Gene Prince wrote:
>
> Out west here have seen slag, mining tailings used to cover paths
> or walkways most likely to cut down on the mud.
>
>
Having grown up in Pittsburgh, where hundreds of miles of roads and
alleys and sidewalks were paved with slag, I'm always amazed when I
*don't* find it here in Va. Even here in the cities it is pretty
common. I recently surveyed several miles of road outside of
Petersburg which had apparently been metalled with slag in the 1840s
or 50s. I suppose Alasdair really needs to decide if the slag at
Poplar Forest is purely a by-product of plantation industry or
hauled-in metalling from a nearby furnace or forge. I realize there
are slag experts out there, but everytime my colleagues and I have
tried to identify the origins of slag, I become convinced it's a
lost cause. Even a small farrier shop or bloomnery forge can produce
a lot of slag, and a lot of different kinds of slag, depending on
what they're doing and what materials are handy at the time. Sorry
to be so unhelpful.
 
Dan