TI PORT ECONOMICS
independent but allied organization, a notable installation
of warehouses, stores and industrial concerns, has been
effected. Goods are conveyed by rail from the quayside
to any place in Trafford Park at a uniform rate of 6d.
per ton.
CARDIFF
Besides being a representative port for Wales, Cardiff
has a special claim to distinction as the leading port for
the shipment of coal, not only in Great Britain, but in the
world. It is the centre of the South Wales coal trade and
is flanked by neighbouring ports which also do a notable
business in coal. Coal and coke exports from Cardiff
have exceeded 26 million tons (in 1913), and though there
have been necessarily wide fluctuations lately, due to
various causes, yet under normal conditions such exports
may be put at about 20 million tons.
It is a feature of the Cardiff docks, therefore, that the
quays are equipped with special appliances for shipping
coal—hoists and tips, capable of dealing with loads up
to zo tons. Formerly a very large proportion of the
wagons engaged in the coal-mining industry could only
convey loads of 10 tons, and most of the quayside appliances
 were also limited to this figure, but, of late, the
forward policy of the Great Western Railway in offering
special advantageous terms to the colliery proprietors
for the use of 20-ton wagons has resulted in a general
raising of the standard. The quayside appliances have
been adapted to meet it.
But Cardiff is not merely a coaling port. There is an
important import trade in pit props and various kinds of
timber, as well as in grain and iron ore. The densely
populated area in the vicinity of the port requires a steady
influx of foodstuffs, and Cardiff has attained the position
of the third largest milling centre in the country. There
are important iron and steel works in the neighbourhood
consuming a continuous supply of ore. The tinplate

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