which, at the present rate, is equal to a cost per horse 
 power per annimi of imder £3. The cost of the same power 
 by steam in that district would be from £20 to £30 per an- 
 num. 
 
 " Should the full scheme be developed by the completion of 
 the Corbet Lough Reservoir, the cost of the additional power 
 will be little more than 20s. per horse power per annum. 
 
 "J. F. Bateman." 
 
 We here see how fully the so called natural disadvantages of 
 water power are obviated. I shall in addition notice an in- 
 stance taken from Scotland, where the result has been, not 
 merely the inci'ease in amount and steadiness of power pre- 
 viously existing, but absolutely the creation of a vast water 
 power, where none had been deemed to exist before. 
 
 The inhabitants of Greenock had long suffered from a want
 
 102 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 of water for domestic use. Several engineers had reported, 
 that the circumstances of the locality did not allow of any co- 
 pious supply of this necessary element of cleanliness and health ; 
 but at last Mr. Thorn, having examined the surrounding coun- 
 try, astonished the people of Greenock by asserting, that not 
 merely water sufficient for domestic and municipal purposes 
 might be brought in, but that water power might be made 
 available for mechanical purposes to a very considerable 
 amount. His scheme has been carried into effect. His calcu- 
 lations have been more than borne out, and the rapid rise of 
 Greenock as an emporium of commerce and industry is, in 
 no small degree, due to the bold foresight of the engineer of 
 the Shaw's Water Woi'ks. 
 
 I shall extract a few notices of these works from an account 
 of them printed some years since, and now extremely rare. 
 
 "The distinguishing characteristics oi this scheme are the 
 
 following Instead of erecting works on natural waterfalls, 
 
 on the banks of rivers, in remote and almost inaccessible places, 
 where immense capital must, in the first instance, be expended 
 in forming roads and houses for the work people, as well as a 
 heavy and perpetual charge for carriage to and from the seat 
 of trade, — the water is carried, by an aqueduct, from the river 
 and reservoirs, to a populous sea-port town, with a redundant 
 unemployed population, where roads, harbours, piers, and 
 every thing requisite for the most extensive trade and manu- 
 facture, are already foi'med. Besides, by thus forming artificial 
 waterfalls on advantageous grounds, every inch of fall, from 
 the river or reservoir to the sea, is rendered available; whereas, 
 by the former mode, only a very small part of the fall could, 
 in general, be employed. In the present case a fall of 312 
 feet has been made available, of which not more than twenty 
 was formerly occupied, or thought capable of being usefully 
 employed. But, besides the immense advantage thus gained 
 by increasing the fall, a still greater advantage is obtained 
 from the greatly increased, and perfectly unil'unn, supply of 
 water ; by the adajitation of the various reservoirs, aqueducts, 
 basins, and self-acting sluices — as will be seen by the descrip- 
 tion of the purtb which they respectively perform.
 
 OF IRELAND. 103 
 
 " The embankmeat of the great reservoir, which Is sixty feet 
 high from the bottom of the rivulet, is now very nearly, and in 
 a few months will be entirely, finished. 
 
 " This reservoir contains two hundred and eighty-four mil- 
 lions, six hxmdred and seventy-eight thousand, five hundred and 
 fifty ("284,678,550) cubic feet of water ; and covers two hun- 
 dred and ninety-four and three-fourths imperial acres of land. 
 
 " The compensation reservoir contains fourteen millions, 
 four hundred and sixty-five thousand, eight himdred and 
 ninety-eight (14,465,898) cubic feet of water ; and covers 
 about forty imperial acres. Its embankment is twenty-three 
 feet high from the bottom of the rivulet. 
 
 " The auxiliary reservoir, No. 3, contains four millions, six 
 hmidred and fifty-two thousand, seven hundred and seventy- 
 five (4,652,775) cubic feet of water : and covers about ten im- 
 perial acres. 
 
 " The other auxiliary reservoirs, Nos. 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6, are 
 now about to be formed, and will contain something more than 
 six millions cubic feet of water. 
 
 " Thus, the reservoirs already formed, contain three hun- 
 dred and three millions, seven hundred and ninety-seven thou- 
 sand, two hundi'ed and twenty-three (303,797,223) cubic feet; 
 and when the other five auxiliary reservoirs are finished, the 
 whole will contain above three hundred and ten millions 
 (310,000,000) cubic feet of water." 
 
 Anxious to obtain information as to the actual condition and 
 performance of these remarkable water works, and unable per- 
 sonally to visit Scotland, I have to thank one of the most emi- 
 nent men that coimtry has presented to the practical sciences, 
 for a note descriptive of the power that is now produced by the 
 water so economized. JVIr. Scott Russell replied to my in- 
 quiries in the following words : 
 
 " My dear Sib, — I had hoped to have been able to get a full 
 and very satisfactory accoimt of the Shaw's Water drawn up 
 for you by a competent engineer, resident on the spot ; but I 
 find that so many delays are occurring to prevent this, that I 
 now write to beg you will not calculate upon it : had my own 
 time permitted I should have done so myself, but now, just 
 when I might have hoped for leisure, I am taken from home.
 
 104 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 " I have, however, procured a copy of a now scarce pamph- 
 let, printed some thirteen or fourteen years ago, before the 
 works were finished, giving some accoimt of them as proposed. 
 1 may now add for your information, that every thing y)/-e</«c<ed 
 has been satisfactorily and fully accomplished ; that the Com- 
 pany now divide a fair per centage on their capital, even though 
 at present only one-half of the capabilities of the reservoir are 
 employed. There has in all years been an abundant supply. 
 
 ' ' I may also add, that the sole supply of water here ob- 
 tained is from the fall of rain, and that the artifieal lake has 
 been created in a place where formerly there were only slender 
 mountain rivulets. 
 
 " The guaranteed and realized supj^ly of water amounts to 
 2500 cubic feet per minute during 310 days per annum. The 
 total fall is about 500 feet ; the total power thus created is, 
 therefore, as follows, in round numbers : 
 2500 feet of water. 
 60tt> weight. 
 
 150,000 
 
 500 feet fall. 
 
 50,000)75,000,000(1500. Steam engine mercantile horse power. 
 Or about 2000. Bolton and Watt's estimated horse power. 
 
 " Thus then a power has been created and brought six miles 
 and a half to the suburbs of populous towns, equal to the power 
 of thirty steam engines of fifty horse power ; being equivalent 
 to the creation of wealth or productive capital to the extent of 
 £75,000 ; and the annual effect of which, when fully employed, 
 will be something like the employment of 7000 people, and the 
 annual distribution of something like £300,000 per annum in 
 wages in a single town ; besides the supply of ample store of 
 water for the use of the town. 
 
 " Such, my dear Sir, is a hurried sketch of what has been 
 accomplished : the accompanying pamphlet will tell you some- 
 thing about the details. What further may be necessary for 
 your pm-pose let me know, and I shall try and send it you. 
 
 "J. Scott Russell." 
 
 The greater number of Irish rivers are more or less analo-
 
 OF IRELAND. 105 
 
 goiis to the Shannon, in having lakes either at their origin or 
 on their course, and hence present facilities for the aceiunula- 
 tion of water power of the highest interest to the mechanical 
 engineer. The concentration of the waters of a district in such 
 reservoirs, by appropriate embankments, may be, and in most 
 cases must be connected with another operation of the greatest 
 importance to the agriculture of this country, the drainage of 
 the surface. As an example of how both objects maybe at the 
 same time secured, and how well the physical circumstances of 
 the country lend themselves to their accomplishment, I may 
 notice the relations of Lough Ennell, near MuUingar, to the 
 River Brosna, by which its waters are carried to the Shannon. 
 The facts are taken from Mr. Mulvany's Report. 
 
 The catchment basin of the Brosna discharges almost alto- 
 gether into the lake, the waters flowing directly to the river 
 course being comparatively trifling. The ditference of winter 
 and smnmer level is but two feet, yet by this a great extent of 
 land is flooded. Mr. Mulvany proposes to deepen the channel 
 of the lake and river by these two feet, by this means reliev- 
 ing the flat lands, and rendering the winter accumulation of 
 the water available for the supply of the mills upon the river 
 during the dry smnmer seasons. 
 
 The area of Lough Ennell is 3603 acres, and at two feet in 
 depth it should discharge 314,000,000 of cubic feet. As in the 
 case of the Dodder this supply would probably be available 
 tvdce in the year, for the midsummer floods, though not so great 
 as those of winter, will be in all cases sufficient to replenish 
 such reservoirs. Hence as the difference of level of the Brosna 
 issuing from Lough Ennell, and where it joins the Shannon, is 
 154 feet, a force continuous through half the year of 692 horse 
 power, or four and one-half horse power per foot of fall, should 
 be made available. 
 
 The River Dodder, although trifling in magnitude, is yet of 
 much interest to us, from the amount of industry which it sus- 
 tains in the immediate neighbourhood of Dublin. There are 
 situated on its banks at present twenty-eight mills occupied 
 ■with various manufactures, as paper, flour, woollens, cloth, &c. 
 This stream, passing by a highly inclined channel from the
 
 106 INDUSTItlAL I1ES0UUCE3 
 
 flaiilis of tlic Dublin mountains to the sea, is liable to very great 
 fluctuation in the amount of its discharge. It frequently has 
 done great damage to the lands and edifices along its banks, 
 by sudden floods, and in summer its waters fall so low, that 
 the mills may be considered as being kept idle half time for a 
 period of three months in the year. 
 
 At present the occupied fall upon the Dodder is 370 feet. 
 The total horse power which is now precariously available, is 
 estimated at 926, which is two and a half horse power per foot 
 of fall. The question of rendering the supply of water more 
 uniform, and of economizing a larger proportion of its force, 
 has been recently taken up by the Board of Works, at the re- 
 quest of the mill owners upon the river, and an accurate survey 
 has been made, and a Report drawn up by Mr. IMallet, whose 
 union of scientific and practical skUl is so well known. 
 
 Mr. Mallet proposes to form, by means of an embankment 
 about 2000 feet long, and 100 feet high at its centre, across 
 the head of Glenismaul, a reservoir with an area of 162 statute 
 acres, and capable of containing 228,000,000 of cubic feet of 
 water. The catchment basin of this reservoir should have an 
 area of 6070 acres, cliiefly mountain bog, and from the quantity 
 of rain which falls in that hilly district, Air. Mallett calculates, 
 that the reservoir should be filled at least twice in the year, 
 and hence a total annual quantity of water of 456,(X)0,U00 of 
 cubic feet obtained, which Mr. Mallet values as equivalent to 
 1387 horse power in constant operation. 
 
 On the construction of this reservoir, it appears by Mr. 
 Mallet's Report, that the total force of the river should become 
 practically equivalent to 2038 horse power. This is five and 
 a half horse power per foot of fall; more than double that now 
 irregularly in operation. The probable cost of these improve- 
 ments may be taken at 86s. per annum per foot of fall, or 23s. 
 per additional horse power. That is, the expense is just one- 
 tenth that of the corresponding steam power, or one-seventh 
 that of the mere coals for a steam engine. 
 
 As I discussed the question of the cost of power so fully 
 when speaking of the production of steam, it will suffice to no- 
 tice briefly the circumstances of water power as to cost. It is
 
 OF IRELAND. 107 
 
 only necessary to contrast it with steam power. It is certainly 
 much clieaper, not merely in Ireland, but in all places where 
 it is available. An eminent manufacturer in Leeds said to me, 
 that water power is cheaper than steam at the mouth of the 
 coal pit. All evidence bears this out. In Mr. Fairbairn's Re- 
 port, and Rlr. Bateman's letter, this point is decided, as re- 
 gards the Upper Bann. Even at present it may be taken at 
 £3 per annum per horse power, — steam costing from £20 to 
 £30 ; it may thus be averaged at one-eighth. But ^Ir. Bate- 
 man considers, that when the reservoir system is worked out, 
 the horse power will be had for 20s. per year, not one-twentieth 
 of the cost of steam. 
 
 Regarding the Shaw's Water Works we also have money es- 
 timates, which are highly valuable, as they place the relative 
 cost of power by water and steam in contrast, not merely for 
 Ireland, where steam is dear, but for the banks of the Clyde, 
 where coal is at its lowest price. Mr. Thorn thus describes 
 the system followed in Glasgow, which is different from any- 
 thing here. With us a builder speculates only in houses, in 
 Glasgow he speculates in cotton mills. 
 
 " I have stated the cost of steam power at £30 for each 
 horse power. Let us see its mai'ket price in Glasgow : there 
 it is customary to provide a house for the manufacture, with 
 the steam engine, great gearing, and steam pipes, — and keep 
 
 the engine going twelve hours a day, and heat the work, for 
 
 £50 for each horse power. 
 
 " The cost of erecting a mill or factory, capable of contain- 
 ing machinery for the cotton manufactm'e, to the extent of thirty 
 horse power, with the great gearing and steam pipes, but ex- 
 clusive of steam engine and engine-house, may be taken at 
 £4200. Allow the landlord 8 per cent, on this sum, £336, and 
 for heating the house by steam, £84, together £420 ; which is 
 a fair return for every thing except the steam power. But the 
 landlord draws for the whole a rent of £1500; which leaves 
 for the power a rent of £1080: divide this by 30, the number 
 of horse power, and it gives for each £36 annually. 
 
 " The average water rent for each horse power at Greenock 
 is £3 ; the average rent for two acres of land to be fued along
 
 108 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 with each mill site if required, is £16. The work being of fifty 
 horse power, take one-fiftieth of this sum {(is. 5d.') for each 
 horse power. Interest on £2000, the cost of a water wheel, 
 arc, trows, &e., for a work of fifty horse power, £100; one- 
 fiftieth of which is £2, making the whole cost of water power, 
 for one horse power, at Greenock, £5 6s. 5d. 
 
 " Thus each horse power, by water at Greenock, costs upon 
 the whole £5 6s. 5d., being £30 13s. 7d. less than the cost of 
 one horse power by steam at Glasgow. Besides, this calcula- 
 tion includes the rent of two acres of land for each mill at 
 Greenock, whereas at Glasgow no land is taken into the ac- 
 count, except the spot on which the work stands. Were the 
 same quantity of ground given to the mill at Glasgow, at the 
 rate it brings there, it would throw the balance still more in 
 favour of Greenock." 
 
 Thus, whether we take jNIr. Bateman's value, which is for the 
 bare supply of power ; or Mr. Thom's value, which includes 
 the delivery of the power in a working form, we see that the 
 cost of water power is not more than one-tenth of the cost of 
 steam. Why then is steam so much used ? In the first place, 
 water power is available only in certain localities, where other 
 more influential circumstances may forbid the introduction of 
 manufactures ; and secondly, the influence of the cost of power 
 is generally so small in mechanical industry, that the question 
 of saving in regard to it is swallowed up in more important 
 questions. Still, wherever water power is to be had, it is al- 
 ways employed in preference to steam, as I shall, in fact, shew; 
 but it is first necessary to notice an objection to water power, 
 of a very absurd kind, which, however, requires refutation, 
 because it is held by many persons in Ireland, otherwise well 
 informed, and exercises very considerable influence upon pub- 
 lic opinion as to the manufacturing circumstances of the coun- 
 try. This idea is to the effect, that there is an inherent defect 
 in water power that must prevent its being ever extensively used 
 in industry, to wit, that tlio water soaking into a water wheel at 
 night renders whichever side is then undermost tlie heavier, and 
 this preponderating afterwards, gives an unequal and jogging 
 motion wiilcli unfits the wheel for any delicate work.
 
 OF IRELAND. 109 
 
 I shall transcribe, in order to preclude further misunder- 
 standing on this point, one passage from the article " Steam 
 Engine," in the Encyclopfedia Britannica. The article is 
 written by Scott Russell. 
 
 •' Mr. Lucy had constructed at Bii-mingham a flour mill 
 driven by steam ; and it had been his object to obtain perfec- 
 tion without any limitation of expense. He had got one of 
 Bolton and Watt's best steam engines, and yet he found that 
 his mill neither produced such perfect flour, nor moved so 
 smoothly as mills driven by water. On the contrary, it was 
 found that the irregularity of the motion produced a larger 
 quantity of coarse than of fine flour, at a mercantile loss to the 
 owner ; and it was likewise found that the irregular propulsion 
 a tergo intervening with the uniform motion, towards which 
 the millstones tended by their own momentum, produced a 
 clanging reciprocation along the whole line of toothed gearing, 
 which was most injurious, and rapidly destructive to the tooth- 
 ed wheels. When we visited the spot in 1838, the ruins of for- 
 mer wheels, most unequally worn and totally destroyed, were 
 strewed about the yard. The usual plan of increasing the 
 weight of the fly-wheel was resorted to without success ; and 
 Mr. Lucy applied to Mr. Buckle to propose a remedy for the 
 evil. This remedy Mr. Buckle found in the very simple con- 
 trivance of a pneumatic pump. 
 
 " So perfect was the action of this mechanism, that the fly- 
 wheel had been wholly removed, and the engine and the whole 
 mill-work were moving in the most smooth and effective man- 
 ner. It was found that the change enabled them to give all 
 the grinding stones a greater velocity than formerly, so that 
 the quantity ground was greater, in the proportion of 5Q to 
 52, and the quantity of the finest or first flour, from the same 
 wheat, was likewise much increased ; so that, both by quantity 
 and quality, the owner of the mill was now able to ' command 
 the market.' The same motion has subsequently been applied 
 to cotton mills with perfect success; the quality and the quan- 
 tity of yarn produced being much improved." 
 
 Now it may be observed that ]\Ir. Russell does not proceed 
 to explain that water power may be employed, but to describe
 
 110 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 the endeavours of engineers to rentier the steam engine as re- 
 gular and as useful for delicate work, as the water wheel is 
 found to be. In fact, cotton spun by water power bears, and 
 has always borne, a higher price than cotton spun by steam 
 power. Moreover, if we analyze the power employed in Eng- 
 land in the spinning and weaving factories, we shall have very 
 conclusive evidence on the point. In the estimate of the state 
 of the cotton manufacture in 1833, drawn up by Mr. Baines, 
 and of which the principal items are given in page 64, he con- 
 siders that of the 4-1,000 horse power employed, there are 
 
 Steam power, 33,000. 
 Water power, 11,000. 
 
 But we have much more complete and more accurate num- 
 bers given in the Returns of tlie Factory Inspectors for 1839, 
 of which the following is a summary. 
 
 The total mill power -in factories subject to inspection in 
 England was 83,264 horse power. 
 Of these there were 
 
 62,846 horse power, steam ; 
 20,418 ,, ,, water; 
 
 coinciding with Mr. Baines' general view of three- fourths steam ; 
 and one-fourth water. 
 
 In Lancashire, where coals are so cheap, we might suppose 
 that nobody would use water, but we find : 
 
 Total mill power inspected in Lancashire is 86,446 horse 
 power : 
 
 Consisting of. 
 
 Steam, 32,123 horse power. 
 Water, 4,323 ,, 
 
 Thus, one-ninth of the total mill power of Lancashire is 
 water power. But in order to estimate how far water power 
 is valued, we must learn, not merely how muph is used, but how 
 much is left unused. Now 1 have endeavoured to calculate, on 
 the same principles as I adopted for the surface of Ireland in 
 the b(!ginning of this chapter, the theoretical water power of 
 Lancashire ; I have found that it is represented by 72,600
 
 OF IRELAND. Ill 
 
 horse power, taken as working continuously. Now the 4323 
 horso power economized, makes 6 per cent, of the entire ; and 
 as there are in Ireland a million and a quarter of such horse 
 power, it follows that if we economized our water all over Ire- 
 land, in the same degree as water power is actually econo- 
 mized in Lancashire, we should have at work a force of 75,000 
 horse power, that is to say, almost equal to the mill power of 
 England returned by the Factory Inspectors. 
 
 This shews how water power is valued in Lancashire. In 
 fact, advantage is taken of every possible situation. The River 
 Irwell, which passes by Bolton and Manchester, and washes 
 the heart of the factory districts, is the hardest worked stream 
 probably in the world. It has, from its first mill at Bacun to 
 Prestolee near Bolton, a fall of 900 feet, of which 800 are ac- 
 tually economized by mills. I do not know another example 
 of such complete application of water power as in that place, 
 where coal is on all sides available. We may, therefore, pass 
 away from this question, of whether water power answers for 
 mechanical purposes, which I should not have at all noticed, 
 but that the public often receive a bold statement from a pub- 
 lic man, without troubling themselves to examine whether it 
 be likely that he understands what he talks about. 
 
 Contrast with this the actual economy of water power in Ire- 
 land. By the returns of 1839, there are employed in Ireland : 
 
 Steam, 1503 horse power. 
 Water, 2147 „ „ 
 It has been found that to give to water power its full economy 
 and value, it is necessary to secure its steadiness of supply by 
 the construction of reservoirs, in which such quantity of water 
 may be retained as shall suffice for the average performance of 
 the machine during the entire year. Another mode of compen- 
 sating for the deficient supply of water in dry seasons remains 
 to be described. This consists in having also a steam engine 
 of such power as to be supplemental to the water wheel, and 
 according as water fails, to work the engine, so that the me- 
 chanical force exerted by the steam engine and water machine 
 together, may be constant. This mode is actually adopted in
 
 112 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 many localities. In the factories of IMessrs. IVIalcolmson at 
 Portlaw in Watcrfoi'd, two engines of a hundred horse power, 
 and two overshot wheels, of nearly equal force, thus work 
 together. There is no mechanical difficulty in the co-adapta- 
 tion of these prime movers. Where circumstances prevent the 
 formation of great reservoirs, which, indeed, must perhaps 
 always require the co-operation of several manufacturers, and, 
 therefore, become practicable only in certain localities, the 
 union of steam power with water power, so as to combine the 
 economy of the one with the convenience of the other, presents 
 probably a result beyond which industry need not go. 
 
 I have so far described the amount and the application of 
 water power, as it is derived from the residual rain water 
 flowing down the declivity of the country to the sea. This is, 
 in fact, all that is popularly understood by water power ; yet 
 it is far from being the only source of mechanical industry 
 which is derived from water. Another of great interest re- 
 mains to be considered. 
 
 From the observations hitherto made it appears, that around 
 the coasts of Ireland the tide rises through a height, which 
 may in average be taken at twelve feet. Our tides are de- 
 rived, that is to say, they result from the action of those vast 
 masses of water in the great oceans, which being raised above, 
 or depressed below their proper level by the attractive forces 
 of the sun and moon, force, in regaining their position, into, or 
 di*aw from, the narrow seas and channels, such as ours, quan- 
 tities of water, which thereby form true currents, as much so 
 as the current of a river, and are equally available to produce 
 mechanical effects. Hence the motion of the tide becomes a 
 source of power, and tide mills form an important variety of 
 water mills. In England they are scarcely used, coals being 
 so cheap, but to us, by proper application, I am convinced they 
 may become an important basis of industry. In order that the 
 force available from the tide may be properly understood, it 
 not being much noticed in mechanical books, I shall proceed to 
 describe the principles of its application more in detail, than 
 otherwise I should deem necessary. 
 
 If we conceive a reservoir situated near the shore, and sc-
 
 OF IRELAND. 113 
 
 parated from the sea by a narrow canal, and that at low water 
 the reservoir is dry, we will have the conditions necessary for 
 the economy of motive power. Let the canal be provided with 
 a sluice, and waiting until the tide has risen to a certain height, 
 say two feet, let the sluice be opened, and the water let in, in 
 such quantity that it shall rise in the reservoir as rapidly as 
 the tide rises outside. Hence, through the period of the in- 
 flux of the tide there will be a current through the canal, with 
 a head of two feet. Finally, the reservoir tills to the same 
 height as the sea outside. Then let the sluice be closed, and 
 remain closed, until the tide has fallen two feet. On opening 
 the sluice the water of the reservoir flows out with a head of 
 two feet, and will continue until the tide is out ; the reservoir 
 will then empty itself, and be ready for repeating this opera- 
 tion the next tide. 
 
 Now let us consider how this is circumstanced as to time. 
 We may take the duration of a tide as twelve hours twenty 
 minutes, and as the tide in average rises and falls twelve feet 
 in that time, the mean rate of motion of the tide, in height, is 
 found to be one foot in thirty-one minutes. We may take half 
 an hour to a foot without sensible error. Now the tide being 
 out, the sluice must be closed for an hour, in order to allow the 
 water outside to get the head of two feet, with which it has to 
 work. On opening the sluice, it will then flow into the pond, 
 and so continue for five hours, when the tide will be fully in. 
 The reservoir being then allowed to fill completely, for which 
 there is ten minutes available, with additional sluices, the canal 
 is to be closed for an hour, until the sea outside shall have 
 fallen two feet. On opening the sluice the water will issue for 
 five hours, with a two foot head, and then, by the extra sluices, 
 the remaining water of the reservoir may be got rid of in ten 
 minutes, so that it shall be ready to begin again. 
 
 The current is thus, with two feet head, for five hours on the 
 rise, and five hours on the fall of each tide ; that is for twenty 
 hours out of the twenty-four. Let us now calculate the the- 
 oretical power of this current. As a standard reservoir we 
 shall take the area of an acre. When the tide is fully in, the 
 water in the reservoir shall be as deep as the tide rises, that 
 I
 
 114 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 is twelve feet. Of this, however, the two feet tiiat entered 
 last is supposed not to have been mechanically employed. The 
 water of the reservoir which may be used as power is, there- 
 fore, ten feet deep. The acre contains consequently 435,600 
 cubic feet of water. This quantity passes in twice, and passes 
 out twice, in every twenty-four hours ; that is, in the twenty- 
 four hours there are available, 48,400 tons of water falling 
 through two feet. Now as 884 tons falling twenty-four feet in 
 twenty-four hours is a horse power, it follows, that the the- 
 oretical power of the tide, used with two feet fall, is four one- 
 half horse power for each acre of reservoir, in which the depth 
 of the water is equal to the height of rise of the tide. Hence, 
 ten acres of reservoir should give a theoretic force of forty- 
 five horse power for twenty hours out of the twenty-four. 
 
 Now if this were as in an ordinary stream, nothing could be 
 more simple than the erection of an undershot wheel, which, 
 economizing one-third of the theoretic power, should deliver 
 one and a half working horse power for each acre of reservoir. 
 But it is easy to observe two circumstances which render the 
 construction of tide-mills more complicated, and their applica- 
 tion more difficult. In fact, the current of water changes its 
 direction every six hours, as the tide runs in and out. This, 
 however, is easily met by mechanical contrivances of various 
 and simple kinds, by which the direction of action of the cur- 
 rent is altered, when its own direction changes, so that the 
 motion transmitted to the machinery remains the same. This, 
 therefore, is not a real difficulty, although it introduces some 
 additional mechanism. But it is more important to consider, 
 that as the level of the tidal water is continually changing, at 
 the rate, indeed, of two feet in height per hour, the machinery 
 capable of acting at the lower levels of the tide, should be 
 totally submerged at the upper; particularly if in place of 
 the average rise and fall, which we have taken at twelve feet, 
 we consider the rise and fall at springs, which we may esti- 
 mate at eighteen feet upon our coasts. From this comes 
 the greatest difficulty in managing tide-mills. It is, however, 
 surmounted in cither of two ways, which I shall but briefly 
 notice.
 
 OF IRELAND. 115 
 
 In the first the force of the water is applied to bear up the 
 wheel itself, so that it shall constantly float, rising and falling 
 with the tide. This object has been eifected, by letting the 
 pressure of the water act on a water-tight frame, within which 
 the whole mechanism of the wheel is contained. It has been 
 also done by making the extremities of the axle of the wheel 
 rest on the pistons of an hydrostatic px-ess, into which water 
 was injected by the wheel itself. All these means ai'e quite 
 practicable ; they are not expensive, but they are troublesome, 
 and the necessity for them has probably been the principal 
 cause of the neglect into which the tide-mill has fallen. The 
 second means of compensating for the change of level in the 
 water consists in employing peculiar forms of wheels, of which 
 many kinds have been proj)Osed, which work even submerged, 
 or, at least, admit of being partly submerged without their 
 power being all destroyed. Such wheels have been described 
 by Belidor, Barlow, and other writers, but I shall not delay 
 upon them. They have the merit of turning round when almost 
 drowned, but they have the fault of not being able to do any im- 
 portant proportion of work. The loss of power in such wheels 
 is so great as to negative their practical employment. 
 
 It is thus easily seen, that I do not strongly recommend 
 those tide-mills, which are at present known, whether they 
 work nearly submerged at a constant level, or that they change 
 their level by the aid of complex machinery. I should not, in 
 fact, direct attention to the tidal waters as an important som*ce 
 of power, but that there has been recently invented a machine, 
 which, I conceive, renders them truly available. It is the tur- 
 bine, already noticed under another point of view. The acting 
 force in the turbine is proportional to the difference between 
 the pressure of the water inside and outside of its cylinder. 
 It is no matter how deep it may be under water, provided this 
 difference is kept up. It works with the same effect ; delivers 
 out in practice the same per centage of the theoretic power, 
 and hence realizes absolutely the conditions necessary for the 
 perfect utilization of the motive power of our tides. If, re- 
 tm-ning to the example of canal and reservoir, which I already 
 I 2
 
 116 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 employed, there was placed behind the sluice a turbine, and 
 the water let on at the head of two feet, the turbine would de- 
 liver out practically two-thirds of the calculated force, at least, 
 and continue to do so all the time that the rise or fall of the 
 waters continued. The mechanical arrangements for the 
 change of direction of rotation, for conducting the water to 
 and from the top and bottom of the machine, are such as mil 
 present themselves to the mind of every mechanical engineer, 
 and would be of too purely technical a character for me to no- 
 tice here. 
 
 The turbine is, therefore, peculiarly the machine for econo- 
 mizing tidal power. For each acre of reservoir it may be ex- 
 pected to give at least three horse power, working twenty 
 hours out of the twenty-four. In average for thirty-three acres 
 of reservoir, on which the flood rises in average twelve feet, 
 a working efficiency of 100 horse power may be calculated 
 on. 
 
 Now let us consider how many situations on our coasts there 
 are, where flats left bare by the retreating tide, and covered many 
 feet deep with water on its return, are utterly useless in their 
 present state, but only require an embankment easily and cheaply 
 constructible, to be converted into reservoirs for setting tide- 
 mills at work. How many places are there, especially on our 
 eastern coast, where reservoirs of vast size appear, indeed, as 
 if presented by nature to tempt man to enterprize, leaving but 
 little for him to do. Ballyteigue, Tacumshane, and the adja- 
 cent bays on the Wexford coast, are examples of such in- 
 lets ; narrow at the mouth ; capacious inside ; formed as if laid 
 out by a skilful engineer. But in some such cases the tides, 
 being complex from local causes, counteract the advantages 
 of their form. The inlets along the shores between Dublin 
 and Drogheda present also many similar cases, though not so 
 curiously affected in adaptation. The areas included between 
 the Kingstown Railway and the shore, may serve to exemplify 
 the facility of embanking such reservoirs, and the tidal cur- 
 rents by wiiich they are filled and emptied. I shall not at- 
 tempt to calculate tiie mechanical power that migiit be created 
 in those situations ; I siiall leave it as a useful exercise to
 
 OF lEELAND. 117 
 
 those, of whom I hope there are many, who may be led by 
 what I have now stated, to think and examine for themselves, 
 and to apply the bases of calculation which have been given in 
 this and the preceding chapters to those instances, and to 
 such others as their own observation may bring before them.
 
 118 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 IMPORTANCE OF IRON IN THE ARTS. ANCIENT MANUFACTURE 
 OF IRON IN IRELAND. ORES OF IRON. MAGNETIC IRONSTONE. 
 HEMATITES. BOG IRON ORES. CLAY IRONSTONE OF THE COAL 
 DISTRICTS. DISTRIBUTION, PROPERTIES, AND COMPOSITION 
 OF THE IRONSTONES OF THE LEINSTER COAL FIELD. CON- 
 NAUGHT COAL DISTRICT. IRON ORES OF ARIGNA AND SLIEVE- 
 A-NIERAN ; THEIR ABUNDANCE ; THEIR COMPOSITION, COM- 
 PARED AVITH THE BRITISH AND SCOTTISH ORES. SKETCH OF 
 THE PROCESS OF IRON SMELTING, AND ANALYSES OF THE ELE- 
 MENTS OF ITS COST IN STAFFORDSHIRE AND IN WALES. PRO- 
 BABLE COST OF MAKING IRON AT LOUGH ALLEN. EFFECTS 
 OF THE HOT BLAST ON THE IRON MANUFACTURE IN SCOT- 
 LAND. ITS POSSIBLE INFLUENCE IN IRELAND. OF THE SMELT- 
 ING OF IRON BY ANTHRACITE IN WALES AND PENNSYLVANIA. 
 ITS FEASIBILITY IN THE LEINSTER COAL FIELD. CONVERSION 
 OF PIG INTO BAR IRON. ANALYSIS OF THE COMPARATIVE 
 COST IN ENGLAND AND AT LOUGH ALLEN. EMPLOYSIENT OF 
 TURF IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON IN GERMANY AND 
 FRANCE. ANALYSIS OF THE COST OF PRODUCTION OF IRON 
 BY TURF. REFINING OF IRON WITH TURF : ITS SUPERIOR 
 QUALITY. INFLUENCE OF THE COST OF FUEL ON THE IRON 
 MANUFACTURE. RECENT PROCESSES FOR ECONOMIZING THE 
 AVASTE HEAT OF IRON FURNACES. UTILIZATION OF FUELS 
 OF INFERIOR QUALITY. 
 
 In the preceding chaptci* 1 have endeavoured to establish the 
 conditions, under which are found in Ireland two elements, es- 
 sential above all others to the prosecution of manufacturing 
 industry, fuel and power, and to analyze the relation, which 
 the cost of motive power in mechanical operations, bears to the 
 other circumstances. There remain for examination, however, 
 other subjects of not inferior interest or importance, and of 
 these one will specially require a detailed notice, as it affects the 
 industrial arts almost in an equal degree with the cost of fuel. 
 I shall, therefore, endeavour to represent in the following no- 
 tice, the circumstances under which this country is placed with 
 regard to the supply and maiml'acture of in ni. This metal is, 
 indeed, indispensable to an advanced condition of tiie arts. If 
 we employ fuel to give motion to our machinery, we as inevita-
 
 OF IRELAND. 119 
 
 bly employ iron in the construction of the machine. Its various 
 properties adapt it to oiir uses in an unparalleled degree : as 
 we require massive strength or delicacy of form, whether we 
 wish our material to be rigid or highly elastic, hard or soft, 
 iron is that which satisfies our wants ; fusible in one condition, 
 infusible, but highly plastic in another, it is capable of being 
 moulded, welded, turned, ground, and polished ; whilst by the 
 wise economy of nature, fortunately for man, being found in 
 every country, and available at a small expense, its supply is 
 practically unlimited. Its use has hence become at once the 
 cause and measure of material progress. A nation without 
 iron cannot emerge from the condition of semi-barbarism. Its 
 chiefs may be magnificent in gold and jewels ; its wari'iors may 
 be armed with shields and swords of bronze, on which the la- 
 bour of long practised workmen may bestow a finish, admira- 
 ble even at the present day ; but the rarity and cost, as well 
 of material as of artificer, dei3rive the general population of 
 all power to render those precious metals available to their 
 domestic comfort. It is only where iron is obtainable ; where, 
 cheap and abundant, it places within the reach of all, the 
 means of constructing the various tools and instruments by 
 which the arts and agriculture are so materially advanced, 
 that civilization can become firmly grounded amongst a people. 
 If we consider how each succeeding step in industry places the 
 elements of material domestic comfort more cheaply in the 
 power of a people ; that by this greater cheapness and facility 
 of procuring the means of animal existence, there is afforded 
 time for mental cultivation, and growing out of that, by pro- 
 per discipline, a sounder morality, a love of peace and justice, 
 we may well recognize in coal and iron, agents of civilization 
 and of intellectual happiness toman, of whose powers, astound- 
 ing as they appear, we trace but the infant energies — of whose 
 final results we can no more apply a measure, than could the 
 savage, who, sensible of the value of the tool, barters his 
 golden ornaments for a knife, estimate the industrial and 
 educational movements of the present day. 
 
 The variety of properties which fits iron so wonderfully for 
 its uses in the arts, is the foundation also of a variety in its
 
 120 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 money value, which I shall here notice, as it will be found to 
 affect, in a very material degree, the circumstances of this 
 country as to its manufacture. In fact, so cheaply is the metal 
 itself obtained, that its subsequent adaptation to different uses 
 demands a degree of mechanical skill and labour which over- 
 shadows totally the cost of the iron employed ; and hence, in 
 the following table, selected from results given by Babbage 
 and Friedenberg, the increase of value is for the most part 
 made up of the cost of labour bestowed upon the article in the 
 various processes it passes through. 
 
 The quantity of cast iron worth £1 sterling becomes worth 
 the following sums, when converted into 
 
 Ordinary machinery, £^ 
 
 Larger ornamental work, 43 
 
 Buckles, . Berlin work, 660 
 
 Neck chains, ,, ,, 1386 
 
 Shirt buttons, „ „ 5896 
 
 The quantity of bar iron worth £1 sterling becomes, when 
 formed into 
 
 Horse shoes, worth £2 10s. 
 
 Knives (table), 36 
 
 Needles, 71 
 
 Penknife blades, 657 
 
 Polished buttons and buckles, .... 897 
 Balance springs of watches, .... 50,000 
 
 Some centuries ago Ireland presented a picture of manufac- 
 turing industry, such as we would now find, perhaps, in the 
 interior of Russia, or the mountainous districts of northern 
 Spain, but which the progress of the arts has banished from 
 Britain and from central Europe. Covered with forests, and 
 possessing iron ore, as we shall hereafter shew, of the highest 
 purity in great abundance, Ireland was sprinkled over with 
 small iron works, in which the wood charcoal was employed, 
 and thus iron manufactured of excellent quality ; in fact, such 
 as we now import from Sweden and Russia for all the finer pur- 
 poses of cutlery and mechanism. Such kinds of iron furnaces 
 may be considered as now belonging but to the history of art ;
 
 OF IRELAND. 121 
 
 yet in an historical point of view it is not uninteresting to ex- 
 tract some particulars of this industry amongst ourselves, from 
 the remarkable work on the natural history of Ireland, written 
 by Dr. Boate two centuries ago. 
 
 " Of the iron mines there are three sorts in Ireland, for in 
 some places the oar of the iron is drawn out of moores and 
 bogs, in others it is hewen out of rocks, and in others it is digged 
 out of mountains : of which three sorts the first is called bog- 
 mine, the other rock-mine, and the third with several names, 
 white-mine, pin-mine, and shell-mine. 
 
 " The first sort, as we have said, and as the name itself doth 
 shew, is found in low and boggie places, out of the which it is 
 raised with very little charge, as lying not deep at all, com- 
 monly on the superficies of the earth, and about a foot in thick- 
 ness. This oar is very rich of metal, and that very good and 
 tough, nevertheless in the melting it must be mingled with 
 some of the mine or oar of some of the other sorts : for else it 
 is too harsh, and keeping the furnace too hot, it melteth too 
 suddenly, and stoppeth the mouth of the furnace, or, to use 
 the workmen's own expression, choaketh the furnace. 
 
 " The second sort, that which is taken out of rocks, being a 
 hard and meer stony substance, of a dark and rustle colour, 
 doth not lye scattered in several places, but is a piece of the 
 very rock, of the which it is hewen : which rock being covered 
 over with earth, is within equally every where of the same sub- 
 stance ; so as the whole rock, and every parcel thereof, is oar 
 of iron. This mine, as well as the former, is raised with little 
 trouble, for the iron-rock, being full of joints, is with pick-axes 
 easily divided and broken into pieces of what bigness one will: 
 which by reason of the same joints, whereof they are full every 
 where, may easily be broke into other lesser pieces ; as that is 
 necessary, before they be put into the furnace. 
 
 "Of this kind hitherto there hath but two mines been dis- 
 covered in Ireland, the one in Munster, near the town of Tal- 
 low, by the Earl of Cork's iron works ; the other in Leinster, 
 in King's County, in a place called Desart land, belonging to 
 one Sergeant-Major Piggot, which rock is of so great a com- 
 pass, that before this rebellion it furnished divers gi-eat iron 
 works, and could have furnished many more, without any nota-
 
 122 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 Lie diminution ; seeing the deepest pits that have been yet made 
 in it, were not above two yards deep. The land, under which 
 this rock lieth, is very good and fruitful, as much as any other 
 land thereabouts, the mold being generally two feet and two 
 and a half, and in many places three feet deep. 
 
 " The third sort of iron-mine is digg'd out of the mountains 
 in several parts of the kingdom ; in Ulster, in the county of 
 Fermanagh, upon Lough Earn ; in the county of Cavan, in a 
 place called Doubally in a dry mountain ; and in the county 
 of nether- Tyrone, by the side of the rivulet Lishan, not far 
 from Lough Neagh ; at the foot of the mountains Slew-galen, 
 mentioned by us upon another occasion, in the beginning of 
 this chapter: in Leinster, in King's County, hard by Mount- 
 mellick ; and in Queen's County, two miles from Mountrath : in 
 Connaught, in Tomound, or the county of Clare, six miles from 
 Limerick ; in the county of Roscommon, by the side of Lough 
 Allen ; and in the county of Leitrim, on the east side of the 
 said lough, where the mountains are so full of this metal, that 
 thereof it hath got in Irish the name of Slew Nerin, that is, 
 mountains of iron : and in the province of Munster also in sun- 
 dry places. 
 
 " This sort is of a whitish or grey colour, like that of ashes ; 
 and one needs not take much pains for to find it out, for the 
 mountains which do contain it within themselves, do commonly 
 shew it of their own accord, so as one may see the veins thereof 
 at the very outside in the side of the mountains, being not very 
 broad, but of great length, and commonly divers in one place, 
 five or six ridges the cue above the other, with ridges of earth 
 between them. 
 
 " These veins or ridges are vulgarly called pins, from whence 
 the mine hath the name of pin-mine ; being also called white- 
 mine, because of its whitish colour ; and shell-mine, for the 
 following reason; for this stuff or oar being neither loose or 
 soft as earth or clay, neither firm and hard as stone, is of a 
 middle substance between both, somewhat like unto slate, com- 
 posed of shells or scales, they which do lio one upon another, 
 and may be separated and taken asunder very easily, without 
 any groat force or trouble. This stuff is digged out of the 
 ground in lumps of the bigness of a mans head, bigger or less
 
 OF IRELAND. 123 
 
 according as the vein affordeth opportunity. Within every 
 one of these lumps, when the mine is very rich and of the hest 
 sort (for all the oar of this kind is not of equal goodness, some 
 yielding more and better iron than other), lieth a small kernal, 
 which hath the name of hony-comb given to it, because it is 
 full of little holes, in the same manner as that substance whereof 
 it borroweth its appellation. 
 
 " The iron coming of this oar is not brittle, as that of the 
 rock-mine, but tough, and in many places as good as any 
 Spanish iron." 
 
 It would be difficult at the present day, independent of che- 
 mical analysis, to furnish a better description than that given 
 two centuries ago by Boate, as just quoted, of the bog-iron, 
 which is found in patches in almost every part of this island, 
 and of the ironstone; of which the very rich quality of Lough 
 Allen, and that of the Leinster district, was even then recog- 
 nized. I shall return hereafter to the question of their com- 
 position, but before leaving Dr. Boate I shall extract his 
 account of the financial condition of the iron trade in Ireland, 
 as it will shew the difference between the cost of manufacture 
 then, and in the present day. 
 
 " To speak somewhat more particularly both of the charges 
 and profits of these iron-works, we shall instance the matter 
 in one of the works of the said Sir Charles Coot, namely that 
 which he had in the lordship of Mountrath, in Queen's County. 
 At that work the tun (that is twenty hundred weight) of rock- 
 mine at the furnace head came in all to stand in five shillings 
 and six-pence sterling, and the tun of white mine, which he had 
 brought him from a place two miles further off, in seven shil- 
 lings. These two were mixed in that proportion, that to one 
 part of rock mine were taken two parts of white mine : for if 
 more of the rock-mine had been taken, the iron would not have 
 been so good, and too brittle ; and being thus mixed, they 
 yielded one-third part of iron ; that is to say, of two tuns of 
 white-mine, and one of rock-mine, being mingled and melted 
 together, they had one tun of good iron, such as is called mer- 
 chant's iron, being not of the first, but second melting, and 
 hammered out into bars, and consequently fit for all kinds of 
 use.
 
 124 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 " This iron he sent down the river Oure (by others called 
 the Nure) to Rosse and Waterford, in that kind of Irish boats 
 which are called cots in that country, being made of one piece 
 of timber: which kind of ill favoured boats (mentioned also by 
 us above) are very common throughout all Ireland, both for to 
 pass rivers in, and to carry goods from one place to another ; 
 and not only upon shallow waters, such as the aforenamed 
 river is, in the greatest part of its course, but even upon the 
 great rivers and loughs. 
 
 " At Waterford the iron was put aboard of ships going for 
 London, where it was sold for sixteen, othcrwhiles for seven- 
 teen jjounds sterling, and sometimes for seventeen and a half; 
 whereas it did not stand Sir Charles Coot in more than betwixt 
 ten and eleven pounds sterling, all charges reckoned, as well 
 of digging, melting, fining, as of carrying, boat -hire and freight, 
 even the custom also comprehended in it. 
 
 " In most of the other places did a tun of the iron-mine or 
 oar come to stand in five, five and a half, and six shillings ster- 
 ling at the furnace head ; and it was an ordinary thing, as well 
 where they used white-mine, as where they mixed rock-mine 
 with it, to have a tun of good iron out of three tuns of oar : in 
 some places, where the mine was richer, they would have a tun 
 of iron out of only two tuns and a half of oar. Nevertheless 
 few of them gained more or as much as Sir Charles Coot, be- 
 cause they had not the same conveniency of transportation ; 
 and he himself did not gain so much bj^ his iron works in Con- 
 naught, as by that near Mountrath, although the mines there 
 afforded a richer oar, and that the tun thereof, did cost him but 
 three shillings at the furnace, because that Lough Allen, 
 whereunto the same mines and works are contiguous, gave 
 him the opportunity of can-ying the oar by water from the 
 mine unto the work, and that in boats of forty tuns. 
 
 " The Earl of Cork, whose iron works being seated in Mun- 
 ster, afforded unto him very good ojiportunity of sending his 
 iron out of the land by shipping, did in this particular surpass 
 all others, so as he hath gained great treasures thereby : and 
 knowing persons, who have Jiad a particular insight into his 
 affairs, do assure me, that he hath profited above one hundred 
 thousand pounds clear gain by his said iron works."
 
 OF IllKLAND. 125 
 
 We thus see that two hundred years ago iron was an article 
 of export from Ireland to London. 
 
 In fact, as well in Ireland as in England, where, at the same 
 time, the same processes of manufacture were followed, the 
 vast quantity of wood consumed, to make charcoal for the iron 
 works, gradually stripped the country of its forests, and with 
 the supply of fuel, of course the working of iron was aban- 
 doned. Similar causes are at the present moment in operation 
 on the Continent of Europe, and limit the economic manufac- 
 ture of iron by means of wood, to those countries in which a 
 thinly scattered population admits of large tracts being occu- 
 pied in growing timber. The wonderfully fortunate destiny 
 of England, however, intervened at that very time, when her 
 iron trade was in process of rapid annihilation. The energy 
 and genius of one man, to whose name the deserved honour 
 has never yet been paid by England, rescued her from be- 
 coming a mere dependant for iron on the north of Europe, and 
 by inventing the process of reducing iron by means of coke, 
 made the first step in the path of technical discovery which 
 rendered that country the industrial sovereign of the world. 
 It would not be difficult to shew, that had not Dudley substi- 
 tuted coke for charcoal in smelting iron, the conditions of in- 
 dustry which gave field for Watt and Arkwright, could scarcely 
 have existed. In Ireland there was no man like Dudley. The 
 iron manufacture in England assumed a new and enlarged ex- 
 istence. The iron manufacture of Ireland rapidly declined, 
 and finally, a centm-y ago, in Kerry, the last charcoal furnace 
 was extinguished, when they had burned out the last remain- 
 ing wood. 
 
 It is necessary now to examine, with all the aid which modern 
 science, and the experience of other countries, may afford us, 
 how the materials necessary for the manufacture of iron are 
 circumstanced with us. 
 
 The ores of iron that are actually employed as sources of the 
 metal are of three kinds, the anhydrous peroxide, or specular 
 iron ; the hydrous peroxide, including hematite and bog ore ; 
 and the carbonate of iron, to which the clay-ironstone of the 
 coal formations belongs. 
 
 Of the first kind of ore, there is but one locality in which it
 
 126 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 has hitherto become of industrial importance, the island of 
 Elba, which has been celebrated from the earliest ages for the 
 goodness of its iron and steel, obtained by the working of this 
 ore. It is the richest ore of iron that is known, containing 70 
 per cent, of metal ; but as it cannot be smelted on the spot, it 
 has been rendered unimportant by the superior economy of 
 working inferior ores in more suitable localities, and the cele- 
 brity of Elba as a source of iron is now but a fact in history. 
 To us this ore is not without interest nevertheless. It has 
 been found, and in some quantity, in the south of Ireland. I 
 possess excellent specimens from the Cosheen mines at Skibbe- 
 reen, and from the Glandore mines in Carberry. It is there 
 associated with ores of copper and of manganese, which being 
 of far greater value, the iron ore is not looked after : but it 
 might be of considerable use to mix with the poorer oi'es of 
 other districts, should circumstances ever justify the practical 
 development of iron working in Ireland. 
 
 The second kind of ore is of more practical importance, 
 being probably the most extensively diffused of all the com- 
 pounds of iron. It presents itself under a great variety of 
 forms, according to the rocks with which it is associated, and 
 the circumstances under which it has had its origin, and hence 
 furnishes to the mineralogist a number of species, the detailed 
 description of which I need not enter upon. When quite pure 
 this ore is a hydrate of the peroxide of iron, in which the oxide 
 contains twice as much oxygen as the water, having the for- 
 mula, 2Fe2 O3 -j- 3 HO, and containing : 
 
 Iron, 600 
 
 Oxygen, 25-6 
 
 Water, 144 
 
 100 
 
 Various forms of it support the majority of the iron furnaces 
 of France and Germany. In England it is not employed, ex- 
 cept to bring up, by its richness of produce, the poorer ores of 
 the coal districts, to the standard at which their working be- 
 comes most easy. The forms of it requii-e notice as to their 
 composition and distribution in Ireland. These are the brown
 
 OF IRELAND, 12? 
 
 nodular hematite, and the ochrty or bog iron ore. In the pure 
 state it is but rarely found, and is tlion associated with the 
 specular iron, and with other ores in the rocks of the older for- 
 mations. It is hence not smelted by itself. 
 
 The brown iron ore is found in abundance associated with 
 the beds of coal and fire-clay, and the ordinary ironstone, in the 
 coal district of Tyrone. I have examined specimens of it, not 
 picked, but taken at random from heaps of it thrown out of the 
 pits, and which may, therefore, represent its usual quality. It 
 is the variety termed popularly cayle-stone, and forms globular 
 masses of a deep brown colour, which are generally hollow, 
 and contain a kernel of a lighter colour than the exterior, with 
 which, however, it agrees in constitution. The specimens I 
 analysed yielded : 
 
 Peroxide of iron, 80*79 
 
 Water, 11 -97 
 
 Magnesia, 0-27 
 
 Insoluble matter, 5 "81 
 
 Oxide of manganese, 1*16 
 
 10000 
 This ore should hence have given by appropriate treatment 
 57 of iron per cent., or from 35 cwt. of ore a ton of iron. 
 
 Of the similar ores actually employed upon the Continent, 
 there are scarcely any materially richer than this. The follow- 
 ing numbers shew the composition of the principal French and 
 German ores of this class : 
 
 
 FRANCE. 
 
 Gt.BM.AHY. 
 
 l'aude. 
 
 ALLKVARD. 
 
 STYKIA. 
 
 CARINTHIA. 
 
 Peroxide of iron, . . 
 Oxide of manganese. 
 Lime and magnesia, 
 Insoluble matter, . . 
 Water, 
 
 82-8 
 3-6 
 0-7 
 3-2 
 9-7 
 
 79-6 
 3-5 
 1-0 
 4-8 
 
 111 
 
 78-5 " 
 1-9 
 9-6 
 0-9 
 9-1 
 
 77-5 
 2-7 
 1-7 
 3-6 
 
 14-5 
 
 
 1000 
 
 lOO-O 
 
 1000 
 
 100-0
 
 128 
 
 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 Although we do not know exactly the causes which led to 
 the t'urnuition of these concretionary masses of hydrated oxide 
 of iron, it is quite certain that these causes arc now in opera- 
 tion, and that the production of considerable quantities of this 
 material is actually going on. We find in almost every deep 
 morass, beds of it, sometimes a foot thick. It is hence called 
 bog iron ore. This ore supported the majority of the small 
 iron furnaces formerly scattered over the surface of this coun- 
 try. It appears as a brownish clay, which dries to a mass, 
 sometimes dense and hard, at others friable, and becomes much 
 darker in colour when it dries. Its origin appears to be con- 
 nected with the former existence of tribes of minute animals, 
 of which the fossilized remains may be detected in it by the mi- 
 croscope. This also explains a fact in its composition which 
 seriously affects the quality of the iron obtained from it, the 
 presence of phosphoric acid, and there occurs also black oxide 
 of manganese, sometimes in such quantity that it might as well 
 be called an ore of manganese as of iron. 
 
 The bog iron ore of Ireland has not yet been analysed, but 
 I annex the composition of three foreign specimens, in order 
 that the nature of this mineral may be shewn. 
 
 
 SCHLESWIG. 
 
 DAMMEROW. POMEUAKIA. 
 
 Peroxide of iron, . . . 
 Oxide of manganese. 
 Phosphoric acid, . . . 
 
 Water, 
 
 Silica, 
 
 Vegetable matter, . . 
 
 Sand, 
 
 Alumina 
 
 62-92 
 4-18 
 3-44 
 
 18-40 
 7-06 
 
 4'-'00 
 
 23-24 
 
 20-40 
 2-01 
 
 21-85 
 7-75 
 0-10 
 
 24-()5 
 
 50-45 
 2-00 
 1-75 
 22-00 
 12-20 
 0-10 
 4-30 
 
 100-00 
 
 100-00 
 
 100 00 
 
 These bog iron ores are smelted with tlie greatest ease. 
 They are at once very fusible and easily reduced. They pro- 
 duce a metal whicii runs very thin and congeals slowly, so that 
 it is propir for the manufafturo of cast iron articKs which do
 
 OF IRELAND. 129 
 
 not require much strength. As all the phosphorus of the ore 
 passes into the metal, this is sometimes very fragile. The Ber- 
 lin ornaments, which as specimens of casting, and as objects 
 of art, excite so much admiration, are made of iron smelted 
 from the bog iron ore of the vast morasses of the east of Prussia: 
 analyses of two of these ores are amongst those just now given. 
 I have not been able to ascertain the extent to which this ore 
 of iron may now exist within our bogs ; nor do I consider it a 
 question of much importance, as it will be hereafter seen, that 
 ores of much richer character, and yielding a purer metal, are 
 so abundant, as to render the bog iron ore merely an object of 
 curiosity to us. 
 
 The substitution, by Dudley, of coal coke for charcoal in the 
 manufacture of iron, created a revolution, not only in the kind 
 of fuel, but in the kind of ore employed, and indeed in the lo- 
 calities where the manufacture could advantageously be car- 
 ried on. Before that time, the minerals employed were the 
 various kinds of hematites, more or less pure, such as we have 
 in Tyrone, and the bog iron ores ; but it was found, that in 
 almost every coal district there occurs an ore of iron, quite 
 different from those, and which is now known as clay-ironstone. 
 The richness of this ore varies very much, but being found in 
 immediate proximity to the fuel, and still more the coal beds 
 presenting various other mineral materials of use in the manu- 
 facture, it was found more advantageous to smelt it than to 
 bring either richer ores from a distance to the fuel, or the fuel 
 any distance to the richer ores, and hence the iron manufacture 
 was located, and has since remained, in the coal districts of 
 Great Britain, which the superior economy of its processes and 
 of its materials will probably maintain as its head quarters for 
 numerous ages to come. 
 
 In fact, the manufacture of iron requires a variety of ma- 
 terials, which it would be very expensive to bring together, 
 did their sources lie at considerable distances, and hence the 
 cost of the metal produced should be considerably higher, and 
 thereby its extent of use and of manufacture limited in propor- 
 tion. But by an organization of nature, of which it is impos- 
 sible to exaggerate the wisdom and the importance to mankind.
 
 130 INDUSTRIAL HESOURCES 
 
 the coal measures rest upon, and contain beds of hard and in- 
 fusible sandstone, of -which the most refractory portions of the 
 furnaces may be built. The coal rests usually on clay, of which 
 the best tire-bricks may be formed ; dispersed in layers through 
 the slate which covers the coal, is found in abundance the iron 
 ore, whilst the limestone necessary as a flux, lies on the edges 
 of the coal basin, Avhere the underlying calcareous strata come 
 to the surface. 
 
 Now this combination of sandstone for hearths, clay for 
 crucibles and for bricks, lime for flux, ore and coal for smelt- 
 ing, is not restricted to any one coal district. The same is 
 found in England and Wales, the same in Scotland, and in fact, 
 were any one of those materials absent or difficult to be pro- 
 cured, the economic manufacture of the metal would be im- 
 possible. 
 
 A knowledge of these circumstances is necessary, that we 
 may compare the means which we possess in Ireland for making 
 iron, with those of other countries. That there is ore is cer- 
 tain, that there is fuel is certain, but if the ore, the fuel, the 
 clay, and all the other conditions do not conspire, the economic 
 manufacture becomes impossible, and an attempt would only 
 ruin those who unadvisedly engaged upon it. 
 
 The clay ironstone which has thus become almost the ex- 
 clusive source of iron to Great Britain, occurs in groat abun- 
 dance in this country, in the coal districts of Leinster and of 
 Connaught ; it is not of the same quality or appearance in 
 both, and as the diff^erence is not without importance in its ap- 
 plication, it will be necessary to notice each in turn. 
 
 It will hence be easily understood, how, in order to trace 
 the localities of the clay ironstone, it is necessary to revert to 
 the description of the coal formations given in a former chap- 
 ter, and indeed to complete their history by an account of the 
 ores of iron which they contain. I shall, however, only enter 
 into detail with regard to two of those districts, those of Con- 
 naught and of Leinster, as the other coal districts do not ap- 
 pear to me to present any features sufficiently promising in 
 relation to iron to render them important. 
 
 In the Leinster district a succession of beds of slate, sand-
 
 OF IRELAND. 131 
 
 stone, and clay, are associated with the coal, according to an 
 order which has been very perfectly illustrated by the Reports 
 of Mr. Griffith already noticed. The clay ironstone occurs 
 abundantly in nodules disseminated through the layers of slate, 
 from which they separate spontaneously by weathering, or are 
 easily detached. The total thickness of this slate is estimated 
 at 239 feet, distributed in eight beds. Its characters are re- 
 presented by those given in the following words of Mr. Grif- 
 fith's description of the second bed from below. Its thickness 
 was thirty feet. 
 
 " Spheroidal slate-clay, containing balls of clay ironstone 
 frequently one foot in thickness. By spheroidal slate-clay is 
 meant a species of hard slate, which on being exposed to the 
 atmosphere, divides into large flattened spheroids ; on being 
 struck the outer coat comes off, and leaves a smaller spheroid, 
 which being again struck, a second concentric coat is separated, 
 and so on until the nucleus is met with, which sometimes is 
 composed of hard claystone, and sometimes of clay ironstone. 
 The ironstone contained in this bed is very rich, and in many 
 places remains of ancient excavations are still visible, where 
 this bed has been wrought in search of ironstone, and indeed 
 some of the iron furnaces may be seen." 
 
 All the other beds assimilate to this in character. The quan- 
 tity of ironstone present is of course in proportion to that of 
 the rock in which it is disseminated ; its quantity may be in- 
 ferred from the results of borings given by Mr. Griffith. Thus 
 in a deep bore-hole at Massford, down to the four foot coal, 
 where the total depth was sixty-eight yards, the layers of pure 
 ironstone amounted to thirty-eight inches, and the strata were 
 found to be constituted of 
 
 Sinking to rock, 8 yards. 
 
 Sandstone, 31 ,, 
 
 Slate-clay, 25 „ 
 
 Ironstone, 1 ,, 2 inches. 
 
 Coal and kelve, 3 ,, 
 
 GS yards. 
 k2
 
 132 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 In a boring at Moncen Roc, near Massford, which oxtcnded 
 eighty-four yards, six feet nine inches of pure ironstone were 
 found. The strata consisting of 
 
 Sinking by pit, 16 yards. 
 
 Sandstone, 32 ,, 
 
 Slate-clay, 31 ,, 
 
 Ironstone, 2 ,, 9 inches. 
 
 Coal and kelve, 3 ,, 
 
 84 yards. 
 It is necessary to describe more specially the properties and 
 composition of this ironstone. Specimens presented to me by 
 Mr. Wandesford, from his collieries at Castlecomer, gave the 
 following I'esults : 
 
 The colour is dark gray when fresh, but becoming rust co- 
 loured by long exposure to the air. The specific gravity is 
 about 3*250. When ignited it loses 29 per cent, of its weight, 
 and the residue is strongly attracted by the magnet. Two 
 different specimens analysed, gave the following results : 
 
 No. 1. No. 2. 
 
 Protoxide of Iron, 5108 48-03 
 
 Lime, "16 1"51 
 
 Magnesia, 1*05 4-24 
 
 Alumina, 1"86 1'45 
 
 Insoluble matter 1392 16-17 
 
 Carbonic acid, 31-93 28-60 
 
 10000 10000 
 
 Of these ores No. 1 contains 39-7 per cent, of iron, and No. 2 
 37 "6. As they were not selected for analysis on accoimt of 
 any apparent superiority to other specimens, they may pro- 
 bably represent the ordinary run of the ironstone of the Leins- 
 ter district. 
 
 The supply of the iron ore in this district is not limited to 
 the clay slate lying deep among the coal strata. The other 
 sources of it are thus described by Mr. Tighe in his Survey of 
 the county of Kilkenny : " We have already seen that the slate
 
 &e IRELAND. 133 
 
 covering the collieries contains nodules of iron ore, and this 
 ore is very heavy and rich, but some of the best iron mines lie 
 open to the surface, and form the upper strata of entire hills. 
 Hills of this kind run in a north-east direction from Lady Or- 
 mond's demesne towards the colliery. On the lands of Agha- 
 mucky is a hollow road cut to a great depth through a rich 
 mine of iron ; from this place the ore was formerly carried to 
 be smelted at Mountrath, in the Queen's County, as long as the 
 timber lasted in that neighbourhood." The i-ichness of these 
 ores may be inferred from the account of Boate, that when the 
 ore was good, two and a half tons of it gave a ton of iron, but 
 in common, one ton for three was expected. 
 
 The abundance of ironstone found in the Connaught coal dis- 
 trict gave origin to several works for the reduction of the 
 metal at that early period, when the extensive woods supplied 
 charcoal for the furnaces ; and almost without intermission, 
 since the invention of the method of smelting by means of coal 
 and coke, attempts have been made at various times, and by 
 different individuals, to carry on iron works in that locality. 
 These attempts have hitherto failed, owing to circumstances, 
 of which most were of a nature purely personal, and cannot be 
 noticed here. Other sources of failure were connected with 
 the conditions of the manufactures and of the locality itself, 
 and it will be in another place important to trace and illustrate 
 those, in order that we may judge whether the difficulties, be- 
 fore which so many have sunk, are in themselves really insur- 
 mountable. 
 
 It is necessary first to describe the composition and distri- 
 bution of the ore. 
 
 On the eastern shore of Lough Allen rises the Iron Moun- 
 tain (Slieve-a-Nierin), a hill of considerable elevation. It con- 
 sists of alternate beds of sandstone and slate-clay resting upon 
 the basis of the upper limestone. The great bed of slate-clay 
 varies from 300 to 500 feet in thickness ; others are of different 
 but lesser magnitude. In this clay the nodules of ironstone 
 are disseminated in abundance ; and the rains, washing away 
 the softened and decomposing clay, the balls of ore are carried 
 down to the shore of the lake, whence, and from the beds of
 
 134 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 the rivulets, they are collected by the peasantry and brought 
 to the works for use. At the base of this mountain, on the 
 eastern side of the outlet of the lake, lies Drumshambo, where 
 this ore was formerly smelted. I shall hence designate this 
 ore from the eastern side of the basin as Drumshambo ore. In 
 purity it is somewhat superior to that which is found on the 
 western side. 
 
 The southern and western division of this coal field is popu- 
 larly known from the River Arigna, which is its northern bomi- 
 dary, and whose name became notorious by the iron works 
 established on its banks, the history of which has so fatally in- 
 fluenced industrial enterprize in Ireland. The stratification 
 of the mountain is similar to that of the opposite side ; resting 
 on the limestone of the surrounding countrj% occurs the great 
 bed of slate-clay, 600 feet in thickness, and containing nume- 
 rous beds of ironstone, from half an inch to two feet in thick- 
 ness. Their number is, as Mr. Griffith mentions, almost in- 
 credible, but the most important occur from 200 to 300 feet 
 above the limestone. The same eminent geologist describes 
 the thin beds as being in most cases the best, but that of Alta- 
 gowlan, which is a foot thick, was amongst the richest iron- 
 stone Mr. Griffith ever saw. The usual form is that of nodules, 
 in size from an egg to that of a bull's head ; but it forms also 
 strata, or sheets of considerable extent. In many places the 
 bed of the River Arigna, in its whole breadth, is formed of a flag 
 of ironstone, which is often many perches in length. On this 
 side of the lake also, owing to the weathering of the slate-clay, 
 the nodules of ironstone are deposited in vast quantities in the 
 beds of the mountain streams. Were the ore employed this 
 source would soon become exhausted, and of course the beds 
 of ironstone should then be worked in situ, as they are else- 
 where, 
 
 Mr. Twigg, whose observations on the Arigna district are 
 the most recent, thus speaks, in his Report made to the Direc- 
 tors of the Arigna Company in 1830 : " The ironstone mines 
 have been examined, and the result found extremely favourable. 
 A greater variety of ironstones I never met with, from which, 
 by a proper admixture and proper managi'iuent, I have no
 
 OF IRELAND. 
 
 135 
 
 hesitation in saying, that pig-iron of best marks, and fit for 
 foundry work of every kind, may be obtained. The iron mines 
 begin in Rover, and continue for two miles and a half. I mea- 
 sured several of the beds to more than two feet thick, in some 
 places laid bare in the ravines, and in the bed of the Arigna 
 river we can get any quantity at the shortest notice. There 
 is enough to last two furnaces for 250 years." 
 
 In quantity there is no doubt but that the ironstone of this 
 tlistrict is practicably inexUaustible. In order to ascertain its 
 quality, I have effected accurate analyses of numerous speci- 
 mens of it, obtained from different portions of the district. 
 Their detailed characters and composition follow : 
 
 CLAY IRONSTONE NODDLES FROM ARIGNA 
 
 
 
 No. 1. 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 No. 3. 
 
 Protoxide of iron, . 
 
 . . 53-65 
 
 54-42 
 
 51-52 
 
 Lime, 
 
 )> 
 
 2-23 
 
 0-69 
 
 Magnesia, . . . 
 
 • • )) 
 
 2-02 
 
 1-55 
 
 Alumina, .... 
 
 . . 100 
 
 1-43 
 
 ,, 
 
 Insoluble clay, . . 
 
 . . 12-43 
 
 8-65 
 
 15-50 
 
 Carbonic acid, . . 
 
 . . 32-92 
 
 31-25 
 
 30-74 
 
 100-00 10000 100-00 
 
 Of these ores. No. 1 lost 31-5 per cent, in roasting, and con- 
 tained 41 '7 per cent, of iron ; No. 2 lost 30-9 per cent, by roast- 
 ing, and contained 42-3 per cent, of iron; No. 3 lost 30-7 per 
 cent, by roasting, and contained 40 per cent, of iron. 
 
 Of the veins of ironstone, two specimens were analysed 
 taken in situ. They gave : 
 
 No. 4. 
 
 Protoxide of iron, 47*28 
 
 Lime, 1-26 
 
 Magnesia, 2-23 
 
 Alumina, 1-59 
 
 Insoluble clay, 18-46 
 
 Carbonic acid, 29*18 
 
 No. 5. 
 
 49-94 
 3-75 
 3-79 
 0-87 
 9-08 
 
 32*57 
 
 100-00 10000
 
 136 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 No. 4 lost by roasting 3214 per cent, of its weight, and con- 
 tains 37 '7 of metallic iron. No. 5 loses 29'80 per cent, of its 
 weight, and contained 38"8 per cent, of iron. 
 
 In Nos. 2, 3 and 5 there existed traces of manganese, too 
 minute, however, to be numerically stated. Nos. 1 and 4 were 
 absolutely free from that impurity. 
 
 As none of these were picked specimens, the average of all 
 of them may be fairly calculated as the material available 
 on the large scale at Lough Allen, and the mean of the above 
 five analyses gives : 
 
 Protoxide of iron, 51 'SG 
 
 Lime, 1*59 
 
 Magnesia, 1*92 
 
 Alumina, 0*98 
 
 Insoluble clay, 12-82 
 
 Carbonic acid, 31*33 
 
 lOO-OO 
 
 and this contains 40 per cent, of metallic iron. 
 
 The loss by calcining, the iron remaining as protoxide, should 
 be in average 31 -33 per cent, and the calcined ore should con- 
 sist in 100 parts of. 
 
 Iron, 58-2 
 
 Oxygen, 16-6 
 
 Lime and Magnesia 51 
 
 Clay, 20-1 
 
 100-00 
 
 It is not enough thus to have determined the composition of 
 the ironstones of the Leinster and Connaught coal fields, but 
 in order to ascertain how far they may become of use, we must 
 compare them with the ores employed in the principal seats of 
 the iron trade in the sister kingdom. 
 
 MM. Dufresnoy and Berthier have analysed the ores of iron 
 worked in Staffordshire and in South Wales. Their results 
 are briefly the following. 
 
 In Staffordshire the thick, rounded nodules, having a black- 
 ish grey fracture, are called yuhhins; these are rare. The usual
 
 OF IRELAND. 137 
 
 ore is in thin, flattened veins, bluish grey in colour, and is called 
 blue-Jiat. These consist, in 100 parts, of 
 
 BLUE-FLAT. 
 
 Protoxide of iron, 36*25 
 
 Lime, 2-50 
 
 Insoluble residue, 31 -50 
 
 Carbonic acid, 29-75 
 
 10000 
 This ore gives 28 per cent, of iron. 
 
 GUBBIN. 
 
 Protoxide of iron, 52'50 
 
 Lime, 2-66 
 
 Insoluble residue, 12"66 
 
 Carbonic acid, &c., 32*18 
 
 10000 
 
 This ore gives 40*5 per cent, of iron. 
 
 Every thing which gives more than 20 per cent, of iron is 
 reckoned as ore, but the price depends on the quality. Thus 
 the gubbins are worth more than twice as much as the blue- 
 flats. 
 
 The following analyses give in a similar manner the compo- 
 sition of the rich and usual kinds of the Welch ore : 
 
 USUAL ORE. RICH ORE. 
 
 Protoxide of iron, 41*4 54*1 
 
 Lime, 6"0 ,, 
 
 Insoluble residue, 22-8 8-4 
 
 Carbonic acid, 29*8 37'5 
 
 100-0 100-0 
 
 Yield of iron, 31-4 42-1 
 
 The ironstone of the coal field of Lanarkshire is well known 
 for its richness, and has been, indeed, the foundation stone of 
 the commercial prosperity of Glasgow. A series of accurate 
 analyses of those ores has been made by Dr. Colquhoun, of 
 which the most important are subjoined.
 
 138 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 CROSS BASKET IRONSTONE. 
 
 Protoxide of iron, 4215 
 
 Lime, 4'93 
 
 Magnesia, 480 
 
 Silica, ; . 9-73 
 
 Alumina, 3-77 
 
 IJituminous matter, 3- 12 
 
 Carbonic acid, 31*50 
 
 100-00 
 mushet's black band. 
 
 Protoxide of iron, 53*03 
 
 Lime, 333 
 
 Magnesia, 177 
 
 Silica, 1-40 
 
 Alumina, 0*63 
 
 Peroxide of iron, 0*23 
 
 Bituminous matter, 3*03 
 
 jMoisturo and loss, 1-41 
 
 Carbonic acid, 35-17 
 
 100 00 
 
 The latter ore, the richest linow-n, except some Welch spe- 
 cimens, yields 41 of metallic iron per cent. The Cross Basket 
 ore, which may be taken as the usual run of the ores of the 
 Clyde district, yields 31 -6 per cent, of iron. 
 
 I shall now compare more directly the contents in metallic 
 iron of tlio native oi-es, and of the English, Scotch, and Welch. 
 
 100 parts of ore give of metal : 
 
 Richest Arigna ore, . . 
 
 Poorest ,, ,, . . 
 
 Average ,, ,, . . 
 
 Common Staffordshire ore. 
 
 Richest ,, ,, 
 
 Ordinary Welch ore. 
 
 Richest ,, ,, . 
 
 ATURAL state. ROASTED. 
 
 42-3 61-4 
 
 37-7 53-2 
 
 40 58-2 
 
 28-0 40-4 
 
 40-5 60-0 
 
 31-4 44-7 
 
 4-2 1 (»•()
 
 OK IRELAND. 1 39 
 
 NATURAL STATE. BOASTED. 
 
 Ordinary Gla.sgow ore, .... 31-6 43-8 
 
 Mushet's black band, .... 410 63-1 
 
 Average Kilkenny ore, .... 387 353 
 
 There i.s hence no doubt but that the ores of the Leinster 
 and Connaught coal fields are equal, and even in average su- 
 perior, to those generally employed in Great Britain. The 
 ironstone of Kilkenny is but little inferior to that of Arigna, 
 whilst the ores of Lough Allen attain a richness in iron, only 
 equalled by the black hand ironstone of Glasgow. 
 
 It is necessary, however, to trace further the conditions of 
 the iron manufacture in these districts, for, as has been already 
 mentioned, such is the economy required in this department of 
 industry, that unless there be upon the spot all the materials 
 to be used, the cost of obtaining them would be too high. Now 
 in order to smelt and work iron, there are required building ma- 
 terials for the furnaces, which must be formed of infusible sand- 
 stone and of the most refractory bricks, for which fire-clay is 
 necessary. These substances are found abundantly interstra- 
 tified with the slate-clay and coal ; their detailed description 
 will be given elsewhere, but their properties are such, as may 
 be now assumed to present no obstacle to the manufacture. To 
 flux the earthy material of the ore, lime must be added. This 
 is in all cases accessible, as the whole coal field rests on lime- 
 stone, which presents itself on every side within .short distances. 
 Finally, the coal necessary for the smelting of the ore is deriva- 
 ble from the same formation ; but as our coal beds are thin 
 and limited in size, and hence more difficult to work than the 
 larger beds of the British coal fields, it becomes a question 
 whether the greater price of the coals in Ireland is not pi'ohi- 
 bitory to the manufacture. In order to appreciate how far this 
 acts, it is necessary to trace somewhat in detail the conditions 
 of the smelting process, and the proportions of the materials 
 used. 
 
 The smelting of iron from the ore is accomplished in fur- 
 naces of great size, generally termed high furnaces. Their 
 dimensions vary ; the height is usually from forty to fifty feet ; 
 the external form is that of a massive tower, the interior is di-
 
 140 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 vided into four portions, of different forms, and acting dif- 
 ferently in the smelting process. The lowest is the hearth or 
 crucible, formed of the most refractory sandstone of the coal 
 field, built as a rectangular prism, and wdening at top into 
 the second portion, which is built also of sandstone. From this 
 the dimensions of the cavity rapidly expand, forming the lower 
 body, or boshes ; this part of the furnace is conical, with its 
 base upwards, on which the body of the furnace rises, consti- 
 tuting about two-thirds of the entire height, and extending to 
 the top, where it supports a chimney of about ten feet high. 
 
 Near the bottom of the furnace are formed apertures, by 
 which the pipes from the blowing machines are introduced, to 
 force air into the furnace. These apertures are termed tuyeres. 
 On one side of the hearth is the arrangement for opening, so 
 that the melted metal may be run out as soon as a suitable quan- 
 tity has collected, and also that the slags formed in the process 
 may be discharged as they come down. 
 
 Such being the structure of the furnace, the process followed 
 is easily understood. The ore contains oxide of iron : the fuel 
 contains carbon ; when these are heated together the oxygen 
 unites with the carbon, and the iron is set free. The iron it- 
 self combines also with some carbon, so that it assumes the 
 state of metal or cast iron, in which, being fusible, it melts, 
 runs down to the bottom, and accumulating in the crucible, is 
 run off at certain intervals into moulds prepared on the floor 
 of the apartment in sand, where solidifying, it forms the masses 
 commercially termed pigs. It may have been remarked, how- 
 ever, that the ore contains from 10 to 20 per cent, of foreign 
 materials, su(;h as silica, alumina, magnesia, and that the fuel 
 employed contains ashes from 5 to 15 per cent, of the same 
 materials. These, at a high temperature, would react on the 
 oxide of iron, and interfere with its reduction ; and also form- 
 ing difficultly fusible clinkers would impede the descent of the 
 fuel and ore, and disturb the progress of the operation. All 
 this evil is avoided by the use of a certain quantity of lime. 
 This, uniting with the silica and alumina, forms an easily fusi- 
 ble slag, a kind of glass, which runs down into the crucible, 
 where it floats upon the li(juid iron, and as it accumulates,
 
 OF IRELAND. 141 
 
 is run off through an aperture temporarily opened for the pur- 
 pose. 
 
 Before placing these materials in the high furnace, there are 
 two preliminary operations performed. First, the calcining 
 of the ore, and second, the cokeing of the coal. For these pro- 
 cesses, as they involve the expulsion of a lai'ge body of volatile 
 matter at a low heat, would, if carried on in the high furnace, 
 produce such a cooling effect as might retard, if not stop, the 
 work entirely. The mineral is broken into small pieces, and 
 being mixed with some coal, this is set on fire and allowed to 
 burn slowly. About 30 per cent, of the weight of the ore is 
 thus driven off, consisting of carbonic acid, and of any water 
 that it contained. 
 
 The loss which the Irish ores suffered by calcination has 
 been described already. It may be mentioned, however, that 
 when the roasting takes place in the air, the iron is partially 
 converted into peroxide, whilst, when it has been effected in 
 close vessels, the residue contains the iron as black magnetic 
 oxide, and carbonic oxide is evolved. 
 
 The cokeing of the coal for the purposes of the ironfm'naces 
 is accomplished by a partial combustion in great heaps, by 
 means of such a limited supply of air, that little but the vola- 
 tile portions of the coal is driven off. The quantity of coke 
 produced varies, according to the quality of the coal and the 
 care with which the process is conducted, being from 50 to 65 
 per cent, of the weight of the coal. The quantity and quality 
 of the coke obtained from the different varieties of Irish fuel 
 have been given already. 
 
 Such being the general conditions of the process of smelting 
 iron from the ore, it now remains to trace the elements of its 
 money cost, and to apply the experience and results of other 
 districts to the circumstances which prevail in Ireland. I shall, 
 therefore, first briefly describe the estimates of cost of fabri- 
 cating pig-iron in Staffordshire and Wales. The facts and 
 numbers I shall give are derived from the Voyage Metallur- 
 gique en Angleterre, published in 1837, by a commission of the 
 most eminent French engineers. The market price of iron has 
 changed very much since that period, but the cost of produc-
 
 142 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 tion has alterod but very little : certainly not in any degree to 
 affect the conclusions we may draw. 
 
 From an examination of the work of six high furnaces in the 
 vicinity of Dudley in Staffordshire, it results that the average 
 materials necessary to produce a ton of good pig-iron are : 
 
 Coal, 3 tons, 16 cwt., 60 !b. 
 
 Ore, 2 tons, 18 cwt., 100 lb. 
 
 Flux, 13 cwt., 100 lb. 
 
 The coal for roasting the ore, as well as that for making 
 coke, is included ; but it is necessai'y to add the small coal 
 used in the engine to drive the blowing machine. This may 
 be taken at ten cwt. Now the prices of these materials are, 
 
 Small coal, from 2s. to 3s. per ton. Coal for coke, from 6s. 
 to 7s. per ton. It may be taken at 6s. 
 
 The ores vary from 4s. to 10s. per ton, seldom falling below 
 7s., which may be taken as the average. 
 
 Finally, it has been found, from an experience of several 
 years, that the sundry expenses of labour, superintendence, 
 interest, &c., incurred in producing a ton of pig-iron, are from 
 22s. to 23s. The cost of production is, therefore, as follows : 
 
 Coal for roasting and cokeing at 6s. 
 
 Ore ,, ,, at 7s. 
 
 Limestone for flux, at Gs. . 
 
 Small coal for engine, at 3s. . . 
 
 Labour and general expenses, . 
 
 £3 11 7 
 Mr. Aikin has given an account in the Technical Repository 
 of the proportions used in Shropshire, which are, in order to 
 form a ton of iron, 
 
 2 tons, 16 cwt. of ironstone; 
 Or, 2 tons of roasted ore. 
 12 cwt. of coal for the roasting. 
 4 tons, 10 cwt. of coal for the furnace ; 
 
 Or, 2 tons, 4i cwt. coke. 
 10:V limestone for flux. 
 There is here much more coal used than in Sfaifordshire, 
 
 £1 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 3 11 
 
 
 
 1 6 
 
 1 
 
 2 6
 
 OF IRELAND. 143 
 
 where it is dearer. Mr. Aikin does not give the pecuniary es- 
 timate of the process. 
 
 In Wales the iron works are on a much larger scale than in 
 Staffordshire, and most of the iron is made for I'efining into 
 bars. These circumstances affect very materially the pro- 
 portions of the materials, and the cost of production of the 
 metal. 
 
 At the great iron works ofCy-fartha, nearMerthyr, belong- 
 ing to Mr. Crayshaw, the proportions and cost of the materials, 
 and other expenses for producing a ton of iron, were, when the 
 French Engineers wrote, as follows : 
 
 3 tons 10 cwt. coal, at 4s. per ton, . . £0 14 
 
 3 tons mineral, at 10s. per ton, ... 1 10 
 
 14 cwt. limestone, at Is. 6d. per ton, . 10 
 
 Labour, 12 
 
 Rent, 1 31 
 
 Management, 009 
 
 Repairs, &c., 010 
 
 £3 2i 
 
 At Mr. Hunt's of Pontypool, for the ton of metal the mate- 
 rial required and the cost were : 
 
 6 tons of coal, at 4s., £14 
 
 14 cwt. of small coal for roasting and en- 
 gine, at Is. 6d., Oil 
 
 3 tons, 3 cwi;. of ore, at 7s., 12 1 
 
 15 cwt. limestone, at 2s. 6f/., .... 1 10 
 General expenses and interest, .... 110 
 
 £3 10 
 
 The coal used in these works is of bad quality, and hence 
 the large quantity consumed. 
 
 Finally, the following estimate shews the cost of production 
 of iron at Abersichan, whei'e, however, it must be remarked, 
 the cost of materials is but the mere cost of raising the ore 
 and coal from the pit, as the mines are on the works them- 
 selves.
 
 141 INDUSTKIAL REaOTTUCEa 
 
 Labour, £075^ 
 
 Carriage of materials, 17^ 
 
 Coal, 3 tons, 2 cwt., at 2s. 5d., ... 076 
 
 Ore, 2 tons, 17 cwt., 99lb, at a«. 6<f., . 19 3^ 
 
 Limestone, 19 cwt., 4216, at 3s. 6d., . 3 4i 
 
 Repairs, 008 
 
 Rent, &c., 070 
 
 General expenses, 18 
 
 £2 8 7 
 
 The Commissioners could not obtain so accurate estimates 
 of the cost of production of iron in the Glasgow district, as 
 those given above; but the general calculation was, that in- 
 cluding engine and roasting, there was used in making a ton 
 of iron eight tons of coal. The Scotch coal is very bituminous 
 and loses greatly in cokeing, which is one cause of the large 
 quantity used ; but another is found in its cheapness. The 
 coal was found to cost 4s. 6</. per ton, and the mineral the 
 same. I shall have occasion immediately to notice how fully 
 this estimate for Glasgow has been verified by more recent 
 inquiries. 
 
 We thus see that the quantity of materials used in making a 
 ton of pig-iron varies within very wide limits ; and of course 
 affects the cost of production in a very considerable degree. 
 Some of this certainly depends on the quality of the ore and 
 fuel ; some also on the peculiar quality of metal which it is 
 necessary to produce ; but much also results from the sources 
 of loss and imperfection in the working, which are better known 
 and guarded against in some places than in others. 
 
