The South Wales Coalfield has an area of 1,000 square miles, and annually One-third of the produces more than 30 million tons of coal and anthracite.

entire British export of coal is shipped from CARDIFF, the chief outlet of the great mining and metal centres of MERTHYR TYDVIL, ABERDARE, DOWLAIS, PONTYPRIDD, &c., and from SWANSEA (the outlet for the western division of this rich coalfield), which also has important industries-coppersmelting works, &c.-of its own.

The Bristol Coalfield is small, and the deposits are difficult to work. There is also a small coa field in the Forest of Dean, in Gloucestershire, and isolated mines are worked in other parts of England.

The Scottish Coalfields have a total production of nearly 36 million tons a year.

The mines of Lanark and Ayrshire supply the ironworks of HAMILTON, AIRDRIE, BATHGATE, FALKIRK, MOTHERWELL, and COATBRIDGE, and the great shipbuilding and engineering establishments of GLASGOW and GREENOCK, the cotton and thread factories of PAISLEY, and the woollen and carpet factories and iron-foundries of KILMARNOCK. The mines of the Lothians supply EDINBURGH and LEITH, while those of Fife and Forfar sustain the linen and jute manufactures of DUNDEE, DUNFERMLINE, and other manufacturing towns on the east coast.

The Irish Coalfields are much inferior in extent and amount of production to those of Great Britain. Annual output, over 90,000 tons.

The only important mines are those of KILKENNY, TIPPERARY, and TYRONE; but Irish coal is of inferior quality, and the total output scarcely exceeds 90,000 tons a year. Hull, in his "Physical Geology and Geography of Ireland," says that the coal measures once overspread all the area now occupied by carboniferous limestone, that is, all the central limestone plain of Ireland, and that then the surface of the Irish arca remained in a state of dry land, while that of Little by little the England was submerged beneath the waters of the sea. carboniferous strata were swept by sub-aerial waters into the adjoining ocean, "to form, perhaps, some of the strata which were being piled up over the oceanbed of the British area. At this time Ireland contributed to the future mineral wealth of England; she stript herself to clothe her sister, and to supply materials for protecting from atmospheric waste her vast stores of coal, upon which her greatness and prosperity now so largely depend."

"Of the upper carboniferous beds," states another writer, "which, at one time, overspread the central plain of Ireland, only small patches remain in isolated spots, serving chiefly as an indication of the immense loss that has been sustained in an important element of material prosperity."

IRON.-Iron-ore, by far the most valuable of all metallic ores, occurs abundantly within and near the coal areas of England and Wales and southern Scotland, and there are also rich deposits of this ore in Ireland.

In Ireland not only are the few coal mines situated at a considerable distance In Great Britain, on the from the coast, but also from the iron-ore districts.

contrary, practically inexhaustible deposits of iron-ore are found not only within or close to the coal areas, but often in the same mines, and it is this abundance and juxtaposition of the iron-ore and of the coal to smelt it, that has given Great

Britain the lead among the industrial nations of the world. Iron-working, in England and Wales and Southern Scotland, is on this account so cheaply carried on, that few other countries can compete with us in the iron markets of the world. Rather less iron-ore is now mined in South Wales than formerly, owing to the enormous and rapidly-increasing import of cheap ores from Spain and other countries. Spain alone now sends us more than 54 million tons of iron-ore, out of a total import of 7%1⁄2 million tons.

The annual production of iron-ore in the United Kingdom is about 15 million tons, from which nearly 5 million tons of metal are produced. In 1900, over 91⁄2 million tons of pig-iron were produced, including the production from foreign ores.

The chief iron-mines are in South Wales, South Staffordshire, Yorkshire, and Southern Scotland. In Ireland, the richest deposits of iron-ore are in county Antrim. From the clay-band ores of the Cleveland hills around MIDDLESBOROUGH, one-third of the iron smelted in England is produced, while the red hematite ores of North Lancashire and Cumberland supply the great steel works of BARROW-IN-FURNESS.

Besides the vast deposits of coal and iron, there are productive ores of tin, lead, copper and zinc, and some gold and silver are also produced. Slate, clay, salt, and other minerals are found in abundance.

Rich deposits of tin and copper ore are found in Cornwall and Devon, but more tin, and much more copper (either in the form of ore or partly refined metal) is now imported into, than is produced in, the country. Ores of lead, some of them containing silver, are found and worked on both sides of the Pennine Range and among the Cumbrian and Welsh mountains, the Wicklow Hills in Ireland, and at Leadhills in the south of Scotland. Zinc ores are found in the Isle of Man, and in Wales and Northumberland. A little gold is produced from gold-ores worked near DOLGELLY, in Merionethshire, and a considerable quantity of silver is produced by the desilverisation of lead and copper

ores.

