Letter – Nicholas Walton to Peter Mulcaster – 14 Jul 1771

Mr Mulcaster 								Farnacres 14th July 1771



      As the Weather stil continues dry I hope you have nearly if not wholy finished the getting in of the Peats and that your new House is now covered in, or will be so, in a very little time.

      We have hastily cast up the produce from Carrs by itself and Middlecleugh and it mixed and find your calculations and ours to correspond very nearly. I am much pleased to see the produce so good as it will encourage us to try experiments when we are in a difficulty even when appearances are against us. The Works of Nature are not to be bottomed by our efforts but we have more reasonable expectation of improvement when we make tryal of something new than going on with work under such circumstances as we have before experienced not to produce any thing favourable. You will go with Carrs as you have done mixed equaly with Middle Cleugh til it (Carrs) is all gone and then you may try Middle Cleugh & Cowhill Cross Vein Ore mixed as you see proper equaly may perhaps be as well as any other way

      In your last Operation you say Middle Cleugh and Sun Veins 210 B 5Cwt produced 957 Cwt. I shd. have wished to know how much Middle Cleugh Ore was included in that 210.5 and what it produced and how much Sun Veins Ore and what it produced: and if you can let me know this with convenience and without occasioning expence of Weighing etc. I desire you will, but otherwise it is not so material as to require any thing further than what the Operation shows.

      You are now quite right about the Carriage of the Lead.

      I am Your Hble Servt

      NW Junr



PS. I have not seen Mr Gibson, one of the Surgeons of the Infirmary, since last Saturday; but he then told me he doubted not to make Henry Smith perfectly well in about a Month. I sincerely hope he will do so.