20 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



than they had made or could make by hand ; that, indeed, the 

 American watches had justly gained such a reputation for 

 excellence, that they must arouse themselves at once, and 

 exercise all their skill and ingenuity to the utmost, or Amer- 

 ica would supply Europe with watches. He went even 

 further than this, and told his astonished listeners, that, even 

 if they did arouse themselves, the American market was 

 closed to them, and that they would meet with a sharp 

 competition from the American manufacturers upon their 

 own soil. 



To substantiate his statements, he gave his audience some 

 facts respecting the running of an American watch of no 

 higher quality than the medium grade, and which he took at 

 random from a " heap," as he said, and upon which he had 

 permitted no special work to be done, that he might observe 

 the running of the average watch. Upon arriving home, he 

 handed the watch to an adjuster, who, upon returning it, said, 

 "I am completely overwhelmed; the result is incredible; 

 one would not find one such watch among fifty thousand of 

 our manufacture." This is the testimony of honorable men 

 holding the highest position in the business of watch-making, 

 who saw that a great manufacturing interest of their nation 

 was in imminent peril. 



From twenty to thirty thousand of these watches are sold 

 annually in England. The agency for them in London is 

 located in a building called the "Waltham Building." 

 There are agencies in Moscow and St. Petersburg. And 

 they have long been sold in the East Indies and Australia. 



The system of watchmaking adopted by the American 

 Watch Company is completely revolutionizing the watch- 

 making of the world. It has already given rise to an estab- 

 lishment in our midst, the first of its kind, in which are 

 made every kind of watch, clock, and case manufacturer's 

 tools. And it is now making these tools for foreign as well 

 as homo manufacturers. 



And we are not sure but an enterprise just started here 

 will displace the old style of clocks ; for a company has just 

 been formed for the manufacture of clocks, in which electri- 

 city is substituted for the old weights and springs ; and that 

 mj'sterious fluid, that seemed utterly regardless of time, is 

 made to stop, and patiently and accurately mark the passing 

 moments and hours. 



