Penrice Castle
Feby 7 1858
My dear Henry
I strongly recommend to you, never to have anything to do with iron, except as a landlord, letting it in the shape of ore, to those who are sanguine enough to think they can make money in the trade. Not one in fifty succeeds, but those who do, make so largely, that they tempt others to embark in the speculation.
To make iron in Wiltshire, seems to me akin to insanity. All the coal has to be brought to the ore, & all the ore, as I believe is of one description, a sort of oxide, whereas to make good iron, a mixture is indispensable hæmatites, aluminates &c In these parts Cumberland & Lancashire ores are imported largely, to mix. As are also ores from Devonshire & Somersetshire, & till lately, from Northamptonshire, but much practice is necessary before you can tell what is the peculiar admixture required. As for the Ruabon coal, what mean you by a “reasonable rate”, do you know how many tons of it go to make a ton of iron? And that if coal costs more than 8s a ton, iron cannot be made to a profit? Why in these parts coal used in the iron works averages 5s a ton! and our people can barely make both ends meet.
You say that “at Merthyr they are paying a guinea a ton for the Cumberland ironstone, and we can raise it at Lacock for two shillings”. There is a fallacy in the little word “it”. You cannot raise hæmatite (which is the Cumberland ironstone) for 2s at Lacock. Moreover the chances are that you would be obliged to import hæmatite from somewhere, at even a higher figure than they pay at Merthyr, if you were to start ironworks in Wiltshire, & make saleable iron.
All this will be soon tested if they are erecting furnaces at Seend & Westbury. Never forget that iron making is a nice chemical operation, on a large scale, & that the qualities of coal, iron ore, & limestone, ought to be delicately adjusted before you begin to lay out money, in the erection of furnaces.
This wise saw, if attended to, would have saved millions to speculators in this county.
Yours ever truly
CRM Talbot
[envelope:]
H. F. Talbot Esqr
4 Atholl Crescent
Edinburgh