Litchfield enquirer., 1848-02-10
IRON ORE AND MANUFACTURE IN
 NEW ENGLAND. .a
Correspondence of the Tribune.
Housatonic Valley, Jan. lS4S.

HORACE GREELEY, Esq. - Dear Sir Knowing the interest yoe take in the diff ferent branches of domestic industry of our country. address to you the following re- marks concerning the Iron Manufacture in this region, which if you please, you can insert in your paper. This valley, or rath> CT basin drained ny the Housalonic, from the point where the Railroad first comes into it from the Sound, near New Milford in Conn.,, to its head near Pittsfeld, Mass. is entirely included in the geological form |, ations, which contain the we'll >known Hem. atite ore beds of New England. The same l formations, everywhere characterized by these ores extend in narrow belt of country seill farther North down the val- ley of the Hoosuc to the Vermont State l line, and thence in the same direction the whole length of this State to the borders of ! Canada. The quality of the ore through out this range is good, its quantity is as yet little known, and it's importance little appreciated. In the state of Connecticut alone it supplies sixteen blast furnaces. the average yield Of each of which is about l ,- 900 tons of llg iron per annpm. In Mass. there are seven furnaces running on the same ore, and the same number in Dutehes and Columbia Counties m N Y. State Tine iron generally produced is of the .qual> ity of that generally known as the'Salisbury lron'-so called because nearly all the Con- necticut furnaces were formerly supplied with oie from he large bed in this town. This long enjoyed an unreasonably ex- elusive reputation. But other beds have since been discovered equally rich, so me of which, as the ore. bed in West Stockbridee, furnishes greater variety ofore than does this. And as, in the working of the fur naces, it is found highly advantageous to mix different varieties of ore, ths is of no small conSequ ence. At the Amenia bed in Dutchess County the white carbonate of iron, a species long highly prized in Berk. nttsS SSs AAoSSo hoC HC@h VVOSutty utoCON cred in large quantities among the heaps Of refuse ore and am inclined to think some of the rejected ores at Salisbury will at some time be examined with similar sues cess. North of PittSfeld in Lanesborough and Cheshire some valuable beds have late- ly been opened, and those in the latter place now hardly known, promise sooa to equal any of the others in importance. So in the town of Northeast in Dulches Co. a new bed has been recently opened, likely to be ofgreat value The cost of digging these ores is about $! per ton. The average price for the ton of ore delivered at the fur> naces is about B 50. With some however il is as low as $l 50; but generally at these the plce of charcoal is proportienably high. Two and a half tons in the furnace make ton of iron Charcoal costs from $5 to $7 50 per hundred bushels, and the consumption is from one hundred and twenty to one hundred and fifty bushels to the ton, varying according to the quality
 that of the ore, and particularly according to the skill of the founder. Some of thu furnaces run with cold blast and some witl hot blast; all the new furnaces and all il Mass. run with hOt blast They mak. one>thrd more iron, and believe, notwith. standing the old prejudice to the contrary l # :c haO sp,n The } ield of these furnaces is from 3 to ( tons per day, and they run from 25O to 3Ot days in the year. The difference in the yield does not by any means correspond with the difference Ot their size, for Uni: does no, vary much, bat rather with tho different degrees of skill applied to them The Fishkill furnace has been extremely well managed, and has run with grea success its ore is of the very bes, quality This is soon to be transported to thu Hudson River, to be there smelted witl anthracite at the two large furnaces il process in Poughkeepsie.
 The two furr aces Of the StOckbridge Iror Go. have perhaps been better managed than any others probably making mor
 iron in the same time than any other thre
 furnaces. These furnaces which measur
 about 32 feet in night and 8 feet across tn
 boshes, are making at present, one twelv
 tons of iron per day and the other six which is an extraordinary yield consider ing the short time they have been in bias
 and that they have not yet come ur,o thei full power of prodaction. They are usin
 charcoal only. When the new rail is lai
 down on the Hudson and Beikshire Raj
 road the nre from the famous n.ine of tn d Company, it is expected. will be carried
 Hudson to be there smelted with anthracit
 The new furnace at Lanesborough is prol : ably the most expensive one and the lar !. est one in the country. This is now ju going into blast, and will probably for < one of the most productive.
 \ .-L aM he osnpIs.