 In order that we may trace the probable cost of producing 
 iron in Ireland by the analogy of those estimates, it is neces- 
 sary to consider for the present only the Connaught coal field, 
 as the Kilkenny coal, being anthracite, requires quite separate 
 consideration. I shall first quote the estimates made by va- 
 rious persons of the cost of smelting iron at Arigna, and then 
 see what alterations they may now require. 
 
 In 1800 Mr. John Grieve made a Report on the performance
 
 OF IRELAXD. 1 4-5 
 
 and capabilities of the Arigna iron works, and gare the fol- 
 lowing estimate of die cost of production of a ton of pig-iron. 
 
 5|^ t<His of raw coal, at 4s. 11</., ... £1 7 
 
 4 tons of rawirtmsUme, at 3g. 8</., 14 8 
 23 cwt. of limestone, at 2«. 3d. per ton, . 2 7 
 
 Cost of materials, £2 4 3 
 
 Laboor, b^ng the sum paid in Shropshire 
 to contractors for all wwk <m a t«Hi of 
 iron, 7 7 
 
 Cost of a ton of pig-iron, £2 1110 
 
 This includes erery thing except small 
 coal for roasting the ore, and for this, 
 and for wear and tear, take, .... 082 
 
 Total cost of a ton of pig, £^3 O 
 
 At the time of ilr. Griere's report the coals cost cm the fur- 
 nace bank, Sg. Ad. per ton, but he pointed out simple means bj 
 which the cost of rising could be reduced, so as to deliver the 
 coals f<nr 4g. ll</., and on this raloe Ins estimate is fonnded. 
 The other values are those actuaUj paid, and the proportions 
 are those on which the manufacture was carried on. 
 
 In 1804, Mr. Guest of the Dowlais's iron works in Wales, 
 reported on the state of the Arigna works, and estimated the 
 cost of production as follows. He considered that the coal of 
 the Anghabfehy and Borer collierie= may be delivertd at 6». Ad. 
 per ton, and that the ironstone, of which the greater part 
 must be raised on the east side of the lake, will uhimatelj cost 
 &. per ton, and the limest<me 4j. Therefore : 
 
 5 tons raw coal, at 6«. 4</., £1 11 8 
 
 4 tons ir<Histone, at 68., 14 
 
 I t<m limestone, 040 
 
 Labour, 10 
 
 Rent, wear and tear, and other incidental 
 
 expenses, 15 4 
 
 £4 15
 
 146 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 Finally, in 1818, Mr. Griffith, in his valuable Report on the 
 Connaught Coal District, estimated as follows the cost of pro- 
 duction. He had shewn A'ery fully that the coal could be 
 raised at 4s. per ton, and assuming that the ironstone should 
 be worked from the beds, he calculated the cost of 5s. per ton. 
 As he was not himself conversant with the proportions of the 
 process, he assumed as correct the proportions given by Mr. 
 Guest, which had been used at the works. There were, there- 
 fore : 
 
 5 tons of raw coal, at 4s., £10 
 
 4 tons of ironstone, at 5s., 10 
 
 1 ton of limestone, 2 
 
 Labour, 10 
 
 Contingencies, at 20 per cent., .... 10 5 
 
 Cost of a ton of pig-iron, £S 2 5 
 
 From Mr. Grieve's and Mr. Griffith's estimate it hence ap- 
 pears, that the cost of making iron at Arigna is not greater 
 than in the most favoured localities of England. Mr. Guest's 
 estimate makes it much higher, but it is easy to shew that his 
 statement is too high. First it is not easy to see how the charge 
 of £1 5s. for contingencies could be incurred. Neither Mr. 
 Griffith nor Mr. Grieve admits such an expenditure, nor in any 
 of the estimates of the English and Welch processes, given by 
 Dufresnoy, does so large a sum occur; and yet those latter 
 are not speculative, being all returns of the actual working of 
 large establishments for many months. Hence I think it must 
 be considered seriously overcharged. As to the price of the 
 coal, also, it is important to recollect, that the sum he charges 
 is the maximum. The price of the Aughabehy coal is now 
 6s. 4d. per ton. It is a most excellent coal, and yields two- 
 thirds of its weight of good coke. The Rover coal, however, 
 of which the accurate analysis (as also of the Aughabehy) is 
 given page 21, is sold at present at 4s. 9d. per ton, and it is 
 excellent for preparing iron, as its composition indicates, and 
 as is also shewn by the testimony of Mr. Guest, who in his Re- 
 port says: " I have seen some of the Rover coal coked and 
 used in the cupola ; it melted tlic iron verv quick and well,
 
 OF IRELAND. 147 
 
 which I consider is a symptom of its good quality, and, from 
 what I could judge, have little reason to doubt its answering 
 the purpose of making iron." He might have no doubt about 
 it ; analysis shews that it is constituted as the best Welch coal, 
 and gives 82-3 per cent, of coke. 
 
 In 1827, the review of the circumstances of these works, 
 made by IMr. Twigg, at the request of the Arigna Company, 
 which has been already fully quoted with regard to the condi- 
 tions of the collieries, led to an estimate of the cost of manu- 
 facture of the iron, which I now subjoin : 
 
 5^ tons of best raw coal, at 7s. \0d. per 
 ton, the supposed average price of 25 
 years, £2 3 1 
 
 3 tons 4 cwt. of ironstone, a,t4s. lOd., . 15 5 
 
 1 ton of limestone, at 3s., 3 
 
 Workmen's wages for making No. 1 pig- 
 iron, as now paid to English workmen, 13 3 
 
 Cost of engine sleek, agency, and all inci- 
 dentals of fm-naces, &c., 11 
 
 £4 5 9 
 If limestone be supplied by a railway, de- 
 duct Is. lit/, per ton, 1 11 
 
 Final cost of a ton of No. 1 pig, ... £4 3 10 
 
 There are two cardinal errors in this estimate of Mr. Twigg's. 
 First, that the price of the coal is overcharged. The best 
 Aughabehy coal is now sold for 6s. 4d. per ton. The Rover 
 coal is sold for 4s. 9<f. ; and how can arise an average cost of 
 7s. lOd. ? The second is that the richness of the ironstone is 
 much undervalued. He takes the ore at 30 per cent, of metal, 
 whereas it contains in average fully 40 per cent. ; therefore, 
 the quantity of ore should be two tons and a half, and it costs, 
 at 4s. 10c?., only 12s. Id. In fact, all these estimates by Eng- 
 lish writers are in that respect faulty, that they do not take 
 into account at all, differences in the composition, either of the 
 ore or fuel, but reckon down all in the same proportion as they 
 have been habituated to in the routine of their own immediate 
 l2
 
 £0 19 
 
 
 
 15 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 1 2 
 
 G 
 
 £2 18 
 
 
 
 148 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 locality, bej'ond which their knowledge, in very few cases in- 
 deed, is found to extend. 
 
 Since the periods of those Arigna estimates, the quantity of 
 materials necessary to produce a ton of iron has been diminished 
 by improvements in the mode of treatment, and if we consider 
 that the Irish ore is far superior to the average Welch, the 
 coal not inferior, and that for the blowing machine, &c., there 
 is water power in abundance, the cost of production, and the 
 quantity of materials required, may, as I consider, be faii'ly 
 estimated as follows: 
 
 4 tons of coal, at 4s. 9d., .... 
 3 tons oi' ironstone, at 3s., .... 
 15 cwt. of limestone, at 2s. per ton, . 
 Laboui' and general expenses, . . . 
 
 The last item is taken the same as at Dudley, where it is 
 given by Dufresnoy as higher than elsewhere in England and 
 Wales. Labour is not likely to be dearer at Arigna, and 
 although we shall require to distinguish carefully hereafter be- 
 tween nominal and real dearness of labour, for illustrating 
 which, indeed, this very subject will supply examples, we may, 
 by adding 5s., certainly cover all contingencies, and leave 
 the estimated cost of pig-iron at Arigna £3 3s. sterling per 
 ton. 
 
 These estimates are founded on the mode of preparing iron, 
 until late universal, in which the furnaces were blown with 
 air at ordinary temperatures. A vast revolution has, however, 
 been produced in this manufacture by the plan invented by 
 Mr. Neilson of Glasgow, of blowing the furnaces with hot air ; 
 working, as it is termed, with the hot blast. It is necessary to 
 describe the changes this method has made in the English and 
 Scotch iron manufacture, in order that its influence upon our 
 own industry may be estimated. 
 
 In 1829, it occurred to Mr. Neilson, Manager of the Gas 
 Works in Glasgow, that there would be an advantage gained 
 in previously heating the air with which the blast furnaces of 
 the iron works are supplied, and having carried on some ex-
 
 OF IRELAND. 149 
 
 periments, in conjimction with Mr. Mackintosh and Mr. Wil- 
 son, at the Clyde Iron Works, they became satisfied of the ac- 
 curacy of the idea, and took out a patent for the process. The 
 mode of heating the air now generally in use, consists in pass- 
 ing it through a contorted iron tube around which the flame of 
 a small furnace plays. The tube having numerous turns, a 
 great surface is exposed to the action of the heat, so that the 
 air attains a temperature, such as the worker wishes it to pos- 
 sess. The effect of the introduction of this process has been, 
 1st, very materially to diminish the quantity of coal employed; 
 2nd, to enable raw coal to be used in place of its being pre- 
 viously coked; 3rd, to increase the work of the furnace; and 
 4th, to enable a smaller quantity of flux to suffice. These con- 
 sequences are shewn by the following numbers, published by 
 Dr. Clark, deduced from the working of three fm-naces at the 
 Clyde Iron Works. 
 
 In 1829, with cold air, the three furnaces gave per week 111 
 tons of iron with 403 tons of coke from 888 tons of coal. 
 
 In 1830, with air at 300" Fah., they gave 162 tons of iron 
 with 376 of coke from 836 of coal. 
 
 In 1833, four furnaces gave 245 tons of iron with 554 tons of 
 coal. 
 
 Throughout, the power of the blast was the same. The 
 yield of iron was doubled from the same furnace. It was tre- 
 bled from the same fuel. 
 
 In 1829, 1 ton of iron required 8 tons, 1 cwt., 1 qr. coal. 
 In 1830, ,, ,, ,, 5 tons, 3 cwt., 1 qr, ,, 
 
 In 1833, ,, ,, ,, 2 tons, 5 cwt., 1 qr. ,, 
 
 The charge for the furnace was in 
 
 1829. 1833. 
 
 Coke, .... 5 cwt., .... Coal, 5 cwt. 
 
 Roasted ironstone, 3 cwt. 1 qr. 141b, . ,,5 cwt. 
 
 Limestone, 3 qrs. 16lb, ... ,,5 cwt. 
 
 The effect of this enormous alteration may easily be ima- 
 gined, The iron trade of Scotland received an impulse of the 
 most healthful and permanent kind, and the use of the hot 
 blast has since been extending into all the other iron dis-
 
 150 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 tricts ; subject, however, to some conditions which must be 
 noticed. 
 
 The great economy of fuel which arose in Scotland was, in 
 part, derivable from two sources independent of the hot blast. 
 First, that the iron manufacture had previously been badly 
 managed there, and a great deal of fuel wasted ; and second, 
 that the coal employed being highly bituminous, it lost, when 
 employed as coke, more than half its weight. Thus, the coal 
 of the Clyde Works gives but 43 per cent, of coke. 
 
 Now in Staffordshire the coal gives 65 per cent, of coke. 
 Consequently, the 8 tons, 1 cwt. of Scotch coal represent but 
 7'2 cwt. coke, whilst the 3 tons, IG cwt., 601b, of Staffordshire 
 coal used to make a ton of iron, represent 50 cwt. coke. The 
 excess in Scotland was, therefore, in reality, but 50 per cent, 
 of available fuel, in place of 110 per cent, as it might at first 
 appear. Accordingly, the saving effected by the hot blast has 
 been found to vary in different localities, according as the ma- 
 nufacture had been previously in a more or less perfect state, 
 and as the coals used lost more or less by coking. Mr. Mushet, 
 than whom there is no higher authority, states the savings to 
 be per ton of iron : 
 
 On Scotch coals from 3^ to 4 tons. 
 
 In Yorkshire, 2^ to 3 ,, 
 
 Staffordshire, 2 to 2^ ,, 
 
 Gloucestershire 1 to lA ,, 
 
 South Wales, | to 1^ ,, 
 
 Two tons of Merthyr-tydvil coal give as much coke as three 
 tons of Scotch coal, which may be considered 67 per cent. 
 
 The coal of Plymouth Works gives 83 per cent, of coke, and 
 at Dowlais's 06 per cent. 
 
 It lias been shewn that the coals of Arigna all belong to 
 the moderately bituminous family. The per centage of coke 
 being : 
 
 Aughabehy coal, 76-9 
 
 Celtnaveena, 80-9 
 
 Meeneshama, q\-\ 
 
 Hover, 82-3
 
 OF IRELAND. 151 
 
 Hence no such difference could arise as to the consumption 
 of coal at Arigna from the use of hot blast, as was found to 
 occur in Scotland. It is more likely that the saving of fuel 
 would not exceed what has been found to occur in South 
 Wales, which may be averaged at a ton of coal per ton of iron. 
 This would, of course, be a saving of 4s. 9(/., and also a saving 
 of time and labour in the pi'evious cokeing. 
 
 It may, therefore, be concluded, that the difference between 
 hot and cold blast in the iron district of Lough Allen, cannot 
 be of such importance as to affect the other conditions of its 
 success or failure; and finally, that from the various estimates 
 drawn up by those who have inspected the locality, as well as 
 from the analysis of the cost of production of iron in Scotland, 
 England, and Wales, there remains little doubt, but that cast 
 iron of the best quality can be obtained at Arigna, at an ex- 
 pense of production, probably falling sensibly under, but cer- 
 tainly not exceeding, £3 3s. sterling per ton. 
 
 We shall now pass to the examination of the conditions of 
 the manufacture of iron in the coal districts of Leinster. 
 
 Until very lately, the smelting of iron by means of anthra- 
 cite was looked upon as impracticable, although from the vast 
 deposits of that kind of coal in many countries, experiments 
 had frequently been made upon it. These experiments were 
 all failures as to the use of the anthracite alone. The condi- 
 tion of the process will be exhibited, by the follondng extract 
 from the Report of M. Perdonnet on the manufacture of iron 
 in France. He says : 
 
 " I will now speak of some experiments made with a curious 
 combustible substance, called anthracite, — a kind of pure car- 
 bon, without any mixture of bitumen, compact, igniting with 
 great difficulty, and giving out such a heat, when once in a 
 state of combustion, that it is very difficult to procure mate- 
 rials for the construction of the blast furnaces which will not 
 melt. It has been ascertained that cast iron cannot be made 
 with anthracite, except by excessive care, and that the fur- 
 nace will not work regular unless three parts of coke be mixed 
 with seven of the anthracite ; and indeed, by reason of its burn-
 
 lo2 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 ing so slowly, it has been found more advantageous to use 
 them in equal quantities. 
 
 " The cast iron obtained with these different proportions of 
 anthracite has always boon of excellent quality. This may 
 cause surprise, as the combustible used without preparation as 
 it comes from the mine always contains a large quantity of 
 sulphur." 
 
 The trials in England took place in Breeknockshiro, and are 
 described by Jlr. Scrivonor as follows : 
 
 " Nearly twenty years back a patent was taken out, and 
 a furnace erected on the borders of Brecknockshire, for the 
 smelting of iron with stone coal (anthracite) ; many experi- 
 ments were made with different proportions of the stone coal 
 and bituminous coal used together. The iron produced was of 
 good quality, but the object being to use the anthracite in its 
 raw state, which could not then be effected, the furnace, after 
 a few months' trial, was blown out." 
 
 Such having been the results in England and in France, it is 
 interesting to do justice to a fellow-countryman, who appears, 
 from ^L•. Tighe's Survey of Kilkenny, to have succeeded in 
 the attempt long before. Mr. Tighe's statement is : 
 
 " It has been said that this coal will not answer for smelting 
 iron, but Finlan did actually smelt the iron ore of Castlocomer 
 with it, in a small furnace before mentioned, and said that the 
 quality of the iron was good. If the coal always answers to 
 Mr. Kirwan's analysis, the iron could not be injured by it, ex- 
 cept where it contained any martial pyrites, which should be 
 carefully separated. But it is objected to this coal, that ig- 
 niting slowly, and consuming without flame, it does not bear 
 the- operation of a blast furnace, nor can its heat be rapidly 
 increased ; and to remove this difficulty Finlan suggested the 
 expedient of mixing it with charred or dry turf, or any other 
 fuel that would open and separate its parts. For the purposes 
 of cementing steel, it seems peculiarly calculated, as it does 
 also for potteries, and almost every other manufacturing pur- 
 pose ; and that it should not be applied to these purposes at 
 Castieconier, where materials for earthen ware are to be found
 
 OF IRELAND. 1,53 
 
 and where iron mines of the best quality lie, as it were, above 
 ground, seems a national loss." 
 
 Very recently attempts have been again made, and with more 
 success, so that at present there are at work in South Wales, 
 furnaces in which anthracite is used with the air blast at ordi- 
 nary temperature ; but the final and perfect solution of the 
 problem of smelting iron by anthracite, has been established by 
 Mr. Crane of the Yniscedwin Iron Works, by whom the process 
 has been patented. The improvement which he has made con- 
 sists simply in the application of the hot blast to the anthra- 
 cite coal, and the result shall be briefly stated in his words, 
 extracted from the account read by him to the British Asso- 
 ciation at Liverpool, and the facts contained in which have 
 been fully verified by continued working since. 
 
 "V\Tien he used bituminous coal the ton of iron had required 
 in his furnaces the coke produced from a quantity of coal, va- 
 rjang from four to five tons. The average consumption of an- 
 thracite has been found to be, per ton of iron, twenty-seven 
 cwt. 
 
 The work of the furnace with coke from bituminous coal 
 had been from twenty-two to twenty-four tons of iron. On 
 usiiw^ the anthracite this was raised so as to vary from thirty 
 to thirty-six tons, and once to thirty-nine tons. With respect 
 to quality, Mr. Crane considers, that the iron made with the 
 anthracite is superior to any he ever made before, and his 
 works have always ranked high for the quality of iron they 
 produced. 
 
 Referring to the analyses of the ironstone of the Leinster 
 district, it will be found to contain in average 38'7 per cent, 
 of iron. It is therefore, much superior to the average ore 
 worked in Wales, and the cost of the fuel per ton of iron, as- 
 suming that the consumption should be thirty cwt. per ton of 
 iron produced, should not exceed, at the pit mouth, where of 
 course, if any where, iron works should be established, 13s. 6d. 
 If we consider all other expenses to be the same as they are 
 estimated to be in Wales, by Dufresnoy, and as we have taken 
 them at Arigna, the ton of cast iron manufactured with an- 
 thracite, in the Leinster or Tipperary coal fields, should not
 
 154 TNDrSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 fxceed £2 10s., and should terta'mly fall below £2 \5s. Fiir- 
 tluT, should the dovdopnicnt of this branch of industry, lead- 
 ing to an increased demand for coals, be the means of intro- 
 ducing better systems of working the collieries, so that the 
 cost of raising the coals may be materially diminished, there 
 may result a diminution of the cost of fuel, though with an 
 inci-eased profit to the coal owners, by which again the ma- 
 nufacture of the iron should be rendered still more econo- 
 uiical. 
 
 Such, as far as I am able to represent them, are the circum- 
 stances under which this important branch of industry may be 
 placed in Ireland. But I am far from believing that it would 
 be prudent in any person now to enter upon this branch of ma- 
 nufacture. We are not yet ready for it, nor is the time fitting. 
 The iron trade of England and Scotland has been for some 
 years in an exceedingly depressed state. The prices of pig- 
 iron are from £2 \5s. for Clyde iron, to £3 15s. for No. 1 Welch 
 iron, on which it may be at once calculated, from the estimates 
 already given, there can be but little profit. Now this is not 
 the sort of trade in which it would be proper to disturb our 
 fortunate neighbours. The present paroxysm of railway en- 
 terprize promises to cause some improvement in the iron trade, 
 but it will be of too ephemeral a character to justify any at- 
 tempt at manufacturing here at present. If other circum- 
 stances, stimulating our industrial energies, and increasing our 
 domestic wants, determine an increased demand for iron in 
 Ireland, where all charges, risks, and trouble of freight and 
 transport, should tell against the imported metal, it will be 
 important for our capitalists to recollect, that the ironstone of 
 Arigna is equal to the celebrated black band of Glasgow, and 
 that, taking all circumstances into account, iron can be made 
 as cheaply and as good iu Ireland as in any other portion of 
 the empire. 
 
 The iron produced by the operations which alone have 
 hitherto been noticed, is in the form of metal, which, from its 
 fusibility, adapts itself t<> so great a variety of jiurposes ; but 
 the preparation of malleable iron from the pig metal requires 
 additional processes, and the subject «ould riinain imperfect
 
 OF IRELAND. 155 
 
 were not the circumstances of these further branches of the 
 manufacture of iron noticed. 
 
 The change of pig-iron into bar requires thi'ee operations, 
 viz., refining, puddling, and balling. This last is not imiver- 
 sally practised ; but it is best to consider it here as being em- 
 ployed. The refining is conducted in a small blast furnance, 
 with a shallow rectangular crucible. The crucible is filled 
 with coke, the pigs of metal are laid on it and covered up with 
 coke, and the fire being lighted, and the air let on, the metal 
 fuses, runs down into the crucible, and much of its carbon is 
 disengaged as carbonic oxide gas. Some slags from other 
 operations are added to save the crucible from being cut up, 
 and often scoriae of iron from the forges, or hematite, or oxide 
 of manganese, is added, which favour the elimination of the 
 carbon from the metal, and diminish the loss which occurs. 
 When the treatment of the metal has been completed, the Jiiie 
 metal is rim out on a level surface of sand, so that it forms 
 a thin plate, which is cooled rapidly by throwing water on it, 
 and it is then broken and transferred to the puddling furnace. 
 As an example of the proportions of expense of this process, 
 the following abstract of the work at Verteg in South Wales 
 may be taken ; it does not diff"er materially from Staffordshire. 
 To produce a ton of fine metal it took 
 
 1 ton, 2 cwt., 1 qr. of pig at £3 6s., . . £3 13 5 
 14 cwt. of coal, at 4s. per ton, .... 2 10 
 
 Cost of cokeing the coal, 4 
 
 Cost of labour, made up of. 
 Weighing, Os. 3c?. -j 
 
 Refining, 17V 024^ 
 
 Carriage, 6^ ^ 
 Blast and management, 9 
 
 Cost of 1 ton of fine metal, £3 19 8^ 
 
 The fine metal is transferred to the floor of reverberatory 
 furnaces, where it is fused, and whilst liquid carefully agi- 
 tated. It appears to burn, the carbon which gave it its fusi- 
 bility is gradually woi'ked out, and it becomes less liquid, and 
 finally breaks into granules like sand. On increasing the heat,
 
 156 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 these agglutinate, and tlio workman, kneading them together 
 with suitable tools, gradually works the entire into a mass, 
 which taken from the furnace is already plastic and malleable. 
 It is rolled into bars by being placed between grooved cylin- 
 ders, made to revolve by a powerful engine, and these bars, if 
 the iron be wanted of superior quality, are balled, by being 
 heated in a reverberatory furnace still more intensely than in 
 puddling, and many bars being welded togetner, and drawn 
 out again by the roller, the highest degree of purity and homo- 
 geneity is given to the material. 
 
 The total cost of these processes, as carried on in Stafford- 
 shire, was found by the French Commission of Inquiry to be, 
 in the period from 1828 to 1837: 
 
 To produce a ton of fine metal: 
 
 221 cwt. of pig, at £3 12s., £4 1 
 
 3 packs of coke, 041 
 
 Workmen, 014 
 
 Blast and management, Oil 
 
 Repairs and sundries 11 
 
 Cost of a ton of fine metal, £4 7 6 
 
 To convert this fine metal into miU bar iron by puddling and 
 rolling, there are for a ton of product : 
 
 22 cwt. of fine metal as above, .... £4 16 3 
 
 20 cwt. of coal, 056 
 
 10 cwt. of slack for engine, 14 
 
 Labour, viz.. Puddling, 7s. Sd., -. 
 
 Rolling, 2 1 i • ■ 10 4 
 
 Weighing, 7 ) 
 
 Repairs of furnaces and machinery, . . 3 
 
 Management, &c'., 1 10 
 
 Cost of a ton of mill bar, £5 18 3 
 
 To form from this the common merchantable bar iron, there 
 are required :
 
 OF IRELAND. 
 
 157 
 
 22^ cwt. of mill bar as above, 
 
 12 cwt. of coal, 
 
 10 cwt. of slack, .... 
 
 Cost of rolling 
 
 General expenses, .... 
 
 £6 14 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 Total cost of a ton of iron bars, ... £7 9 7 
 
 It is now interesting to add all these various processes to- 
 gether, and see how this final cost of the ton of bar iron is dis- 
 tributed throughout the entire manufacture. On doing so in 
 suitable proportions it is found that there are paid for 
 
 4 tons, 9 cwt. of ore at 7s., £1 11 3 
 
 8 tons, 6 cwt. of coal at 6s., 2 9 10 
 
 1 ton, 16 cwt. of slack at 3s., .... 036 
 
 Limestone per ton, 5 6 
 
 Labour, management and repairs, ... 2 17 6 
 
 £7 9 7 
 The total quantity of fuel consumed is therefore just ten 
 times the weight of the bar iron produced, and makes 40 per 
 cent, of the entire cost. It is hence easily intelligible how the 
 iron manufacture naturally limits itself to the coal district. 
 
 It must be recollected that the above estimates are derived 
 from Staffordshire, where the cost of making iron is high, and 
 were taken some years ago, when the cost of labour and ma- 
 terials was much greater than at present. Thus the merchant 
 bar iron would now be sold for about £6 per ton. And if we 
 take a final estimate at the prices for which it has been already 
 shewn that pig iron can be made at Arigna, considering labour 
 and supei'intendance to be the same as in Staffordshire : 
 
 4 tons of ore at 5s., £10 
 
 10 tons of coal at 4s. 9rf., 2 7 6 
 
 1 ton of limestone, 2 6 
 
 Labour and general expenses, .... 2 17 6 
 
 £6 7 6 
 
 Thus merchant bar iron can be made at Arigna at the same 
 price as it is now made in Staffordshire, and indeed cheaper, as
 
 158 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 the quantity of ore is calculated from the average of Stafford- 
 shire, of 30 per cent., whilst Arigna ore yields 40 per cent, of 
 iron. Hence 5s. might have been taken from the above esti- 
 mate of cost. 
 
 It is now necessary to pass to a branch of this subject which 
 is of considerable importance to Ireland. The refining of iron 
 by means of turf or turf charcoal, A few words will briefly 
 point out its bearings. The iron which is smelted by means of 
 pit coal always preserves a degree of impurity of constitution 
 which reduces its strength and deteriorates its structure, so 
 that for the finer purposes of machinery and of cutlery, Eng- 
 land is indebted for much iron to Russia and Sweden, as in 
 these countries, the smelting and refining being carried on by 
 means of wood, the metal is obtained in absolute purity. Hence 
 the great difference of price between the British and foreign 
 iron ; common English bar being sold at £6 per ton ; whilst 
 Swedish and Russian iron bars will cost £15, £25, or even 
 £35 per ton, according to their quality. Now we possess in 
 Ireland the means of preparing those irons of superior quality, 
 and of replacing, if not the finest, at least the ordinary sorts 
 of Baltic iron. The elements necessary to produce such metal 
 are ores of great purity and a vegetable fuel of proper kind. 
 
 The ores we have already seen to be abundant. The vege- 
 table fuel is found abundantly in our turf. 
 
 In England it can be easily understood that the manufacture 
 of iron by turf is not thougiit worthy of notice. On the Con- 
 tinent, however, where the promotion of native industry is an 
 object of primary importance, and where the limited develop- 
 ment of the coal districts obliges them to economize every 
 source of fuel, it has been not merely tried, but is extensively 
 carried on at present in France, in Prussia, and in Bavaria. 
 These countries resemble our's in their relations to fuel, and it 
 is by observation of what they do, that we may learn how to 
 economize our own resources. I shall accordingly proceed to 
 describe how turf is applied in the manufacture of iron abroad, 
 and then endeavour to apply their residts to the peculiar cir- 
 cumstances of Ireland. 
 
 At Ransko, in Bohemia, there is an extensive iron work 
 consisting of high furnaces for tlie smelting of pig-iron from
 
 OF IRELAND. 159 
 
 the ores ; of cupolas for the remelting of pig and making cast- 
 ings, and the reverberatory furnaces and machinery for the 
 manufacture of bar and plate. The ore that is employed is 
 the clay ironstone, and is of very moderate quality. For fuel, 
 is used a mixture of turf and charcoal. The turf is light, it is 
 dried in the air, but not in any way prepared or pressed. The 
 cubic metre of it weighs 225 kilos, and costs 1*34 franc. This 
 is at the rate of 3s. per ton. The furnaces are blown with hot 
 air at the temperature of 280° Fah. The proportions of ma- 
 terials and products that are given from an average of long 
 experience, is, that to make a ton of iron, there is consumed 
 34 cwt. 3 qrs. of turf, which costs 8s. 9d., and 30 cwt. of char- 
 coal, costing 24s. 7d. The fuel for the smelting costs, there- 
 fore, 33s. 4d., and the other expenses bring the total cost of 
 the pig-iron to £3 13s. per ton. The fuel used in the cupolas 
 and furnaces is the same, and the quality of iron is of the very 
 highest character. 
 
 At Konigsbrunn in Bavaria, are iron works peculiarly 
 worthy of attention, as from the Report of the French engineers 
 sent to examine them, it appears, that " they execute with 
 tm'f alone the puddling and second fusion, reheating and roll- 
 ing, finally, all the operations which are efPected with coal in 
 the English furnaces." 
 
 The turf employed is prepared with unusual care, as, owing 
 to the excessively high price of fuel, every economy is impor- 
 tant. It is not pressed, but is dried perfectly in stores of 
 vai-ious kinds, of which two deserve especial notice. The first 
 kind of store is heated by a fire-place belonging to itself. The 
 other mode of drying the turf consists in an arrangement by 
 which the waste heat of the various puddling and reheating 
 furnaces is economized. 
 
 The turf, as finally delivered at the furnace, is charged at 
 the rate of 13s. per ton. It is of an average quality. Berthier 
 found it to consist of 
 
 Volatile matter ' 70*6 
 
 Carbon, 24*4 
 
 Ashes, 5-0 
 
 100-0
 
 160 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 and to give by ignition with litharge 143 times its weight of 
 lead. 
 
 The furnaces employed in these works all require peculia- 
 rities of construction, arising from the bulk of the fuel being 
 so much greater in proportion to its weight than when wood 
 or coal is used. These peculiarities it would, however, be te- 
 dious to describe here. They can be found on reference to the 
 original memoirs and drawings ; it is only the results that are 
 of importance to the immediate object of this work. 
 
 It is found that in order to deliver a ton of puddled iron, 
 there are required twenty-two and ahalfcwt. of pig, and there 
 are consumed thirty and a quarter cwt. of turf, for which the 
 densest is always selected. Of this puddled iron twenty-four 
 and a half cwt. are reheated and rolled, vnth the consumption 
 of thirty cwt. of dense turf, and the produce is a ton of small 
 bars of iron of fine quality. 
 
 The cost of manufacturing the fine bar iron by this turf is, 
 therefore, per ton : 
 
 27^ cwt. of pig-iron, which is charged at 
 
 £6 13.S. per ton, that being the selling 
 
 price £9 14 
 
 Turf, at 14.S. per ton : 
 
 37 cwt. for puddling, i 2 7 6 
 
 30 cwt. for reheating, ) 
 Labour and general expenses, .... 10 10 
 
 Cost of fine bars per ton, £11 19 8 
 
 Such are the financial circumstances of Ihe manufacture of 
 iron in a country where there is really a scarcity of fuel, and 
 •where the introduction of English iron is practically pro- 
 hibited. 
 
 I may add, that the consumption of turf has been found to 
 be— 
 
 For running a ton of iron in castings, twenty-one and a half 
 cwt. of pig, and twenty-two cwt. of turf. 
 
 For heating and rolling a ton of sheet iron, twenty-one cwt. 
 of flat iron and thirty cwt. of turf.
 
 OF IRELAND. 161 
 
 In the iron Avorks of Ichoux, department of the Landes in 
 France, no fuel is used in puddling but turf. The turf of mo- 
 derate quality costs at the rate of 8s. per ton. The ton of 
 puddled iron is given by twenty-two cwt. of pig, and forty-five 
 cwt. of turf. M. Alex of Lauchhammer has substituted turf 
 for coal in his puddling furnaces. It requires two and a half 
 times as much turf as coal : the usual work being, that twenty- 
 five cwt. of pig, worked up with twenty-six cubic feet of turf, 
 gives twenty cwt. of iron rolled into bars. 
 
 The perfect similarity of the charcoal of dense turf, and es- 
 pecially of compressed turf, to that of wood, has been men- 
 tioned in a former place. It has been tried as a substitute for 
 wood charcoal in iron works, and with complete success. In the 
 high furnaces of M. ftluller at Wendenhammer, wood charcoal 
 has been replaced by an equal volume of turf charcoal, and this 
 method has been so beneficial, that the quantity of ore worked 
 off was materially increased. In the high furnaces of Wachter 
 at Neunhammer, when half of the charcoal of wood was re- 
 placed by turf coke, the charge of ore was raised from 3861b to 
 464tb. The quality of iron produced was excellent. Finally, 
 MM. Moser and Wagner, who have examined minutely into 
 the various conditions of this branch of industry, conclude, that 
 both for smelting and refining iron, the coke of turf is as good 
 and useful as an equal weight of wood charcoal. 
 
 It is unnecessary to multiply quotations of evidence of this 
 kind. The great fact which is to be recollected is, that turf 
 and turf coke answer perfectly for making and refining iron, 
 and from the quantities of materials and products, which the 
 experience of the French and German workers has found to 
 answer, and the cost of those materials, as we know they can 
 be had with us, we may proceed to calculate what are the 
 financial conditions of the subject. 
 
 To produce a ton of pig-iron at Ransko, there are required 
 thirty-five cwt. of turf and thirty cwt. of wood charcoal. Now 
 for the latter may be substituted the turf coke, provided it be 
 compressed ; and as the turf may be taken at 4s. per ton, and 
 the coke at •20s., taking the ore and labour to be the same as 
 M
 
 1G2 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 in our final estimate regarding the manufactui-e at Lough Al- 
 len, mth coal, it becomes : 
 
 2J tons of ore, at 5s., £0 12 6 
 
 15 cwt. of limestone, at 2s. 6(Z 19 
 
 35 cwt. of turf, at 4s., 7 
 
 30 cwt. of turf coke, at 20s., 1 10 
 
 Labour and general expenses 12 6 
 
 Total cost of a ton of pig, £3 13 9 
 
 Such iron should, however, not be sold as mere pig or used 
 in castings. Its fine quality would peculiarly fit it for being 
 made into bars : now the Konigsbrunn results enable us to see 
 what those bars should cost in Ireland. The calcidation is : 
 27^ cwt. of pig made as above and costing 
 
 £3 6s. 3rf. per ton, £4 11 1 
 
 Tiu-f, at 4s. per ton : 
 37 cwt. for puddling, | 13 5 
 
 30 cwt. for reheating, J 
 Labour and general expenses, for which, in 
 order to avoid an error in deficiency, I 
 will take double the German cost, . . 118 
 
 £6 6 2 
 
 Hence the ton of charcoal iron in bars would be made for 
 six guineas. Now the price of the foreign charcoal iron ranges 
 from £15 to £35 per ton. It cannot be made in England, for 
 the wood charcoal is £4 per ton in the Forest of Dean, where 
 some little remnant of the manufacture lingers. They have 
 no extensive peat deposits. If they boast of their greater ex- 
 tent of underground repositories of fuel, we may point to our's 
 which lie upon the surface. We must learn, however, to em- 
 ploy them i)roperly, and with economy, or else we would shew 
 ourselves utterly unworthy of tlie riches with which Providence 
 has blessed our country. 
 
 The consumption of fuel at Ransko is greater than elsewhere 
 with charcoal furnaces. Thus in Pennsylvania, a ton of metal 
 is obtained from forty-one cwt. of ore, and between twenty-
 
 OF IRELAND, 163 
 
 five and twenty-seven cwt. of wood charcoal. On the Con- 
 tinent, the ton of metal requires from thirty to thirty-four cwt. 
 of charcoal. So that if tm'f coke alone can be substituted for 
 the wood charcoal, the above estimate may have the cost of 
 the turf removed, and the ton of pig iron should come to about 
 £3 10s. The introduction of the hot blast into charcoal fur- 
 naces has been found attended with the remarkable saving of 
 from one-fourth to one-third of the entire quantity of fuel. 
 With turf charcoal a similar economy might possibly arise, but 
 I shall retain as illustration the cost of production already cal- 
 culated. 
 
 Although the iron is not prepared from the ore by means of 
 charcoal in any part of England, yet iron bar is manufactured 
 by a mixed process of refining with coke and charcoal, from 
 which a product is obtained of sucli excellent quality as to sell 
 for £14 per ton, and to replace for such purposes as chain 
 cables, nail rods, boiler plates, piston rods, &c., the iron of the 
 north of Europe, which is now, indeed, employed only for con- 
 version into steel for the purposes of cutlery. The quantity of 
 charcoal used in such processes of refining is about four cwt. 
 and a half, per ton of iron. In this method of working also the- 
 charcoal from turf may ultimately be utilized. 
 
 The consumption of fuel in these processes is so great, and 
 its cost enters so largely into the expense of the manufactm-e, 
 that it becomes important to fix attention upon every mode by 
 which any economy may be effected. The attention of chemists 
 and engineers has been especially directed to this point upon 
 the Continent, and now also in England it is attracting the 
 notice it deserves. 
 
 During the work of a high iron furnace, the air which is 
 blown into the fire escapes from the top, changed essentially 
 in composition. Its oxygen has, of course, gone to support 
 the combustion of the furnace, but in place of the escape of 
 useless products, as nitrogen and carbonic acid, there is gene- 
 rated a large quantity of combustible gas, which takes fire on 
 escaping, and generates that pale cone of flame by which the 
 high furnace is so well characterized. The gaseous material 
 M 2
 
 1G4 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 thus passing off was found, on analysis by Bunsen and Ebcl- 
 
 nicn, to consist of : 
 
 Nitrogen, from 630 to 60-2 
 
 Carbonic oxide, ,, 30*7 ,, 19-7 
 
 Carbonic acid, ,, 5*9 ,, 12'8 
 
 Hydrogen, ,, 0-4 ,, 7'3 
 
 1000 100-0 
 
 Now as the quantity of air blown in may be calculated, the 
 quantity of the combustible gases given off may be inferred, 
 and the conclusion finally aiTived at is, that in the high fur- 
 naces a quantity of fuel is carried off under the form of com- 
 bustible gases, which amounts to from 55 to 65 per cent, of the 
 total boating value of the fuel introduced into the furnace, and 
 also, as the gases pass off at an intense heat, they carry away 
 thereby at least 10 per cent, of the heat produced by the com- 
 bustion, so that the quantity of fuel that is really employed 
 in producing the heat by which the iron is smelted, does not 
 amount to more than from 25 to 35 per cent, of that which is 
 actually consumed. This vast loss, of course, more than dou- 
 bles the cost of fuel in the process, and the following means 
 have been devised and successfully employed for utilizing it in 
 other ways. 
 
 The upper portion of the high furnace, where the charge of 
 ore and fuel does not be yet ignited, is lined with a cylinder of 
 iron, sustained by stays some inches from the brick work. The 
 great body of the gas rushes into this space, where it has not 
 to act against the solid mass of smelting materials. Into this 
 space horizontal flues open on each side, leading to a metal 
 chamber, where they unite, and from which the gas is delivered 
 by nozzles on the floor of the reverberatory furnaces, in which 
 the puddling and reheating is carried on. The chimney of the 
 puddling furnace gives draft sufficient to draw in all the gas. 
 
 The result practically found is, that the temperature pro- 
 duced by the combustion of the combustible gases of the high 
 furnace is fully sufficient for the puddling and refining of the 
 iron ; and thus tiie fuel (coal, charcoal, or coke) witii which 
 the high furnace is ciiarged, may be made to serve for the en-
 
 OF IRELAND. 165 
 
 tire conversion of the ore into fine bar iron. Now if we con- 
 sider that it is usually taken in average, that to produce a ton 
 of bars requires ten tons of coals, of which four tons only are 
 used in the high furnace, it is evident that the economy of heat, 
 by the methods now described, may reduce the cost of the bar 
 iron per ton by the price of six tons of coal, and of course 
 the advantage will be proportionally greatest where fuel is 
 dearest. 
 
 The proportion of hydrogen in the gas evolved, depends on 
 the presence of watery vapour in the air blown into the fui'- 
 nace, and of course varies with it. On this principle is founded 
 another method of economy. I have mentioned, when speaking 
 of the modes of applying anthracite, that when the vapour of 
 water is passed over it at a high temperature, a mixture of hy- 
 drogen and carbonic oxide gases is evolved, by means of 
 which a flaming property is given to that coal : this is the 
 basis of Kymer's and Leighton's patent. This process is em- 
 ployed on the Continent, in order to economize very inferior 
 fuels, such as slaty coal or earthy turf. The plan was origi- 
 nally invented by Ebelmen, but it is now applied in many places. 
 A small furnace is built like an iron furnace, which may be 
 blown either with air or steam. The top may be closed, ex- 
 cept at the times of introducing fuel. From near the top pass 
 lateral flues, which conduct the gaseous products to a chamber, 
 from whence they are led to the furnaces where they are to be 
 burned. Such a furnace is termed a generator. If it be blown 
 vnth air, the products are the same as the gases of the high 
 iron furnace. If it be blown with steam, the products are 
 similar to those given with steam and anthracite. The fol- 
 lowing analyses give the composition of the gases resulting 
 from a generator with very bad coal : 
 
 BLOWN WITH MIXED 
 BLOWN WITH AIB. AIR AND STEAM, 
 
 Carbonic acid, . . . 0'5 5-5 
 
 Carbonic oxide, . . 33-3 27-2 
 
 Hydrogen, .... 28 14-1 
 
 Nitrogen, .... 63"4 53-2 
 
 1000 1000
 
 166 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 In the same generator, a fire of turl' blown with air in its 
 usual condition, gave: 
 
 Carbonic acid, 10-79 
 
 Carbonic oxide 21-04 
 
 Hydrogen, 9-36 
 
 Nitrogen, 58-81 
 
 100-00 
 
 It is hence evident that even with the worst fuel, by proper 
 arrangements, the purest fire, that of flame, can be obtained ; 
 and thus the local differences of quality of coal or turf almost 
 obliterated by the application of suitable mechanical construc- 
 tions, guided by a correct knowledge of chemical principles. 
 
 It remains to notice one further mode of economy of fuel that 
 has been adopted with complete success, not merely on the 
 Continent, but also in certain works in Staffordshire. It con- 
 sists in conducting the flues from the puddling furnaces under 
 and round the boilers of the steam engine, so that the water 
 in these last may be boiled, and the steam power for rolling, 
 &c., may be generated by the heat, which should otherwise 
 pass up the chimney and be lost. 
 
 The results obtained at Abbainvillc may be taken as an ex- 
 ample of the amount of the savings so effected. It is there 
 found that each pound of coal burned in the puddling furnace, 
 evaporates 3-7 pounds of water in the steam boilers. Hence, 
 the economy is at least half of the practical value of the fuel. 
 The steam engine is thirty horse power, and is in almost con- 
 stant activity for driving the cutters, rollers, and punches. 
 
 The works contain two puddling furnaces. The produce 
 was 1000 tons of bar iron from 487 of coal and 1137 of pig, 
 and this proportion of fuel remained the same, whether the 
 steam engine was driven by the waste heat, or by independent 
 fires. 
 
 I have noticed these sources of economy, because they, and 
 all similar ameliorations, arc not merely important to be kno^vn 
 in order that the cheapest means of manufacture may be 
 adopted, but that thcjy arc peculiarly of vital interest to us, 
 who labour, as compared with the sister kingdom, under a cer-
 
 OF IRELAND. 167 
 
 tain disadvantage in regard to fuel. Every thing which dimi- 
 nishes the quantity of fuel, diminishes the amount of this dis- 
 advantage, and hence removes the greatest difficulty felt in 
 the financial success of industry in Ireland. Thus if the Eng- 
 lish manufacturer have an advantage of Is. per ton in the 
 price of coals, and that there be ten tons of coal used to make 
 a ton of iron bars, his advantage is 10s. ; and that 10s. may 
 enable him to send his iron to every part of Ireland, and to 
 destroy our market. But if, by processes in which fuel is 
 economized, the bars be made with five tons of coal, in place 
 often, then his total advantage in fuel becomes but 5s., and 
 this may not be, indeed would not be, sufficient to enable him 
 to keep possession of the Irish market. It is evident also 
 that if one party adopt methods of economy, and the other 
 party do not, the scale is at once and decisively turned in fa- 
 vour of the party who avails himself most rapidly of all im- 
 provements.
 
 168 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE OF IRELAND. GRANITIC ROCKS ; THEIR 
 niSTRIBUTION AND COMPOSITION. MICA-SLATE ; ITS EX- 
 TENT. CLAY-SLATE, UPPER AND LOWER; ITS MINERAL CON- 
 TENTS AND AREA. VEINS AND PROTRUSIONS OF QUARTZ 
 ROCK. SANDSTONE FORMATIONS; OLD RED AND YELLOW 
 SANDSTONES; CONGLOMERATES; THEIR DISTRIBUTION. CAR- 
 BONIFEROUS SLATE. RELATIONS OF THE LIMESTONE AND 
 COAL MEASURES TO THE UNDERLYING AND SUPERINCUMBENT 
 ROCKS. NEW RED SANDSTONE. CHALK OF ANTRIM. BA- 
 SALT AND TRAP ROCKS OF THE NORTH OF IRELAND. 
 MINING DISTRICTS OF IRELAND. COPPER MINES. ORES OF 
 COPPER. MINES OF THE WICKLOW DISTRICT; THEIR DIS- 
 TRIBUTION ; MODE OF WORKING AND PRODUCE. MINES OF 
 THE WATERFORD DISTRICT ; THEIR STRUCTURE AND PRO- 
 DUCE. COPPER MINES OF THE SOUTH-WESTERN DISTRICT; 
 THEIR GEOLOGICAL RELATIONS AND PRODUCE. COPPER DIS- 
 TRICT OF TIPPERARY. MINES IN THE CLAY-SLATE NORTH OF 
 DUBLIN. METALLURGIC TREATMENT OF COPPER ORES. ECO- 
 NOMY OF FUEL IN SMELTING. 
 OF THE LEAD MINES OF IRELAND. ORES OF LEAD. LEAD 
 MINES OF WICKLOW AND WEXFORD ; THEIR STRUCTURE AND 
 PRODUCE. LEAD MINES OF THE NORTHERN AND SOUTH- 
 WESTERN SLATE DISTRICTS. DEPOSITS OF LEAD ORE IN THE 
 LIMESTONE OF IRELAND. MINES NEAR DUBLIN. MINES OF 
 CLARE. PREPARATION AND SMELTING OF LEAD ORES. EX- 
 TRACTION OF THE SILVER FROM LEAD. RICHNESS OF THE 
 IRISH opES IN SILVER. ECONOMY OF FUEL IN THE TREAT- 
 MENT OF LEAD ORES. 
 
 The two important minerals, coal and iron, the circumstan- 
 ces of which have been described in the preceding chapters, 
 a;-e, as has been shewn, closely associated in nature, and limit- 
 ed, SO far as their practical extraction is concerned, almost 
 totally to that division of rocks, termed by geologists the coal 
 formation. The numerous other metallic and mineral bodies 
 which are required for the purposes of the arts, must be sought 
 in localities of other and various geological nature ; and hence, 
 in order that a proper rej)rosontation may be given, as well of 
 the actual mineral resources of Ireland, as of the extent to which 
 those resources are capable of i)eiiig developed, it will be ne-
 
 OF IRELAND. 169 
 
 cessary briefly to enumerate the species of rocks of which the 
 surface of our country is composed, the mode of theii* arrange- 
 ment, and such facts regarding their chemical composition as 
 bear upon technical or agricultural industry. 
 
 On looking over a map of Ireland, it may be observed that 
 towards the coast the surface is occupied for the most part by 
 mountain ranges, whilst the central portion of the island con- 
 stitutes an almost uniform plane. This diversity of geogra- 
 phical character is accompanied by a difference of geological 
 structure of the most decided character : the mountainous 
 country consisting of the various older or primitive rocks, 
 while the central plain is formed by the limestone, which has 
 been already described as the basis upon which the various 
 tracts of coal formation rest. Almost every district presents 
 in the mineralogical character and arrangement of its rocks, 
 something peculiar in detail, which should be described in a 
 work on the geology of Ireland, and on which many important 
 essays have been published by the Geological Society of Dub- 
 lin; but here such details would be out of place, and I shall 
 only notice the mode of arrangement and constitution of those 
 rocks in a general point of view, and in their principal situa- 
 tions. In the order of formation, which is usually adopted, we 
 may consider the principal rocks found in Ireland, inferior to 
 the carboniferous limestone, to be, granite ; mica-slate ; clay- 
 slate ; old red sandstone ; yellow sandstone. There are also 
 rocks which do not appear limited to a certain position in the 
 above series, but present themselves accompanying sometimes 
 one, sometimes another member of it; of these are quartz rock, 
 various porphyries, and greenstones. 
 
 In order to render more easily intelligible and definite the fol- 
 lowing brief account of the geological structure of the coimtry, 
 the distribution of the principal classes of rocks has been laid 
 down in the accompanying map. It is not intended to repre- 
 sent every locality of a rock, or every rock that occurs in any 
 locality. It should, on such a scale, in that case become too 
 crowded, and the parts too minute to be of any practical use, 
 but considering the rocks of Ireland to belong to nine principal 
 classes, in their usual order:
 
 170 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 1. Granite aud gueiss. 
 
 2. Mica-slate. 
 
 3. Lower clay-slate. 
 
 4. Upper clay-slate. 
 
 5. Old red sandstone series. 
 
 6. Carboniferous limestone. 
 
 7. Coal formations. 
 
 8. Newer strata, including sandstone, chalk, and tertiary 
 clays, which collectively occujjy but a small space, and that 
 only round the edge of Antrim. 
 
 9. Trap and basaltic rocks. 
 
 The relations of these classes of rocks to each other, and to 
 the general surface, may be simply represented by the different 
 shadings, as explained upon the map ; the carboniferous lime- 
 stone, which occupies so large an area of the country, being left 
 unshaded for distinction sake. 
 
 The granite rises from under the other more recently depo- 
 sited formations, at various points, situated mostly along the 
 coast. There are four principal tracts of granite, that of 
 Wicklow, of Gahvay, of Nuwry, and of Donegal. The first 
 is the most extensive ; it commences a few miles from Dublin, 
 on the shore at Dalkey, and stretches in a south-westerly di- 
 rection to near New Ross in Wexford, a distance of sixty-six 
 statute miles. Its greatest breadth is from Kilkea to Sandiford, 
 eighteen miles. The granitic district of Galway commences 
 at the town, and forms the entire of the northern coast of the 
 Bay of Galway. Its northern edge passes by Oughterard to 
 Roundstonc : including the islands, its area is roughly elliptical, 
 with axes of thirty-six miles by twelve. On the eastern coast 
 a granite district, occupying part of the counties of Armagh and 
 Down, constitutes tiie greater part of the hills of Carlingford 
 and the mountains of Alourue, which from opposite sides give 
 so mucli picturesque eft'ect to the Bay of Newry. The extreme 
 range of this granitic district is twenty-eight miles by twelve. 
 The north-western coast of Donegal constitutes the fourth im- 
 portant locality of this rock. Intermixed with vast veins of 
 quartz, it strctciics inland about eighteen miles, and its south-
 
 OF IRELAND. 171 
 
 eastern edge from Ardara to Glen ranges almost rectilinear for 
 thirty-five miles. 
 
 In addition to these localities there are numerous others where 
 the rock comes up to the surface, only in small patches. This 
 occurs in Tyrone, in Sligo, Fermanagh, Mayo, and Cavan ; in 
 Kilkenny, and in several parts of Wexford. These smaller 
 masses, however, are not of any industrial interest. 
 
 The rock granite is of complex constitution, being a mixture 
 of various minerals, of which, however, three are so predominant 
 that they are properly considered its characteristic elements. 
 They are quartz, felspar, and mica. The granite of the vici- 
 nity of Dublin is distinguished for the whiteness of its felspar 
 and the complete absence of hornblende. The granite of the 
 Mourne mountains, on the other hand, contains abundance of 
 hornblende, and the felspar is of a flesh red colour. In many 
 places the texture of the rock is so close that it admits of being 
 worked for artificial purposes, and when polished presents a 
 beautiful appearance, from the varied colours and disposition 
 of its constituent minerals. Other varieties are unfit for this 
 use, from the rapidity with which they are decomposed on ex- 
 posure to the air ; thereby producing the materials of other 
 rocks, as well as the clays of purest quality, and best adapted 
 for the manufacture of earthenware. It is the felspar which is 
 thus altered. This mineral is rich in potash, being composed of 
 
 Silica, 63*5 
 
 Potash, 17-7 
 
 Alumina, 16'8 
 
 1000 
 
 When it is decomposed, the alkali and most of the silica are 
 (•arried off by the drainage water, and furnish to the cidtivated 
 soils of the lower country, those materials so necessary to the 
 growth of their crops of grain. The alumina, with some silica, 
 remains as clay, the uses of which will come again under our 
 notice. 
 
 The principal lead mines of Ireland are situated in granite. 
 Copper is also found, but not abundantly. It is the usual re- 
 ceptacle of the ores of tin and of the precious metals. The
 
 172 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 mines which have been found and worked in the granite dis- 
 tricts, will be hereafter fully described. 
 
 Closely associated with the granite, and usually in contact 
 with it, is mica-slate. This rock is not mucli developed in 
 Leinster ; a narrow fringe of it merely edging the granitic dis- 
 trict of Wicklow and Wexford. In Donegal and Galway it 
 assumes a more important character. Of the former county, by 
 far the greatest part consists of mica-slate, which commencing 
 at the edge of the granite, spreads over the remaining area, 
 and passing into Derry and Tyrone, forms also in these coun- 
 ties the characteristic rock, until it disappears under the sand- 
 stone formation, which, ranging in a circular sweep from 
 Malin-head to Ballyshaimon on the western coast, constitutes 
 its boundary. In Galway a large tract, ranging northward from 
 the granitic district, is formed of mica slate, and this rock occurs 
 extensively also in Mayo, where, although separated by some 
 intervening narrow strips of other rocks, it may be considered 
 as part of the Galway district. 
 
 Tlie chemical character of mica-slate is by no means defi- 
 nite or uniform ; it graduates by insensible degrees into the 
 rock, which usually lies upon it, the clay-slate, and frequently, 
 by the development in it of felspathic crystals, it passes by 
 slight gradations into that kind of granitic rock, which, still 
 preserving traces of stratification, is called gneiss. The mica- 
 slate has no special metalliferous character, but it is important 
 to remark that the granite is most likely to be rich in metals 
 near its junction with mica-slate. It will be seen hereafter, 
 that the lodes or veins of ore are usually found cutting the line 
 of junction of these rocks. 
 
 In chemical constitution, mica is very complex, and may 
 yield to the soil, by its decomposition, a greater number of in- 
 gredients than almost any other mineral ; it contains potash, 
 lime, and magnesia, besides silica, alumina, and often soda. 
 It is a material, however, very little susceptible of decompo- 
 sition, as is seen by examining a fragment of weathered gra- 
 nite, where the quartz and mica will be found to remain per- 
 fectly unaltered, whilst the felspar may have totally rotted 
 awav.
 
 OF IRELAND. 173 
 
 The clay-slate, which usually rests upon the mica-slate, is one 
 of the most important rocks of Ireland, as well from the ai-ea 
 over which it extends, as from the quantity of minerals it in- 
 cludes. The counties of Wexford, Louth, Down, Watei'ford, 
 Cork, and Kerry, are for the most part constituted of this rock, 
 which, however, appears at the surface in various other lo- 
 calities of less extent. Under the name of clay-slate, there 
 have been, until lately, confounded two formations of very 
 different geological character, and occupying different geogra- 
 phical positions. I shall call them by their simplest titles of 
 lower and upper slate, as those names are least liable to mis- 
 apprehension. Of the lower slate there are two great districts ; 
 one north of Dublin, the other south. The northern clay-slate 
 formation commences at Drogheda, and continues along the 
 coast, interrupted only by the granitic protrusion of Carling- 
 ford and Mourne, to near Belfast. Inland, its southern edge 
 ranges almost due east and west until it comes near the Shan- 
 non at Longford. Aline from Belfast to Longford, by Armagh 
 and Clones, marks its remaining boundary. Within this great 
 area, which includes almost entirely the counties of Louth 
 and Down, with parts of Longford, Cavan, Monaghan, and 
 Armagh, the continuity of the clay-slate is interrupted in nu- 
 merous places by the appearance of other rocks upon the sur- 
 face. The only one deserving of remark, is that extending 
 from Moynalty by Kingscourt to Carrrickmacross. It is an 
 insulated district of limestone, with millstone grit and some 
 rocks of the coal formation, and thin veins of coal, of which 
 the character has been mentioned in page 15. The southern 
 districtof lower slate spreads on each side of the Wicklow and 
 Wexford granite, with which it in many places lies in contact; 
 the usually interposed sheet of mica-slate being absent. On the 
 eastern and southern flanks, the clay-slate extends down to 
 the sea-shore and to the River Suir. On the west it is much 
 less developed ; forming the range of hills bounding the granite 
 mountains along the counties of Dublin and Kildare until it 
 reaches the valley of Barrow near Athy. 
 
 From Wexford, the clay-slate, intersected by the valley of 
 the Suir, crosses into Waterford, of which county it constitutes
 
 174 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 a large proportion, extending along the coast to near Dungar- 
 van, and westward to where it is overlaid by the sandstone 
 rocks, which form the crests of the Cummeragh and Monavul- 
 lagh mountains. 
 
 Tlie upper slate, wliich is distinguished from the lower, not 
 merely by its relative position, but by being found to contain 
 imbedded fossils of specific character, of which traces of primi- 
 tive organic life the lower slate appears to be nearly destitute, 
 occupies the greater part of the south-west of Kerry, and the 
 adjoining portions of the county of Cork. Its eastern limit is 
 from Dunmanway to near Macroom, whence, stretching towards 
 Mallow, it constitutes the group of the Boghra mountains, 
 from which the northern edge of the slate district passes due 
 east and west, by Mill-street and Killarney, to tiic Atlantic 
 coast at Doulus Head. The coastward boundary of the upper 
 slate is remai'kable for the bold character of its promontories, 
 which, truly peninsular, project far into the ocean, and are 
 separated by the magnificent bays of Bantry and Kenmare. 
 Some of the most picturesque scenery of Ireland lies within 
 this fiokl, as well as some of the loftiest mountains ; Mangerton 
 and Macgillicuddy's Reeks, Dunloe, and Glengariff, have given 
 to this geographical district, a celebrity from which the oppor- 
 tunities for industrial enterprize which it presents, may pos- 
 sibly derive an extraneous interest. Independent of minor 
 objects, there may bo signalized as belonging to it, one of the 
 most productive copper districts, that of Allihies and Bereha- 
 ven, and in the island of Valentia, the quarries for slates and 
 flags, which afford so large an amount of profit and employment. 
 
 The peninsula of Dingle consists principally, its western 
 ha'if exclusively, of this upper slate; although it is geographi- 
 cally isolated from the main portion of the rock just noticed, 
 by the interposition of the limestone and of the Munster coal 
 formation, wliich at Oastlemain haven stretches down to the 
 coast. 
 
 In the other parts of Ireland the upper or Silurian slate is 
 found in but few localities, and there developed but to a small 
 extent. The most remarkable is at Pomcroy in Tyrone, on 
 the edge of the great mica-slate district of Derry, from which
 
 OF IRELAND, 175 
 
 it is separated by a narrow band of granite. This patch of 
 slate has become of much scientific importance from the study 
 of its peculiar fossils by Captain Portlock, but it does not pos- 
 sess any industrial features that interest us. 
 
 I have mentioned that the quartz rock, although not itself 
 possessing a stratified structure, is yet usually associated with 
 those formations of mica-slate and the upper and lower clay- 
 slates, and makes its appearance in great beds or projecting 
 veins, frequently capping the mountain ranges, or isolated 
 hills of the slate districts just now described. The greatest 
 development of quartz rock in Ireland, is in Mayo and in 
 Donegal. In Mayo the northern coast from Erris Head to 
 Bealdarig, consists of quartz, which extends inland to near 
 Lake Carramore, and to the south, some of the highest moim- 
 tains, as Nephin, in the interior of the county, are formed of 
 isolated masses of it. Similarly circumstanced are the Bina- 
 bola (twelve Pins) mountains in Connemara, which, situated 
 in the midst of mica-slate, consist of quartz. 
 
 In the north of Donegal are found vast veins of quartz, from 
 one to three miles broad, more or less interrupted by the ad- 
 jacent granite and mica-slate, and by the protrusions of green- 
 stone and primitive limestone. The largest and most inland 
 of these veins passes fromCullaff Bayin Innishowen, southwest 
 by Buncrana and Ramelton, crossing Lough S willy, and finally 
 tapering off at Firtown near Ardara. Its length is about 
 twenty-three miles. From this to the north-eastern coast, se- 
 veral parallel and similar beds occur, of which the highest 
 mountains in the county are composed, as Muckish, from which 
 such excellent sand for technical uses is obtained, andErrigal. 
 The north island of Arran also is formed by a projecting rock 
 of this materia] . 
 
 Proceeding south we meet with quartz in connexion with 
 the clay-slate of Wicklow and Wexford. The peninsula of 
 Howth, and the summits of the Sugarloaf Mountains and of 
 Bray Head, which give so much picturesque beauty to the en- 
 trance of Dublin Bay, are composed of quartz. In Wexford a 
 great number of isolated hills are capped with it, and the dis- 
 trict of Forth consists almost exclusively of this material ;
 
 1 76 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 this is the most southern point of Ireland in which quartz rock 
 is found. 
 
 Resting on the clay-slate, upper and lower, according to its 
 distribution, and occupying, in the geological series, the inter- 
 val extending from the upper slate to the carboniferous lime- 
 stone, occur a number of rocks, which extend over a very large 
 area of the country, and which, being by no means homo- 
 geneous, either in their mineral character or their chemical 
 composition, it is very difficult to describe without entering into 
 too much detail. These rocks are usually siliceous, the grain 
 varying from the finest sand to large pebbles ; they are hence 
 called sandstones, sandstone conglomerates, &c. The siliceous 
 material is cemented by a paste, usually aluminous, but more 
 or less coloured by iron, whence the trivial distinctive names, 
 as red or yellow, have been derived. In certain localities the 
 upper beds of this formation are less siliceous, and assume a 
 slaty structure, and hence Mr. Griffith, the highest authority 
 on the subject of our local geology, considers, that interposed 
 between the clay-slate and the limestone there may be dis- 
 tinguished three formations, — the old red sandstone, which is 
 lowest, and by far the most largely developed ; the yellow 
 sandstone, resting on the red, and usually accompanying 
 it ; and the carboniferous slate, which has been traced but in 
 one portion of Ireland, in Cork, where it occupies a considera- 
 ble area. 
 
 The old red sandstone is most extensively developed in the 
 south of Ireland; it forms the greater part of the county of Cork, 
 commencing to the west at the limits of the district of the up- 
 per slate, on which it rests, and extending eastwards until it 
 meets the ocean, to which it forms the boimdary of Cork and 
 Waterford along the greater portion of this coast. Stretch- 
 ing northwards from Cork, almost to the foot of the Wexford 
 granitic ridge, the mountain ranges of Knockmeldon and Com- 
 meragh, and also those of the Galtees, and the Rooley moun- 
 tains, are constituted of this old red sandstone : these moun- 
 tain groups being only separated by the valleys of the Black- 
 water and Suir, into which the limestone of the central plain 
 ramifies. The highest portions of these mountains generally
 
 OF IRELAND. 177 
 
 shew the clay-slate breaking out from under the red sandstone, 
 and illustrating the geological order of superposition, whilst 
 along their flanks, where they emerge from contact with the 
 limestone, a fringe of the more recent yellow sandstone is ge- 
 nerally to be traced. 
 
 More to the centre, a great number of isolated patches of 
 this sandstone break through the general flatness of the lime- 
 stone country, especially in Longford and Roscommon; but 
 the greatest development of it, within that district, is in the 
 range of mountains which, under various names of Slieve 
 Boughta, Silvermines, Slieve Bloom, the Arra, Slieve Phelim, 
 &c., occupies a considerable area in the counties of Clare, Lime- 
 rick, and Tipperary, and in the Queen's County, extending 
 north and south from Limerick to near Loughrea, and east- 
 wards to near Mountmellick. The central and highest points 
 of the several portions of these mountains are of clay-slate ; 
 the flanks and general mass are old red sandstone, whilst the 
 edge is fringed with the newer or yellow sandstone, on which 
 the limestone of the sm'rounding level country rests. Through 
 a gorge in this mountain range, at Killaloe, the Shannon rushes, 
 its vast waters being precipitated from the level expanse of 
 Lough Derg down the rapids of Doonas and Castletroy to- 
 wards Limerick. In the Arra mountains on the eastern side 
 of the lake, are the well known slate quarries of Killaloe, which, 
 together with numerous localities of mineral and metallic sub- 
 stances in this district, will be hereafter noticed. 
 
 Between the mica-slate, clay-slate, and quartz rocks, which 
 form the west of Mayo, and the limestone, is interposed a 
 large tract of old red and yellow sandstone, which from the 
 north coast at Killala, skirts by Loughs Conn and Cullin, and 
 reaches the Atlantic again at Westport. In Tyrone another 
 large field of old red sandstone apjiears. It extends from near 
 Cookstown to the shores of Lough Erne, about twenty miles, 
 and its breadth is about six miles, marked by Omagh and Bal- 
 lygawley, which are just on its boundary. Scattered around, 
 and some miles from it, are several smaller patches of the same 
 rock, and of the yellow sandstone, which, however, could not 
 be described without entering too much into detail. This sand* 
 N
 
 178 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 stone district may be considered as interposed between the 
 great mica-slate formation of Derry and Donegal, and the more 
 southern limestone country, of which the arms stretch up by 
 Monaghan and Clogher to Coal Island and the basin of Lough 
 Neagh. 
 
 The only locality in which the third member of this geologi- 
 cal series, the carboniferous slate, is found developed, is on 
 the south-eastern coast of Cork. There it rests on the yellow 
 and red sandstone, and forms a band, of which the usual 
 breadth, as from near Bandon to the Old Head of Kinsale, is 
 about seven miles, and the greatest length, from Dunmanus 
 Bay to the mouth of Cork harbour, about thirty-four miles. 
 In the promontories of Dunmanus and Skibbereen, the central 
 mountain ridges are of the old red sandstone, on which, at each 
 side near the coast, rests the carboniferous slate : the newer 
 rock, as in most instances, occupying the troughs or more 
 level area between the bolder elevations of those lower in geo- 
 logical order. Several valuable mines of copper, lead, and 
 manganese are situated in this rock. 
 
 Already in the commencement of this work, the general 
 distribution of the limestone rock, and also of the strata of the 
 coal formation which rest upon it, has been noticed ; and at- 
 tention was directed to the great development of the millstone 
 grit, or sandstone of the coal formation, in Leitrini and Ros- 
 common, the circumstances of which, particulai-ly the marine 
 cliaracter of its fossils, induce Jlr. Grifltith to consider it a dis- 
 tinct formation, lying between the carboniferous limestone and 
 the true coal strata. The Connaught coal field would, there- 
 fore, require, in a purely geological sense, to be distinguished 
 fi-om the other coal districts which are not connected with the 
 millstone grit formation, but are more recent and superior to 
 it, in order ofsuperposition. These considerations are, however, 
 of interest only in philosophical geology; they are not con- 
 cerned in the practical description of our coal districts given 
 in a preceding chapter, and hence do not require further notice. 
 The limestone strata yield for industrial purposes a great va- 
 ri(!ty of building stones and marbles. Tiie sandstones and con- 
 glomerates are used for building, and for millstones. The
 
 OF IRELAND. 179 
 
 most important localities for such uses will be hereafter enu- 
 merated. 
 
 The rocks superior in geological order to the coal formation, 
 are found in Ireland to occupy but a very limited area, being 
 confined almost exclusively to the north-eastern corner of the 
 island, forming the county of Antrim, with some portions of the 
 contiguous counties of Derry and Armagh. In an ascending 
 order the rocks met with in this district are, magnesian lime- 
 stone, new red sandstone, black shale, lias limestone, green- 
 sand, and chalk. These rocks present themselves, however, 
 but on the edges of the district, as the whole is covered with 
 a thick mass of tabular trap (basalt), from which the most 
 characteristic features of the country are derived. Viewed 
 from a distance it appears as a high table land rising from the 
 flat country, or from the sea. Its outline is marked by lofty 
 precipices and barren cliffs, especially along the eastern coast, 
 where masses of black trap from 200 to 300 feet in thickness, 
 often columnar, surmoimting precipices of chalk, of dazzling 
 brightness, of 60 or 100 feet high, present a series of objects, 
 which, for beauty of conti'ast and pictm-esque effect, are sel- 
 dom rivalled. 
 
 The vast flood of trap and basaltic rocks which overspread 
 this part of Ireland, has, in many cases, so altered the mineral 
 character of the underlying rocks as to render them very un- 
 like the rocks which occupy the same geological position in 
 England. Still they are completely identified by the fossil 
 contents, and in general distribution are as follows. 
 
 The magnesian limestone is found but at Hollywood, on the 
 southern side of Belfast Lough. It is a true dolomite, and 
 has been exported to Glasgow to make sulphate of magnesia. 
 In composition it is the same as the dolomites found in various 
 other places in Ireland, of which the more imjjortant shall be 
 noticed hereafter. 
 
 The new red sandstone, which in England covers so large 
 an area, and is of so much industrial importance, from its being 
 the depository of rock salt and gypsum, is with us but of very 
 limited extent, and is totally destitute of the former valuable 
 mineral. The sandstone, which is usually brownish red, con- 
 n2
 
 180 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 sisting of grains of quartz cemented by a paste, which, though 
 usually argillaceous, is sometimes calcareous, contains much 
 mica, and is often striped with various colours, from decompo- 
 sition of its ferruginous contents. This sandstone comes to 
 the surface at various points along the edges of the basaltic 
 field ; but its principal development is in the valley of the 
 Lagan, which it constitutes from above Moira by Lisburn to 
 Belfast. Resting on the sandstone are the gypseous marls, 
 which, as a source of plaster of Paris, I shall again notice. To 
 these succeed shales and limestones, which are of the forma- 
 tion termed lias, in England, and finally, the chalk, which pre- 
 sents all varieties of hardness, from its usually soft condition, 
 to that of a hard and granular, but beautifully white marble. 
 
 Some isolated patches of new red sandstone are found rest- 
 ing on the limestone of the more central districts, and also on 
 the coal district of Tyrone. The coal strata of Monaghan, 
 described pp. 15 and 173, are surmounted by the new red sand- 
 stone, and by marls, important for a large deposit of gypsxmi, 
 to which I shall again refer. 
 
 Strata of the tertiary epoch are found in Ireland, only at the 
 southern shore of Lough Neagh, where the clays containing 
 wood coal occur. These have been sufficiently noticed in page 
 31 as a source of fuel. 
 
 Finally, the igneous rocks, which, according to differences 
 in minute mineral character and structure, receive the various 
 names of trap, basalt, greenstone, &c., cover over the entire 
 table laud of Antrim, These rocks are remarkable for the 
 complexity of their chemical composition and the varieties of 
 imbedded minerals which they contain. They are hence de- 
 composed with great rapidity, and produce ochres and clays of 
 various and beautiful colours, of which beds of great extent 
 occur in Antrim. The soil formed round the edges of this dis- 
 trict, by the mixture of the decomposing trap and subjacent 
 rocks, is one of the most naturally fertile that is found in Ire- 
 land. 
 
 Such are the general characters of the geological structure 
 of Ireland. The various groups of rocks differ remarkably in
 
 OF IRELAND. 181 
 
 their chemical composition, and consequently are applicable to 
 very diversified uses. Their composition, and also the cir- 
 cumstances under which they have been found, and the agen- 
 cies to which they have been subjected since their formation, 
 influence materially their mineral contents, and it will be found 
 that the distribution of the several kinds of mineral substances 
 of use in the arts, coincides very closely with the geological 
 arrangement of the rocks. It will be more convenient, how- 
 ever, for the present, to abandbn all geological considerations, 
 and merely consider how the several mineral substances of 
 leading interest are circumstanced in Ireland. 
 
 1st. Of the Copper Mines. 
 
 The ores of this valuable metal are found distributed through- 
 out the clay-slate districts in a great number of localities, 
 more or less abundantly. In many places the indications are so 
 trifling g,s not to offer any inducement to enterprize ; in others, 
 so abundant as to have given origin to numerous extensive 
 and prosperous mining establishments. The mines of copper 
 at present in practical work, may be conveniently described 
 as forming three great groups, all on the sea side. The first, 
 in the county Wicklow, occupying the valley of the Ovoca. 
 The second is in the county of Waterford, occupying the dis- 
 trict of Knockmahon, and the third, occupying the south- 
 western angle of the island, is situated in the southern por- 
 tions of Cork and in Kerry. Each of these districts deserves 
 special examination. A number of smaller mines which are 
 scattered through other parts of Ireland may be noticed more 
 brieflj' afterwards. 
 
 Before proceeding to that subject it will be found convenient 
 to remark, that the copper ores most usually found, and which 
 alone become practically of importance, are three in number. 
 
 1st. The carbonate of copper, of which there are two kinds, 
 green and blue. The green, or malachite, is not unusual in 
 mines, but occurs only in small quantity. It is very rich in metal 
 and very easily worked. It consists of carbonic acid, water, 
 and oxide of copper in the following proportions.
 
 182 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 Oxide of copper, 72-07 
 
 Carbonic acid, 19-82 
 
 Water, 8-11 
 
 100-00 
 It hence yields 57 '7 per cent, of copper. 
 
 This mineral, when pure, possesses a beautiful structure and 
 colour, which render it very valuable for ornamental uses. 
 
 The blue carbonate is still rarer tliantho green. It is termed 
 azurite. Its composition is, 
 
 Carbonic acid, 25-43 
 
 Oxide of copper, 69-36 
 
 Water, 5-21 
 
 100-00 
 
 and it yields 55-5 per cent, of copper. 
 
 2nd. The subsulphuret of copper, grey copper ore. This ore 
 is sometimes found very abundantly, and is the most valuable 
 of all the ores of copper. More commonly, however, it is only 
 found in small pieces mixed with the ordinary ore. It consists 
 of 
 
 Sulphur, 20 
 
 Copper, 80 
 
 100 
 
 3rd. The ordinary, or yellow copper ore, copper pyrites. 
 Tills mineral, knowu by its brilliant golden yellow colour, is a 
 double sulphurot of iron and copper, and contains, when pure, 
 
 Sulphur, 34-78 
 
 Copper, 34-78 
 
 Iron, 30-44 
 
 100-00 
 In some of the foreign mines the grey sulphuret is the pre- 
 dominant mineral, but in all the Irish, indeed also in all the 
 English mines, it is the copper pyrites which forms the material 
 produce; the other ores being but casually found and in very 
 triflingjiuautity.
 
 OF lUKLAND. 183 
 
 The copper pyrites is associated almost universally with 
 iron pyrites, the bi-sulphuret of iron, the peculiar uses of which 
 shall be hereafter specially noticed. The effect of this mixture 
 is to reduce the per centage of copper, which is further de- 
 pressed by the impossibility of separating, even by the most per- 
 fect machinery, all the adherent rock and veinstone from the 
 ore. Hence copper ore, which contains 12 or 15 per cent, of 
 copper, as sent to market, is considered very rich. The average 
 produce of the copper mines of Cornwall does not exceed 7 per 
 cent. The ore is of course valued according to the quantity 
 of copper which it contains, subject to certain deductions, which 
 it is not here necessary to explain. 
 
 Metallic ores are very rarely found disseminated through the 
 general substance of the containing rock, indeed where they 
 are so, they are seldom worth the trouble of extracting. A rock 
 of which the mechanical and chemical structure is uniform, 
 very seldom contains any important quantity of copper or 
 other ores. These occur where a rock has been violently acted 
 upon subsequent to its formation ; its strata dislocated and its 
 substance split up by the forcible entry of other kinds of rocks, 
 which, penetrating its mass, form veins, ramifying in various 
 directions, and traceable sometimes for hundreds of miles. It 
 is in those veins, Avhere many different materials are brought 
 into contact, and that the forces of heat and electricity probably 
 awakening the chemical affinities of the elements of the rocks, 
 induce their action on one another, that metallic deposits occur : 
 the vein rock, which is very commonly quartz or sulphate of 
 barytes, or fluor spar, having within it or at its side a vein of 
 ore more or less rich, but unfortunately very capricious in its 
 distribution and in its magnitude. Usually, however, the more 
 violent the action on the containing rocks appears to have been, 
 the richer are its metallic contents. If several veins meet, cross, 
 and shatter one another, the ore is likely to occur in masses 
 or bunches at this point, and where the structure of therock be- 
 comes regular, almost universally the metallic veins disappear. 
 The substance of the vein rock is often termed the gangue or 
 matrix of the ore, or the veinstone. The separation of the ore 
 from it, by picking, pounding, and washing, forms an extensive
 
 184 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 series of operations, for the description of which the standard 
 works on mining and metallurgy may be consulted. 
 
 Such being the circumstances under which metallic ores are 
 usually found, I shall pass to the description of the districts of 
 the copper mines of Ireland. 
 
 1st. Of the Wlcklow District The principal features of this 
 
 district have been so accurately described by Mr. Weaver, who 
 was for many years principal conductor of the mines, that I 
 shall do little more than abridge his description, and add thereto 
 such facts as I have been able to collect illustrative of their 
 subsequent progress and their present condition. 
 
 The metalliferous clay-slate district occupies but a small 
 space, being very narrow in breadth, and not more than ten 
 miles long, from Croghan-Kinshela on the south, towards 
 West Acton on the north. 
 
 Metallic substances are diffused throughout the entire space, 
 in slight layers, in cotemporaneous veins, and in massy beds, 
 which last are principally composed of copper pyrites and iron 
 pyrites. The line of the excavations of the works in Connoree 
 and Tigroney extended in 1819 upwards of 1000 fathoms. At 
 various depths in the mass of the clay-slate occur beds of what 
 is technically termed soft ground, which consists of decomposed 
 slate of various tints, abounding in particles of jiyrites of 
 iron, and sometimes copper and arsenic, and usually accom- 
 panied by a considerable body of greyish or yellowish-white 
 clay. When brought to the surface and exposed to the action 
 of the air, these bodies rapidly decompose, and absorbing 
 oxygen form alum, sulphate of iron, and sulphate of copper. 
 A similar decomposition takes place under ground, and hence 
 the drainage water of the district contains a very sensible quan- 
 tity of copper, which has been, and indeed is, economized by 
 conveying the water as well from the lower as from the upper 
 mines into tanks, where the muddy particles are allowed to 
 subside. The clean water is then run into pits containing scrap 
 iron, which causes the precipitation of the copper and dissolves 
 in its place. An idea of the ijuantity of copper thus saved 
 from waste, may be formed from the fact, that during Mr. 
 Weaver's management there were 442^ tons of impure preci-
 
 OF IRELAND. 185 
 
 pitated copper sold, the value of which was £12 12s. per ton. 
 The quantity of iron consumed was 429 tons, 14 cwt. 
 
 Each bed of soft ground contains one or more layers of cop- 
 per pyrites, or mere iron pyrites, varying in thickness, and 
 sometimes acquiring a breadth of several fathoms. Five of 
 such beds are met with, one in Connoree, two in the old or 
 upper mine of Cronebane, one in the new or lower mine, and 
 one in Tigroney. That in Connoree contains abed of ore about 
 four feet thick, consisting of a fine-grained intermixture of 
 galena (sulphuret of lead), grey ore (sulphuret of antimony), 
 and blende (sulphuret of zinc), with pyrites of copper, iron, 
 and arsenic. A similar compound occurs in the second bed of 
 the upper mine of Cronebane. The more southern bed contains 
 much iron pyrites, and has yielded, at different periods, some 
 thousand tons of grey copper ore, which, in the greater depth 
 of the mine, passes into copper pyrites. The third bed, in 
 Cronebane, situated on the western side of the hill, has proved 
 the most valuable, the greater part of its width being occupied 
 by copper ore, which in the upper part consisted principally of 
 grey ore, but at greater depths passed into copper pyrites with 
 iron pyrites. The bed of solid ore has varied from one to three 
 fathoms in breadth ; no quartz or spar of any kind attends these 
 beds. The more productive parts of the bed have, in several 
 instances, yielded from ten to fifteen tons of merchantable ore 
 per cubic fathom, the average produce of which has varied 
 from five to seven per cent, of copper. The bed in Tigroney 
 had yielded only iron pyrites when Mr. Weaver wrote. 
 
 Beds of iron pyrites, from a few feet to some fathoms in 
 thickness, have appeared in the firm and flinty slate, as in the 
 deep levels of Tigroney and Cronebane. In the flinty slate are 
 found also several cotemporaneous veins of quartz, having rich 
 copper pyrites, accompanied sometimes by azure copper ore, 
 and whose average produce is from 10 to 12 per cent, of cop- 
 per. These veins range with the slate, ramifying, and where 
 they coalesce, forming a body sometimes twelve feet wide, with 
 four or five feet of solid ox"e, but they seldom continue produc- 
 tive for more than thirty fathoms in length. Small veins of 
 this description are very numerous. 
 
 The mines of Connoree, Cronebane, and Tigroney, so often
 
 186 
 
 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 mentioned above, are situated on the north bank of the Ovoca 
 River. The structure and circumstances of the southern side, 
 on which are the mines of Ballymurtagh and Ballygahan, are 
 precisely similar. It is, therefore, unnecessai-y to enter on a 
 description, which should be mainly a repetition of what has 
 been already said. 
 
 The quantity and value of the ore raised in th s district, at 
 various periods, may be inferred from the following numbers. 
 
 In the twelve years ending 1799, the mines of Cronebane 
 yielded 7533 tons of ore, containing 9 per cent, of copper. 
 
 In the twelve years ending 1811, the produce was 1934§ tons, 
 containing 5^ per cent, of copper. 
 
 After this period, owing to many conspiring causes, very 
 little ore was raised for many years. 
 
 Mr. Griffith states, that in 1826 the copper ore raised in 
 Cronebane sold in Swansea for £12,354 14s., and the ore raised 
 at Ballymurtagh sold for £3373. The latter was worked by 
 the Hibernian jMining Company, on a single metallic bed, con- 
 taining copper pyrites with some blende. The lode (vein) at 
 eighty fathoms depth yielded per fathom of driving four tons of 
 dressed ore, of 5i per cent, produce. The ore, he calculates, 
 cost the Company, when finished, £7 per ton, and certainly 
 left little, if any, profit. 
 
 The following tables, illustrative of the actual condition of 
 the mines of this district, have been extracted from the notes 
 of sales at Swansea, and from notices published in the Mining 
 Jommal. 
 
 The quantities of copper ore from each mine, which was sold 
 at Swansea, and its value, was in 1836 : 
 
 MINE. 
 
 TONS. 
 
 VALUE. 
 
 Ballymurtagh 
 
 Connorce, 
 
 Croni'baiu' and Tigroney, 
 Ballygahan, 
 
 4659 
 
 2158 
 
 4691 
 
 305 
 
 £ S. d. 
 
 19,943 12 
 
 10,960 10 
 
 23,497 10 
 
 1,417 
 
 11,813 
 
 55,818 12
 
 OF IRELAND. 
 
 187 
 
 In 1840 ; 
 
 MINE. 
 
 TONS. 
 
 VALUE. 
 
 Ballyraurtagh, .... 
 Cronebane and Tigroney, 
 
 Connoree, 
 
 Ballygahan, 
 
 3274 
 
 3017 
 
 158 
 
 198 
 
 £ S. d. 
 
 6,956 2 
 
 12,889 8 6 
 
 1,250 8 
 
 346 5 
 
 6647 
 
 21,442 3 6 
 
 In 1843 ; 
 
 MINE. 
 
 TONS. 
 
 VALUE. 
 
