310 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



portions will become macerated and rotten, and the bulb, 

 when turned upon the heckle or dressing-comb, will throw out 

 the fibres clear, white, and uniformly equal. The natives do 

 not encourage the aloe grass for general purposes; but there 

 is a particular class of tantees (weavers), colonized at the town 

 of Balasore, on tlie Coromandel Coast, who manufacture a white 

 coarse shining cloth out of the same, to which they give the 

 name of sannatee. It is by no means a common feature in the 

 Indian markets. 



The Yucca angustifolia (Adam's needles) is a sub-species of 

 aloe, which grows -vild in all the central and southern latitudes 

 of India. Theleaf of thia plant runs about two feet to two-and- 

 a-half long, and is furnished with a coarse fibre, similar to 

 those deducible from the agave, but are considerably stronger. 

 This grass makes very strong cordage and ropes, and I once saw 

 1 cwt. of saltpetre raised from the hold of a merchantman by a 

 rope of this grass one inch in diameter. The juice when ex- 

 posed in earthen vessels and exposed to solar evaporation, 

 leaves a residuum behied it, which is of a gummoua consis- 

 tency, and possesses all the abstergent properties of soap. 



The morguhbee is another sub-species of the above family; 

 I first accidentally met with it when I resided in Tumlook, on 

 the banksof the i?/oo23iVa)iai« river, in the year 1830. Theleaf 

 is one foot and a-ha!f long, and contains the finest, and by far 



the strongest filament of all the aloe .'"amily. It grows in some 

 of the moist shaded woodlands of Bengal, but is by no means 

 a common plant. I made some cwts. of beautiful flax or grass 

 from this plant, but never turned it to any favourable ac- 

 count for want of proper looms and persons accustomed to 

 work thera. 



The Ktirah syhcstris (wild pine apple). The filaments which 

 the leaves of the above plant yields are the finest yet known« 

 The weavers of Malacca cr-nstruct their cob-web or gossamer 

 muslins out of this material. I have by me at this time some 

 samples of the grass I procured from the leaves of the Kurah 

 sylvestris, which, if properly handk-d, might be converted into 

 cloths or cambrics of matchless quality. The fibre is exceed- 

 ingly strong, white, and fine, aud the Malays know how to 

 turn the same to advantage. 



The whole of the above have come under my own observa- 

 tions, during my residence in Bengal, and I feel fully assured 

 that there is a vast field open for useful enterprise and profita- 

 ble speculation, in the pursuit of arriving at a more perfect 

 knowledge of the proper value to be placed upon the natural 

 products of that great aud interesting country. 



I am, sir, your obedient servant, 



22. Jlhany- street, Regent's Park, 21(Ji May. D. G. 



PATENTED INVENTIONS RELATING TO AGRICULTURE. 



At tiie conclusion of the first of our papers of the 

 present series, we explained the circumstances in which 

 the Patent Commissioners had deemed it necessai'y to 

 publish abridged indexes of different inventions, two 

 of which had special reference to agriculture. One of 

 these (Abridgments of the Specifications relating to 

 Drain Tiles and Pipes, published at the Great Seal 

 Patent Office, 25, Southampton-buildings, Holborn, 

 price Sixpence) we now ia the present article propose to 

 glance at. 



The first recorded invention bears date Jan. 12, 1619. 

 (No. 11.) The name of the patentee is John G. Ber- 

 ington, to whom is granted " a special privilege," 

 showing that whereas he hath found out the arte of 

 making a certain engine to make and cart clay, all sorts 

 of earthern pipes for conveyance of water on the earth 

 * * * His Ma'ie. doth hereby grant unto him sole 

 power for 21 yeares to make and use the said engines 

 for the purposes aforesaid, paying yearlie into His 

 Mat's. Excheqf- xxvj^- viijd- In the next patent, dated 

 June 28, 1725 (No. 480), granted to William Edwards, 

 allusions to form of pipes and methods of laying them, 

 in use at the present day, are met with. The plan 

 adopted was placing a plug of wood of length corres- 

 ponding to the required length of pipe, in the centre of 

 the potter's wheel, and working the clay round this, 

 the internal character of pipe being equal to the external 

 character of plug. The pipes were made on this plan 

 with such expedition, that fifteen or twenty dozen could 

 be turned off in a day. After the pipes thus formed 

 were dried to a "fitting temper," they were put in a 

 turner's lathe, and " shaped with proper tools to what 

 form and fashion needful, as spicket (spigot) or other 

 waies, so to fit the boured end of the other pipe with a 



proper instrument, that they fit with all exactness." 

 In another part of his description, the inventor states 

 that another method of joining the pipes together was 

 to taper the end of one so as to fit the bore end of the 

 other, the conical-ended pipes of the present day. 

 The patent granted to John Scott, James Clarkson, 

 William Falkam, aud Samuel Mellish, Dec. 21, 1802 

 (No. 2672), was for constructing sewers, conduits, &c., 

 by means of " clumps." These were composed of 

 earth, clay, &c., &c., or other suitable material, and so 

 formed " that the sides or edges thereof, when made 

 and completed, shall join and fit to each other in an 

 exact radius of a circle of its centre, so that when all 

 the said parts are put together, with or without mortar 

 or cement, the said several clumps will form a direct 

 circle, bearing a pressure inwards on the principle of an 

 arch ; and that when the several layers, courses, or 

 distinct circles thereof shall be fitted and adjusted in 

 their proper places, such will form what is called a 

 broken joint in the wall or shell, so that the swivel will 

 alternately clump or join the courses next adjacent to 

 them together, to prevent their removal sideways, such 

 clumping or interlocking being effected by a curved pro- 

 jection on one of the flat sides of each clump, entering a 

 recess in the side of the clump above or below the 

 swivel." A remarkable similarity exists between the 

 plan here indicated and some of the recently introduced 

 methods for building arched or circulir work by means 

 of radiated or curved bricks. 



The invention of Johann George Deyerlein (patent 

 dated March 22, 1810, No. 2319), consisted of a box 

 or receptacle in which the clay was put, a plunger or 

 piston acting upon this, forced it through suitable open- 

 ings or orifices, which gave the required form ; when 



