Blackberry

Blackberry. See Bramble.

Blackburn

Blackburn a town, parish, and parliamentary borough of Lancashire, England, 22 m. N.N. W. of Manchester; pop. in 1871,76,337. It stands in the midst of a barren district, containing a number of valuable coal mines, to which, as well as to its proximity to the London and Liverpool canal, the importance of Blackburn as a commercial place is mainly to be ascribed. Cotton goods, especially of the coarser kinds, are manufactured to a great extent in the town and vicinity. Blackburn is irregularly built, but contains some fine edifices. In addition to a number of chapels, schools, public halls, etc, it has a magnificent church, rebuilt in 181!) at a cost of £26,000.

Blackford

Blackford, an E. county of Indiana, drained by the Salamonie river; area, 180 sq. m.; pop. in 1870, 6,272. It is traversed by the Fort Wayne, Muncie, and Cincinnati, and a branch of the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and St. Louis railroad. The surface is diversified by plains and rolling lands, and the soil is fertile. The chief productions in 1870 were 82,763 bushels of wheat, 75,346 of Indian corn, 14,567 of oats, 111,106 lbs. of butter, and 24,068 of wool. There were 2,646 horses, 1,720 milch cows, 1,685 other cattle, 7,820 sheep, and 5,863 swine. Capital, Hartford.

Blackstone

Blackstone, a town of Worcester county, Mass., 36 m. S. W. of Boston and 13 m. N. W. of Providence, bordering on Rhode Island, and intersected by Blackstone river; pop. in 1870, 5,421. It contains a bank and several schools' and churches, 4 cotton mills, with 42,720 spindles, producing 10,000,000 yards of cloth annually, and 5 woollen mills, with 45 sets of machinery; annual value of product, $2,000,000. The Boston, Hartford, and Erie, and the Providence and Worcester railroads pass through the town.

Blackstone River

Blackstone River, a stream which rises in Paxton and Holden townships, Worcester co., Mass., and flows S. E. into the state of Rhode Island, where it is* called the Pawtucket. It affords abundant water power, and for a great part of its course flows through an almost continuous village of manufacturing establishments. The scenery of the narrow valley is attractive. The Blackstone canal, extending through it from Worcester to Providence, was completed in 1829, but was superseded by the introduction of railroads, only portions of it being now in use for water power and irrigation.

Blackwall

Blackwall, a suburb of London, at the junction of the Lea with the Thames, 4 m. E. S. E. of St. Paul's. It has founderies, ship yards, and the India docks. An elevated railway connects it with the city.

Blackwater

Blackwater, a river of Ireland, rising in the N. E. part of county Kerry, flows E. across county Cork and the S. W. part of county Waterford, and enters the sea at Youghal harbor. Its course of 100 miles is through a carboniferous limestone basin, amid beautiful scenery. It abounds in salmon.