 Ballymurtagli, .... 
 
 Connoree, 
 
 Cronebane and Tigroney, 
 Ballygahan, .... 
 
 1385 
 
 654 
 
 1160 
 
 28 
 
 £ S. d. 
 
 4,866 19 
 
 2,512 
 
 5,438 2 
 
 100 18 
 
 3227 
 
 12,917 19 
 
 It would hence appear, that the quantity of ore raised in this 
 district had very much diminished since 1836, but such is not 
 actually the case ; on the contrary, the activity of industry in 
 those mines, as well as the profits to their undertakers, is, as 
 I understand, steadily on the increase. The quantity of ore 
 sold at Swansea has, however, fallen off very much, as is shewn* 
 by the above returns, owing to the copper being now exten- 
 sively smelted in the neighbourhood of Liverpool, and also to 
 the poorer ores of the Wicklow district being extensively ex- 
 ported to various localities of chemical manufacture, where the 
 sulphur, as well as the copper which they contain, is econo- 
 mized. The true produce of this district at present may be 
 judged by the following table of the ores raised and sold from 
 the Ballymurtagh mine, worked by the Wicklow Copper 
 Mining Company, for which I am indebted to the kindness of 
 Mr. Wright.
 
 188 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 " BALLYMURTAGH, CO. WICKLOW. 
 
 YEAR. 
 
 PRODUCE. 
 
 GROSS 
 
 VALUE. 
 
 SOLD AT 
 
 PAID IN 
 WAGES. 
 
 COPPER 
 ORE. 
 
 IRON 
 PYRITES. 
 
 SWANSEA. 
 
 OTHER PORTS. 
 
 1840 
 1841 
 1842 
 1843 
 
 Tons. 
 4839 
 4617 
 7549 
 6555 
 
 Tons. 
 5334 
 
 18575 
 9023 
 8376 
 
 £ 
 
 29596 
 34493 
 29113 
 24238 
 
 £ 
 1256 
 
 5897 
 
 £ 
 
 29596 
 34493 
 27857 
 18341 
 
 £ 
 
 9927 
 16312 
 15371 
 
 10985 
 
 '• Average produce of copper ore, 4^ per cent. 
 " Average number of persons employed, 700. 
 
 " W. Hodgson Wright." 
 
 In this table is given the quantity of iron pyrites sold by the 
 Company : its price is included in the gross values given. 
 
 It is here seen that the industry of this region has acquired 
 a vast development within the last ten years. This arose from 
 another branch of mining industry coming into play ; the trade 
 in iron pyrites as a source of sulphur. In tlie Wicklow district 
 the copper ore is associated with such vast quantities of iron 
 pyrites, that in order to raise it, it is necessary to quarry the 
 latter to a large amount, which very much enhanced the cost. 
 But when there arose an outlet for the bisulphuret of iron, 
 the mining for the copper ore became much more remunerative, 
 and hence the vast quantities which have been sent to market 
 since that period. 
 
 It has been seen that by the operations of the Ballymurtagh 
 mine, about £12,000 is annually distributed in wages to about 
 700 persons. Including the other mines, the total number of 
 persons deriving employment from the mineral industry of the 
 Ovoca district may be considered as brought up to about two 
 thousand. 
 
 2nd. Of the Waterford District The geological character 
 
 of the slate district of Waterford has been already noticed. 
 That part of it which includes tlu; Knockmahon mines, is situated 
 on Iho sea coast, close to tiie vilhi'n' ol'lJonuiahon, and extends
 
 OF IRELAND. 189 
 
 from the Bay of Dimgarvan on the west, to the Bay of Tramore 
 on the east. It has been long known for its mineral treasures ; 
 many of the metalliferous veins having been worked by the 
 ancient inhabitants. One almost insulated promontory is per- 
 forated like a rabbit burrow, and is known as the Dane's 
 Island; the peasantry attributing these ancient mines, like all 
 other relics of remote civilization, to that enterprizing people. 
 In the abandoned workings antique tools have been found, 
 stone hammers and chisels, and wooden shovels. These work- 
 ings were easily carried on, as the metalliferous veins presented 
 themselves at the face of the cliffs on the sea shore, and they 
 were abandoned as soon as, by the accumulation of water, or 
 an exhaustion of the richer ores, they became difficult to ma- 
 nage. 
 
 Within a range of three miles, taking Bonmahon as a centre, 
 a great number of lodes of lead and copper are distinguishable 
 in the cliffs, some of considerable Avidth, but others compara- 
 tively small. The direction of the principal lodes is about 20° 
 south of east, but others vary considerably from this. The 
 principal lodes dip towards the north. The most productive 
 at present in course of working, occur in the clay-slate, 
 although they sometimes penetrate through the strata of other 
 rocks, as hornstone, which are found within the slate. In this 
 hornstone Mr. Holdsworth has remarked the presence of several 
 ores of cobalt, but not in quantity. The lead veins, which con- 
 tained galena (sulphuret of lead), and calc spar, are not 
 worked. The cop2)er lodes consist of quartz, and produce na- 
 tive copper, sulphuret of copper, grey copper ore, and black 
 oxide of copper. Sulphuret of zinc, carbonate of iron, and sul- 
 phate of barytes occur occasionally, and also argentiferous 
 sulphuret of lead. 
 
 It has been seen already that there is found, in addition to 
 the ordinary clay-slate of this district (Cambrian slate), a small 
 deposit of the superior slate containing fossil remains (silu- 
 rian), which is found so much developed further south and 
 west. It is, however, here not of practical importance. 
 
 In the following letter from Captain Petherick, the manager 
 of these mines, additional circumstances of their structure,
 
 190 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 as well as their actual extent and workings, are well de- 
 scribed : 
 
 " My dear Sir, — The rock formation in which the metalli- 
 ferous veins of this district occur is principally clay-slate of a 
 light blue colour, and immediately in contact with the produc- 
 tive part of the vein it is generally in a softened or partially 
 decomposed state. 
 
 " The veins are composed of hard compact quartz, inter- 
 mixed occasionally, particularly where they prove unproduc- 
 tive, with angular fragments of clay-slate ; the quartz is the 
 matrix of the ore. 
 
 " Our principal vein varies in width from six inches to up- 
 wards of thirty feet, but its average size is probably from ten 
 to twelve feet : it is, in fact, an unusually large lode ; nume- 
 rous smaller veins also occur on each side of it, some of which 
 have been worked with partial success, but as far as they have 
 yet been explored, they have vmiformly become small and un- 
 productive in depth, and at present our operations, with a 
 few trifling exceptions, are exclusively confined to the larger 
 vein. 
 
 " The mining ground leased to the Mining Company, ex- 
 tends about four miles along the coast, and nearly three miles 
 inland. 
 
 " Grey snlphuret of copper, native copper, and the red 
 oxide of copper, occur occasionally in the shallow workings, 
 but in comparatively small quantities ; the most abundant, 
 and therefore the most remunerative ore, is the yellow pyrites, 
 and in the deeper levels no other kind of ore is met with. 
 
 "The average per centage of the produce of these mines is 
 9» to 10 per cent. 
 
 "The greatest depth we have yet worked is about 800 feet 
 from the surface ; and the greatest length of our underground 
 workings is rather more than an English mile, in a direct 
 line. 
 
 " The number of persons in constant employment in these 
 mines is about 1200; and of that number 140 are females em- 
 ployed in cleaning the ores. No females are ever permitted to 
 go underground.
 
 OF IRELAND. 191 
 
 " It is a remarkable characteristic of this district, at least 
 I have never observed it elsewhere, that a part of the vein is 
 composed of a conglomerate of pepples of quartz and copper, 
 in an undurated clay-jjaste. Sometimes the fragments of 
 quartz are angular, but more frequently they occur in a 
 rounded state ; and occasionally the copper is disseminated in 
 small particles throughout the paste. When I have an op- 
 portunity I will take the liberty of sending you a few speci- 
 mens of the conglomerate, which I am sure will be interesting 
 to you. 
 
 ' ' Your's, very faithfully, 
 
 "John Petherick." 
 
 The mines of this district, at present working, consist of 
 four groups, which are held by the IMining Company of Ireland 
 from different proprietors. They are, Knockmahon, Kilduane, 
 Bonmahon, and Balinasisla. In the returns of ores sold, these 
 divisions are not distinguished, and hence the following table 
 gives only the aggregate produce, and the average value of 
 the entire : 
 
 YEAR. 
 
 TONS. 
 
 VALUE. 
 
 1836, . . 
 
 . . 3588, . . 
 
 . . £33,166 
 
 1840, . . 
 
 . . 7875, . . 
 
 . . 63,087 
 
 1843, . . 
 
 . . 9101, . . 
 
 . . 62,956 
 
 It is seen by this table how rapidly these mines have been 
 extended by the energies of the Mining Company, under the 
 zealous and skilful direction of Mr. Purdy and Captain Pethe- 
 rick. This extension has been accompanied by some very re- 
 markable circumstances, to which I shall hereafter direct at- 
 tention. 
 
 The ores are dressed at Knockmahon by very perfect ma- 
 chinery, which is set in motion by overshot wheels, of which 
 one is forty feet diameter and four feet wide : for which there 
 is an ample supply of water. In these operations, as well as in 
 mining, employment is given altogether to an average of 1200 
 persons, whose earnings fluctuate with the produce of the mine. 
 The sum paid by the Mining Company for labour, in this dis- 
 trict, is not less than £2300 per month.
 
 192 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 3rd. Of the soutli-western District The space occupied by 
 
 the clay-slate i'onuation in the counties of Cork and Kerry, 
 has been found rich in mineral indications ; but in many cases, 
 where ti'ials have been made, often at very great expense, the 
 result has been unpromising. Of these failures many may be 
 traced to the incompetency or imprudence of the undertakers, 
 but others to the peculiarities in the nature of the ground, 
 which could not have been foreseen. Some mines have been 
 remarkably productive, of which the Allihies mine, belonging 
 to Mr. Puxley, and conducted by Captain Read, is an excellent 
 example. Although indications of metalliferous veins have 
 been noticed in all parts of this vast district, it is especially 
 towards its edge, round the sea coast, where it is more or less 
 in contact with, or in the vicinity of the older slate, or of the 
 old red sandstone, that the more important deposits are found, 
 and hence proceeding from east to west we may trace the series 
 of mining localities of greater or less importance from Skib- 
 bcreen in Cork, to Kenmare and Killarney. 
 
 Between Skibbereen and Skull, at the village of Ballydehob, 
 a vein of copper ore was found of considerable extent upon the 
 surface, and of good produce. This mine was worked with 
 activity for about four years ; it gave employment to about 
 200 persons, and many thousand tons of ore were shipped to 
 Swansea. It was foimd, however, that according as the work- 
 ings descended below the surface the lodes became impove- 
 rished, and it was ultimately abandoned as unprofitable. It is 
 stated that parties are about to make new trials of this mine. 
 
 About ten miles west of Skibbereen, on the property of Lord 
 Audley, are metalliferous veins in great number, on which 
 mines have been opened, known as the Audley mines, and 
 which, like the Arigna Iron Company, have been the means of 
 bringing into disrepute Irish industrial enterprises, through 
 the fault of jobbing speculators in London. The district of 
 these mines comprises about 5500 acres. The principal lodes 
 are three in number, not far asunder. The first consists of 
 quartz, with bright yellow copper and iron pyrites, which has 
 lu-'cn found to contain usually about 8 per cent, of copper. In 
 the second, which has been but littli' worked upon, particles of
 
 OF IRELAND. 193 
 
 carbonate of copper (malachite), with nodules of grey sulphu- 
 ret of copper, are disseminated through the clay-slate rock. 
 The third, the Cappagh lode, is that which was principally 
 worked upon. It contained copper pyrites and grey copper 
 ore. The produce was so rich, as to give 55 to 65 per cent, of 
 copper, but these indications, so favourable near the surface, 
 diminished as the works went down, and the mines were, after 
 some time, abandoned. It being considered that their failure 
 in the hands of Mr. Hall, their first undertaker, arose from 
 want of capital, the Mining Company of Ireland took them in 
 hands, and expended £12,000 in fully examining their value. 
 The shaft on Cappagh was sunk to 120 fathoms, and works 
 were extended in levels 200 fathoms. The indications of the 
 veins on the surface shewed that they should intersect at that 
 depth, and it was hoped that, as very frequently occurs in 
 mines, a great deposit of metallic ore should be found at the 
 junction. On the contrary, it was discovered, that after their 
 junction they became unproductive, and the works were aban- 
 doned. At Horse Island, similarly, the ore near the surface 
 yielded in some cases 55 per cent, of copper, and 230 tons 
 which were sold at Swansea, realized £2800, but on the shaft 
 being sunk to forty fathoms, the lode, like the others, became 
 impoverished, and the IMining Company surrendered their lease 
 to the proprietor of the soil. A company was afterwards 
 formed in London, which purchased at an enormous sum, up- 
 wards of £100,000, the right of working these abandoned 
 mines, and their affairs have been in litigation ever since. The 
 whole produce sold by this Company (the West Cork Mining 
 Company) appears, by the Swansea returns, to have been 173 
 tons of ore, which realized £1601 12s. A comjiany formed as 
 that was could not come to good in any way, and it is to be 
 hoped, that the future operations in this field may be executed 
 by persons more deserving of success, and more competent to 
 secure it. 
 
 South of the district of the Audley mines, on the shores of 
 Roaring-water Bay, are situated the mines of Roaring-water, 
 of Cosheen, and of Skull. At Roaring-water the lode is fri-
 
 19-i INDl'STRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 able quartz and gossan, with bunches of black and grey cop- 
 per ore. As the workings descend, this passes into rich yellow 
 copper pyrites, which is described as free from iron pyrites. 
 This is a new mine. I do not know that it has yet sent any 
 ore to market. I trust that the indications of rich produce 
 shewn upon the surface, may not be found to vanish further 
 down. 
 
 Of the mines of Cosheen and Skull, the former is situated 
 on the shore, the latter on the island of that name. The 
 Cosheen mine was commenced in 1839 by Messrs. Connell and 
 M 'Mullen of Cork. It is advantageously situated on the side 
 of a hill at Skull harbour. A deep adit level has been driven 
 in, just above high water mark, for about 250 fathoms, in the 
 course of the principal lode. This adit drains the mine, and 
 by it the ore is extracted ou a railway. The adit is now being 
 driven farther south to cut some parallel lodes which had been 
 suiierficially explored. The arrangements for working this 
 mine have been made on an extensive scale, under the direc- 
 tion of Mr. Thomas. The number of hands employed is about 
 130, and I trust, that its proprietors will continue to receive 
 the benefit they deserve, for an enterprize which has brought 
 comfort to a hundred families that had previously no employ- 
 ment. 
 
 The ore from these mines, which are but a short time open, 
 was, as given in the Swansea returns : 
 
 In 1840, Cosheen, 126 tons, value, . £1164 2 
 
 In 1843, Cosheen, 360 „ ,, . 2605 15 
 
 Skull, 84 ,, „ . 134 8 
 
 The most important mine in this district is that conducted 
 by Captain Reid, near Ballydonegan Bay, on the west side of 
 the promontory of Here. The existence of mineral deposits in 
 this locality was first recognized by Colonel Hall, and pointed 
 out by him to the projjrictor, Mr. Puxley. Tlic following par- 
 ticulars as to its actual state were communicated to me by its 
 very skilful manager : 
 
 This mine was commenced about thirty-three years ago,
 
 OK IRELAND. 195 
 
 under the name of the Allihies mine, but as the workings are 
 now removed from the land of Allihies, the name of the Bere- 
 haven mine has been adopted for it. In the space of three or 
 four miles are several veins, most of which run east and west, 
 and dip to the north. Some of these were found on trial un- 
 productive, and were abandoned ; but two veins, one called 
 the Mountain, being situated 450 feet above the level of the 
 sea, on a large east and west lode, the other, the Camlnche 
 vein, which rims north-east, have furnished the principal 
 workings. 
 
 In the JNIountain, a groat quantity of copper ore has been 
 raised ; there is still obtained about 200 tons per month, of 
 about 10 per cent, produce. The principal working is about 
 760 feet in length, and 852 feet in depth. The lode is sixty 
 feet wide in one place, but branches and narrows in other 
 places to three or four feet. It consists of quartz and cojjper 
 pyrites. It is all blasted with gunpowder. The deepest levels 
 had been hitherto rather unproductive, but just now, ore of 
 excellent promise has been raised from them. 
 
 The Caminche vein is worked for about 570 feet in length 
 and 912 in depth. The engine shaft sinks sixty feet more. 
 The~vein runs north-east and dips south-east. It has been 
 very productive ; the ore is cleaner than in the Mountain vein; 
 the breadth of the lode is from one to twelve feet. 
 
 There are employed in these mines about 1000 persons, as 
 follows : 
 
 Miners, 400 
 
 Smiths and joiners, 30 
 
 Helpers, 25 
 
 Laboui'ers, 245 
 
 Boys 170 
 
 Girls, 130 
 
 Mr. John Reid, who is engaged in this mine under the di- 
 rection of his father, kindly furnished me mth the following 
 analysis of the usual quality of ore : he found it composed of 
 o2
 
 196 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 Copper, 10-2 
 
 Iron 10-8 
 
 Sulphur, 14-8 
 
 Quartz, 63*9 
 
 Loss, 0-3 
 
 100-0 
 
 A short distance from these copper veins, is a vein of lead, 
 which was worked some years ago, and some ore raised, but 
 as it did not promise very well, the workings were not pro- 
 ceeded with. 
 
 Owing to the conformation of the surrounding country, there 
 is no command of water power at Allihies, and all the machi- 
 nery for crushing and dressing the ore is driven by steam en- 
 gines, of which there are five at work. 
 
 The ore raised in this mine is about the same quality as at 
 Knockmahon, varying from 10 to 13 per cent, of copper. In 
 the return made to the Railway Commissioners in 1837, the 
 average annual produce is given at from 6000 to 7000 tons, 
 valued at £9 per ton. I find by the returns of sales at Swan- 
 sea, that the produce was in 
 
 YEAR. TONS. VALUE. 
 
 1836, .... 6418 .... £74,879 18 
 1840, .... 4808 .... 40,981 2 6 
 1843, .... 4446 .... 36,348 6 
 
 The produce has, therefore, diminished considerably in amount, 
 and still more in richness, but it is to be hoped that tliis may 
 not continue. 
 
 At Holyhill, near Bantry, workings have been executed on 
 a vein of copper ore, but are not now in operation. 
 
 At Ardtully, near Kenmare, is a copper mine worked by the 
 Kenmare Mining Association. The produce is the ordinary 
 copper pyrites of moderate richness. The principal shaft has 
 been sunk about twenty fathoms, and the levels extend about 
 sixty. The lode of (juartz and calc spar is about five feet 
 wide: it lies at the junction of the clay-slate and limestone.
 
 OF IRELAND. 197 
 
 In 1843, there were sold at Swansea from this mine thirty-one 
 tons of ore, wliich brought £275 18s. The workings of it are 
 as yet but in their infancy. There are about 100 persons em- 
 ployed on this and the lead mines belonging to the same com- 
 pany and situated close by. 
 
 The Lakes of Killarney mark the line of junction of the un- 
 derlying slate and sandstone rock, with the limestone which 
 fi*inges the Munster coal field. Along this line, metallic in- 
 dications have been found in several points, on two of which 
 mines were opened, which, although not now wrought, deserve 
 some notice from the extent to which they were at one time 
 worked, and the peculiar circumstances under which they 
 were abandoned. These localities are Mucruss and Ross 
 Island. 
 
 The Mucruss mine was situated near the head of the great 
 lake, by which, and the River Laune, a complete water com- 
 munication was opened to the sea at Castlemaine. The lode 
 was five feet wide, and was worked at the depth of thirty-six 
 fathoms on the front shaft, and about twenty by another, sunk 
 some distance to the east. The ore was copper pyrites mixed 
 with much iron pyrites. This mine was worked with great 
 profit from the years 1749 to 1754, but difficulties arising from 
 the circumstances of the European war caused its abandon- 
 ment. A curious fact in the history of this mine deserves at- 
 tention. There was found in great profusion a mineral of a 
 granulated metallic appearance, as hard as stone; its colour 
 on the surface dark blue, tending to a beautiful pink. It was 
 not copper ore ; it was thrown away as rubbish : nobody knew 
 what it was, except one workman, who recognized it to be 
 cobalt ore (arseniuret of cobalt), a mineral of great value, 
 from Avhich the beautiful blue glass and smalt blue is made. 
 This man managed to get away upwards of twenty tons of it 
 as rubbish. Long afterwards a more candid miner, who visited 
 the works and saw some specimens of it, told the proprietor 
 its value ; but the deposit of it had been worked out in order 
 to explore for copper ; the produce had been thrown away as 
 useless, and it only remained for the mine owner to ruminate
 
 198 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 on the fortune he might have made, if he had possessed a pro- 
 per knowledge of his business. 
 
 Ross Island, in the great Lake at Killarney, consists of 
 limestone ; the metallic lode which passes through it is parallel 
 to that of ]Mucruss. It dips under the lake at an angle of 30°, 
 which circumstance ultimately led to the abandonment of the 
 mine, for the ore being disseminated through a large quantity 
 of rock, the excavations were necessarily large, and the pursuit 
 of the richer veins was pushed so near the surface, that the 
 water of the lake broke in in such profusion as to render the 
 effective drainage impracticable. The quantity of rock brought 
 up with the ore was another source of loss, as the cost of dress- 
 ing was thereby rendered very heavy. The quantity of ore 
 raised whilst this mine was at work averaged 200 tons per month. 
 It was, however, very rich. The poorest sold for £14 per ton, 
 and the richest for £40 : the average being about £20. The 
 total value of the ore raised in four years, and sold at Swansea, 
 was £80,000. The number of hands employed was about 500. 
 In order to drain these mines a steam engine was put up, and 
 that an idea may be formed of how carelessly matters were ma- 
 naged at that time, it may be here mentioned, that whilst every 
 square mile of the vicinity furnished abundance of turf for the 
 trouble of cutting it, the steam engine was supplied with coals 
 from England at two guineas a ton. 
 
 The range of mountains which occupies the north of Tip- 
 perary, and forms the gorge of Killaloe, has been found to 
 contain several veins of lead and copper. Of these some are 
 now worked : others have been abandoned after trials, which 
 were not finally satisfactory. I shall notice these mines but 
 briefly. 
 
 These mountains consist of clay-slate, fringed in most 
 places by the old red and by the yellow sandstone, but in 
 others coming directly into contact with the edge of the lime- 
 stone of the plain. At such a junction is situated Silvermines, 
 deriving its name from old and profitable workings which are 
 now exhausted. A split between the limestone and clay-slate 
 of several fathoms wide at top, and twenty-five fathoms deep.
 
 OF IRELAND. 199 
 
 was occupied by soft decomposing clay, with lumps of sand 
 and limestone, cemented by various metallic substances, iron 
 ochre and pyrites, sulphuret and carbonate of lead, sulphuret 
 and carbonate of copper, and sulphuret of zinc. Lead was ex- 
 tracted from this mass, and the lead so obtained being un- 
 usually rich in silver, gave to the vicinity the name it at pre- 
 sent bears. 
 
 In the clay-slate tract, south of Silvermines, are several me- 
 talliferous veins. In Knockeenroe a powerful vein, consisting 
 of quartz and iron pyrites, with some galena, ranges nearly 
 east and west, and may be traced for a considerable distance, 
 until it sinks under the sandstone which caps the hill. In the 
 latter part of its course it contains copper pyrites. This vein 
 has been examined by Mr. Taylor, who, after some trials, gave 
 it up, and then the Mining Company of Ireland, at the time 
 when the monopoly of the sulphur trade had led to an active 
 demand for iron pyrites, essayed to work through the great 
 mass of sulphur oi-e, hoping that its sale would enable them to 
 finally ascertain the prospects of copper ore in its interior. 
 It was found, however, that the inland position of the mines, 
 and the refractory nature of the rock, rendered the iron py- 
 rites raised too costly for sale in the English market, and hence 
 the Company was obliged to abandon the investigation without 
 having penetrated through the vast body of sulphur ore which 
 forms the vein. Higher on the mountain, above the junction 
 of the sandstone and clay-slate, are three veins of smaller di- 
 mensions, they consist of quartz with sulphate of barytes, and 
 the sulphurets of lead, iron, and zinc. 
 
 In the valley of the Newport River are situated the mines of 
 Lackamore. The lode consists of carbonate of lime and iron, 
 bearing rich copper ore in bunches. This mine has been long 
 known and worked. In 1812, when Mr. Weaver wrote, the 
 workings had extended 120 fathoms in length, at a depth of 
 30 fathoms. After that time they were abandoned, but have 
 been recently brought into activity. There are now about 
 200 persons employed, and there were sold at Swansea from 
 this mine, in 1840, 111 tons of ore, which produced £1153 7s. > 
 and in 1843, 260 tons of ore, which realized <£ 238(3 IBs.
 
 200 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 In the slate district north of Dublin there have been found 
 veins containing ores of copper, which, however, were small 
 and irregular, and have not been found in any case, as yet, pro- 
 fitable to work. At Lough Shinny, near Rush, three veins oc- 
 cur, on which extensive workings have been made, and a good 
 deal of ore raised from time to 'time, but the operations do not 
 appear to be continuously carried on. On the coast at Sal- 
 tcrstown, in Louth, veins of lead and copper appear, which 
 were tried and abandoned by the Hibernian Mining Company. 
 At Brownstown, in IMeath, a vein of copper pyrites has been 
 found traversing the limestone. Some superficial workings 
 had been made upon this vein, but they have not been since 
 prosecuted. 
 
 In Tyrone, some miles from Dungannon, a number of masses 
 of grey sulphuret of copper have been found, some of consider- 
 able size ; they were imbedded in a soft vein in the conglome- 
 rate, resting on the old red sandstone, very near the junction 
 of the two rocks, and were coated with a film of malachite. 
 The geological character of the ground is certainly an unusual 
 one for a connected vein : but trial works are now being ex- 
 ecuted, and it is to be hoped that the enterprising undertakers 
 may be successful. The ore found is decidedly verj' rich ; spe- 
 cimens of it, which I examined, were pure grey sulphuret, 
 containing 80 per cent, of copper. 
 
 Such are the general features of the copper mines that have 
 been, or are now, worked in Ireland, so far as I have been 
 able to discover. Indications of copper have been reported 
 as found in several localities, that I have not noticed, as I as- 
 certained that no real workings had been made, and that the 
 evidence of the importance of the indications, did not appear 
 to be of sufficient weight to justify me in inserting them in the 
 present work. 
 
 In what has preceded it may be remarked, that I have spoken 
 always of the quantity of copper ore raised in the Irish mines 
 as being indicated by the returns of sales at Swansea. In fact, 
 the facilities afforded in that locality for the economical smelt- 
 ing of metallic ores are so great, that it has become the centre 
 of the C()ppt'r trade ; and the ores of Cuba, of Cornwall, and
 
 OF IRELAND, 201 
 
 of Ireland, mostly converge to South Wales, in order that the 
 metal may be extracted. In estimating the circumstances of 
 any locality where copper ore may be found, the means of con- 
 veying it to the shore for exportation foi'm, therefore, an im- 
 portant element : and fortunately almost all the districts in 
 Ireland, in which copper mines exist, lie directly on the coast, 
 or near our navigable rivers. 
 
 The treatment of the copper pyrites for the extraction of 
 the metal, consists in a long series of processes, alternately of 
 an oxidizing and deoxidizing character, which have for their 
 object to remove the sulphur and prevent the reduction of the 
 iron of the ore, whilst the copper may be separated in the me- 
 tallic state. These processes are altogether usually eight in 
 number, and are performed in reverberatory furnaces, at very 
 high temperatures. Hence the consumption of fuel is very 
 great, and its cost makes up a large proportion of the ex- 
 pense of the operation. I will briefly describe the nature of 
 this process, as it is of considerable interest in a scientific 
 point of view, and then point out the numerical estimate of its 
 cost. 
 
 The first object in the smelting process is to roast the ore 
 in a current of air, so that the sulphur may be burned out, 
 and the metals, copper and iron, may be oxidized. If the ore 
 contain arsenic, or other volatile impurities, they also are 
 driven off. Most of the sulphur passes away as sulphurous 
 acid gas, but some remains as sulphuric acid united with the 
 oxides of iron and of copper. If now this mixture were at once 
 submitted to a reducing action, the metal obtained would be a 
 mixture of iron and copper ; this is to be avoided, for such a 
 product would be very intractable and difficult to purify. It 
 is necessary to reduce the copper without reducing the iron, 
 and for this, advantage is taken of the principle that the sili- 
 cates of the metallic oxides are not reducible by contact with 
 carbon. The quartz, which usually forms the vein-stone in 
 copper mines, remains attached to the particles of ore in such 
 quantity, as generally to constitute half its weight. Now when 
 the roasted ore is subjected to a strong heat, the silica of the 
 quartz unites with the metallic oxides, and forms silicates ; but
 
 202 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 as it is wished to form oaly silicate of iron, the oxide of copper 
 must be protected, and this is done by adding to the roasted 
 ore, lime, or else a quantity of the slags formed in a subsequent 
 process, and which consist principally of oxide of iron. Either 
 of these being a stronger base than the oxide of copper, com- 
 bines with the silica in preference, and there is thus formed a 
 fusible slag containing silicates of lime and iron, and a very 
 impure metallic copper which flows underneath. In this part 
 of the process also, the residual sulphur is expelled, for the 
 silica, in combining with the metallic oxides, expels the vo- 
 latile sulphuric acid they had previously retained. 
 
 The mass of impure copper thus gotten, and termed matt or 
 coarse metal, is purified by a series of roastings and reduc- 
 tions, which act on the principle that iron is more oxidizable 
 than copper. The matt being melted is oxidized by the air, 
 the iron oxidizes first, and the scoriae of oxide which form on 
 the surface of the molten mass are skimmed off. Sometimes 
 sand is added, which combines with the oxide of iron, and 
 prevents any of it from being accidentally reduced by the 
 flame. In this way the iron is gradually all worked out, and the 
 copper assumes the characters by which it is known to be ab- 
 solutely pure. 
 
 These processes are best carried on with an ore which con- 
 tains from 8 to 10 per cent, of copper, and hence the advan- 
 tage which a central smelting district like Swansea presents, 
 of enabling the metallurgist to mix together ores of various 
 origin and richness, so as to produce accurately the composi- 
 tion with which his process succeeds best. Thus the poor ores 
 of Wicklow and of Cornwall serve to dilute the richer ores of 
 Cuba, of Berohaven, and Knockmahon. Such a mixture pre- 
 pared for smelting, and analysed by Mr. Richard Phillips, was 
 found to consist of 
 
 Copper, 9 
 
 Iron, 20 
 
 Sulphur, 14 
 
 Earthy materials, 57 
 
 100
 
 OF IRELAND. 203 
 
 This had been formed by mixing together equal parts of 
 Cornish ores, of ores from Knockmahon, and of Wicklow ore 
 from Connoree. 
 
 The fuel consumed in producing a ton of metallic copper is 
 usually reckoned at from 18 to 20 tons. The value of the ore 
 of course varies with the price of copper, which recently has 
 fallen very much. At 8^ per cent, of metal the weight of ore 
 necessary is 12^ tons, which may be considered as averaging 
 £6 10s. per ton. The coals cost in Swansea usually 6s. per 
 ton, 20 tons therefore cost £6 sterling, and as the ton of fine 
 copper is now worth about £90, the cost of fuel makes up about 
 6| per cent, of its value. If the copper ore raised in Ireland 
 were smelted on the coast, the price of fuel would be certainly 
 double that in Swansea, and make up 13^ per cent, of the cost 
 of the product. This precludes altogether the introduction of 
 this industry amongst us, but I shall have occasion to notice 
 certain operations to which the ore might be subjected before 
 exportation, and from which considerable advantage might be 
 derived. 
 
 Mr. Strom has recently directed attention to the great saving 
 of fuel in smelting copper ores by the method followed on the 
 Continent. This consists in roasting the ores in heaps in the 
 open air, and then smelting them in blast furnaces, not unlike 
 the high furnaces of the iron manufacture, but of smaller size. 
 In this manner the fine copper is produced with an expenditure 
 of 13^ tons of coal, almost exactly two-thirds of the quantity 
 consumed in the reverberatory ftirnaces employed in England. 
 He states also that there is actually a smaller loss of copp^ 
 during the operation. The money saving by this method 
 should be in Swansea £2, or in Ireland £4 per ton of fine cop- 
 per, and it is hence a subject well deserving consideration. 
 
 In order to complete this sketch of the industrial condition 
 of the copper mines of Ireland, I shall add the following resume 
 of their produce, as compared ^vith that of the English mining 
 district of Cornwall. 
 
 The total quantities and values of copper ores from Ireland 
 sold in Swansea were in
 
 204 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 1836, . 
 
 . 21,819 tons, . 
 
 . £163,864 10 
 
 value. 
 
 1840, . 
 
 . 19,580 „ . 
 
 127,910 13 
 
 „ 
 
 1843, . 
 
 . 17,509 „ . 
 
 . 117,625 4 
 
 „ 
 
 The apparent diminution arises from the causes described in 
 page 187, and which have principally affected the returns of 
 the Wieklow district. The total quantity of copper ore raised 
 in Ireland I believe to approximate, at present, closely to 
 25,000 tons per annum. 
 
 The quantity of copper ore raised in Cornwall was : 
 
 In 1780, . . . 24,433tons . . worth £171,231 
 
 In 1800, . . . 55,981 ,, . . „ 550,925 
 
 In 1820, ... 92,672 ,, . . „ 620,347 
 
 In 1838, . . . 145,688 ,, . . „ 857,779 
 
 In little more than half a century the produce of the Cornish 
 mines has been increased six-fold. It remains for us to apply 
 the same energy and perseverance to the development of our 
 mineral resources. 
 
 2nd. Of the Lead Mines. 
 
 Lead is even more extensively diffused through Ireland than 
 copper, and is found in a much greater variety of rocks, so 
 that I shall not endeavour to trace the distribution of our lead 
 mines in any geological point of view, but describe them in the 
 order of their practical importance, first noticing the constitu- 
 tion of the ores which they usually contain. 
 •That which is pre-eminently called lead ore is the yaleiia or 
 sulphurct of lead. In 100 parts it contains 
 
 Lead, 86-6 
 
 Sulphur, 13-4 
 
 Its colour is bluish grey; its lustre brilliant metallic: it 
 crystallizes in cubes, and when broken generally forms cubical 
 fragments ; but its structure varies very much. 
 
 The carbonate of lead, or white lead ore, is occasionally found 
 in quantity, but many mines do not contain it at all. It forms 
 white crystals or masses, which consist of
 
 OF IRELAND. 205 
 
 Lead, 77'6 
 
 Oxygen, 60 
 
 Carbonic acid, 16-4 
 
 100 
 
 The sulphate of lead is, like the carbonate, white and crys- 
 talline, but is distinguished from it by not dissolving in dilute 
 nitric acid. It contains 
 
 Lead, 68-4 
 
 Oxygen, 5-3 
 
 Sulphuric acid, 26-3 
 
 100-0 
 This ore is of still less frequent occurrence than the carbo- 
 nate. Both may be considered as only accidentally present, 
 the lead ore, for which a mine is worked, being always the 
 galena. 
 
 The granitic district of Dublin and Wicklow is intersected 
 by a great number of veins containing ores of lead ; they lie 
 along its eastern boundary, and cross, in an oblique direction, 
 the juncture of the granite with the mica-slate. Veins have 
 been worked along this line at Dalkey, and Killiney, on Bally- 
 corus, at Powerscourt, Djouce, Lough Bray, Lough Dan, 
 Glenasane, Glendalough, Glenmalur, and Shillelagh. Of these 
 many have been found ultimately unproductive, and the only 
 portions of this district which it is necessary to describe in 
 detail, are those of Glendalough, of Glenmalur, and Bally- 
 corus. A 
 
 The mountains which enclose the lake and ruins of the Seven 
 Churches consist of granite, through which run numerous 
 veins of quartz, associated mth which are found the ores of lead, 
 and in some instances traces of copper. Their general distri- 
 bution is as follows. At the head of Glenasane, a little above 
 the junction of the granite and mica-slate, a vein of quartz six 
 feet wide, with blende, galena, and some copper pyrites, passes 
 nearly from east to west, and were it continuous would join the 
 veinofLuganure. The latter, the most important in the district, 
 runs altogether in granite. It crosses the mountain Coma-
 
 206 INDUSTRIAL KKSOUKCES 
 
 derry, and has been accurately traced through a course of 900 
 fathoms ; its ascertained depth being 180 fathoms. This vein 
 is usually five feet wide, but in one place it expands to twelve 
 feet. The ju'incipal vein-stone is quartz. The granite in con- 
 tact with the lower surface of the vein is generally soft and 
 decomposed to a depth of from one to three feet. This vein 
 yielded, according to Mr. Weaver, in some portions of its 
 course, per cubic fathom, from three to four and a-half tons of 
 galena, which is found either in layers parallel to the walls or 
 in disseminated masses. White lead ore is not uncommon. 
 There are also found sulphuret of zinc, copper pyrites, and 
 phosphate of lead. The produce of this vein usually yielded 
 seventy per cent, of metallic lead. A few fathoms west of this 
 is another vein in the granite ; it is three feet wide, and con- 
 sists of quartz with galena and white lead ore. 
 
 The Glendalough vein ranges east and west, crossing the 
 glen obliquely. Its course is down the southern flank of Coma- 
 derry, and it reappears high on the mountain of the opposite 
 side, south of the Waterfall. Its line has been traced for about 
 half a mile, it appears to range far into the granite on the 
 western side, but not to penetrate much into the mica-slate. 
 Its width varies from five to seven fathoms. The great mass 
 of it is quartz. It contains numerous minerals, principally 
 galena, with copper pyrites, sparry iron, and sulphate of ba- 
 rytos. The lead ore of this vein produces 70 per cent., and 
 the copper ore gave from 10 to 15 per cent, of metal. In the 
 W^aterfall and ravine at the head of Glendalough are smaller 
 %eins, in which lead and copper ores have been found, but on 
 which no workings have been carried on. 
 
 On the Luganure vein, and on some smaller veins discovered 
 on both sides of Glenasane, and which are probably outliers 
 from it, a number of shafts have been- sunk and very extensive 
 workings made. The old Luganure mine, as well as the Hero 
 mine, have ceased to yield any produce, but the mine of Rip- 
 plagh, on the east, and one on the; western side of the glen, lately 
 opened at the base of Luganure mountain, are now actively 
 worked by the Mining Company of Ireland, and yield a very 
 fair quantity of ore. They are termed the Luganure mines.
 
 OP IRELAND. 207 
 
 The state of activity of their operations and their amount of 
 produce are shewn by the quantity of dressed ore obtained, 
 which was 
 
 In 1842, 675 tons. 
 
 In 1843 547J „ 
 
 The ore raised is dressed by hand labour and machinery, 
 to which motion is given by water power derived from the 
 rivulet which passes through the glen. To this Lough-Nahagan 
 serves as a copious reservoir, which has been rendered fully 
 available to the purposes of the dressing works. The dressed 
 ore is brought on cars to the Company's smelting works at 
 Ballycorus, where it is worked up along with ores from other 
 sources, by processes to which I shall, after a little, return. 
 The metallic lead is manufactured into sheet or pipe, so as to 
 suit the markets in which it may be sold. 
 
 The lead mine situated on the hill of Ballycorus, contains 
 two lead veins, which at the surface are nearly parallel, and 
 cross the junction of the granite and mica-slate, which takes 
 place on the summit. In the workings these veins have been 
 found sometimes to diverge, and at others to coalesce, and 
 were then in every case found to yield valuable bunches of ore. 
 These veins had latterly, however, become unproductive, and 
 although some limited explorations were still carried on by the 
 Mining Company, this mine was not reckoned as being at the 
 present time in actual work ; but within the last few months, it 
 has assumed a new interest, by the vein of lead ore being found 
 to contain a rib of native silver, the condition of which will be 
 described more fully, further on. In its vicinity are situated 
 the Mining Company's smelting works, to which all their lead 
 ores are brought for the purpose of their reduction and manu- 
 facture. 
 
 On the northern side of Glenmalur, where the granite and 
 mica^slate join in Lugduflf mountain, a powerful metalliferous 
 vein presents itself, forming an acute angle with the course of 
 the valley. It has been traced for above 400 fathoms, but 
 probably extends much farther. The vein, as described by 
 Mr. Griffith, is, on an average, fifteen feet thick, and excepting
 
 208 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 where there are bunches of ore, is divided into five parts. 
 There are three feet of a soft slaty vein containing much talc, 
 then a vein of white quartz, from one to three feet thick, which 
 usually contains ore, next three feet of soft talcj' matter, simi- 
 lar to the first, then two feet of quartz, in which most of the 
 ore has been found, finally, a third layer of the soft talcy 
 matter extends to the opposite wall of the lode. The lead ore 
 of this mine is considered to be unusually free from zinc and 
 antimony. It has yielded very abundant produce, several 
 large bunches or masses of ore having been met with in the 
 course of the workings. The productiveness has, however, 
 latterly diminished. The number of persons employed on it is 
 at present about thirty. 
 
 On the same and on the opposite side of Glenmalur, several 
 other veins, containing indications of lead, have been discovered, 
 but no serious trials of them have been made. 
 
 The clay-slate districts, which have been found so rich in 
 copper, yield also abundant indications of lead, but, up to the 
 present time, few of the mines that have been worked have 
 yielded a profitable return. Of very few of them have there 
 been as yet detailed examinations made, and hence it will be 
 sufficient to notice them succinctly. 
 
 At Caime in Wexford, the clay-slate is penetrated by a vein 
 of quartz, ramifying very much, and bearing galena, white lead 
 ore, sulphuret of zinc, with copper and iron pyrites. This vein 
 is of considerable magnitude ; at forty-seven fathoms in depth, 
 being twelve feet wide. Several years ago some quantity of 
 copper ore was exported from this mine, and also large quan- 
 tities of galena, but it was abandoned until a few years back, 
 when its working was i-esumed by the Mining Company of Ire- 
 land, but it is questionable how far its working may be profita- 
 ble at deep levels. The lode is considered to yield about three 
 tons of ore per fathom. The quantity of dressed ore obtained 
 was, 
 
 In 1842, 503 tons. 
 
 In 1843, 270 ,, 
 
 The ore usually contains "5 per cent, of metal, and is sent to
 
 OF IRELAND. 209 
 
 Ballycorus to be smelted. The number of hands employed is 
 about 130. 
 
 In the clay-slate of the north of Ireland, which spreads over 
 the Counties of Louth, Armagh, and Down, several lead mines 
 have been opened. In Armagh at Derrjnioos, a vein of lead was 
 worked for several years by the Mining Company of Ireland, but 
 finally abandoned. It yielded about 200 tons of dressed ore 
 per annum. It was in this mine that were made the trials of 
 turf as fuel for the steam engine employed in draining, which 
 have been given in a former chapter. At Keady, in the same 
 county, a vein of lead was found, of which Sir Charles Coote, in 
 his Survey of Armagh, speaks in the following words : " This 
 mine is on the estate of the College of Dublin, the lands are 
 held by the Earl of Farnham ; the late Earl expended large 
 sums in sinking and working, but made no profit of it. It is 
 rather wonderful, and indeed proves the value of these mines, 
 that he was not a considerable loser, as he had no active part- 
 ner to superintend works under ground which he never saw 
 himself. The vein is so rich and abundant, it would be well 
 worth the attention of the monied undertaker." This atten- 
 tion, as far as I can learn, has not since been given to that 
 district. 
 
 In Down, at Clonligg, near Newtownards, is a lead mine 
 which is at present worked to a moderate extent. At Dun- 
 drum, in the same county, a vein containing lead ore has been 
 discovered, and superficial trials of it made. 
 
 In the slate districts of the south of Ireland, veins contain- 
 ing lead have been found at Ardmore in Waterford, and in 
 several of the localities already mentioned as the depositories 
 of copper ore. In Kenmare only is the extraction of lead ore 
 at present actually carried on, and the circumstances are so 
 similar to those described in page 196, for the mine of copper 
 of the same place, that it is unnecessary to notice it further. 
 The workings for lead carried on at Silvermines have been 
 also sufficiently described already in page 199. There is 
 nothing doing at pi'esent in that locality. 
 
 In Ringabella creek on the southern coast of Cork, a vein 
 occurs in the carboniferous slate, in which lead ore is found. 
 p
 
 210 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 It has boen worked from timft to time by different persons. Its 
 frequent abandonment does not speak much in its favour, but 
 may have been due to want of knowledge or of enterprize on 
 the part of the undertakers. 
 
 Lead ore has been met with in several localities in the 
 granite and mica-slate district of Connemara, but no workings 
 hitherto entered uijon. In the same class of rocks in Donegal, 
 lead veins have been found, and at Kildrum a mine was worked 
 for some time by the Mining Company of Ireland, but it has 
 been given up, and is, I believe, now idle. 
 
 The limestone formation affords numerous indications of 
 metallic contents, principally lead: copper pyrites, iron pyrites, 
 and blende, have been found in small quantities, but galena 
 alone has been met with in such quantity as to be profitably 
 worked. The vein stone is usually calcareous spar, accom- 
 panied by brown spar. The limestone of the centre of Ireland 
 is, as Mr. Weaver remarks, singularly ill-calculated for the 
 conducting of mining operations. It occupies the lowest and 
 richest part of the country, and frequently supports a great 
 depth of alluvial matter and soil. Hence the drainage of the 
 mines becomes difficult and expensive, and the cost of fuel, and 
 damage to the land, are important. The number of localities 
 in which lead ore has been found in the limestone district is 
 considerable, and some of the deposits have proved of value. 
 
 Near Dublin, at Clontarf, a vein of lead ore, accompanied 
 by blende, appeared on the sea shore, where it was WTought 
 until the tide broke in on the workings, and the mine became 
 filled up with water. In almost every direction round Dublin 
 small veins of galena have been found in the calp, as at Dol- 
 phin's Barn, Castleknock, Kilmainham, &c., but none of them 
 maintained their produce to any depth, or were of a magnitude 
 which would justify any extensive trials. 
 
 In the counties of Meath, at Beauparc and Athboy, and 
 of Kilkenny, in several localities, lead ore has been found, but 
 only at Floodhall was a mine ever actually worked. From it 
 considerable profit is said to have been derived, the lead ex- 
 tracted having been very rich in silver. No workings are at 
 present carried on. In Longford, close to the town, load ore
 
 OF IRELAND. 211 
 
 has been raised, and in Kildare, at Wheatfield, on the banks 
 of the Grand Canal, a large deposit of pure galena was found, 
 in connexion with a vein of calcareous and brown spars, on 
 which extensive works were erected, but after some time the 
 store of mineral was exhausted. 
 
 The lower limestone of the east of Clare has been found to 
 contain several very large deposits of galena, which have been 
 worked by Mr. Taylor with great success. From his account 
 of them given to the Geological Society of Dublin, the follow- 
 ing is extracted : 
 
 Milltown Lead Mine " The Milltown lead mine in the ba- 
 rony of TuUy, in the county of Clare, is probably one of the 
 oldest mines in Ireland. At one time, it may be supposed, that 
 there must have been a rich deposit, the ancient excavations 
 being very extensive. 
 
 " The Royal Irish Mining Company took a lease of it about 
 twelve years ago, but after partially clearing the old workings, 
 and driving a level for a short distance into the north side of 
 the mine, they abandoned the speculation, after raising above 
 eleven tons of ore. 
 
 " In the year 1836, a grant of this mine was taken from the 
 present proprietors, Anthony Colpoys and George O'Callaghan, 
 Esqrs., by John Taylor, Esq., of London, whose name is so 
 well known, and deservedly identified with the mining interests 
 of England. 
 
 " The ancient workings were now completely cleared, and 
 some rude tools discovered, such as oaken shovels and iron 
 picks, the latter of an extraordinary siee and weight ; also the 
 remains of fires, which had been evidently made use of to 
 crack and loosen the masses of calcareous spar and carbonate 
 of lime, in which the ore of this mine is chiefly imbedded. The 
 spar is very beautiful, being perfectly white, and much of it 
 transparent. 
 
 " After considerable labour and expense, Mr. Taylor's 
 agents were disappointed in the expectations they had formed 
 of making fresh discoveries of sufficient importance. The 
 works, therefore, were abandoned in April, 1838, after rais- 
 ing forty tons of ore, which, upon an average, yielded about 
 p2
 
 212 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 75 per cent., of lead, and 37 ounces of silver for each ton of 
 ditto. 
 
 " Within half a mile of this mine, upon the estate of James 
 Moloney, Esq., of Kiltannon, are the celebrated Tomines, or 
 immense natm'al vaulted passages of limestone, through which 
 the River Ardsullas winds a most extraordinary course. The 
 place is extremely curious, and the stupendous masses of rock 
 forming a gigantic roof over the river, present a scene of 
 magnificence which can never be forgotten by those who have 
 viewed it. 
 
 " The same river loses itself again among the cavernous 
 strata of limestone rocks near Quin, and afterwards passing 
 through the picturesque lake of Dromoland, falls into the Fer- 
 gus, below Castle Fergus." 
 
 Kilbricken Lead Mine, in the Barony of Bunratty and Parish 
 of Dura — " In the year 1833, attention was awakened by the 
 circumstance of the accidental discovery of lead ore, by persons 
 in his employment, on the estate of John M'Donnell, Esq., of 
 New Hall, near Ennis. 
 
 " The first specimens were found by persons while cutting 
 the new line of road between Moriesk and the new town of 
 Clare ; after which more important discoveries were made on 
 the Farm of Moniuve, by the tenant, John Egan, while cutting 
 a drain through his bog. 
 
 " The specimens and description of soil and calcareous spar, 
 in which these stones of ore were discovered, having been 
 submitted to the inspection of Mr. Taylor, in London, he de- 
 termined on sending agents to examine the district, and in 
 consequence of their report, some experienced miners were 
 despatched from England, through whose exertions about 
 twenty-five tons of lead ore were raised and shipped, which 
 sold at a very high price, being found to assay for lead 70 per 
 cent., and for silver 120 ounces per ton. 
 
 " At this time, however, the rush of water from the sur- 
 rounding bogs was found to be an insuperable obstacle to 
 further progress, without the aid of machinery, and it was 
 then determined to stay the proceedings until a steam engine 
 of sufficient power to contend against the difficulty, should
 
 OF IRELAND. 213 
 
 be despatched from England. This engine was erected and 
 put to work in 1837 ; operations are now going on upon an 
 extensive scale, and great hopes are entertained of a success- 
 ful result, but it is too soon to form an accurate opinion upon 
 this point. 
 
 " This mine is situated within two and a half miles of Quin, 
 and is about six miles from Ennis." 
 
 Ballyhickey Lead Mine, in the Parish of Clooney and Barony 
 
 of Bunratty " This is the richest lead mine which has been 
 
 discovered in the coimty of Clare, and is upon the estate of 
 Hugh Singleton, Esq., of Hazlewood; in a direct line of dis- 
 tance it is about a mile and a half east from Kilbricken, and 
 here lead ore was discovered nearly at the surface. Operations 
 were commenced by Mr. Taylor's agents in the Autumn of 
 1834, and with decisive success, so much so, that an export of 
 125 tons took place the following spring, and from that period 
 to the present, not less than 2300 tons have been shipped from 
 the port of Clare to the River Dee, averaging by assay, 77 per 
 cent, for lead, and 15 ounces for silver in the ton of lead, and 
 a considerable quantity of ore is still raised and shipped 
 monthly." 
 
 " The three deposits of ore above mentioned, occur in 
 large veins of calcareous spar, which traverse the limestone 
 rock of this country ; they differ from any hitherto observed 
 in the mining districts of England and Wales, and indeed upon 
 the Continent of Europe. The veins of spar are of immense 
 width ; in places from twenty to thirty feet, and they run ge- 
 nerally a little to the north of east and south of west. 
 
 " The quantities of ore found at Milltown and at Kilbricken 
 are so small, and the masses of spar so large, that it is not 
 easy to trace the intersection of veins or branches at the points 
 of deposit, as distinctly as at Ballyhickey. There the bunch 
 of ore, the richest probably that was ever seen, taking the 
 number of tons raised, and the number of solid fathoms of 
 ground broken into account, occurs upon the intersection of 
 two veins. The main vein runs N. E. and S. W., and its 
 tributary falls in the angle of 45°. At this point the mass of 
 ore was from sixteen to twenty feet wide, in places, almost
 
 214 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 pure ; in others, raised with sulphuret of copper and zinc. The 
 total length of the rich branch was about forty feet, and it 
 is still orey at the depth of eleven fathoms ; how deep it may 
 be worth pursuing is a question yet to be solved. The quan- 
 tity of water is not considerable, although the mine is situated 
 in the middle of a boggy piece of land. An engine, however, 
 has been erected, for the double purpose of grinding the ores, 
 and pumping the water. Fresh intersections of veins are still 
 sought after, being the places at which only other deposits are 
 expected." 
 
 The lead ore, as dressed for smelting, usually contains from 60 
 to 70 per cent, of metallic lead. This is combined with sulphur, 
 and mixed with the material of the associated minerals, prin- 
 cipally quartz, and often sulphate of barytes. The mode of 
 extracting the metal is simple : by calcining the ore in a cui*- 
 rent of air, at a temperature just below redness, the sulphur 
 and metal both become oxidized, and the greater part of the 
 former is expelled as sulphurous acid gas. On then increas- 
 ing the heat and excluding the air, so that the combustible 
 gases of the fuel act directly on the roasted ore, the oxide of 
 lead formed in the first stage of the process is reduced, and 
 the metal separates. The smelting is usually carried on in a 
 reverberatory furnace, by which the oxidizing and reducing 
 processes are effected in turn, by regulating the admission of 
 the air. The bed of the furnace is dished, so that the melted 
 lead trickles down from all parts of its surface to the centre, 
 and when it has collected in proper quantity, is run off by an 
 aperture in the side of the fiu-nace, into moulds, where solidi- 
 fying, it forms the pig lead of commerce. There are two cir- 
 cumstances of this process which require further notice. First, 
 the draught of the furnace carries up into the chimney a very 
 sensible quantity of the roasted ore, which would be a source 
 of serious loss, were it not that the chimney is provided with a 
 considerable extent of horizontal passages, in which the fine 
 powder of the lead ore deposits itself, and at certain intervals 
 these flues being cleared out, the matter found there is added 
 to the other products of the ore, and all smelted together. 
 Second. Although, in roasting the ore, the greater part of
 
 OF IRELAND. 215 
 
 the sulphur is burned out, yet a quantity ofit is converted into 
 sulphuric acid, which unites with oxide of lead and forms sul- 
 phate of lead. This is not further changed by calcination, 
 but when the reducing fire is applied, this sulphate of lead, 
 losing all oxygen, would reproduce sulphuret, and thus so 
 much of the material be brought back to its primitive state. 
 To avoid this, the smelter adds to the roasted ore a quantity 
 of lime, which combines with the sulphm'ic acid and sets free 
 the oxide of lead, which is then perfectly reduced. The lime 
 is also useful in preventing the silica (quartz) present in the 
 ore, from seizing upon oxide of lead, and thus producing loss. 
 It takes the silica, as it does the sulphuric acid, from being a 
 stronger base. 
 
 The slags which are formed in this process consist of the 
 earthy matters of the ore, melted up with the lime which had 
 been added. They also contain a large quantity of lead, so 
 that they are set aside, and being mixed with the material 
 extracted from the flues of the furnace chimney, are smelted 
 in an operation by themselves, and the metal they contain ex- 
 tracted. 
 
 Third. A great deal of the success of this mode of smelting 
 depends on a very curious reaction of that part of the ore which 
 has been fully roasted, on that which has not been altered. It 
 will be easily understood, that when sulphuret of lead and oxide 
 of lead are melted together, the sulphur of the one and the 
 oxygen of the other unite to form sulphurous acid gas, and the 
 lead of both separates in the metallic state. Expressed in che- 
 mical symbols, Pb S and 2 Pb O give SO, and 3 Pb. The pro- 
 portions by weight being that 120 parts of sulphuret of lead, 
 and 224 parts of oxide of lead, give 32 parts of sulphurous 
 acid, and 312 parts of metallic lead. A similar reaction takes 
 place when sulphuret of lead and sulphate of lead are ignited 
 together ; all sulphur and all oxygen are evolved as sulphurous 
 acid, and all the lead separates. The weights engaged are 120 
 parts of sulphm-et of lead, and 152 parts of sulphate of lead, 
 and there are produced 64 parts of sulphiu-ous acid gas, and 
 208 parts of lead. In chemical formula; : Pb S and Pb O SO^ 
 give 2 Pb and 2 SO,. Now these processes of reduction are
 
 216 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 independent of the consumption of fuel. The surface of the 
 ore having been suitably roasted, so as to generate oxide and 
 sulphate, it is mixed thoroughly with the unaltered mass be- 
 neath, and the reactions occurring, metallic lead separates in 
 abundance, and sulphurous fumes pass off. 
 
 In order to afford an idea of the influence which the cost of 
 the fuel used in the smcilting processes exercises on the value 
 of metallic lead, I shall add the numerical results, which have 
 been obtained at Lord Grosvenor's Works at Holywell in Flint- 
 shire, and at the Works of the Mining Company of Ireland, at 
 Ballycorus, near Dublin. 
 
 The ore smelted at Holywell averages 71 per cent, of metal, 
 and is found to yield, by the process above described, in prac- 
 tice, C(5 per cent., so that the loss is but 5 per cent. The 
 combustion of coal during the process is half a ton per ton of 
 ore, which amounts to 15 cwt. 17tt) for each ton of metallic 
 lead. 
 
 At Ballycorus, where the lead ores from the mines worked 
 by the Mining Company of Ireland are smelted, and the lead 
 wrought into sheet and pipe, litharge and shot, the quantity of 
 ore worked up in the year 1843 was : 
 
 From Luganure mines, 547^ tons. 
 
 From Caime mine, 270 ,, 
 
 which delivered 10288 pigs of lead, weighing 588 tons, 4^ cwt., 
 equivalent to 72 per cent. 
 
 The total fuel consumed in the smelting operations was 551 
 tons of coal and eight tons of coke, making together nineteen 
 cwt. of fuel per ton of lead. The pig lead being now sold at 
 £17 per ton, the coals at I2s., make up 3^ per cent, of the cost 
 of the reduced metal. 
 
 The quantity of fuel given, as consumed in smelting the lead 
 at Ballycorus, includes that employed in a process not per- 
 formed at Holywell, which is the extraction of silver from the 
 m(?tallic lead. This is now practised to a very considerable 
 extent. In noticing the lead mines of Clare, the fact of their 
 yielding silver has been mentioned, and almost all the Irish 
 galenas are argentiferous. So rcmai'kably is this the case.
 
 OF IRELAND. 217 
 
 that formerly the lead smelted in Ireland was so hard and brit- 
 tle, that it was accounted inferior to the English in our own 
 market, and would not be bought, but was sent over to Eng- 
 land and to Holland to be refined. This purification consisted 
 in removing from it the silver which it contained, and then it 
 was sent back fitted for its proper uses, and was sold at a 
 higher price. These processes are now all carried on at Bal- 
 lycorus, and so perfectly as to leave nothing to be desired as 
 to economy of method and purity of product. It is conducted 
 as follows : 
 
 The lead having been obtained by the ordinary smelting pro- 
 cess, it is remelted, and the concentration of the silver effected 
 by the very ingenious plan invented by Mr. Pattinson. This 
 is founded on the fact that an alloy of lead and silver is more 
 fusible than pure lead. Hence, the lead being melted, is al- 
 lowed to cool very slowly, until it begins to solidify. What 
 becomes solid contains no silver, and by removing the grains 
 of lead as they form, with a perforated ladle, the silver is con- 
 centrated in the portion which remains liquid, so effectually, 
 that ultimately, after several repetitions of the process, the 
 whole quantity of silver is obtained, united with about one-tenth 
 of the lead, whilst the remaining nine-tenths of the lead is free 
 from silver, and is sent to market. 
 
 The rich portion of the lead is then cupelled. A shallow 
 crucible, or capsule, is formed of bone dust and ashes ; in this 
 the lead is melted, and then a strong blast from a bellows is 
 blown across its surface ; the lead is oxidized, and the oxide 
 of lead is partly absorbed by the porous cupel, partly blown 
 off over the edge of the cupel, and being collected forms the 
 litharge of commerce. This process is continued until all the 
 lead is oxidized, when the dull film, which had throughout 
 covered the melted metal, passes off, and the pure silver re- 
 mains. It is allowed to solidify in the cupel, and removed 
 from it when cold. The old cupels are broken up, and smelted 
 with the slags to extract the oxide of lead they had absorbed. 
 
 The quantity of silver contained in the lead ores of Ireland, 
 so far as it has been experimentally ascertained, is as follows ;
 
 218 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 The proportions of silver to a ton of lead are generally found 
 to be: 
 
 From Luganure mine, Wicklow, ... 3 ounces, 
 From Caime mine, Wexford, . . . . 12 ,, 
 From Ballyhickey mine, Clare, ... 15 ,, 
 From Kilbrieken mine, Clare, . . . .120 ,, 
 From Tollyratty mine, Strangford, Down, 10 ,, 
 
 The average produce of silver extracted from the lead ores 
 of the mines worked by the Mining Company of Ireland during 
 1843, was seven ounces and a half to the ton of lead, and the 
 total quantity was 4261 ounces, which sold for £1157 10s. 8d. 
 
 The precise localities of the more important deposits of cop- 
 per and lead ores, are marked on the map which represents the 
 distribution of bog and the catchment basins of rivers.
 
 OF IRELAND. 219 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 GOLD JnNES OF "WICKLOW ; THEIR SITUATION AND PRODUCE. 
 NATIVE SILVER, MINES OF MANGANESE, ANTIMONY, COBALT. 
 MINERALS OF ZINC, NICKEL, AND TIN. SULPHUR TRADE OF 
 ■WICKLOW. IRON PYRITES. DEPOSITS AT SILVERMINES. DE- 
 COMPOSABLE PYRITES OF THE COAL FIELDS. MEANS OF MANU- 
 FACTURING COPPERAS AND ALUM. NATIVE ALUMS OF CLARE 
 AND KERRY. VARIETIES OF CLAY FOUND IN IRELAND. PORCE- 
 LAIN CLAY OF BALTINGLASS AND TULLOW. PIPE-CLAY OF 
 CAHIR AND ROSCOMMON, CLAYS OF COAL ISLAND, KILKENNY, 
 ARIGNA, AND HOWTH. FLINTS AND QUARTZOZE SAND. MA- 
 NUFACTURE OF GLASS AND EARTHENWARE. BUILDING STONES 
 OF IRELAND ; THEIR VARIETIES AND QUALITIES. ROOFING 
 SLATES OF KILLALOE, VALENTIA, ROSS, AND WICKLOW. MI- 
 NERALS OF BARYTES AND OF MAGNESIA. LIST OF VARIETIES 
 AND LOCALITIES OF MARBLES. 
 
 Of THE Gold Mines of Wicklow. 
 Towards the close of the last century native gold was ac- 
 cidentally found to occur, disseminated in the bed of the streams 
 which descend from the northern flank of Croghan Kinshela ; 
 a mountain which lies on the confines of Wicklow and Wex- 
 ford, and at the junction of the granitic ridge with the clay- 
 slate. Considerable quantities of gold were collected by the 
 people. It occurred in massive lumps, and in small pieces, 
 down to the minutest grain. One piece weighed twenty-two 
 ounces ; another eighteen ounces ; others nine and seven oimces. 
 The gold was found accompanied by other metallic substances 
 dispersed through a kind of stratum, composed of clay, sand, 
 gravel, and fragments of rock, and covered by soil, which 
 sometimes attained a very considerable depth (from twenty to 
 fifty feet) in the bed and banks of the different streams. 
 Shortly after the discovery of the occurrence of gold, the 
 business of its extraction was taken up by the Government, 
 under the management of ISIr. Weaver and some others. The 
 method followed was that usual in gold mining districts, of 
 washing the clay or soil in vessels with water ; the metal, from
 
 220 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 its great density, settles domi, and the lighter earthy impuri- 
 ties are decanted. The valuable material is thus concentrated 
 by a succession of washings, until finally the operators are ena- 
 bled to pick out the particles of precious metal. The further 
 operation of dissolving out with mercury the particles of gold 
 too fine to be recognized by the eye, was, in some instances, 
 had recourse to. 
 
 The total quantity of gold collected by the Government 
 workings, in about two years, was 945 ounces, which was sold 
 for £3675 ; but the cost of the workings, and of various trials 
 made in search of the original deposit of the gold, exceeded 
 this return, and the workings having been interrupted, were 
 not again resumed by Government. It has been calculated 
 that at least £10,000 was paid to the country people for 
 gold, collected before the Government took possession of the 
 works. 
 
 This native gold is of a rich yellow colour, soft, and mallea- 
 ble. Its specific gravity is 19. An assay of 24 grains of it, 
 effected by Mr. Weaver, gave pure gold 22-58, and silver 
 1-43. Another assay of it, by Mr. Alchorn, Assay Master in 
 London, gave, for 24 grains, 21| fine gold, 1^ silver, and three- 
 eighths of a grain of an alloy of copper and iron. 
 
 The localities that have yielded gold in the largest quantity 
 are Ballinvally, Ballintemple, and Killahurler, all situated in 
 the same valley. The gold is associated with magnetic iron- 
 stone, sometimes in masses of half a hundred weight ; also iron 
 pyrites, brown and red hematite, wolfram, manganese, and 
 fragments of tin-stone in crystals, together with quartz. From 
 the nature of these attendant minerals, of which most are 
 known to occur in the quartz veins of the adjacent mountain, 
 it was hoped that by tracing up the rivulets to their sources, 
 and laying bare in various directions the underlying rock, 
 the metalliferous veins might be discovered, from the dis- 
 integration of which the sand and soil of the bed of the 
 streams had been produced. All such trials proved useless, 
 and the question as to the source from whence the gold of 
 those streams in Wicklow has been derived, remains still un- 
 answered.
 
 OF IRELAND. 221 
 
 A few years since this district was leased to a London Com- 
 pany, under whose directions some workings were carried on, 
 in a very imperfect and trifling manner, up to a short time 
 since, when they were finally abandoned. Neither the intelli- 
 gence nor the energy necessary for success in such undertak- 
 ings appears to have been applied. It is questionable whether 
 under any management this source of mineral wealth could 
 be rendered profitable, and mines of the precious metals 
 are certainly those which this country can best aiford to do 
 without. 
 
 In other localities in Wicklow particles of native gold have 
 been found, as at Croghan Moira, at Ballycrea, and Ballyna- 
 capogue, but the quantities were too trifling to be an object of 
 practical working. 
 
 There is no doubt but that sources of native gold were 
 known to the Irish at a very remote period. The abundance 
 of gold ornaments and weapons, which are so peculiar to this 
 island, and for which no source by importation can be as- 
 signed, is sufficient evidence of this, as well as the testimony of 
 our ancient writers, descriptive of the use and manufacture of 
 this precious metal. That it was much more abundant here 
 than in England is shewn by the fact mentioned in Delarnes' 
 History of Caen, that when, after the Norman conquest of 
 the British Islands, treasure was exacted from both to the 
 exchequer of Normandy, the tribute exacted from England 
 was 23730 marcs of silver, but from Ireland 400 marcs of sil- 
 ver, and 400 ounces of gold, an enormous quantity for those 
 times. 
 
 Native Silver has also been found in Wicklow in a bed of iron 
 ochre in the upper ground of Cronebane. The particles were 
 seldom so large as to be visible to the eye, but the silver was 
 extracted by fusion witli lead, and subsequent cupellation. It 
 was auriferous, containing thirty grains of gold in each ounce. 
 This deposit has been long since exhausted. 
 
 Since the publication of the first edition of this work an 
 event of considerable interest to mining in Ii-eland has oc- 
 curred, — the discovery of native silver associated with the lead 
 ore in the mine of Ballycorus (page 207). The native silver.
 
 222 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 which is quite pure and filamentous in structure, forms a rib 
 in some places half an inch in thickness, but usually thinning 
 out from that and lying quite close to the thin vein of galena, 
 for which some workings had still been carried on by the 
 Mining Company of Ireland. The quartz rock around is im- 
 pregnated with silver in minute particles to a considerable 
 distance. The economy of working this native silver is, how- 
 ever, bv no means yet decided. The great hardness of the 
 rock in which it is contained, and the irregularity of its dis- 
 tribution, render it a question of much uncertainty. The 
 Mining Company are, as I understand, about to erect and 
 carry on the necessary works with their usual energy and 
 prudence. 
 
 The occurrence o^ tinstone in Ireland is of very considerable 
 importance, as this metal, indispensable in the arts, and of 
 high price, is one of the most valuable elements of mineral in- 
 dustry. Hitherto it has been found, however, only dissemi- 
 nated through the auriferous soil of Wicklow ; no veins or 
 workable deposits of it having been met with. 
 
 Of the remaining metals of practical importance many have 
 been found, and in some cases their mines have been worked 
 in Ireland, but they have not attained much development 
 hitherto. The oxide of manganese occurs at Howth in the 
 vicinity of Dublin, in Wicklow, but more especially at Glan- 
 dore, on the southern coast of Cork, where considerable quan- 
 tities of the ore have been raised. In the Glandore mine, the 
 principal variety of ore is the true peroxide ; the hydrated 
 sesqui-oxide is also found. The ore occurs associated with 
 veins of quartz. The rock of the locality itself is the upper 
 clay-slate, of which so much of the mining district of the south 
 of Ireland is composed. The earthy hydrated peroxide of man- 
 ganese is of very common occurrence, but I do not know any 
 locality in which its quantity or its quality would re<iuire spe- 
 cial notice. 
 
 An ore of antimony is found in Clare associated with the 
 lead ore of the mines described in page 211, which is of inte- 
 rest as a source of that important metal, and also that in com-
 
 OF IRELAND. 223 
 
 position it differs from the usual ores, being a new mineral, 
 and named Kilbrickenite by Dr. Apjohn, who analysed it. It 
 consists of sulphuret of antimony united to sulphuret of lead, 
 and it is remarkable, that the two metals are here naturally 
 imited in the same proportions as they are in manufacturing 
 printing types, so that this ore, when smelted, should give a 
 natural type metal. 
 
 The ordinary ore of antimony, the grey sulphuret, has been 
 found near Clontibret in Armagh, where it forms a vein about 
 four inches thick, with a bedding of quartz, in the clay-slate 
 rock of the district. Some desultory attempts have been made 
 to utilize this deposit of antimony; shafts had been sunk, 
 one of fourteen yards deep, with several lateral drifts, but 
 these trials have been, so far as I understand, without much 
 profit. 
 
 The curious history of the occurrence of Cobalt ore at Kil- 
 larney, has been given in page 197. No where else has it 
 been found in quantity, though traces of it occur in all the 
 mining districts. The minerals of nickel, chrome, arsenic, 
 and bismuth, have been found, but have not been hitherto the 
 objects of industrial enterprize. One of the ores o/'s/nc, the 
 sulphuret, or blende, is a common associate of the veins of lead 
 and copper ore, and is intermixed sometimes in large quantity 
 with the iron pyrites, worked in the Wicklow district for the 
 manufacture of sulphur and sulphuric acid, but no deposits of 
 the zinc ore, sufficient in extent and purity to enable the metal 
 to be extracted, have been as yet found, though the circum- 
 stances of this country lead to a confident expectation of their 
 being yet discovered. From the impure blende of the Wicklow 
 district could be easily prepared the sulphate of zinc or white 
 vitriol. The process consists in roasting the mineral in kilns 
 or furnaces, for which its own combustion supplies nearly the 
 necessary heat. The product is lixiviated with water, and 
 by treating successive quantities of mineral with the same 
 portion of water, the liquor may be obtained so concentrated, 
 that it requires very little evaporation to enable it to crys- 
 tallize.
 
 224 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 SULPHUR ORE OR IRON PYRITES. 
 
 It has been mentioned in the general description of the 
 Wicklow clay-slate district, that the copper lodes are asso- 
 ciated with vast beds of bisulphuret of iron, which rendered 
 the extraction of the more valuable ore difficult and expensive. 
 This iron pyrites, which, when pure, is of a very pale yellow 
 colour, is so hard as to strike fire with steel, and crystallizes 
 in cubes and octohedrons ; it consists in 100 parts of 
 
 Iron, 46-67 
 
 Sulphur, 53"33 
 
 When it is heated in close vessels it gives off a third of the sul- 
 phur which it contains, and the residue, which is dark grey, 
 and is called magnetic pyrites, consists of 
 
 Iron, 56-76 
 
 Sulphur, 43-24 
 
 100-00 
 
 This residual sulphuret, when exposed to the air and mois- 
 ture, rapidly decomposes, absorbing oxygen and forming sul- 
 phuric acid and oxide of iron, so that on washing it, a solution 
 of green sulphate of iron (copperas) is obtained, from which 
 the salt may be had in crystals. 
 
 If the iron pyrites be heated in a current of air, all the sul- 
 phur which it contains may be burned out as sulphurous acid 
 gas, and the iron will remain in the state of red oxide. As 
 the mineral is itself combustible, it may be burned in a kiln, 
 the exhausted portions being extracted from the bottom, and 
 the fresh ore introduced at the top. In this way the sulphur 
 contained in it may bo made available in the manufacture of 
 oil of vitriol, and indeed in every case where ordinary sulphur 
 would be burned. 
 
 To all these uses the iron pyrites had long been devoted in 
 the north and east of Europe, but in this country it had been 
 considered not merely valueless, but absolutely an impediment 
 to the working of the coi)per mines. About eight years since, 
 however, the mineral suddenly became important. The Go-
 
 OF IRELAND. 225 
 
 vernment of Naples placed an exorbitant pi'ice on the sulphur, 
 with which the manufacturers of England had previously been 
 supplied from the volcanic districts of Sicily, and they being 
 driven to obtain a substitute at a cheaper rate, had recourse 
 to the deposits of iron pyrites in Wicklovv. 
 
 The mines which produce the iron pyrites, are those of Bally- 
 murtagh, Ballygahan, Tigroney, Cronebane, and Connoree; 
 they all contain the same sulphur course, as it is termed by the 
 miners, which traverses them in a north-eastern and south- 
 western direction. This mineral occurs immediately at the 
 surface, and is raised in large quantities down to the depth of 
 fifty feet, the lode varying in width from four to thirty-six feet, 
 and in bunches according to the purity of the ore. 
 
 The iron pyrites is indeed seldom absolutely pure ; besides 
 an intermixture of clay-slate or other rock in various propor- 
 tions, it is associated with other metallic sulphurets in small 
 quantity, and frequently with the arseniuret of iron or arsenical 
 pyrites. These impurities influence the value, and the pro- 
 ducts, of the sulphur ore in a very sensible degree. Thus the 
 presence of copper renders it more valuable. Mr. Barnes, in 
 his letters on this district, shews, that the sulphur and copper 
 ores are in no way distinct, but graduate insensibly into each 
 other. Thus the copper ore of Ballymurtagh contains at 
 least 30 per cent, of sulphur ore, and the greater part of the 
 pyrites workings in the same mine contains about 2^ per cent, 
 of copper. The presence of from | to 1 per cent, of copper in 
 the sulphur ore of commerce is not imusual. When this ore is 
 burned in the kilns for the manufacture of sulphuric acid, the 
 sulphuret of copper passes, by oxidizement, to sulphate of cop- 
 per, which may be extracted by lixiviating the slags with water, 
 and either crystallized, or, as is more usual, decomposed by 
 fragments of old iron, and the copper precipitated in the me- 
 tallic state. When the ore contains sulphuret of zinc, this 
 forms by the roasting, sulphate of zinc, which may be similarly 
 extracted and crystallized. The presence of the arsenical 
 iron is very injurious, for owing to the volatihty of the arsenic, 
 which accompanies the sulphur in all its stages of manufac- 
 ture, the iron pyrites becomes unfit for the preparation of sul- 
 Q
 
 226 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 phur or sulphuric acid, wherever those bodies are to be applied 
 to form medicinal substances, or that they are required pure 
 for chemical uses ; but it is yet perfectly applicable for all ma- 
 nufacturing and technical uses, and although the price of the 
 Sicilian sulphur has now fallen very low, the pyrites trade 
 has by no means diminished in proportion. 
 
 During the interruption of the Sicilian trade, the quantity of 
 pyrites annually exported from the Wicklow district is con- 
 sidered to have reached 100,000 tons. It is now, however, con- 
 siderably less. 
 
 The returns given in page 188 for the produce in copper ore 
 and pyrites of the Ballymurtagh mine enable a general idea to 
 be formed of the present extent of this branch of mining. It is 
 highly gratifying, that the favourable position in which the 
 mines of the Avoca valley were placed by the force of the sul- 
 phur monopoly in Naples, has been sustained up to the present 
 day by the judicious enterprize of the proprietors, and the 
 steady improvement of the produce. 
 
 Mr. Roper states the number of persons employed in this 
 district to be about 2000, and that from 500 to 1000 carts are 
 daily employed in bringing the ore to Wicklow and to Arklow 
 for exportation. 
 
 I have mentioned that when the bisulphuret of iron is heated 
 to redness, one-third of its sulphur is given off, and the iron 
 remains as magnetic sulphuret, which by exposure to the air 
 absorbs oxygen and forms green copperas. This application 
 of pyrites is of extensive use on the Continent of Europe. It 
 may be carried on in a variety of ways. The pyrites may be 
 distilled in retorts of earthen-Avare, like those used in some gas 
 works, or the ore may be burned in kilns, to which only a li- 
 mited supply of air is admitted, so that one part of the sulphur 
 being burned, the heat evolved suffices to distil otf the rest, 
 and the sulijhurous flames being conducted into large brickwork 
 chambers, the sulphur is deposited, whilst the sulphurous acid 
 gas passes off to the vitriol chamber, where it also is econo- 
 mized. Where this process has been tried in this country, much 
 disappointment has occurred from not using pure pyrites, and 
 from the belief, that the pyrites should lose half its sulphur,
 
 OF IRELAND. 227 
 
 whilst it really gives off but a third. A ton of pure iron py- 
 rites gives by distillation 3-6 cwt. of sulphur. But if a tou of 
 the good sulphur ore of commerce be taken, which does not 
 contain more than 73 per cent, of the pyrites, the produce of 
 sulphur, on distilling it, will be only 27 cwt., and the impure 
 ore requires a higher temperature, causes more loss of appara- 
 tus, and leaves a much more intractable residue. Hence this 
 process can only be profitably carried on where the pyrites 
 available is found almost absolutely pure. 
 
 In speaking of the copper and lead district at Silvermines in 
 Tipperary, I have noticed the immense vein of iron pjTites 
 which is there found, but the inland situation of which pre- 
 vented its being worked by the IMining Company of Ireland. 
 In the case of oui* domestic industry becoming active, the sul- 
 phur ore of that locality, from its proximity to the Shaunon, 
 may be available throughout a very extensive range of country. 
 
 The bisulphuret of iron is met with in another and totally 
 different geological position, that of the coal formation, where 
 it occurs so abmidantly intermixed with the coal, and in the 
 shales above, as to prove often seriously detrimental to the 
 quality of the fuel. This pyrites oxidizes much more rapidly, 
 on exposure to the air, than the pyrites of the primitive clay- 
 slate or other older rocks, so much so, that the masses of it be- 
 come, in a short time, coated with a crystalline covering of green 
 copperas. In the Drumglass collieries, Tyrone, this oxidizable 
 pyrites is peculiarly abundant, and there, as well as in the 
 collieries of the Leinster district, it would only be necessary, 
 in order to manufacture copperas from it, to collect the pyrites 
 into a heap, and in dry weather to wet it occasionally. The 
 liquor which would drain off being conducted to a tank, should 
 be allowed to digest on some old iron to neutralize the excess 
 of acid, and by a moderate evaporation, the salt could be ob- 
 tained crystallized. This is the plan adopted in England and 
 Scotland, where copperas is manufactured, and there is nothing 
 to prevent the same process being successfully carried on with 
 us. In the Munster coal field there is also abimdance of this 
 oxidizable pyrites, which, by its spontaneous decomposition, in 
 q2
 
 228 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 many places impregnates the waters with iron. The reaction 
 of these products on the soft slaty rocks of the coal strata 
 gives origin to other bodies, of which some are of considerable 
 practical importance, as they afford the materials for the ma- 
 nufacture of alum, and of these it will be necessary to speak 
 with some detail. 
 
 Alum is manufactured in England, either naturally, as it is 
 termed, or artificially. The latter is a process which consists 
 in decomposing pure clay with sulphuric acid, and adding then 
 the alcali, which may be either potash or ammonia. The alum 
 so made is crystallized in the usual way. The only objection 
 to this process is, that the sulphuric acid has to be first manu- 
 factured, which is costly. The natural alum is made at Whitby, 
 where the shales of the lias formation contain pyrites in abun- 
 dance, together with some coaly matter. This altuii slate, as it 
 is termed, is formed into great heaps with brushwood, and the 
 whole set on fire. A very slow combustion is kept up for some 
 weeks, the sulphur of the pyrites reacts on the alumina of the 
 clay, and on lixiviating the roasted mass sulphate of alumina 
 dissolves. The alcali is then added, and the cr^'stallization of 
 the alum is effected in the usual manner. Near Glasgow, the 
 alum is made similarly from the soft pyritic shales of the ex- 
 hausted coal pits, the process followed being absolutely the 
 same in all its general features. Now there is no requisite for 
 the preparation of alum on the other side of the channel, which 
 we do not possess here in those localities of oxidizable pyrites, 
 which I have just enumerated ; but it is remarkable, that we 
 are even more favourably circumstanced, for a formation of 
 true alum slate presents itself on the western coast of Ireland, 
 more extensive than that in Yorkshire, indeed, as Mr. Ains- 
 worth says, the most extensive that is to be found in Europe. 
 
 This slate forms the upper layers of the great Muustur coal 
 formation, the superficial extent of which has been already 
 noticed. Its section, presented to the Atlantic for a distance 
 of forty miles from Bally voughan in Clare, to Ballybunnion in 
 Kerry, offers a series of frowning precipices and deep ca- 
 verns. The softness of certain portions of the rock allows 
 the ocean, which on that coast rages in all its vigour, to under-
 
 OF IRELAND. 229 
 
 cut the cliffs, and work out from between the layers of harder 
 strata, passages and caves, which present scenes of singular 
 beauty and grandeur. Along this coast the pyrites with which 
 these shales abound produces, by gradual oxidizement, cop- 
 peras, and by its action on the material of the rock, native 
 alum. Mr. Ains worth, who published a very full account of 
 one of the most curious localities on this coast, the caves of 
 Ballybunnion, describes the structure of the alum cliffs, in 
 words of which the following may serve as an example: "In 
 Dune Bay, the upper stratum of the cliff is composed entirely 
 of very anthracitous alum-slate in thin laminse, which are 
 divided by parallel and transverse veins of crystallized alum, 
 the same mineral occurring in nodules, efflorescences, and in 
 loose powder, in the more decomposed beds, often contami- 
 nated by shades of yellow and red. In the small cave beyond, 
 copper pyrites abounds, accompanied by arsenical iron, and 
 in the cavities another combination of alum with sulphm'ic 
 acid, and a mineral alkali." 
 
 Mr. Ainsworth found at Ballybunnion, and along the coast, 
 various aluminous minerals, which he describes as follows : 
 
 True alum, in powdery and capillary efflorescences, and in 
 globular concretions. 
 
 The basic alum, or aluminite, in abundance. 
 
 The iron alum, or hair salt, similar to that found in the alum 
 pits at Hurlet, near Glasgow. 
 
 Sulphate of iron and sulphate of copper were found in efflo- 
 rescences on the surface of the rocks. Iron pyrites exists in 
 abundance in the generality of the cliffs and rocks. Copper 
 pyrites was found, and also, but rarely, arseniuret of iron. 
 
 It is possible that the enthusiasm of Mr. Ainsworth has 
 given a colouring to his descriptions of these aluminous shales, 
 of which some of the very brilliant tints may become sobered 
 under more practical examination. Certainly, although pro- 
 foundly scientific in his phraseology, the chemical nature of the 
 bodies he describes cannot be considered as independent of fu- 
 ture analyses ; as Dr. Scouler has ascertained that a mineral, 
 which Ainsworth announced as a new kind of alum, is nothing
 
 230 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 more than common gypsum, sulphate of lime. Nevertheless, 
 the general characters of this district are decisive as to its 
 capabilities for all branches of the manufacture of alum and 
 copperas. The abundance of turf and coal makes fuel cheap, 
 ■whilst the Shannon, by which it is intersected, gives it com- 
 munication with the interior of the country, and affords the 
 most favourable means of access to foreign and domestic mar- 
 kets. Nearly two centuries ago, alum and copperas were ma- 
 nufactured at Tralee and elsewhere in this district by Petty, 
 Blennerhasset, and others, and the soft slate containing cop- 
 peras was administered as a medicine, and is described by 
 many old medical writers, imder the name oi ^'- Lapis Hiber- 
 nicus." 
 
