[45] It was thought a great thing that over five million quarters of corn were exported from Great Britain in the five years ending 1750.
[46] ‘The History of Inland Navigations,’ &c., London, 1769.
[47] Ibid., p. 58.
[48] In the same district over a million tons are now annually sent down the river Weaver.
[49] A detailed description of this Navigation is given in Priestley’s ‘Historical Account of the Navigable Rivers, Canals, and Railways of Great Britain,’ p. 385.
[50] Appendix to Report, p. 206.
[51] Report of Canal Committee of 1882, Appendix No. 9, p. 230.
[52] This, however, is not a canal of uniform size, and part of it will only admit vessels 63 ft. by 14 ft. 7 in.
[53] This total does not include the Thames and Severn, the Wey, and the Wisbech canals, because each of these has two dimensions, the smaller of which is too limited to admit the passage of large craft, and they are therefore unsuited, without trans-shipment of traffic, for the purpose in view.
[54] At these falls 790,000 cubic feet of water drops from a height of 75 feet every minute, giving some 112,000 horse-power, which is utilised in manufactures of different kinds.