YORKSHIRE. This county is rich in minerals. The lower red sandstone, or Ponte fract Rock, near Pontefract, is usually a mass of yellowish sands, of the greatest excellence for the use of the metal-founder in the con. struction of his moulds. From beneath the magnesian deposits rise the sandstones, ;hales, ironstones, and coal of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and fill an enormous area in the valleys of tho Aire, Calder, Went, Dearn, Dove, and Don. The whole of this large area (not less than 600 square miles) yields coal. The whole series of strata is about 4000 feet thick ; and of the coal which lies in this series there are about 20 workable beds, yielding about 40 feet of coal, generally of good quality. Ironstones of excellent quality accompany the lower parts of this coal de posit. The seam of coal are worked in the west of Yorkshire as thin as 18 inches (near Halifax and Penistone), and one as thick as 8, 9, or 10 feet (Barnsley), but the average is from S to 0 feet. The most characteristic rock in the millstone grit of the West Riding is the quartzose conglomerate, used in making millstones.
Yorkshire is excellently supplied with canals and railways, in aid of its manufactures and commerce. The manufactures of the county are of great importance. The manufacture of woollen cloths, at Leeds, Bradford, Halifax, Wakefield, and Huddersfield, has been brought to such a degree of perfection as to compete with the woollens of the West of England, while it far exceeds them in quantity. The iron-works are very extensive. Sheffield is the great seat of the manufacture of cutlery of all kinds, as well as of tools and plated goods. Linens are extensively manufactured at Barnsley, blanketing at Dewsbury, and glass and iron at Rotherham. Hull, Whitby, and Goole, are the chief ports. Under the names of the principal towns of the West Riding, a few details will be found illustrative of the manufacturing industry of the county. •