 VARIETIES OF CLAY, AND SAND. 
 
 Clay in its jjurest form, and in the chemical sense, is pro- 
 duced from the gradual decomposition of the felspar contained 
 in the various granitic rocks, by the action of water and of the 
 atmosphere. The composition of the felspar has been stated 
 in page 171. The potash which it contains is washed out in 
 combination with the greater part of the silica, and there re- 
 mains a fine light powder, which is pure clay. Its colour is 
 perfectly white, which it preserves when most intensely ignited. 
 It is absolutely infusible. These qualities identify the pure 
 porcelain clay. In England the granitic district of Cornwall 
 is the source of the pure clays used in the potteries of Stafford- 
 shire ; in France, the granitic rocks of Limoges ; in Germany, 
 those of the Riesengebirge. The composition of the porcelain 
 clay, or, as it is often called by its Chinese nsLxne, Kaolin, may be 
 expressed by the chemical foi-mida, 3 Al^ O3 -|- 4 Si O3 -f G HO, 
 which gives : 
 
 Silica 470 
 
 Alumina, 39"2 
 
 Water, 13-8 
 
 100-0 
 Tiie clays of different localities vary very sensibly from this 
 standard. They arc mixed with traces of the undeconiposed
 
 OF IRELAND. 231 
 
 rocks and minerals which affect their composition ; thus most 
 clays contain traces of potash from felspar, of which the de- 
 composition has not been complete. Traces of lime and of iron 
 arise from minerals accidentally present, which are very detri- 
 mental to the subsequent value of the clay, and often an excess 
 of silica from the cotemporaneous degradation of the quartz, 
 which is a principal ingredient of the granitic rock. 
 
 In all the granitic districts of this country, beds are found 
 where the felspar has been so completely decomposed, as to 
 have produced clayey deposits. I possess masses of decom- 
 posed granite from Mom'ne, perfectly similar to that of the 
 china-claystone of Cornwall. The agricultural soil of exten- 
 sive tracts of Wicklow, Carlow, and Wexford, has been pro- 
 duced by this weathering of the granite ; and at Kilranelagh, 
 near Baltinglass, kaolin of fine quality has been obtained. At 
 Tullow, also, in Carlow, porcelain clay, not absolutely free 
 from iron, however, exists in considerable quantity. It is not 
 to be expected, however, that fine porcelain clay is to be found 
 presenting itself on the surface of our granitic districts. Its 
 preparation in Cornwall is strictly artificial. The blocks of 
 decomposed granite are crushed, and washed with water. The 
 liquors, loaded with the fine particles of clay, are made to flow 
 into reservoirs where this material is deposited, the clear water 
 is rtm off, and the clay so obtained brought into commerce. 
 No person has as yet essayed the manufacture of china clay in 
 this country ; the materials for it appear from all evidence to 
 exist abundantly. 
 
 In other places extensive deposits of clay occur, which, though 
 not pure enough for the manufacture of fine porcelain, are yet 
 excellently adapted for other uses. Mr. Griffith describes an 
 extensive district of such clay occurring in Tipperary, between 
 Cahir and Clonmel, which he considers equal to the pipe-clay 
 of Bovey. It burns purely white, and in the extreme heat of 
 a porcelain furnace only acquired a very slight buff tinge. 
 Large quantities of this clay have been exported to England, 
 but no use has ever been made of it at home. This clay, 
 though on the edge of the coal district, lies in the cavities of 
 the lower limestone ; and just similarly circumstanced are
 
 232 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 several deposits of very pure clay which occur in Roscommon, 
 some along the shores of Lough Ree, especially near St. John's 
 Point, and others more inland, as at Kelly mount. This clay 
 has given origin to a local manufacture of tobacco pipes, of 
 which from 5()0 to 1000 gross are made weekly. The whole- 
 sale price of these pipes is about one penny per dozen ; they 
 are very rudely formed, owing to the imperfect instruments 
 used. If suitable tools, and some instructed workmen from 
 Dublin, were to assist those local efforts, a considerable trade 
 might be created, for the quality and colour of the clay are 
 fully equal to any that we import, or tl;at is used in the sister 
 kingdom. 
 
 Although up to the present time no beds of absolutely white 
 clay have been found in the tertiary formation of Lough Neagh, 
 yet it is probable that future examinations will reveal such. 
 The beds at Annaghmore, and in other places, of not less than 
 seventeen feet in thickness, are found to become but slightly 
 coloured on being calcined. 
 
 In an industrial point of view, however, there are no clay 
 deposits more important than those of the coal formation, the 
 necessity for which, along with the ore and fuel, for the manu- 
 facture of iron, has been already noticed (page 130). In all 
 our coal fields the beds of coal rest on strata of clay of excel- 
 lent quality, to the particular description of which I shall now 
 proceed. 
 
 The Tyrone coal field contains numerous beds of clay, of 
 that quality which, being infusible, is denominated _/ir<;-c/a?/. 
 In the Annagher colliery, each of the four coal beds worked, 
 rests on a bed of clay, from four to six feet thick ; but deposits 
 of similar clay occur nearer the surface, and it is obtained for 
 the purposes of the brick and coarse pottery manufacture of 
 Coal Island, by pits of about thirty feet in depth. It is very 
 strong adhesive clay, fawn-coloured, and burning reddish yel- 
 low. It is absolutely infusible, and makes fire-bricks, tiles, 
 and crucibles, of the best quality. It is, as well in appearance 
 as in properties, and in geological position, perfectly analo- 
 gous to the clay of the Staffordshire district, so well known as 
 Stourbridge clay. In order that the nature of the Coal Island
 
 OF IRELAND. 
 
 233 
 
 clay may be decisively established, I made an accurate ana- 
 lysis of it, of which the following are the results, and for com- 
 parison I annex the composition of the two clays most esteemed 
 for the manufacture of crucibles for making steel, and for 
 fire-bricks, in England. 
 
 CLAY OP 
 
 COAL ISLAND. 
 
 STOURBRIDGE. 
 
 STANSINGTOH. 
 
 Silica, .... 
 
 46-2 
 
 46-1 
 
 43 
 
 Alumina, . . . 
 
 30-8 
 
 38-8 
 
 40-9 
 
 Peroxide of iron. 
 
 8-4 
 
 ,, 
 
 Traces. 
 
 Lime, .... 
 
 jj 
 
 ,, 
 
 1-3 
 
 Magnesia, . . 
 
 ,, 
 
 ,, 
 
 01 
 
 Potash, . . 
 
 0-4 
 
 ,, 
 
 ,, 
 
 Water, . . . 
 
 14-2 
 
 151 
 
 14-7 
 
 The analysis of the English clays are taken from a valuable 
 Memoir on the Manufacture of Steel in England, by M. Le Play, 
 published in the Annales des Mines. 
 
 The presence of the oxide of iron in the clay of Tyrone gives 
 the wares formed of it a buff or brown colour, which must 
 always limit its use. The analyses shew that it contains just 
 the same silica as the Stourbridge clay, and the sum of the 
 oxide of iron and alumina is just equal to the alumina of the 
 other. 
 
 In the Lough Allen coal field, beds of fire-clay are found, of 
 which that forming the seat of the Crow coal varies from a 
 few inches to three feet in thickness at the edges. In the val- 
 ley of the Arigna this bed was found uniformly three feet 
 thick, and of excellent quality, the whole of the bricks used at 
 the iron works by the original proprietors, having been made 
 of it ; and comparative experiments, described by Mr. Weld 
 as having been carried on in the Laboratory of the Royal Dub- 
 lin Society between it and Stourbridge clay, having shewn it 
 to be not inferior. Under the three foot coal lies another and 
 similar bed. 
 
 Near Lough Allen, on the western base of Benbo mountain, 
 are found clays of various colours, red, yellow, black, and
 
 234 INDUSTRIAL RESOUHCES 
 
 whitish, produced by tho decomposition of the rocks. Con- 
 siderable quantities of a whitish clay have been raised and used 
 as fuller's earth. It feels soapy, and resembles decomposed 
 steatite. It is mixed with iron pyrites. 
 
 In the Leinster coal field the coal beds rest on strata of clay, 
 which I have found to contain a great deal of very finely com- 
 minuted mica, and some sand. When freed from those admix- 
 tures, it is a very piu-e, strongly adhesive clay, M'hich burns 
 almost perfectly white, and was infusible in the strongest heat 
 of a wind furnace. Of this clay Mr. Griffith says : " This 
 fire-clay is of very fine quality, and is, in my opinion, superior 
 to that of Stourbridge in Worcestershire ; excellent fire-bricks 
 have been made of it, but no manufacture to any extent has 
 been attempted." Mr. Tighe, whose Statistical Survey of 
 Kilkenny is so rich in facts, describes more fully the propor- 
 ties of this clay. He says : 
 
 •' The seat of the coal has properties which appear worthy 
 of attention ; it has been long used at Castlecomer for backs 
 of grates, and is known to stand fire in a peculiar manner. 
 Mr. Finlan, the late director of the steam engines, constructed 
 by means of it a small reverberating furnace, in which he 
 smelted iron, and made crucibles of it which stood the heat of 
 the strongest fire. Mi*. Whitmore Davis, the architect em- 
 ployed in building the new barracks at Castlecomer, made 
 some experiments upon it which he communicated to the Dub- 
 lin Society last year. He formed fire-bricks of it, of the very 
 best quality, and he observes, that ' by pulverizing the coal 
 seat, and making it into mortar, nothing can better stand the 
 fire and answer all pm'poses for fire works, as the more fire it 
 gets, the harder it grows.' This he affirms from repeated trials, 
 and says he is convinced, from the handsome colour it assumes, 
 ' it will not only answer every purpose in earthen- ware, but he 
 hopes also, that of pots for glass-house purposes ; and being 
 convinced of the great utility of the coal seat in the fire, he 
 made trial of it also in water, and found that when properly 
 prepared, it would answer every purpose of terras ; he made 
 trials also of its utility as to external incrustation on walls, 
 where it set firmly, and has every reason to think will answer
 
 OF IRELAND. 235 
 
 well. The best bricks made by Mr. Davis consisted of two 
 parts of coal seat, and one of clay : a sixth part of sand being 
 added, made them run too much ; the coal seat which he used 
 in building a brick cistern, was first calcined in a lime-kiln 
 and then pulverized ; it held water immediately in the most 
 perfect manner. The coal seat, in its natural state, burned in a 
 strong fire becomes white, and as hard as many silicious stones. 
 Mr. Davis sent specimens to Dublin, which were examined by 
 Mr. Higgins, who returned it as part of his opinion, that the 
 coal seat ' would answer for porcelain, as one of the ingre- 
 dients.' Its uses under water appear more doubtfiU, for though 
 pieces of it found in the stream of Castlecomer had become 
 very hard in the water, they were also brittle, and perhaps 
 would rather crack than set like terras, whose property of 
 swelling in water depends upon the quantity of iron it con- 
 tains, which becomes oxygenated by combining with the oxygen 
 of the water. The coal seat appears to contain no iron, or a 
 very trifling quantity : finely powdered and digested in marine 
 acid, it did not lose quite a grain in an hundred of its weight : 
 the solution gave no precipitation with volatile alkali, a very 
 slight one indeed with prussiate of potash ; but with pure pot- 
 ash it gave a little precipitation ; by which it appears to con- 
 tain a small quantity of calcareous earth : the remainder con- 
 sisted, as near as it could be analyzed, of 54 per cent, silex and 
 44 argill ; and the colouring matter appeared to be carbon, in 
 a small proportion. One htmdred grains digested repeatedly 
 in concentrated sulphuric acid, left forty-eight grains of sili- 
 cious sand, with a little carbon : the solution gave a white pre- 
 cipitate with volatile alkali ; none with prussiate of potash. 
 By another analysis one hundred grains appeared to contain 
 61 per cent, of silex, 36 of argill, the remaining three grains 
 were carbon and calcareous earth, with an almost impercep- 
 tible quantity of iron. On the whole then it appears to contain 
 a larger proportion of silex than of argill, and not enough of 
 any other mineral to affect its qualities." 
 
 I have not myself analyzed this clay of the Kilkenny coal 
 beds, but the composition given by Mr. Tighe above, is re- 
 markable, as being identical with that of pure Stourbridge
 
 236 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 clay, when dried. The proportions given in p. 233, when cal- 
 culated without the water, are, silica 54*3, and alumina 43-7, 
 practically identical with Mr. Tighe's of 54 and 46, and hence 
 proving the excellent quality of the material. 
 
 Deposits of clay, which, though inferior in quality to those 
 ahove described, are available for the manufacture of coarse 
 pottery, of flooring and draining tiles, and of bricks, occur in 
 almost every county in Ireland. Several in Kilkenny, along 
 the edge of the coal district; in Wexford, near Gorey; in 
 almost every parish of Tyrone ; at Knock, in Meath ; in Mayo; 
 in Tory Island, off Donegal ; near Celbridge, in Kildare. 
 
 Of a quality much superior to the common sort are whitish 
 clays found near Cloyne, and at Youghal in the county of Cork, 
 and at Calinafersy in Kerry. These are light coloured, strongly 
 absorbent, and have been used by the peasantry as fuller's 
 earth ; when calcined they become a light yellowish red, and 
 are very suitable to the manufacture, not merely of tiles and 
 common pottery, but also of an excellent description of co- 
 loured earthen-ware. At the south side of Howth, associated 
 with the limestone and dolomitic rocks, are extensive deposits 
 of a very excellent clay, which burns nearly quite white and 
 resists the most intense heat. It contains some fine quartz 
 sand, fragments of disintegrated felspar, and a little mica. 
 From these it is separated by washing, and is then soft and 
 ductile, strongly adherent, and very plastic. It has been ana- 
 lyzed by Mr. Robert Mallett, and was found composed of, 
 
 Silica, 67-96 
 
 Alumina 23-20 
 
 Lime 323 
 
 Magnesia, '63 
 
 Oxide of iron, 1-19 
 
 Water and loss, 3-79 
 
 10000 
 
 This clay is worked into crucibles by Messrs. Mallett, for the 
 various operations of their extensive foundry, and is found 
 equal to the clay of Stourbridge ; its quality is such as would
 
 OF IRELAND. 237 
 
 render it excellent for delft and stoneware, to which objects, 
 however, it has not been applied. 
 
 I shall terminate this notice of the clays of Ireland, by re- 
 ference to the mode of preparing them for their various uses, 
 to which but very little attention has been hitherto paid. These 
 clays, as dug up from the ground, contain, universally dissemi- 
 nated through their mass, portions of organic matter, and also 
 frequently iron pyrites. When such clay is calcined, these 
 foreign matters are decomposed, and evolve gases, by which 
 bubbles and cracks are formed in the clay, and the soimdness 
 of the ware deteriorated. To avoid this the potter in other 
 countries stores up his clay for many months, or perhaps a year; 
 he cuts it up and mixes it frequently, and exposes fresh surfaces 
 to the air ; the clay ferments, exhales a foetid odour, and at 
 last all these organic and sulphury impurities become decom- 
 posed and pass off, and the clay is found very much improved 
 in quality. The clay, as used in Ireland, is, on the contrary, 
 injured by bad management. Clays of different beds are im- 
 perfectly mixed together ; sand and pebbles are left intermixed 
 with the clay, and hence, when bricks or tiles so made, are 
 burned, they contract unequally, and become deformed in shape. 
 Some parts vitrefy, whilst others remain unburned, and thus 
 from clays which might produce excellent products, articles of 
 very inferior value and low price alone can be obtained. In 
 other countries the clay is diifused through water, and the 
 sand and gravel having settled, the thick liquid is run into 
 reservoirs, where the clay gradually deposits. This purified 
 clay is worked in a pug mill, so that its quality becomes ab- 
 solutely uniform, no matter how many different kinds may 
 have been originally taken, and thus the articles fabricated 
 acquire a soundness of quality, and uniformity of texture, by 
 which their price and the advantage to the artisan is mate- 
 rially enhanced. 
 
 Immediately in connexion with the clays, stand the other 
 materials of the earthen-ware, china and glass manufactures ; 
 silica, in its various forms of flint, quartz, and sand. The 
 chalk of Antrim contains abundance of flints. The great 
 masses of quartz of Donegal and Mayo, the patches of it
 
 238 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 which appear in other places, forming Howth and Bray Head, 
 and capping various mountains, att'ord unlimited supply of it, 
 and though the general mass of the quartz rock is usually 
 tinged by iron, yet veins of perfect whiteness occtir sufficiently 
 abundant for industrial uses. 
 
 The weathering of the quartz rock of the Muckish mountain 
 in Donegal, has given origin to a species of sand of singular cha- 
 racter. It is perfectly white, in rather large grains, and is che- 
 mically pure. If the approaches to that mountain were more 
 easy, and that this kind of sand were brought into the market 
 upon fair terms, there is no doubt but that it would be pre- 
 ferred to the sands of the south of England, none of which can 
 at all compete with it in purity of colour and composition. In 
 several of the bays of Donegal, the sand thrown up by the 
 Atlantic storms is of great purity, and fully equal to that in 
 ordinary use amongst glass manufacturers. Fine crystalline 
 sand occurs at Lough Grana and at Lough Contra, which is 
 highly valued for the purposes of polishing and whetting. 
 
 The quantity of fuel consumed in the burning of porcelain 
 and earthen- ware, and in the melting of the materials of which 
 glass consists, might appear to many persons to present a 
 serious obstacle to the introduction of such occupations amongst 
 us. Such is in reality not the case. The establishment of the 
 potteries in Staffordshire, and the great development of the 
 manufacture of earthen-ware in England, arose, not from the 
 mere price of fuel, but from the energy and artistic taste of 
 the illustrious Wedgewood. In fact, Staffordshire is very 
 badly placed with regard to the materials of the ware, all of 
 which are more important than the fuel. The china clay, 
 the quartz, and granite, are brought from Cornwall ; the second 
 rate clay from Devon and Dorsetshire ; the flints from Kent 
 and Antrim. I have not been able to procure accurate returns 
 of the cost of the coals employed in making the different kinds 
 of earthen- ware, but I am satisfied, from the analysis of the 
 elements of the manufacture, that its influence must be com- 
 paratively small. Even in making glass, where certainly much 
 more fuel is consumed than in forming the same value of stone-
 
 OF IRELAND. 239 
 
 ware or china, the proportion which it bears to the other ele- 
 ments of cost is not considerable. 
 
 From numerical facts of the circumstances of this trade, 
 which were given to me by an extensive and intelligent ma- 
 nufacturer, I have calculated, that to produce a ton of finished 
 flint glass, there are required thirty-one tons of coal. The 
 glass may be considered as selling in average, duty included, for 
 Is. 3c?. per pound, and the ton is hence worth £140. The coals, at 
 6s. per ton, cost £9 6s., and hence the fuel makes up 63 per cent. 
 of the value of the manufactured article. In Ireland, the cost of 
 fuel being double in proportion, the cost should be 13^ per cent. 
 Now articles so liable to injury by carriage as earthen-ware 
 and glass are peculiarly adapted for local manufacture. The 
 additional freight from England or Scotland, here certainly 
 counterbalances the advantages of 6| per cent, in fuel, the 
 dearness of which cannot, therefore, be considered as nega- 
 tiving the introduction of those branches of industry', in which 
 taste and artistic skill are elements of cost as influential as the 
 raw materials and rough labour. 
 
 Building Materials and Marbles. 
 
 A very laborious and truly useful inquiry has recently been 
 instituted by Mr. Wilkinson, superintending architect of the 
 Poor Law Commission, into the qualities of the various kinds 
 of stone used for building purposes in Ireland. The results to 
 which he arrived, were embodied in a memoir read to the Geo- 
 logical Societj', to the Economic Museum of which institution 
 he presented the collection of specimens upon which he had 
 experimented, and which becomes thereby a standard of re- 
 ference for the properties of almost every important quarry in 
 the coimtry, accessible to every individual. The stones which 
 he submitted to trial were altogether 600 in number, and in- 
 cluded all the known varieties of each kind of rock found in 
 Ireland. They were examined under three different points of 
 view. First. That of the tendency to absorb water, which 
 determines principally the decomposing action of the atmos- 
 phere upon them. Second. As to their capability of resisting 
 transverse fracture, which was essayed by loading a square
 
 240 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 piece of twelve inches by three, supported at each end, till it 
 broke in the centre. Finally, their capability of resisting a 
 crushing force, which was tried by pressing on an inch cube of 
 the stone, by means of a lever, loaded until the stone gave 
 way. It is to be hoped, that for the benefit of those engaged 
 in building and practical architecture, the details of those ex- 
 periments may be published. The general results, with a few 
 examples of the extreme cases, can only be stated here. 
 
 The ordinary limestone of Ireland weighs in average per 
 cubic foot 170tt). The extremes of weight were 159 and 1801b. 
 The average weight of water, which it absorbed by immer- 
 sion, was one-fourth pound ; the greatest absorption was one- 
 half pound of water. The chalk of Antrim weighs 160R) per 
 cubic foot, and absorbs three pounds of water. The impure 
 shaley calp weighs 1601b, and absorbs from one to four pounds 
 of water per cubic foot. 
 
 The average weight of sandstone is 1451b per cubic foot, 
 the extremes are 123 and 170ft). The absorption varies from 
 nothing to upwards often pounds, the average being five and 
 a half pounds. 
 
 Granite averages per cubic foot 1701b. Its extreme weights 
 were 143 and 176tt). The granite of Newry and of Kingstown 
 absorbs one-fourth pound, that of Carlow from one and a half 
 to two pounds, that of Glenties in Donegal four pounds. 
 
 Basalt weighs from 171 to 1811b per cubic foot; the average 
 is 1781b. It absorbs less than one-fourth pound of water per 
 cubic foot. 
 
 Clay roofing slate weighs from 174 to I79tb, in average 177; 
 the absorption is less than one-fourth poimd. The soft clay- 
 slate from Bantry absorbs about two poimds. 
 
 In resisting fracture it was found, that the slate rocks were 
 the strongest, and of these some were stronger when the pres- 
 sure is applied on the edges of the cleavage planes than on the 
 faces. The basalts are next in strength : then the limestones, 
 then the granite, and the weakest are the sandstones. 
 
 Considered in relation to a crushing force, the basalts are 
 found to be the strongest stones, next the limestones, and suc- 
 cessively the slates and sandstones. In the different varieties
 
 OF IRELAND. 241 
 
 of limestone, some of the larger crystalline stones and the 
 compact hard calp are the strongest. The light coloured 
 crystalline stones of Ardbraccan, and those around Cork, are 
 the weakest. The Connemai-a white marble or primary lime- 
 stone, is the strongest that has been found. The strongest 
 sandstones are the red rocks of the south, and the hard quart- 
 zoze grits of the north of Ireland. Among the weakest are the 
 County Down quarries, and the sandstones in Antrim, and 
 around Clonmel, and some of the coarse quartzoze sandstones 
 of Donegal. From trials of the slates, Mr. Wilkinson found 
 those of Valentia to resist pressure less effectually than those 
 of Killaloe, and those of Mr. Synge's quarries in Wicklow ai'e 
 about intermediate. From the experiments on granite, with 
 regard to crushing force, no positive conclusion can be as yet 
 drawn, but Mr. Wilkinson finds it not to possess any supe- 
 riority over many of the stones in ordinary use. 
 
 It is observable in these experiments, that the denser stones 
 are generally those which absorb least water, and which would, 
 therefore, be best fitted for resisting the weathering influence 
 of our climate ; also that the power of resisting transverse 
 fracture, and of resisting a crushing force, are by no means 
 connected. A rock, as clay-slate, may rank high imder one, 
 and very low under the other point of view. Hence, in dif- 
 ferent parts of a building, it may be proper for the architect 
 to employ stones of diverse nature, and from the tables of nu- 
 merical results, which Mr. Wilkinson has obtained, the magni- 
 tude of a pillar or transverse beam, to support a given weight, 
 or bear up a transverse load, may be now, for the first time, 
 calculated for the various building materials of our country. 
 It would not suit the general object of this work, to enter into 
 the detail of this subject, especially as all the particulars of 
 these experiments will be published by Mr. Wilkinson in an 
 independent form, and that by visiting the Economic Museum 
 of the Geological Society, which is liberally thrown open to 
 the public, the specimens themselves may be examined, and 
 the documents regarding them referred to, with the assistance 
 of Mr. Oldham, the able Curator of the Society's Museum. 
 The clay-slate rocks in various parts of Ireland have been
 
 242 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 quarried for slates for roofing purposes, and for flags, to a 
 very considerable extent in several localities. In Wicklow, 
 near Ratbdrum, and at Glanmore, where Mr. Synge is now 
 carrying on operations on a consideral^le scale, giving employ- 
 ment to upwards of 100 persons, and bringing into the market 
 slates of a quality and appearance fully equal to tliose imported 
 from Bangor, with the slate of which, indeed, the district in 
 which Mr. Synge's quarries are situated is geologically iden- 
 tical. I may remark, that it is found in all slate districts, 
 that the more superficial strata are soft, and of a very inferior 
 (luality, and that to obtain first rate slates, it is necessary to 
 sink to a considerable depth. It arose from this, that when 
 various individuals first brought Irish slates into the market, 
 their quality was very universally condemned, and a prejudice 
 arose against their use, which is even yet not quite extinct. 
 However, the workings in Wicklow and elsewhere have fully 
 now brought into play strata of excellent nature, and this 
 source of domestic industry, it is to be hoped, may be consi- 
 dered as well established. 
 
 The most extensive slate quarries in Ireland are near Kil- 
 laloe. They were for many years worked by the Mining 
 Company of Ireland, but when that Company removed its 
 operations, in order to concentrate on the productive copper 
 mines of Waterford, the slate quarries passed into the hands 
 of an English company, by which, under the name of the Im- 
 perial Slate Company, they have been since worked with con- 
 siderable success. The slates are of the very finest quality, 
 and can be had of almost any magnitude ; there are some in 
 the Museum of the Royal Dublin Society of ten square feet 
 area. The stone is, for building purposes, one of the best in 
 Ireland. 
 
 This district of slate rock is upwards of twenty square miles 
 in extent, but the operations of the Company have been lat- 
 terly confined to the two most important quarries, the IJig Pit 
 and Cunaghbally. These have been thoroughly drained, and 
 the soft bad rock blown away, and in 1842 an acre of pure 
 slate rock was laid bare in Cunaghbally quarry. In the IJig 
 Pit all the veins and strata proved to be continuations of Cu- 
 ii;i"libally, and a vast extent of beautiful slate rocks from eight
 
 OF IRELAND. 243 
 
 to ten feet in length, have been exposed. These two quarries 
 produce about 10,000 tons of manufactured slates per annum, 
 and if a greater demand occurred, the Water and the Spout 
 quarries could be put into immediate operation. By the ope- 
 rations of this Company, employment is given to more than 
 700 men and boys, and all who visit the district are equally 
 struck with the unexpected size and magnificence of the quar- 
 ries, as with the good order and appearance of the men, whose 
 steady industry and comfortable mode of living, in a district 
 which some years ago existed only as a desert mountain, may 
 serve as an encouraging example to the starving and semi- 
 barbarous agricultural population by whom they are sur- 
 rounded. 
 
 The Island of Valentia, consisting of the ufiper or siluriaii 
 slate, is also a locality in which this rock is worked for indus- 
 trial purposes. It cannot be split so delicately as to serve for 
 the finer roofing slates, but its great strength, and evenness of 
 texture, render it most useful as a building stone, and for 
 flags, of which a very large quantity is annually sent to Lon- 
 don. Slabs of Valentia slate are easily attainable thirty feet 
 long, four or five feet wide, and from six to twelve inches thick, 
 so that of it, without any intermediate bearing, the floors and 
 ceilings of large rooms might be constructed. In the quarries 
 of Valentia, about 200 individuals usually obtain employment. 
 
 The carboniferous slate of the south-cast of Cork has been 
 quarried in several places, and has yielded roofing slate of 
 good quality, the produce having been found exceedingly light 
 and durable. The principal quarries were at Clonakilty and 
 the Old Head of Kinsale. 
 
 At Bradford in Clare, near Killaloe, slate quarries had been 
 opened many years ago, and are still worked to a certain ex- 
 tent. The clay-slate of Westport in Mayo was also worked 
 some years ago, but its quality was not such as to stand the 
 competition of slates imported from other sources. 
 
 At Ross in Waterford quarries of roofing slate have been 
 opened. The slates are greenish grey, rather softer than those 
 of Killaloe ; they are obtained of very considerable size. 
 r2
 
 244 INDUSTRIAL UESOUBCES 
 
 The limestone districts of Ireland contain numerous beds, 
 which the closeness of texture, and the purity or variety of 
 colour, render available for ornamental purposes, as marble. 
 I shall only enumerate the localities in which the most remarka- 
 ble marbles are found. There is no county which does not 
 afford specimens of greater or less excellence. 
 
 The principal quarries of black marble are those at Kil- 
 kenny and near the town of Galway. These are both in the 
 upper limestone. The Kilkenny marble takes a beautiful polish, 
 and, when first cut, is quite black, but the organic matter to 
 which its colour appears to be due, gradually passes of, and 
 ultimately white marks of fossils, of varied and interesting 
 forms, present themselves upon its surface. The Galway mar- 
 ble quarries are situated along the verge of Lough Corrib -, 
 they supply a large quantity of marble annually to London 
 and New York, but are capable of almost indefinite develop- 
 ment. 
 
 Near Armagh is found a mai'ble, which from the excellence 
 of its surface, and the variety of red, yellow, and brown tints 
 which it shews, possesses great beauty. It contains abundant 
 fossil remains of fishes. A similar marble, elegantly varie- 
 gated with yellow and purple, occurs at Churchtown, in Cork, 
 which county is indeed rich in this material, there being found 
 Black marble, at Churchtown and Donerail. 
 Purple and white, and blue and white mai'bles, also at 
 Churchtown. 
 
 Ash-coloured, gray, and dove-coloured marbles at Carriga- 
 line, and Castlemary. 
 
 Pale brown marbles at Kilcrca. 
 
 In Kerry, there are black and white variegated marbles near 
 Tralee ; and in the islands in the River Kcnmare, near Dun- 
 kerron, marbles of various colours, black and white, purple, 
 white, and yellow, and some specimens of a purple colour, 
 veined with dark green, resembling bloodstone. 
 
 At Craigleath, in Down, at Lyons and Ballysimon in Lime- 
 rick, at Westport in Mayo, and at Castlebegs in Tii)porary, 
 are quarries of black marble. At Clondeslough in Chare, a 
 fine bourdella marble. Near Shannon Harbour, on the Galway
 
 OF IRELAND. 245 
 
 side, fine sienua and dove mai'ble. At Clonmacnoisc, King's 
 County, and Dromineer in Tipperary, are fine gray marbles, 
 variously tinted and peculiarly sound and useful. At Killar- 
 uey occurs a very beautifully striped white and red marble ; 
 and a brownish red, mottled with gray of various shades, at 
 Ballymahon, in Longford. 
 
 The primitive limestones of Connemara and Donegal, sujjply 
 white marbles, which in Galway is often absolutely pure in tint, 
 but in Donegal is more frequently of a grayish cast. The 
 Galway white marble has been already noticed, page 241, as 
 the strongest of limestones, when used for building. 
 
 The west of Galway and Mayo is also remarkable for the 
 serpentine rocks, which afford the beautifully variegated green 
 and white marbles, so deser\ edly esteemed. The most valua- 
 ble quarries of this remarkable mineral are situated near Clif- 
 deu, on the estate of Mr. Darcy. This marble is exported in 
 considerable quantities. 
 
 The sandstone rocks, as well of the older as of the newer 
 geological formations, have furnished not merely building stones 
 and flags of good quality, of which the principal sources are 
 in Carlow, and at Kilrush and Moneypoint, in Clare, but also 
 grindstones and millstones, which latter, especially those of 
 Cuilcagh mountain at Lough Allen, and Drumdowney, in Kil- 
 kenny, were formerly much esteemed. Their manufacture 
 has ceased, but certainly not owing to inferiority in the ma- 
 terial. 
 
 Minerals of Barttes and Magnesia. 
 
 The sulphate of barytes, a mineral, which, ground to fine 
 powder, is extensively used as a pigment, either by itself or 
 mixed with the more expensive white lead, occurs very abun- 
 dantly in various parts of Ireland. In Ulster it is found in 
 veins in different parts of the old red sandstone districts. 
 The lead mines situated in the granitic ridge of Leinster have 
 this mineral usually as the vein-stone of the ore, and it might 
 be hence obtained in large quantity. In Wexford, several 
 large veins of it present themselves on the sea shore, and in 
 the vicinity of Youghal it is found similarly circumstanced.
 
 246 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 The earth barytes, extracted from this mineral, by processes 
 into the detail of which it would not be suitable to enter here, 
 is employed extensively in the potteries of Staffordshire, where 
 the sulphate is itself also used in some quantity. The com- 
 position of the sulphate of barytes is in 100 parts, 
 
 Sulphuric acid, 34 '4 
 
 Barytes, GoG 
 
 The earth magnesia, and its sidphate, popularly known as 
 Epsom Salts, which are so extensively employed in medicine 
 and the arts, are prepared from a mineral, of which there ex- 
 ists vast quantities in Ireland, the magnesian limestone or 
 dolomite. This stone is distinguished from common limestone, 
 by its drab or fawn colour, its greater density, and its dis- 
 solving but slowly, and with gentle effervescence, in dilute 
 acids. It occurs as a substantive rock but in one locality, at 
 Holywood, on the south side of Belfast Lough, where it forms 
 a stratum of about sixty feet in thickness. It has been raised 
 there, and exported to GlasgoAv, to be used in the manufacture 
 of Epsom Salts, although no use has been made of it at home. 
 Veins and smaller deposits of dolomite occur in different parts 
 of the limestone districts, particularly where that rock comes 
 into contact with, or near to, other formations. The compo- 
 sition of this rock is perfectly definite, it consists of an equiva- 
 lent of carbonate of lime, and an equivalent of carbonate of 
 magnesia, and, when pure, contains in 100 parts, 
 
 Magnesia 22'1 
 
 Lime, 30*3 
 
 Carbonic acid, 47'6 
 
 But the beds or veins of dolomite are usually rendered impure 
 by intermixed sandy or clayey materials, and the earthy car- 
 bonates are often associated with a certain quantity of car- 
 bonates of iron and manganese. It is seldom, therefore, that 
 the produce in magnesia equals that given above, and the fol- 
 lowing analyses of specimens from various localities in Ireland, 
 will shew the usual composition.
 
 OF IRELAND. 
 
 247 
 
 
 KILKENNY. 
 
 DOWN, 
 
 DUBLIN. 
 
 SLIGO. 
 
 Lime, 
 
 Magnesia, .... 
 
 Oxides of iron and 
 
 manganese, . . 
 
 Silica, 
 
 Carbonic acid, . . 
 
 30-13 
 21-43 
 
 0-93 
 
 5-74 
 
 46-65 
 
 30-26 
 18-25 
 
 3-10 
 
 47'-26 
 
 30-2 
 20-6 
 
 1-5 
 1-5 
 
 46-2 
 
 30-3 
 221 
 
 0-6 
 
 47-0 
 
 These are by no means all the localities in which this mi- 
 neral is found, but they are sufficient to mark its usual 'prac- 
 tical composition. It would be out of place to advert here to 
 the modes of extracting the magnesia from it, for which refer- 
 ence must be made to works specially devoted to chemistry. 
 
 I have endeavoured in these chapters to present such an ac- 
 count of the metallic and other minerals of Ireland, as, without 
 entering needlessly into mining or metallurgic details, should 
 indicate the localities of those rocks, which, by the'analogy of 
 other countries, we may expect to be rich in metallic ores, or 
 other substances useful in industry. I have also endeavoured 
 to represent, as faithfully as the matex'ials available by an in- 
 dividual would admit, the actual condition of our mines, the 
 amount of produce which they yield, and of the employment 
 which they afford to the people. 
 
 It results from these inquiries, that by far the greater por- 
 tion of this island is constituted of mineral formations, analo- 
 gous to those of the principal mhiing districts of England and 
 of the Continent of Europe. That in almost every quarter 
 valuable deposits of the more important metals, rocks, and mi- 
 nerals have been found, and the quantity of ores raised and 
 sold is annually on the increase. In many cases, mines and 
 quarries, formerly abandoned, are now being worked with ad- 
 vantage, owing to increase of economy and skill, and it should 
 not be a source of discouragement for the future prospects 
 of our mineral industry, that numerous unsuccessful trials are 
 made, for it must be recollected, that by such trials only, can
 
 248 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 the really valuable mines be ultimately found, aud that lo- 
 calities and enterprizes, of which wo now appreciate the final 
 success, shew us but the result of numerous aud toilsome 
 searches, under which the first adventurers were too frequently 
 depressed. 
 
 The precise localities of the more important metallic aud 
 other minerals described in this chapter are marked on the 
 map of the distribution of bog aud of river drainage.
 
 OF IRELAND. 249 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 OF THE AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY OF IRELAND. ITS IMPOR- 
 TANCE AS AN OCCUPATION. RELATIONS OF AGRICULTURE TO 
 MANUFACTURES. NATURAL FERTILITY OF THE SOIL OF IRE- 
 LAND. STATISTICAL VALUATION OF ITS PRODUCE. DISTRI- 
 BUTION OF THE SURFACE OF THE COUNTRY. OFFICE OF 
 PLANTS. CORRELATIVE FUNCTIONS OF THE MINERAL, VEGE- 
 TABLE, AND ANIMAL KINGDOMS. COMPOSITION OF PLANTS. 
 ORIGIN OF THE SOIL. CONNEXION BETWEEN THE FERTILITY 
 OF THE SOIL AND ITS COMPOSITION. EXAMPLES OF FERTILE 
 DISTRICTS. NATURE OF THE SOILS OF VARIOUS PARTS OF 
 IRELAND. COMPOSITION OF SUBSOILS. ORGANIC ELEMENTS 
 OF THE SOIL. MECHANICAL AND PHYSICAL OFFICE OF THE 
 
 SOIL, ofdrainage; its importance to ibish agriculture. 
 
 ACTION OF PLANTS ON THE SOIL. OF EXHAUSTION. COMPO- 
 SITION OF THE MOST IBIPORTANT CROPS. OF MANURES. 
 COMPOSITION AND PROPERTIES OF THE MOST IMPORTANT 
 NATIVE MANURES. OF LIME AND LIMESTONE ; MARL ; SEA 
 SAND; CORAL SAND, ITS NATURE. VALUE OF THOSE SANDS 
 DREDGED UPON THE NORTH AND SOUTH COASTS. OF GYP- 
 SUM ; OF SEA-WEED ; OF BONES; FARM YARD MANURE ; ITS 
 COMPOSITION AND RELATIVE POWER. IMPORTANCE OF ITS 
 PRESERVATION AND SUITABLE ECONOMY TO PRACTICAL AGRI- 
 CULTURE. 
 
 Although I have considered it of great importance to fix 
 attention on the facilities which tliis country presents for pro- 
 secuting the various departments of mechanical and chemical 
 manufacture, of which the essential circumstances and mate- 
 rials have been described in the preceding chapters, I am far 
 from being forgetful of the fact, that the support of the great 
 body of the people is, and must continue to be, derived from 
 the soil ; that the maimfacture most extensive and most in- 
 dispensable, is the production of food, and that agriculture, in 
 its proper sense, is the most important of the various sources 
 of industry which the country contains, and which it is my 
 duty to describe. There is no country in which a very large 
 proportion of the people is not supported by, and occupied 
 with, agricultural pursuits. In Great Britain alone they do 
 not constitute the majority of the population, and even there
 
 250 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 it appears, from the Census returns of 1831, that of 100 fa- 
 milies, there were 
 
 Employed in agriculture, 28 "2 
 
 ,, in trade and manufactures, . . . 42*0 
 ,, otherwise, 29*8 
 
 In this country a very large majority of the people depend 
 on the produce of the land for subsistence. Thus in 1831 it 
 was found, that of every 100 males above 20 years of age, 
 there were supported : 
 
 By agriculture, '. . . . 65*7 
 
 By trade or manufacture, 17'4 
 
 Otherwise, 16-9 
 
 The more accurate, as well as more recent, classification of 
 the Census of 1841, gives for the occupations of the people of 
 Ireland : 
 
 5,406,743 or 66-1 per cent. 
 
 In agriculture, . , 
 In trade and manufac 
 
 tures, . . 
 In other pursuits, 
 
 Total population. 
 
 1,953,688 or 24-0 
 813,535 or 9-9 
 
 8,173,966 100-0 
 From the cultivation of the soil, therefore, there are at pre- 
 sent means of subsistence to be sought for two-thirds of the 
 entire population, and it may well be conceived, that the in- 
 quiry as to the actual nature of the soil, its productiveness and 
 its extent, the means of increasing its fertility, and of econo- 
 mizing its produce, so as to give the greatest possible amount 
 of employment and support, present topics for discussion, im- 
 portant, not merely in relation to chemical or botanical phi- 
 losophy, but to the gravest problems that can occupy the minds 
 of the philanthropist or legislator. 
 
 The point of view under which the sulijects of this chapter 
 are to be considered, is different from that in which the pre- 
 ceding topics have been placed. Dazzled by the wondrous fa- 
 cilities for industrial activity whicii the structure of tlie sister 
 kingdom presents, we had gradually sunk under a stupefying 
 impression, that Ireland was not suited for any manufactures ;
 
 OF IRELAND. 251 
 
 and the phrase cui'rently ran : " We are an agricultural popu- 
 lation, the English a manufacturing people ; our soil and cli- 
 mate fit us for producing corn and cattle, whilst her mines of 
 coal and iron, the sources of her machine power, make her the 
 workshop of the world. The position of the two islands is, 
 therefore, correlative, and mutually advantageous ; she sends 
 us clothing, and v,e send her food ; from her crowded factories 
 we receive all the products of complex manufacture, and in re- 
 turn she takes our corn and cattle, the raw productions of our 
 soil." These ideas, every way prejudicial to the true interests 
 of the people, it was necessary to oppose. That we are not 
 destitute of the means of considerable manufacturing industry, 
 has been, I trust, already shewn, and the propriety of availing 
 ourselves of such resources, of passing, where it is possible, 
 from occupations yielding little employment, to those which 
 create most demand for labour, needs, as I believe, no argu- 
 ment, in a country of which the heaviest calamities arise from 
 a population able and willing to work, for which the land does 
 not afford employment, and to which no other industrial occu- 
 pation has been as yet presented. 
 
 The distinction which is drawn between an agricultural and 
 a manufacturing population, is, indeed, much more one of so- 
 cial condition and of civilization, than of geographical charac- 
 ter. Man, in his first escape from barbarism, attaches himself 
 to the soil, becomes a shepherd, and next a farmer : as his 
 wants become more numerous, his agricultural operations be- 
 come more complex, his ingenuity increases, and the assistance 
 he derives from the machines for abridging labour is more im- 
 portant. From watching cattle he passes to manufacturing 
 food, the earth becomes a portion of his machinery, he cleans, 
 prepares, and sets it into action, restores the worn out por- 
 tions, adds such as are deficient under the form of manures, 
 and in all the general characters of his operations resembles a 
 manufactm*ing chemist, except that his product is a palatable 
 food instead of soap or oil of vitriol. So far from thei-e being 
 aught antagonistic between agriculture and manufacture, the 
 former can only be carried on, with its best effect, where the 
 industrial arts are in a flourishing condition. The farmer re-
 
 252 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 quires for Jiis clothing the produce of various manufactures, 
 and for liis protection a house made comfortabhj by tlie labours 
 of various artisans. His plough, his machines for winnowing 
 and threshing, have been invented for him by ingenious me- 
 chanists. On the other hand, the manufacturer must be fed. 
 The produce of the farm finds its quickest and readiest sale in 
 the neighbouring manufacturing town. The risk of transport 
 to a distance, of sales to strangers, of change of markets, are 
 all avoided where domestic industry provides for the farmer 
 purchasers in his own country. Moreover, besides food, the 
 manufacturer takes from the agriculturist various materials, 
 as flax and hemp, wool and hides, which form a large part of 
 the value of his farm produce, and yet derive their greatest 
 value from the subsequent processes of manufacture to which 
 tiiey are submitted. 
 
 The two great branches of human occupation, manufactur- 
 ing and agricultm-al, so far from being opposed or inconsis- 
 tent, are thus really bound together by the strongest ties. The 
 same principles of science regulate the operations of both, and 
 afford similar means of amelioration. The products of both 
 are equally necessary for the subsistence of a civilized people, 
 and each depends for the disposal of his stock on the capa- 
 bility of the other to purchase and to pay for it. No pojiula- 
 tion that is exclusively devoted to the one or to the other mode 
 of existence, can have a healthy organization, or be considered 
 as in a natural state. It is, therefore, important to seek for 
 the means of advancing both together, and as I have already 
 described the relations of this country to manufacture, I shall 
 now pass to the circumstances under which agriculture exists 
 in Ireland. 
 
 It will, I trust, be understood, that I do not contemplate 
 entering into any detailed description, either of the actual con- 
 dition of agriculture in Ireland, or of the various methods and 
 systems of cultivation and improvement which have been pro- 
 posed, and are now, in many cases, being actively discussed. 
 Such a task would be totally foreign to my immediate object, 
 as well as inconsistent with Ihe necessary limits of this work. 
 I shall only endeavour to fix attention on the general circum-
 
 OP IRELAND. 253 
 
 stances of this department of industry, the relations which it 
 bears to other sources of employment of the people ; the great 
 features of those applications of chemical science to agricul- 
 ture, which promise to benefit so materially its condition ; and 
 finally, endeavour to direct the notice of those engaged in such 
 pursuits, to certain branches of agricultural manufacture. 
 
 Ireland has been considered as peculiarly adapted to agri- 
 culture, from the fertility of the soil, to which all travellers or 
 writers, who were competent to judge, have borne testimony. 
 It may, however, be useful to adduce some such evidence, and, 
 without referring to any of older or more dubious authority, I 
 shall briefly notice the statements of M'Culloch, of Arthur 
 Young, and of Wakefield. In the Statistical Account of the 
 British Empire, Mr. M'Culloch says : "A large proportion of 
 the surface of Ireland is covered with bogs and mountains, but 
 notwithstanding this deduction it contains a great deal of most 
 excellent land. The luxuriance of the pastures, and the heavy 
 crops of oats that are every where raised, even with the most 
 wretched cultivation, attest its extraordinary fertility. This 
 is the more singular, since, as has been already observed, the 
 soil is generally thin." Mi*. Wakefield, who was himself an 
 agricultixrist of long experience, and on a great scale, in Eng- 
 land, notices, in his elaborate account of Ireland, published in 
 1812, the soils of Ireland as follows : "A great portion of the 
 soil of Ireland throws out a luxuriant herbage, springing from 
 a calcareous subsoil without any considerable depth. This is 
 one species of the rich soil of Ireland, and is found throughout 
 Roscommon, in some parts of Galway, Clare, and other dis- 
 tricts. Some places exhibit the richest loam I ever saw turned 
 up with a plough ; this is the case throughout Meath in par- 
 ticular. Where such soil occurs, its fertility is so conspicuous, 
 that it appears as if nature had determined to counteract the 
 bad eifects produced by the clumsy system of its cultivators. 
 On the banks of the Fergus and Shannon, the land is of a dif- 
 forent kind, but equally productive, though the surface pre- 
 sents the appearance of marsh. These districts are called 
 caucasses : the substratum is a blue silt deposited by the sea, 
 which seems to partake of the qualities of the upper stratum, 
 for this land can be injured by no depth •f ploughing.
 
 254 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 "In the pountics of Limerick and Tipi)ei'ary there is another 
 kind of rich hmd, consisting of a dark, friable, dry, sandy loam, 
 which, if preserved in a clean state, would throw out corn for 
 several years in succession. It is equally well adapted for 
 grazing and tillage, and I will venture to say, seldom expe- 
 riences a season too wet, or a summer too dry. The richness 
 of the land in some of the vales may be accounted for by the 
 deposition of soil carried thither from the upper grounds by 
 
 te rains. The subsoil is calcareous, so that the very richest 
 manure is thus spread over the land below, without subjecting 
 the farmer to any labour." 
 
 Again, he says : "In the north the quantity of rich soil is 
 not very considerable, yet valleys of extraordinary fertility are 
 found in every county, and I was not a little astonished, amidst 
 the rocky and dreary mountains of Donegal, where there 
 was hardly a vestige of cultivation, to find myself drop all 
 at once into a district where the soil was exceedingly fer- 
 tile." " Independently of the caucasses, the richest soil in 
 Ireland is to be found in the counties of Tipperary, Limerick, 
 Longford, and Meath. Some parts of the county of Cork are 
 uncommonly fertile, and upon the whole, Ireland may be con- 
 sidered as affording land of excellent quality, although I am by 
 no means prepared to go the length of many writers, who assert, 
 that it is decidedly, acre for acre, richer than England." 
 
 Arthur Young, by whose exertions as Secretary to the 
 Board of Agriculture, and by his publications, the extension of 
 agricultural knowledge in England had been so powerfully 
 aided, says of Limerick and Tipperary: "It is the richest 
 soil I ever saw, and such as is applicable to every wish. It 
 will fatten the largest bullock, and at the same time do equally 
 well for sheep, for tillage, for turnips, for wheat, for beans, 
 and, in a word, for every crop and circumstance of profitable 
 husbandry. You must examine into the soil before you can 
 believe that a country, which lias so beggarly an ajjpearance, 
 can be so rich and fertile." 
 
 Besides these general statements, we are enabled to form 
 more definite ideas of the actual amount of produce from the 
 soil of Ireland, by means of a very elaborate inquiry instituted 
 by Mr. Wakefield into the u.=;ual weights of the more impor-
 
 OF IRELAND. 255 
 
 tant crops in the various parts of Ireland. He divides the 
 country into nine agricultural districts, but as these divisions 
 were not founded on any geological or other natural principle, 
 having regard only to the circumstances of his tour, they need 
 not be specially described. The averages of the numbers of 
 all nine, shewing the average crops of the cultivated land of Ire- 
 land generally, are given in the following table, per statute acre : 
 
 Of Wheat, from 142itb of seed, 
 OfBere, „ 132^ 
 Of Barley, „ 145 
 Of Oats, „ 196 
 
 Potatoes, ,, 1404 
 
 13001b of corn. 
 2148 
 1820 
 1734 
 13669 produce. 
 
 The largest amount of produce for each kind of crop, as 
 given by Mr. Wakefield, and which may be taken as shewing 
 the capability of the best lands, is as follows : 
 
 Wheat, in Waterford 4200tb 
 
 Bere in Limerick, 4480 
 
 Barley, in Kildare, Carlow, and Meath, . . 4480 
 
 Oats, in the east of Derry, 4032 
 
 Potatoes, at Athboy, in Meath, 72100 
 
 from a statute acre of ground. 
 
 In order to render our ideas more distinct, I shall here an- 
 nex the statements made by some of the most eminent autho- 
 rities in British and Scotch agriculture, as to the average and 
 maximum produce of the various crops noticed above. In his 
 valuable Treatise on Agriculture, Professor Low estimates the 
 weight of the various kinds of crops to be, for Great Britain 
 generally, per statute acre : 
 
 Wheat, 13801b 
 
 Barley, 1872 
 
 Oats, 1200 
 
 Potatoes, 17920 
 
 Professor Johnstone, in his excellent Lectures on Agricul- 
 tural Chemistry and Geology, estimates the average crops, and 
 the greatest recorded crops to be :
 
 256 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 AVERAGE. MAXIMUM. 
 
 Wheat, 14401b 420U1I) 
 
 Barley, 1708 41G0 
 
 Oats, 1480 4000 
 
 Potatoes, 13440 67200 
 
 It hence appears, that the quantities which JNlr. Wakefield 
 concluded, from very extensive inquiry, to be the usual pro- 
 duce of the cultivated land of Ii-eland, and also the quantities 
 which were the gi*eatest obtained in the localities where the 
 circumstances were most favourable, are almost absolutely the 
 same as those given by the best and most recent authorities, 
 as the usual, and as the most abundant produce of Great Bri- 
 tain. Yet Mr. Wakefield's work was printed in 1812, and 
 Messrs. Johnstone and Low's in 1843. The mode of farming- 
 was, in Ireland in 1812, such as made it a matter of wonder 
 that any crop at all should be obtained. It must, therefore, 
 be concluded, that the naturally high fertility of the soil com- 
 pensated for the ignorance of the farmer, and brought the final 
 result of Ireland in 1812, and Great Britain in 1843, to the 
 equality of production which has been just illustrated. 
 
 Further confirmation of this superior fertility of the soil of 
 Ireland, may be derived from the results to which M. IMoreau 
 de Jonnes has arrived, after an elaborate examination of the 
 agricultural condition of the British Islands, and has publislied 
 in his Statistique de la Grande Bretagne ct de I'li'lande. He 
 considers the average crops for a Hectarie (247 statute acres), 
 measured in Hectolitres (28 bushels), to be : 
 
 ENGLAND. SCOTLAND. IRELAND. 
 
 Wheat, 18 16 20 
 
 Rye, 10 12 32 
 
 liarley, 21 12 21 
 
 Oats 16 16 16 
 
 Mean, 16 14 17^ 
 
 I have more than once stated the area of Ireland to be 
 20,808,271 statute acres. The precise mode of distriljution of 
 this surface riMjuircs to be now noticed. It appears from the 
 Census in(iuiri('s of 1841, that there are:
 
 OF IRELAND. 
 
 257 
 
 STATUTE ACRES. 
 
 Of arable land, 13,464,300 
 
 Uncultivated ground, 6,295,735 
 
 Plantations, 374,482 
 
 Under towns, 42,929 
 
 Under water (lakes and rivers), . . . 630,825 
 
 The uncultivated land includes bogs and mountains. It has 
 been already shewn, that the area of bog is 2,833,000 acres, of 
 which almost all is capable of reclamation, and of being adapted 
 to productive husbandry, if not required as repositories of fuel. 
 Of the mountainy land also, comparatively little is beyond the 
 domain of agricultural enterprize. The average elevation of 
 Ireland above the sea is not more than 387 feet, as shewn in a 
 former chapter ; very little ground indeed lies above the eleva- 
 tion of 600 feet. In fact, there is no district in Ireland suf- 
 ficiently elevated to thereby present serious impediments to 
 cultivation, and scarcely an acre to which the name of incapa- 
 ble of cultivation can be applied. It has been calculated that of 
 the land at present waste, 4,600,000 acres are really available 
 for agricultui'e, and from my own investigations, I am inclined 
 to consider that estimate as certainly not exaggerated. 
 
 Such being the circumstances of the soil, it would be desira- 
 ble to possess an estimate of the quantity of food which the 
 island generally affords for the support of its inhabitants and 
 for exportation. This, however, can scarcely be at present 
 effected. Mr. M'Culloch states, that no documents exist from 
 which a satisfactory estimate can be formed of the total agri- 
 cultural produce of Ireland, but the eminent French statistician 
 already quoted, M. De Jonnes, has endeavoured, by a discus- 
 sion of all the available results, to solve the question, and he 
 concludes, that for each of the three kingdoms, in the years 
 1832 and 1834, the amount of produce w^as as follows. I have 
 calculated the hectolitre, which he uses, as 2-8 bushels, in re- 
 ducing: his numbers to the British standard of measure. 
 
 COUNTEY. 
 
 WHEAT. 
 
 OATS, 
 RYE. BARLEY. POTATOES, 
 AND BEANS. 
 
 England, 
 Scotland, 
 Ireland, 
 
 75,000,000 2,800.000 53,000,000 
 
 4,312,000 17,640 10,500,000 
 
 29,680,000 1 7,840,000 44,100,000 
 
 39,000,000 
 
 61,740,000 
 
 107,520,000
 
 258 
 
 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 In the case of Ireland at least, it is probable, that M. De 
 Jounes includes bere and bigg under the head of rye, for other- 
 wise it is not easy to understand how the number for rye be- 
 comes so great. It may afford some additional interest to 
 mark the quantity of different kinds of corn exported to Great 
 Britain. Three decennial periods are taken for comparison. 
 The quantities expressed are quarters. 
 
 WHEAT AND 
 YEARS. WHEAT-FLOUR. 
 
 BARI.EV OATS AND BEANS AND 
 AMD BERE. OATMEAL. PEAS. 
 
 1820, 
 1830, 
 1840, 
 
 403,407 
 529,717 
 174,439 
 
 87,095 
 
 189,745 
 
 95,954 
 
 916,251 
 1,471,252 
 2,037,835 
 
 8,835 
 21,573 
 15,976 
 
 Among other interesting inquiries as to the social physics 
 of Ireland, which are included in the census of 1841, is the es- 
 timate of the numbers and value of live stock. The numbers 
 are given in the following table, the values are not of interest 
 here, but the total money value may be mentioned as some- 
 what above twenty millions sterling. 
 
 STOCK. 
 
 LEINSTER. 
 
 MUNSTER. 
 
 ULSTER. 
 
 CON- 
 NAUGHT. 
 
 TOTAL. 
 
 Horses and 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Mules, 
 
 1(58,753 
 
 160,378 
 
 155,425 
 
 68,013 
 
 552,569 
 
 Horned 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 cattle. 
 
 488,858 
 
 530,273 
 
 525,854 
 
 295,840 
 
 1,840,825 
 
 Sheep, 
 
 657,118 
 
 095,622 
 
 212,671 
 
 525,788 
 
 2,091,199 
 
 Pigs, 
 
 366,772 
 
 522,895 
 
 292,512 
 
 170,922 
 
 1,353,101 
 
 Poultry, 
 
 2,236,941 
 
 2,8:34,752 
 
 1,895,078 
 
 5,397,056 
 
 12,334,427 
 
 Asses, 
 
 23,599 
 
 23,970 
 
 13,337 
 
 29,409 
 
 90,315 
 
 The horses kept for luxury are here included amongst those 
 employed in agricultural and other labour. 
 
 In connecting with this notice of the actual circumstances 
 and fertility of the soil, the important question of how its 
 powers may be augmented, or at least protected from that de- 
 terioration to which the experience of ages has proved cul- 
 tivated land to be exposed, it becomes necessary to advert to
 
 OF IRELAND. 259 
 
 the kind of action which plants exei'cise upon the soil, by which, 
 in fact, their growi.h is sustained, and the materials of food 
 and other crops brought into existence. I shall touch upon the 
 subject but succinctly ; considered in its proper compass, it 
 embraces at once the principal objects of agricultural chemis- 
 try, and of vegetable physiology, departments, upon the ex- 
 tensive and interesting domain of which I shall not enter, 
 but glean from them such characteristic facts and princi- 
 ples, as may best illustrate the immediate objects of this chap- 
 ter. 
 
 The vegetable kingdom is placed in nature intermediate be- 
 tween the mineral kingdom, which is submitted solely to the 
 operation of physical laws, and actuated only by means of me- 
 chanical forces, and the animal kingdom, in which vital orga- 
 nization is most complex and most perfect, and where physical 
 and chemical affinities are subordinate in energy to the refined 
 influence of nervous power. Every thing in nature is re- 
 ferrible to one or other of these three divisions, of which the 
 first, the mineral, is distinguished by an absolute fixity of 
 constitution, whilst the materials of which the animal is com- 
 posed are in a constant state of change. If we consider a piece 
 of marble, it contains carbon, oxygen, and calcium, and as 
 long as it has been a piece of marble, the same proportions of 
 these elements have formed it: but if we consider an animal, it 
 is composed of numerous elements which have little perma- 
 nence of arrangement. By the very act of its living force, the 
 materials of which it consists die, and are thrown off from the 
 remainder, and other new elements of the same kind must be 
 taken in their place, or else the whole animal dies. The living 
 being, therefore, requires food to supply this want of new ma- 
 tei'ials ; for this food it must look abroad in nature ; it must 
 prey. The more highly organized animals (carnivorous) prey 
 on those of an inferior vital power (hei'bivorous) : these again 
 on the vegetable kingdom. Thus ultimately the different 
 kinds of plants must supply the means of sustenance to all ani- 
 mal bodies, for in no case is an animal able to assimilate to its 
 organism, or use as nutritious food, a mineral material. 
 
 When, however, the term of existence of the animal has ex- 
 s 2
 
 260 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 pired, and that vitality ceasing, the physical and chemical 
 forces come into play, its constituents are restored to the mi- 
 neral kingdom. The A'arious elements which had formed its 
 bones and muscles, its nerves and viscera, pass into simpler 
 forms of combination, diffuse themselves in the atmosphere, or 
 are carried off, dissolved in vrater ; or else, entombed beneath 
 the surface, may reappear, after the lapse of many ages, in rock 
 formations, and thus become the indices of animal existence, of 
 which all other trace might long before have vanished from the 
 earth. From this mineral form the elements of animal exis- 
 tence are rescued by the aid of plants. The vegetable pene- 
 trating with its roots deep below the surface of the ground, 
 stretching with its stem and branches into the atmosphere, and 
 moistened by the showers, takes from these various sources 
 the elements necessary for organic beings, elaborates them 
 into the numerous products which are capable of being used as 
 food, and on which animals are fed. The various departments 
 of nature are thus correlative and mutually compensating. The 
 same elements pass successively from the mineral to the vege- 
 table, and from that to the animal existence, and by the disso- 
 lution of the latter, again back to the mineral kingdom, to be 
 the foundation of another and similar series. When we see in 
 Summer the country rich with luxuriant crops, gay with foliage 
 and flowers, where in Winter all had appeared dead and desert- 
 looking ; when we find new generations of animals replacing 
 those that die, and that the number of living beings does not 
 diminish, it is important for us to recollect, that there is still 
 no new element added to those already existing on the globe, 
 that the condition of the materials of our earth is of unceasing 
 cliiinge; assuming many forms, they pass from mineral to 
 plant, from plant to animal, and lience the growth and suste- 
 nance of an animal depend on the nature of the plants on 
 which it is fed, and the growth and development of a plant upon 
 the nature of the soil and the atmosphere, by which the mine- 
 ral elements may be supplied to it. 
 
 The number of elements which are found existing in animals 
 and plants amount to sixteen, of these the atmosphc.'re and 
 water may be considered as capable of supplying four, carbon.
 
 OF IRELAND. 261 
 
 hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen, and these are they which 
 constitute by far the greatest proportion of every organic sub- 
 stance. The remaining elements, though usually present in 
 much smaller quantity, are not less essential to the healthy 
 existence of the plant, and must be obtained from the soil on 
 which the plant is cultivated. The soil must, therefore, be 
 highly complex in constitution, in order that it may yield those 
 elements. If it do not naturally contain them, they must be 
 artificially supplied, in order that the plants may grow. Each 
 crop removing from the soil quantities of those materials, di- 
 minishes its power of producing future crops, and hence to 
 sustain the fertility of any soil, the exhausting tendency of its 
 vegetation must be compensated for by suitable additions. In 
 those few and simple propositions is contained the clue to the 
 most refined and successful systems of agriculture, and the 
 objects of the philosophical agricultui'ist, as well as the most 
 effective means of practically advancing husbandry, consist 
 in: 
 
 1st. Studying the composition of the soil. 
 
 2nd. Studying the action of plants upon it. 
 
 In neither point of view has the agriculture of this country 
 been as yet considered, and hence I shall rather endeavour to 
 indicate the route to be pursued in such inquiries, than be able 
 to describe what has been accomplished. 
 
 The soil is formed by the decomposition of the minerals, of 
 which the crust of the globe consists. The water which flows 
 over the surface is absorbed into the pores and fissures of the 
 rocks ; and in winter, on freezing, it expands with such irre- 
 sistible force, as to crumble down even the materials of the 
 densest and hardest stone. The pulverulent or gravelly mate- 
 rial so afforded, is carried down by rains or floods to the lower 
 grounds, and spreading over the more level country forms the 
 cultivatable soil. Independent of the mechanical action of 
 water, the constitution of numerous rocks is such as to cause 
 their gradual decomposition by its chemical action, as in the 
 case of felspar and other minerals ; and by the direct action of 
 the atmosphere, all rocks which contain protoxide of iron very 
 rapidly decompose and crumble down. Such being the origin
 
 262 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 of the soil, its constitution will be easily understood to depend 
 on that of the rock from which it has been formed ; and as on 
 this constitution its fertility, or its power of supplying plants 
 with the materials they require for their growth, mainly de- 
 pends, it will be seen that the agricultural capabilities of a 
 country are immediately connected with, and dependent on, 
 its geological character. A district, of which the rock is sim- 
 ple in constitution, cannot furnish a fertile soil. A pure quartz 
 rock, or a pure limestone, could only furnish from its soil to 
 plants, lime or silica, and they should hence languish for want 
 of other equally important elements. The edges of a geologi- 
 cal district, where various rocks are in contact, will, there- 
 fore, always be more fertile as to soil than its interior, and the 
 more numerous are the rocks in the neighbourhood, and the 
 greater the diversity in their mineral character, the more 
 complex will be the soil furnished by their decomposition, and 
 by its power of furnishing the elements of growth to different 
 kinds of plants, the greater will be the range and energy of 
 its fertility. 
 
 If these principles be applied to the actual condition of fer- 
 tility of the soils of Ireland, they mil be found borne out in a 
 remarkable degree. The districts known to agriculturists, as 
 being of the most remarkable fertility in Ireland, arc in Ulster, 
 about the valley of the Lagan, and in Munster, the Golden 
 Vale, which stretches from the end of the coal formation at 
 Cashel to near Limerick. On looking to the geological map, 
 these districts are found to contain a greater number of dif- 
 ferent kinds of rocks, than any other locality in Ireland. The 
 Lagan flows on a bed of new red sandstone, on one side of 
 which rises the trap district of Antrim, with its underlying 
 chalk and gypseous marls, whilst the clay-slate of Down 
 bounds it on the south, until it is closed by the old red sand- 
 stone and mica-slate, the coal formation and tertiary clays, 
 which occur all at the southern extremity of Lough Neagh. 
 The ]Munstor district lies between the sandstone and clay-slate 
 mountains oftheGaltees and Slieve Phclim. The principal 
 rock of the low country is limestone, through which, however, 
 protrude in various parts, masses of sandstone, and of volcanic
 
 OF IRELAND. 2G3 
 
 trap, itself of complex constitution : the western boundary 
 being the shales and grits of the Munster coal field. 
 
 In the case of a river flowing through a great extent of 
 country, and intersecting various geological formations, the 
 earthy matter which it carries down and deposits, when, by 
 the widening of the stream and the meeting of the tidal water, 
 the force of its current ceases, possesses a similar complexity 
 of composition and equal fertility. Thus the flat lands along 
 a river are, when reclaimed, found to be highly productive : 
 such are the caucasses of the Shannon ; so have been formed 
 the low districts of Holland and Belgium, whose agriculture 
 is so worthy of imitation. So also, by the overflowing of the 
 Nile, and the deposition of its mud, the debris of the numerous 
 rocks of the upper country, Egypt was rendered the garden of 
 the ancient world. 
 
 It is necessary to remark, however, that the source of the 
 soil may be, and perhaps more frequently is, far distant from 
 the rock which actually underlies it ; the soil being formed by 
 the decomposition of the mountainous country, and being de- 
 posited on the plain. The constitution of the most usual soil 
 of the central portions of Ireland is a remarkable instance of 
 this. The great limestone plain is covered by a soil which 
 contains scarcely a trace of lime, although it may be actually 
 mixed with limestone gravel. I have examined soil which was 
 not many inches deep, and had a subsoil of limestone gravel, 
 resting on bare limestone rock, and yet the soil itself was al- 
 most barren for want of lime, which it was necessary to apply 
 to it as a manure. This circumstance is very well illustrated 
 in the remarks of Mr. Murphy, in an agricultural tour, pub- 
 lished in the Irish Farmers' Journal. He says, speaking of the 
 limestone country between Dublin and Slane : ' ' The surface 
 soil of the extensive level, of which this rock forms the sub- 
 stratum, does not appear to have been formed by the disinte- 
 gration of the subjacent rock, as between it and the surface a 
 layer of gravel or rounded stones, intermixed with earth, oc- 
 curs very generally ; these round stones being for the most 
 part a limestone of much purer character, and suited for burn- 
 ing : but rather seems to have been deposited by the waters of
 
 264 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 an immense lake, which probably at some distant period occu- 
 pied this extensive flat. It has not, so far as we are aware, 
 been analysed, but evidently contains a large portion of alu- 
 mina (clay) ; is stiff, retentive of moisture, and if worked or 
 trodden when wet, becomes as hard as a road in dry weather, 
 so that no harrowing or rolling can reduce the clods, but wliich 
 fall just like roche lime on being wetted." 
 
 It is very difficult to trace, in any case, the origin of soils 
 which are mostly due to such complex soiu-ces, and especially 
 in Ireland, where analyses are almost absolutely absent, and 
 where the attention of scientific men has been as yet scarcely 
 at all fixed on agricultural problems ; yet it may not be un- 
 interesting to follow up what has been said, by noticing at 
 least a possible source of the heavy clayey soil of the limestone 
 plain. The coal districts of Ireland, as described in a former 
 chapter, are not shut in, as in most other countries, and con- 
 tained in basins between more elevated formations of older 
 rocks, but stand out insulated, and rising several hundred feet 
 above the general level of the limestone plain on which they 
 rest. Were they always of their present limited dimensions ? 
 Were not, for instance, the Leinster and Tipperary coal fields 
 once connected ? Were not the places where the lower lime- 
 stone is now the surface rock, originally covered by an exten- 
 sion of the calp and upper limestone, the tearing off of which 
 laid bare the lower and produced a portion of the present 
 soil ? 
 
 The great heaps of limestone gravel known as Eskers, which 
 are found over the central plan, and which afford abundant 
 proof of there having been at one time currents of vast force 
 in operation over the surface, render it highly probable, and 
 that certainly in some localities such has occmTcd is beyond 
 doubt. In the Railway Report, Mr. Griffith, describing the 
 coal strata of Lough Allen, says : " The millstone grit forms 
 the surface, not only of Cuilcagh, but of many similar moun- 
 tains of the neighbouring district. Had they been one hun- 
 dred feet higher, they would have all contained the main coal 
 of Bralilieve mountain, but unfortunately that valuable coal 
 bed, which no doubt once existed there, lias been washed away
 
 OF IRELAND. 
 
 265 
 
 by the action of currents, proceeding from the north-west, and 
 deposited in broken fragments, accompanied by sandstone and 
 blue-clay, on the surface of the limestone valley which ex- 
 tends to the south-east, towards Belturbet, Killeshandra, and 
 Mohill. In many instances large pieces of coal have been 
 discovered by well-sinkers, in the diluvium, throughout the 
 district above mentioned, and in some cases the quantity of 
 coal was so considerable, as to induce the belief, that by sink- 
 ing deeper, a bed of coal might be found." If we contemplate 
 similar, only more extended actions than those just now de- 
 scribed, we shall have easily accounted for the coating of 
 clayey soil which covers the limestone coimtry, and which cer- 
 tainly has been produced by the decomposition of slate-clay 
 strata, such as exist abundantly in the coal formations and in 
 the calp. 
 
 I have mentioned that we are almost totally destitute of 
 analyses of the soils of Ireland. This is a deficiency which 
 it is most impoi'tant for our scientific chemists, with the assis- 
 tance of enlightened agriculturists, and of such institutions as 
 the Royal Dublin Society, to endeavour with all energy to 
 supply. In preparing the Geological Memoir for the Ordnance 
 Survey of Londonderry, Captain Portlock had analyses made 
 of several soils from that county, of which the following table 
 presents a summary sufficient for present objects. The soils 
 are arranged according to the natm-e of the underlying rock, 
 and the names of the townland of each are given. 
 
 SOILS ON BIICA-SLATE. 
 
 
 MOYARD. 
 
 BAIXY- 
 BANEDIN. 
 
 KILLD- 
 NAUGHT. 
 
 MONEY- 
 HANEGAN. 
 
 Water, 
 
 Organic matter, . . 
 Sand and gravel, . . 
 Fine insoluble matter. 
 Oxide of iron, . . . 
 Alumina, .... 
 Carbonate of lime, . 
 
 9-6 
 
 11-8 
 
 104-2 
 
 63-8 
 
 7-1 
 
 0-7 
 
 0-2 
 
 8-5 
 
 20-8 
 
 131-7 
 
 37-0 
 
 3-1 
 
 6-0 
 
 13-8 
 
 240 
 
 101-2 
 
 38-7 
 
 0-2 
 
 2-7 
 
 3-2 
 6-0 
 112-0 
 67-8 
 8-0 
 3-0 
 
 199-4 
 
 207-1 
 
 182-6 
 
 200-0
 
 •266 
 
 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 SOILS ON TRAP ROCKS. 
 
 
 BALLYMA- 
 COMB. 
 
 DOWNING. 
 
 EDEN. 
 
 SLAOHT- 
 NEILL. 
 
 Water, 
 
 Organic matter, . 
 Sand and gravel, . . 
 Fine insoluble matter. 
 Oxide of iron, . . . 
 Alumina, .... 
 Carbonate of lime, . 
 
 24-3 
 22-6 
 71-3 
 54-6 
 16-4 
 5-5 
 
 19-6 
 17-9 
 68-2 
 70-8 
 10-3 
 6-0 
 3-6 
 
 6-6 
 
 2-9 
 
 85-6 
 
 77-4 
 
 11-7 
 
 5-3 
 
 9-3 
 
 25-2 
 151 
 41-9 
 88-6 
 17-6 
 5-9 
 0-7 
 
 194-7 
 
 196-4 198-8 
 
 195-0 
 
 SOILS ON SANDSTONE ROCKS. 
 
 
 DOON. 
 
 GORTNAS- 
 KEY. 
 
 DERRY- 
 CHRIER. 
 
 TtlLLY- 
 VERY. 
 
 Water, 
 
 Organic matter, . . 
 Sand and gravel, . . 
 Fine insoluble matter, 
 Oxide of iron, . . . 
 Alumina, .... 
 Carbonate of lime, . 
 
 7-8 
 
 11-2 
 
 124-5 
 
 53-2 
 
 4-5 
 
 0-7 
 
 0-2 
 
 8-5 
 8-2 
 105-4 
 62-3 
 5-0 
 2-4 
 0-2 
 
 12-2 
 
 21-6 
 
 123-8 
 
 38-2 
 
 3-9 
 
 2-1 
 
 0-2 
 
 5-5 
 
 7-3 
 
 142-9 
 
 08-6 
 
 6-2 
 
 202-1 
 
 1920 
 
 202-0 
 
 200-5 
 
 It can be easily understood, that if we were in possession of 
 a series of analyses of the soils of the country, and could ex- 
 hibit them in the form given above, they would furnish most 
 valuable data and assistance in agricultural operations, but I 
 must say, that really useful analyses should be very differently 
 executed from those above detailed. In none of these are the 
 alcalies, magnesia, the sulphates, nor phosphates, at all no- 
 ticed as present or absent. Yet, these are highly important 
 elements of a soil, and indispensable to most plants. More- 
 over, there is a large amount of sand and gravel mentioned, 
 also fine insohible matter, but no idea of the nature of the sand, 
 gravel, or fine matter ; yet the nature of this being unknown, 
 what do we know of the soil ? In fact the analysis of a soil
 
 OF IRELAND. 
 
 267 
 
 is an opei'ation requiring the greatest precision. In order 
 that we may be satisfied of its correctness, we must have the 
 security of other and difficult problems in chemistry, success- 
 fully solved by the same analyst, whom, therefore, we can 
 trust, but in the case of the Ordnance Survey analyses, the 
 name of the operator is not even given, and hence we have no 
 other authority to rely on for their accuracy, even as far as 
 they go, than that of Captain Portlock, whose eminence in his 
 own departments of science is indeed worthy of praise. 
 
 In no case do the above analyses of soils enable us to judge 
 of the relation between the soil and subsoil or underlying rock. 
 The composition of mica has been noticed already (p. 172), 
 that of the trap or basaltic rocks which constitute the north- 
 east of Ireland, and which contain a great variety of minerals 
 in minute division throughout their mass, may be judged from 
 the following analyses. No. 1 is by Kennedy, No. 2 by Ber- 
 thier, Nos. 3 and 4 by myself. 
 
 
 No. 1. 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 No. 3. 
 
 No. 4. 
 
 Silica, 
 
 48 
 
 52-4 
 
 52-89 
 
 5117 
 
 Alumina, 
 
 
 
 16 
 
 22-6 
 
 19-29 
 
 18-29 
 
 Lime, . . . 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 3-8 
 
 5-39 
 
 6-12 
 
 Soda, . . . 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 7-9 
 
 ,j 
 
 ,j 
 
 Magnesia, . 
 
 
 
 ,, 
 
 11 
 
 2-19 
 
 1-80 
 
 Oxide of iron. 
 
 
 
 16 
 
 9-1 
 
 17-82 
 
 20-60 
 
 1 Water, . . 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 10 
 
 2-56 
 
 203 
 
 
 
 
 98 
 
 99-9 
 
 100 04 
 
 100-01 
 
 From this complexity of constitution it might be expected, 
 that the soil formed by the decomposition of these basaltic 
 rocks should be well adapted for agriculture, but the manner 
 in which it decomposes has not been properly investigated. 
 The sides of the great trap dike, which near Croagh in Tyrone, 
 cuts through the chalk, are decomposed and soft, disintegrat- 
 ing rapidly on exposure, and a clayey substance, evidently the 
 residt of its final change, rests against it in pei'pendicular beds.
 
 268 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 separating it from the chalk. This substance was analysed by 
 Dr. Apjohn, and yielded : 
 
 Silica, 32-43 
 
 Alumina, 7-32 
 
 Magnesia 7"13 
 
 Protoxide of iron, 3 "70 
 
 Lime, 0*34 
 
 Water, 2886 
 
 99-97 
 Loss, 0-03 
 
 100-00 
 
 Whether the " fine insoluble matter" of the soils of the trap 
 district, was similar to this decomposed trap, remains for fu- 
 ture examination. In the decomposition of the trap rocks, it 
 is certain that the oxide of iron is evolved in such a form, as 
 to be soluble in weak acids. Hence the trap soils appear in 
 the Ordnance Sm-vey analyses to contain so much oxide of 
 iron. This metal is even dissolved out of the disintegrating 
 rock by the carbonic acid of the rain and spring water. Al- 
 most every spring in that district is impregnated with iron ; 
 of thirty specimens of water which I examined, twenty-three 
 contained iron, and some of them were strongly chalybeate. 
 It is hence, probably, that the clayey substance formed by the 
 decomposing trap, and analyzed by Dr. Apjohn as above, con- 
 tained so little iron. 
 
 When I come to speak of the flax agriculture, and of the 
 composition of the mineral manures, I shall have occasion to 
 notice some investigations which I have myself made, as to 
 the composition of soils, under the direction of two of our most 
 useful and enlightened associations, the Flax Improvement So- 
 ciety, and the Waste Land Improvement Society of Ireland. 
 
 Before passing from the consideration of the composition of 
 soils, it is necessary to add to this account of their constituents, 
 as derived from the rocks by which they are formed, some 
 notice of the peculiar organic matter which all fertile soils 
 contain, and to the functions of which I shall have to recur
 
 OF IRELAND, 269 
 
 after some time. After the ^leath of a plant, its elements, 
 yielding to the force of their chemical affinities, enter into new 
 arrangements, and by a series of progressive alterations, are 
 finally converted into a dark brown material, termed popularly 
 vegetable mould, and by chemists, humus or ulmine. When 
 perfectly pure, this substance contains no nitrogen, and con- 
 sists of, as prepared, 
 
 FROM WOOD. FROM SUGAR. 
 
 Carbon, 72-7 65-65 
 
 Hydrogen, 6-1 4-28 
 
 Oxygen, 21-2 30-07 
 
 1000 10000 
 
 Such a material is totally destitude of power on vegetation, 
 and the confounding of it with the substances which are pro- 
 duced in the natural rotting of the remains of plants in the 
 soil, has been very prejudicial to the progress of agricultural 
 chemistry. 
 
 It is in fact found, that when vegetable matter commences 
 to decompose, it evolves carbonic acid, and absorbs oxygen 
 from the air, but not merely does it unite with that element, 
 but also the nitrogen of the air is absorbed in considerable 
 quantity, and enters into the constitution of the new product, 
 which actually acquires thus, almost the composition of an 
 animal substance. Two equivalents of wood, C-^, H^g, O^g, take 
 from the atmosphere five equivalents of nitrogen, and ten of 
 oxygen, and evolving sixteen equivalents of carbonic acid, 
 Cjg, O32, are converted into a brown substance, which Her- 
 mann, whose results I am now quoting, terms nitrolin. The 
 composition of this body, compared with that of animal flesh, 
 is as follows : 
 
 NITROLIN. FLESH. 
 
 Carbon, 57-20 5520 
 
 Hydrogen, G"32 7-00 
 
 Nitrogen 12-20 16-80 
 
 Oxygen, 24-28 21-80 
 
 100 00 100 00 
 
 If this nitrolin remain in contact with air and moisture, it
 
 270 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 falls into decomposition, j^recisely as animal bodies do, evolves 
 carbonic acid and ammonia, and produces different brown and 
 black coloured substances, truehumine, humicacid, &c., which 
 ai-e gradually less rich in nitrogen. It is by the gradual for- 
 mation and decomposition of this body, that the organic mat- 
 ter of the soil becomes so powerful an agent in its fertilization. 
 The roots and fibres of a crop, left in the soil, gradually rot, 
 and become thereby the means of absorbing from the atmos- 
 phere a quantity of nitrogen, which is rendered available for 
 the sustenance of the next generation of plants. 
 
 In estimating the fertility of a soil, therefore, it is most im- 
 portant to determine the quantity of these active organic 
 matters, and particularly the amount of nitrogen which they 
 contain. In the Ordnance Survey analyses, the quantity of 
 organic matter is given, but its amount is such, often more 
 than 20 per cent., as to shew that there are included all the 
 unaltered roots and fragments of plants, which deprive the 
 number of all absolute value. The mere presence of organic 
 matter indicates nothing ; thus a peaty soil may be absolutely 
 barren, if the decomposition of its organic matter has been 
 carried on under water, where the oxygen and nitrogen of the 
 air have not access, and consequently only inert ulmine, des- 
 titute of the power of evolving carbonic acid and ammonia, be 
 produced. 
 
 The office of the soil is not merely to afford such chemical 
 elements as the constitution of the plant requires, but also, 
 and what, in an agricultural point of view, is nearly of as 
 great importance, to afford a mechanical support to the plant 
 during its existence. This support must be consonant to the 
 habits and structure of the plant, and hence is the special clas- 
 sification of soils, as adapted for the cultivation of various 
 kinds of crops, quite independent so far of their chemical com- 
 position. Thus if we take a tenacious clay, which, when dry, 
 becomes hard and solid, and when wet, forms an impervious 
 paste, it is evident that plants which either required to extend 
 delicate roots to a distance, or to generate a single root of con- 
 siderable bulk, could not grow there in a healthy manner ; whilst 
 a light and very porous soil would be adapted naturally for such
 
 OF IRELAND. 271 
 
 crops. On the other hand, a plant of which but little stretches 
 under ground, the stem and other portions presenting a con- 
 siderable mass and surface to the air, would find in a tena- 
 cious clay, a sure anchorage and support against the effects of 
 the wind and rain. It is thus that wheat and turnip soils are 
 almost synonymous A^^th stifP and adhesive clays on the one 
 hand, light and friable loams upon the other, and similar in- 
 stances of the mechanical adaptation of soils to agricultural 
 practices will have occurred in the experience of every practi- 
 cal farmer. 
 
 It is not merely, however, in this mechanical point of view, 
 that the physical properties of the soil become important, but 
 also, and indeed especially, as affecting the condition of drain- 
 age of the ground. The greater or less dryness of a soil in- 
 fluences powerfully the nature of the vegetation it tends to 
 nourish. The plants of a marsh differ from those of a dry upland, 
 not merely in greater or less abundance or luxm'iance, but in 
 nature and in organization. The plant which is naturally 
 formed for dry ground will no more flourish in a wet situation, 
 than an animal, inliabitant of the land or air, can seek its sub- 
 sistence, and live habitually under water. It is, therefore, of 
 vital importance to agriculture, that all superfluous water 
 should be as rapidly as possible removed. Its presence not 
 merely affects the character of the natural vegetation, and 
 renders the soil unfit for the cultivation of plants which belong 
 to a dry situation, but, what is even more practical in its con- 
 sequences, it retards the progress of vegetation in a vei'y ma- 
 terial degree, by preventing the rays of the sun from warming 
 the substance of the soil. A certain moderate heat is indis- 
 pensable to vegetation ; an increase of heat, provided it did not 
 exceed certain bounds, augments its rapidity and force, in a 
 remarkable degree, and the constitution of ordinary soil, by 
 its dark colour and rugged dull aspect, is precisely such as to 
 absorb the heat of the sun with most effect, so as to advance 
 the vegetation on its surface ; but if the soil be sensibly wet, 
 no heating effect can take place, all the warmth will be ab- 
 sorbed in producing evaporation of water from the surface, 
 and rather, as one may verify by holding a wet hand in the air.
 