Slates are extensively quarried in Wales, chiefly at BETHESDA, Llanberis, and FESTINIOG; building stones, granites, and marbles are largely quarried in various parts of the country; in the eastern and south-eastern divisions of England, the clay in which they abound supplies the chief building materialbrick; and great quantities of china clay are sent from the south-western counties of England to the potteries of Staffordshire. More salt is produced in Great Britain than in any other country in the world; it is chiefly derived from the rock-salt mines of Cheshire and Worcestershire

Summary of the mineral produce of the United Kingdom.

I-METALLIC MINERALS IN 1906.

16,000 ounces of gold, of the value of £18,00, and 168,000 ounces of silver (chiefly from lead-ores) were produced.

II.-NON-METALLIC MINERALS.

Coal.

Amount in 1,000 tons

Value in £1,000

236,129
82,039

Stone. 24, 100 4.323

MANUFACTURES: The United Kingdom is the chief manufacturing county in the world, and in England and Wales, and Lowland Scotland, more people are engaged in manufacturing pursuits than in any other branch of industry.

The most important manufacturing industries of the United Kingdom are the great textile manufactures and metal industries, with the chemical The making of earthenware, glass, industries, and the leather manufacture. paper, watches and clocks, &c., are all important industries, but none of them are upon a scale of such magnitude as the textile fabrics and metal wares, chemicals and leather goods, which form the great staples of British manufacturing industry.

The textile maufactures of the United Kingdom are the most extensive in the world. British textile factories employ over one million people, and at least five millions depend for their support directly upon these industries.

The

"A century ago," says Mr. Ellison, of Liverpool, "the value of cotton, woollen, and linen yarns and piece goods produced in Great Britain and Ireland was about £22,000,000-say, woollen £17,000,000, linen £4,000,000, and cotton £1,000,000. Of recent years the value has been about £200,000,000 -say, cotton £120,000,000, woollen £55,000,000, and linen 25,000,000. total amount of capital employed is about £250,000,000, and at least 5,000,000 people-men, women, and children-are dependent upon these industries for their livelihood. Moreover, one-half of the value of British and Irish products exported consists of textiles."-[The Statesman's Year Book, 1507, p. 82.]

In 1890, the 7,190 textile factories-6,180 in England and Wales, 747 in Scotland, and 263 in Ireland-contained upwards of 53% million spindles and 822,000 power-looms, and employed more than 1 million hands.

The Cotton Manufacture is by far the most important of British Industries, and the cotton factories of Lancashire and Lanarkshire produce more than one-half of the cotton goods of the world.

The cotton factories (2,500 in number) of the United Kingdom employ over half-a-million operatives, and annually consume about 1,700 million lbs. of raw cotton, and produce a million miles of cotton cloth for export, over and above the large quantities required for home consumption. Nearly 2,000 million lbs. of raw cotton are imported every year, and almost exclusively through LIVERPOOL the greatest cotton market of the world-and thence distributed to the great centres of the cotton industry.

The Chief Centres of the Cotton Industry are: MANCHESTER, the com mercial centre of the densely-populated coal area of South Lancashire, which contains over 300 towns and villages, all actively employed in spinning or weav ing cotton. The larger towns thus engaged are: BLACKBURN, OLDHAM, PRESTON, BOLTON, BURY, ROCHDALE, BURNLEY, ACCRINGTON, CHORLEY, and WIGAN, in Lancashire; STOCKPORT and HYDE, in Cheshire; GLOSSOP, in Derbyshire. Oldham and Bolton are chiefly engaged in cotton-spinning:

and Preston, Blackburn, Accrington, and Burnley in cotton-weaving. NOTTING HAM is also actively engaged in certain branches of the cotton trade-the staple industry being the making of cotton hosiery, net-work, and lace. In Scotland, cotton goods are chiefly made at GLASGOW and PAISLEY-the latter town is famous for its thread. There are also large cotton factories in Ireland, at BELFAST.

The Woollen Manufacture is the second great industry of the United Kingdom, and the woollen, worsted, and shoddy factories of the country, 2,700 in number, employ over 280,000 people, and annually use up over 770 million lbs. of foreign wool, in addition to 153 million lbs. produced at home.

The woollen manufacture is the most ancient of our textile industries, and British woollen goods have for centuries enjoyed a high reputation for excellence and finish, and at the present time Great Britain surpasses all other countries in this branch of industry (Zehden). In 1890, the 2,700 British factories-1,793 woollen, 753 worsted, and 125 shoddy-contained nearly 6 million spindles, and 140,000 power-looms.