 272 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 even before the sun, an impi-ession of greater cold will be pro- 
 duced. Long experience as to the result, has even fixed in 
 ordinary language the word cold as expressing the imperfec- 
 tion of such soils. The remedying of this evil, as of the former 
 one, consists in relieving the soil from the excess of water 
 which lies upon it, which is to be effected by attending to the 
 general drainage of the district, and by lessening the retentive 
 quality of the individual soil, where such is economically prac- 
 ticable. 
 
 The question of drainage becomes of very considerable im- 
 portance in relation to the lands of the limestone plain, in which, 
 being situated at such moderate altitude, and with so gentle an 
 inclination of surface, the rivers and lakes, on any considera- 
 ble fall of rain, are apt to overflow their banks, and flooding 
 considerable districts, destroy a serious amount of agricultural 
 produce. Thus the Shannon, above Lough Derg, was used to 
 flood, at ordinary rises, 32,000 acres of land along its banks, 
 which, on being relieved by the improvements in the channel 
 of the river, from such a source of loss, will be very materially 
 increased in value. The fall available for drainage in this 
 district may, in a general point of view, be calculated from the 
 fact, that the summit level of the Royal Canal is 322 feet at 
 Mullingar, that of the Grand Canal at the summit level 279 
 feet above the level of the sea. The discharge of waters into 
 the Shannon occurs where the river is 120 feet, and to the east 
 on the edge of the limestone plain, a few miles from Dublin 
 (about Lucan), 150 feet above that level. The fall on the plain 
 is therefore, but about 165 feet on each side of the summit, a 
 distance in average of forty miles, which gives little more than 
 four feet per mile. It is hence easily intelligible how, with the 
 obstacles of various kinds found in the course of every stream, 
 these flat portions of the country are liable to flooding in the 
 wet seasons. In many districts these accidents became almost 
 truly periodical, occurring once in three or four years to such 
 an extent as to destroy the crops ; the property lost in a single 
 year being so great, that it would, if judiciously expended, pay 
 the entire cost of remedying the evil. A great ijortion of such 
 lands is in wet seasons covered with water for three, six, or
 
 OF IRELAND. 273 
 
 even eight months in the year, and the injury extends also to 
 those lands, which lying higher, are not actually flooded, but 
 the corn and other crops of which are deteriorated by the damp 
 fogs and vapom-s arising from the flooded lands, and the cold 
 and early frost thereby produced. 
 
 These evils are often augmented by the position of mills or 
 factories, which, from the injudicious construction of their dams 
 or weirs, throw back the water on the land at one season, 
 though they are left short of water for work at other times. 
 In the majority of cases, the improvement of the waterpower 
 of the mill and the effectual drainage of the lands are perfectly 
 compatible. Such undertakings, however, cannot be carried 
 out by any individual effort, except in very peculiar localities. 
 This difficult V has, however, been recently removed, and power 
 granted to the Board of Woi*ks to carry on drainage opera- 
 tions. From this the greatest benefit may be expected to re- 
 sult, principally to the agriculturist, but also to the manufac- 
 turer requiring water power. The land will be brought into 
 a better state for cultivation, the supply of water to mills may 
 be rendered steadier, and even increased, as the loss by eva- 
 poration from a great flooded surface will be obviated, and 
 by the body of water being confined more strictly to the river 
 channels, the navigation of these will be, in many cases, ma- 
 terially facilitated. 
 
 That the advantages derivable from effective drainage are 
 fully appreciated by our agricultural proprietors, is shewn by 
 the fact, that although the powers and regulations of the Board 
 of Works are yet but little imderstood by the public, there had 
 been applications made and surveys instituted between Au- 
 gust, 1842, when the Act passed, and April, 1844, for the drain- 
 age of 48,293 acres of land liable to flood. The estimated cost 
 of thoroughly draining these lands amounted to £129,811, or 
 £2 13s. 6a?. per acre. The expected increase in the annual 
 setting value of the lands amounted to £16,489, or about 13 per 
 cent, on the capital invested, and this capital is to be derived 
 from the parties benefited by the improvement, to whom in- 
 deed the return is rendered somewhat larger by the fact, that
 
 274 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 certain portions of the operations are carried on at the public 
 cost. 
 
 Besides those cases in which surveys have been actually 
 made, there have been applications for the examination of 
 about 25,000 acres more, which makes 73,293 acres of land 
 now about to be drained and improved, upon the voluntary ap- 
 plication and assessment of the proprietors. 
 
 A feature in these drainage operations, which deserves no- 
 tice, is the amount of employment which they afford. Of the 
 £129,811 estimated above as the expense of the operations, 
 it is calculated that £90,000 would be expended in labour alone. 
 The works are of such a simple nature, cuttings and embank- 
 ments, as may be performed by the least skilled labourers and 
 with the simplest tools. Not being necessarily limited in time, 
 the operations of each district could be executed by the 
 labourers of that district when agricultural occupation was 
 most deficient, and thus at once relieve for several years the 
 localities from the pressure of an unemployed population, ame- 
 liorate the condition of the soil, so that it may furnish addi- 
 tional agricultural occupation, and train the labourers to habits 
 of steady industry. 
 
 I have thus endeavoured to trace the general conditions 
 under which the soil of Ireland is placed, as to the circum- 
 stances of composition and of drainage, which so powerfully 
 affect its fertile quality. It is necessary to notice also the 
 materials which are at hand for the restoration of its powers, 
 when, by the ordinary course of agriculture, the land becomes 
 more or less exhausted. These materials are manures of 
 various kinds, some mineral some animal, or vegetable, all 
 acting, however, in supplying to the soil the elements of which 
 it had been originally deficient, or which had been removed 
 from it by the crops previously grown upon the land. Inordcr,_ 
 however, that the true action of manures and the necessity for 
 them may be understood, it will be necessary to premise some 
 brief observations. 
 
 The great object of agriculture is, to produce food for man. 
 The agriculturist feeds various other animals, but only with 
 the final object of rendering them also available as food. The
 
 OF IRELAND. 275 
 
 plants must thus furnish to man the elements of which his body 
 consists, and although there are certain exceptions arising 
 from some kinds of food being more palatable than others, yet 
 we may consider it as a principle, that the price of any kind of 
 food is proportional to its nourishing quality. A stone of po- 
 tatoes costs less than a stone of wheat, and this much less 
 than fourteen pounds of beef ; but to support the life of an in- 
 dividual it will require much more of potatoes than of wheat, 
 much more of wheat than of beef, so that ultimately the same 
 quantity of real nutritive material costs about the same money 
 in all. In order that the plant may elaborate the various sub- 
 stances which serve the purposes of food, the plant itself must 
 be sustained in health, and its parts properly formed, for 
 which various substances are necessary, which are not required 
 by the animal, and which, if the plant be eaten, are rejected. 
 All these materials are derived from the inorganic sources de- 
 scribed in page 261 ; from the air, or water, or from the soil, 
 but it is chiefly from the latter. The atmosphere furnishes 
 the carbon of plants, especially after they have passed the first 
 stages of their growth, as has been shewn by Ingenhouz and 
 many other philosophers, and so beautifully popularized by 
 Liebig. From the atmosphere also many kinds of plants derive 
 nitrogen, but it is from the decomposing organic matter of the 
 soil the young plant finds a supply of carbon and of nitrogen : 
 many of the most important plants depend on it alone for the 
 nitrogen they contain, and in all cases the mineral elements of 
 the vegetable are taken from the soil on which it grows. In 
 order that the nature of these elements should be understood, 
 I have drawn up the following tables, deduced from very accu- 
 rate analj'ses by Boussingault, in the first of which the consti- 
 tution of some of the most important plants used as food is 
 shewn, and in the last the constitution of the inorganic portion, 
 which in the first is marked as ashes. 
 
 100 parts of the following substances considered as dry, con- 
 sist of:
 
 276 
 
 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 
 CARBON. 
 
 HTDR06EN. 
 
 OXYGEN. 
 
 NITROGEN. 
 
 ASHES. 
 
 Wheat, . . . 
 
 46-1 
 
 5-8 
 
 43-4 
 
 2-3 
 
 2-4 
 
 Wheat-straw, . 
 
 48-4 
 
 5-3 
 
 38-9 
 
 0-4 
 
 70 
 
 Oats, .... 
 
 30-7 
 
 6-4 
 
 36-7 
 
 2-2 
 
 4 
 
 Oat-straw, . . 
 
 50-1 
 
 5-4 
 
 39 
 
 0-4 
 
 51 
 
 Potatoes, . . 
 
 440 
 
 5-8 
 
 44-7 
 
 1-5 
 
 4-0 
 
 Turnips, . . 
 
 42-9 
 
 5-5 
 
 42-3 
 
 1-7 
 
 7-6 
 
 Red clover hay, 
 
 47-4 
 
 5 
 
 37-8 
 
 21 
 
 7-7 
 
 100 parts of these substances, in their ordinary state of mois- 
 ture, contain usually : 
 
 
 WHEAT. 
 
 WHEAT-'oATS. OAT- POTA- ItUR- 
 STRAW. i ' STRAW. TOES. NIPS. 
 
 CLOVER 
 HAY. 
 
 Dry material, 
 Water, . . 
 
 85-3 
 14-5 
 
 74 
 
 26 
 
 79-2 71-3 
 
 20-8 28-7 
 
 24-1 7-5 
 73-9 92-3 
 
 79 
 21 
 
 100 parts of the ashes of the substances in these tables con- 
 tain : 
 
 
 WHEAT. 
 
 WHEAT- 
 
 OATS. 
 
 OAT- 
 
 POTA- 
 
 TUR- 
 
 CLOVER 
 
 
 
 STRAW. 
 
 
 STRAW. 
 
 TOES. 
 
 NIPS. 
 
 HAY. 
 
 Phosphoric acid, 
 
 47-0 
 
 3-1 
 
 14-9 
 
 3 
 
 11-3 
 
 6-1 
 
 6-3 
 
 Sulphuric acid. 
 
 10 
 
 10 
 
 10 
 
 4-1 
 
 7-1 10-9 
 
 2-3 
 
 Carbonic acid. 
 
 ,, 
 
 J, 
 
 1-7 
 
 3-2 
 
 13-4 14-0 
 
 23 
 
 Chlorine, . . 
 
 traces. 
 
 0-6 
 
 0-5 
 
 4-7 
 
 2-7 2-9 
 
 2-6 
 
 Lime, . . 
 
 2-9 
 
 8-3 
 
 3-7 
 
 8-3 
 
 1-8 
 
 10-9 
 
 24-6 
 
 Magnesia, . . 
 
 13-9 
 
 3-0 
 
 7-7 
 
 2-8 
 
 5-4 
 
 4-3 
 
 6-3 
 
 Pctash, . . . 
 
 29-3 
 
 9-2 
 
 12-9 
 
 24-3 
 
 51-3 
 
 33-7 
 
 26-6 
 
 Soda, . . . 
 
 traces. 
 
 0-3 0-0 
 
 4-4 
 
 traces. 
 
 41 
 
 0-5 
 
 Silica, . . . 
 
 1-3 
 
 67-6 33-3 
 
 40-0 
 
 3-6 
 
 6-4 
 
 5-3 
 
 Alumina, &c., . 
 
 
 10 1 1-3 
 
 21 
 
 0-3 
 
 1-2 
 
 0-3 
 
 Moisture and 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 loss, . . . 
 
 2-4 
 
 3-7 30 
 
 2-9 
 
 0-7 
 
 5-5 
 
 00 
 
 The investigations of Boussingault enable us also to calcu- 
 late the actual quantities of these various elements which are
 
 OP IRELAND. 
 
 277 
 
 taken from the soil by the growing crop. Thus, reducing his 
 numbers to British standard weights and measures, he foimd 
 the usual crop of wheat, from his farm in Alsace, per English 
 acre, to weigh : 
 
 A8 STORED. DRIED. 
 
 Grain, 15001b 12851b 
 
 Straw, 3400 2550 
 
 The ash consisted of, per acre : 
 
 GRAIN ASH. 
 
 Phosphoric acid, 15"511b 
 
 Sulphuric acid, "33 
 
 Carbonic acid, ,, 
 
 Chlorine, traces. 
 
 Lime, '96 
 
 Magnesia, 5'25 
 
 Potash, 9-73 
 
 Soda, traces. 
 
 SUica -43 
 
 Alumina, &c., ,, 
 
 Moisture and loss, 79 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 ASH. 
 
 33lb 
 178 
 
 STRAW ASH. 
 
 5-52lb 
 1-78 
 
 1-07 
 
 1513 
 
 8-90 
 
 16-37 
 
 •53 
 
 120-33 
 
 1-78 
 
 6-59 
 
 331b 
 
 1781b 
 
 The usual crop of oats : 
 
 AS STORED, 
 
 Grain, 12101b 
 
 Straw, 1700 
 
 The ashes were found composed of : 
 
 GR. 
 Phosphoric acid. 
 Sulphuric acid. 
 Carbonic acid 
 Chlorine, . 
 Lime, . . 
 Magnesia, 
 Potash, 
 
 CONTAINING. 
 DRIED. ASH. 
 
 9751b 401b 
 
 1180 
 
 59 
 
 AIN ASH. 
 
 STRAW ASH. 
 
 5-96lb 
 
 L77lb 
 
 •40 
 
 243 
 
 •68 
 
 r90 
 
 •20 
 
 2-78 
 
 1-48 
 
 491 
 
 3^08 
 
 1^65 
 
 518 
 
 14-60
 
 278 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 Soda, ., 2-60 
 
 Silica, 21-30 23.85 
 
 Alumina, &c -52 1-24 
 
 Moisture and loss, 1"20 1-27 
 
 40rt) 591b 
 
 The other crops, of which the composition per cent, has 
 been given above, yield usually, per statute acre, as follows : 
 
 
 AS STORED. 
 
 DRIED. 
 
 CONTAINING 
 ASHES. 
 
 Clover hay. 
 Potatoes, .... 
 Swedish turnips, . . 
 
 4620tb 
 14560 
 44800 
 
 36801b 
 
 3509 
 
 3360 
 
 283tb 
 
 142 
 
 255 
 
 These ashes consisted of: 
 
 
 POTATO ASH. 
 
 TURNIP ASH. 
 
 CLOVER ASH. 
 
 Pliosphoric acid, . 
 
 16-05lb 
 
 15-55 tb 
 
 17-82lb 
 
 Sulphuric acid, 
 
 10-08 
 
 27-79 
 
 7-08 
 
 Carbonic acid, 
 
 19-03 
 
 35-70 
 
 70-85 
 
 Chlorine, . . . 
 
 3-82 
 
 7-39 
 
 7-35 
 
 Lime, .... 
 
 2-55 
 
 27-79 
 
 69-62 
 
 Magnesia, . 
 
 7-67 
 
 10-96 
 
 17-83 
 
 Potash 
 
 73-15 
 
 85-97 
 
 75-18 
 
 Soda, .... 
 
 traces. 
 
 10-45 
 
 1-41 
 
 Silica, .... 
 
 7-95 
 
 16-32 
 
 15-00 
 
 Alumina, &c., . . 
 
 -71 
 
 3-06 
 
 0-85 
 
 Moisture and loss. 
 
 •99 
 
 14-02 
 
 " 
 
 1421b 
 
 2551b 
 
 2831b 
 
 These analytical results shew how numerous ai-e the mate- 
 rials which the plants remove from the soil, and also the quan- 
 tities which in each year are taken from a given area. Most 
 of these, it will be observed, are bodies which exist in ordinary 
 soils, but in comparatively small quantity. Thus it requires
 
 OF IRELAND. 279 
 
 very accurate analysis to determine the presence of phosphoric 
 acid, or of magnesia, or of potash, in a soil ; and yet these 
 bodies are found in the ashes of the growing crop in abundance. 
 It is, therefore, easily intelligible, that plants removing thus 
 such substances from the soil, should ultimately leave it so far 
 destitute of them, as to be unable to afford material for the 
 healthy growth of similar plants ; the soil should become bar- 
 ren, and it would require long repose, indeed time sufficient for 
 the formation of a new soil, before a similar cultivation could 
 be renewed with success. This time cannot, however, be given 
 without such interruption of agricultural labour as should ul- 
 timately produce serious loss, and hence the necessity of pro- 
 ducing, by the application of manures, an artificial soil, such as 
 may supply all the materials necessary to the plants, and ren- 
 der the farmer, to a great extent, independent of the slower 
 process by which natural soil is generated. Of these manures, 
 it falls only within the object of this work to notice such as 
 exist naturally in Ireland. 
 
 To the different varieties of cold clayey soils, of which so 
 large a part of the central surface of Ireland consists, there is 
 no manure more suitable than lime. It is also the material 
 most easily accessible, as but one county in Ireland is destitute 
 of it, and in the central districts it forms in general the under- 
 lying rock. It is useful first as supplying a necessary con- 
 stituent of plants, next, that when ai3pUed fresh slaked and 
 caustic, it promotes the decomposition of the vegetable remains 
 of former crops, and thus leads to the rapid formation of thosa 
 azotized organic matters which are so active in promoting the 
 fertility of the soil, and finally, by intermixtm-e with lime, the 
 cohesion of the clays is so materially diminished, that they be- 
 some much less strongly retentive of water. Perfectly pure 
 lime, arising from the calcination of a pm-e marble, would 
 often give only such advantages to the farmer as I have just 
 described, but it is to be recollected, that no limestone is abso- 
 lutely pure. That class of rocks are formed of the aggregated 
 remains of animals, more or less analogous to the crustacean 
 and molluscous animals of the existing seas, and hence contain
 
 
 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 Dgredients derived from that ori 
 he composition of existing- shells 
 
 gin. In fact 
 , which has 
 
 
 
 CRAB SHELL. LOBSTER 
 SHELL. 
 
 OY TER SHELL. 
 
 Animal membrane, . . 
 Carbonate of lime, . . 
 Phosphate of lime, . . 
 Salts of soda, . . . 
 Phosphate of magnesia, 
 
 28-6 
 
 62-8 
 
 6-0 
 
 1-6 
 
 1-0 
 
 44-76 
 49-26 
 3-22 
 1-50 7 
 l-26i 
 
 0-5 
 
 98-5 
 1-0 
 
 
 
 100-0 
 
 100-00 
 
 100-0 
 
 it will appear that limestone may be expected to contain 
 similar materials, and such is absolutely the fact. The quan- 
 tities are very minute, but become not unimportant in agricul- 
 tural operations, from the very large amount of materials that 
 is acted on. The different kinds of limestone also contain fre- 
 quently silica and alumina, and thereby acquire often the pro- 
 perty of setting underwater and forming hydraulic limes or 
 cements, although inferior limes for ordinary purposes. Most 
 of the middle limestone or calp is of this quality. 
 
 Independent of the true magnesian limestone described al- 
 ready, page 246, the beds of ordinary limestone are, in various 
 places impregnated with magnesia in small quantities, which 
 might make them desirable for some purposes of agriculture, 
 but injurious in other cases. The composition of such forms 
 of limestone is exemplified in that of the stone of Murloch 
 Bay, and of Donegal marble, the analysis of which by Dr. 
 Apjohn is given in the following table, along with the com- 
 position of pure limestone, of that of Brown's Hill, Carlow, 
 which belongs to the lower series, by Mr. Griffith, and of the 
 calp of Dublin, analysed by Knox. The phosphoric acid is 
 not counted in these analyses, as its quantity is too minute, 
 seldom amounting to one-thousandth of the entire.
 
 OF IRELAND. 
 
 281 
 
 
 PURE 
 
 brown's 
 
 HILL. 
 
 CALP. 
 
 MCRLOUGH BAY 
 
 AND 
 
 DONEGAL MARBLE. 
 
 Lime, .... 
 
 56 
 
 530 
 
 38-1 
 
 54-40 
 
 Carbonic acid, . 
 
 44 
 
 42-0 
 
 29-9 
 
 43-49 
 
 Silica, .... 
 
 
 4-5 
 
 18-0 
 
 •98 
 
 Alumina, . 
 
 
 ,, 
 
 7-5 
 
 ,, 
 
 Organic matter, 
 
 
 0-5 
 
 4-5 
 
 ,, 
 
 Magnesia, . . 
 Oxide of iron, 
 
 
 '' 
 
 20 
 
 1-13 
 
 Marl, which under many circumst a nces is a most useful ma- 
 nxire, is found to occiu* abund antly in Ireland. It supplies to 
 the soil, lime, though but in a mild form; it serves to loosen 
 the more densely aggregated soils, as it would also serve to 
 bind those of too loose a texture. It is, in fact, a mixture of 
 carbonate of lime and clay, and hence participates in the dif- 
 ferent properties of each. Almost all of the bo gs rests on a 
 marly bottom, intermi xed wi th beds of ^l ay, pr ^f limeston e 
 gravel, in such manner that t hese wastes, where they becom e 
 imn ecessary for fue l, contain underneath the best materials for 
 their own reclaimin g. The general constitution of these marls 
 and marly clays is shewn in the following analysis, given in 
 the Bog Reports by Mr. Griffith and by Mr. Edgeworth. 
 
 STRATA BENEATH TIMAHOE BOG (GRIFFITH). 
 
 BLUE AND 
 MARL. YELLOW CLAY. 
 
 Carbonate of lime, 64 6 
 
 Silica, 24 22 
 
 Alumina, 12 72 
 
 STRATA UNDER BOGS IN WESTMEATH (eDGEWORTH). 
 
 
 BLUE LIME- 
 CLAY. 
 
 WHITE 
 MARL. 
 
 BLUE CLAY. 
 
 Carbonate of lime, . . 
 Carbonate of magnesia. 
 
 Alumina, 
 
 Silica, 
 
 Bog stuff, 
 
 44-4 
 
 1-4 
 
 27-2 
 
 27-0 
 
 87-3 
 
 1-1 
 
 •9 
 10-7 
 
 530 
 
 36-0 
 11-0 
 
 
 100-0 j 1000 100.0
 
 282 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 Elsewhere I shall have occasion to notice the more direct 
 application of these materials. 
 
 Some interesting deposits of marl have been laid open by 
 the lowering of Lough Talt, on the Gleneask estate of the 
 Land Improvement Society in Sligo, and they promise to be 
 of considerable service in ameliorating the condition of the 
 soils of that locality. The following analyses of those marls, 
 and of the subsoils of the district, are extracted from a report 
 which I drew up for the Society, and which was appended to 
 a very interesting and valuable accoimt of the condition of 
 that estate, published by Mr. Beamish, one of their directors. 
 These marls yielded on analysis : 
 
 BLUE MABL. WHITE MARL. 
 
 Siliceous sand, 2-35 20-72 
 
 Alumina, 0-36 0-74 
 
 Oxide of iron, 0-24 0-32 
 
 Phosphate of iron, 0-03 0-02 
 
 Carbonate of magnesia, . . . 0'43 0-53 
 
 Carbonate of lime, • . . . . 90-98 77-04 
 
 Organic matter, 2-42 trace. 
 
 Water, 2-52 1-03 
 
 99-33 100-40 
 
 The subsoils fi-om under bog, on this estate, gave for the 
 composition of two specimens the following results : 
 
 No. 1. No. 2. 
 
 Siliceous sand, 88-07 87-40 
 
 Alumina, 2-83 4-18 
 
 Oxide of iron, 1-89 4-02 
 
 Carbonate of lime, 0-65 0-32 
 
 Carbonate of magnesia, .... 0-19 008 
 
 ^yater, 4-08 2-26 
 
 Organic matter, 2-04 1-98 
 
 99-75 100-24 
 The sand contained intermixed minute particles of mica and 
 grains of felspar, and was evidently ibrmed by the disinte- 
 gration of the underlying gneiss and mica-slate rocks of 
 Slieve GauflP.
 
 OF IRELAND. 283 
 
 A manure, of which the practical value is undisputed, al- 
 though difference of opinion exists as to the mode of its action, 
 is gypsum or sulphate of lime. The localities in which this 
 mineral exists in Ireland have been described. Its composi- 
 tion is : 
 
 Sulphuric acid, 46*5 
 
 Lime, 32-6 
 
 Water, 20-9 
 
 100 
 Its peculiar value consists in supplying lime for the rapid 
 growth of clover and other papilionaceous crops, which its 
 moderate solubility in water enables it to effect, better than 
 any other compoimd of that earth. 
 
 TURF AND ASHES AS MANtniE. 
 
 The ashes of turf arise partly from the inorganic matter be- 
 longing to the plants of which the turf was formed, and partly 
 from intermixture of the earthy matter of the subjacent soil. 
 It is hence that the quantity of ashes varies so considerably, 
 as shewn in page 36, and its composition will, of course be 
 different as it is affected by its origin. The ashes of pm-e turf 
 may be supposed nearly similar to those of other plants, except 
 that as the matei'ial must be considerably acted upon by water, 
 the more soluble ingredients will be found, for the most part, 
 absent ; thus the quantity of potash present in most ashes of 
 plants is not found in turf ashes. The more compact varieties 
 of turf are frequently intermixed with iron pyi-ites in consi- 
 derable quantity, produced by reactions, not as yet thoroughly 
 examined, and which in burning react so upon other ingre- 
 dients of the plants, as to produce sulphate of soda and sulphate 
 of lime, leaving oxide of iron free, by which the ash becomes 
 _ coloured red. Hence the general rule, founded on popular 
 experience, that red ashes are more fertilizing than white 
 ashes, the latter being little more than clay mixed with some 
 lime, whilst the former contams generally sulphuric acid and 
 soda. 
 
 In a letter to the Commissioners of Irish Bogs, Sir Hum-
 
 284 
 
 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 phrey Davy states, that he has found a difference between the 
 turf ashes of England and of Ireland to consist in the presence 
 of sulphate of lime in the former, and its absence in the latter. 
 It may be absent in certain localities, but it certainly is pre- 
 sent in the majority of cases, as I have satisfied myself by e«- 
 periment, although hitherto my opportunities have not enabled 
 me to institute absolute analyses of the ashes of the different 
 varieties of Irish turf, in which indeed we are as yet absolutely 
 deficient, for Davy, though making the above remark, did not 
 communicate any numerical results. 
 
 The following analyses of turf ashes from various localities, 
 made by Continental chemists, will suffice to indicate their 
 general composition. 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 ICHAnX. 
 
 VOITSUMRA. 
 
 VASSY. 
 
 FRA- 
 MOKT. 
 
 HAGENAU. 
 
 Carbonic acid, ) 
 Lime, . . ^ 
 
 63-0 
 
 52-7 
 13-7 
 
 22-5 7 
 
 39-7 i 
 
 30 
 
 6-0 
 
 Clay, .... 
 
 7-5 
 
 
 11-0 
 
 ,, 
 
 ,, 
 
 Silica, . . . 
 
 15-0 
 
 36-5 
 
 ,, 
 
 40 
 
 65-6 
 
 Alumina, . . 
 
 7-0 
 
 17-3 
 
 ii'-5 5 
 
 30 
 
 16-2 
 
 Oxide of iron, . 
 
 9-0 
 
 33-0 
 
 3-7 
 
 Potash and soda. 
 
 •5 
 
 ,, 
 
 ,, 
 
 
 2-3 
 
 Magnesia, . . 
 
 
 3-5 
 
 ,, 
 
 
 0-6 
 
 Sulphuric acid. 
 
 
 30 
 
 15-3 
 
 ,, 
 
 5-4 
 
 Muriatic acid, . 
 
 " 
 
 0-3 
 
 " 
 
 j> 
 
 0-3 
 
 100-0 
 
 100-0 
 
 1000 
 
 100-0 
 
 100-0 
 
 It is hence seen that whilst certain ashes, as that of Fra- 
 mont, could only act as a form of calcined marl, and hence be 
 but moderately useful to vegetation ; others contain a great 
 number of elements, as magnesia, potash, soda, sulphuric acid, 
 &c., which may prove in the highest degree beneficial. Dif- 
 ferences of this kind are probably the origin of the conflicting 
 evidence as to the results of the application of such substances 
 as manures, by which practical agriculturists are so much 
 puzzled, and we thus see that before employing those matc- 
 I'ials a correct knowledge of their composition should be ob- 
 tained.
 
 OF IRELAND. 285 
 
 In none of the ashes above analysed was there phosphoric 
 acid found, and as its presence or absence affects very mate- 
 rially some of the most important actions of manure, Boussin- 
 gault endeavoured to ascertain whether it was at all present. 
 He never could detect it in turf ashes, yet Sprengel names it 
 as a constant constituent of the turf ashes of Holland and Lu- 
 neburg, in the pro^iortion of from one to two jier cent. I con- 
 sider Boussingault the higher authority in such a case, which, 
 however, is really one of the most difficult problems of chemi- 
 cal analysis, and, therefore, it is very desirable that special 
 investigations should be directed to that point in the examina- 
 tion of the ashes of Irish turfs. 
 
 The phosphoric acid so abundantly deposited in those parts 
 of plants employed as food, is destined to the formation of the 
 osseous skeleton of the animal, and on its death returns to the 
 soil, to be again absorbed into the composition of plants, and 
 become the material of the bones of a new race of animals. 
 Phosphate of lime and other compounds of phosphoric acid are 
 thus most essential elements of plants, and, under the form of 
 bones, ground or otherwise prepared, hence become one of the 
 most usual manures. It is to be feared that before very long 
 considerable loss will accrue to the corn and other food crops 
 of this country, from the deprivation of the soil of this essen- 
 tial ingredient. The cattle exported from Ireland carry out 
 in their bones a vast quantity of phosphoric acid derived from 
 the soil. Of the cattle whose flesh is eaten in the country, the 
 bones form a considerable article of export, as the attention 
 of our agriculturists has not yet been awakened generally to 
 the importance of restoring them to the soil. Let it be recol- 
 lected, that in lib of bone there is the phosphoric acid be- 
 longing to "iStb of wheat, or of 2o0lb of potatoes ; that this 
 phosphoric acid is indisjiensable to the healthy growth of the 
 plants and of the animals by which they are consumed, and 
 hence will appear the vital importance to agriculture of pre- 
 serving, as far as possible, these valuable materials, and re- 
 turning them to the soil. 
 
 The coast of Ireland furnishes vast quantities of valuable 
 manure in the sand which is dredged from a greater or less
 
 286 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 depth in the various bays, and in the sea weed which is col- 
 lected at low water. Of the sea sand there are two kinds, one 
 containing intermixed abundance of small shells, univalve and 
 bivalve, which in many cases contain then- living tenants, so 
 that this sand used as manure supplies a very appreciable quan- 
 tity of animal matter. Its general composition may, therefore, 
 be understood, although as the proportions of its elements con- 
 tinually fluctuate, a single analysis of it could have but little 
 authority. The silicious sand usually amounts to from 30 to 
 60 per cent. ; the shells to from 20 to 50, and, beside carbo- 
 nate, jdeld some phosphate of lime and of magnesia ; there is 
 generally from 3 to 6 per cent, of animal matter, which yields 
 nitrogen by its decomposition, and, finally, from 5 to 10 per 
 cent, of water, which holds in solution common salt, and the 
 other ingredients of sea water. This manure furnishes actu- 
 ally thus a great variety of substances to the soil, and although 
 its principal action must be analogous to liming, yet the far- 
 mers are certainly right in preferring it to ordinary lime. 
 
 Another variety of sea sand used as manm-e is the coral 
 sand, which is found but in certain localities, as Bantry Bay, 
 and some of the inlets of Connemara. It consists of silicious 
 sand, intermixed not merely with ordinary sea shells, but with 
 fragments of a material usually termed coral, but which natu- 
 ralists now consider to be of vegetable origin. This, however, 
 does not affect its chemical composition, as the oi'ganic matter, 
 whether animal or vegetable, is very rich in nitrogen, and 
 exceedingly active as a manure. The usual proportions of sand 
 and coral fragments are each about 40 per cent. ; the remain- 
 der being organic matter and water. The coral contains some 
 phosphate of lime, and this variety of sand is popularly es- 
 teemed as being much preferable to that more commonly 
 found. Boussingault considers the quantity of azotized matter 
 in it, as dredged on the French coast, where also it is much 
 used for manure, such as to render it equal in utility to its 
 own weight of farm-yard manure. 
 
 Roundstone Bay is the principal depository of this kind of 
 coral upon the west coast ; it there forms banks, and occurs of 
 several species. As it has been separated under the name of
 
 OF IRELAND. 287 
 
 Nullipora from the true corallines, and its place in the scale of 
 nature a good deal disputed, I thought it important to make 
 an accurate analysis of the usual form of it (Nullipora poly- 
 morpha), which might, at the same time, illustrate its scien- 
 tific position and its agricultm-al value. 
 I found it to consist of : 
 
 Carbonate of lime, 77"31 
 
 Carbonate of magnesia, 7 ■54 
 
 Phosphate of lime, 0-37 
 
 Organic matter, 10-50 
 
 Water 4-28 
 
 100-00 
 
 The organic matter was foimd to contain a very decided 
 quantity of nitrogen. 
 
 That I may give an idea of the extent to which the shell 
 banks on our coasts are available as sources of these ma- 
 nures, I shall extract briefly some estimates of the quantities 
 raised at Derry, and on the southern coast of Cork. The for- 
 mer is taken from Captain Portlock's Report on the Survey of 
 Derry and Tyrone, the latter from a most interesting commu- 
 nication by Mr. Francis Jennings. 
 
 '• The shell banks of Lough Foyle form, when the tide is out, 
 extensive flats, which are firm enough to be walked on without 
 any inconvenience, and they are resorted to by numerous boats 
 for loads of shells, and though this system has been pursued 
 for more than a century, they exhibit no appearance of a fai- 
 lure in the supply. The shells hitherto examined are all of 
 recent species ; and it becomes a question whence they came. 
 There are engaged is raising the shells 
 
 285 men for 26 weeks, at 10s., £3,205 
 
 50 boys .... at 6s., 390 
 
 The cost of the labour alone is thus, . . . £3,595 
 
 There are annually employed about ninety-four boats, of 
 tonnage from below eight to sixty tons. The aggregate ton- 
 nage of forty-one of the largest boats is 1306 tons. The total
 
 288 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 quantity of shells raised each summer is about 59,496 tons, 
 which on the shore immediately opposite the bank sell for Is. 
 per ton ; but at Derry and Strabane for Is. 6d. to 2s. per ton. 
 Altogether Captain Portlock considers the shell banks of Lough 
 Foyle to be worth £5,000 per annum to the country. " They 
 are particularly useful in bringing bad lands into cultivation, 
 and in ameliorating stiff wet clays, deficient in calcareous mat- 
 ter, being applied at the rate of from thirty to sLxty barrels 
 per acre. They are preferred to lime, as warming and brittle- 
 ing the land." In this the silicious sand is probably most use- 
 ful by giving porosity to the clay. 
 
 Mr. Francis Jennings, to whose union of zeal and scientific 
 knowledge I am indebted for much information regarding the 
 industrial condition of the south of Ireland, has kindly drawn 
 up for me the following account of the use of sea sand as a ma- 
 nure, along the coast of Cork. I present it without alteration, 
 that its value and authenticity may not be lessened. 
 
 " The harbours and coasts of the south and west of Ireland 
 abound in a calcareous sand, which is employed by the agri- 
 culturists for manure in very considerable quantities ; that 
 r.aised in Bantry Bay and the west, is termed coral sand, from 
 the similarity of its appearance to portions of coral, but is in 
 reality a semi-vegetable ; that kind is, however, unknown in 
 the harbours of Kinsale, Youghal, and the intermediate dis- 
 tricts of the coast, which, from a microscopical examination, 
 is composed of comminuted shells, pulverized rock, portions of 
 the shells of the Crustacea, a)id in many cases no inconsiderable 
 number of minute spiral and bivalve shells, containing the fish, 
 either dead or alive. 
 
 " To the large proportion of phosphate of lime contained in 
 the crustaceous remains, and the nitrogenized matters of the 
 fish, much of its importance, doubtless, is due. Its colour 
 varies from a reddish brown to a blue and brownish black, 
 dependant not alone on the remains of the shells, but also on 
 the prevailing rock in the vicinity. The sand raised in the 
 harbours of Cork, Kinsale, Oyster Haven, and Ringabella, is 
 dredged from depths varying from about ten to thirty feet ; 
 that taken in Youghal, and the bays and strands intermediate
 
 OF IRELAND. 289 
 
 between it and Kinsale, excepting those already mentioned, is 
 shovelled from the strand into carts and boats, generally at 
 low water, and then taken up the country to its various desti- 
 nations. 
 
 " In a few of those places already named, I have been able 
 to ascertain, with tolerable precision, the average amount 
 raised per annum, which from Youghal harbour and strand is 
 about 300,000 tons, 130,000 of which are taken by boats, of 
 various degree of tonnage, to the different landing places on 
 the Bride and Blackwater, as far as Cappoquin. 
 
 "In Oyster Haven, an inconsiderable creek west of Cork 
 harbour, there are thirty-two boats, of about tM'elve tons bur- 
 den each, employed in dredging sand, some of which make 
 about 150 boat loads each, in the year. These principally be- 
 long to the farmers, and the men, when paid in money for their 
 work, earn Is. 4(1. per man for each cargo delivered, and a 
 boat-load or two at the end of the season, as a perquisite, there 
 being three men employed in filling and working each boat, 
 which takes about twenty full dredges to complete its cargo ; 
 in many cases the men are partly paid by the use of a portion 
 of land for a sufficient length of time to raise a crop of potatoes. 
 The sand can only be raised in calm weather, and the labour 
 is very sevei'e. The annual amount raised in this creek is 
 about 37,000 tons, and a boat-load, M'hen sold, brings, accord- 
 ing to the weather, from 6s. Gd. to 7s. Gd. These data, in 
 connexion with the quantity raised in Cork, Kinsale, and 
 Ringabella, which is a very small creek off Cork harbour, are 
 by no means accurate ; the amount in those places taken to- 
 gether is, I am confident, considerably underrated at 1,000,000 
 tons. Much of that raised in Cork harbour is, after a water 
 carriage of ten or twelve miles, taken into the country on one- 
 horse cars by working farmers, a distance of ten and twelve 
 miles on hilly roads, which affords strong evidence in favour 
 of its value as a manure ; and it is placed on limestone ground 
 as well as on the soil resulting from the decomposition of the 
 old red sandstone and carboniferous slates. It is not, however, 
 to be supposed that the raising of sand on the coast is con- 
 fined to those places already mentioned. Every strnnd, nook.
 
 290 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 and bay to which access can be had, by either a horse with 
 panniers, or a cart, is taxed to supply its quota of sand ; and 
 in many places of small extent, I have seen over fifty carts 
 taking it at low water ; that which is raised then being con- 
 sidered the best, and only inferior to that which is dredged. 
 When it is, therefore, considered the number of places from 
 which sand is raised, an approximation can only be obtained 
 by inquiries requiring no ordinary degree of care and at- 
 tention. 
 
 "The amount of carbonate of lime contained in the sand 
 varies considerably ; some of a dark blue colour, from Oyster 
 Haven, which I tried a few years ago, contained 65 per 
 cent. 
 
 " It may be inquired, is the supply inexhaustible? The an- 
 swer, as far as regards the dredged sand, might probably be 
 given in the affirmative, but in many places the strands, for- 
 merly covered to the depth of many feet, at present yield none 
 except after heavy gales, and the inhabitants must either give 
 up its use, or resort to the dredge for a supply. The amount 
 of sand to the acre varies according to its price. In those 
 places where it is about 6d. per ton, 800 cwt., or 40 tons, is 
 by no means an unusual quantity to be applied every season, 
 for many years together. 
 
 " In considering its agricultural value, the quantity of salt 
 water it contains must not be omitted, for the calculations are 
 made not as to the amount of dry sand, but the state it is in 
 after some hours' draining ; moist to the touch, but not wet. 
 From its daily increasing consumption, and great value when 
 taken far inland, I believe it would form one of the most con- 
 siderable branches of internal traffic, at least in the south of 
 Ireland, if canals existed which would allow of its being for- 
 warded at moderate charges." 
 
 From a note furnished l)y the Duke of Devonshire's agent to 
 Mr. Jennings, it appears that there are engaged in the pro- 
 curing of sand at Youghal 
 
 363 horses, with carts containing 14 cwt. 
 18 donkies, with carts containing 7 cwt., 
 each drawing twelve loads per week.
 
 OF IRELAND. 291 
 
 35 lighters, of 35 tons average tonnage, which take two 
 loads per Aveek. 
 
 And the total quantity of sand raised annually is estimated 
 at 293,503 tons, in the harbour of Youghal alone. 
 
 Along the coast, large quantities of seaweed are collected 
 for the pui'pose of being applied as manure, especially for pota- 
 toes. It is found that the deeper the water where it is taken 
 up the more powerfully it acts. This is probably owing to its 
 greater luxiu-iance, and containing in its tissue a greater mass 
 of sea water, which yields valuable saline materials to the soil. 
 Exact analyses of the seaweeds used in Ireland have not j-^et 
 been made. Boussingault found those used on the coast of 
 France to be the fucus digitatus and the fucus saccharinus. 
 These contain, when fresh, about 40 per cent, of water, and 
 the dry material contained from 1-58 to 2*29 of nitrogen. He 
 considers it, when fresh, equivalent to about its weight of farm- 
 yard manure. Latterly this material has been transported to 
 considerable distances into the interior, having been first dried 
 by exposure to the sun. Its saline constituents are, of course, 
 those of sea water, muriate and sulphate of soda, and of mag- 
 nesia, with traces of lime and iodine. 
 
 Such are the manures which the existing pliysical structure 
 of the country places at the disposal of the agriculturist. They 
 are in origin and constitution principally mineral, and are 
 usually poor in one important element necessary to the support 
 of plants, nitrogen. I have already noticed that to certain 
 plants the atmosphere is itself a source of nitrogen, but it is 
 not so to all, not even to the most important ; the giving of 
 nitrogen to the soil is, therefore, a most essential office of ma- 
 nures. To effect this a variety of means have latterly been 
 afforded to the farmer, as the nitrates of potash and of soda, 
 the salts of ammonia, the decomposed excrements of sea birds, 
 guano, and numerous other even more complex bodies, all of 
 which serve the purpose, all of which promote the fertility of 
 the soil and favour the growth of plants, when judiciously ap- 
 plied, but none of which possess any real utility over the ma- 
 nure available on the farm, suitable to every crop, and most 
 readv in its action. To this manure it is, therefore, highly
 
 292 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 important for the economical farmer to direct attention, in or- 
 der that correct ideas may be formed as to the care which it 
 deserves, and the relation which it bears to the crops, and 
 feeding operations of the farm. 
 
 If we consider the final application of farm produce, it will 
 appear that comparatively little of it is absolutely removed 
 from off the ground, and that by much the larger proportion 
 is consumed within the limits of the farm, in the provisioning 
 and stalling of the various animals. The corn which is sold, 
 or the animals which are sent to market, remove from the 
 farm certain quantities of inorganic materials and of nitrogen, 
 which must be replaced, in order to sustain its fertility, and 
 the cost of replacing which must be considered a necessary and 
 fair deduction from their money price ; but the straw of the 
 corn crops, the tops of turnips and potatoes, contain a much 
 larger quantity of those materials which need not be removed 
 from off the farm, but, on the contrary, should be most care- 
 fully returned to the soil, to serve for the support of future 
 crops of plants. It is similarly with the produce consumed by 
 the animals as food. Each day's food serves but to replace in 
 its organization the materials which are daily thrown off from 
 its frame. The dejections and excretions of the animal must, 
 therefore, represent the food which it consumes, and thus by 
 returning to the soil all such materials, the sustenance of the 
 animal is really deprived of any power of diminishing the fer- 
 tility of the soil. I do not here consider the case of fat- 
 tening animals, but only such as are sustained in an uniform 
 condition and health ; but the fattening does not affect the 
 principle in any important degree. 
 
 Now these various materials, the straw of the corn crops, 
 the tops of the potato and turnip crops, the excretions and 
 dejections of the animals sustained upon the farm, all mixed 
 and subjected to the reaction which soon sets in amongst their 
 chemical ingredients, constitute farm-yard manure. It is made 
 up of the remains and products of every kind of crop : it con- 
 tains, therefore, the elements of every kind of crop. Its state 
 is continually changing, as it is more or less rotted, and hence 
 no two specimens of it would probably agree exactly in consti-
 
 OF IRELAND. 
 
 293 
 
 tution, but still, as illustrating in a general point of view the 
 nature of its elements, I shall add the results of analyses made 
 by Boussingault of that which, in a half rotted condition, he 
 puts out on his experimental farm. 
 
 The manure, in its usual form, contains in average 79*3 per 
 cent, of water, and 20*7 of perfectly dry material. 
 
 The dry material contained : 
 
 
 RICHEST. 
 
 POOREST. 
 
 AVERAGE. 
 
 Carbon, 
 
 Hydrogen, 
 
 Nitrogen, . . . . , 
 
 Oxygen, 
 
 Salts and earth, . 
 
 40-0 
 
 4-3 
 
 2-4 
 
 27-6 
 
 25-7 
 
 32-4 
 3-8 
 1-7 
 
 25-8 
 36-3 
 
 35-8 
 
 4-2 
 
 2-0 
 
 25-8 
 
 32-2 
 
 100-0 
 
 100-0 
 
 100-0 
 
 The ashes of this manure contain in 100 parts : 
 
 Carbonic acid, . 2-0 
 
 Phosphoric acid, 3-0 
 
 Sulphuric acid, 1-9 
 
 Chlorine 0-6 
 
 Silica, sand, and clay, 66-4 
 
 Lime, 8-6 
 
 Magnesia, 3'6 
 
 Oxide of iron, and alumina, 6*1 
 
 Potash and soda, 7-8 
 
 On comparing this with the analyses of the ashes of various 
 plants, given in page 276, it will be at once evident, that 
 every constituent which they require is present in the farm- 
 yard manure. It is, therefore, of the most vital importance 
 to those whose livelihood depends upon the produce of their 
 farms to economize as completely as possible this valuable ma- 
 terial. A dung heap formed on the ordinary ground of the 
 farm-yard, allows of the escape of the most valuable portions 
 of the manure by drainage through the porous soil. By ex-
 
 294 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 posui'e to the weather during wet seasons the most active of 
 its elements may be washed away. These disadvantages may 
 be removed at very trifling cost by the adoption of such modes 
 of collecting and preserving the manure as are employed in 
 other countries. The dung heap should be formed upon an 
 impervious floor of brick-clay or of cement, this to dip towards 
 the centre, so as to form a shallow tank, towards which the 
 floors of the various stables should have such inclination as 
 would enable the drainings to be conveyed by suitable chan- 
 nels to the central tank. By such an arrangement nothing 
 goes to waste; the liability to loss by rain is obviated, and 
 even the smallest farmer will very soon find the cost and trou- 
 ble well repaid by the improvement, as well in the quantity as 
 in the quality, of his stock of manure. 
 
 I am not disposed to undei'rate the importance of the various 
 artificial and foreign manures, the effects of which on the fer- 
 tility of the soil have been in many cases wonderful, often by 
 their activity jjroducing results to which the farm-yard ma- 
 nure would be incompetent, and by their portability presenting, 
 in many localities, a real advantage. Nevertheless, in the ex- 
 isting state of education in this country, it is, as I conceive, 
 far more useful to point out to the struggling farmer how to 
 take advantage of the materials which now run to waste about 
 his stables, than to send to him to lay out ready money, of 
 which he generally has so little, for a fertilizer, of whose spe- 
 cial properties and nature he is probably quite ignorant, and 
 which has seldom any great advantage over well prepared 
 farm-yard manure.
 
 OF IRELAND. 295 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY CONTINUED. OF ROTATIONS. RE- 
 LATION OF CORN CROPS AND GREEN CROPS. AMOUNT OF 
 FOOD PRODUCED BY VARIOUS SYSTEMS OF CULTURE. INFLU- 
 ENCE OF DIFFERENT CULTURES IN THE EXHAUSTION OR 
 AMELIORATION OF THE SOIL. SIZE OF FARMS IN IRELAND. 
 PRINCIPLE OF CONSOLIDATION, NOT AS APPLICABLE TO AGRI- 
 CULTURE AS TO MANUFACTURES. RELATION OF THE SIZE OF 
 FARMS TO THE POPULATION. RELATIVE PROFIT AND EM- 
 PLOYMENT AFFORDED BY LARGE AND SMALL FARMS. AVE- 
 RAGE AVAILABLE FARMS FOR EXISTING POPULATION. 
 
 SECONDARY USES OF FOOD CROPS. MANUFACTURE OF POTATO 
 STARCH, SUGAR, AND SPIRITS. COMPOSITION OF DIFFERENT 
 KINDS OF POTATOES. MANUFACTURE OF BEET ROOT SUGAR; 
 ITS EC0N03IIC CIRCUMSTANCES. OF FIBRE CROPS. CULTI- 
 VATION OF FLAX AND HEMP. COMPOSITION OF LIGNEOUS 
 FIBRE. MODE OF CULTURE AND PREPARATION OF FLAX. 
 PRINCIPLES WHICH IT GIVES OFF IN STEEPING. AVERAGE 
 CROP OF FLAX; ITS VALUE. USES OF THE FLAX PRODUCTS AS 
 FOOD AND AS MANURE. 
 
 FLAX MANUFACTURE AND LINEN TRADE. TOTAL VALUE OF 
 FLAX GROWN IN IRELAND. EXERTIONS OF THE ROYAL DUB- 
 LIN SOCIETY AND FLAX IMPROVEMENT SOCIETY, AND THEIR 
 RESULTS. EMPLOYMENT GIVEN BY THE FLAX AND LINEN 
 TRADE. TABLES OF MILL POWER AND OF EXPORTATION OF 
 FLAX AND LINEN. LOCALIZATION OF THIS INDUSTRY. FA- 
 VOURABLE SITUATIONS FOR IT. CULTURE AND COMPOSITION 
 OF HEMP. CONCLUSION. 
 
 I HAVE SO far considered the exhaustion of the soil by plants, 
 with a view to the restoration of the deficient ingredients 
 through the agency of manures. There is, however, another 
 mode of restoring fertility which is of practical importance, 
 as it has led to the greatest of all improvements in liusbandrj', 
 the rotation of crops. A soil which has been exhausted be- 
 comes restored by lying at rest for a certain time, particularly 
 if it be well broken up and fresh surfaces be exposed to the 
 action of the atmosphere, in fact then by the decomposition of 
 the mineral masses which the soil contains, a fresh soil is pro- 
 duced. The organic remains of the former crops become also 
 rotted, and assume a form suited for the nutrition of young
 
 296 
 
 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 plants, ami thus after a season's fallowing, still more after 
 lying out of cultivation for some years, the soil resumes a very 
 considerable degree of fertility. But it is evident that this 
 process entails considerable loss by the land being so long idle, ' 
 and it becomes of great importance to the farmer to make 
 some use of the land, whilst this process of regeneration is 
 going on. This is actually done by changing from one kind of 
 culture to another ; whilst the land is recovering from the ef- 
 fects of one plant it is capable of sustaining a plant which does 
 not act upon it in the same way, and after this a third, dif- 
 ferently exhausting from either of the others, will give a course 
 or rotation of three years, during any two of which the ground 
 is recovering from the exhausting action of the plant grown 
 during the third. I take this only as an example, for it is 
 found that three years is too short a term to be of much prac- 
 tical utility. 
 
 In selecting the plants adapted for such a rotation, we must 
 be guided by their chemical composition, and by their mode of 
 growth. The results of both, however, lead to the same con- 
 clusion. In addition to those elements which arc common to 
 all plants used as food, certain plants are remarkable for the 
 great quantity of silica they take from the soil, such are the 
 grasses and corn plants ; certain others for the potash they 
 take up, such are turnips, the beet, the potato ; others again 
 for the quantity of lime, as the pea, vetch, clover, tobacco, &c. 
 Such are the kinds of plants that should succeed each other in 
 a rotation, and the proportionate action of each class may be 
 judged from the follo\ving table derived from Liebig's investi- 
 gations. From a space of land of 247 acres, he found there 
 were taken up by 
 
 ALKALINE 
 SALTS. 
 
 SALTS OF LIME 
 AND MAGNESIA. 
 
 SILICA. 
 
 A crop of wheat, . 120^lb 
 A crop of peas, . . 198^ 
 A crop of beet with- 
 out the leaves, . 3G1 
 
 78itf) 2()()ft) 
 371^ 40 
 
 37^ i „ 
 
 t
 
 OF IRELAND. 297 
 
 The quantity of phosphates taken up by these crops are 
 
 PEAS. WHKAT. BEET. 
 
 1171b 112ib 37ftb. 
 
 The reason of tlie beat taking so little phosphoric acid is, 
 that it is not allowed to form its seed, and in all plants it is in 
 the seed that the phosphates are principally deposited. 
 
 From these numbers it is evident, that on such a field, if by 
 the gradual decomposition of its soil it could furnish but 200tb 
 of alkaline salts, and 200lb of lime and magnesia salts each 
 year, we could grow upon it but half the proper crop of beet, 
 for a full crop would require 3601b of alkaline salts, and also 
 only a half crop of peas, for the full crops would require 3711b 
 of lime and magnesia salts. The continuous culture of either 
 plant would, therefore, be most improfitable and injm-ious, 
 but if we cultivated beet one year and peas the other, the soil 
 would have two years to prepare the materials which each crop 
 would require to take up in one. There would be available 
 4001b of each kind of salts, and thus so far from exhaustion, 
 there should be a surplus steadily increasing the fertility and 
 augmenting the produce of the soil. 
 
 As it is seen in the above table that the quantity of alkaline 
 and earthy salts taken up by the corn crop (wheat) is so much 
 less than that required for the other kinds of plants, and that 
 the principal demand of the corn crop on the soil is for silica, 
 of which we may consider it certain that no soil is in danger 
 of being exhausted, it might appear natural to conclude that 
 the corn crop should be that least detrimental to the ground, 
 whilst it is well known to practical agriculturists, that white 
 or corn crops are amongst the most exhausting. Their inju- 
 rious action on the soil is, however, not so much due to the 
 inorganic materials they take up as to the nitrogen, for which 
 clement they are altogether dependent on the soil, whilst other 
 kinds of plants act upon the atmosphere, aborbing nitrogen, 
 and actually serving rather to enrich the soil upon which they 
 grow, than in any degree to impoverish it. This in in fact 
 what constitutes the remarkable relation between the white 
 crops and green crops as members of a rotation. The former
 
 298 
 
 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 exhausting the soil of nitrogen, the other fixing in the soil 
 nitrogen derived from the air, and thus preparing for the nu- 
 trition of the corn crops that may succeed it. 
 
 The complete illustration of this principle is due to Bous- 
 singault, who has established it as well by experiments on 
 individual plants in the laboratory as by the operations of an 
 extensive farm. Thus on growing corn in artificial soil deprived 
 of nitrogen, it was found that the plant, when arrived at its 
 full maturity, contained only the nitrogen that had originally 
 existed in the seed. On the other hand, on growing peas in 
 the same way, the quantity of nitrogen in the mature plant 
 was found to be much greater than had been in the seed, and 
 for this there was no other source than the atmosphere. The 
 following tables will shew how fully this result is borne out on 
 the large scale. 
 
 In a three years' cultivation of two successive crops of 
 wheat manured and then a year of fallow, the produce was 
 3318 kilogrammes of wheat, and 7500 kilos straw per hectare, 
 from 20,000 kilos of manm-e. Now taking these dry, the fol- 
 lowing table shews their composition and the relation of their 
 constituents. 
 
 
 WEIGHT 
 DKY. 
 
 CARBON. 
 
 HYDRO- 
 GEN. 
 
 OXYGEN. 
 
 NITRO- 
 GEN. 
 
 ASHES. 
 
 Wheat, 
 Straw, 
 
 Sum, 
 Manure, 
 
 Differ- 1 
 ence, » 
 
 2836 
 5550 
 
 1037-4 
 2686-2 
 
 164-5 
 294-2 
 
 1230-8 
 2159-0 
 
 65-2 
 22-2 
 
 681 
 
 388-5 
 
 8380 
 4140 
 
 3993-6 
 1482-1 
 
 458-7 
 173-9 
 
 3389-8 
 1068-1 
 
 87-4 
 82-8 
 
 456-6 
 13331 
 
 -1-4246 
 
 -f2511-5 
 
 -1-284 -8 
 
 +2321-7 
 
 -f4-6 
 
 -876-5 
 
 It is here quite evident that the crop contained only the ni- 
 trogen of the manure, as the difference 4-6 is so slight as to 
 be within the unavoidable errors of experiment in such cases. 
 On the other hand the carbon of the crop is nearly treble that 
 of the manure, verifying, in an admirable manner, the atmos-
 
 OF IRELAND. 
 
 299 
 
 pheric origin of the carbon of plants, to which I have ah-eady 
 alluded. Hydrogen and oxygen were also gained abundantly, 
 and almost exactly in the proportions to form water. 
 
 In contra-distinction to this corn culture may be placed the 
 results of the continued growth of lucern for five years, fol- 
 lowed by a crop of wheat, all at the expense of 44,000 kilos of 
 farm-yard manm-e per hectare, put out on the land at the com- 
 mencement of the period. These results were published by 
 M. Crud, an eminent agriculturist. 
 
 PRODUCE PER 
 
 CONTENTS IN 
 
 
 
 HECTARE. 
 
 1 
 
 NITROGEN. 
 
 Lucern dry, 1st year. 
 
 3,.360 kilos. 
 
 79 kilos. 
 
 2nd ,, 
 
 10,080 ,, 
 
 237 „ 
 
 3rd „ 
 
 12,500 „ 
 
 294 „ 
 
 4th „ 
 
 10,080 „ 
 
 237 „ 
 
 5th „ 
 
 8,000 ,, 
 
 188 „ 
 
 Wheat, . 6th ,, 
 
 1,580 „ 
 
 31 „ 
 
 Straw 
 
 3,976 „ 
 
 12 „ 
 
 
 . 1078 
 
 Manm-e employed contained of nitrogen, 
 
 224 kilos. 
 
 Gain in nitrogen, 
 
 . f>,.U 
 
 
 Or for the five years of lucern, 171 kilos per year, as the 
 wheat of the last year did not take any from the atmosphere. 
 
 Now as the residues of these green crops which remain in 
 the soil, contain a corresponding quantity of nitrogen, they 
 are the means of transferring to it such portions of that ele- 
 ment as serve, if not fully to sustain its fertility, at least pre- 
 vent the exhausting action of the white crops from being so 
 soon or so severely felt. This is still more fully carried into 
 effect when these crops, or the last growth of them, in place of 
 being consumed, are ploughed into the soil, where they act 
 as the best form of manure, their fresh and juicy structure 
 facilitating theii* decomposition, and their composition being
 
 300 
 
 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 such as to provide almost every element subsequently re- 
 quired. 
 
 The substitution of these plants as sources of food for the 
 animals of the farm, for the common, or as they are called, the 
 natural grasses, has been one of the most important improve- 
 ments in husbandry. The following table, which is collected 
 from the best authorities, exhibits the quantity of actual nu- 
 tritious material which is usually derived from an acre of 
 land. 
 
 CROP. 
 
 WEIGHT. 
 
 STARCH 
 AND SUGAR. 
 
 GLUTEN. 
 
 OIL. 
 
 TOTAL. 
 
 Wheat, 
 
 15001b 
 
 825 ft) 
 
 185 
 
 45 
 
 1055 
 
 Oats, 
 
 1700 
 
 850 
 
 230 
 
 95 
 
 1175 
 
 Peas, 
 
 1600 
 
 800 
 
 380 
 
 45 
 
 1225 
 
 Potatoes, 
 
 9 tons. 
 
 3427 
 
 604 
 
 45 
 
 4076 
 
 Turnips, 
 
 20 „ 
 
 4500 
 
 540 
 
 ,, 
 
 5040 
 
 Carrots, 
 
 25 „ 
 
 5600 
 
 1120 
 
 200 
 
 6920 
 
 Meadow hay 
 Clover hay, 
 
 ^*.. 
 
 L'360 
 1800 
 
 240 
 420 
 
 120 
 180 
 
 1720 
 2400 
 
 It is here seen, that turnips and carrots yield from five to 
 seven times the actual quantity of food that the corn crops give, 
 also that potatoes and clover yield twice as much, and as 
 it should be always the object of the farmer to do as much as 
 possible in a given time, on a given space of ground, he should 
 fix his attention on those systems of culture which thus pro- 
 duce the greatest quantity of food, and by the least exhaustion 
 of the soil. 
 
 Practical experience bears out fully the principles I have 
 here endeavoured to explain. The Board of Agriculture in 
 England directed special inquiries as to this point, and the re- 
 sult led to the general conclusion, that one year of tai'es, rape, 
 potatoes, turnips, or cabbage, gives thrice as much food as 
 one year of medium pasture grass. In his very useful Lectures 
 on Agricultural Chemistry, Professor Johnstone adopts the 
 same general proposition, but he couples it with some money 
 estimates which I consider it important to notice. He says:
 
 OF IRELAND. 301 
 
 " With the exception of rich pastures, it is said that land under 
 clover or turnips will produce three tinies as much food for cat- 
 tle as when under grass. If such a green crop then alternates 
 with one of corn, the land should every two years produce as 
 much food for stock as if it had been three years lying in grass, 
 besides the crop of corn as food for man, and of straw 
 for the production of manure." Professor Johnstone then 
 proceeds to discuss the money value of the produce of simi- 
 lar pieces of ground under such crops, and concludes, that 
 ' ' although more food is raised by converting the land to 
 arable purposes, and more people may be sustained by it, 
 yet more money would be made by meadowing the land, 
 where a ready market exists for the hay, where it is allowed 
 to be sold off the farm, and where abundance of manure can 
 be obtained for the purpose of topdressing the land every 
 year." In order to arrive at this result he takes the prices 
 of produce as follows : 
 
 Hay, £5 per ton. Turnips, 10s, per ton. 
 
 Barley, 4s. per bushel. WTieat, 7s. per bushel. 
 
 Such a price for the hay could certainly be obtained only 
 in exceptional cases : the other circumstances he mentions 
 could only be realized in some few localities, and there is 
 no doubt, but that, as a general principle in agriculture, the 
 cultivation of green crops and artificial grasses is not only 
 that by which the largest quantity of food is raised, but also 
 that by which the greatest money return is afforded to the 
 farmer. 
 
 The natural moisture of the climate of Ireland, coupled with 
 the general fertility of the soil, and especially that of the cen- 
 tral district, where the subsoil is limestone gravel, produces a 
 tendency to rapid growth of a sweet and luxuriant grass, in 
 consequence of which the lands of these localities are almost 
 exclusively devoted to grazing. It is certain that on the west- 
 ern coast the humidity of the atmosphere is such, as on an 
 average of years may present a serious obstacle to the ripening 
 of corn crops and the safe completion of the harvest, but it is
 
 302 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 also certain that the tendency to adopt grazing in preference 
 to tillage-agriculture, as a pursuit, is much more connected 
 with the habits of the agricultural classes than with the nature 
 of the soil, or the character of the climate. Mere industry 
 has been in Ireland, for many generations, connected with the 
 idea of a vulgar and depressed caste. The possession of the 
 land with perfect idleness constituted in itself the criterion 
 of res2:)ectability. The working of a tillage farm, even if 
 more profitable, was thus fatal to the social position of the 
 occupier ; whilst if he kept only a herd to mind some cattle, 
 and spent his time and money in hunting and in drinking, 
 trusting to protection for high prices, and to Providence to pay 
 his debts, he mixed with the notables of the land and looked 
 down with scorn ineffable on all that savoured of occupations 
 vile, of industry or intelligence. 
 
 Those ideas have been already verj' considerably disturbed. 
 Prior to the introduction of turnip husbandry, and to the cul- 
 tivation of the artificial grasses, it might be a question between 
 the relative profits of grazing and of a very imperfect tillage, 
 which gradually reduced the land to a condition of almost per- 
 fect barrenness ; especially where the advantage of capital was 
 altogether in favour of the former : but grazing is in reality but 
 the production of food as well as tillage. An animal makes 
 no food, it only assimilates that which is produced by the plants 
 on which it feeds. A crop which produces three times as much 
 food will, therefore, feed three times as many cattle, and it is 
 hence unavoidable that as agriculture progresses the ordinary 
 grass crops will be replaced by the more nutritious carrots, 
 turnips, clover, &c. ; the animals, in place of roving over ex- 
 tensive grounds which recal the idea of the prairie existence of a 
 half civilized hunting population, shall be suitably confined, that 
 their food may not be wasted in muscular efforts inconsistent 
 with their ultimate perfection as food for man. The rearing of 
 cattle will thus, in itself, become a branch, as it is really one 
 most important, of tillage husbandry, and the manure thus ren- 
 dered available will serve most efficiently to the production of 
 corn and other exhausting crops. It is in such form that agri-
 
 OF IRELAND. 303 
 
 culture should finally be carried on in Ireland, and as it actu- 
 ally is in other countries, where industrial intelligence has been 
 more active. There are, however, many difficulties to over- 
 come and prejudices to remove before that point can be arrived 
 at, but in the mean time, every even trivial effort will lessen 
 the obtacles on the way. 
 
 The greater amount of food produced by the system of 
 turnip and potato husbandry, is noticed by M. De Jonnes, 
 in relation to its influence on the social circumstances of 
 the people of this country, in words which are worthy of quo- 
 tation. 
 
 " On seeing what immense riches are obtained in England by 
 the cultivation of the various species of green food, as supple- 
 mentary to corn crops, and which are obtained; like them, by 
 plough husbandry on a great scale, we are astonished at how 
 recently this agricultural improvement, which has nearly dou- 
 bled the means of subsistence, has been carried into effect. It 
 was only in the middle of the seventeenth century, that turnips 
 have been cultivated in England, and that the use of clover had 
 been introduced. Scotland, more backward in every respect, 
 obtained the potato culture only in 1739, and these precious 
 vegetables were first cultivated in the Highlands in 1743. But 
 it is particularly in Ireland, where the soil is fresh and fertile, 
 that these new kinds of crops have prospered. In that island 
 the potato gives an annual produce of 42,000 to 52,0001b, per 
 hectare. (2-47 acres S.) On dividing that number by four to 
 reduce it to the standard of nourishment which wheat affords, 
 the hectare thus cultivated affords 10 to I3,0001b weight of 
 subsistence. Newenham even considers three pounds of pota- 
 toes as equivalent to one pound of wheat, and if so the 10,000lb 
 of nutriment given by the hectare, as a minimum, when it is 
 cultivated with potatoes, represent 45 hectolitres of wheat and 
 the 13,000lb, are equal to 58. This is the double and treble of 
 the best crops of wheat. This vast productiveness has mul- 
 tiplied potatoes in Ireland, so that they form the basis of the 
 subsistence of the entire country. That is an evil, for a social 
 condition where each family, or nearly each individual, has his
 
 304 
 
 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 field, which furnishes his immediate nutriment, without any ne- 
 cessity for marlsetiuf^, without the assistance of tho miller or 
 the baker, without occasion to demand assistance from his 
 neighbours, that society is deficient in the elements most ne- 
 cessary to the progress of its civilization. From the great pro- 
 duce of its corn crops it would be easy to establish a mixed 
 system of nutriment in Ireland." 
 
 There are few questions regarding agriculture which have 
 been more keenly discussed, and there is certainly none more 
 vitally important to this country, than the circumstances, as re- 
 gards the magnitude of farms, and the mode of applying labour, 
 under which the greatest amount of produce can be obtained 
 from the land and the greatest quantity of employment given 
 to the people. It is well known that in Ireland the subdivision 
 of farms has been carried on to an extent which has been pro- 
 ductive of most serious evils, moral and industrial. It is not 
 within the objects of this work to discuss either the causes or 
 the eflFects of the existing state of things, but first exhibiting 
 the mere statistical facts of the number and size of farms, and 
 some connected circumstances that will hereafter require com- 
 ment, I shall proceed to consider the general principle of how 
 the greatest quantity of produce can be obtained from the 
 soil. 
 
 By the returns of the census of 1841, the number of farms in 
 Ireland, and their magnitude, was 
 
 PROVINCES. 
 
 FARMS FARMS. 
 PROM 1 TO FROM .5 TO 
 3 ACRES. 15 ACRES. 
 
 FARMS 
 FROM 15 TO 
 30 ACRES. 
 
 ABOVE 
 30 ACRES. 
 
 TOTAL. 
 
 Loinster, 
 Munster, 
 Ulster, 
 Connaught 
 
 49,152 
 
 57,028 
 
 100,817 
 
 99,918 
 
 45,595 
 Gl,320 
 98,992 
 45,221 
 
 20,584 
 
 27,481 
 
 2.5,099 
 
 5,790 
 
 ]7,aS9 
 
 1(),5.57 
 
 9,591 
 
 4,275 
 
 133,220 
 162,380 
 234,499 
 155,204 
 
 Total, 
 
 306,915 
 
 251,128 
 
 78,954 
 
 48,312 
 
 685,309 
 
 The following table exhibits the number and the average 
 size of farms, compared with the total area and area of arable 
 land of eacli province.
 
 OF IRELAND. 
 
 305 
 
 PROVINCE. 
 
 NUMBER OF TOTAL AREA AREA OF ARA- 
 FARMS. IN ACRES. BLELAND. 
 
 ATERAOESIZE 
 OF FAKMS. 
 
 Leinster, 
 Munster, 
 Ulster, 
 Connaught 
 
 133,220 1 4,860,642 3,961,188 
 162,386 ; 6,049,886 3,874,613 
 2.34,499 1 5,466,648 3,407.539 
 155,204 4,388,166 1 2,220,960 
 
 ! 
 
 29'7 acres. 
 23-8 ,, 
 14-5 ,, 
 14-3 „ 
 
 It is thus seen that in every province the great majority of 
 the farms are under fifteen acres, and the average magnitude 
 of the farms in the north and west, appears to be but one-half 
 that of the southern and eastern provinces. This geogra- 
 phical association is very much at variance with other social 
 circumstances, and it will form just now an interesting object 
 of inquiry. 
 
 The wonderful revolution effected in the mechanical arts by 
 the invention of spinning and weaving machinery, and the ap- 
 plication of steam power, by means of which these operations 
 were concentrated within the walls of factoi'ies, and carried 
 out on an immense scale by the application of enormous capital, 
 had fixed the attention of agriculturists, especially in Scotland, 
 where the very generally sound education of the people had ren- 
 dered them active in the utilization of new ideas. It hence 
 became the leading principle with agriculturists, that in the 
 cultivation of the land the same methods were to be followed as 
 had been so successful in the cotton manufacture ; that small 
 and individual holdings should be concentrated into one vast 
 agricultural establishment ; that human labour should be dis- 
 pensed with as much as possible, and replaced by mechanical 
 power : and the activity of head and hand which accompanied 
 the introduction of this system had certainly the effect of so 
 efficiently improving the modes of cultivation, and increasing 
 the amount of produce, as to have gained almost universal ap- 
 probation for the principles upon which the proceedings of its 
 advocates were based. 
 
 Yet it is not difficult to trace between the conditions of ma- 
 nufacturing and agricultural industry, differences so essential 
 and so great as to render very doubtful whether any methods 
 can be really common and successful with both. The raw
 
 306 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 material of a manufacture is subjected to a series of processes 
 which are carried on under the same roof, or at least within a 
 small space, and which occupy but little time. Every thing in 
 the mechanism is constructed for rapidity of work, its superi- 
 ority to human labour consisting not in greater excellence, but 
 in greater velocity of action. The materials are brought to 
 the seat of power, which is fixed, and all its parts being made 
 solid, are little liable to injury, and the cost of the exertion of 
 power is reduced to a minimum. If we compare with this the 
 condition of a farm, we shall find almost entire discrepancy. 
 The operations are not confined to a house, but are spread over, 
 perhaps, several hundred acres. The processes require for 
 their completion many months, from seed time unto harvest, 
 and do not admit of any important interference. The power 
 necessary must be exerted at different times, in different places, 
 and, therefore, cannot be fixed ; it must be locomotive, and as 
 such, the power of animals is cheaper, under the circumstances, 
 than the power of steam. Thus the fundamental conditions of 
 a farm are quite different from those of a factory, and the 
 question of the relative advantages of small or of large farms 
 must be considered on other grounds. 
 
 This comparison is, however, independent of certain subsi- 
 diary operations of agriculture, which are realh^ mechanical in 
 their nature, and which are more economically accomplished 
 by machinery, such as threshing and winnowing, certain modes 
 of preparing food, &c. ; these are, however, no more agricul- 
 tural than the grinding of corn to meal and flour. They need 
 not be accomplished on the farm. If we suppose a farm of 1000 
 acres, which requii-es the aid of threshing machines and other 
 instruments for the preparation of its produce, it is evidently 
 the same as if there were a 100 farms of 10 acres, from which 
 the produce was sent to a central point, where a mill and 
 machinery were erected, for the use of which they paid as much 
 as should reasonably remunerate the proprietor. The question, 
 as to whether the large farm or the many small farms should 
 give the greatest amount of benefit in produce and employ- 
 ment, is evidently not thereby aftected. 
 
 The question is, in fact, one almost incapable of per feet sol u-
 
 OF IRELAND. 307 
 
 tion, from the very diiferent aspects which it presents in dift'er- 
 ent localities, and under different conditions of proprietorship. 
 But I certainly consider that if there be a final advantage in 
 favour of farming on a great scale, and by all mechanical ad- 
 vantages, it cannot be of any considerable amount. If the ques- 
 tion be put to a farmer of Scotland, or of the north of England, 
 he will answer, decidedly and at once ; invest great capital, 
 throw aside manual labour, and introduce machinery; cultivate 
 several hundred acres : but has this method led to great results 
 in the hands of these very men ? In the mechanical arts we 
 know that the corresponding system has organized anew social 
 power, that colossal fortunes have been on every side created, 
 that large cities have sprung into existence, and employment 
 has been given to the majority of the inhabitants of Great Bri- 
 tain. The wholesale system of agriculture has nothing what- 
 ever of such results to shew ; on the contrary, every day new 
 demands are made for amelioration in its condition. The as- 
 sistance of science is on the one hand invoked, the protection 
 of the legislature is on the other hand demanded ; the agricul- 
 tural labourer is thrown for existence on the woi'khouse, or for 
 employment on the manufacturing town, where, even under 
 existing circumstances, he obtains a rate of wages which the 
 agricultural capitalist cannot afford to pay. 
 
 Although the general question is thus so difficult to decide, 
 yet if we proceed to the ai^plication of it to the actual state 
 of Ireland, it becomes essentially simplified. Large farm cid- 
 tivation is possible only in countries possessing a thin and 
 scattered population, or else in countries where the existence 
 of extensive manufacturing employment removes the inhabit- 
 ants of the agricultural districts to other places. Thus certain 
 Scotch counties had actually a smaller population in 1841 than 
 in 1831, owing to the migration of the labourers to the manu- 
 facturing districts. In such counties the tendency must be to 
 increase the size of farms, and to introduce, as far as possible, 
 mechanical substitutes for human labour. Also in the north of 
 England, where there is a constant drain of population from 
 the country districts to Newcastle, to Leeds, to Manchester, 
 and Liverpool, it is evident that the tendency being to take 
 X 2
 
 308 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 the agricultural labourers from their farming occupations, the 
 farmer must endeavour, as best he can, to make himself inde- 
 pendent of them. In Ireland, however, the circumstances are 
 widely different ; a large population is totally dependant on the 
 land for its subsistence. As shewn in page 250, two-thirds 
 of the inhabitants are exclusively devoted to agriculture, and 
 if the agricultural operations of the country, that is to say, the 
 production of food from the soil, and its exportation to feed 
 the inhabitants of another country, be carried on with a sys- 
 tem of cultivation which does not afford employment, the great 
 majority of the people of Ireland must either die of starvation, 
 or be supported in idleness, by a money tax on the earnings 
 of the industrious classes, or finally, be removed from the 
 country, at an expense which, if judiciously applied at home, 
 would enable them to support themselves and families in posi- 
 tive comfort and independence. 
 
 Voluntary emigration carries off in fact just the class of per- 
 sons whom it is most important to keep at home ; persons of 
 both foresight and enterprize, and possessed of some small 
 capital. The expatriation of the very poorest classes, whe- 
 ther at the public expense or at the cost of individuals de- 
 sirous of removing them, has been found, from the expense, 
 impossible, in any degree sufficient to affect the rate of in- 
 crease of the population. The other alternatives are not 
 likely to meet with approval, either upon moral or on pru- 
 dential grounds, and hence as the great fact, the existence 
 of the people, still remains, the question of what can be done 
 with them must one time or another be fairly met. The only 
 answer is, enable them to support themselves. Give them em- 
 ployment, and as, especially in this country, any manufac- 
 turing system, to be healthy, must be slow in growth, the em- 
 ployment must be agricultural, and I am convinced that such 
 employment may be given, without any injury to the interests 
 of the laud-owner or farmer, nay with a positive amelioration 
 of their condition, provided the proper means be taken to as- 
 certain the true conditions of the problem. 
 
 Destitute of personal agricultural experience as I have no 
 lesitation to own myself, and consequently feeling competent
 
 OF IRELAND. 309 
 
 to interpose my own opinion only in such physical and chemical 
 portions of these subjects as stand in immediate connexion 
 with my special pi-ofessional pui-suits, I should not have entered 
 upon this subject, but that I have found the evidence of the 
 most eminent and intelligent persons connected with Irish 
 agricultm'e to agree completely with the views I have ex- 
 pressed. Thus, as to the comparative profit of small and large 
 farms, Mr. Blacker, by whose exertions so much benefit has 
 accrued to Armagh, in his Essay on the Management of 
 landed Property in Ireland, which was honoured with a gold 
 medal by the Royal Dublin Society, says: "Supposing, then, 
 an extensive estate to have recently fallen out of lease (under 
 which circumstances alone such a consolidation as I have re- 
 commended would be at all practicable), and that such a di- 
 vision had been actually made, by which it may very generally 
 happen that two-thirds of the farms will be found not to ex- 
 ceed five to eight acres, it may be asked, how can these tenants 
 live upon such small portions, and still more, how can they 
 pay rent ? I answer without hesitation, they can live com- 
 fortably, and pay as high a rent as any large farmer whatever, 
 if the plan is pursued with them which I have recommended, 
 and have characterized as one in which was involved the hap- 
 piness and comfort of thousands." And again, he remarks in 
 a note: "I am firmly persuaded, that the small farmer who 
 holds his o\m plough or digs his own ground, if he follows a 
 proper rotation of crops and feeds his cattle in the house, can 
 undersell the large farmer, or in other words, can pay a rent 
 Avhich the other cannot afford ; and in this I am confirmed by 
 the opinion of many practical men who have well considered 
 the subject, and I think it will not appear extraordinary, that 
 such should be the case, to any one who reflects that the 
 English farmer of 700 to 800 acres, is a kind of man approach- 
 ing to what is known by the name of a gentleman farmer in 
 this country. He must have his horse to ride, and his gig, 
 and perhaps an overseer to attend to bis labourers ; he cer- 
 tainly cannot superintend himself the labour going on in a farm 
 of 800 acres. Add to this, he must appear himself, and have 
 his family also to appear in a superior rank, and his farm must
 
 iO INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 not only enable him to pay his rent, and yield him the support 
 he requires, but it must also be chargeable with the interest of 
 the large cajjital which is necessary to its cultivation ; besides all 
 these drawbacks, which the small farmer knows little ;ibont, 
 there is the great expense of carting out the manure from the 
 homestead to such a great distance, and again carting home 
 the crop. A single horse will consume the produce of more 
 land than would feed a small farmer and his wife, and two 
 children ; and what is more than all, the large farmer says 
 to his labourers go to your work, but when the small farmer 
 has occasion to hire them, he says come; the intelligent reader 
 will, I dare say, understand the difference perfectly. Now if 
 it is really the case that the small farmer has the advantage 
 over the larger, it will be easy accounting for what Mr. Paulet 
 Scroupe observes in his letter to the agriculturists of the west 
 of England, of the Irish farmers being able to undersell the 
 English in their own markets, because the Irish farmers are, 
 generally speaking, small farmers, and the English are large 
 farmers." 
 
 I am indebted for some numerical statements regarding this 
 question to a gentleman, upon whose judgment I would place 
 the fullest reliance, from his being at once practically ac- 
 quainted with the system of large farms of North Britain, and 
 minutely conversant with the relations of science to agriculture, 
 Mr. Butler of Ballyconra. In answer to some queries which I 
 sent to him upon this head, he says : 
 
 " In the first place, what number of persons might be taken 
 as deriving steady employment from the labour of such farms 
 through the year, and in each case, besides men, what employ- 
 ment may be afforded to women and children ? In reply, I shall 
 take two farms, one of 200 acres, the other 20 acres, in pre- 
 ference to loo and 10. 
 
 " FARM OF 200 ACRES. 
 
 16 men constantly. 
 
 1 boy 
 
 12 women about one-half tiie year. 
 
 20 men, 3 weeks in Spring.
 
 OF IRELAND. 311 
 
 40 men, 3 weeks in Harvest. 
 20 women ,, ,, 
 
 20 men ,, potato digging. 
 
 20 women ,, ,, ,, 
 
 Reduced to cash value, £300 
 
 7 horses constantly, 185 
 
 Occasional horsesj 15 
 
 £500 
 
 " FARM OF 20 ACKES. 
 
 In constant employment one average fa- 
 mily, say a man and wife and six chil- 
 dren, varying from 1 to 16 years, and 
 one servant maid. This, I think, should 
 not be estimated at less than . . . £50 
 
 Extra laboTirers, chiefly men, at inter- 
 vals, to the amount of about ... 10 
 
 Horse work, 17 
 
 £77 
 
 " Second. Supposing in each case rent regularly paid, and 
 that in the larger farm the produce be charged with all inte- 
 rest of capital invested, and wear of machinery and horses, and 
 that the sum allocated to the support of the farmer's family, 
 be such as should be derived from any other kind of industry 
 by a man of the same capital and intelligence, should there be 
 any difference in the amount of rent per acre which the large 
 and small farm could pay, and what would you consider that 
 difference to be, and on what side ? 
 
 " According to a comparative calculation I have made, it % 
 appears to me, that a farm of 20 acres would bear as high a I ^^ 
 rent as a farm of 200 acres, an d such_has bee n my expe- •""^ 
 rience as an _agent in this co untry ; at the same time it is I 
 stoutly asserted in some of the best cultivated districts in \ 
 England and Scotland, the larger the farm the higher the rent 
 it is able to bear, and they have experience on their side. But 
 I do not think that the small farm system ever got a fair trial | 
 there. I dare say that where the landlord builds and keeps up »
 
 312 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 the tenants' houses it might be cheaper to him to build and keep 
 up one house and steading suitable to a 200 acre farm, than to 
 build and keep up ten cottages, &c., on ten farms of 20 acres 
 each, and it would certainly save him trouble. So perhaps in 
 proportion to the outlay, he might get a higher rent for 200 
 acres, than he would get from 20 acres. 
 
 " Thomas Butler." 
 
 Without proceeding to further quotation on a subject which 
 has already far exceeded the limits originally designed, I shall 
 only remark, that the fact of small farms being able to pay at 
 least as high a rent as large farms appears well-established, 
 and the greater amount of employment that is given is beyond 
 any question. This latter circumstance it will be useful to 
 consider a little further, in connexion with the population and 
 the quantity of cultivatable land in Ireland. 
 
 In his valuable work on agriculture. Professor Low gives 
 some estimates, from which it results that he considers a 500 
 acre farm to give an amount of occupation equivalent to the 
 employment of twenty persons throughout the entire year. 
 Now it has been already shewn that the area of land available 
 for cultivation is about 18,000,000 of acres, made up of: 
 
 Land actually cultivated, 13,464,300 
 
 Land capable of cultivation, .... 4,600,000 
 
 Now if this be divided into 36,000 farms, of 500 acres, there 
 will be given by their cultivation employment for 720,000 in- 
 dividuals, but as the actual agricultural population amounts to 
 5,406,743, the difference, or four millions and a half of human 
 beings will be thrown on the world without any means of sub- 
 sistence. They may be considered as forming 850,000 fami- 
 lies, and as it is found that the emigration of a family costs at 
 least £50, the removal of these multitudes, whether paid for 
 by themselves or by the State, should cost the enormous sum 
 of forty-two millions and a half of money. 
 
 On the other hand, as the total number of existing agricul- 
 tural families is 974,188, it results that from the available land 
 there could be allocated to each a farm of seventeen statute 
 acres. That this quantity i.s sufficient to support a family.
 
 OF IRELAND. 313 
 
 paying full rent, is a matter of which there is no doubt, and 
 it is thus evident that the finding means of employment for the 
 population is not so difficult, nor requiring such hidden re- 
 sources as is often thought. It does require, however, one 
 condition, at present, unfortunately scarcely obtainable, and 
 on which attention is not yet sufficiently fixed, an amount of 
 general industrial and agricultm-al education, that may enable 
 the landlord to set an example to his tenantry in the disposi- 
 tion to improve the agriculture of his district, and may enable 
 the tenantry to follow that example, and to apply his precepts 
 each to his individual case. The landlord shovdd be, in fact, 
 not merely the proprietor of his peasantry : he should be their 
 preceptor and their friend. 
 
 That the greater or less magnitude of farms is not in any 
 way necessarily connected with the condition of agriculture, 
 or with any other elements of social comfort of the population, 
 becomes fully evident on reference to the table of the sizes of 
 farms given in page 305. It is there seen that in Connaught 
 the average size of farms is almost exactly the same as in 
 Ulster, and yet these two provinces are the extremes of igno- 
 rance and of intelligence, of activity and of industrial indo- 
 lence, which this island presents. The difference has certainly 
 nothing to do with the smallness of the farms, and that such 
 farms are sufficient, when properly managed, for the support 
 of even more than the average number of individuals in a fa- 
 mily, is shewn by Mr. Blacker, in a passage which disposes so 
 perfectly of the redundant population question, that I shall 
 not again allude to it. In his valuable Essay, Mr. Blacker 
 says : 
 
 " I cannot conclude without endeavouring to answer one ob- ! 
 jection, which may be made to the opinions I have supported 
 in the foregoing ; I allude to my objecting to the expulsion of 
 small holders for the purpose of consolidating farms, in re- 
 gard to which it may be asked, if this is not done, the popu- 
 lation is increasing so rapidly, that as families grow up, sub- | 
 division must go on, until at length the whole community will/ 
 become paupers ? I mig ht fairly ask in I'c turn, how the plan/ 1 
 of tui'ning out these families will prevent pgHpcri'swt ? It seemsf 1
 
 , .. \ 
 
 314 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 to me that the latter plan is by much the surest way to pro- 
 duce such a result. But the most satisfactory answer to the 
 question will perhaps be arrived at, bv j^nj^^ tjiaYouHnp^ to nsc er- 
 t.aiu how far the apprehensions of a superabundant population, 
 a t present so generally entertained, may or m ay not be justi- 
 f ied by facts ; for if it should appear there was land enough in 
 the kingdom for all its inhabitants, now existing, and for" as 
 many more as could be anticipated in any reasonable ti me, and 
 t hat nothing more was wanting but p rop er regulations to mak e 
 it avai lable for their wants, t hen the 'objection mav be fai rly 
 considered to be set aside. In a late publication entitled ' Ire- 
 land as it was, is, ana ought to be,' a table is given of the 
 acreable contents and population of each coxmty in Ireland, 
 which may be supposed, at least, so far relatively accurate, as 
 to afford data for the following calculations. From this table 
 t appears t hat the county of Armagh contains 212,755 ac res, 
 an d a population of 220^653 spuls^ a nd that the entire kingdom 
 co ntains 17,190,726 acre s, and 7,839, 4G L> soids; no w, in the 
 county of Armagh, by a recent surve y, more th an one-seventh 
 of the sur face is ialten up by lakes and unprofitable land, and 
 tlie remainder is, for the greater part, but indifferently cu lti- 
 vated, and yet the peasantry are bette r clothed, lodged, a nd 
 fed than they are in most other counties in Ireland^ I cannot, 
 therefore be accused of taking away from the comforts of the 
 rest of the kingdom, by taking the coimty of Armagh as a 
 standard, and its proportion of improfitable surface is not very 
 remote, I believe, from the average of the others ; if, then, 
 212,755, the number of acres in Armagh, give a po^iulation of 
 220, G53 souls, 17,190,726 acres, the entire contents of the 
 kingdom, ought to give a population of 17,828,888, in place of 
 7,839,469, the population at present. It, therefore, appears, 
 t hat supposin g the other parts of Ireland to be as well culti - 
 vated^s Armagh, it would support about two and a half times 
 the n umb er of its present inhabitants, and be able to export 
 provisions largely besides ; for Armagh, notwithstanding i ts 
 population, e xports pork, butt er, and grain in great quantiti es. 
 But before deciding finally upon the population which the 
 kingdom could support, it ought to be examined how far the
 
 OF IRELAND. 315 
 
 county of Armagh (the standard taken) has arrived at'its full 
 complement ; and in regard to this I would say, ft*om a pretty 
 general knowledge of it, that under an improved system of 
 agricidture, and a regular rotation of crops, t he produce would 
 b e treble of what it yields at present, and I think this may be 
 considered as practicall y pro ved, if I can shew far mers po s- 
 sessing land of average quality, who being induced to change 
 their manner of cultivation in the way already described, are 
 now receiving f u^J treble produce from the iden tical sa me 
 farm to what it formerly yielded ; but supposing it only to 
 jdeld double as much, it would follow, that the population of 
 Armagh, if that jDenc'ficial chaiigo became general, might be 
 doubled also, without in any degree lessening the comforts of 
 the inhabitants ; which increase being taken as the basis of 
 the calculation, and applying it to the whole of Ireland, would 
 make it adeg^uate to the support of better than thirtv-five 
 mi llions of soul s. "When, tln-rei'or.-, it is cuusidcri.'d wluit un- 
 exhausted, I might say unexplored, resourees remain for the 
 maintenance of any incn/asi- of inhabitants that can he ex- 
 pected in any definite period, it must, I think, be evident to 
 every i-etlecting person, that all fears as to a surphi a population 
 are perfectly ideal, and that it is its miequal distrib _ution, an d 
 not its aggregate amount, which is to be deplored." 
 
 The jirimary object of agriculture, as hitherto discussed, is 
 the production of food, which process necessarily requires the 
 numerous elements essential for animal subsistence, and causes 
 the exhausting action upon the soil which has given occasion 
 to the great diversity of crops, of manures, and of rotations, 
 of which I have endeavoured to explain the principles. There 
 are, however, certain kinds of crops, and those of great prac- 
 tical value, which, when their culture is considered in a proper 
 point of view, become almost free from exhausting action, and 
 as some of these are actually of the highest importance to in- 
 dustry in Ireland, I shall pass to the description of their lead- 
 ing features. 
 
 I have mentioned as being well established by experienc e, 
 that after the first stage of growth of a plant, the assimila- 
 tion of its carbon is carried on by the decomposition of the at- 
 
 L
 
 316 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 mosphere, as may be exemplified in the case of the corn crop 
 and fallow, of which the numerical conditions are given in 
 page 298. The more woody portion of the stem is thus formed 
 almost exclusively from the air and water, as the ligneous 
 fibre, independent of some minutiae of its structure not affect- 
 ing the present question, is composed of carbon united to 
 oxygen and hydrogen in the proportions which form water ; 
 its formula being C,8 H,^ 0,2. This composition of woody fibre, 
 as affecting the cultivation of fibre crops, leads to important 
 agricultural results, which will require full examination. Lig- 
 neous fibre is, however, but one of a class of bodies having 
 the same character. The different varieties of starch and 
 sugar are of precisely similar constitution, all being composed 
 of carbon and of the elements of water ; thus in chemical for- 
 mulae they are expressed by 
 
 Starch, C,, H,qOjq 
 
 Crystallizable sugar, Ci^H,, Oj, 
 
 Grape sugar, C,2 H,2 Ofj 
 
 None of these bodies contain nitrogen, or, when pure, any 
 inorganic matter. The plants which contain these bodies re- 
 quire for their healthy growth, nitrogen and mineral elements, 
 and consequently exhaust the soil ; but when we take out of a 
 potato its starch, or when we extract from the sugar-cane or 
 beet-root its sugar, the residual portions of the plant contain 
 all the materials that had rendered the plant exhausting, and 
 are capable, if restored to the soil, of acting as a most valua- 
 ble manure, and in fact enabling the land to produce successive 
 crops of starch or sugar without any sensible diminution of its 
 fertility. 
 
 Of all the starch-bearing plants the potato is that which af- 
 fords the greatest quantity of produce from a given surface of 
 land. The different varieties of potato differ, however, very 
 much, and the following table will indicate exactly the circum- 
 stances of the most important kinds. The plants were grown 
 all on the same quality of land, and the analyses are by Payen, 
 the eminent French agricultural chemist.
 
 OF IRELAND. 
 
 317 
 
 
 
 
 100 PARTS CONTAINED 
 
 VARIETIBS. 
 
 1 CWT. SEED 
 PRODUCED 
 
 ACRE 
 PRODUCED 
 
 
 WATER. JSTARCH. 
 
 1 
 
 GLDTEN AND 
 FIBRE. 
 
 Rohan, 
 
 58 cwt. 
 
 lU tons. 
 
 752 
 
 16-6 
 
 8-2 
 
 Large yellow, 
 
 37 „ 
 
 4 >. 
 
 68-7 
 
 23-3 
 
 8-0 
 
 Scotch, 
 
 32 „ 
 
 8 ,, 
 
 69-8 
 
 22 
 
 8-2 
 
 Slow Island, 
 
 56 „ 
 
 14 „ 
 
 79-4 
 
 12-3 
 
 8-3 
 
 Legonzac, 
 
 32 „ 
 
 8 ,, 
 
 71-2 
 
 20-5 
 
 8-3 
 
 Siberian, 
 
 40 „ 
 
 10 „ 
 
 77-8 
 
 140 
 
 8-2 
 
 Duvillers, 
 
 40 „ 
 
 10 „ 
 
 78-3 
 
 13-6 
 
 8-1 
 
 These results shew that the quantity of starch is not largest 
 necessarily in those varieties which yield the greatest weight 
 of tubers. Thus an acre of large yellow potatoes, which gives 
 but 9^ tons of tubers, produces two tons three cwt. of starch, 
 whilst the acre of Slow Island potatoes, which produce fourteen 
 tons of tubers, give only one ton fifteen cwt. of starch. In 
 cultivating the plant for the purpose of extracting this mate- 
 rial, it is, therefore, of the greatest importance to attend to 
 the existence of these varieties. 
 
 The preparation of starch from the potato is an operation 
 of very simple kind, and well adapted for the industry of the 
 smaller towns, where potatoes would be usually cheap. It re- 
 quires only the most ordinary skill, and involves Httle ma- 
 chinery, the greatest nicety in it being perfect cleanliness, and 
 care that the washings be well finished and with pure water. 
 The operations of the manufacture are 
 
 1st. Washing the tubers. 
 
 2nd. Rasping them to a pulp. 
 
 3rd. Pressing the pulp. 
 
 4th. Washing the rough starch. 
 
 5th. Draining and drying the produce. 
 
 6th. Bolting and storing. 
 
 Of these operations it is only necessary to notice one or two 
 in detail. 
 
 The breaking up of the tubers into a pulp is accomplished 
 by means of cutting cylinders, to which the potatoes are sup- 
 plied from a hopper, nearly as grain is to a mill. The more
 
 318 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 rapidly the cutters move the finer is the pulp produced, and 
 the more perfect the subsequent extraction of the starch, and 
 hence they generally make 600 to 900 turns in the minute, and 
 as these cylinders are usually about twenty inches in diameter, 
 their periphery moves with a velocity of from 1000 to 1500 
 yards in a minute. A single cylinder of the above dimensions, 
 and of sixteen inches long, making 800 revolutions in a minute, 
 will reduce to pulp about fifty bushels of potatoes per hour. 
 This for the twelve working hours is about ten tons. 
 
 The object of pressing or sifting the pulp is to separate the 
 fecula from all foreign substances, especially from the cellular 
 tissue, which, being coarser, rests on the sieve through which 
 the fine starch passes. A great variety of mechanical ar- 
 rangements have been constructed for this purpose, which 
 fulfil their object, but there remains always with the residual 
 pulp 2 or 3 per cent, of the fecula, which it is impossible to 
 obtain. 
 
 The starch, difi'used in the current of water by which it has 
 been washed out from the pulp, is run into vats, where it is 
 poured off, and fresh water put on : finally the starch is taken 
 out and dried on floors. As it consolidates into very firm 
 masses, it requires finally to be broken down by a kind of bolt- 
 ing machine, before being put up for sale. 
 
 It is necessary to add some valuation of the money circum- 
 stances of this manufacture. An acre of potatoes, very well 
 manured, and on good land, may be considered to produce 
 nine tons of potatoes, which may be taken as worth £13. From 
 such potatoes it may be expected, that, with proper care, 15 
 per cent, of pure starch may be extracted, and hence, from the 
 9 tons, 27 cwt. The market price of the potato starch is 
 variable ; it has been 30.s. per cwt., but it only on rare occa- 
 sions falls below 20s. Taking it at 20s. the value of the pro- 
 duce of the acre becomes £27, leaving for cost of manufacture 
 and profit £12, and of this certainly a large proportion should 
 be profit. I do not think I value the potatoes too low, as, of 
 course, the manufacturer, if not himself the grower, would 
 purchase for store at proper seasons, and avail himself of the 
 lowest terms.
 
 OF IRELAND. 319 
 
 But this calculation of advantage supposes the starch to be 
 the only valuable matter extracted from the potato, which is 
 far from being the case. The residual pulp, which, when per- 
 fectly dry, amounts to about 5 per cent, of the entire weight 
 of the tubers, has been found a most nourishing food ; in fact, 
 it contains most of the nutritious part of the root, the mere starch 
 which was removed being comparatively much less important 
 in nutrition. This pulp, if moist, putrefies rapidly, it is rich 
 in nitrogen, and in fact analogous to animal substances in com- 
 position, and consequently, if not required for food, would 
 form, by being made with lime and clay into a comijost, a ma- 
 nure of great value, and especially suitable for restoring to 
 the potato ground the substances which the crop in grow- 
 ing had removed. The waters, with which the pulp' is first 
 washed, dissolve a quantity of the soluble constituents of the 
 potato. They rapidly puti-efy, and exhale an odour so rotten 
 as to have rendered the starch factories near Paris a nuisance 
 to the neighbourhood, iintil it was suggested to emjiloy this 
 water as a manure, which has been perfectly successful, and 
 at once removed an important drawback to this branch of in- 
 dustry, and materially increased the fertility of the surround- 
 ing farms. 
 
 If these residues be properly economized, it is evident that 
 the cost of growing the potatoes may be materially diminished. 
 The atmosphere, in itself, furnishes in fact the cai'bonic acid 
 and water from which the starch is formed, and if the matters 
 taken from the soil in each crop, be returned to it in the resi- 
 dues of the manufacture, the cost of manure, so heavy for this 
 particular plant, may be almost entirely obviated. 
 
 In this country, where the extensive use and culture of the 
 potato have become almost a national characteristic ; where 
 labour not requiring considerable skill is to be had so cheap ; 
 where potatoes are at their minimum price ; it is not merely to 
 be regretted bvit absolutely disgraceful to ourselves, that we 
 import from Scotland and from France, large quantities of the 
 potato starch to be consumed in Ireland. 
 
 The starch is not the only material extracted from potatoes, 
 and extensively available in the arts. The potato itself, re-
 
 320 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 duced to flour, is at present extensively employed upon the 
 Continent in the preparation of a very wholesome quality of 
 bread, and the starch itself is consumed in making confec- 
 tionary, jellies, sago, tapioca, in thickening paper, and in a 
 variety of uses, by which such quantities of it are employed as 
 to render its manufacture a really important and extensive de- 
 partment of industry. The most remarkable of all the appli- 
 cations of potato starch is, however, one to which the excise 
 laws of this country would probably j)resent invincible impe- 
 diments. It is the preparation of sugar and of spirits. Under 
 the influence of certain chemical agents, simple, yet peculiar 
 in their action, and to which it would not be my province here 
 to refer in detail, starch is converted into sugar, and this 
 sugar, by fermentation, yields spirits. On the Continent the 
 manufactui*e of spirit from corn is almost abandoned. Potato 
 spirit is almost universally used ; and in flavour it so resembles 
 brandy that it is well known that a large quantity of the 
 French brandy brought into London, is potato spirit from Ham- 
 burgh coloured with burned sugar. 
 
 A branch of industry which has acquired considerable deve- 
 lopment upon the Continent of Europe, is that of preparing 
 sugar from the root of the red and yellow beet. The circum- 
 stances of this country do not appear to favour its introduc- 
 tion, Vjut as it is immediately connected with the starch manu- 
 facture already noticed, and that very exaggerated ideas re- 
 garding it are often conceived, I shall briefly notice the general 
 conditions of its preparation. For this purpose the documents 
 recently published, during the inquiry instituted by the French 
 Government, afford satisfactory data. In order to render 
 the results more immediately intelligible, I shall i-educe the 
 weights, values, and measures, from the French to the English 
 standard. 
 
 The crop of beet roots which is usually obtained in France, 
 varies from ten to sixteen tons per statute acre. The mean 
 produce may be taken at twelve tons. For the cultivation of 
 the acre, it appears that the labour required is, forty-six days 
 of a man's work, and fourteen days of a horse's. The total
 
 OF IRELAND. 321 
 
 cost of the crop to the farmer appears to be, in average, 
 £7 lis. 6d., made up of 
 
 Rent and taxes, £2 
 
 Manure, 236 
 
 Labour, 1 13 
 
 Seeds, &c., 120 
 
 Pulling and carriage, 13 
 
 £7 11 6 
 
 The average crop, of twelve tons per acre, stands the farmer, 
 therefore, in 12s. 6d. per ton. 
 
 A disadvantage of the crop is usually considered to be, that 
 it occupies the ground so long, as often to interfere with the 
 wheat-sowing in autumn. The seed of the beet is placed in the 
 ground as early as it can be considered at all safe from frost, 
 and it continues growing very decidedly to September, and 
 hence the pulling of it is retarded to the latest moment. Now 
 it is, at that season, peculiai'Iy liable to injury from frost, or 
 from wet. A fact discovered by Peligot will, however, if 
 borne out by practical experience, remarkably simplify the cul- 
 tivation. He found that the juice of the young beet root is so 
 much richer in sugar than that of the mature plant, that the 
 total quantity of sugar in the plant may be considered to be 
 the same at all ages, and hence, if tlie roots be pulled up in 
 summer, although the weight of the crop is much less, yet, as 
 the quantity of sugar is not smaller, the market value of the 
 crop is the same. Thus the ground becomes available much 
 earlier, for other agricultural operations, and the plants being 
 pulled in a drier and steadier season, are much less liable to 
 injury from exposure to the weather. 
 
 The mode of treatment of the roots, in order to prepare the 
 sugar, is not complex. The roots are broken up, by suitable 
 machines, into a soft pulp, and this is submitted to excessive 
 pressure, between folds of cloth, in hydrostatic presses. The 
 juice which flows out is clarified by lime, and evaporated , 
 down, first in ordinary boilers, but subsequently in pans heat- 
 ed by steam, sometimes by evaporation in vacuo, precisely as 
 is adopted for the clarifying and refining of ordinary cane
 
 322 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 sugar, with which the product, when obtained pure, is identi- 
 cal in properties and composition. 
 
 The following estimate of the cost of production of the beet- 
 root sugar, in a factory working up thirty-six tons of roots 
 daily, is taken from the summary of the official results given by 
 M. Dumas. The numbers are reduced to the Bi-itish standards, 
 and the price of coal in Ireland substituted for theT French 
 value. The daily expenses of the factory are 
 
 36 tons of beet-root, at 16s. 8rf. ... ^30 
 
 5^ tons of coals, at 12s 3 6 
 
 Bone-black, 360 
 
 Lime, 080 
 
 Labour, 52 persons, 5 19 
 
 Cloths, for pressing, 16 
 
 Repairs, lighting, insurance, rent, taxes, 
 
 and sundries, 6 13 
 
 Interest on the capital invested, which 
 is shewn to be, by other estimates, 
 £12,500, 430 
 
 Total daily expense, £54 11 
 
 The quantity of sugar actually' contained in the beet-root 
 varies from 7 to 10 per cent, in its weight, and, from good 
 materials, and the employment of the best methods, 7 per cent, 
 is available as pure product, after all waste of manufacture ; 
 but the ordinary produce to be calculated on is 5 per cent., 
 which, from the thirty-six tons of beet-root, amounts to thirty- 
 six cwt. of refined sugar, delivered daily from such a factorj% 
 which, on the above outlay, would cost the manufacturer 
 30s. 4d. per cwt. ; but there are some important deductions to 
 be made from this. 
 
 It will be recollected, that the sugar is a material which, 
 like starch, contains no nitrogen, and, when pure, no inorganic 
 matters. It hence is formed, during the growth of the plants, 
 by the mere concurrence of air and water, and the other mate- 
 rials of the beet-root, which remain behind after the sugar is 
 extracted, contain the nitrogen and salts which render the beet 
 useful as food, or available as manure if returned to the soil.
 
 OF IRELAND. 323 
 
 Hence the waste pulp of the sugar works is greedily purchased 
 up by the farmers, and also the skimmings of the boilers, which 
 are found to be a powerful manure, and are sold at a certain 
 price. As it is impossible to obtain all the sugar crystalline, a 
 certain quantity is converted into molasses, or treacle, and this 
 is sold to the distillers for the manufacture of spirits. The ex- 
 penses must, therefore, be credited by the values of these pro- 
 ducts, which are daily as follows : 
 
 18 cwt. of pulp, at 6s. 3(/ £5 12 6 
 
 12 cwt. of treacle, at Is. 8d 10 
 
 6 cwt. of skimmings, at Is 6 
 
 £6 18 6 
 The nett expenditure is, therefore, for each day, £47 12s. 6d. 
 and at 5 per cent, of produce, the sugar costs per cwt. 26s. 6d. 
 or, 2|d. per lb. As by suitable culture and manipulation the 
 produce may be increased to 7 per cent, without any notable 
 increase of outlay, I may add, 
 
 At 6 per cent, the sugar costs 22s. 2c?. per cwt., or 2^d per tb. 
 At 7 per cent, the sugar costs 19s. per cwt., or 2c?. per tb. 
 
 It, however, is not to be supposed that the Government 
 would allow of a manufacture, which, although giving exten- 
 sive employment to the population of this country, and opening 
 out a new field for agricultural enterprize, might seriously di- 
 minish the revenue now derived from duties on sugar imported 
 from abroad. Beet-root sugar, if manufactured here, should 
 be, of course, submitted to the same duties as are levied on 
 sugar of colonial origin, and as this amounts to 27s. per cwt., 
 or 3d, per lb, the final cost to the manufacturer, of sugar made 
 in this way, should be therefore so far increased. This may 
 not allow, at present prices, a profit sufficiently large to tempt 
 capital and enterprize into so novel a track. 
 
 It will be remarked, that the factory estimate supposes the 
 beet-root bought at 16s. 8c?. per ton. It cost the farmer, as 
 shewn above, 12s. 6d. ; he has, therefore, 4s. 2c?. per ton nett 
 profit, or, for the twelve tons, £2 10s. per statute acre. In 
 estimates which I have seen of the beet-root sugar manufac- 
 y2
 
 324 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 ture, the produce per acre is often taken at twenty or forty 
 tons, as may really be obtained ; but in such case there is little 
 or no sugar ; it has been used in forming the woody matter of 
 the roots, and hence the light crop described above is that 
 finally most productive. 
 
 In relation to the actual agricultural and manufacturing in- 
 dustry of Ireland, it is still more important to describe the cir- 
 cumstances of those crops which have for their ultimate and 
 valuable product, the vegetable fibre. Of these fibre crops, 
 those of most interest are flax and hemp, especially the former, 
 on which so large a proportion of the population of the north 
 of Ireland may be considered to depend for subsistence. 
 
 The flax plant, to which I shall first direct attention, may 
 be cultivated on any soil of moderate fertility, but, of course, 
 will grow in greatest luxuriance, and yield its largest produce, 
 where the land is most fertile. It is, however, indispensable, 
 that the soil be rendered thoroughly open, and perfectly clean. 
 The order of rotation with other crops varies in different coun- 
 tries, but on the Continent, as in Belgium, where its cultiva- 
 tion is best understood, the ordinary custom is, to bring it in 
 after a corn crop, and not to introduce it into the course more 
 frequently than once in seven years. The flax is a very ex- 
 hausting crop, and hence requires abundance of manure, which 
 is supplied to it in Belgium, in the most effective form, as 
 liquid manure. It will be shewn, immediately, that the flax 
 contains but little lime, the presence of which, in a caustic 
 form, in the soil, appears to be injurious to the plant, hence it 
 is proper, whore lime has been necessary to the soil, to inter- 
 mit the culture of flax for a certain season. 
 
 The composition of the soil on which the cultivation of flax 
 may best be carried on, being a problem of the highest practi- 
 cal interest to this country, the Flax Improvement Society of 
 Ireland, in pursuance of their laudable objects in promoting 
 this branch of industry, commissioned me to make analyses of 
 some soils which iiad produced remarkably good crops of flax. 
 The soils were all light clay loams, and afforded th(! following 
 results, which I extract from the Report of the Society.
 
 OF IRELAND. 
 
 325 
 
 
 No. 1. 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 No. 3. 
 
 Silica and silicious sand, . . 
 
 73-72 
 
 69-41 
 
 64-93 
 
 Oxide of iron, 
 
 5-51 
 
 5^29 
 
 5^64 
 
 Alumina, 
 
 6-65 
 
 5-70 
 
 8^97 
 
 Phosphate of iron 
 
 •06 
 
 -23 
 
 •81 
 
 Carbonate of lime, .... 
 
 1-09 
 
 •53 
 
 1^67 
 
 Magnesia and alkalies, with 
 
 
 
 
 traces of sulphuric and mu- 
 
 
 
 
 riatic acids, 
 
 •32 
 
 •25 
 
 •45 
 
 Organic matters, .... 
 
 4-86 
 
 6^67 
 
 9-41 
 
 Water, 
 
 7-57 
 
 ir48 
 
 8-73 
 
 99-78 
 
 99^58 
 
 100-11 
 
 The organic matter in these soils was rich in nitrogen ; their 
 fertility is, therefore, from the analyses, easily understood. 
 
 A point which may be noticed in relation to the growth of 
 flax is, that its quality is essentially improved by thick sowing. 
 This arises, not from there being more flax grown, but from 
 the closeness of the plants forcing them to grow upwards with 
 a single stem to gain access to the air, and thus to prevent 
 their branching, by which the fibre is shortened, and rendered 
 irregular. Every thing in the cultivation of this plant is sub- 
 servient to the formation of a long and delicate woody fibre, 
 and it is owing to this fact in the practical history of the flax, 
 that certain sources of economy in its agriculture, which I shall 
 point out, become practicable. 
 
 The ligneous or woody fibre, which finally is converted into 
 the linen thread, is composed of the same elements as starch 
 and sugar, and in nearly the same proportions. Omitting cer- 
 tain minute diff'erences between the true fibre and the matter 
 which occupies its cells, its composition may be expressed by 
 the formula C,gH,2 Ojj and, when pure, it contains no inor- 
 ganic matter. Its elements are, in 100 parts : 
 
 Carbon 50-00 
 
 Hydrogen, 5-55 
 
 Oxygen, 44-45
 
 326 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 Hence this fibre, which constitutes the entire money value 
 of the flax crop, is produced during the life of the plant, by 
 the elements of the atmosphere, and the materials taken from 
 the manure and from the soil are, in reality, employed by the 
 plant in organizing substances which do not make any return 
 to the farmer, but which are, on the contrary, under certain 
 circumstances, considered to be positively a disadvantage. It 
 is, therefore, of importance, that it should be understood, that 
 by a proper system, the growth of flax and similar fibre crops 
 should be destitute of all exhausting influence. That the ma- 
 terials drawn from the soil by such a crop should be foimd in 
 the waste products of its manufacture, and should be available 
 by being returned to the soil, to restore it to its original con- 
 dition of fertility. In order to render this principle fully intel- 
 ligible, I shall enter into some detail regarding the processes 
 to which the flax is subjected, and the nature of the products 
 obtained from it. 
 
 The flax, when it has grown to suitable maturity, according 
 as the design is to allow it to ripen its seed or not, is pulled, 
 and either immediately, or in the next spare season, according 
 to the circumstances of the locality, it is subjected to the 
 process termed rotting or watering. In the stem of the flax 
 there may be recognized three structures, the outer skin or 
 epidermis, covering a close network of fibres which encloses the 
 plant as in a sheath, and in the centre a stem of dense pithy 
 material. The fibrous network is connected together by a 
 glutinous matter, which must be decomposed before the fibres 
 can be separated from the stem, and it is to soften and rot this 
 substance that the plant is steeped. If the steeping be con- 
 tinued too long, the fibre itself may rot, and be weakened and 
 injured in quality ; if the stooping be not continued long enough, 
 the fibres are not thoroughly separated from each other, and 
 the quality of the flax is coarser than it might be. The gene- 
 ral tendency is not to rot the flax enough, but it is a process 
 requiring very careful management and attention, to conduct 
 it with the greatest advantage. 
 
 In order to ascertain what occurs dm-ing the steeping of the 
 flax I instituted chemical examinations of the substances and
 
 OF IRELAND, 327 
 
 process. I have already given the composition of the pm-e 
 ligneous fibre, and in the following tables are shewn the results 
 of my analyses of the composition of the flax stem as it grows, 
 and of the ashes which it yields. These are in fact its organic 
 and its inorganic elements. The composition of the ash varies 
 very sensibly vsdth that of the soil upon which the plant is 
 grown, but it is not necessary to introduce that consideration 
 for the present object. 
 
 FLAX PLANT. 
 
 Carbon, 38-72 
 
 Hydrogen, , . . . , 7-33 
 
 Nitrogen, '56 
 
 Oxygen 48-39 
 
 Ashes, 5-00 
 
 100-00 
 
 ASHES OF FLAX PLANT. 
 
 Potash, 9-78 
 
 Soda, 9-82. 
 
 Lime, 12-33 
 
 Magnesia, 7-79 
 
 Oxide of iron and alumina, 6-08 
 
 Silica, 21-35 
 
 Sulphuric acid, 2-65 
 
 Chlorine, . 2-41 
 
 Carbonic acid, 1695 
 
 Phosphoric acid, 10-84 
 
 100 00 
 When the flax is steeped, the water acquires a darker 
 colour, a disagreeable odour, and, it is well known, becomes 
 poisonous to fish. This arises from the solution of the gluti- 
 nous material which had cemented together the pure fibres. 
 To examine this material, I employed it as it is produced 
 when the steeping water is dried down, and the following 
 tables shew its organic composition, and the composition of the 
 ashes which it yields. I term this substance, for brevity sake, 
 flax-steep extract.
 
 328 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 FLAX- FLAy-STKKI' EXTRACT 
 
 STEEP EXTRACT. WITHOUT ASUKS. 
 
 Carbon, 30-69 52-93 
 
 Hydrogen, 4-24 7*31 
 
 Nitrogen, 2-24 3-86 
 
 Oxygen, 20-82 35 90 
 
 Ashes, 42-01 
 
 100-00 10000 
 
 It is thus seen, that the steep-water dissolves out a great 
 quantity of nitrogen, and of the inorganic materials of the 
 stem; in fact, that it removes from the plant almost every 
 thing that the plant removes from the soil. This is confirmed 
 by looking to the composition of its ashes, which are shewn by 
 the following analytical results. There are foimd 42 parts 
 of ashes, in every 100 parts of flax-steep extract, consisting of 
 
 Chloride of potassium, 3-8 
 
 Sulphate of potash, 4-4 
 
 Carbonate of potash 3-8 
 
 Carbonate of soda, 13-2 
 
 Silica, 5-5 
 
 Phosphate of iron and alumina, .... 3-2 
 
 Phosphate of linie 21 
 
 Carbonate of lime, 4-0 
 
 Carbonate of magnesia, 2-0 
 
 Total quantity, 42 per cent. 
 
 The steep-water thus dissolves, especially, the alcaline in- 
 gredients, and the phosphates of the plant, and hence leaves the 
 rotted stems in a condition of almost pure ligneous matter. 
 
 The stems of the plant, after having been thus steeped, un- 
 dergo a rough bleaching and drying, by being t/rassed for some 
 days. They are then broken by the hackle, and finally, the 
 fibre separated from the residual woody pith or chaff, by the 
 operation of scutching. These operations may be carried on 
 either by hand or by machinery, and the relative value of the 
 systems may hereafter rc^quire attention. The fibre, after these 
 processes, is sent to market; it passes into tlie hands of the 
 
 •i
 
 OF IRELAND. 329 
 
 linen manufactiu'ers, and becomes the element of mechanical 
 industry, such as has been treated of in the earlier chapters of 
 this work. 
 
 Now the agriculturist should steadily bear in mind, that 
 the fibre which he sells to the flax spinner has taken nothing 
 from the soil : all that the crop took out of the soil he has still 
 in the steep- water, and in the chaff of the scutched flax, and 
 if, after suitable decomposition, these be returned to the land, 
 the fertility of the latter will be I'estored, and thus materials, 
 at present utterly neglected, and even a source of inconve- 
 nience, may be converted into most valuable manure. 
 
 That the water in which flax has been steeped possesses 
 powerful influence as a manure, has been observed by various 
 persons ; thus round the edges of bog holes used for steeping, 
 a luxuriant and tender herbage often arises in vivid contrast to 
 the surrounding barren peat. Various agricultural authori- 
 ties have noticed its beneficial effects when experimentally 
 used, but I shall only quote, in order to shew the attention it 
 deserves, the following notice by Mr. Wakefield- " The water 
 in Avhich flax has been immersed is, in Ireland, entirely ne- 
 glected, but Mr. Billingsby mentions it as an excellent manure, 
 and no country in the world, perhaps, aff'ords better opportuni- 
 ties of employing it than Ireland. I made frequent inquiries 
 about it, but could never hear of a single instance of its being 
 used. The author of the Sm'vey of Somersetshire (Mr. Bil- 
 lingsby) says : ' it is observable, that land on which rotted 
 flax is spread to prepare it for heckling, is greatly improved 
 thereby, and if it be spread on a coarse sour pasture, the her- 
 bage will be totally changed, and the best sorts of grasses will 
 make their appearance. Having myself cultivated flax on a 
 large scale, and observing the almost instantaneous effect pro- 
 duced by the water in which the flax was immersed, I was in- 
 duced, some years ago, to apply it to some pasture land, by 
 means of watering carts similar to those used near London for 
 watering the roads. The effect was astonishing, and advanced 
 the land in value ten shillings per acre.' " 
 
 The chaff remaining after the scutching might also be 
 formed into manure, and has actually boon found of as much
 
 330 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 value as its composition would indicate. Thus, in fact, the 
 farmer sending to marlvct only the fibre of the flax, which de- 
 rives notliing from the soil, has the opiJortunity of economiz- 
 ing in other and highly remunerating modes all the residual 
 materials. 
 This chaff was found to consist of 
 
 Carbon, 50-34 
 
 Hydrogen, 6-33 
 
 Nitrogen, '24 
 
 Oxygen, 41*32 
 
 Ashes, 157 
 
 10000 
 
 Its nutritive quality cannot be material, but mixed wth the 
 water of the flax-steep, it should complete the restoration to 
 the soil of the constituents of the growing flax. 
 
 The average produce of scutched flax, as given by Wake- 
 field, reduced to the statute acre, is 5431b from nineteen gal- 
 lons of seed. This is thirty-four stones of sixteen poimds. 
 The usual produce of Scotland is stated by Low, to be forty 
 stones, and at present by the Reports of the Flax Improve- 
 ment Society, the produce in the north of Ireland may be 
 taken as averaging forty-two stones. The weight of the flax- 
 straw, when quite dry, may be taken as approximating to 
 about two tons. 
 
 IVIr. Crosthwaite, whose intimate acquaintance with all 
 branches of this industry renders his authority highly valua- 
 ble, considers that there are about 100,000 acres imder flax in 
 Ireland, and that the produce is about 30,000 tons, of an ave- 
 rage value of £50 per ton. This is 6s. 3d, per stone, and should 
 give about £12 10s. for the usual produce of the statute acre. 
 The quantity of flax grown appears to be on the increase, and 
 its quality also to be improving, as by the Report of the Flax 
 Society it appears, that the amount of the crop in 1841 was 
 25,000 tons, averaging £45 per ton, whilst in 1843 it was 
 36,465 tons, and the average value was considered to be at
 
 OF IRELAND. 331 
 
 least £55. This increase of value being, if not wholly, cer- 
 tainly in great part, attributable to the exertions of that very 
 useful Society. 
 
 The value of the flax crop depends in a very material degree, 
 indeed it might be said entii'ely, on the care taken in the pre- 
 paration of the fibre. The value which it may assume under 
 careful management, and the final amount of employment which 
 it gives, is shewn by the following fact : 
 
 ' ' Mr. William Blakely, a tenant of the Dean of Dromore, on 
 the townland of Corcelany, near Waringstown, grew, last 
 season, three statute acres (about 1a. 3r. 16p., Irish measure) 
 of flax, which he managed strictly according to the directions 
 of the ' Society for the Promotion and Improvement of the Growth 
 of Flax in Ireland.' The produce of this field has been recently 
 purchased for 15s. per stone, by Messrs. M'Murray, and Hen- 
 ing, of Waringstown, the eminent cambric manufacturers, who 
 say, it is equal, if not superior, to ant/ fax they ever saw before, 
 and that they have given 36s. per stone for foreign flax, of an 
 inferior quality. 
 
 " A large portion of this flax has been delivered to Messrs. 
 M'Murray and Co. ; but some still remains to be dressed by 
 the celebrated machinery of Mr. Henry, of Keady. Should 
 this part be as productive as that already furnished, the entire 
 produce of the three acres will be 120 stones; which, at 15s., 
 will give to the farmer £90 ; but he has a certainty of 100 
 stones, which will realize him £75. 
 
 " This flax is now in process of conversion into cambric 
 pocket-handkerchiefs; it is capable of being spun to thirty hanks 
 to the pound, and is to be spun by hand. Mark, now, the em- 
 ployment this will give. 
 
 "It will give constant employment, for twelve months, to 
 1 58 women to spin it ; eighteen weavers will be occupied a like 
 period in weaving ; and it will employ forty women for a year 
 to hemstitch (or vein) the handkerchiefs, thus giving constant 
 employment, for twelve months, to 210 persons. 
 
 "It is cu' 'ous to trace the result of the process which this 
 flax is now imdergoing: — It will produce 210 webs of cambric, 
 each web containing five dozen handkerchiefs ; each dozen
 
 332 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 will be worth 50j.-., and the entire, when finished, will be wortli 
 £2,600." 
 
 " If arguments in favour of the Flax Imjjrovement Society 
 were needed, the case specified in the above letter would fui*- 
 nish them. The farmer alluded to was induced to try what 
 he could do in the way of growing flax, by reading a small 
 tract issued by this Society, which accidentally fell into his 
 hands. The land on which he sowed the seed was the most 
 barren part of his farm." 
 
 Where so much depends on the mechanical and chemical 
 treatment of the plant after the crop has been pulled, it is 
 easily conceivable that under the ordinary circumstances of 
 the Irish farmers, it is difficult to carry out the preparation of 
 the fibre, so as to give it the best quality, and in fact in Bel- 
 gium and Holland, where the flax cultivation and manufacture 
 are in their most advanced state, the growth of the plant and 
 the fabrication of the fibre are totally distinct occupations. 
 The crop is purchased by a factor, who takes the dressing into 
 his own hands, and, being devoted to that one department, is 
 acquainted with all mechanical arrangements and details ne- 
 cessary to success, and it frequently happens that the farmer 
 actually obtains for the crop, as grown, more money than he 
 should have obtained for the imperfectly dressed produce of it, 
 and is spared the loss of time, of labour, and interference with 
 other business, which, retaining the mechanical treatment of 
 the flax in his own hands should necessarily entail upon him. 
 In the present state of industry, I conceive the general adoption 
 of the system of factors as indispensable to progress. With- 
 out improvement in quality of product, the manufacture can- 
 not extend, and without the preparation of the fibre being 
 taken up, and cultivated as a distinct profession, no important 
 amelioration in it can be expected. 
 
 From the importance of the flax culture, as well to the far- 
 mer as to the manufacturer, it might be supposed that it 
 should be at least cultivated to such an extent, as to supply 
 our own industrial wants. Such, however, is far from being 
 the case ; every year a largo quantity of flax is imported into 
 Great Britain and into Ireland from the Baltic ports, and from
 
 OF lEELAND. 
 
 333 
 
 Belgium ; the total quantities for three late years are shewn in 
 the following table : 
 
 FROM 
 WHENCE IMPORTED. 
 
 1840. 
 
 TONS. 
 
 1841. 
 
 TONS. 
 
 1842. 
 
 TONS. 
 
 Russia, 
 
 Prussia, 
 
 Germany, 
 
 Holland, 
 
 Belgium, 
 
 France, 
 
 Other countries, . . . 
 
 Total tons, . . . 
 
 43,520 
 6,779 
 405 
 5,650 
 4,032 
 2,164 
 99 
 
 48,472 
 5,533 
 
 519 
 6,024 
 4,865 
 1,477 
 
 478 
 
 40,720 
 
 5.624 
 
 815 
 
 4,828 
 
 2,475 
 
 866 
 
 385 
 
 62,649 
 
 67,368 
 
 55,713 
 
 It is worth observing, that the diminished importation of 
 12,000 tons of 1842, is almost exactly the quantity by which, 
 owing to the exertions of the Flax Improvement Society, the 
 home crof) had been increased at the same period. 
 
 The agricultural employment which the flax crop gives, may 
 be estimated from a statement by Mr. Blacker, whose ability 
 as a judge is so well known; he says: "After the most mi- 
 nute calculation by practical men engaged in the growth of 
 flax, the labour necessary for every acre of flax is computed 
 to be seven days of a man, fifty-four days of a woman, and four 
 and a quarter days of a horse. Now 55,610 tons weight [which 
 was the import in 1833, when Mr. Blacker wrote], supposing 
 each statute acre to produce four cwt., which is a full average 
 crop, would be the produce of 278,050 acres, which, according 
 to the above estimate, would require in labour equal to the 
 employment of 6,488 men for 300 days in the year, 50,015 
 women for the same number of days, and 3,939 horses for 
 ditto." 
 
 It appears thus, that thei-e is twice as much flax imported 
 into Great Britain from foreign ports, as there is grown in 
 this country, and yet there is no actual impediment to its cul- 
 tivation, for it appears to be uniformly a remunerating crop, 
 where attended to with ordinary care, and may, by the proper 
 application of scientific principles to its culture, be rendered
 
 334 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 one of the least expensive or exhausting crops tliat the agri- 
 culturist can have to do with. 
 
 There is finally to be noticed, in relation to the secondary 
 advantages of the flax crop, the utilization of the seed, either 
 as food or for sowing. It appears now well established, that 
 the fibre is not injured by allowing the plant to form the seed, 
 and that the seed may be saved in good condition imder the 
 ordinary circumstances of our climate. This is a very impor- 
 tant addition to the value of the crop : the seed being employed 
 for preparing oil : the residual linseed cake being a very va- 
 luable food for cattle, or for manure ; or the imripened seed in 
 the capsules, or bowes, as they are termed, may be at once 
 given to cattle. The husks of the seedvessels have been used 
 as food for cattle in the north of Ireland, and by the testimony 
 of Mr. Nevin, and of Mr. Charley, with remarkable advan- 
 tage. In fact, it would appear that there is no part of this 
 very remarkable plant that is not directly or indirectly capable 
 of being applied to useful purposes. 
 
 The great value of it to this country is, however, that its 
 cultivation supplies not merely a source of agricultural, but 
 also of manufactiu'ing employment. In this respect, it is far 
 more beneficial than a food crop of the same money value, or 
 occupying the same ground. The flax, as it leaves the hand 
 of the farmer, gives a livelihood to the dresser, from him it 
 passes to the spinner, to the weaver, the bleacher, and perhaps 
 to the embroiderer, according to its destination. JNIr. Andrews 
 illustrates the actual profit and em2)loyment given by the crop 
 described page 33, in a calculation which, after coi'rcction of 
 a few typographical errors, stands thus : 
 
 " 100 stones at 13s. — £75; each stone calculated to produce 
 5^1b. of dressed flax — in all 550ib. — spun to 30 hanks to the lb, 
 will produce 16,500 hanks. About 158 females will be em- 
 ployed twelve months in spinning, at the rate of two hanks jjcr 
 week (six working days) ; wages for spinning each hank, about 
 Is. 8^., or nearly 'id. per diem for each spinner. This quan- 
 tity of yarn would make 210 webs of cambric pocket-hand- 
 kerchiefs, each web containing five dozen. About 18 weavers 
 Avould be twelve months weaving this quantity, allowing each
 
 OF IRELAND. 335 
 
 man a month for each web (17i weavers exactly) ; wages per 
 web, £2 : or from 9s. 6d. to 10s. per man per week. About 
 40 females would be employed twelve months in needlework 
 (hemstitch or veining) ; each could do one handkerchief on 
 each working day; wages, 8s. per dozen, or 8c?. per day. 
 The goods, when finished, would be worth £2 10s. per dozen. 
 
 " 158 spinners 12 months, or 52 weeks, 
 
 at about 3s. 4d. per week, . . . £1,369 6 8 
 18 weavers 12 months, at £24 per 
 
 annum, 432 
 
 40 needlewomen 52 weeks, at 4s. each 
 
 per week, 416 
 
 216 persons employed. 
 
 Amount of wages, £2,217 6 8 
 
 Cost of flax, 75 
 
 £2,292 6 8 
 Value of 1,050 dozen handkerchiefs, 
 at £2 10s. per dozen, £2,625 
 
 Profit, 332 13 4" 
 
 The realizing of this great amount of value depends on the 
 delicacy given to the fibre, and it is hence that so much is due 
 to the leading members of the Flax Society, for their exer- 
 tions by example and by publications, for the introduction 
 of the most approved Belgian methods. While thus recog- 
 nizing the benefits which are likely to accrue to Irish indus- 
 try from this modern institution, it is important not to forget 
 how much we owe to others. The Royal Dublin Society, almost 
 immediately on its foundation, applied itself anxiously to pro- 
 mote the culture of flax, and to improve the methods of its 
 preparation. They obtained the assistance of persons well 
 experienced in the Belgian processes, and so early as 1739 
 published a volvune of papers, principally occupied with direc- 
 tions for the growth and treatment of flax, and which contained, 
 intelligibly laid do\ATi, almost every detail of the processes 
 now being introduced as the newest and most advantageous. 
 Owing to the disastrous social condition of the country, which
 
 336 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 has SO kept it back in every branch of peaceful enterprize, 
 the beneficent intentions of the Royal Dublin Society were not 
 carried out, but now that with renewed energy, it labours to 
 awaken Irish industry, that it possesses in numerous junior 
 societies, so many active co-operators, and that the people, by 
 education and steadiness of habits, are become more fitted for 
 the pursuits of peaceful industry, it is to be hoped that the 
 seed shall no longer be scattered upon an unfruitful soil, but 
 spring forth with a sound and vigorous vegetation, which may 
 bring peace, abundance, and contentment to the land. 
 
 It only remains to indicate, in a general manner, the extent 
 to which the mechanical manufacture of flax is prosecuted in 
 this country. In the work on Ireland, published by Mr. and 
 Mrs. Hall, some statistical results are given, which they ob- 
 tained by personal inquiry in Belfast, and which, though pro- 
 bably above the truth, are not more exaggerated than is usual 
 with such general estimates. They consider that there are in 
 Belfast, now at work, 155,000 spindles, consuming 210 tons of 
 flax per week, and that there are employed in the manufacture 
 of flax, 170,000 hands. They estimate the total number of per- 
 sons supported by the linen trade as not less than half a mil- 
 lion : that the annual value of the linen cloth manufactured in 
 Ulster is not less than £4,000,000 : the capital involved in its 
 production not less than £5,000,000, and that the annual 
 amount of wages paid to those engaged in the manufacture 
 amounts to £1,200,000. This sum, for the 170,000 above 
 mentioned, would make the average wages to be only 2s. 9d. 
 per week. 
 
 The extent of this manufacture stands in such relief from 
 the usual absence of all manufacturing industry in Ireland, that 
 we frequently attach to it a degree of importance and an idea 
 of absolute magnitude that it does not really possess. Thus 
 we often hear the linen manufacture spoken of as being the 
 staple of this country, whilst wool and cotton are in return the 
 natural manufactures of the sister kingdom. In reality, how- 
 ever, Ireland is almost as much behind in this as in every other 
 branch of industry. The town of Diuulee alone is considered 
 to manufacture as much linen as all Ireland, and the relation
 
 OP IRELAND. 
 
 337 
 
 which the manufacture of flax bears in the three kingdoms, is 
 exactly shewn in the following table, which is extracted from 
 the Report of the Factory Inspectors for 1839, since which 
 period no sensible alteration has taken place. 
 
 In England there were 169 mills, worked by 4,200 horse 
 power, and employing 16,573 persons. 
 
 In Scotland 183 mills, worked by 4,845 horse power, and 
 employing 17,897 persons. 
 
 In Ireland forty mills, worked by 1,980 horse power, and 
 employing 9,017 persons. 
 
 It is difficult to reconcile this official return with the estimate 
 of Mr. Hall, just before quoted ; as the proportion of home-spun 
 and woven linen goods can scarcely be so considerable as to 
 accoimt for the discrepancy. 
 
 Finally, the following extracts from official tables will shew, 
 as far as documents allow, the actual, or, at least, recent, 
 extent of the export trade in linen products. 
 
 EXPORT OF WOVEN LINEN GOODS, IN YARDS. 
 
 YEARS. 
 
 TO GREAT TO FOREIGN 
 BRITAIN. PARTS. 
 
 TOTAL. 
 
 1810 
 
 1815 
 1820 
 1825 
 
 32,584,545 
 
 37,986,359 
 40,318,270 
 52,559,678 
 
 4,313,725 
 
 5,496,206 
 3,294,948 
 2,553,587 
 
 36,898,270 
 43,482,565 
 43,613,218 
 55,113.265 
 
 RE-EXPORT OF IRISH LINEN AND SAIL-CLOTH, FROM GREAT 
 BRITAIN TO FOREIGN PARTS, IN YARDS. 
 
 YEAR. 
 
 IRISH LINEN. 
 
 IRISH SAIL-CLOTH. 
 
 1824 
 
 1827 
 1830 
 1833 
 
 17,933,195 
 
 14,022,490 
 
 13,244,269 
 
 9,561,277 
 
 1,593,291 
 2,211,529 
 1,922,211 
 2,229,777 
 
 Latterly an extensive trade with the Continent has sprung 
 up, in the exportation of linen yarns, replacing, to a certain
 
 338 
 
 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 extent, the export of woven linens. The money values ex- 
 ported were 
 
 TEAR. 
 
 LINEN. 
 
 TARN. 
 
 1837 
 1840 
 1842 
 
 £77,272 
 63,847 
 31,404 
 
 £3,164 
 172,602 
 169,449 
 
 Such are the general conditions of this important branch of 
 manufacture. It is needless for me to point out how strenu- 
 ously our efforts should be directed to the extension of a branch 
 of industry, which, in its various departments, affords, from a 
 given surface of land, employment to a greater number, and a 
 greater variety of individuals, than any other branch of human 
 occupation. The agriculturist, the mechanist, and the chemist, 
 are all equally occupied with its preparation ; and, certainly, 
 the natm'al circumstances of the country are such as to adapt 
 it, in a singularly perfect manner, for the development of the 
 flax and linen manufacture, to an indefinite extent. 
 
 The linen manufacture has been, hitherto, almost exclu- 
 sively confined to the north of Ireland. This does not ai'ise 
 from any physical circumstances of soil or climate, or from the 
 greater facilities of access to mechanical power ; on the con- 
 trary, the soil of Ulster, if we except the valley of the Lagan, 
 and some scattered districts, is not, by any means, equal to 
 the soils of the south and centre. The growth of this depart- 
 ment of industry in Ulster, is owing rather to moral causes. 
 Its population was, essentially, of a class devoted to industrial 
 pursuits, and eager after the independence and power which 
 pecimiary success confers, and which was within their reach ; 
 whilst in the south, the wretched remnants of feudal barbarism 
 paralysed all tendency to improve. The lord was above in- 
 dustry ; the slave was below it ; and hence, although the cir- 
 cumstances of a fertile soil, easy access to markets, and abun- 
 dance of motive power, wore, in themselves, favourable, the 
 blessings which nature presented were loft unutilized, by the 
 ignorance and inertness of the people.
 
 OP IRELAND. 339 
 
 In fact, if we consider the situation of tliose countries in 
 which the manufacture of linen and other flax products has 
 become the charactex*istic fact of their industrial history, we 
 shall find the soil and geographical condition quite different from 
 those of the north of Ireland. In Egypt, whose dignitaries 
 were clothed in purple and fine linen, and from which the cul- 
 ture of flax has spread over the civilized world, the soil was 
 formed by the mud carried down in the overflowings of the Nile, 
 and spread over the surface of the lower coiui try along its banks. 
 The soils of Belgium and Holland, the countries now most 
 remarkable for the excellence and abundance of their flax in- 
 dustry, have been produced by the acciunidated mud deposited 
 by the vast rivers, which, draining the greater part of Europe, 
 discharge their waters into the German Ocean, by numerous 
 channels. The rivers which flow into the Baltic afford, also, 
 on the low grounds along their banks, the seats of the flax 
 agriculture of Russia, and Northern Prussia ; and, guided by 
 these analogies, may we not ask, where are the similar soils, 
 or districts, in our own country ? They are abundant, and 
 available along the line of the principal river. The lands 
 hitherto liable to flood, by the irregular risings of the Shannon, 
 but, by the improvement of its channel, about to be permanently 
 rendered available to agriculture, amount to not less than 
 32,500 acres above Limerick, whilst below that city, the cau- 
 casses, or marshy grounds, of the extraordinary fertility men- 
 tioned by Wakefield, are to be foimd. Such soils afford the 
 most complete parallel to those districts of Egypt and of Bel- 
 gium, which have been for ages the seats of the growth of 
 flax. The water power at Killaloe, fully described at page 83, 
 places at the hands of the manufactm-er, the means of every 
 mechanical preparation of the crop. The river furnishes for 
 200 miles the most convenient access to domestic markets, and 
 the port places him under equally favourable circumstances for 
 the foreign trade. So remarkable a combination of facilities 
 for industrial success is rarely to be met with. 
 
 The flax had formerly been actually cultivated to some 
 extent in certain parts of the south and centre of Ireland, and 
 the quantity of produce obtained was found decidedly greater 
 z 2
 
 340 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 than the average of the crops given in the north of Ireland. I 
 am informed by experienced persons, also, that the quality of 
 the fibre was of a delicacy but seldom met with in the ordinary 
 flax of Ulster. Neither the cultivation nor the manufacture 
 was adopted by the people with the energy and patience which 
 alone can lead to success. The encouragement to industry 
 was unhappily associated with other objects, which deprived 
 it of all power of really bettering the condition of the people ; 
 which interposed between those who might have served as 
 efficient teachers, and those who were to derive instruction, 
 a barrier which, it is to be hoped, the experience of centuries 
 has at last shewn cannot be removed by measures of cruelty 
 or menace. 
 
 Connected with the cultivation of flax, as a department of 
 agriculture, and of subsequent mechanical industry, is that of 
 hemp, which, in all its states, indeed, bears an almost perfect 
 analogy to the growth and preparation of flax. During the 
 war, when access to the Baltic, from whence the great supply 
 of hemp is drawn, was difficult, this plant was cultivated in 
 this country with some success. The crop appears to require 
 a good soil, and in its preparation a degree of care, which the 
 general run of farmers were not capable of applying to it, and 
 hence, since that period, the attention of agriculturists having 
 been exclusively fixed on corn and other food crops, its culti- 
 vation has been totally abandoned. 
 
 The constitution of the hemp plant is almost exactly like 
 that of flax. It is pulled, with suitable care, in regard to the 
 ripening of the seed, which its dioecious structure requires. The 
 plants are steeped, until the gummy material which connects 
 the fibres is softened, and rotted ofi", and then, after drying, and 
 a certain amount of bleaching on green land, the fibrous skin is 
 peeled from the stems, and the fibre obtained clean by scutch- 
 ing with appropriate instruments. The hemp fibre, like the 
 flax fibre, consists of purely woody matter, having the chemical 
 composition of C, J H, J 0|2, and contains neither nitrogen nor 
 saline matters. It is hence formed in the plant by the agency 
 of the atmosphere alone, and the materials which the plant 
 extracts from the soil, or from the manure used in its cultiva-
 
 OF IRELAND. 341 
 
 tion, are found, not in the fibre, but in the waste of the pro- 
 cesses of its preparation. The water in which it had been 
 steeped, the chaff which remains when the fibre is cleaned off, 
 contain various substances, which, when properly returned to 
 the soil, give it back all that the plant in growing had removed 
 from it, and hence would restore its original condition of fer- 
 tility. In this way the hemp may, like flax, be rendered one of 
 the least exhausting crops, and the profit on its cultivation in- 
 creased, of course, in the same proportion. 
 
 In order to establish these principles by chemical analyses, I 
 instituted an examination of the hemp plant and its products, 
 analogous to that which has been already noticed regarding 
 flax. The following were the results. The hemp plant con- 
 sists of: 
 
 THE STEM. THE LEAVES. 
 
 Carbon, 39-94 40-50 
 
 Hydrogen, 5-06 5-98 
 
 Oxygen, 48-72 29-70 
 
 Nitrogen, 1-74 1-82 
 
 Ashes, 4-54 22-00 
 
 100-00 10000 
 
 The ashes of the plant (stem and leaves), consisted of 
 
 Potash, 7-48 
 
 Soda, -72 
 
 Lime, 42-05 
 
 Magnesia, 4-88 
 
 Alxuuina and oxide of iron, -37 
 
 Silica, 6-75 
 
 Phosphoric acid, 3-22 
 
 Sulphuric acid, 1-10 
 
 Chlorine, 1-53 
 
 Carbonic acid, 81-90 
 
 100-00 
 When the hemp is steeped, the wat«r acquires very strongly 
 narcotic properties and a disagreeable odour. On drying it 
 down a brown extract is obtained, which was composed of
 
 342 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 Carbon, 28.28 or 55-66 
 
 Hydrogen, 4-16 ,, 8-21 
 
 Nitrogen 3-28 ,, 6-45 
 
 Oxygen, 15-08 „ 29-68 
 
 Ashes, 49-20 Without the ashes. 
 
 100-00 100-00 
 
 This material contains so large a quantity of nitrogen, as 
 well as of saline matters, as to shew that when it had decom- 
 posed it should become a most valuable fertilizer. 
 
 The steeped hemp stem, as it remains after pulling off the 
 loose tibrous coat, is little more than ordinary wood. It con- 
 tained 
 
 Carbon, 56-80 
 
 Hydrogen, 6*48 
 
 Nitrogen 0-43 
 
 Oxygen, 34*52 
 
 Ashes, 1'77 
 
 100-00 
 The cultivation of the hemp is not likely to be in future as 
 important as hitherto it has been. The substitution of iron for 
 hemp in the standing rigging of ships, and the introduction of 
 coarse Egyptian flax in the manufacture of various fabrics 
 where previously hemp had been used, will probably limit 
 very much its consumption. It is only from its close analogy 
 to the flax, and the identity of principle by which so much 
 economy may, as I believe, be introduced into the cultivation 
 of both, that I have here noticed it, even thus briefly. 
 
 I have endeavoured, in the foregoing observations, to notice 
 briefly the questions regarding Irish agriculture, which ap- 
 peared to me most intimately connected with its position as an 
 important branch of industry. It has been shewn that the 
 amelioration of the processes of cultivation requires a very ex- 
 tended knowledge of chemical and mechanical science. That 
 husbandry as an art, so far from presenting the monotonous 
 and almost passive routine in which rustic existence has been 
 dreamed away, requires to be placed parallel with the other
 
 OF IRELAND. 343 
 
 great departments of human occupation, in the amoxmt of in- 
 telligence which its successful practice calls into play. 
 
 Until, by suitable education, the minds of the agricultural 
 population of all classes are awakened to a knowledge of what 
 their art really depends upon, all secondary exertions for its 
 improvement must be completely futile. 
 
 There exist in Ireland millions of acres of land perfectly 
 well adapted for cultivation, but which have never yet supplied 
 a morsel of food for man. 
 
 It is weU established that on the lands actually cultivated 
 there might be raised three times the amount of food that is 
 now produced, were a suitably improved system of agriculture 
 brought into general use. 
 
 And yet there exists in Ireland a population, starving and 
 xmemployed, wearing out a miserable existence on the charity 
 of those only a degree less wretched than themselves, or sup- 
 ported by a tax levied on the industry of the more energetic 
 and more instructed classes. 
 
 Were the true conditions of agricultural success generally 
 imderstood such could not be the case. The cultivation of 
 these wastes, which, as evidence of the most decisive and 
 practical character has shewn, can be easily and economically 
 reclaimed, would give remimerative occupation to hordes of 
 those who now are among the weightiest burthens of the land. 
 The productiveness of the soil being augmented by proper 
 drainage and deep working, and the pastoral system replaced 
 by the turnip and green crop husbandry, by which so much 
 more food is raised and so much more employment given, it 
 would be found that, so far from the existmg numbers of the 
 people being too great to be supported by the soil, the new 
 conditions of agricultm'al activity would provide means of pro- 
 fitable occupation for a much greater number than that pro- 
 portion of om- population, which can, even now, be considered 
 as dependent on it for the means of life.
 
 344 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 IMPORTANCE OF MEANS OF INTERNAL COMMUNICATION TO THE 
 INDUSTRY AND MORALITY OF A PEOPLE. INFLUENCE OF THE 
 CONSTRUCTION OF ROADS ON THE SOCIAL CONDITION OF THE 
 INHABITANTS. THE EXPENSE REPAID MANIFOLD BY THE 
 INCREASE OF REVENUE. UTILITY OF PUBLIC GRANTS TO 
 ASSIST IN THE EXECUTION OF WORKS OF LOCAL IMPROVE- 
 MENT. 
 OF INLAND NAVIGATION. FAVOURABLE NATURAL CONDITION 
 OF IRELAND. NAVIGATION OF THE SHANNON. EXPENDITURE 
 ON ITS WORKS. AMOUNT OF EMPLOYMENT GIVEN. TRAFFIC 
 ON THE SEVERAL PARTS OF THE SHANNON BY STEAM AND 
 OTHERWISE. OTHER NAVIGABLE RIVERS OF IRELAND. THE 
 BARROW NAVIGATION. EXTENT AND DIRECTION OF THE 
 CANALS OF IRELAND. GRAND AND ROYAL CANALS. AMOUNT 
 OF TRAFFIC AND TOLLS. THEIR BRANCHES. LAGAN NAVI- 
 GATION. NEWRY AND ULSTER CANALS. TYRONE AND BOYNE 
 NAVIGATIONS. PROPOSED CANAL TO PLACE IN CONNEXION 
 LOUGH NEAGH, LOUGH ERNE, AND THE SHANNON. 
 OF THE IRISH LAKES IN RELATION TO THE MEANS OF INTER- 
 COURSE. LOUGHS NEAGH AND ERNE. LOUGH GILL. THE 
 CONNAUGHT LAKES. IMPORTANCE OF DEVELOPING THEIR 
 NAVIGATION. PROBABLE BENEFITS TO THE INHABITANTS OF 
 THAT PROVINCE, AND TO THE COUNTRY AT LARGE. 
 OF RAILWAYS AS REGARDS IRELAND. EXISTING LINES. DUB- 
 LIN AND KINGSTOWN. ULSTER RAILWAY. DROGHEDA LINE. 
 REPORT OF RAILWAY COMMISSIONERS. LINES RECOMMENDED 
 THEREIN. NOTICE OF THE GENERAL CONDITIONS OF THE 
 VARIOUS LINES OF RAILWAY NOW PROPOSED TO BE FORMED. 
 COST OF LOCOMOTIVE POWER. OF THE ATMOSPHERIC RAIL- 
 WAY. ITS PECULIAR RELATIONS TO THIS COUNTRY. ITS 
 MECHANICAL AND ECONOMICAL ADVANTAGES. 
 IMPORTANCE OF THE RAILWAY SYSTEM AS A MEANS OF INTER- 
 COURSE TO THE PEOPLE. NOTICE OF THE QUESTION OF GO- 
 VERNMENTAL CONTROL IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND MANAGE- 
 MENT OF RAILWAYS. 
 
 It is not enough that a country may possess, in the fertility 
 of its soil, or the richness of its mines, the materials for the 
 creation of industrial wealth, but also there must be the means 
 of bringing these resources into play by land and water com- 
 munication. By their aid the different substances necessary
 
 OF IRELAND. 345 
 
 to manufactures are brought to the localities where the pro- 
 cesses to which they are to be subjected can be carried on with 
 most advantage, and the produce be conveyed to the situations 
 where its sale may be effected with most profit to the owners. 
 Direct and safe modes of communication are, therefore, indis- 
 pensable to the development of industrial pui'suits, as well for 
 the procuring access to raw materials, as to secure markets for 
 the manufactured goods. It is, however, not wonderful that, 
 industry having received so little extension imtil a few years 
 back, the means of communication should still remain in Ireland 
 comparatively undeveloped. 
 
 The internal communications of a country demand attention, 
 however, on grounds of far higher order than their merely fa- 
 cilitating mercantile transactions ; they are connected with the 
 highest moral aims of the legislator, by their influence on the 
 habits and the conduct of the people. The isolation in which 
 man is condemned to live, in a district destitute of roads, or 
 where transport is difficult and expensive, is fatal to his pro- 
 gress in civilization and humanity. He grows up in ignorance 
 of his feUow-men ; his mind, limited to the circle of a few ideas 
 elsewhere obsolete, looks upon all deviation from them as 
 fraught with injury and ruin. The results of new methods in 
 the management of land or labour, which within a few miles 
 are actually producing the greatest benefits, remain utterly 
 unknown to him. The stimulus of contact with persons above 
 him, and yet not too far removed from his own sphere to pre- 
 vent the ambition arising within him of exerting himself to 
 attain the comfort and consideration which they enjoy, does 
 not present itself to his mind. His isolation and his ignorance 
 remove him equally from the instructor, and the instructor 
 from him, and he resists with violence, by which, in the ab- 
 sence of reasoning, he can alone shew his will, the intrusion of 
 all novelties calculated to break through the miserable mo- 
 notony in which his forefathers and himself have vegetated. 
 An enlightened French minister, in speaking of the cost of the 
 manufacture of iron in France, as affecting railroads, said : 
 "The question of the price of iron, — it is the question of roads, 
 the question of communications, of intercourse between man
 
 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 man, of the obliteration of prejudices, of the production of 
 tual amity, of morality, and civilization." 
 /These considerations are borne out in a very remarkable 
 nfanner by the results of the construction of roads in certain 
 parts of Ireland, that had been previously destitute of the 
 means of transport. The consequence of not having roads is 
 illustrated by the evidence of Mr. Fetherstone, who, describ- 
 ing some of his important bog improvements to a Committee of 
 the House of Commons, says : ' ' The oats these lands grow is 
 so very fine, and of such a rich gold colour, that if we can pos- 
 sibly get it down to the lowlands, we sell it freely for seed 
 oats, but the roads being so bad, we i>ut it to the purpose of 
 illicit distillation. It is a great deal cheaper to distil it than 
 to bring it to market, for we could only bring a sack at a time, 
 and we distil it on the spot at once, and on that accovmt very 
 little of it finds its way to the market." . . . "There are no 
 roads at all. I was obliged to take my carts to pieces and 
 carry them on horses' backs, and then I made the roads through 
 my part of the mountain. The mountain is alluvial laud, and 
 produces anything. The oats are beautiful, and an enormous 
 crop ; but what is the good of it ? you cannot send it to mar- 
 ket. There are no gentlemen residing in that mountain coim- 
 try, and the people are in a lawless state." The combination 
 of facts is here important. A fertile soil, its produce available 
 only by outraging the laws, demoralizing the people, and ren- 
 dering them fit for the perpetration of those insane outrages, 
 which we too often have to record. For this the remedy is not 
 Draconic legislation, but making roads ; not blindly punishing 
 the people for being savage, but opening to them the means of 
 civilization and honest industry. 
 
 When this is done, it is remarkable how instantly the very 
 poorest of the people hasten to avail themselves of its benefits. 
 When Mr. Nimrao was engaged in the construction of the Con- 
 namara roads, his workmen were actually inconvenienced by 
 the country cars conveying produce and objects of traffic, even 
 up to the spot which the engineers were at the moment com- 
 mencing to render passable. Similar instances occurred else- 
 where. In the district called Pobble O'Keefe's country, on the
 
 OF IRELAND. 347 
 
 limits of the counties of Cork, Limerick, and Kerry, which had 
 been a place of refuge for malefactors and desperadoes of all 
 kinds, and had remained totally uncultivated, a set of roads 
 were made under the direction of Mr. Griffith. As the roads 
 advanced, cottages and farm houses sprang into existence 
 along their sides ; cultivation extended itself from their edges 
 into the waste. The bad characters that had inhabited it dis- 
 appeared, and a single policeman has marched a prisoner 
 through the entire district, without any other than the most 
 friendly greetings along his way. The whole organization of 
 the locality has been changed, and at the same time with a 
 pecuniary benefit to the public funds, which I shall hereafter 
 notice. 
 
 The effects of opening out with roads some very desolate 
 parts of Clare, are thus described by a gentleman of intelli- 
 gence and station, in a communication to the Board of Works, 
 the accuracy of which the Commissioners guarantee. 
 
 * ' Communications have been effected between large towns 
 through mountain districts, whereby the distance will be m 
 each case shortened, and in which districts, previous to the 
 construction of these roads, no wheel carriages of any kind 
 could be used. 
 
 ' ' The immediate effect has been to excite the minds of the 
 people to the pursuits of honest industry ; they can now bring 
 lime into the mountains, and they can carry produce out of 
 them. 
 
 "Illicit distillation has been checked, first by a market 
 being opened for the sale of grain, and secondly, by the facili- 
 ties afforded to the revenue officers in their search after pri- 
 vate stills : the consequent benefit in a moral point of view is 
 immense. 
 
 "The soil of the moimtain districts having been hitherto 
 unworked, has been found, by burning and liming, to produce 
 potatoes in such abundance, and of such excellent quality, that 
 very large quantities have been taken from the neighbourhood 
 of Lough Grana (the parts most known to the writer) to the 
 county Limerick, the excellence of the roads making the trans- 
 port easy; thus the deficiency of food in some parts of the
 
 348 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 country has been made good by the superabundant crops in 
 these mountains. 
 
 " Gentlemen who before could never reach their properties 
 in these districts, are now led to visit and reside on them, and 
 form plans for their improvement. 
 
 " In the execution of these roads the resources of the coun- 
 try have been developed ; quarries of stone fit for building, of 
 slate, and of limestone, have been discovered, which will be of 
 incalculable advantage in the imiJrovement of the country, and 
 in thus stimulating the industry of the inhabitants. 
 
 " In a few years the lands will contribute to the county rates, 
 and thus repay fully the sums assessed for their formation, 
 while the Government will be amply indemnified by the im- 
 proved habits of the people, and the growing consumption of 
 exciseable articles." 
 
 Such being the results of the opening out of communications 
 through the country, it may well be supposed that it shoxild 
 form one of the dearest objects of a Government anxious for 
 the improvement of the people, and that the sums necessary 
 for such purposes should be most heartily afforded. It is to 
 be regretted that such is not found always to be the case. 
 The benefits derivable are often so remote, and are spread 
 over so great a space of country and of time, that they do not 
 present, to ordinary statesmen, a sufficiently definite aspect to 
 justify the actual advance of sterling money; it may, therefore, 
 be not without interest to point out that such advance is 
 really an investment of capital on the part of the Government, 
 and one generally yielding profits of a high, even usiu-ious 
 return. 
 
 The town of Clifden in Connamara, and the surrounding 
 country, were, in 1815, in such a state of seclusion that it con^ 
 tributed no revenue whatsoever to the State, and up to 1822, 
 its agriculture was so imperfect that scarcely a stone of oats 
 could be got. In 1836, Clifden had become an export town, 
 having sent out 800 tons of oats, and it produced to the re- 
 venue annually £7,000. From the expenditure in Connaught 
 in eleven years of £160,000 in public works, the increase of 
 
 / 
 /
 
 OF IRELAND. 349 
 
 annual revenue derivable from the province has become equal 
 to the entire amount. 
 
 In Cork, where Mr. Griffith expended £60,000 in seven 
 years, there has been stated to be an annual increase of cus- 
 toms and excise of £50,000 immediately derivable from the 
 territories benefited by those works. 
 
 Those should not be called grants of money, but investments 
 of capital, with realization of enormous profit. An individual 
 would most happily advance the money if he were allowed to 
 appropriate a fourth of the returns. Such sums, therefore, 
 when advanced by the State, should not be looked upon as 
 boons or favours, as they too frequently are, but as a part of 
 the ordinary duties of a Government. 
 
 Three quarters of a century ago, when Scotland, poor, bar- 
 barous, and ignorant, lay at the feet of England, withering 
 under the results of two unsuccessful rebellions, the central 
 Government saw the necessity of creating at once such a sys- 
 tem of internal communications, as whilst it enabled the in- 
 struments of Government to penetrate to every portion of the 
 country, should also place at the disposition of the inhabitants 
 the means of pacific intercourse and trade. Hence between 
 canals and roads a million and a half of money was given to 
 Scotland. Of this there was to be no repayment. Other large 
 sums, as a quarter of a million to Leith Harbour, were lent at 
 very moderate interest, and an arrangement was made, that 
 for all roads required in Scotland, the State pays one-half of 
 the expense, and the locality is burthened only with the other 
 moiety. It is not with any idea of objecting to those grants 
 that I here mention them. On the contrary, they were per- 
 fectly proper, and the Government did its duty to Scotland 
 nobly, although some of the plans, such as the Caledonian 
 canal, were failures as to the particular result : but what has 
 been the consequence to Scotland ? How much of the intelli- 
 gence and business habits, the general morality, and amena- 
 bility to law, by which the people of that country are distin- 
 guished, is due to the abundant means of intercourse with each 
 other, and with their richer and more cultivated neighbours ?
 
 350 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 Certainly a great deal, Scotland furnishes to the State moi*e 
 revenue, in proportion to her population, than Ireland does, but 
 she certainly does not return a larger proportion of profit on 
 the sums which the State has expended in the sound improve- 
 ment of her people. 
 
 A great deal has been latterly done towards improving the 
 roads of the more remote districts, as also in erecting fishery 
 piers and forming harbours, as shall be hereafter noticed, by 
 the Board of Works, who were enabled to grant loans of 
 small sums of money, for such objects, on other sums being 
 contributed by individuals. Although the restrictions placed 
 upon the Board by its constitution limited its powers very 
 much, forcing it to require a high rate of interest and an un- 
 usual amount of security, yet these loans were in many cases 
 of exceeding use. The grant from the Board of Works formed 
 a nucleus, round which the subscriptions of the local gentry 
 generally accumulated, so that objects for which otherwise no 
 means could be obtained, were thus carried rapidly into effect. 
 Such local works were also of the peculiar use that they could 
 be carried on in general at times when other employment was 
 slack, and they required principally the rough labour furnished 
 by the inhabitants of the district. Thus, not long ago, a part 
 of Kerry, near Kenmare river, was suffering under the mise- 
 ries of almost famine. By the aid of the Board of Woi-ks the 
 construction of some roads was started, and the population 
 was set to work. Being paid their weekly wages, they were 
 enabled to purchase abundant food. Their cottages have 
 ceased to be the abode of disease and misery. A way being 
 opened for the produce of their fields, their agriculture has 
 become more active. A school has been erected on thej-oad 
 side, and industry and education having been now introduced 
 among that so lately wretched people, there is every hope of a 
 steady progress in social comfort. 
 
 The total sum granted by the Board of Works since its es- 
 tablishment, about twelve years, appears to have been about 
 £104,000. The fund so productive of good consequences was, 
 therefore, about £9,000 per annnm. This grant either has 
 been or is immediately to be abolished.
 
 OP IRELAND. 351 
 
 The expense of lund carriage is so considerable, even on 
 the best roads, as to present material obstacles to the exten- 
 sion of commercial intercourse. It may be estimated for 
 general goods throughout the country at Gd. per ton per mile, 
 and even under the conditions of steady traffic with returns, 
 as in the case of the carriage of coals from the colliery dis- 
 tricts, I have been obliged to estimate its minimum amount at 
 3d. per ton per mile. The cost of manufactured goods as 
 well as of produce is thus heightened considerably by the cost 
 of carriage ; their use is limited to a smaller circle of the 
 people, and, therefore, every means that can be devised for 
 lowering the cost of transport should be energetically made 
 available. 
 
 The most important reduction in the cost of transport is 
 made by the Substitution of water for land carriage. For this 
 Ireland is peculiarly fitted, the extent of her principal rivers, 
 and the number and magnitude of her lakes presenting natural 
 means of communication, such as are seldom equalled, and the 
 structure of the central country affording facilities for the 
 construction of canals not easily surpassed. In fact Ireland 
 is a country peculiarly fitted for inland navigation and for 
 traffic, there being no point on the surface of the island more 
 than twenty-five miles distant from the sea, or from a naviga- 
 ble lake or river. Without entering into lengthened detail 
 I shall proceed to notice each of the principal lines of navi- 
 gation. 
 
 In every point of view, the Shannon, which has already' ob- 
 tained so much of our notice in relation to the coal fields and 
 iron mines, the agricultural districts, the slate quarries and 
 sulphur ores upon its banks, deserves to rank as the main 
 channel of water communication throughout Ireland. Its na- 
 vigable length is divided into several portions, on which the 
 vessels differ in build and magnitude according to the cu-cum- 
 stances of the river. Below Limerick the estuary is navigated 
 by steamers of considerable size, which ply daily to Kilrush 
 and Tarbert. From Limerick to Killaloe the navigation, 
 partly canal and partly in the narrow portion of the river, is 
 effected by passage boats drawn by horses. The expanse of
 
 352 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 Lough Derg and the river to Athlone admits again of steamers ; 
 some of considerable size, which ply upon the lake, others 
 smaller for the river channel. Beyond Athlone regular steam 
 traffic has not yet penetrated, but Lough Ree, Loughs Boda- 
 rig and Boffin, and Lough Allen, will admit of being navigated 
 by vessels of the first class, and after a little time the river 
 channel will be throughout so much improved as to allow of 
 the large steamers passing from Killaloe to its most northern 
 termination, and thus dispense altogether with the use of 
 smaller vessels in the narrow waters, and the cost and trouble 
 of trans-shipment. 
 
 It is singularly illustrative of how little reflection was de- 
 voted to Irish subjects — of how slightly the true and only 
 means of consolidating a people by giving them common habits 
 of industry, of sociality, and of traffic, was thought aboutin rela- 
 tion to this country, that the Shannon was for so many genera- 
 tions looked upon as an useful barrier and defence against the 
 uncivilized tribes, who dwelt beyond its boundary. The cost 
 of maintaining in good I'epair, the various fortifications at what 
 were called the passes of the Shannon, was defrayed with plea- 
 sure, but the ijdea^ of rendering fortifications useless, of erect- 
 ing the bulwarks of the State in the hearts of the inhabitants 
 by fostering their industry, by encouraging their oommerce 
 and agriculture, and promoting their odupatioii, did not occur 
 to the statesmen of that epoch. Lot us hope that a Inttor era 
 has arrived. 
 
 It is not within my object to enter into any account of the 
 successive steps taken towards the improvement of the Shan- 
 non. Large sums have been expended on it, and these form 
 very frequently a subject of public complaint, from those who 
 either do not or will not understand the vast results to Ire- 
 land, which must flow from the completion of the navigation. 
 A few miles of a canal in Canada, has cost more than treble 
 the entire money laid out upon the Shannon, with this differ- 
 ence, that every improvement of the latter river leads to an 
 increase of revenue which repays the money expended, whilst 
 in the case of the Canadian canal, the money was an absolute 
 and final grant. The alterations now being carried on under
 
 OF IRELAND. 
 
 353 
 
 the care of the Board of Commissioners, are defrayed partly 
 by public funds and partly by a rate levied on the counties 
 along the river. This principle is very equitable, and there is 
 no doubt but that the final result ■will be so advantageous to 
 those districts as fully to atone for the necessity of advancing 
 monej', which certainly is inconsistent with the usual financial 
 habits of the western province. 
 
 Works such as those in process of execution on .that river, 
 are, in fact, lessons in industry to the population of the neigh- 
 bourhood. The people are not only employed so as to earn a 
 subsistence, but being brought into contact with workmen of 
 a higher class, and of steadier habits, they become themselves 
 gradually improved in character. " Such public works," in 
 the words of Mr. Spring Rice (Lord Monteagle), "produce, as 
 their ordinary effect, extended cultivation, improved habits of 
 industry, a better administration of justice, the re establish- 
 ment of peace and tranquillity in the disturbed districts, a do- 
 mestic colonization of a population in excess in certain dis- 
 tricts, a diminution of illicit distillation, and a very considera- 
 ble increase of revenue." 
 
 The total sum expended by the Commissioners for the im- 
 provement of the Shannon, up to the 4th March, 1844, is 
 £316,346 lis. Sd. The amoimt of employment given in the 
 construction of locks, &c., along its course, may be judged 
 from the following return of the average number of persons 
 employed daily: 
 
 
 1B4L 
 
 1842. 1843. 
 
 Lower Shannon, . . 
 Middle Shannon, . . . 
 Upper Shannon, . . . 
 
 233 394 138 
 538 1412 1310 
 
 106 j 705 j 978 
 
 Total, 
 
 877 2511 1 2426 
 
 This number of hands is, however, not constantly at work, 
 and I have, therefore, calculated the total number of men 
 2 a
 
 354 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 whose occupation throughout the entire year is represented by 
 the preceding totals. They are in 
 
 1841. 1842. 1843. 
 
 727 men. . . . 1884 men. . . . 2064 men. 
 
 It is now time to close this notice by recording the actual 
 amount of traffic, according to the latest returns that have 
 been published. 
 
 The actual length of navigation on the lower Shannon, from 
 Limerick to Kilrush, is forty-four miles. The number of pas- 
 sengers by steamers in 1836 was 23,851. The quantity of 
 goods carried at the same time is not given in the returns to 
 the Railway Commissioners. 
 
 The navigation by track-boat between Limerick and Kiila- 
 loe, which is partly river and partly canal, extends for four- 
 teen miles, in a circuitous course. In 1836 there were taken 
 by packet boats 14,600 passengers, and the trathc was : 
 
 In 1831, 28,212 tons, paying £1092 14s. Od. tolls. 
 In 1836, 36,018 „ „ £1514 2s. Od. ,, 
 
 On the Middle Shannon the navigation is lake, river, and 
 partly canal. There are on it five steamers of a total tomiage 
 of 710 tons. One of 100 horse power ; the others of from 20 
 to 30. In 1836 the number of passengers was 4083. The 
 quantity of traffic at two distant periods is shewn by the fol- 
 lowing numbers. The smallness of the tolls is owing to the 
 relations of the Companies of Inland Navigation, and of the 
 Grand Canal. 
 
 YEARS. NO. OF BOATS. 
 
 TONNAGE. AMOUNT OF TOLLS. 
 
 1829 
 
 1835 
 
 430 
 
 597 
 
 10771 
 19475 
 
 £279 18 2 
 184 10 
 
 The Upper Shannon, consisting of a series of lakes, con- 
 nected by the river and a canal with six locks, extends from 
 Athlone to Lough Allen. The boats upon it are of from 30 to
 
 OF IRELAND. 
 
 355 
 
 50 tons. The freight is usually one penny per ton per mile, 
 including tolls. The traffic was in 
 
 1834, 8,672 tons, producing £93 9s. 8d. tolls. 
 
 1835, 9,770 „ ,, £100 2s. 9d. „ 
 
 There are no passenger boats, nor, as yet, steamers. 
 
 From the Fifth Report of the Shannon Commissioners, it ap- 
 pears that the traffic on the river, under their control, that is 
 above Limerick, was : 
 
 YEARS. 
 
 TONNAGE 
 LANDED. 
 
 TONNAGE 
 LOADED. 
 
 TOTAL. 
 
 j 
 
 1840 
 1841 
 1842 
 
 40,882 
 33,405 
 
 46,435 
 
 31,180 
 37,335 
 
 39,880 
 
 72,062 
 80,740 
 86,315 
 
 The number of passengers conveyed on that part of the river 
 by the City of Dublin Steam Company's boats, was in the year 
 1843, 15,583 persons. 
 