The Chief Centre of the Woollen Industry is the West Riding of Yorkshire, where LEEDS, the great centre of the woollen cloth trade, occupies a geographical and industrial position analogous to that of Manchester in the cotton trade and manufacture. BRADFORD, another large town on the Yorkshire coalfield, is the chief centre of the worsted manufacture, and near it stands the model industrial town of SALTAIRE, which has grown up around Sir Titus Salt's great alpaca works. HUDDERSFIELD is famous for its high-class plain and fancy woollen fabrics, and HALIFAX for its carpets and baizes. Heavier fabrics are made in the shoddy and blanket works of DEWSBURY and BATLEY. Woollen goods of various kinds, or yarn, are, in fact, made in almost every town and village on the eastern slope of the Pennines, and even on the western side; some of the great cotton towns, such as ROCHDALE, BURY, ASHTON, and GLOSSOP, have also a considerable woollen manufacture.

Three counties in the west of England are an old and still famous centre for the finer broadcloths. These "West of England cloths" are made at TROWBRIDGE, BRADFORD, and WESTBURY, in the west of Wiltshire; at STROUD, in Gloucestershire; and at BATII and FROME, in Somersetshire. Of outlying towns, KENDAL, in the north-west, and NORWICH, in the east of England, which produced woollen goods five hundred years ago, still retain the industry to some extent; but other places in the south of England, such as NEWBURY, in Berkshire, once famous for their cloth trade, are now entirely agricultural.

In Scotland, the woollen manufacture is carried on chiefly in the valley of the Tweed-GALASHIELS, SELKIRK, HAWICK, and JEDBURGH producing the famous tweed cloth. Tweeds and woollen hosiery are also made at DUMFRIES, plaids and tartans at STIRLING, tweeds at BANNOCKBURN, and other woollen goods at KILMARNOCK and AYR.

In Ireland, the industry is practically confined to the making of some coarse woollen goods in LEINSTER.

Flannels are largely made at WELSHPOOL and DOLGELLY, in Wales; and also at ROCHDALE, HALIFAX, and other English towns. Blankets, first made at Bristol, by Thomas Blanket, in 1340, are now made chiefly at DEWSBURY, and other places in the West Riding of Yorkshire, and at WITNEY, in Oxfordshire. The so-called '' Brussels" carpets are made at KIDDERMINSTER, while

the "Kidderminster" carpets are made at KILMARNOCK, in Scotland, and at HALIFAX, in Yorkshire. Woollen hosiery and elastic webbing are the staple textile industries of LEICESTER.

The Linen Manufacture is almost confined to a few towns in Ulster, in Ireland; Fife and Forfar, in Scotland; and the West Riding of Yorkshire, in England.

The Linen Trade of Ireland employs about 60,000 workers, and centres at BELFAST. The linen and jute works of DUNDEE, ARBROATH, MONTROSE, DUNFERMLINE, and other towns on the castern coast of Scotland, employ upwards of 80,000 people, or more than four times the number employed in the linen mills of BARNSLEY, LEEDS, and other towns in the West-Riding of Yorkshire. Sail-cloth is largely made at SUNDERLAND, STOCKTON, LIVERPOOL, and other seaport towns. Over 10 million pounds' worth of flax, hemp, and jute is imported into the United Kingdom every year, in addition to the large quantities of flax and tow produced at home. Most of the jute imported is sent to Dundee to be made into sacking and cordage, but there are large jute works in Belfast and London.

The Silk Industry, in which France surpasses all other countries, has never been developed to any extent in England.

The silk industry proper, i.e., the spinning and weaving of thrown silk, has declined within recent years, and is still decreasing, but the making of silk plushes and other fabrics from spun silk (prepared from silk waste, in the same way as cotton or woollen yarn) is increasing. COVENTRY was formerly noted for its ribbons; velvets and silk plushes are made at BRADFORD; LEEK has silk thread and silk dyeing works, and there are numerous silk factories at MACCLESFIELD, CONGLETON, DERBY, and NORWICH. Bethnal Green and Spitalfields, in London, were formerly famous for their silk manufactures.

The Metal Industries of the United Kingdom are by far the most important and extensive in the world.

The British Metallic industries include the preparation of the "raw material" -the smelting of the iron, lead, tin, copper, and other metallic ores-and the manufacture therefrom of almost everything that can be made in metal, from tiny needles or delicate hair-springs, to huge anchors and the most powerful steam engines. And, in spite of the keen and rapidly increasing competition of foreign countries, especially the United States and Germany, British metal goods are yet unsurpassed in quality, quantity, and cheapness. One inestimable advantage, as we have already pointed out, is the possession of such vast stores of coal and iron in close proximity; but the excellence and cheapness of English manufactures are chiefly due to the localization of the various industries-different manufactures being carried on in different localities, and these, generally speaking, admirably suited for the purpose, especially when, as in the case of the great textile and iron manufactures, the goods must be produced on a very large scale.

Certain districts and towns are thus intimately associated with certain industries, which are therein brought to the highest possible excellence at the least possible cost. The greatest of British textile industries-the cotton manufacture is thus localized on the rich coalfield to the west of the Pennine chain; while the second great industry--the woollen minufacture—is likewise carried