 Of the other rivers which penetrate to such considerable dis- 
 tances into the interior of the country, there are few available 
 for navigation beyond the points where the estuaries terminate. 
 The Blackwater, which, at least to Fermoy, a distance of 
 thirty-five miles, might be so easily adapted to navigation, is 
 as yet available only to Cappoquin. On the Suir, the trade 
 boats ascend to Clonmel ; on the Nore to Innistiogue. The Bar- 
 row, however, affords an example of our river navigation fully 
 developed, as by means of it, and of a branch of the Grand 
 Canal, a water communication is established between Dublin 
 and New Ross. The total length of the navigation opened out 
 from Dublin to the sea below Waterford, is upwards of 120 
 miles. The boats are from 30 to 50 tons. The traffic was in 
 1800, 19,828 tons, producing £1,405 tolls. 
 1820, 41,262 ,, ,, £3,827 „ 
 
 1835, 66,084 ,, ,, £4,966 „ 
 
 Some other rivers, as the Foyle, the Slaney, are navigated 
 2a 2
 
 356 
 
 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 to a certain distance with the assistance of the tide, but they 
 are not at all navigable in the proper sense, as applied to their 
 ordinary river channels. 
 
 The natural difficulties which rivers often present to navi- 
 gation, as well as their not being found in the precise localities 
 where other conditions render moans of communication impor- 
 tant, render it often more economical to create a perfectly new 
 route by a canal, than to alter or improve the circumstances 
 of a river. 
 
 The canals of Ireland are referrible to two systems ; one 
 destined to connect the Shannon with the Irish Sea at Dublin, 
 the other to connect the great inland sea, Lough Neagh, -ndth 
 the British Channel at Newry and Belfast. 
 
 The Royal Canal from Dublin to the River Camlin, by which 
 it enters the Shannon, at Tarmonbarry, has a total length of 
 ninety-two miles. Its summit level is at Mullingar, where, at 
 fifty-three miles from Dublin, it is 322 feet above the level of 
 the sea. Its supply of water is derived from Lough Owel. 
 
 The income from goods and passengers, and expenditure, 
 were, in the 
 
 YEARS. 
 
 PASSENGER 
 RECEIPTS. 
 
 TOTAL 
 TOTAL RECEIPTS. j-^penDITCRE. 
 
 1834 
 
 1836 
 1843 
 
 £6,299 11 10 
 7,468 8 3i 
 8,259 4 5" 
 
 £24,000 11 
 23,148 19 7 
 24,122 10 
 
 £11,376 10 
 11,912 2 10 
 11,389 9 9 
 
 The average toll levied upon this canal appears to be from 
 1(/. to l^d. per ton, per mile. The total number of passengers 
 who travelled by this canal, in the year 1837, was 46,430. 
 
 The Grand Canal, leaving Dublin by the southern extremity, 
 passes nearly parallel, and at a very few miles distance, from 
 the Royal Canal, for a certain portion of its length. It joins 
 the Shannon at Shannon Harbour, and, on the other side of the 
 river, is continued to Ballinasloe. Its total direct length is 
 ninety-nine miles. Its branches are numerous ; to Kilbeggan, 
 and to Edenderry ; to Athy, where it communicates with the
 
 OF IRELAND. 
 
 357 
 
 River Barrow, to Portarlington, to Mountmellick, and to Naas. 
 In addition, there are two branches into the great boggy dis- 
 trict of the central countries, the drainage of which partly 
 supplies the canal with water. These branches serve also as 
 reservoirs, there not being any natural lakes along this line. 
 The total length of these extensions of this navigation, is sixty- 
 five miles, making, in all, 164 miles of canal. The stmimit 
 level is about Robertstown, at a distance of twenty-six miles 
 from Dublin, and 279 feet above the level of the sea. 
 
 The number of passengers travelling by the packet boats on 
 the Grand Canal, was, in 1833, 54,812; in 1835, it rose to 
 72,748, and, in 1837, was 100,695. Since which time the num- 
 ber has increased but little. 
 
 The total amount of tonnage carried, and the tolls levied, 
 together with the nett income from passage boats, were, in the 
 
 YEAR. 
 
 TONNAGE. 
 
 TOLLS. 
 
 1827 
 1832 
 1837 
 1842 
 
 179,173 
 216,418 
 215,910 
 191,958 
 
 £33,587 4 9i 
 34,552 16 6 
 37,557 7 1 
 35,774 18 5 
 
 Of the canals in connexion with Lough Neagh, the Lagan 
 navigation is the most important. It commences at Belfast, 
 its entire length from which is twenty-eight and a-half miles. 
 Its course is partly tidal, partly river, and partly canal. The 
 usual tonnage of the boats is fifty tons. In 1836, there 
 passed 894 boats, carrying 44,700 tons of goods, and paying 
 £2,060 10s. 8rf. tolls. The toll is 9^d. per ton for the entire 
 length, and the freight, from 5s. to 6s. 
 
 The Newry Canal, communicating with the sea, about two 
 miles below the town, passes northwards, for sixteen and 
 a-half miles (Irish), to Whitecoat, where it joins the Bann, 
 and by it passes into Lough Neagh. There are no passenger 
 boats on this canal. In 1837, the trafiic was, 102,332 tons, 
 producing, in tolls, the sum of £3,505 lis. 5rf.
 
 358 INDCSTRIAt RESOURCES 
 
 The coal field of Tyrone, so fully described in the first chap- 
 ter, had been originally supposed to be of much greater extent 
 than subsequent examination has proved, and a canal was con- 
 structed, at the public expense, for conveying its produce to a 
 distance. This canal, of about eleven miles, extends from 
 Coal Island to the River Blackwater, a short distance from its 
 confluence with Lough Neagh. The mining operations of that 
 district being now so limited, the trade on this canal Is pro- 
 portionally small. In 1836, its total traffic was 7,291 tons of 
 coals. 
 
 Within the last few years, an important line of canal com- 
 munication has been opened, the Ulster Canal, which, com- 
 mencing from the River Blackwater at Charlcmont, near its 
 junction with Lough Neagb, passes to the south-west, by Mo- 
 naghan and Clones, and joins, after a course of forty-eight 
 miles, the Upper Lough Erne. The eastern and western seas 
 are thus nearly connected, by a line of water communication, 
 which only requires some improvements at Enniskillen, and 
 in the lower lake, to be perfectly continuous from Ballyshannon 
 to Belfast, a distance of about 130 miles. This lino has been 
 in operation too short a time, to test its efficiency by the 
 amount of traffic hitherto called into play, yet it is gratifying 
 to observe, that, aXveSiAy, the facilities of transport \\3.\g pro- 
 duced a considerable increase of industrial activity along its 
 course. Thus, in the years ending April 1st, the traffic was 
 
 1843, tons, 13,371, producing £1,261 toll, 
 
 1844, „ 17,583, „ £1,976 „ 
 
 The increase being, one-third of tonnage, and one-half of 
 tolls, shewing the increase of traffic in the more valuable com- 
 modities. 
 
 Through the valley of the Boyne from Drogheda, by Slane, 
 to Navan, a distance of nineteen miles, and below Drogheda 
 for two and a-half miles to the sea, a navigation is carried on, 
 partly by the livor channel and partly by canal. There are 
 no passage boats. lu IS^IG. the total tralfic was 10,194 tons, 
 producing about £G40 in tolls. 
 
 Sucii being the circumstances of the canal and river naviga-
 
 OF IRELAND. 359 
 
 tions, it remains to notice the mimerous lakes available for the 
 purposes of communication. Some of these have been already 
 mentioned, as, in fact, expansions of the Shannon, and need no 
 further reference. 
 
 In many places, lines of canals have been proposed, and 
 some surveys executed, which, however, have not led to fur- 
 ther results. A very useful project of this kind, was the im- 
 provement of the navigation of the Nore, above Innistiogue. 
 Pei'haps, however, the most important line of inland naviga- 
 tion proposed, in addition to those already existing in Ireland, 
 is that for which surveys were executed by Mr. Mulvany, and 
 which would connect the Ulster Canal and Lough Erne with 
 the Shannon, at Leitrim. The length of canal on this line 
 would be twenty-eight and a-half miles, and twenty-one miles 
 of steam navigation on Lough Oughter, to K'lleshandra. The 
 estimated total cost was £170,000. The importance of this 
 connexion may be estimated by a glance at the map, when it will 
 be seen, that the network of inland navigation of the north- 
 east of Ireland, is separated from the water communications of 
 the south and centre, by the tract which this canal would in- 
 tersect, and that, consequently, the two systems of traffic, now 
 isolated, would by it be placed in connexion. Limerick would 
 thus come into direct communication with Enniskillcn and 
 Ballyshannon, on the western, and with Belfast on the eastei-n, 
 coast of Ulster, and a total line of 716 miles of inland naviga- 
 tion be opened out. The want of water carriage, in that part 
 of the country, is shewn by the fact, that the heaviest articles 
 of traffic, even timber, are brought from Newry, to Ballina, 
 within a few miles of the Shannon, more by land, at an ex- 
 pense of 6f/. per ton per mile, whilst water carriage, including 
 all expenses of freight, tolls, &c., never exceeds 2^d. 
 
 Inquiries lately made with reference to the drainage of the 
 districts along this proposed canal, have shewn the feasibility 
 of an important modification of it, in which the line passing 
 from Leitrim by a series of small lakes and river courses, at 
 present navigable but not connected, should reach Lough Erne 
 direct, and the artificial water cuts, in place of being twenty- 
 eight and a-half miles, should be but eight. The cost of com-
 
 360 INDUSTRFAL RESOURCES 
 
 pletiiig this important navigation in this form shonUI be but 
 £80,000 beyond the expenses of drainage tor agricultural p\ir- 
 poses. 
 
 Ireland possesses not only the largest river in the British 
 Islands, but also the largest inland sea, Lough Neagh, the 
 coasts of which are formed by the Counties of Derry, Antrim, 
 Tyrone, Armagh, and Down. Its area is estimated at about 
 100,000 acres. Its height above the sea is forty-six feet. It 
 drains a considerable extent of the east of ITlstei-, the rivers 
 Blackwater, Upper Bann, and Ballinderry flowing into it, and 
 its superfluous water being removed by the Lower Bann. The 
 shores possessing but little elevation, it is destitute of the pic- 
 turesque character which heightens the interest of so many of 
 our lakes, but as it presents above 100 miles of coast in a 
 country swarming with an intelligent and industrious popula- 
 tion, and by the Coal Island, Nowry, Ulster, and Lagan Ca- 
 nals it is placed in communication with a large extent of the 
 north of Ireland, it promises to be the future centre of exten- 
 sive internal traffic. Already a commencement has been made. 
 Steam vessels have been placed upon the lake, which collecting 
 at various ports on the northern and western shores, the goods 
 and jjassengers, convey them to the south and east. Porta- 
 down, which unites the advantages of being placed on the Bann, 
 pear the junction of the Newry Canal, and of being the pre- 
 sent terminus of the Ulster Railway, is the principal emporium 
 of the traffic on Lough Neagh. This precise amount of the 
 steam traffic, I am not able to state in exact numbers, though 
 it is certainly considerable. 
 
 The upper and lower Lough Erne, extending altogether a 
 distance of about thirty miles, have been rendered in great part 
 available for internal comnmnieation to Enniskillen, by the 
 completion of the Ulster Canal. In fact, the multiplicity of 
 islands in the upper lake renders its navigation similar to that 
 of a canal. The lower lake, however, presents an important 
 field for tlie introduction of steam traffic upon its ample sur- 
 face. Its area is 27,045 aci'cs. It is situated in average 150 
 feet above the level of the sea, and the channel contracting
 
 OP IRELAND. 361 
 
 above Belleek to the river form, its waters are precipitated over 
 a ledge of rocks, forming a magnificent cascade. Again at 
 Ballyshannon a similar cataract occurs, by which the waters 
 of this great basin are finally passed into the sea. The power 
 of these falls of water has not been accurately calculated. It 
 is certainly equivalent to many thousand horse in constant 
 operation, and, if utilized with the facilities which those lakes 
 and the canal would give for distribution of produce, the result 
 should be most beneficial to the population of the surrounding 
 districts. After the Shannon at Killaloe and Doonas, there 
 is nothing in Ireland comparable as a source of mechanical 
 power to the Erne at Belleek and Ballyshannon. 
 
 The picturesque solitudes of Lough Gill have been invaded 
 by the power of steam for communicating between Sligo and 
 Dromohaire. When the Shannon improvements are completed, 
 the steamers on Lough Allen will be separated from those of 
 Sligo by only a few miles of hilly country, presenting no insu- 
 perable obstacle to intercourse. 
 
 The province of Connaught is, however, that which deserves 
 most attentive notice in relation to its navigable lakes. Its 
 soil is not inferior to that of the rest of Ireland ; some of the 
 sweetest pastures, and most productive lands, are found with- 
 in its limits. Its coasts abound with fish ; its mountains are 
 rich in ores ; its people are willing to work, and travel hun- 
 dreds of miles seeking for work, even at a rate which only 
 allows them to sustain existence. Yet that province is the 
 reproach of Ireland and the bye-word of Great Britain. Its 
 population is relieved by charitable subscription from recurrent 
 famines. Little more than one-half of its area has been made 
 available for cultivation, and it is but a few years since its in- 
 terior was first rendered accessible to industry by the forma- 
 tion of proper roads. 
 
 There exist in Connaught, independent of the Shannon 
 Loughs which form its boundary, two groups of lakes, pecu- 
 liarly fitted for navigation. The most important of these, con- 
 sisting of Loughs Mask and Corrib, communicate with the sea 
 at Gal way by a river about three miles long, with a fall of four- 
 teen feet, of which the water-power is described in page 86.
 
 362 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 The area of Lough Corrib is 50,700 statute aci-es. Its length 
 from Galway to Maam by Cong is about twenty-live miles, its 
 breadth very variable, at greatest about fourteen miles. Its 
 depth of water is fully sufficient for navigation. Its islands 
 contain more than 1000 acres of fertile land. The waters of 
 Lough Mask are poured into Corrib, but by subteraneous 
 channels, the lakes being separated by a ridge of land of three 
 miles broad. The area of Lough Mask and of Carra, which 
 is an offset from it, is 26,265 acres. Its height eighty feet 
 above the sea level. 
 
 To bring these three lakes into navigable communication 
 with each other and with the sea, there would only be required 
 about three miles of canal. The direct length of navigation 
 opened would be about forty miles, and a coast of nearly 200 
 miles would have a cheap and ready outlet for its agricultural 
 produce. 
 
 The second group of lakes in Connaught stands in connexion 
 with that fine river, the Moy, which draining 1033 square 
 miles of country, falls into the sea at Ballina. These are 
 Loughs Conn and CuUin. Their area is about 14,000 acres. 
 They present a direct navigation of eleven miles and fifty- 
 three miles of coast. The height and power of the fall from 
 these lakes is given in page 86. 
 
 Surveys of this district, with a view of opening this exten- 
 sive lake navigation to the coast, and thus enabling the inhabi- 
 tants to send out for export the produce of their fields at a low 
 cost, were made by Mr. Bald. He shewed that the carriage 
 by water would be in those localities not more than one-sixth 
 that by land. That by an arrangement of canals, including 
 but seventeen locks, a navigation of fifty-three miles direct 
 could be secured, available to a district containing 800,000 
 inhabitants, who now possess none but the rudest and most 
 expensive means of intercourse. 
 
 It is to be hoped that such criminal neglect as has hitherto 
 impeded the progress of all such plans for ameliorating the 
 condition of the people, may not continue. When a famine 
 occurs in Connaught, money is raised in London to buy them 
 bread as charity. It is much fitter that suitable means should
 
 OF IRELAND, 
 
 363 
 
 be adopted for enabling the people to earn it by honest la- 
 bour. 
 
 When the navigation of the Connanght lakes is proceeded 
 with, it will become an important problem to determine on the 
 mode of communication with the Shannon. For this, various 
 plans have been proposed, but it would be premature for me 
 to enter upon the discussion of any of them. 
 
 A mode of transport which at the present day occupies public 
 attention much more than the common roads, or water-ways 
 which I have so far noticed, is the railway. Though totally 
 modern, not yet a generation old, this new agent in inter- 
 course has assumed an importance, which entitles it to be con- 
 sidered as a power in promoting the development, not merely 
 of industry, but of civilization. I shall of com-se not enter 
 into any general description of the theoretical circxunstances 
 of railways, or of steam power as used upon them, but having 
 first noticed the condition of the existing and proposed rail- 
 roads in Ireland, I shall apply myself to the brief discussion 
 of two questions which I consider important to this country, 
 that is, in whose hands the general control of railways should 
 be placed, and by what kind of power motion shovdd be pro- 
 duced upon them. 
 
 We possess in actual operation but four railways in Ire- 
 land. The Kingstown Railway, extending from Dublin to the 
 pier at Kingstown Harbour, six miles, lies along the southern 
 shore of the bay, and may be considered as altogether a pas- 
 senger line for that extensive suburban villa district. 
 
 In the years ending March, 
 
 YEAR. 
 
 PASSENGERS. 
 
 TOTAL INCOME. 
 
 1842 
 
 1843 
 1844 
 
 1,632,085 
 1,758,878 
 1,962,051 
 
 £40,208 2 4 
 42,401 3 1 
 45,255 8 2 
 
 The financial and mechanical conditions of the line are illus- 
 trated by the following numbers :
 
 364 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 For the yoar ending 27th March, 1844. 
 
 Total number of trains dispatched, 29,564 
 
 Miles travelled, 177,384 
 
 Average number of coaches per 
 
 train, 7^ 
 
 Passengers per train (average), . 66^ 
 
 Consumption of coke per train per 
 
 mile, 24jjlb 
 
 Average sum paid per passenger per 
 
 mile, 0-968 penny. 
 
 Cost of locomotive power per train 
 
 per mile, 11 pence. 
 
 Total weight moved one mile, . . 7,095,360 tons. 
 The Ulster Railway, which is completed, and has been for 
 some time in actual work. From Belfast, it passes by Lisburn, 
 Moira, and Lurgan, to Portadown, twenty-five miles. The 
 traffic upon it appears steadily increasing. 
 For the years ending 1st March, there were, 
 
 TEAR, 
 
 PASSENGERS. 
 
 RECEIPTS. 
 
 1842-3 
 1843-4 
 
 425,864 
 436,317 
 
 £21,148 15 10 
 25,145 2 1 
 
 There is some traffic in goods on this line, and it appears to 
 increase more rapidly than the passenger traffic ; thus the re- 
 ceipts for carriage of goods, inchidedin the above, was in 1842-8 
 £5123 10.S. 9^., and in 1843-4 it became £8269 6s. lid. The 
 rej)orts of the company do not state the weight of merchandize 
 carried. 
 
 The railway from Dublin to Drogheda passes circuitously 
 along the coast by Malahide and Balbriggan. Its length is 
 thirty-one and three quarter miles. It has been open for pub- 
 lic traffic, from May, 1844. In the period from 24th May to 
 31st December, the total number of passengers carried was 
 402,414, and the total receipts £19,625 18s. 9rf. 
 
 None of the lines here mentioned, require any special notice
 
 OF IRELAND. 365 
 
 as to the nature of the ground passed over, and details as to 
 their cost and financial condition would be out of place. 
 
 The importance of railways as a means of developing the 
 industrial resources of a country, especially in the absence 
 of those other aids, by which, in many countries, their ne- 
 cessity is rendered less urgent, had long been felt by all 
 seriously interested in the prosperity of Ireland, and led to the 
 formation of the Railway Commission in 1838, which, under the 
 principal guidance of the late Mr. Drummond and Sir J. Bur- 
 goyne, published a Report, which, although some details of its 
 propositions may be combated or deviated from, remains a mas- 
 terpiece of physical and statistical investigation, and \\'ill connect 
 the names of its eminent authors permanently with the records of 
 Irish progress. The strictness of official caution led to an es- 
 timate of the final return of profit, probably less than the cir- 
 cumstances justified, certainly much less than projectors were 
 disposed to promise in the share market, and hence the effect 
 of the Report was to damp the enthusiasm of railway specula- 
 tions. 
 
 The principal of governmental control which was strongly 
 advocated in the Report, and to which I shall by-and-by re- 
 turn, was also adverse to the feelings of those disposed to 
 invest money in such undertakings, and was opposed to the 
 existing English practice. Owing to these and other still 
 more unreasonable influences, the provisions of the Report have 
 not been in any one instance carried into effect, and the im- 
 provement of the condition of the people, which its authors had 
 so fondly anticipated, remains as distant as six years ago, when 
 the Report was written. 
 
 The Commissioners proposed the formation of two great 
 lines of railway, one to the south-west, and the other to the 
 north-west, from Dublin, starting from Bai-rackbridge : the 
 south-western line was to have passed by Palmerstowoi and 
 Lucan to Sallins, Rathangan, Monasterevau, Portarlington, 
 and Maryborough. Near the latter, at the summit of the 
 limestone country, between the valleys of the Nore and Barrow, 
 it was proposed to form a branch to Kilkenny by Abheyleix 
 and Ballyragget.
 
 3G6 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 " The distance between DuMin and the commencement of 
 this branch is 52^ miles, and thence to Kilkenny is 2C>^ miles, 
 making a total length, from Dublin to Kilkenny, of 79 miles. 
 
 "From the Maryborough summit, the line has been con- 
 tinued though the limestone country to the road from Borris- 
 in-Ossory to Rathdowney, which it crosses at the distance of 
 66 miles from Dublin, and three miles from Borris-in Ossory, 
 on the Limerick road ; and this point, which will serve as a 
 station for passengers and merchandize from the towns of 
 Roscrea, Borris-in-Ossory, Castletown, Mountrath, and the 
 districts surrounding them, must eventually become a point of 
 very general resort. 
 
 "From the road to Borris-in-Ossory, the line pursues its 
 south-western direction, passing near to the towns of Rath- 
 downey, Templemore, and Thurles, to Holycross, in the county 
 of Tipperary, where it is proposed that the line to Limerick 
 should diverge. 
 
 " This line has been laid out with great care, skirting as 
 close as levels would permit to the south-eastern base of the 
 range of the Keeper Mountains, and thence, without encount- 
 ering any difficulty, proceeding in a direct line to the city of 
 Limerick. 
 
 " The distance by the proposed line of railway between 
 Dublin and Holycross is 89| miles, and between Holycross and 
 Limerick 35 J miles, making a total distance between Dublin 
 and Limerick of 125^ miles. This distance is only six miles 
 longer than the direct post-road between those points, a cir- 
 cumstance we deem very satisfactory, when it is considered 
 that the proposed railway communication between Limerick 
 and Dublin will be effected by a divergence from the Cork line 
 of only 35 J miles in length. 
 
 " From Holycross the main Coi*k line proceeds in a southern 
 direction to Cashel, and thence to Marhill, near New Inn, in 
 the county of Tipperary, at which point it is intended that 
 the line to Clonmel and Waterford should commence; but, to 
 complete a direct railway communication between Limerick 
 and Waterford, it is also proposed that this branch-line should 
 be continued in a western direction, from Marhill towards
 
 OF IRELAND. 367 
 
 Limerick, and, crossing the River Suir at Golden, join the line 
 from Holycross to Limerick at Donaghill. 
 
 " The distance from Marhill, by Golden, to Donaghill, is 13 
 miles; and by adopting this arrangement there will be a 
 saving of distance between Limerick and Waterford of 14^ 
 miles ; without it, all the traffic from Limerick to Waterford 
 must necessarily pass from Donaghill, round by Holycross to 
 Marhill, in order to reach the commencement of the Waterford 
 line. 
 
 " Continuing in a southern direction from Marhill, the Cork 
 line follows the valley of the River Suir to Cahir, situated at 
 the eastern extremity of the Galtees Mountains, at which point, 
 owing to the physical structure of the country, it has been ne- 
 cessary to adopt a south-western course, passing through the 
 narrow valley interposed between the Galtees and Kilworth 
 Mountains, whence it continues by Michelstown to Kildorrery, 
 and thence to the town of Mallow, situated on the River 
 Blackwater. 
 
 "From Mallow the main line takes a direct southern course 
 to Cork, and necessarily crosses a ridge of slate country, 
 which intervenes between the limestone valleys of the River 
 Blackwater, at Mallow, and the River Lee, on which Cork is 
 situated. 
 
 " Here experience fully confirms the remarkable circum- 
 stance to which allusion has been made, in treating of the 
 geology of the country, that throughout the whole of the linos 
 which have been described, no engineering difficulties worthy 
 of notice occur, as long as we continued in the limestone 
 country ; but the moment we attempt to cross the slate dis- 
 trict, situated between Cork and Mallow, we encounter an 
 elevation of 222 feet in 7 miles 3 furlongs, which must be over- 
 come by adopting steeper gradients than those required for any 
 other part of the lines we have described, and which never 
 leave the great limestone district of the interior of the country. 
 Owing to this favourable nature of the ground, we have not 
 found it necessary to cross any of those high table lands, 
 which can only be traversed by tunnelling ; but by allowing 
 the lines to undulate to a certain degree with the surface of
 
 368 INDUSTKIAL. RESOUHCES 
 
 the country, according to the revised system of gradients, all 
 deep cuttings have been avoided. Hence the several rail- 
 ways which we recommend for the south of Ireland can be 
 formed at the comparatively moderate expense stated in the 
 estimate contained in Mr, Vignoles' Report." 
 
 For the northern line it was proposed to form a trunk to 
 Navan, and from thence two main branches, one west to 
 Enniskillen, and one north to Armagh, which, communicat- 
 ing with the Ulster Railway, would thus reach Belfast. The 
 surveys for this line were executed by Mr. Macneill. The 
 Report proceeds : 
 
 " By reference to the map it will be seen that the first 28 
 miles, namely, from Dublin to Navan, are common to both the 
 Armagh and Enniskillen lines ; at Navan they diverge, that 
 to Belfast taking a north course, passing near to Carrickma- 
 cross, and through Castleblaney to Armagh ; the distance 
 between Navan and Armagh being 37^ miles, and the total 
 distance from Dublin to Armagh 85^ miles. 
 
 " Between Dublin and Navan, where the line crosses the 
 limestone country, the gradients are better, and the average 
 cost per mile will be £4,200 less than where it passes through 
 the slate country already described, which extends nearly for 
 the whole distance from Navan to Armagh. 
 
 " The north-west or Enniskillen line, on diverging from the 
 Armagh line at Navan, has been laid out in the valley of the 
 River Blackwater, passing through Kells and Virginia. As far 
 as Kells the country is unusually favourable, but between that 
 point and Cavan, and from thence to Newtown-Butler, in the 
 County of Fermanagh, the cost of forming will be consider- 
 able, owing to the hilly character of the slate district. Beyond 
 Newtown-Butler the line passes through the flat country 
 skirting the north-eastern margin of ITpper Lough Erne. In 
 such a locality the gradients, as might be expected, are ex- 
 cellent, and the cost is proportionally reduced. 
 
 " The town of Enniskillen, situated between Upper and 
 Lower Lough Erne, may be considered as a central station, 
 towards which both passengers and commercial traffic may be 
 expected to converge for a considerable circuit, including the
 
 OF IRELAND. 3G9 
 
 important towns of Londonderry, Letterkenny, Strabane, 
 Omagh, Donegal, Ballyshannon, and Sligo, and hence, for the 
 present, it is considered to be the most suitable for the termi- 
 nation of the north-western railway. 
 
 " In forming a comparison of the advantage which the lines 
 to the north and north-west of Ireland, recommended by us, 
 possess over the others to which we have alluded, there is 
 only one which traverses the interior of the country, to which 
 we think it necessary to refer, namely, that from Dublin to 
 Armagh, passing through Ardee and Castleblaney, already 
 mentioned. 
 
 " For general purposes this line would not be favourable to 
 the views adopted by us ; it is not sufficiently near the coast 
 to be used for connecting the important commercial towns of 
 Newry and Dundalk with Dublin ; and, on the other hand, it 
 does not strike far enough into the interior to render any por- 
 tion of it suitable for a main lint; to the north-west. 
 
 " In an engineei-ing point of view it is likewise inferior, in- 
 asmuch as it is proposed to cross the River Boyne, by an em- 
 bankment, about 460 yards in length, the greater portion of 
 which, as shewn by the section, would exceed 100 feet in 
 height ; while the line which we propose crosses the river 
 above Navan, by an embankment of 260 yards in length, and 
 at an average height of but 33 feet ; and likewise between 
 Castleblaney and Armagh the line is not so advantageous, 
 either in length or gradients, as that laid out under our direc- 
 tion. 
 
 " In respect to the coast line, which has been surveyed from 
 Drogheda by Dundalk to Newry, we have to observe, that it 
 may be considered altogether in the light of a speculation 
 which has no reference to the internal commercial traffic of the 
 country, but as one which will afford a desirable facility for 
 passenger intercourse between the important commercial towns 
 which it is intended to connect." 
 
 Such were the propositions of the Railway Commissioners in 
 1838. There were also various lines proposed by private 
 companies, of which the following are the most important. 
 
 A line to Kilkenny, which leaving Dublin at Kilmainham, 
 passed parallel to the line adopted by the Commissioners, but 
 2b
 
 370 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 at a higher level, and crossed the Grand Canal at Sallins : it 
 then passed across the Curragh of Kildare to Athy, and fol- 
 lowed the left bank of the Barrow by Carlow to Leighlin 
 Bridge, from whence, along the foot of the Colliery Hills, it 
 passed to Kilkenny. This line, considered solely as regarding 
 Kilkenny, was perfect, but it was not adapted for such con- 
 tinuations and branches as could render it a part of a general 
 southern system. 
 
 A railway from Limerick to Waterford was one of the first 
 proposed in Ireland, and surveys were executed by Nimmo, 
 whose favourable opinion of the locality has been confirmed by 
 all succeeding engineers. Regarding it the Report says : 
 
 " By reference to our passenger and traffic maps it will be 
 seen, that between Limerick and Clonmel the present inter- 
 course is comparatively trifling ; but the known resources of 
 the country are so considerable, that rational expectations 
 might be entertained of a favourable result from a railway 
 which would open a direct communication from the coimties of 
 Clare, Kerry, Limerick, and Tipperary, to the markets of 
 Bristol, the south of England generally, and to London. 
 
 " Still we cannot admit that, if abandoned to its otvti local 
 resources, this railway would yield profits sufficient to re- 
 munerate a comjjany for its construction. But blended, as we 
 propose that it should be, with the general lines of intercom- 
 munication between Dublin, Cork, Limerick, and Waterford, 
 we conceive that the expense of the connecting branch, thir- 
 teen miles in length, between Donaghill and Marhill, already 
 alluded to, will be considered as a minor consideration when 
 compared with the advantage which the country must derive 
 from the completion of a direct railway communication between 
 Limerick and Waterford." 
 
 A company is now formed for constructing this line, and 
 there is little doubt but that it will be one eminently useful 
 and remunerative. 
 
 From the period of the Railway Commissioners' Report 
 imtil some few months back, the establishment of extended 
 railwav intercourse through Ireland had been almost totally 
 lost sight of. The formation of the Dublin and Cashel Rail-
 
 OF IRELAND. 37l 
 
 way Companj' has been, however, the herald to a period of ao- 
 tivity and enterprize which, although possessing many of the 
 characters of a speculative paroxysm, cannot pass over with- 
 out conferring vast benefit upon the country, by creating a 
 network of the most efficient means of communicationj^and 
 leading indirectly to a rapid advance of industrial ideas and 
 operations. The number of railway projects now imder con- 
 sideration is so great, and many of them competing and con- 
 flicting lines, that they cannot be expected or desired all to be 
 carried into effect, and it will, therefore, suffice for the ma- 
 jority to mention, in very few words, their general direction. 
 
 The Dublin and Cashel Railway, the works for which have 
 been just commenced, and which will probably be the main 
 stem of all the lines branching to the south and west, passes 
 by Sallins and Kildare, to Monasterevan, and thence by Por- 
 tarlington, Maryborough, and Thurles, to Cashel. This route 
 differs but little from that recommended by the Commissioners. 
 The country through which it passes is highly favourable. It 
 is thrown rather more into connexion with the intervening 
 tovras, and thereby, probably, the facilities for traffic aug- 
 mented. Cashel is but a small change of terminus from Holy- 
 cross, which the Commissioners recommended, and which will 
 be in practice, most probably, the point of derivation of the 
 secondary lines. 
 
 There are proposed, in connexion with the main Cashel 
 stem, an extension to Cork, which, passing from Holycross by 
 Tipperary to the north of the Galtee mountains, should pro- 
 ceed by Kilmallock, Buttevant, and Mallow, into Cork. In 
 competition with this, other parties propose to carry out the 
 Commissioners' line, which, proceeding south of the Galtees, 
 passes by Mitchelstown to Mallow, from whence the course of 
 both lines nearly coincide to Cork. Beyond Cork a line will 
 probably be extended to Bandon. 
 
 From Tipperary a branch is proposed to proceed westward 
 to Limerick, and to be continued on the north bank of the 
 Shannon and Fergus to Ennis. 
 
 Very important branches of the Cashel line, are those pro- 
 posed to Wexford and Kilkenny, the former starting from the 
 •2 b 2
 
 372 INDUSTRIAL HESOURCES 
 
 trunk at Kildai'e, enters the valley of the Barrow, and passes 
 by Athy to Cai'low. From thence it crosses through the goi'ge 
 in the granite ridge, and entering the valley of the Slaney, 
 descends by Ne\vtownbai*ry and Enniscorthy, to "Wexford. 
 The Kilkenny branch is proposed to skirt the western edge of 
 the Leinster coal field, passing by Ballyragget and Abbeyleix, 
 and joining the main stem at Maryborough. 
 
 Short lines connecting Kilkenny and Wexford with Water- 
 ford are proposed. The Kilkenny connexion is proposed to 
 be laid down, as an experiment, with wood, impregnated with 
 plaster of Paris, after trying which the company \\ ill probably 
 adopt some more rational method of proceeding. 
 
 To bring the western coast at Galway into direct communi- 
 cation, by railway, with the metropolis, is the object of several 
 plans, one of which is to form a branch of the southern line at 
 Portarlington, which, proceeding by Tullamore to Athlone, 
 should then pass by Ballinasloe to Galway. A very simple and 
 economical line might be formed on the bank of the Grand 
 Canal, joining the Cashel trunk at Sallins, and extending to 
 Ballinasloe. Another proposal is to foi-m a line on the banks 
 of the Royal Canal to Mullingar, from whence branches should 
 extend to Longford and Athlone, but it is said that this Com- 
 pany objects to going beyond the Shannon. This is quite fair, 
 as regards the speculators, who naturally wish to have to do 
 only with the most profitable portion, but the Government 
 should look to the benefit of the country at large. The line 
 to the Shannon should not be granted to any company which 
 would not go beyond the Shannon to the western coast. 
 
 To connect Dublin with Belfast, a line is now proposed, in 
 continuation of the Drogheda line, to Portadown, where it will 
 communicate with tlie Ulster Railway. The distance of this 
 junction line will be fifty-six miles ; with the exception of the 
 vicinity of Newry the route does not present any important 
 difficulties, and Sir John Macneill's estimate for its construc- 
 tion is £12,000 per mile. The general direction is the same 
 as the coach road. From Drogheda there is also contem- 
 plated a railway to Navan and Kells, a distance of twcnty- 
 tliree miles; tiiis line, being principally in the valley of the
 
 OF IRELAND. 373 
 
 Boyne, along the junction of the limestone and slate districts, 
 is peculiarly favourable, and is estimated to be completed for 
 £10,000 per mile. By an extension of this branch a commu- 
 nication may be formed with the Shannon by Longford, and 
 thence to Sligo, which would give the north of Connaught a 
 very direct means of access to the eastern coast for the expor- 
 tation of agricultural produce, and also probably bring into 
 more active play, the field for enterpi'ize which the vicinity of 
 Lough Allen presents. 
 
 The Ulster Railway Company are about extending their 
 line by Armagh to Monaghan, and thus opening out the cen- 
 tral counties to Belfast. The line to be pursued beyond that 
 point is not determined on. 
 
 The inland line abutting on Enniskellan, proposed by the 
 Commissioners, has been already noticed. This being aban- 
 doned now, it is proposed to connect that important town 
 with the Dublin and Belfast coast line, by a railway which 
 should proceed either by Monaghan and Armagh to Newry, or 
 by Castleblaney to Dundalk. The latter line certainly appears 
 the more favourable in its general character. From Ennis- 
 killen a line is projected by Omagh and Strabane to London- 
 derry, and from Omagh also a line has been proposed by Dun- 
 gannon to Coleraine. 
 
 From Belfast a line is projected to pass by Carrickfergus to 
 Ballymena. 
 
 Such are the principal plans now under consideration for form- 
 ing railways in Ireland. It is to be hoped that the decisions of 
 those, to whose lot judgment will ultimately fall, may be guided 
 by an enlightened desire for the sound prosperity of the coun- 
 try. 
 
 In all of the lines of railway so far noticed, whether in actual 
 work or only proposed, the source of power in use or contem- 
 plated is the ordinary locomotive engine. There has, however, 
 been recently brought into play a means of locomotion on rail- 
 ways which bids fair to replace, at least in many localities, 
 that hitherto in use ; it is by atmospheric propulsion, of which, 
 in fact, this country has become the most remarkable example.
 
 374 INDUSTRIAL RESOUKCES 
 
 by the specimen of it which is in action for a mile and three- 
 quarters from Kingstown to the village of Dalkey. 
 
 On an ordinary line of railway, as, for example, the Kings- 
 town line, the weight of the train and engine is usually about 
 forty-five tons, of which the engine weighs fifteen tons, and 
 the carriages and passengers about thirty. It hence follows 
 that of the total power required to move the train, one-third 
 is actually absorbed in the motion of the engine without any 
 return. The cost of fuel necessary to produce steam is thus 
 half as much again as should suffice if there were only the use- 
 ful load to move, and the importance of this difference will be 
 at once felt, on considering that the cost of power is by far the 
 largest item in the expense of working a railway, and in the 
 cost of power the fuel is again the predominant item. Thus, 
 in the years ending respectively March 6th and 27th, 1844, the 
 expenses on the existing railways were : 
 
 ULSTER. KINGSTOWN. 
 
 Cost of power, .... £3729 12 8 £8128 18 8 
 
 Of which the cost of coke 
 
 was, 1850 9 10 2264 17 H 
 
 Whilst the cost of main- 
 tenance of way was but 1048 10 7 2253 11 8 
 
 And the total gross ex- 
 penditure, .... 14539 20599 12 6 
 
 The annual cost of the fuel expended in giving motion to the 
 engines, without reference to the carriages, goods, or passen- 
 gers, and on which no profit accrues, is, consequently, on the 
 Ulster line, about £600, and on the Kingstown line, about 
 £750 per annum, besides a proportion of the general expenses 
 which cannot be well separated. 
 
 The great massiveness and weight of the locomotive engine 
 render necessary also a degree of strength in the rails, bridges, 
 and embankments of the line, which otherwise might w ell be 
 dispensed with. Thus we may consider a passenger carriage 
 to weigh, as is usual, three tons, and to contain twenty-eight 
 passengers, Avhieh, at fourteen to a ton, gives two tons, making 
 the whole weight five tons, or we may allow it to be even six
 
 OF IRELAND. 37-5 
 
 tons, which, if the carriage be provided with but four wheels, 
 gives a pressure upon each wheel of a ton and a half. The 
 construction of all the bearing parts of the railway must be in 
 accordance with this amoimt of pressure. If, however, the 
 locomotive engine be taken into account, its weight being con- 
 sidered, as is usual, as fifteen tons, and that it be supported 
 on six wheels, the pressure on each wheel is two tons and a 
 half, and the strength of every portion of the line must be aug- 
 mented beyond what would suffice for the paying part of the 
 train, in the proportion of 5 to 3. Now to make the railway 
 stronger, in the ratio of 5 to 3, involves far more than an in- 
 creased expense in the proportion of 5 to 3, and it may be 
 safely asserted that so far as all the parts which are common 
 to both systems of locomotion on railways are concerned, the 
 existence of the locomotive engine considerable increases the 
 necessary expense of construction. 
 
 On the principle of atmospheric propulsion, which is now in 
 action upon the short railway from Kingstown to Dalkey, the 
 power is applied at a fixed point to work an air pump, by which 
 the air is continually removed from an iron pipe, which is laid 
 down along the centre of the line. The carriages are con- 
 nected with this pipe by a piston, upon which, when the inter- 
 nal air is exhausted, the external air presses, and as it is found 
 practicable, on the line of a mile and three-quarters, to obtain 
 a vacuum of twenty-four inches in the barometer, there is gene- 
 nated an effective pressure of twelve pounds per square inch of 
 piston area, or for the pipe of fifteen inches diameter, a force of 
 21291b. The valve mechanism which regulates the passage of 
 the air, and opens and closes the apertures in the tube as the 
 train passes, is found in practice to be so far perfect as to 
 leave, after all leakage, a force equivalent to that of the most 
 powerful locomotive engines, generated in the most economical 
 manner, and possessing in'its application peculiar advantages 
 for railway intercourse. 
 
 In the cost of power it has been shewn, that one of the larg- 
 est items is the cost of coke. On the Ulster Railway, the coke 
 cost 34s. per ton, mitil they began to manufacture for them-
 
 376 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 selves, and even then it cost 26s. The Dublin and Kingstown 
 Company pay for coke at the Gas Works 2Ss. 4f/. per ton. 
 Now in the locomotive boiler the coke does not evaporate more 
 than eight times its weight of water : but if the fuel be bm-ned 
 under a fixed engine, and that in place of coke, coal be used, 
 which can be had for 12s. per ton, the ton will evaporate, with 
 Cornish boilers, at least twelve tons of water, and the steam 
 power, to produce which should cost £1000 for coke in a lo- 
 comotive engine, may be generated with the fixed engine for 
 £S'33 worth of coal. Not merely may coke be burned to 
 work the air pump of an atmospheric line, but in localities 
 where coal might be expensive, turf may be used, and thus the 
 system becomes at once applicable to the centre and west of 
 Ireland, where gas coke should be unattainable except at a 
 great expense. The advantages of fixed power do not even 
 stop here. The power need not be that of steam. At every 
 change of level along a line of railway in this country, water 
 power may be made available, and in such case the economy 
 in substituting it for the most expensive form of steam power 
 may be estimated from what has been so fully discussed in the 
 third chapter. 
 
 A further important economy in the principle of fixed power 
 communicated by the flexible medium of the atmosphere, is 
 that its cftect does not alter with the inclination of the road. 
 On an incline the locomotive engine has to draw up itself as 
 well as the train. Let us suppose an incline where the total 
 drag on the engine is doubled ; now unless the velocity of the 
 transport is sacrificed, or an additional engine employed as 
 help, the size of the train must be reduced, and this reduction 
 must be made altogether at the expense of the paying part of 
 the train, so that finally at certain inclines the engine could 
 only draw itself up, and be incapable of bringing any load. It 
 is this peculiarity of the locomotive engine that has hitherto 
 rendered it the object of engineers to avoid inclines, and to re- 
 tain the lines as nearly horizontal as possible, even at a vast 
 sacrifice of cost in the construction. If, however, the power 
 be fixed at a distance, and be brought into action on the train 
 by the fioxible medium of the atmosphere, the mechanical force
 
 OF IRELAND. 377 
 
 will always move a proportional amount of carriages or goods, 
 while the heavy locomotive being absent, all tend to remune- 
 rate the line for the loss of transport. Hence, inclines are 
 available on the atmospheric plan, which would be absolutely 
 impracticable on a line worked by locomotives, and by this, as 
 well as the other considerations previously noticed, the gene- 
 ral engineering conditions of the railway become exceedingly 
 simplified. 
 
 The more intimate connexion with the line by the pipe and 
 piston which gives steadiness to the atmospheric train, and 
 enables it to traverse curves too sharp for the safe passage of 
 an ordinary train, is another advantage : besides that the 
 absence of the locomotive, from which, in most cases of acci- 
 dents, the injury is sustained, presents an additional source of 
 safety. 
 
 The only source of expenditure on an atmospheric line, which 
 does not exist to as great an extent on the locomotive line, is 
 that of the iron exhaustion pipe. This, however, cannot be 
 equivalent to the sources of economy I have described, and 
 hence I do not hesitate to conclude, that in regard to facility 
 of execution, of economy in working and construction, and in 
 safety and rapidity of transit, the principle of fixed power 
 working by atmospheric pressure deserves the most attentive 
 consideration on the part of those engaged in railway enter- 
 prizes, especially in this country, where the substitution of 
 cheap coal, or turf, or still cheaper water power, for expensive 
 coke, may, in many districts, make the difference between a 
 profitable line, or a losing speculation. 
 
 Such being the general conditions of the application of at- 
 mospheric power to locomotion, it remains to notice the gene- 
 ral construction of the trial line now in operation between 
 Kingstown and Dalkey. It is erected on a line of tramway 
 formerly used for conveying stone to Kingstown Harbour. 
 The total length is a mile and three-quarters. Its average 
 inclination is 1 in 115, but in some parts it is 1 in 57: a slope 
 on which a locomotive engine could move little besides itself. 
 It presents several curves sharper than any constructed on or- 
 dinary lines of railway, one of less than an eighth of a mile
 
 378 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 radius, so that on this short lino there are actually so many 
 obstacles, that its success may be considered as decisive, so 
 far as the application of the power is concerned. The engine 
 at Dalkey is of 100 horse power ; this is, for iilterior objects, 
 much greater than that required. The usual average velo- 
 city of the trains ascending the line is thirty miles, but a ve- 
 locity of sixty miles per hour is easily attainable. The trains 
 descend the line from Dalkey by the force of gravity. They 
 occupy usually about three minutes and a half in the ascent, 
 and about foiu* minutes in the descent of the mile and three- 
 quarters. The pipe used on this line is fifteen inches diameter. 
 It is in ten feet lengths, which weigh each twelve cwt. There 
 should be, therefore, per mile 528 lengths, weighing 317 tons, 
 and the iron in the screws and valves might amount to about 
 sixteen tons, making a total of 333 tons of iron per mile of sin- 
 gle way, which is the only point in which this mode is more ex- 
 pensive than the ordinary railway. 
 
 The Dalkey atmospheric line will probably be extended to 
 Wicklow, or even farther south along the coast, and thereby 
 satisfactoi'ily bring into play the full powers of this remark- 
 able mechanism of locomotion. 
 
 The influence of the railway system on the industrial and 
 social circimistances of the country, is so great, as to demand, 
 upon the part of the Government, the most careful super- 
 vision. This has not been as yet accorded to it. When rail- 
 ways were first proposed, their results were not foreseen, nor 
 their vast power understood, even by their advocates, still less 
 by the Government, and hence, being looked upon as individual 
 speculations, into which every capitalist should be at liberty 
 to enter, when and where he liked, and to realize as much pro- 
 fit as he could, there was only required a parliamentary pro- 
 cediu"e, similar to that necessary for obtaining permission to 
 open a new line or branch of common road. The railway, 
 when once opened, took possession necessarily of the entire 
 intercourse between its terminations. It instantly abolished 
 the usual and previous modes of travelling, and this once ef- 
 fected, all fear of competition was removed, and the cost of the 
 transport was rendered such as the managers thought would
 
 OF IRELAND. 379 
 
 be most remunerative. The velocities were also kept far be. 
 low what the system is capable of producing, for the expense 
 increases very rapidly with the velocity, and hence to obtain 
 the greatest amount of profit the speed must be kept low. 
 
 When a proposition for a new railway is brought before Par- 
 liament it is inevitably o^jposed, either by those who, desirous 
 of forming a line in a different direction, advance their claims 
 to a monopoly of their own ; or by such as, having property 
 along the line, are desirous of obtaining the greatest possible 
 amount of compensation, and seek to enhance their importance 
 by strong representations of the injury they sustain. By such 
 opposition the expense of obtaining the necessary bill is enor- 
 mously increased ; landed proprietors of influence in either 
 house, through whose localities the line may pass, require to 
 be conciliated ; the energies of the law agents and others em- 
 ployed for the adverse parties, are exerted to the uttermost, 
 as, no matter how the railway eventuates, whether the pro- 
 prietors ever realize a fraction on their investment, or the pub- 
 lic derive any increase of means of intercourse, the law and 
 engineering expenses must be paid, no matter how enormous 
 they may have become. Those expenses have actually amounted 
 in many cases to £2000 per mile on the entire line, and in ave- 
 rage are not less than £1000 per mile, wherever there is opposi- 
 tion, no matter whether well founded or not. All this must 
 ultimately be defrayed by the public. The companies regard 
 it of course only as a part of their investment, on which profit 
 is to be made equally with that for the construction of the rail- 
 way, or for the expenses of the power. These preliminary 
 operations fm'nish, however, a rich harvest to solicitors and 
 engineers, and hence have arisen throughout England a vast 
 number of railway enterprizes, which, undertaken without 
 suitable investigation as to their final results, have brought 
 ruin upon those persons who were induced to embark their pro- 
 perty in them. There are altogether in operation in the Bri- 
 tish Islands 1732 miles of railway. Of these 1014 miles pay 
 an interest of £6 6s. 7c?. per £100 on their capital, which 
 amounts to £4 19s. 4rf. per cent, on their market price. There 
 are 571 miles of railway on which the return in no case ex-
 
 380 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 ceeils £4 per cent, on the paid up capital : in a few it amounts 
 to £2 10s., and in some but to lOs. per £100. The remaining 
 147 miles consist of branch lines, subordinate to the first class, 
 and producing about from 3^ to 4 per cent. It is thus evident 
 that nearly one-third of the entire extent of railway in England 
 has been an absolutely unfortunate speculation, and yet on 
 these bad lines a total capital of £18,500,000 has been ex- 
 pended, the present value of which is now not more than 
 £13,000,000. 
 
 On the other hand the companies which are in possession of 
 the great lines of intercourse realize enormous profits. The 
 London and Birmingham having cost £3,923,000, pay £11 2s. 
 per cent. The Liverpool and Manchester, and Grand Jimc- 
 tion, having cost respectively £1,515,000 and £2,319,000, pay 
 each £10 per cent., the maximum allowed by law. The lines 
 of intercourse being thus absolutely private speculation, one 
 set of capitalists are ruined, another set are enriched, but the 
 public, so vitally interested in the main question of facility of 
 intercourse, is left totally out of consideration. 
 
 With those examples of profit on one side and of loss upon 
 another, it is easily understood that no difficulty would be 
 found in obtaining capitalists ready to construct those leading 
 lines which are certain of being the great means of intercourse 
 with the capital of the country. But capitalists will not be 
 forthcoming to extend those lines into the variety of districts 
 where the means of intercourse are most required ; where the 
 railroad would be a som-ce of social stimulus towards improve- 
 ment, and by connecting together the most remote parts of the 
 island, and the extremes of our civilization, diffuse the activity 
 of industry and good example over all its parts. That would 
 not pay. The great trunks near Dublin will certainly pay ; 
 and hence the capitalists will obligingly take possession of 
 them. And similarly, if all the provisions which come up for 
 the supply of Dublin, were conducted to the same market, and 
 that the power was given to an individual to levy what toll he 
 liked before the inhabitants could get any food, there is no 
 doubt but that we would find capitalists ready to build the
 
 OF IRELAND. 381 
 
 market. Such a case is just the parallel to the main trunk 
 railways. 
 
 Let us conceive this country destitute of roads, and that an 
 individual undertook to make a road, on condition that no per- 
 son should be allowed to travel or hold communication with 
 his neighbour except by his road ; that no person should, w-hen 
 on the road, travel at a greater or less speed than the owner 
 of the road approved of ; that no person should travel at any 
 other hours than those which the owner ordered ; and that the 
 owner should have the power of charging any sum he chose for 
 the use of his road ; and finally, that this power should be 
 eternal ; that no matter what advances the district made in 
 industry, intelligence, activity, it should still remain bound to 
 the conditions of this road proprietor. Would not this be an 
 intolerable grievance ? And yet every item in that catalogue is 
 realized in the actual circumstances under which railways are 
 placed. For the idea of competing lines, which shall keep the 
 existing companies on their good behaviom', is perfectly chi- 
 merical ; the practical fact being, that the railway, once 
 formed, is a monopoly of the strictest kind. 
 
 Similar considerations have presented themselves to almost 
 every person who has had occasion to study the general rela- 
 tions of railways. The following passage from the concluding 
 section of the Irish Commissioners' Report, is illustrative of 
 the general argvunent, and valuable in addition, as shewing 
 the deliberate opinion of some of the most eminent men by 
 whom questions of the kind have been considered. 
 
 " It is a favourite opinion with many that all undertakings 
 of this description are best left to the free and unfettered ex- 
 ercise of private enterprise, and that the less the State inter- 
 feres, either in prescribing their execution, or controlling their 
 subsequent operation and management, the better. 
 
 " We are fully sensible of the great advantages to be ob- 
 tained by allowing full scope to the vigour, energy, and intelli- 
 gence of individuals associated for such important purposes ; 
 and that it would be equally inconsistent with the interests and 
 with the rights of society were such exertions crippled or re- 
 strained by unnecessary or impolitic regulations. But we I
 
 382 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 prehend that the essential diiference between railways and any 
 other description of public works has been overlooked, and 
 that power and privileges have been conceded to private com- 
 panies', which should be exercised only under the direct au- 
 thority of the State, or under regulations enforced by effective 
 superintendence and control. 
 
 " So great are the powers, so vast the capabilities of a rail- 
 road, that it must, wherever established, at once supersede the 
 common road ; and not only will all the public conveyances now 
 in use disappear, but even the means of posting will, in all pro- 
 bability, rapidly decline, and eventually, perhaps, cease to be 
 found along its line. These effects may be expected as the 
 necessary consequences of opening a railway. Its superiority 
 is too manifest and decided to admit of rivalry -, it possesses 
 almost unlimited means of accommodation ; no amount of traf- 
 fic exists on any road, or is likely to exist, which a single rail- 
 way is not capable of conveying ; no concourse of passengers 
 which it cannot promptly dispose of; the velocity of the loco- 
 motive, when impelled even at a very considerable reduction 
 of its full power, surpasses the greatest speed which the best 
 appointed coach on the best made road can maintain : in short, 
 where the capabilities of the system are brought fully into ope- 
 ration, they present such an accvmiulation of advantages, as 
 to render it an instrument of unequalled power in advancing 
 the prosperity of a country. 
 
 ' ' It therefore deeply concerns the public, whose welfare is 
 inseparably connected ^vith all that tends to improve the in- 
 ternal resources, or to maintain the commercial and manufac- 
 turing superiority of these counti-ics, that such works should 
 be promoted ; and consequently, every encouragement, consis- 
 tent with the regard due to other interests, should be given to 
 capitalists who may be willing to undertake them. Their pro- 
 positions should be submitted to a competent and duly consti- 
 tuted t)-ibunal ; and if approved, sliould be adopted and stamped 
 as national enterprizes. As such they should be protected from 
 all unnecessary expense — from extravagant demands for com- 
 pensation — from vexatious opposition, and from the ruinous
 
 OF IRELAND. 383 
 
 competition of other companies. To that extent they have a 
 strong claim on the protection of the State. 
 
 "But, on the other hand, the public interest would require 
 that they should be bound by such conditions, and held subject 
 to such well-considered regulations and effective control, as 
 shall secure to the country at large the full benefit and accom- 
 modation of this admirable system. 
 
 " The practice hitherto followed in England has been almost 
 the very reverse of that which we here recommend. No pre- 
 liminary steps are taken on behalf of the public, to ascertain 
 whether the proposed railroad be well adapted to its specific 
 object, or calculated to form a part of a more general system. 
 The best and the worst devised schemes are entertained alike, 
 being equally exposed to ojjposition, and left equally impro- 
 tected against the difficulties which interested parties may 
 raise up against them. Nay, a railway bill may be passed, or 
 it may be rejected ; but the fate of the project merely proves 
 the number and influence of its respective supporters or oppo- 
 nents. Its failure or success is no test whatever of its merits, 
 as a measure of general utility ; for that consideration forms 
 a very small part of the inquiry before Parliament." 
 
 It appears from all these considerations that the great chan- 
 nels of public intercourse should not be rendered private pro- 
 perty ; that, in the language of an enlightened Belgian minis- 
 ter, to whose reports on other subjects I shall have occasion 
 elsewhere to refer: " the object desired in the construction of 
 a railway should be not the gain of an individual, but the ex- 
 tension of the traffic and communications of the country to the 
 utmost limits of the public capability, at the lowest rate of 
 charge, at which the original outlay can be reimbursed." . . . 
 " The project undertaken by Government is an establishment 
 which should neither be a burthen nor a source of revenue, 
 and requiring merely that it should cover its own expenses, 
 consisting of the charge of maintenance and repairs, with a 
 further sum for the interest and gradual redemption of the in- 
 vested capital." The systems upon which the railways of Eng- 
 land and of Belgium have been constructed are thus completely
 
 384 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 opposite, and the way in which each worjcs, is such as might 
 have been expected from this opposition of principles. As the 
 able author of the pamphlet entitled Railway Reform says : 
 " The object of the one is to tax the public the maximum of 
 the most profitable rate, that of the other the minimum of the 
 most economical expenditure ; the one to produce the greatest 
 profit to private individuals, and the other to confer the greatest 
 benefit on the whole community. What are the relative charges 
 by each ? On one of our railways, from London to Birming- 
 ham for instance, the distance is 112 miles, and the fare by the 
 mail is £1 12s. 6d. For the same distance in Belgium, in a 
 similar class carriage, the fare would be fourteen francs, or 
 just one-third of what it is in England." 
 
 I have endeavom'ed thus to explain the reasons which have 
 induced me to conclude, that it is, at the present time, a vital 
 question with this country, on what plan the organization of a 
 network of railways should be constructed. I have left out 
 of question the argument which has often been advanced vidth 
 much force, that private companies proceed to the execution 
 of such works with a carelessness of expenditure which could 
 be avoided if the entire were under strict central superinten- 
 dence. It is true that many lines of railway in England have 
 cost sums so enormous, as to manifest the most wasteful ex- 
 travagance, or the most discreditable carelessness, but I con- 
 sider that a great jDart of this high expenditure arose from 
 the ignorance and timidity of engineers, who, the system being 
 in its infancy, considered themselves limited to a horizontality 
 of line, which enormously increased the outlay. The future 
 lines, whether private or governmental, will be much more 
 economically executed than such undertakings have hitherto 
 been. This, however, does not alter the general conclusion 
 that the great highways of the country should belong to the 
 country, and that the means of intercourse of the population 
 should be under the regulation of the State. 
 
 It is of course not within my duties nor my powers to propose 
 such measures as would give the public a proper control over 
 the times, charges, and velocities of the means of intercourse. 
 Such plans have been brought forward, and by those whose
 
 OF IRELAND. 385 
 
 knowledge and position rendered them peculiarly competent 
 to the task. Thus let capitalists make the railway, but let 
 their investment be not a speculation but a stock, on which they 
 should get a secure but limited interest, and at 4^ per cent, 
 abundance of capital could be obtained ; let the districts 
 within a certain distance of the line secure that interest ; if 
 the railway realize a higher interest, let the difference go to 
 alleviate the other burthens on the land of the vicinity. Now 
 it must be recollected that no prudent capitalists will make a 
 railway for themselves, unless with a moral certainty of its pay- 
 ing more than 4|- per cent., so that the diffei'ence of result is, 
 that should the line be made by the capitalists for the country, 
 if it paid 6 per cent, the country would have 1^ profit to apply 
 to other local objects, and could control velocities, arrange 
 hours, and reduce fares as they thought fit, whilst if the capi- 
 talist make the railway on his own account, he pockets the 
 entire 6 per cent, of profit, and the public has no control, but 
 must submit to any regulations he likes to make. 
 
 The landed proprietors in many of our counties were, how- 
 ever, terribly frightened at the idea of the localities being 
 made liable for the interest, and the most exaggerated state- 
 ments were circulated as to the amount for which the districts 
 would thus be responsible. I believe that if the subject was 
 generally understood, this alarm, which was so fatal to the im- 
 portant principle of keeping in their own hands the control of 
 their own highways, would be dissipated. The probable lia- 
 bilities have been in fact accurately calculated, and are as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 If we suppose, as was at one time contemplated, three trunk 
 lines issuing from Dublin, and fiassing northwards to Armagh, 
 westwards to Mullingar, and southwards to Cashel, their cost, 
 according to the highest estimate which had been made, should 
 be. 
 
 To Cashel, 100 miles, £1,300,0(30 
 
 To Mullingar, 49 miles, 459,600 
 
 To Armagh, 92 miles, 1,185,100 
 
 Total, 241 miles, £2,944,700 
 
 2 c
 
 386 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 And to secure the repayment of 4^ per cent, interest, the dis- 
 tricts through whicli^the lines passed should be liable to assess- 
 ment, in proportion to their vicinity to the railway, and the 
 probable benefit derived from it. If the line realized 4^ per 
 cent., of course the districts had nothing to pay. If it realized 
 more than 4^^, of course the districts had the overplus as abso- 
 lute gain. But if there were a deficiency of receipts of 1 per 
 cent., then the localities should be assessed in the amount of 
 from nine-tenths of a penny, to one and two-tenths penny per 
 statute acre of arable land per annum, for the lands judged 
 most benefited, and in from one-sixth to one-tenth of a penny 
 for those least benefited. Supposing no return whatsoever 
 on the railway, and that the entire interest had to be made 
 up, the tax should be per acre of arable land, from4J. to 5jd. 
 for the districts most, and Id. to 1|</. for the districts least 
 benefited. 
 
 It may appear that I have unne ssarily dwelt on these 
 topics, now that the question appears definitely settled, and 
 that not merely in England, where the system was already in 
 operation, but also in this country, where, the field being prac- 
 tically new, a different mode might have been tried, the pro- 
 perty, control, and construction of railways arc to be left to 
 private capitalists. I am satisfied, however, that the defects 
 of the existing system are so rapidly augmenting in impor- 
 tance and notoriety, that before long, the question must be 
 discussed anew, and as it is important that sound ideas should 
 be placed before the public for consideration, prior to the 
 period of actual judgment, I have so far entered upon their dis- 
 cussion. 
 
 From the geological and topographical details regarding 
 the surface of the country, which have occupied so much of the 
 preceding chapters, it will be easily understood, that Ireland 
 is most favourably circumstanced for the construction of rail- 
 ways. The great limestone plain, which occupies an area in 
 the interior of the country of not loss than 10,000 square miles, 
 presents facilities for railway engineering scarcely to be 
 equalled. In the north and south the mountain ranges afford 
 some obstacles, which, however, are not beyond the usual run
 
 OF IRELAND. 387 
 
 of engineering difficulties, that are every day overcome in siii'h 
 underta.king-s, and there is hence no physical reason why this 
 country should not rapidly acquire an efficient system of rail- 
 way intercourse. In nothing is the difference between Ire- 
 land and England more marked than in the extent of navi- 
 gable rivers, of canals, and railroads, possessed by the two 
 countries. 
 
 Independent of common roads, of which I do not know any 
 estimate, there are in 
 
 ENGLAND. IRELAND. 
 
 Canals, (statute miles), .... 2478 362 
 
 Navigable rivers, ,, 1820 380 
 
 Railroads, ,, 1742 64 
 
 What renders this contrast the more remarkable is, that 
 the great majority of these facilities of intei-nal intercourse are 
 spread over a sui'face not greater than that of Ireland. In 
 fact, the inhabitants of almost every district of the sister king- 
 dom have placed at their very doors the means of the most 
 perfect access to markets for their produce and the materials of 
 their manufactures. They are thus enabled to prosecute their 
 various departments of industry under the most economical 
 conditions. Time is money : labour is money : the canal, the 
 river, or the railroad, which places its facilities at the disposal 
 of the manufactui'er or farmer in England, is an increase of 
 money price for what he brings to market, which enables him 
 to undersell and ruiu the Irish artizan, whose country is left 
 in a condition of comparative barbarism, and the energy which 
 might clear out the course of rivers, might cut canals, and 
 construct railroads, is spent in fighting about theories which 
 few of either party are in a condition to understand. 
 
 It only remains for the present subject, to notice the cii'- 
 cumstances of Ireland as to her capabilities and position for 
 foreign trade. In this respect there is no country in the world 
 her superior. She is placed, as it were, by nature, the key of 
 the two hemispheres, the point by which America first commu- 
 nicates with Europe, and the last on which the traveller to the 
 west can pause. Her westerly situation enables vessels from 
 2c2
 
 388 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 her ports to escape the perils of channel navigation, and at 
 once to obtain an offing, which enables them to bear out for 
 any port of either continent. The evidence collected by parlia- 
 mentary inquiries as to the advantages of harbours on the wes- 
 tern coast is quite decisive. The voyage from America to the 
 west of Ireland and back again, could frequently be made in 
 the time that vessels take in clearing the channel from Liver- 
 pool, from London, or from Glasgow. 
 
 Lord Sheffield, whose acute judgment will be admitted, and 
 who certainly was not biassed by Irish prejudices, notices this 
 position in a passage which is amusingly candid. He says, 
 when speaking of the impolicy of repealing the navigation laws 
 between England and Ireland, which was then clamourously 
 demanded by this country : " Her object is to become the mart 
 of Europe for the trade of America, for which she is so welj 
 suited, by her western situation immediately open to the ocean, 
 and accessible almost with every wind ; her vessels often cross- 
 ing the Atlantic in a shorter time than the shipping of London 
 require to clear the channel. In addition, her ships can be 
 victualled infinitely cheaper, and every necessary of life being 
 low, as well as public taxes, the general charge of conduct- 
 ing trade will be proportionately less." Now this object, 
 which Lord Sheffield so much feared, is precisely what should 
 be the ambition of this country. Her position fits her for it, 
 and it is only by the absence of the general means of improve- 
 ment in industrial pursuits, that its success has been so long 
 prevented. 
 
 It is sometimes supposed that the introduction of steam upon 
 the Atlantic has neutralized the westerly position of this coun- 
 try, and removed the disadvantages of the channel navigation. 
 This is not the case. The freight of goods in steam- vessels 
 on long voyages, is far too high to allow of their being gene- 
 rally used. Passengers and letters are conveyed by them, but 
 now, as formerly, the merchandize is sent by sailing vessels. 
 Hence for goods, the relative positions of the harbours of this 
 country and of the sister kingdom, remain as when Lord Shef- 
 field wrote. But were the access to the western coast as direct 
 and easy as it might and should be made, the passengers also
 
 OF IRELAND, 389 
 
 would naturally prefer to start from the extremest point of 
 land. Railroads from Dublin to Valentia or Beerhaven, or to 
 Tarbert on the Shannon, would render Ireland the leading 
 highway between the hemispheres. 
 
 It is not my province to enter into a guide book description 
 of the individual harbours which are found along our coast. 
 The evidence of nautical men of the soundest judgment has 
 characterized them as being competent to any, even the most 
 extensive, commercial or other wants, and I shall, therefore, 
 conclude this chapter by noticing what appears to me a fea- 
 ture in our industrial circumstances, which deserves consi- 
 deration. 
 
 At present, whatever industrial activity exists in Ii'eland is 
 distributed along the eastern coast, and is, in fact, sustained 
 by the exportation of raw agricultural produce, which is paid 
 for by the importation of manufactures from the more deve- 
 loped industry and higher civilization of the sister kingdom. 
 Any trade or manufacture which we find in the western dis- 
 tricts, is there in spite of their situation, and not as a conse- 
 quence of it. If, however, ■^^dth the growth of education, of 
 steady habits, and of business tastes, our domestic industry 
 should, as I fondly trust it may, revive, our farmers would 
 meet a safer and a better market for their produce, amongst 
 their neighbours, and consimie the cloth, the linen, cotton, and 
 other products manufactured within our own bounds. In such 
 case the differences which are now so marked between the 
 north and south, the east and west of Ireland, would disappear, 
 and each locality would manifest a power of industry, com- 
 mensurate with its natural structxu'e, and the energy and intel- 
 ligence of its people. In such case there is no doubt, but that 
 the greatest development of activity and wealth should be 
 towards the west, and especially along the districts of the 
 Shannon. Let us conceive that river, forming at its source, 
 250 ixiiles from the sea, an extensive lake, surrounded with 
 coal and turf, and the richest ironstone, then cutting through 
 a district containing some of the most fertile land in Ireland, 
 capable of producing the largest returns of flax, of corn, and 
 cattle; presenting an alternation of lake and river, fitted for
 
 390 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 steain navigation from end to end, and in one locality, within 
 the distance of four miles, attbrding water power for mechani- 
 cal manufactures on the greatest scale. In the hills, a few 
 miles only from this seat of mechanical power, are mines of 
 lead, of copper, and of sulphur, of slate, and marbles. Again, 
 this great line of navigation is placed in immediate access to 
 the eastern coast by two canals, and may be brought into con- 
 tact with the north by a canal to Loughs Erne and Neagh. 
 Finally, it possesses a capacious port, and estuary superior to 
 that of the Thames, and roadsteads capable of giving certain 
 accommodation to the most extensive navy. 
 
 Those natm-al facilities, of which no such combination exists 
 in any other part of the country, promise to render, at some 
 future time, the Shannon the line of industrial activity in Ire- 
 land. Of that line. Limerick, if not dethroned by some more 
 active competitor, may be the key. It is a future upon which 
 every Irishman must look with deepfelt interest, and with the 
 hope that the people may, by morality, by steadiness, and in- 
 telligence, shew themselves worthy of the benefits that have 
 been placed thus within their grasp, and may be found compe- 
 tent to apply them in the proper manner.
 
 OP IRELAND. 391 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 CIRCUMSTANCES OF IRELAND REGARDING CERTAIN STAPLE AR- 
 TICLES OF INDUSTRY. COTTON, WOOL, SALT. OF THE COST 
 OF LABOUR IN IRELAND. SKILLED AND UNSKILLED LABOUR. 
 CHEAP LABOUR AND LOW WAGES NOT IDENTICAL. LABOUR- 
 ING FORCE OF MEN ESTIMATED. SKILLED LABOUR RARE AND 
 DEAR IN IRELAND. FREEDOM OF LABOUR NECESSARY TO ALL 
 INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS. COMBINATIONS IN IRELAND MORE 
 INJURIOUS THAN IN GREAT BRITAIN. HOW TO BE COUNTER- 
 ACTED. EVIDENCES OF IMPROVEMENT IN THE HABITS OF 
 THE WORKING CLASSES. 
 
 SUPPOSED WANT OF CAPITAL IN IRELAND. REAL EXTENT OF 
 ITS INFLUENCE. ENGLISH CAPITAL NOT AVAILABLE FOR 
 ACTIVE INDUSTRY. USEFUL FOR THE SECONDARY OPERA- 
 TIONS OF PASSI\'E INDUSTRY, AND THUS LEAVING NATIVE 
 CAPITAL FREE FOR THE MORE ACTLSE PURSUITS. 
 
 NECESSITY FOR INDUSTRIAL KNOWLEDGE IN IRELAND. POS- 
 SESSED BY ENGLAND IN AN EMINENT DEGREE. OBSERVA- 
 TIONS OF M. BRIAVIONNE. FALSE IDEAS OF EDUCATION. 
 UNION OF SCIENCE AND PRACTICE NECESSARY FOR INDUSTRY. 
 INDUSTRIAL KNOWLEDGE MORE EXTENSIVE AND MORE DIF- 
 FICULT TO ACQUIRE THAN PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 MANNER OF CONDUCTING IT. EXERTIONS OF THE ROYAL 
 DUBLIN SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION. 
 SPECIAL EDUCATION IN AGRICULTURE BY THE ROYAL DUB- 
 LIN SOCIETY, THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY, AND 
 PRIVATE AGRICULTURAL SCHOOLS. OF THE SYSTEMS OF NA- 
 TIONAL EDUCATION, IN REGARD TO AGRICULTURE. RELA- 
 TIONS OF INDUSTRY TO MORALITY, TEMPERANCE, AND IN- 
 TELLIGENCE. CONCLUSION. 
 
 In the preceding chapter I have endeavoured to point out the 
 circumstances of this country, as to the most important ma- 
 terial elements of mechanical and agricultural industry. The 
 extent and quality of our supplies of fuel ; the distribution 
 and amount of our som-ces of water power ; the localities of 
 our mines of iron, of copper, and other useful metals, have en- 
 gaged attention, as well as the condition of the soil, the 
 amount of its produce, and the general principles upon which 
 its cultivation should be based, as regards equally the profita- 
 ble investment of capital, and the comfort of the people. With
 
 392 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 such elements of material prosperity lying at our hands, 
 it becomes a problem of high importance, to resolve why they 
 have not been made available, and why this conntry has been 
 left behind in the path of physical improvement by other 
 nations, whose natural circumstances are in few instances su- 
 perior, but in many points, certainly less advantageous. The 
 examination of this general question is, however, foreign to 
 my object, and would involve considerations far apart from 
 those on which alone the man of scic nee desires to dwell, or, 
 probably, is competent to judge. Although thus waiving its 
 discussion, I shall endeavour to fix attention on certain circum- 
 stances, of which some have been described as peculiarly 
 facilitating the development of industry in this country, whilst 
 others are usually looked upon, as the most characteristic dis- 
 advantages under which it labours. The inquiries I have 
 made, and the consideration I have been enabled to give the 
 subject, have led me to believe, that the popular impression is 
 in both cases wrong, and as the establishing of a more correct 
 idea becomes important, as affecting future progress, I shall 
 notice those topics in detail. Before entering upon their dis- 
 cussion, however, it is necessary to advert briefly to the con- 
 ditions of this country, with regard to some staple articles of 
 manufacturing industry, that have not hitherto been described. 
 Some of these are strictly of foreign origin, but the others 
 are at least of possible home production, althongh their cir- 
 cumstances did not allow them to be noticed earlier. 
 
 Cotton wool, which now forms so large an article in British 
 industry, is not imported directly into Ireland, because this 
 country has no articles of manufacture to send in place of it. 
 For the use of such factories as exist upon our eastern coast, it 
 is purchased in Liverpool, and transhipped for Ireland. This 
 is an additional expense, but although it would be of course 
 desirable to get rid of it, it is not so heavy as might be sup- 
 posed, when reduced to the per centage proportion of the 
 general cost of the manufacture. In the case described, page 
 f>8. where tiie precise proportions of a factory are given, the 
 total expenses of transport to Ireland arc 1 "4 per cent, of the 
 n suit. Tills is probably not exceeded, if it lie equalled, uj)on
 
 OF IRELAND. 393 
 
 any other part of the eastern coast. In the case, however, of 
 the development of manufacturing enterprize upon the western 
 coast, and along the Shannon, the cost of transport of cotton 
 from Liverpool would be much heavier. If paid for by ma- 
 nufactured goods, the cotton of the Southern States, or of 
 Surat, would be delivered in Limerick or Gahvay, freed from 
 the delays and danger of a channel voyage. It will be, indeed, 
 an epoch in the history of Ireland, when a bale of cotton direct 
 from New Orleans is spun and woven at Killaloe, and in part 
 returned as printed calicos or muslins from Limerick to the 
 States. The man who first accomplishes that, or any equiva- 
 lent result, will have effected a revolution. 
 
 The woollen manufacture has been at all periods considered 
 as of high importance in this country, so that at certain times 
 it was deemed necessary to take measures to moderate its 
 prosperity. Where ill-judged efforts for its encouragement 
 alternated with violent attempts at its suppression, the ob- 
 ject of the latter was of course finally accomplishod, and at 
 present the woollen trade does not form an exception to the 
 general stagnation of industry, which is so unfortunately 
 characteristic of this country. In considering how far the 
 natural condition of Ireland leads us to expect the develop- 
 ment of this industry to any important degree, it is ne- 
 cessary to consider the growth of wool which we possess, not 
 merely in relation to its quantity, but also to its quality and 
 structure. 
 
 A very large quantity of wool is grown in Ireland. The 
 grazing counties of the limestone plain afford an herbage 
 peculiarly agreeable to sheep. The total number of sheep in 
 Ireland is given in page 258, as somewhat above two millions. 
 In Ulster, where industry and agriculture are most advanced, 
 the pastoral habits are weakest. In Connaught the reverse 
 conditions exist. To 100 acres of arable land, there are in 
 Ulster but six sheep, wliilst there are in Connaught twent}'- 
 four. It would be useless to attempt to calculate from this, 
 the quantity of wool, as in iact each fleece yields numerous 
 kinds of wool, which form (juite distinct objects of manufacture. 
 There is no doubt, however, but that were the wool grown
 
 394 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 in Ireland manufacturtd in it, there shoukl be called into play 
 so great an amount oi' mechanical industry, as would aiford 
 employment to a large portion of the people. At present great 
 tpiantities of wool are exported from this comitry, particularly 
 to France, and several French houses have established agencies 
 in the centre and west of Ireland for the more direct purchase 
 of the wool. This wool is in France manufactured into the 
 mousselines de laine, so deservedly popular amongst our coun- 
 trywomen, by whom, I trust, they would not be less esteemed, 
 had they been spun, and woven, and printed without leaving 
 Ireland, and thus have given comfortable means of living to 
 thousands of our countrymen. 
 
 There are two kinds of woollen goods, which are formed by 
 different modes of manufacture, and these, again, are founded 
 on essential differences in the structure of the wool. Worsted 
 goods are formed of wool, the fibres of which are long, and 
 have little twist. In such goods the web is formed only as the 
 web of cotton or linen goods, by the opposition of the fibres, 
 alternately crossing and parallel. But, in what are properly 
 woollen goods, as in broad cloths, after the web has been so 
 formed, it is subjected to a violent beating, in the tucking or 
 fulling mill, during which the cloth shrinks very much in length 
 and breadth, but thickens, and the individual threads of the 
 web so mix in with each other that they cannot be distinguished, 
 until it is much worn, and becomes thread-bare. Now, for 
 such goods, a different kind of wool must be taken than for 
 worsted goods. The fibre must be short, and more twisted. 
 These varieties of wool are known as short and long stapled. 
 The cause of this difference is, that each fibre of wool consists 
 of a series of joints, and at each joint there are a set of pro- 
 jections, like the barbs of a fish hook. In long stapled wool 
 these barbs are few, and very weak ; in short stapled wool they 
 arc numerous, and strong. If a handful of the latter be worked 
 in the hands, the fibres will gradually interlace, and, by these 
 barbs catching in each other, will lock into a kind of web, quite 
 independent of spinning and weaving : they will felt. It is in 
 this way that tlio liodies of hats are made, as all furs possess 
 the same property. Hence, the making of cloth requires the
 
 OF IRELAND. 395 
 
 spinning and weaving of the web, in the first instance, and the 
 subsequent partial felting of the fibres, in the tucking mill. 
 
 I notice these particulars, as the climate and vegetation of a 
 country exercise remarkable infiuence on the staple and struc- 
 ture of the wool which the sheep produce, and thus, finally, on 
 the description of manufactured goods. In moist cold climates, 
 such as that of the British Islands, the natural wool of the 
 adult sheep is universally long stapled, and unfit for felting: 
 whilst in dry climates, with hot summers, the wool is short 
 stapled, and felts strongly. The wool produced not merely in 
 Ireland, but in England also, is thus exclusively adapted for 
 the worsted trade; and that of Ireland being of an excellent qua- 
 lity of fibre, is much sought after for the finer kinds of worsted, 
 such as those already noticed of French manufacture. For woollen 
 cloths, and similar goods, the wool is imported from the Con- 
 tinent. The great plains of the east of Europe support vast 
 flocks of sheejj, from whence we derive our Silesian and Saxon 
 wool. The dry plains of South Australia are also favourable to 
 that growth of fibre, and hence has been created, within a few 
 years, a branch of trade most important to that colony. It has 
 been often an object with English wool-growers, and landed 
 proprietors, to produce this felting wool in England, and thus 
 get rid of the necessity of purchasing abroad ; but it has been 
 found impossible, after the most expensive expi?riments in im- 
 porting sheep of particular flocks. It has been found that 
 in two or three generations, even of the pure breed, the influ- 
 ence of the climate and food totally changed the character of 
 the wool, and brought it to the same quality as that of the 
 native animals. 
 
 It is thus evident that the manufacture of the native wools of 
 Ireland can lead but to one department of that important branch 
 of industry, that is. the worsted trade. With regard to wool- 
 lens, this country, like England, must import wool, and hence 
 will be under the same conditions of access to raw materials as 
 the sister kingdom. In no degree are we less favourably 
 placed. The Messrs. Willans, so extensively and so favourably 
 known in Dublin, and who have also large factories at Leeds, 
 have often and in public declared, that they carry on trade as
 
 396 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 favourably in Ireland as in England : the low price of coals in 
 Yorkshire being fully counterbalanced by the cheapness of 
 water-power, and a certain advantage in wages here. 
 
 A substance which is the basis of more chemical manufac- 
 tures than any other, is common salt. It yields chlorine, and 
 is thus the original material of all the beautiful arts which in- 
 volve bleaching processes. It yields soda, and this is an ingre- 
 dient in soap, in glass, and numerous other substances not so 
 universally kno^vn. In curing provisions, and as a manure, it 
 is of extensive use, and as a condiment, it becomes a part of 
 our daily food. There is, probably, no one material, the ab- 
 straction of which would occasion so many deficiencies in the 
 habits of a civilized people. Of this important substance, there 
 is no natural deposit in Ireland. Salt is found usually in the 
 new red sandstone, aud the gypseous marls which lie above the 
 coal strata ; and thus about Chesshire are situated the great 
 salt mines and pits of England, These formations exist in 
 Ireland only in the north-eastern district, about Belfast, as 
 described page 179, and they have not been found to contain 
 any indications of salt mines. We are, therefore, dependant 
 on England for our supply of this valuable material. Its price 
 is so low, that the cost of transport increases its cost in a very 
 important degree, and hence the various chemical manufac- 
 tures, which require large quantities of salt, labour under a 
 much greater proportional disadvantage in this country than 
 the mechanical manufactures do, in regard to fuel, to produce 
 steam. Salt, however, could be obtained, although not so 
 economically, by the evaporation of sea-water. It is thus 
 formed on the coast of Southern Europe ; the strong heat of 
 the sun drying down the water, which is run into shallow re- 
 servoirs. With us, the sun is not strong enough, and rain is 
 too frequent to allow of such methods being adopted ; but by 
 employing the plans that are actually adopted in Germany, to 
 concentrate the waters of the weak bi'ine springs in those lo- 
 calities, where there are no mines of rock salt, the sea-water 
 of our coasts might be concentrated partially, perhaps to a half, 
 and then the evaporation should be finished by means of coal
 
 OF IRELAND. 397 
 
 01' turf. It would occupy too long, and would, indeed, be su- 
 perfluous, to describe those plans of evaporation. I shall only 
 notice that the cost of the fuel that would be at least required 
 to obtain a ton of salt, should be about 18s., and the other ex- 
 penses would probably make the salt from sea-water cost, on 
 the coast of Ireland, not less than 25s. per ton. The ordinary 
 English salt seldom costs more in Liverpool than 10s. or 12s. 
 per ton. 
 
 Such are the conditions of these three important materials 
 of industry, cotton, wool, and salt, as regards Ireland. We 
 arrive now at the consideration of a most influential element 
 in manufacturing calculations — the cost of labour, the lowness 
 of which has been popularly considered as the most eminent 
 inducement this country can present to the capitalist to em- 
 bark in industrial undertakings. 
 
 That human labour can be obtained in this country on lower 
 terms than almost any other in Europe, is too well known to 
 require examjjle. A population, for which the existing modes 
 of cultivation do not supply occupation on the land, and which 
 is not, as in the sister kingdom, drafted off to manufacturing 
 employments in the towns, must, in order to live, accept of 
 any terms of remuneration which they can get in exchange for 
 labour. It is thus that 8d. or lOd. per day is found to be the 
 usual rate of wages, at a distance from large towns, and that, 
 even on such terms, thousands of men remain unemployed 
 during the greater portion of the year : this nominal cheap- 
 ness is, however, by no means necessarily economy in final 
 cost. A wretched man who can earn, by his exertion, but 
 4s. or 3s. a week, on which to support his family and pay the 
 rent of a sort of habitation, must be so ill fed, and depressed 
 in mind, that to work, as a man should work, is beyond his 
 power. Hence there are often seen about employments in this 
 coimtry a number of hands, double what would be required to 
 do the same work, in the same time, with British labourers. 
 The latter would probably be paid at least twice as much 
 money per day, but in the end the work woidd not cost the 
 employer more ; although the wages, therefore, in the former
 
 398 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 example wero lowor, laboui' was not cheaper, on the oontrai'v, 
 somewhat higher, as the trouble of overseeing twice the num- 
 ber of men is a source of additional expense. 
 
 When I say that the men thus employed, at low wages, do 
 so much less real work, I do not moan that they inttmtionally 
 idle, or that they reflect that as they receive so little they 
 should give little value ; on the contrary, they do their best 
 honestly to earn their wages, but supplied only with the lowest 
 descriptions of food, and perhaps, in insufficient quantity, they 
 have not the physical ability for labour, and being without 
 any direct prospect of advancement, they are not excited by 
 that laudable ambition to any display of superior energy. If 
 the same men are placed in circumstances, where a field for 
 increased exertion is ojoened to them, and they are made to 
 understand, what at first they are rather incredulous about, 
 that they will receive the full value of any increased labour 
 they perform, they become new beings : the work they execute 
 rises to the highest standard, and they earn as much money as 
 the labourers of any other country ; wages are no longer low, 
 but labom* is not, on that account, anything dearer than it 
 had been before. An occurrence at a certain public work will 
 exemplify this principle. Many hundreds of men were em- 
 ployed at lOf/. per day. They worked slowly, and ineffectually; 
 the work was not progressing, and as time was an object, a 
 parcel of English labourers were introduced, who were paid 
 Idd. per day, which they fully earned. None of the Irish la- 
 bourers were dismissed, but they struck work, and demanded 
 that all should have I8d. per day. The Englishmen feared 
 for their lives. The police and military were called out, and 
 the affair might have eventuated in a scene of blood, adding 
 another to the tales of horror so industriously circulated about 
 the savageness of the native Irish, At this moment one of the 
 principal engineers, an Irishman, respected by the people for 
 his abilities, and esteemed by them as a comitryman, came 
 amongst them, and penetrating into the mass of excited la- 
 bourers, arrested and gave into custody all the ringleaders. 
 The crowd of labourers would not do him an injury. He 
 then, in place of the common practice of saying they were
 
 OF IRELAND. 309 
 
 brutes, and none but English labourers were fit for any useful 
 purpose, quietly explained to them that the Englishmen did 
 much more work and deserved to be paid higher, but that ho 
 would be very willing to secure 18(/. per day to every man, 
 who would do as much work as the Englishmen, and more, 
 if they could do more. He shewed them that from their rude 
 way of managing their tools they wasted their strength, and 
 that by simple improvements a great deal of time could be 
 saved in their operations. The people knew and trusted him ; 
 the police and military were withdrawn ; the whole body of 
 labourers went to work, and after the first Saturday night 
 they found, that without combination or violence, they could 
 earn more money by laying themselves down steadily to do 
 more work. After some weeks there were very few of the 
 men earning less than 18c?., and many of them were earning at 
 the rate of 2s. 6d. per day. 
 
 In this case wages ceased to be low, precisely as the effi- 
 ciency of work increased. The cheapness of labour is thus 
 shewn to be quite different from the nominal rate of wages. 
 This diiference is not peculiar to this country, it exists as 
 forcibly in regard to certain countries of the Continent. Thus 
 the iron manufacture in France is actually more retarded by 
 this cause than by the greater proportional cost of fuel, which 
 is popularly considered the most important. 
 
 The manufactui'e of iron, including the extraction of the 
 fuel, and of the iron ore and flux, as well as the actual smelt- 
 ing and refining of the metal, occupies as many hands in 
 France as it does in England, although the quantity of produce 
 is not one-third so great. In fact, an iron work in Great ]jri- 
 tain producing 10,000 tons of iron per annum, would employ 
 145 men, or a man for every sixty-nine tons of iron. In France 
 it would require two furnaces for the same quantity of metal, 
 and they would employ 445 men, or a man for every twenty- 
 three tons. Hence, there are three times as many hands for 
 the same work, and although provisions are so much cheaper 
 and wages lower in France, more money must be paid to work- 
 men there than in England to produce the same quantity of
 
 400 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 iron. In fact, in trades requiring consicleraV)]e mechanical 
 skill, wages are actually lower in Englaud than in any other 
 country, in consequence of there being so much more com- 
 petition amongst persons so qualified. 
 
 In every industrial occupation there are actually involved two 
 totally distinct offices, which are paid for in very different de- 
 grees. These are the animal force, and the mental exertion 
 which directs it. The question of relative cheapness or dear- 
 ness of labour altogether depends on the relative proportions 
 we want of those, and the proportions in which they are pos- 
 sessed by the man we hire. Now, owing to the general absence 
 of industrial activity in this country, the mental power is not 
 at all so universal as in Britain. It is hence dearer in Ireland, 
 whilst animal force, destitute of industrial skill, being less 
 abundant in Great Britain, is dearer there than it is with us. 
 A bricklayer in London gets 22s. per week, and his labourer 
 I4s. ; a bricklayer in Dublin gets 25s. per week, and his la- 
 bourer but 9s. These proportions are often said to be caused 
 by combination and threats against employers. It is not so ; 
 the fact being that men who know how to set bricks are pro- 
 portionally more abundant in London, and men who do not 
 know how to do it are more abundant with us. This diversity 
 produces both the power of combining, and the diffei'ence of 
 wages. 
 
 Considering man merely as a source of animal power, it is 
 gratifying to have it proved, that when at all well fed, there 
 is no race more perfectly developed, as to physical conforma- 
 tion, than the inhabitants of this island. Professor Forbes in- 
 stituted an extensive series of observations of the size and 
 strength of the students attending the University of Edin- 
 burgh, who may be considered as fairly representing the mid- 
 dle classes of their respective countries; and I have subjoined 
 the similar results of Professor Quetelet, regarding the stu- 
 dents of the University of Bruxelles. The strength indicated 
 is that shown by pulling out the stem of a spring dynamome- 
 ter.
 
 OF IRELAND. 
 
 401 
 
 AVERAGE HEIGHT 1 AVERAGE WEIGHT 
 IN INCHES. IN POUNDS. 
 
 AVERAGE STRENGTH 
 IN POUNDS. 
 
 English, 
 Scotch, 
 Irish, 
 Belgians, 
 
 68i 
 69" 
 70 
 68 
 
 151 
 152* 
 155 
 150 
 
 403 
 
 423 
 432 
 339 
 
 The Irish are thus the tallest, strongest, and heaviest of the 
 four races. 
 
 Mr. Field, the eminent mechanical engineer of London, had 
 occasion to examine the relative powers of British and Irish 
 labourers, to raise weights by means of a crane. He commu- 
 nicated his results to the Institute of Civil Engineers in Lon- 
 don. He found that the utmost effort of a man lifting at the 
 rate of one foot per minute ranged : 
 
 Englishmen, from ll,505tb to 24,2551b. 
 Irishmen, ,, 17,325 „ 27,562 
 The utmost effort of a AVelshman was 15,112. 
 
 In all operations, therefore, where brute force is required, 
 there is no question but that we possess in Ireland, in the ac- 
 tual population, a vast amount of power ; but the progress of 
 art and of intelligence must lead us to consider such employ- 
 ment as unsuited to a being endowed with the noble capacity 
 for improvement that belongs to man. It should be his pre- 
 rogative to subdue the greater strength of other animals, and 
 to adapt the wondrous forces of external nature to his ends, by 
 virtue of the intelligence with which he is provided, and the 
 labouring force of man must be considered as lying truly dor- 
 mant, so far as its true uses are concerned, until it be quickened 
 by the energetic fire of industrial education. It is in this re- 
 gard that Ireland is actually weakest, and that most difficulty 
 may be expected in any i'uture development of our industry. 
 No matter to what side we turn, or what problem of manu- 
 facturing or agricultural improvement we proceed to, we find 
 the difficulty of procuring skilled workmen or superintendents, 
 and hence all such positions are occupii'd by natives of the 
 2d
 
 402 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 sister island, to the exclusion, as it would appear unfair, of 
 the natives of this country. Such an idea is, however, quite 
 unjust. Irishmen are not appointed to those situations because 
 they are not educated for them. Scotchmen and Englishmen 
 obtain them because they learn what is necessary for such 
 duties. The remedy for this is not to declaim against intrud- 
 ing foreigners, but to learn those trades so well as to make it 
 the direct interest of the employer to give his countrymen the 
 preference. Every intelligent Englishman or Scotchman who 
 comes to Ireland should not be looked upon as an intruder, but 
 as a schoolmaster. If there did not exist a blank in our in- 
 dustrial system which it suits him to fill up, he would not 
 come. He is a-head of us in practical skill and habits, and it 
 should be our object to imitate him, learn from him, and, if 
 possible, excel him, and when he finds that we know as much 
 as he does, he will not come. He then would be better off at 
 home. 
 
 Skilled labour is thus shewn to be certainly dearer in this 
 covmtry than in Great Britain, whilst unskilled labour is much 
 cheaper. The final question of whether, for manufacturing 
 industry in general, labour is cheaper here, is therefore not 
 capable of receiving a decided answer. It must dejiend alto- 
 gether on the proportions which the skilled and unskilled la- 
 bour bear to each other. The total cost may actually be 
 greater than in England. I am disposed, however, to con- 
 clude, from tolerably numerous inquiries, that in most of the 
 departments of manufactm-e, the balance is in favour of this 
 country, and that the total cost of labour is so much less as to 
 counteract many of the smaller advantages, as in fuel and 
 freights, which the manufactm-er of the sister kingdom sliouhl 
 otherwise possess. That, however, no such real difference in 
 cost of effective labour here and in England exists, as is popu- 
 larly thought, may, I trust, be considered as established by the 
 foregoing evidence. 
 
 A condition absolutely essential to industrial progress is 
 freedom of labour. This freedom must be complete ; it must 
 exist as regards master, as well as regards man. A work- 
 man must have the most perfect liberty to place what value he
 
 OF IRELAND. 403 
 
 likes upon his labour. If he does not wish to work for certain 
 wages, it is his affair ; and it were intolerable tyranny to con- 
 trol his will ; but with that limit the right of the workman 
 ceases. As he should not be controlled himself, he has no 
 right to control others, and all interference of men to prevent 
 their fellow-operatives from working below a certain rate, 
 must be denounced as not merely contrary to existing law, but 
 to the plainest principles of common sense, and utterly destruc- 
 tive of the best interests of industry, not merely the interests 
 of the employer, but, in an equal degree, of the men them- 
 selves. It would lead me too far from my proper object, were 
 I to enter upon this question, so important to be truly under- 
 stood by the working classes. I shall, therefore, pass from 
 considerations which should be but general in their applica- 
 tions, and notice only one point in which the topic concerns 
 this country. 
 
 It is often asserted that an important obstacle to the intro- 
 duction of manufactures into this country, is from the combi- 
 nations which exist among the several branches of trade, and 
 which subject the employer to laws and to restrictions so in- 
 tolerable, as to prevent him from venturing amongst us. He, 
 therefore, remains in England or in Scotland, where he is free 
 to use his capital and machinery, to employ or not employ, as 
 he thinks fit, and is not disturbed by clamour of combinators. 
 To judge how far this cause can influence this country we must 
 probe deeper than the surface. 
 
 No person really conversant with the progress of industry 
 in the two countries would assert that there is more combina- 
 tion here than in Great Britain. The history of industry in 
 England for the last century presents a series of the most 
 violent outbreaks, riots, and combinations, murders of the 
 most amiable employers, destruction of machinery and mills ; 
 in fact, such an array of illegal interference with the just 
 rights of property and labour, as would, if judiciously worked 
 up by an active editor, supply materials for a history of Great 
 Britain that has not yet been written. But these events are 
 lost sight of by the public in the vast extent of British indus- 
 try. The ringleaders are punished ; the general mass roturn 
 2d 2
 
 404 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 to their work ; in no case has the object of tlie strike been at 
 all successful, for the unfortunate artisans seeking to enforce 
 from particular localities or employers what the general pro- 
 gress of industrial discovery opposes, must yield before the 
 movement of the age, and by warring against, in place of 
 moulding themselves to it, suffer too often under its evils, 
 without being able to participate in its good. 
 
 In this country, however, cases of combination derive an ex- 
 trinsic imjjortance from causes quite independent of their true 
 nature. Our industry is so limited in amount, that a disagree- 
 ment, which in England would never be heard of, except by 
 those immediately concerned, becomes a topic of universal 
 comment, and, unfortunately, the organs of public opinion are 
 too often hurried by the eagerness of political feeling into speak- 
 ing of a quarrel between an employer and a few men, as if it 
 were a general outbreak of the working against the employing 
 classes. Thus some time ago a sugar bakery was erected in 
 Cork, and the proprietor very prop rly brought over from 
 England bricklayers conversant with the modes of setting the 
 pans and other apparatus. For the rough work, to which only 
 they were really competent, Irish bricklayers were employed, 
 but these, finding that the Englishmen worked for lower wages 
 than the Cork standard, refused to work with them. In this 
 they were perfectly justified. The Irish bricklayers had a 
 clear right to leave work and stay idle, if they preferred it to 
 earning money. But they went further, and demanded that the 
 English bricklayers should be dismissed, and that none but the 
 workmen at high rates of wages should be employed. Here 
 they were totally in the wrong, and the proprietor very pro- 
 perly refused to comply. The idle workmen stood about the 
 gaces for a few days; their wives favoured the proprietor with 
 a course of Munster billingsgate; but the intervention of a few 
 policemen restored order, and the matter was really so unim- 
 portant that in a week it was forgotten in Cork. 
 
 But it was not forgotten elsewhere. The journals took it 
 up, and concealing that the whole affair was a dispute about 
 working for wagi;s under the ordinary rate, they seized on the 
 question of English and Irish, and poured out on the poor
 
 OF IRELAND. 405 
 
 ignorant Cork workmen and their unhappy country, column 
 after column of vulgar abuse and contumely. We were sa- 
 vages, brutal rioters ; the whole was but one indication of the 
 hatred we bear to Englishmen ; of the stupid obstinacy with 
 which our barbarism repels the introduction of intelligence 
 and civilization from the sister kingdom : and not only were 
 such absurdities printed by the most eminent daily press, but 
 the articles were reprinted in works pretending to be purely 
 statistical, and it was inferred, that Ireland is in a state 
 of social barbarism ; that if mills were erected they would be 
 burned ; if masters gave employment their throats would be 
 cut ; that the means of earning wholsome food and healthful 
 habitations, of dressing comfortably, and educating their 
 children to useful trades, are looked upon in Ii'eland as ob- 
 jects sedulously to be avoided; that tlie native Irish have an in- 
 domitable and natural taste for rags and dirt, for sloth and 
 hunger, for violence and murder. We can afford to laugh at 
 such tirades now. After all the schoolmaster is abroad. 
 
 Besides the fact of the importance of such strikes being 
 magnified by the imwholesome appetite for political excitement 
 which pervades this country, there is another, perhaps still 
 more influential in its operation upon trade. Employers are 
 in Ireland much less able to stand out against strikes than in 
 the sister kingdom. They possess less capital ; its rapid cir- 
 culation is a matter of more pressing necessity, and hence any 
 temporary interruption is more felt. But still more important 
 is the circumstance, that in Ireland, employers are more de- 
 pendent on their men, than those of the same class in England. 
 They do not in general know their own trade as well. If an 
 English workman refuse to do a piece of work, the master can, 
 if he chooses, do it himself, and this gives the employer a moral 
 superiority and power, which the Irish manufacturer, in too 
 many cases, does not possess. To tliis there are, I am aware, 
 many and brilliant exceptions, and these exceptions are the 
 more important, as their success, well merited by their energy 
 and industrial knowledge, becomes a beacon to others on the 
 same track. In every case that I have known of, in this country, 
 where the master shewed himself possessed of the really high
 
 406 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 qualities, which the direction of extensive industry requires, 
 combination has been unknown, or, if attempted, has eventuated 
 in the establishment of the employer, and of his trade, in a 
 better condition than before. 
 
 There is but one remedy for combination ; education. Not 
 merely intellectual education ; not merely to brighten up the 
 faculties of a man, as you polish and smooth the parts of a 
 machine, that it may do more work, and with less friction : 
 but that education which developea equally the moral and in- 
 tellectual mind. And this education is as much required for 
 the employer, as for the employed. If knowledge alone be 
 o-iven, it will confer power ; whoever knows most must ulti- 
 mately command, be he master or man, and if his morality be 
 low, he will oppress ; he will insist upon rights, and neglect his 
 duties. Educate, therefore, the moral faculties of all classes. 
 There may thus be generated what is more than all else 
 wanted to give happiness, tranquillity, and wealth to Ireland, a 
 sympathy between the higher and lower classes, a sense of their 
 mutual dependence, and mutual duties, a pleasure in the re- 
 cognition of each other's joys, and reciprocal condolence in 
 those sorrows which fall to the lot of every rank. Manufac- 
 turers, otherwise well informed, have said, " what have I to do 
 with my workmen, but to receive their labour and pay them 
 for it? 1 have no connexion with them once they leave the 
 factory ?" That is not right. Is it nothing to the employer 
 whether his workmen spend their evenings happily with their 
 families, or in drunkenness, in gambling, or perhaps theft ? 
 Which would be most likely to make honest servants, and 
 steady workmen? Which would be most likely to prevent an 
 attempt to destroy his propei-ty, or perhaps his life? There 
 can be but one answer. Independent of moral grounds, the 
 kindness, sympathy, and attention of an employer to his work- 
 men, is the safest and most profitable money speculation in 
 which he can engage. 
 
 So far from the habits of the working classes of this country 
 being adverse to the introduction of industrial occupations, 
 they have made, within the last few years, unparalleled strides 
 in the habits which best conduce to industrial success. I do
 
 OF IRELAND. 407 
 
 not hesitate to assert, that the existing generation in this 
 country is half a century in advance of that which is dying off, 
 and that the generation now at school will be a century in ad- 
 vance of us. We were reckless, ignorant, improvident, drunken, 
 and idle. We were idle, for we had nothing to do ; we were 
 reckless, for we had no hope ; we were ignorant, for learning 
 was denied us ; we were improvident, for we had no future ; we 
 were drunken, for we sought to forget our misery. That time 
 has passed away for ever. 
 
 In Ovoca, on pay days, where 2000 men are employed, 500 
 gallons of whiskey used to be bought by the miners, and drunk 
 upon the works. The men spent the night in fighting, whilst 
 their wives and children begged in vain that some of their 
 wages should go for provisions and for clothing. 
 
 There is now upon pay days no whiskey whatsoever sold. 
 The wives of the workmen receive their wages for them, and 
 quarrelling is unknown. 
 
 Some years ago, the village of Bonmahon presented, on pay 
 days, a scene of strife and drunkenness, which always required 
 the intervention of the police, and often rendered the position 
 of the superintendants dangerous. At present nothing of the 
 kind is kno^vn, a temperance hall for social quiet meetings, and 
 extensive school rooms for the education of the children, are 
 now built, and the same number of individuals are able to earn 
 £300 per month more than they formerly received, by the 
 greater steadiness and attention to their work, which accom- 
 pany their improved domestic habits. 
 
 I might adduce a great nimiber of such examples, but it is 
 not required. The children are at school ; the parents are sober 
 and steady. The revenue collected on ardent spirits has been 
 diminished to one-half; notwithstanding that the export trade 
 has augmented. The sums in the Savings Banks are not ma- 
 terially augmented yet, and it is better not ; the mere desire 
 to amass money is, after all, not what we want most. Greater 
 desire to live comfortably, to eat of better food, to live in bet- 
 ter houses, to wear superior clothing, to buy good books, these 
 are passions far more useful to the people, a^d more important 
 to encourage, than the mere accumulation of money, which there
 
 408 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 is no danger will come, if it be not already present, and wil] 
 lead to its usual results. 
 
 Labour, as it exists in Ireland, if it be unskilled, is thus now 
 in the best possible condition for receiving the impulse of 
 skilled direction. It becomes, hence, vitally important to pro- 
 vide for the proper direction of the nascent energies of the 
 people. We have passed the line which separates progress 
 from inactivity. May our future course be guided by intelli- 
 gence and morality. 
 
 There is another circumstance, so popularly counted on ps 
 a most material obstacle to the development of industry in 
 Ireland, that I cannot leave the subject without briefly ad- 
 verting to it, that is the want of capital. This has been the 
 bugbear of Irish enterprize for many years. England has 
 capital, Ireland has not ; therefore England is rich and in- 
 dustrious, and Ireland is poor and idle. But where was the 
 capital when England began to grow rich ? It was the in- 
 dustry that made the capital, not the capital the industry. 
 An idle or ignorant man will lose his capital where an active 
 and intelligent man will create a capital. We leave our fields 
 in barrenness, our mines unsought, our powers of motion 
 unapplied, waiting for English capital. Labour is capital ; 
 intelligence is capital ; combine them and you more than 
 double your amount of capital. With such capital England 
 commenced, as Ireland must commence, and once that we have 
 begun and are in earnest, there will be no lack of money ca- 
 pital at our disposal. 
 
 The subject must, however, be more numerically stated. So 
 far from being unable to extend our industry for want of capi- 
 tal, we do not employ the capital we have in active industry. 
 When money is made in England it is re-invested in the same 
 or in a similar branch, concerns are increased, and transac- 
 tions multiplied, until the amount of capital attains the vast 
 dimensions which we now see. If some money be made in 
 trade in Ireland, it is not so treated, it is withdrawn from 
 trade, and stock is bought, or land is bought, yielding only a 
 small return, but one with the advantage of not requiring 
 intense exertion or intelligence, and free from serious risk. Ca-
 
 OF IKELAND. 409 
 
 pital cannot, therefore, increase with a rapidity at all com- 
 mensurate with English progress ; but that capital of great 
 amount does truly exist in Ireland available for industrial uses, 
 if the owners had a taste therefor, is certain. More than two 
 millions of Irish capital is transferred every year to Englan d 
 in purchase of English Government stock. Many^ of th e &ig- 
 lish railways have a nume rous Iri sh proprietar y. The property 
 in steam vessels belonging to Dublin is only exceeded in amount 
 by that of London, and is actually greater than the united 
 steam property of Bristol, Hull, and Liverpool. With such 
 facts, it is useless to say we have no capital ; we do not want 
 t he capital so much a s we do the know ledge and disposition to 
 employ it. 
 
 Let it not be supposed I object to English capital ; on the 
 contrary, money is too good a thing to refuse, and especially 
 from our dear sister, who has got abundance of our money on 
 much better terms than she is likely ever to give any of her's. 
 But I do not think that English capital will be employed in 
 the direct advancement of our manufactures or agriculture, al- 
 though it certainly will, indirectly, and thus be of immense ser- 
 vice to us. But suppose an Englishman possessed of £50,000, 
 and wishing to invest it in spinning cotton : he has his choice 
 to go to Manchester or Killaloe. In the former place, he has 
 coals cheap, workmen of every class at hand, machinery made 
 at his door, market established, and if he wants to sell in Ire- 
 land he has canal and railway to Liverpool, thence steam to Dub- 
 lin, and canals then to the Shannon. If he comes to Killaloe, he 
 has to bring his machinery, and all his higher workmen, to 
 bring cotton, and to settle amongst a people concerning whom 
 his ears have been stuffed with newspaper stories, some unfor- 
 tunately true, but mostly false. His sympathies are at his 
 home, and unless profits were considerably higher, he should 
 remain at home, and such would certainly be his course. Now 
 profits cannot be sensibly higher in Ireland than in England. 
 There is, therefore, no inducement for him to come. Take 
 woollens, or any other branch, in place of cotton, and, by a 
 similar chain of facts, we shall be led to the same conclusion. 
 
 But some English capitalists have settled amongst us, it 
 
 L
 
 410 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 may be said, and hence the above reasoning cannot be abso- 
 lute. There are some, as the Willans, who have cloth mills 
 here and in Leeds, but they settled here at a time, when, by a 
 system of differential duties, trade between England and this 
 country was impeded, and to which it would be a most bar- 
 barous retrocession in industrial economy to think of returning. 
 They have not dismantled their factory, because cloth can be 
 made as cheap with us, but they have not materially extended, 
 because cloth is as easily brought from Leeds. English capi- 
 talists will establish factories in France, Austria, and Belgium, 
 because the tariffs of these countries secure them higher re- 
 turns than English competition allows. They are paid higher 
 as schoolmasters for the natives. This country does not afford 
 such advantages, and hence we cannot expect them to come. 
 To this there may be individual exceptions, arising from pecu- 
 liar instances of enterprize, but this does not affect the ques- 
 tion as regards the country generally. For active industry, 
 English capital cannot be expected, and if it do revive, it 
 must be by Irishmen and Irish capital. 
 
 English capital may, and, I have no doubt, will, be highly 
 useful in the operations of what I may term passive industry; 
 in the creation of the various collateral aids to commercial 
 business. If an English capitalist have a few thousand pounds 
 to invest in shares, he will as soon put it into an Irish railway 
 or a canal as into an English one, if it promise the same re- 
 turns. Hence the vast accumulation of money of the sister 
 kingdom may be most usefully employed in rendering our 
 rivers navigable, in completing our water intercourse by canals, 
 in constructing our lines of railway, and thus, whilst it brings 
 to the owner at least as must profit as it should do if laid out 
 in England, it will prevent such works from absorbing the ca- 
 pital of Irishmen; who, on the spot, and familiar with the 
 people, if they were properly acquainted with the structure and 
 capabilities of the country, and thoroughly educated in their 
 trades, might apply their individual capitals to the creation of 
 active industry. By means of English capital also, agricultural 
 industry may be, and is in progress of important amelioration. 
 The owners of land were very generally loaded with monetary
 
 OF IRELAND. 41 1 
 
 obligations incurred at a high rate of interest, which are now 
 being rapidly removed by means of loans from England, at 
 moderate charges ; the estates thus freed will enable their pro- 
 prietors to devote more money, and, it is to be hoped, intel- 
 ligence, to their improvement, and therewith the improvement 
 of the people. The large amount of Ii'ish capital thus liberated 
 from the land, will become available for active industry, and 
 must, indeed, bfe very energetically employed to produce the 
 equivalent of what had been received. 
 
 Acting in this way the sister kingdom may be most useful 
 and most powerful in advancing the industrial condition of this 
 country ; it will be profitable, and, therefore, she will finally 
 do it. The investment of English capital and of Irish enter- 
 prize must, however, go hand in hand. The railway is of no 
 use unless there be a suitable increase of traffic. The means 
 of transport are not wanted f there be not products of industry 
 to convey. English capital, therefore, even where it might 
 be most useful, may totally fail in its object, and its invest- 
 ments give no profit, imless the morals of the people, their taste 
 for industrial pursuits, and their education, be promoted wdth 
 the utmost zeal. 
 
 Numerous companies have been, from time to time, formed 
 in England, for the purpose of developing some branches of 
 the industrial resources of Ireland, especially our mines. They 
 have been almost universally failm*es, and Ireland, as a field 
 of enterprize, has been hence at a discount in the English 
 market. It is not difficult to see why they failed ; the causes 
 were ignorance of the country, and want of economy. Thus, 
 to work a coal mine in Ireland, an overseer and miners are 
 employed, who know perfectly how coals are worked at New- 
 castle, and who bring over steam engines and gins, on a scale 
 proportionate to the English beds, but totally unfitted for the 
 localities of our coal fields ; the natural disadvantages are 
 heightened by the want of adaptation on the part of the sys- 
 tem pursued ; the overseer is not himself vitally interested, 
 his employers are at a distance, and under such circumstances 
 it need not be a matter of wonder that the concern does not 
 pay.
 
 412 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 It is thus shewn, that many of those conditions, as dearness 
 of fuel and want of capital, to which is popularly attributed 
 the absence of extended industry in this country, are, in reality, 
 by no means so powerful, and in fact do not present obstacles 
 to our progress greater than what are every year surmounted 
 in other places ; on the other band, we find, in the abundance 
 and economy of water power, in the extent of our mines, and 
 the fertility of our soil, in the capabilities of our rivers and 
 harbours for water transport, and of the general surface of the 
 country for land carriage, so many circumstances in an unusual 
 degree favourable, and leading to the most sanguine expecta- 
 tions of the results of industrial enterprize. To what then is 
 it due that we have made so little way ? Why is it that our 
 people are unemployed, or are driven to seek the means of 
 living by periodical emigrations to fulfil the lowest offices in 
 another land ? AVhy is it that our harbours are bare of ships, 
 our rivers undisturbed by the bustle of industry and inter- 
 course, our fields producing but a third of what they might 
 supply ? that where activity exists, or that progress is now 
 being made, it is to be traced, with but few exceptions, to the 
 introduction of the natives of the sister kingdom, into whose 
 possession there thus pass the most valuable domains of enter- 
 prize which this country offers, whilst the Irish population 
 rests in the lowest grade, and but rarely manifest the quali- 
 ties which the time requires. 
 
 The fault is not in the country, but in ourselves ; the ab- 
 sence of successful enterprize is owing to the fact, that we do 
 not know how to succeed ; we do not want activity, we are 
 not deficient in mental power, but we want special industrial 
 knowledge. England, which in absolute education and in 
 general morality is below us, notwithstanding our criminal 
 violence, is far above us in industrial knowledge. The man 
 who knows not how to read or write, who has never been at 
 clmrch, who never taught his child to reverence the name of 
 his Creator, will be a perfect master of his trade. The ma- 
 chines he constructs, or the products he elaborates, will be 
 most perfect in their parts, most suited to their purpose, and 
 most economical in their cost ; from the task which he under-
 
 OF IRELAND. 413 
 
 takes nothing will turn him aside ; he knows that time as well 
 as labour is required for an industrial result ; he invests his 
 time as he invests his money, as regularly and as extensively ; 
 his steadiness and perseverance in his pursuits are thus part 
 of his industrial knowledge ; his acquaintance with the pro- 
 babilities of his trade prepares him for difficulties, and hence 
 enables him to surmount them. Such things, he knows, must 
 be in ordinary course, and thus he works constantly on, 
 through alternations of success and failure, to his final triumph. 
 
 In this industrial knowledge we are deficient. An Irishman 
 takes up a branch of trade ; after a time he finds it requires 
 more capital than he expected, and he becomes involved. He 
 finds that the profits are less than he had hoped, or he discovers 
 that foralongtimehecan make no profit, and he is discouraged. 
 Circumstances arise which he is not prepared to meet; the 
 conditions of the branch of industry may have changed since he 
 first entered into it, and finally he loses, perhaps, all that he had 
 embarked in trade, simply because he did not know his trade 
 well enough. An eminent Belgian minister, M. Briavionne, 
 having occasion to describe the importance of attending to the 
 education of the working and commercial classes in that coun- 
 try, drew his examples of the consequences of neglect, and of 
 attention to it, from the existing position of the British Is- 
 lands. He asks: " What has produced the difference between 
 the rich and flourishing condition of England, and the poverty 
 and weakness of Ireland? Industrial knowledge." He stre- 
 nuously urges on the Belgian legislature the necessity of at- 
 tending to industrial education, lest Belgium should become 
 like Ireland. 
 
 The education necessary for industrial pursuits is very ge- 
 nerally underrated in this country, and from this cause alone 
 springs a great deal of our want of industrial knowledge. Our 
 ignorance is so great, that we are even Incapable of estimat- 
 ing its extent. If a boy is to be sent to a profession, great 
 care is taken with his education. Literature and science pre- 
 sent themselves to him hand in hand. A reputation, the best 
 passport to professional success, may, it is said, be founded on 
 school and college character, and his ambition is excited by
 
 414 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 the social and political eminences which professional men may 
 attain. But if he is going to trade, education, it is thought, 
 would be thrown away on him. If he can read and write and 
 cypher, it is supposed to be enough. Should an ambitious 
 parent desire to give his son a good education, although he is 
 to be in trade, he puts him through college. He devotes the 
 best years of his youth to reading Grecian poetry, and Latin 
 plays ; to learning by rote the dialectics of the middle ages, and 
 principles of abstract metaphysics, and awakens, after the so- 
 lemnity of getting his degree, to find that he is to obtain his 
 living by principles and pursuits to which his education has 
 had no reference whatsoever. He finds that the safety of his 
 property may depend on the navigation of a sea, of which he 
 never heard whilst labouring for months to understand the geo- 
 graphy of the Odyssey ; that the mode of growth, or the che- 
 mical composition of a plant, of whose existence neither Greek 
 nor Roman knew, may be the means of gaining or of losing 
 fortune, and of it he has been left in ignorance ; that his daily 
 commercial intercoiu'se is with men and nations, of whose lan- 
 guages and whose customs he is totally ignorant, whilst he has 
 spent his youth in learning how he should have spoken had he 
 lived three thousand years ago. 
 
 It is very well for those, who, independent in fortune, and 
 devoted rather to ease than enterprize, wish to dream through 
 an existence which offers to them but roses they did not plant, 
 to seek in the literature of past ages, an elegant and innocent 
 occupation. Indeed, to all classes the literature of present and 
 of former times, of our own and of foreign coimtries, presents a 
 relief from the weary continuity of action, which industrial pro- 
 gress requires. To the man of business, there can be no en- 
 joyment greater than to transport himself from the anxieties 
 of the desk or factory, to communion with the best lessons, 
 which human intelligence has handed down, or to obtain, within 
 a few volumes, the records of the greatest deeds, the noblest 
 struggles, and the holiest thoughts which have been allowed to 
 man. But this is not his business. This knowledge is not 
 that by which he is to live, and the first object of one depen- 
 dent on his own exertions must be to learn to employ them, to
 
 OF IRELAND. 415 
 
 educate his faculties specially with regard to their future iise 
 in the development and the improvement of every part of what- 
 soever line of business he embarks in. 
 
 The idea of there being no direct connexion between trade 
 and education, has derived support, with many persons, from 
 the examples of individuals, highly educated, failing entirely 
 when they engaged in trade, whilst other men, of no education 
 whatsoever, have been brilliantly successfid in industry. This 
 argument is, however, when analysed, strong on the other 
 side. What is called education by those persons, is not so, it 
 is, on the contrary, worse than no education whatsoever. If a 
 man knows Greek and Latiu, if he can expound all the niceties 
 of metaphysics, what does it avail him when he proceeds to 
 spinning cotton, or to smelting iron ; quite the reverse. His 
 habits and modes of thought are at every moment shocked by 
 the rough clashing of the realities on which his fate depends. 
 His mind, accustomed to discussions, which, whether right 
 or wrong, leave life as it has been before, becomes appalled 
 at the stern calculations of a problem, in which his liberty, 
 his home, his fortune is involved. The man is not able for 
 his position, and he fails ; but he fails not because he was 
 an educated man, but because he was not educated for his 
 trade. 
 
 On the other hand, who are those uneducated men that suc- 
 ceed in trade ? A yoimg man, wanting to sell spectacles in 
 London, petitions the Corporation to allow him to open a little 
 shop without paying the heavy fees of freedom. He is refused. 
 He goes to Glasgow, and the Corporation refuse him there. 
 He makes acquaintance with some members of the University, 
 who find him very intelligent, and permit him to open his shop 
 within their walls. He does not sell spectacles and magic 
 lanterns enough to occupy his time ; he occupies himself at 
 intervals in taking asunder and remaking all the machines he 
 can come at. He finds there are books on mechanics written in 
 foreign languages ; he borrows a dictionary, and learns those 
 languages to read those books. The University people wonder 
 at him, and are fond of dropping into his little room, in the 
 evenings, to tell him what they are doing, and to look at the
 
 416 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 queer instruments he constructs. A machine in the University 
 collection wants repairing, and he is employed. He maices it 
 a new machine. The steam engine is constructed, and the giant 
 mind of Watt stands out before the world, the author of the 
 industrial supremacy of his country, the herald of a new force 
 of civilization. But was Watt educated? Where was he edu- 
 cated? At his own work-shop, and in the best manner. Watt 
 learned Latin, when he wanted it for his business. He learned 
 French and German ; but these things were tools, not ends. 
 He used them to promote his engineering plans, as he used 
 lathes and levers. 
 
 Arkwright began his career a barber ; he had a taste for 
 mechanical combinations, and spent all he could save by cutting 
 hair, in putting together wheels and levers, making little ma- 
 chines, which sometimes answered his purpose, and sometimes 
 not. At last, he put them together after a manner which has 
 led to momentous consequences. He invented, or at least he 
 rendered practicable, the spinning by rollers, and created the 
 basis of the cotton trade in England. Was he not educated ? 
 Did he not educate himself, whilst carrying his wigs and 
 barber's apparatus from house to house, thinking about his 
 models of machines, and so wrapt up in them, that his wife, in 
 a passion, burned them all, for which he removed from her, 
 and stipulated that she should let him invent in quiet. He was 
 not as great a man as Watt. His education did not go so far, 
 but it was his real industrial education which made him the 
 founder of a vast manufacturing art, and enabled him to be- 
 come one of the wealthiest subjects of Great Britain. 
 
 Tracing the history of men successful in a less prominent 
 degree than Watt and Arkwright, we are led to the same re- 
 sult. Their success is proportional to the conjoint action of 
 their mental power and knowledge. That knowledge is often 
 difficult to acquire. So far from industrial pursuits not re- 
 quiring education, they do require it in much greater degree 
 than any of the so-called professions. Industrial knowledge is 
 much more difficult to acquire, and much more extensive in its 
 range, than professional knowledge ; and yet, in Ireland, its 
 acquisition has not been attended to in any efficient degree,
 
 bF IRELAND. 417 
 
 nor have the general principles, upon which its communication 
 should be foimded, been at all generally understood. 
 
 Every department of agricultural and of manufacturing in- 
 dustry has its origin in scientific principles, practically applied. 
 The weaving of a woollen cloth, the rolling of an iron rail, or 
 of a brass ornament, the construction of a clock, the prepara- 
 tion of soap, or of oil of vitriol, all require the discovery of a 
 certain principle, which, working by a certain process on cer- 
 tain materials, elaborates the product. Sometimes a process, 
 with particular materials, is hit upon long before the principle 
 of its action becomes known, and the art exists, but cannot 
 extend itself, for with any other materials, the process cannot 
 answer, whilst with any other process, the materials are not 
 suited ; and hence, although the art may arrive in that limited 
 form to great perfection, it is impossible to transplant it to 
 other places or into other hands. On the other side, a scien- 
 tific principle may be discovered, and yet remain long barren 
 of practical results. Science and art, which should distribute, 
 by progressing hand in hand, the highest blessings of industry 
 and civilization, are thus often separated, and the more so, 
 that the persons by whom each is cultivated are kept asunder by 
 the false ideas as to what really constitutes education. The 
 man of science, occupying himself with the interesting paths 
 of abstract discovery, thinks not of community of objects, or 
 of feeling, with the dark, coarse-handed operatives, who, in 
 the furnace or the forge, work up the really practicable solu- 
 tion of his problems ; whilst the worker, equally ignorant of the 
 importance of bringing together their respective modes of ex- 
 periment and inquiry, considers science, like the dead languages, 
 as characterizing the position of the upper classes, from whom, 
 intellectually as well as socially, he keeps apart. 
 
 The real fact is, that only of late years has science at- 
 tained a position of such accuracy and power as that it could 
 efficiently come to the assistance of the arts in devising new 
 methods, or in suggesting the use of new materials. The 
 phenomena of a manufacturing process are so complex, are so 
 affected by little details of working, by temperature, by mois- 
 ture, by presence or absence of air, by mechanical conditions, 
 2e
 
 418 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 and by molecular forces, that the problems were really too 
 complex and difficult for science, in its existing state, to grap- 
 ple with ; and, in most cases, a process was brought to prac- 
 tical perfection, not by the direct advice of a man of science, 
 but by the continued working of a number of practical men, 
 who, at great expense, intense labour, and numerous trials, 
 brought it to succeed. The man of science may then be able 
 to tell him why it succeeds ; but the artizan is often tempted 
 to say, that he is not particular as to why, provided it does 
 succeed, and he is disposed to consider as imnecessary, and 
 practically inapplicable, that scientific knowledge which alone 
 ordinary scientific men can supply. 
 
 The artizan is, however, as much in error in neglecting ab- 
 stract theory as the philosopher in regarding practical results 
 distinct from science. When theory teaches us what is really 
 essential in a process, it enables us often to simplify that pro- 
 cess and to render its working more economic ; or it may ena- 
 ble us to modify it so, as to carry it on in other places, where 
 the materials originally necessary could not be had. It is thus, 
 that even where the practice of the art has preceded theory, 
 the latter facilitates the extension and improvement of the art. 
 But such cases are much less numerous than is really thought. 
 He who devises a process has almost universally a theory, and 
 the only difference is, that if the theory be wrong, he stumbles 
 in the dark, until, by long continued practice, he works rightly 
 in spite of his theory, whereas, if he had kno^vn the true theory, 
 he would have lighted upon the proper practice in the begin- 
 ning. In every great improvement that has been effected in 
 the arts, a distinct idea of the object and of the means of effect- 
 ing it, that is, a scientific theory, has been first conceived. 
 Watt had the idea of the steam engine distinct in his mind be- 
 fore he ever made an engine. Under these circumstances, it 
 is evidently of the greatest consequence to render the theore- 
 tical ideas of the practical worker and inventor, as distinct 
 and exact as possible, that is, to superadd upon his al ady 
 practical education, so much acquaintance with science, as 
 may enable him fully to understand the properties of the sub-
 
 OF IRELAND. 419 
 
 stances upon which he operates, and the laws of action to 
 which they are subjected. 
 
 To give an industrial education, therefore, it is necessary to 
 unite the two elements — science and practice. Science should 
 be taught especially with a view to the application of its prin- 
 ciples. Practice should be followed with constant reference to 
 the principles upon which it rests. In this way, the elements 
 of the highest industrial progress should be obtained. The 
 economy of any process, the effective duty of any machine, the 
 real value of any material, would be tested by the application 
 of direct calculation to the results produced. The manufac- 
 turer never could be taken by surprise, for the different ope- 
 rations of his works would all be conducted under a system of 
 numerical control, which should render it impossible that any- 
 thing important could escape his observation. 
 
 The practice of the arts is that which is most diftlcult to be 
 learned, and that in which we labour under the greatest disad- 
 vantage. In England, every manufacturing town is a great 
 school of practical education, where each branch of mechanical 
 and chemical industry is carried on, on a vast scale, and by a 
 variety of processes. Her workmen, thus educated, though 
 otherwise illiterate, pass into other countries, and are thus 
 serving, most efficiently, to develope throughout Em-ope the 
 different branches of native industry. Amongst us, such schools 
 of industrial education, are, as yet, scarcely existant. For the 
 acquisition of this practical knowledge, we must look therefore 
 to Manchester, Leeds, and Birmingham. These are the uni- 
 versities, in which the persons desirous of developing the in- 
 dustrial resources of Ireland must graduate. The English 
 workmen, although perfect in thus carrying out the processes 
 to which long experience has conducted them, are destitute, 
 owing to the low state of general education in that country, of 
 the power of applying the aids of science to their modification, 
 or further improvement. The processes adapted to the nature 
 of materials in certain districts of England, are inapplicable in 
 others, and still more in other countries, and it is on this ac- 
 count that so many schemes for utilizing our sources of indus- 
 try have failed totally in the hands of the English workmen 
 2e 2
 
 420 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 imported to carry them out ; because they found themselves 
 under new circumstances, and with materials which differed 
 from what they had been used to, and did not know the prin- 
 ciples of their trade at all sufficiently to enable them to intro- 
 duce proper modifications. 
 
 A person about to be educated for industrial purposes should, 
 therefore, be first thoroughly grounded in the general princi- 
 ples of the natural and physical sciences, and in elementary ma- 
 thematics. All this can be done with far less expenditure of 
 time, of trouble, and of money, than is usually incurred with the 
 Greek and Latin, for which, in industrial pursuits, there is sel- 
 dom the slightest use. Thus grounded in general education, 
 he should pass to his special branch, according as he is to be a 
 chemist, a maker of machines, a worker in metals, or of other 
 trade. Of all the objects used in his peculiar occupation he 
 should acquire the most minute knowledge; their properties 
 and composition ; their adulterations ; where they are found ; 
 how they are obtained ; what can be substituted for them ; how 
 they can be made. All these are things on which may depend, 
 at each step of his future progress, whether he follows a losing 
 trade, or whether he be eminently successful. 
 
 To this general education should be added the experience of 
 the workshop. The simplest operation in the arts requires a 
 degree of manipulative skill that no books, no words can give. 
 The most perfect theoretical acquaintance with the construc- 
 tion of machines and the nature of various materials used would 
 not enable a man to do good work. But if the man has obtained 
 the manual skill by working practice, there is no doubt but 
 that the knowledge of the tools he is using and of the mate- 
 rials he works upon, will enable him to do it better than 
 he otherwise could. The practical education of the artizan 
 in the place of actual working is, therefore, of all the most im- 
 portant, and requires most time. The ultimate object of the 
 previous discipline in science is to enable him fully to avail 
 himself of the opportunities of improvement in his art which 
 the workshop continually affords. 
 
 This subject of industrial education is, as it appears to me, 
 specially important to this country, as without it any available
 
 OF IRELAND. 421 
 
 development of our industrial resoui'ces must be almost impos- 
 sible. In every branch of manufacture England is already in 
 possession of the field, and if we only learn from her, and are 
 competent merely to follovt^ her routine processes, we must re- 
 main alvFays behind in the march of industrial improvement. 
 There is no physical disadvantage in this coimtry to render it 
 necessary that we should always remain destitute of manufac- 
 tures as we are at present. But we certainly do not possess 
 any advantage over England. On the contrary, her charac- 
 ter is already made ; her mechanism is already in operation. 
 To keep a market does not require at all as much exertion as 
 to obtain one ; and hence it is only by the most strenuous ex- 
 ertion, and by the most perfect knowledge of his trade, that an 
 Irish manufacturer can have any chance of success. To suc- 
 ceed against his English competitor, he must know more than 
 him. It is evident that we have much to change, yet it is not 
 impossible. 
 
 The practical part of education for industry must be effected 
 in the factory. But all that part which consists in general and 
 special scientific discipline might be most efficiently carried on 
 by means of institutions of a collegiate character. The central 
 School of Arts and Manufactures in Paris, foimded under the 
 direction of Professor Dumas, deserves, in this point of view, 
 to be considered as affording an excellent example. In Prussia 
 and Austria similar institutions have been organized imder 
 the care of the government ; and in England and Scotland 
 also the necessity of adding scientific knowledge to practical 
 education has been acknowledged by the foundation of de- 
 partments for that purpose in connexion vnth various local 
 institutions. 
 
 A century ago, long before the necessity of connecting sci- 
 entific knowledge vnth the arts was felt elsewhere, an associa- 
 tion was founded in this country expressly for that purpose. 
 The Dublin Society, whose exertions in the advancement of 
 husbandry and the other useful arts were so eloquently de- 
 scribed by Arthur Young, and admitted by him to be the origin 
 of all the similar societies in England, has, from that period to 
 the present, undeviatingly promoted the objects for which it
 
 422 INDUSTRIAL KKSOURCES 
 
 was founded. The liberality of the government of that time 
 placed at its disposal great sums of money, which were applied 
 to the prosecution of various plans conceived to be advan- 
 tageous to the country. That it effected vast good is undeni- 
 able. But at that period it was too much in advance of the 
 o-eneral population for its beneficial power to come fully into 
 play. The country was not ready for an extensive industrial 
 movement. Since that time its funds have been progressively 
 diminished ; its departments necessarily curtailed ; its scientific 
 and industrial organization limited in extent and still more in 
 powers. But there appears some hope that the darkness which 
 overhung those days is about to dissipate, and that the Royal 
 Dublin Society may be enabled agaiu to become the centre of 
 industrial education for this country. 
 
 Its means of effecting good, were it supported by anything 
 like the sum to which this country is entitled for such objects, 
 are very great : — its fine Botanic Garden, in which all expe- 
 riments regarding agriculture might be so efficiently put in ac- 
 tion; its Museums of Agriculture, and for Natural History, 
 as well as for all industrial products and materials ; the re- 
 sources of its extensive Laboratory, in which investigations 
 calculated to smooth down the many difficulties which beset 
 the path of enterprize in Ireland might be so well conducted ; 
 its almost continuous courses of lectures on every branch of 
 applied science, and the means recently placed at its disposal 
 of having similar courses of lectures delivered in provincial 
 towns ; the triennial exhibitions of manufactures, the annual 
 cattle shows, in which the progress of our artizans and agri- 
 culturists may be registered, and rewards stimulating them to 
 honourable ambition may be distributed; and, finally, the 
 Schools of Art, which, although not exclusively connected with 
 industrial objects, are yet most powerful adjuncts thereto, by 
 enabling the manufacturer to bring to bear upon the improve- 
 ment of certain branches of trade, aforceof fancy and cultivated 
 taste that not only may be, but has been found most conducive 
 to success. With such facilities for communicating all that 
 general scientific education which I have described as the basi.s 
 of sound industrial knowledge, the Royal Dublin Society may
 
 OF IRELAND, 423 
 
 be the source of important advantages to Ireland. It is not 
 now, as half a century ago, when its members were so far before 
 their age, and were so separated from the general population, 
 that their plans of improvement, their premiums, and their 
 bounties, falling upon a soil unprepared by previous workings 
 for the reception of the seed of energy and science, yielded 
 not a commensurate return. The people now are competent 
 to work out the precepts W the* Society. The Society has be- 
 fore it the noble task of giving to the people such precepts and 
 example as may draw forth the slumbering energies of Ireland, 
 and create employment, with its constant attendants, comfort 
 and tranquillity. 
 
 To the middle classes of Ireland, to whom specially the in- 
 dustrial fortunes of the country must be committed, the Royal 
 Dublin Society should become the source of scientific education. 
 It belongs to the middle classes : not to any section or subdi- 
 vision of the people, but to Ireland. Its objects are truly Irish. 
 Its office is not to perpetuate the middle age absurdity of an 
 exclusive university, but to explain to all the modes by which 
 we may become more learned in om* respective trades ; more 
 skilled in all the processes by which we have to support our 
 families ; how we may become more intelligent and more 
 wealthy, and hence inevitably more powerful and more re- 
 spected. It deserves fully the sympathy and co-operation of 
 every Irishman. 
 
 In discussing the general question of the relations of scientific 
 knowledge to the pursuits of industry, I have spoken of industry 
 more as regards manufactures than agriculture, because it sim- 
 plified, in a corresponding degree, the conditions of the ques- 
 tion, and enabled me to treat of it more briefly. Every argument 
 proving the necessity of knowledge to the manufacturer, applies 
 however, equally to the agriculturist ; and, as in the existing 
 circumstances of Ireland, manufacturing industry can only come 
 into play by slow degrees, it is by improvements in agriculture, 
 for which education is absolutely necessary, that the most rapid 
 and most extensive amelioration in the condition of the people 
 must be effected. Agricultural education is, therefore, the 
 object on which immediate attention should be concentrated in
 
 424 INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 this country. It should, like other industrial education, con- 
 sist of the general scientific discipline which has been already 
 described, and be perfected by the practical education of a well 
 conducted farm. For the commencement of this education, 
 the- arrangements of the Royal Dublin Society are eminently 
 adapted, and the co-operation of the Royal Agricultural Society, 
 which embodies almost every landed interest in Ireland, will be 
 a most powerful stimulus to those who have to live by agricul- 
 ture, to avail themselves of such means of increased knowledge. 
 The practical education of the farmer or land-steward can be 
 completed in those schools, of which so many are now in opera- 
 tion, or about being formed, as at Templemoyle and Lough- 
 Ashe. That contemplated on a larger scale, at Leopardstown, 
 cannot fail, if carried out upon a proper plan, to be of great 
 utility. We will hear no more of the superiority of Scotch 
 farming, or of the exclusive employment of Scotch stewards, 
 if Irishmen set themselves about learning their trade as well, 
 and fit themselves, by steadiness and practical knowledge, for 
 such situations. 
 
 That these views are in no material degree unsound, is fully 
 shewn by the fact, that the Commissioners of Education have, 
 in organizing the plan of instruction for the poorer classes, 
 always considered industrial education as a necessary element 
 of their system. What can be of higher beneficence to a popu- 
 lation, than the instruction of the child in the general princi- 
 ples of the trades, by one or other of which the man will have 
 to support a family. This object, however, could not be fully 
 carried out by the means hitherto available ; and hence the 
 Commissioners have, for reasons such as are described above, 
 concentrated their eiforts upon agricultural education. Even 
 in this, their plans cannot be yet fully brought into play. The 
 schoolmasters have to learn the principles of agriculture, be- 
 fore they can teach them ; and this education of the educators, 
 is the step now in process of working out. The scientific lec- 
 tures, by eminently qualified teachers ; the practical workings 
 on the model farm, landcr the directions of a highly skilful 
 agriculturist, will, after a little, enable the Commissioners of 
 Education to settle in each parish a schoolmaster, who will be
 
 OF IRELAND. 425 
 
 also a minister of industrial progress, and by whose precepts 
 and example, the seed of practical intelligence shall be culti- 
 vated, and return hundred fold. "With such a system of edu- 
 cation, and with the habits of temperance, of moral conduct, 
 and fixity of purpose, which, it is acknowledged, are growing 
 rapidly upon the Irish character, there is no fear for the work- 
 ing classes. It is the middle classes that have most difficulties 
 to overcome, most bad habits to break from. I have endea- 
 voured to indicate to them at once the sources of material pros- 
 perity, which the country possesses, and the means by which 
 alone, as I conceive, they can acquire the power of properly 
 utilizing them. 
 
 I have been asked, whilst engaged in the consideration of 
 this subject, " Would you seek to introduce into Ireland that 
 manufacturing system, which, whilst creating vast wealth for 
 a fortunate few, throws the majority of the population into a 
 state of moral and physical wretchedness and destitution, to 
 which there is, absolutely, no parallel in this country ?" The 
 Reports of the Employment Commissioners have revealed a 
 depth of moral and social ignorance, of degrading barbarism, 
 in the midst of the very pinnacles of civilization and of wealth, 
 which it were guilt even to contemplate being disseminated 
 amongst our population. No, if it were necessary, in develop- 
 ing our industrial resources, to become as parts of England 
 are, I would not desire the change. But the condition of the 
 working classes in England does not belong to the fact of their 
 being industrious. Isolated districts in that country, numerous 
 localities in America, and on the Continent, shew the perfect 
 feasibility of the union of the most steady industry with edu- 
 cation, with morality, and with cleanliness. K a large pro- 
 portion of the working classes in England are ignorant, are 
 immoral, are drunken, and are unhealthy, it is because no effi- 
 cient system of moral and intellectual education has ever been 
 in operation with them ; that their habitations are crowded 
 into filthy and unwholesome lanes, and that, when released from 
 the toils of their working rooms, they rush to the ale-house to 
 seek a destructive stimulus to their exhausted frames. Is it 
 wonderful that such a condition of society should produce un-
 
 42fi INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 
 
 wholesome fruit ? Individual associations in England have 
 endeavoured to remedy this deplorable condition. Their active 
 benevolence and their wealth have founded schools for tem- 
 poral and spiritual instruction, have opened mechanics' insti- 
 tutes and reading-rooms, and thus have given to thousands the 
 opportunities of elevating themselves from the darkness in 
 which their fellows are still immersed. But these local and 
 individual efforts cannot remedy the system. 
 
 The causes which have led to the bad results of the manu- 
 factm'ing system in the sister kingdom, do not exist with us. 
 Ireland can never become a great manufacturing country, such 
 as England is. Her physical constitution does not supply ma- 
 terials. The proportion of the people employed in factories 
 can, therefore, never be so great. Her sources of power, whe- 
 ther it be coal or turf, or water, lie distributed so uniformly 
 through the land, that the concentration of manufactures, on 
 a few localities, as in England, cannot occur. Hence the evils 
 of vast, unhealthy, manufacturing cities need not be feared. 
 Above all, with temperate habits, and with the education which 
 the National system will give to every individual of the grow- 
 ing race, there is no danger but that industry may be accom- 
 panied by intelligence, intelligence by morality, and all by the 
 steadiness of purpose, and tranquillity of habits, on which the 
 happiness of the family and the peace of the community de- 
 pend. This is the result Avhichit should be the object of all to 
 gain. This would render us independent of the wretched po- 
 litical differences on which we waste our strength. 
 
 Vast in its consequences, it is yet simple in its means of at- 
 tainment. It only requires that each man intending to live by 
 the land, should learn what the land is, and what can be done 
 with it. That, having so learned, he should apply himself stead- 
 fastly to the practical working of his occupation. So he is cer- 
 tain of success. Success will render him independent; inde- 
 pendence will render him respected, and respect will bring him 
 power. Thus knowledge is power. Practical knowledge ; for 
 power is essentially practical. 
 
 Such are the circumstances influencing industry in Ireland, 
 which, falling within the range of subjects connected with my
 
 OF IRELAND. 427 
 
 professional duties, I have thought it not unimportant, at the 
 present time, to offer for public consideration. I have not en- 
 tered into every source of employment which this comitry could 
 afford. T hus I h ave touched but lightly on the details of Jte I 
 
 cultivation of waste l andS] and not at all alluded to the subject, 
 so important in itself, of fisheries. These topics I did not in- \ 
 troduce, because their importanc e and their practicability are I ^'"'^ 
 universally recognized . My object was to point out that the 
 constit ution o f the rocks and soil of Ireland, its contents in ores 
 a nd f uel, its su^plyof water, its extent of lakes and rivers, its 
 harbours, all fitted it for industry in agriculture, in manufao- ' 
 tures, and in commerce, in a degree, which, although not en- 
 titling it, like England, to grasp at the commercial and manu- ; 
 facturing sceptre of the woi'ld, would certainly enable it to be \ 
 the source of employment and comfort to its own people. For \ 
 the attainment of this end, it was necessary to remove some 
 errors regarding the true foundations of industrial success, to 
 describe, with a certain detail, how far the materials for in- 
 dustry exist naturally in Ireland, and to point out, how in- 
 dispensable to the employment of even the richest gifts of na- 
 ture is practical education in industrial knowledge. If even a 
 few are induced, by the facts and arguments I have brought 
 forward, to reflect upon these topics, to discuss them, and, if 
 satisfied, to act steadily upon them, I shall consider my object 
 as being: grained.
 
 INDEX 
 
 A. 
 
 Agricu lture, relation of, to ma- 
 nufactures, 251. 
 
 connexions of, with geo- 
 logy, 261. 
 
 principles of, 259. 
 
 importance of, 249. 
 
 of flax, 324. 
 
 of hemp, 340. 
 
 of beet-root, 320. 
 
 with small and large 
 
 farms, 304. 
 
 Agricultural education, 423. 
 
 •^——— success, requisites for, 
 343. 
 
 produce of Ireland, 255. 
 
 Alum, manufacture of, 227. 
 
 district of Munster, 229. 
 
 Allihies copper mine, 194. 
 
 Alternation of crops, 295. 
 
 Ammonia, source of, to plants, 
 269. 
 
 Analyses of soils, 265, 282, 325. 
 
 of iron ores, 126, 128. 
 
 of clay ironstones, 1 32, 
 
 135. 
 
 327. 
 
 341. 
 
 281. 
 
 of plants, 276. 
 farm-yard manure, 293. 
 limestones, 281. 
 of flax and its products, 
 
 of ashes of plants, 276. 
 of hemp and its products, 
 
 of marls and clays, 233, 
 
 of turf ashes, 284. 
 
 Analyses of bituminous coals, 23. 
 
 of anthracites, 28. 
 
 . of corallines, 287. 
 
 of turf, 37. 
 
 of lignite, 32. 
 
 of potatoes, 317. 
 
 Antimony, ores of, 222. 
 Anthracite, composition of, 28. 
 
 use and economy of, 29. 
 
 smelting iron with, 151. 
 
 districts of, 8-12. 
 
 Antrim, coal field of, 14, 26. 
 Ardmore lead mine, 209. 
 Arigna Iron Company, 17. 
 
 ■ iron ores of, 133. 
 
 production of iron at, 145. 
 
 refining of iron at, 157. 
 
 Ardtully copper and lead mine, 
 
 196. 
 Arsenic, ores of, 223. 
 Arseniuret of cobalt, 197. 
 Assay of VVicklow gold, 220. 
 Ashes of turf as manure, 283. 
 Athlone, water power at, 84. 
 Atmospheric railway, 375. 
 Audiey mines, 192. 
 Aughabehy coal, 23. 
 
 B. 
 
 Ballycastle coa!, 26. 
 Ballymurtagh copper mine, 185, 
 
 188. 
 Ballygahan copper mines, 186. 
 Ballydehob copper mine, 192. 
 Ballycorus lead mine and works, 
 
 207. 
 native silver at, 221.
 
 430 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Ballyhickey lead mine, 213. 
 Ballybunion, alum rocks of, 229. 
 Bann, water power of tlie, 85. 
 
 reservoirs, i)9. 
 
 Barrow navifraliuii, 355. 
 Basaltic rocks of Antrim, ISO. 
 Basalts, value of, in building, 
 
 240. 
 
 composition of, 267. 
 
 Barytes, minerals of, 245. 
 Bereliaven copper mine, 194. 
 Beet-root sugar, 320. 
 Blende, localities of, 223. 
 Bog, mode of formaiion of, 33. 
 . extent and nature of, 35. 
 
 distribution of, 39. 
 
 — — as sources of fuel, 3 7. 
 
 marls found under. 281. 
 
 Subsoils under, 282. 
 
 Bog iron ore, analysis of, 128. 
 Bonniahon copper mine, 189. 
 Bones, compusition of, 282. 
 Board of VVorks, results of the, 
 
 350. 
 Breast wheel, 88. 
 Brosna, power of the, 105. 
 Brick clay, localities of, 236. 
 Building materials, 239. 
 
 C. 
 
 Caime lead mine, 208. 
 
 Calp limestone, position of, 7. 
 
 analysis of, 281. 
 
 Callows of the Shannon, 253, 339. 
 
 Canals, Grand and Royal, 356. 
 
 of the north of Ireland, 
 
 357. 
 
 proposed connecting,359. 
 
 Capital, supposed want of, in Ire- 
 land, 408. 
 
 • uses of English, 410. 
 
 Carboniferous slate, 178. 
 
 Carbonization of turf, 41. 
 
 Catchment basins of rivers, 78. 
 
 Caucasses of the Shatmon, 253. 
 
 Charcoal made from turf, 43. 
 
 manufacture of iron by, 
 
 158. 
 
 Chalk of Antrim, 180. 
 
 Chalk, as a building stone, 240. 
 China clay, localities of, 230. 
 Civilizing ertects of roads, 344. 
 Clare lead mines, 211. 
 Clay ironstones, analyses of, 132, 
 135. 
 
 slate, localities of, 173. 
 
 composition of, 233. 
 
 preparation of, 237. 
 
 localities of pure kinds, 
 
 231, 236. 
 
 marls under bogs, 281. 
 
 slate, for roofing, quarries 
 
 of, 242. 
 
 for building, 240. 
 
 Clover, compi.siiion of, 276, 278. 
 Coal, origin and constitution of, 
 
 6. 
 ■ formations, structure of, 
 
 5, 13, 178, 
 
 varieties of, 8. 
 
 Helds of Ireland, 7, 15. 
 
 analyses of, 23, 28, 
 
 licKlj, iron ores of the, 130. 
 
 clays of the, 232. 
 
 seat, nature of, 13, 234. 
 
 Cobalt ore, localities of, 223. 
 Coking of coal, 141, 150. 
 of turf, 41. 
 
 Coke from Arigna coals, 150. 
 Counaught coal districts, 16. 
 
 lakes, water power of, 
 
 86. 
 
 navigation of, 361. 
 
 Combinations in Ireland, 403. 
 Connoree copper mine, 184. 
 Construction of railways, 363. 
 Consumption of coal in England, 
 
 49. 
 Copperas, manufacture of, 227. 
 
 230. 
 Copper mines of Wicklow, 184. 
 
 South Cork, 192. 
 
 north ol Dublin, 200. 
 
 general nature of, 183. 
 
 Kerry and Tipperary. 
 
 197. 
 
 Waterford, 194. 
 ores, analyses of, 182. 
 smelting of, 201.
 
 431 
 
 Copper mines, total produce of, 
 
 204. 
 Coral sand as manure, 286. 
 Cork, clay deposits in, 230. 
 
 • copper mines of, 192. 
 
 lead mines of, 209. 
 
 Cornwall, produce of copper from, 
 
 204. 
 Cosheen copper mine, 194. 
 Cost of steam power, 49, 53. 
 
 of water power, 106. 
 
 of iron smelting, 142, 155. 
 
 Cotton manufactuie, cost of pow- 
 er in, 64. 
 
 • manufacture of, in Ire- 
 land, 68, 392. 
 
 trade, statistics of, 63, 
 
 67 
 
 Course of cultivation, 295. 
 Crops, nature and amount of, 
 
 275. 
 
 rotation of, 295. 
 
 production of food by, 
 
 300. 
 
 without exhaustion, 315. 
 
 action of, on the soil, 259. 
 
 white and green, nature of, 
 
 296. 
 Cronebane copper mines, 185. 
 Croghan Kinshela gold mines, 
 
 219. 
 Cupellation of lead, 216. 
 Culture, alternation of, 296. 
 
 D. 
 
 Derrynoos, lead mine, 209. 
 Deer's meadow reservoir, 99. 
 Dodder, water power of, 105. 
 Dolomite, localities of, 246. 
 Drainage basins of rivers, 78. 
 
 importance of, to agricul- 
 
 ture, 272. 
 
 to navigation, 273. 
 
 beneficial results from, 
 
 274. 
 
 Duhallow, collieries of, 11. 
 Dungannon, coal district of, 12. 
 
 copper mine, 200. 
 
 Economy of water power, 107. 
 of hot blast in making 
 
 iron, 148. 
 
 of fuel in smelting iron. 
 
 163. 
 
 203. 
 
 in reducing copper, 
 
 of manures, 292. 
 
 Education, industrial, 412. 
 
 false ideas on, 414. 
 
 practical, necessity for. 
 
 417. 
 
 means of, in Ireland, 
 
 421. 
 Educated labour dear, 400. 
 Elba iron ore, 126. 
 Elements taken up by plants, 
 
 260. 
 
 of various crops, 270. 
 
 Elevation of surface, 76. 
 Employment of the people, 250. 
 Employment given by I'aiins, 31 0. 
 
 by flax trade, 334. 
 
 by public works, 
 
 350. 
 on the Shannon, 
 
 353. 
 English capital, uses of, 409. 
 Evaporation, rate of, 74. 
 Evaporative powers of fuels, 43, 
 
 47, 50. 
 Exhaustion of soils, 274, 295. 
 Expansive action of steam, 50. 
 Experiments on building stones, 
 
 239. 
 
 Fallows with wheat crops, 298. 
 
 principles of, 278. 
 
 F;ir!!>-yard maiiure, 292. 
 Farms, size of, in Ireland, 304. 
 small, productiveness of, 
 
 313. 
 
 employment given by, 310. 
 
 in Coiinaugbt and Ulster, 
 
 313.
 
 432 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Fertility of the soil, 253. 
 
 Flax trade, cost of power in the, 
 
 65. 
 
 rotting, nature of, 326. 
 
 water-steep as a manure, 
 
 329. 
 
 importation of, 333. 
 
 ■ extent of manufacture, 337. 
 
 localities of the trade, 339, 
 
 mode of growth of, 324. 
 
 analyses of plants and ashes, 
 
 327. 
 
 nature of soils, 325. 
 
 — residues as manure, 329. 
 
 Feldspar, nature of, 171. 
 
 Flags of Valentia, Clare, and 
 
 Carlow, 242. 
 Flesh, composition of, 269. 
 Flints of Antrim, 237. 
 Food, manufacture of, 251. 
 
 given by various crops, 300. 
 
 Forests, ancient, in Ireland, 3. 
 Fuel, localities of, in Ireland, 8. 
 importance of, in industry, 
 
 1. 
 economy of, in Cornv?all, 
 
 51. 
 consumed in smelting iron, 
 
 142. 
 copper, 203. 
 
 lead, 216. 
 
 in making glass, 239. 
 
 economy of, in iron works, 
 
 163. 
 
 G. 
 
 Gas, of high furnaces, use of, 1 63. 
 
 generated by steam, 165. 
 
 Geology of Ireland, 168. 
 
 connected with agricul- 
 ture, 261. 
 
 Glasgow ironstone, 137. 
 Glendore manganese mines, 222. 
 Glass manufacture in Ireland, 
 
 238. 
 Glendalough lead mine, 205. 
 Glenmalur lead mine, 207. 
 Gold mines of Wicklow, 219. 
 
 Granite, localities of, 170. 
 Granite, mines in, 183,205, 221. 
 as building stone, 240. 
 
 Green crops, rotations of, 298. 
 Greenock water reservoirs, 102. 
 Gypsum, localities of, 180. 
 use of, as manure, 283. 
 
 H. 
 
 Height of Ireland above the sea, 
 
 76. 
 Hematite, analyses of, 127. 
 Hemp, analysis of, 340. 
 
 steep water of, 342. 
 
 Hibernian Mining Company, 14. 
 High iron furnaces, 139. 
 Hot blast for iron smelling, 149. 
 Horse power, meaning of, 46. 
 Howth, manganese mine of, 222. 
 
 clay, deposits of, 236. 
 
 Humus, nature and origin of, 
 269. 
 
 Importance of iron in the arts, 
 
 118. 
 Importation of flax, 333. 
 Industrial education, necessity 
 
 for, 412. 
 Industry connected with science, 
 
 417. 
 Inland navigation, 351. 
 Intercourse aids civilization, 344. 
 moral eflocts of, 348. 
 
 Ireland, scarcity of wood in, 2. 
 
 . cost of fuel in, 53. 
 
 geology of, 168. 
 
 copper mines of, 181. 
 
 lead mines of, 204. 
 
 — gold mines of, 219. 
 
 population of, 250. 
 
 coal districts of, 8. 
 
 bogs of, 33. 
 
 elevation of surface, 76. 
 
 water power of, 71, 80. 
 
 produce of copper in 
 
 204.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 433 
 
 Ireland, agricultural produce of, 
 257. 
 
 live stock of, 258. 
 
 size of farms in, 304. 
 
 fertility of soils in, 253. 
 
 available land in, 312. 
 
 distribution of surface of, 
 
 257. 
 
 344. 
 
 351. 
 
 387. 
 
 397. 
 
 linen trade of, 336. 
 flax grown in, 330. 
 means of intercourse in, 
 
 inland navigation of, 
 
 geographical position of, 
 
 railways in, 363. 
 • cheapness of labour in, 
 
 external trade of, 387. 
 
 combinations in, 403. 
 
 Ireland, want of capital in, 408. 
 Irishmen, physical excellence of, 
 
 401. 
 Iron, ancient manufacture of, 
 
 118. 
 
 ores, localities of, 120. 
 — analyses of, 127, 132,135. 
 
 smelting, process of, 1 39. 
 
 charges of, 142. 
 
 by hot blast, 148. 
 
 ■ by anthracite, 152. 
 
 refining in Wales and Ire- 
 land, 155. 
 
 manufacture by turf, 158. 
 
 pyrites of VVicklow, 224. 
 
 of the coal fields, 26, 
 
 227. 
 
 K. 
 
 Kaolin, nature and localities of, 
 
 230. 
 Kenmare copper and lead mines, 
 
 196,209. 
 Kilbricken lead mines, 212. 
 ■ antimony ore, 222. 
 
 Kilkenny coal district, 8. 
 
 . clay, deposits of, 234. 
 
 . ironstone of, 131. 
 
 Kilkenny, manufacture of iron at, 
 
 152. 
 Killaloe, water power at, 82. 
 slate quarries of, 242. 
 
 Killarney, mines at, 197. 
 Knockniahon copper mines, 188. 
 
 Labour, cheapness of, 397. 
 
 skilled and unskilled, 
 
 402. 
 
 Labouring force of man, 400. 
 Lackamore copper mine, 199. 
 Lansdown steamer, turf used in, 
 
 57. 
 Land available for farms, 312. 
 Large farm system, 305. 
 Lead ores, analysis of, 204. 
 
 mines of Clare, 211. 
 
 of Wicklow, 205. 
 
 of Cork, 209. 
 
 elsewhere, 206. 
 
 ores, smelting of, 214. 
 
 separation from silver, 217. 
 
 Lee, water power of the, 84. 
 Leinster coal field, 8. 
 Ligneous fibre, growth of, 324. 
 Lignite or wood coal, 31. 
 Lime as a manure, 279. 
 Limestone strata of Ireland, 6, 
 178. 
 
 lead mines in, 210. 
 
 for building, 240. 
 
 magnesian, localities of. 
 
 246. 
 
 plain, drainage of the, 
 272. 
 
 composition of, 281. 
 
 Linen trade, extent of the, 336. 
 
 goods, export of, 337. 
 
 manufacture of, 331. 
 
 Live stock, amount of, 258. 
 Lough Allen, structure of, 16. 
 
 coal field, 18. 
 
 Neagli, lignites of, 31. 
 
 Derg, capacity of, 82. 
 
 Allen, water power of, 84. 
 
 Ennell, water power of, 105. 
 
 2f
 
 434 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Lough Shinney copper mine, 200. 
 
 Neagh, clays of, 31. 
 
 Allen, clays of, 233. 
 
 Neagh and Erne, naviga- 
 tion of, 3G0. 
 
 in Connaught, power of, 86. 
 
 navigation of, 301. 
 
 Lucerne, crops of, 299. 
 Luganure lead mines, 206. 
 
 M. 
 
 Magnesian limestone, 179. 
 Magnesia, minerals of, 246. 
 Malleable iron, making of, 155. 
 Manufacture of food, 251. 
 Manures, native in Ireland, 279. 
 
 sea sand as, 286. 
 
 sea weed as, 291. 
 
 turf ashes as, 283. 
 
 farm yard, 292. 
 
 of green crops, 299. 
 
 ■ flax steep as, 329. 
 
 ■ hemp steep as, 341. 
 
 potato residues as, 319. 
 
 beet residues as, 322. 
 
 Marls, localities and natures of 
 
 281, 283. 
 Manganese ores, localities of, 
 
 222. 
 Marbles, localities of, 239. 
 
 coloured varieties of, 
 
 244. 
 
 Meelick, water povrer of, 84. 
 Meenashama, coal of, 23. 
 Mica slate, localities of, 172. 
 
 soils formed of, 265. 
 
 Millstone grit formation, 7, 
 
 178. 
 Mill power of England, 69. 
 
 by reaction of water, 93. 
 
 Miitown lead mine, 21 I. 
 Millstones, quarries of, 245. 
 Mines of iron in Ireland, 120. 
 
 of copper. 181. 
 
 of lead, 204. 
 
 of gold, 219. 
 
 Moisture of climate, 72. 
 Monaghan coal field, 15. 
 Mucruss copper mine, 197. 
 
 Munster coal field, 11. 
 Murlough bay, coal beds of, 14. 
 
 N. 
 
 Navigation of the Shannon, 352. 
 
 Barrow, 355. 
 
 Grand and Royal Canals, 
 
 356. 
 
 — northern canals, 357. 
 
 — Ulster lakes, 360. 
 Connaught lakes, 361. 
 
 New red sandstone rock, 179. 
 Newtownards lead mine, 209. 
 Nitrogen fixed by green crops, 
 299. 
 
 source of, in plants, 269, 
 
 298. 
 
 of manures, 275, 293. 
 
 Nitrolin, nature of, 269. 
 
 Oats, composition of, 276. 
 
 materials in crop of, 277. 
 
 Old red sandstone, localities of, 
 
 176. 
 Ores of iron, 120. 
 analyses of, 127, 132, 
 
 135. 
 
 smelting of, 140. 
 
 of copper, analyses of, 182. 
 smelting of, 201. 
 
 of lead, analyses of, 204. 
 
 ■ smelting of, 214. 
 
 produce of, 216. 
 
 of sulphur, 224. 
 of antimony and arse- 
 
 nic, 222. 
 
 cobalt and chrome, 
 
 197, 223. 
 Ores, metallic, distribution of, 
 
 183. 
 Organized beings, composition of, 
 
 259. 
 Organic matter of the soil, 26S. 
 Origin of soils, 261. 
 Overshot water wheel, 87. 
 Ovoca valley, copper mines of 
 
 the, 184.
 
 43-5 
 
 P. 
 
 Pasture and tillage, 300. 
 People, occupations of the, 250. 
 Pipeclay, localities of, 231. 
 Plants, composition of, 260. 
 ' ashes of, 276. 
 
 mode of growth of, 259. 
 
 Pollough coal, 27. 
 Power, cost of steam, 54. 
 
 value of the unit of, 46. 
 
 evaporative of fuels, 47, 
 
 50. 
 
 water of Ireland, 71. 
 
 of the Shannon, 83. 
 
 of the Bann, 85. 
 
 cost of, 108. 
 
 cost of, on railways, 374. 
 
 Poncelet's wheel, 89. 
 
 Porcelain clay, localities of, 230. 
 nature of, 171. 
 
 Pottery, clays adapted for, 232. 
 
 Potatoes, composition of, 276. 
 317. 
 
 nutriment in, 303. 
 
 Potato husbandry in Ireland, 
 302. 
 
 starch, making of, 316. 
 
 residues, economy of, 319. 
 
 Population, not excessive, 312. 
 
 Prices of fuel, 53. 
 
 Pressure, water engines by, 90. 
 
 Practical education, importance 
 of, 401,412. 
 
 Produce of Ireland, 255. 
 
 Puddling of iron, 155. 
 
 Public works, emplovment by, 
 346. 
 
 grants, profit on, 349. 
 
 Pyrites of the coal fields, 26. 
 
 of copper, 182. 
 
 iron, of Wicklow and Tip- 
 
 perary, 224, 227. 
 
 oxidizable, 228. • 
 
 Q. 
 
 Quartz rock, localities of, 175. 
 sand of Donegal, 238. 
 
 R. 
 
 Rain, annual quantity of, 72. 
 Railways in Ireland, 363. 
 
 actual traffic on, 364. 
 
 • proposed, 371. 
 
 report of Commissioners 
 
 on, 365. 
 
 atmospheric, nature of 
 
 the, 373. 
 
 management of, 381. 
 
 necessity of control for, 
 
 378. 
 
 cost of power on, 374. 
 
 Railway, atmospheric, toDalkey, 
 
 373. 
 Reaction water mill,[_93. 
 Reservoirs of water power, 96. 
 
 ■ on the Upper Bann, 98. 
 
 • at Greenock, 102. 
 
 for tide mills, 112. 
 
 Relations of agriculture to manu- 
 factures, 250. 
 
 Reclaiming of bogs, 281. 
 
 Report of Railway Commission- 
 ers, 365. 
 
 Ringabella lead mine, 209. 
 
 Rivers, navigable, 351. 
 
 catchment basins of. 
 
 78. 
 Roads, making of, beneficial, 
 
 345. 
 
 profitable outlay on, 348. 
 
 Connaught, effects of, 346. 
 
 Highland, efi'ects of, 349. 
 
 Rover coal, 24. 
 Rooskey, water power at, 84. 
 Ross, copper mine, 198. 
 Roscommon, clays of, 232. 
 Rotation of crops, 295. 
 Rushes coal, 27. 
 
 Salt, manufacture of, 396. 
 Sand for industrial uses, 238. 
 
 shelly and coral as manure, 
 
 286. 
 Sandstone of the coal fields, 9.
 
 436 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Sandstone rocks, localities of, 176, 
 
 179. 
 
 for building, 239. 
 
 soils, formed of, 266. 
 
 Santnavenacoal, 23. 
 
 Science and industry connected, 
 
 417. 
 Scotch iron ores, 137. 
 Scotland, hot blast used in, 148. 
 Seaweed as manure, 291. 
 Sea sand dredged in Ulster, 285. 
 
 Cork, 288. 
 
 Shannon, use of turf on the, 57. 
 
 water power of the, 83. 
 
 drainage of the, 272. 
 
 navigation of the, 351. 
 
 traffic on the, 354. 
 
 industrial position of the, 
 
 389. 
 
 floods on the, 98. 
 
 Shaw's water reservoirs, 102. 
 Shells applied as manure, 286. 
 Sheep, number of, in Ireland, 
 
 258. 
 Silica for industrial uses, 238. 
 Silurian slate, localities of, 174. 
 Silver mines, copper and lead 
 
 district, 199,209. 
 Silver produce from lead ores, 217. 
 
 native in Ireland, 221. 
 
 Skilled labour, dearness of, 397, 
 
 400. 
 Skull, Coppermine, 194. 
 Slate of the coal fields, 9. 
 
 roofing quarries of, 242. 
 
 Smelting of copper ores, 201. 
 
 lead ores, 214. 
 
 iron at Arigna, 145. 
 
 with anthracite, 152. 
 
 with turf, 158. 
 
 Soils of Ireland, fertility of the, 
 
 253. 
 composition of, 282, 
 
 325. 
 geological relations of, 
 
 average produce of, 
 253,275. 
 
 — connected with plants, 
 
 261. 
 
 Soils of Ireland, origin of, 261. 
 mechanical uses of. 
 
 270. 
 
 materials taken from, 
 
 274. 
 
 exhaustion of, 295. 
 
 drainage of, 27 1. 
 
 sources of fertility in, 
 
 260, 296. 
 St. Etienne, coal district of, 15, 
 Staifordshire, iron ores, 137. 
 Starch, composition of, 316. 
 manufactured from pota- 
 
 toes, 317. 
 
 uses of, 319. 
 
 Steadiness of water power, 109. 
 Steam engine, construction of, 
 46. 
 
 of Cornwall, 50. 
 
 vessels, use of turf in, 57. 
 power, cost of, 60. 
 combined with wa- 
 
 ter, 111. 
 • expansive action of, 51. 
 Stock, live, amount of, 258. 
 Strength of building materials, 
 239. 
 
 of labouring men, 401. 
 
 Sugar, composition of, 316. 
 
 manufacture of, 320. 
 
 probable cost of, 323. 
 
 beet, culture of, 321. 
 
 Sulphate of iron, manufacture of, 
 
 227. 
 of zinc, manufacture of, 
 
 223. 
 
 228. 
 
 of alumina and potash. 
 
 259. 
 
 Sulphur ores of Wicklow, 224. 
 
 of Tipperary, 227. 
 
 of coal fields, ib. 
 
 Surface of Ireland, distribution 
 of, 257. 
 
 elevation of, 76. 
 
 Sweetvein coal, 27. 
 
 Tarmonbarry, water power at, 
 84.
 
 437 
 
 Tertiary formations of Ireland, 
 
 30, 180. 
 Tide mills, nature of, 112. 
 Tigrony copper mine, 185. 
 Tillage and pasture, parallel of, 
 
 300. 
 
 production of food by, 
 
 302. 
 
 Timber in bogs, origin of, 3. 
 Tinstone of Wicklow, 222. 
 Tipperary coal field, 1 1. 
 
 clay deposits of, 231. 
 
 Trade, education required for, 
 
 413. 
 TraflBc on the Shannon, 354. 
 
 on the Irish canals, 356. 
 
 railways, 363. 
 
 ■ River Barrow, 355. 
 
 Trap rocks of Antrim, 180. 
 
 soils of the, 266. 
 
 analyses of decomposed, 
 
 268. 
 Tribute paid to Normandy, 221. 
 Turbine, nature and power of the, 
 
 93. 
 
 as a tide mill, 115. 
 
 Turf, mode of formation of, 33. 
 used in Shannon steamers, 
 
 57. 
 
 coke and charcoal, 37, 43. 
 
 localities of, 35, 54. 
 
 in manufacture of iron, 
 
 158. 
 
 composition of, 38. 
 
 composition of ashes of, 
 
 283. 
 — — practical value of, 38. 
 ^— evaporative power of, 55. 
 
 modes of preparing, 39. 
 
 Turnips, composition of, 276. 
 Tyrone coal, districts of, 12. 
 clay, deposits of, 232, 
 
 U. 
 
 Ulmine, nature and source of, 
 
 269. 
 Undershot water wheel, 88. 
 
 Valentia, slates and flags of, 
 
 243. 
 Vegetables, composition of, 276. 
 Vegetation, laws of, 259. 
 
 W. 
 
 Wages, in Ireland and England, 
 400. 
 
 and fuel, how related. 
 
 65. 
 
 low, not cheap, 397. 
 
 in England and France, 
 
 399. 
 Water power of Ireland, 71, 77. 
 - of the Shannon, 
 
 83. 
 
 86. 
 
 110. 
 
 Lee and Bann, 85. 
 of Connaught lakes, 
 
 cost of, 107. 
 advantages of, 108. 
 comparative use of. 
 
 improved by drain- 
 age, 272. 
 
 wheels, 87. 
 
 ■ pressure engines, 90. 
 
 mill by reaction, 93. 
 
 carriage, economy .of, 351, 
 
 Waterford copper mines, 188. 
 Welch iron ores, 137. 
 West Cork mines, 192. 
 Wheat, composition of, 276. 
 
 materials in crop, 300. 
 
 White limestone of Antrim, 
 180. 
 
 crops, nature of, 296. 
 
 Wicklow copper mines, 184. 
 
 lead mines, 205. 
 
 gold mines, 219. 
 
 Woods, cutting down of, 120. 
 Wood, production of, 316. 
 Woody fibre, nature and source 
 
 of, 324. 
 Wool, nature of Irish, 395.
 
 438 
 
 Woollen trade, cost of power in, 
 
 64. 
 in Ireland, 393. 
 
 Yellow sandstone rocks, 176. 
 Youghal clay, deposits of, 236. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Youghal sea sand as manure, 
 
 Zinc ores, localities of, 211. 
 
 sulphate, manufacture of, 
 
 211. 
 
 THE r.NW.


 
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