348 JOHN A. BOSHARD 



Machines for working buttonholes and sewing on buttons 

 have been made very effective in their operation, and pro- 

 duce a quahty of work equal to the hand product at a greatly 

 increased rate of speed. 



Inventions covering the sewing machine and its at- 

 tachments are numerous, and patents for them are con- 

 tinually being granted. The same is true of the machinery 

 used in producing the various interchangeable parts of the 

 sewing machine. The American principle of making all 

 parts of the machine interchangeable has been carried to the 

 fullest extent in this industry. Machines for producing the 

 most intricate parts of the sewing machine are so perfected 

 that they perform their work with remarkable speed and 

 exactness. The special tools required to make the various 

 parts of sewing machines often require more inventive talent 

 in their construction than the machine manufactured. In 

 the larger factories the experimental department is one of 

 the most important and expensive. Here the inventor has 

 every facility for developing new ideas and putting the re- 

 sults to preliminary tests. When, after a great deal of time 

 and labor has been expended on an invention, and it has 

 reached an apparently perfect condition, it is sent to a fac- 

 tory engaged in the class of work for which it is designed, 

 and is thoroughly tested. If its operation proves satisfactory, 

 a special plant of machinery is installed for the manufacture 

 of the new machine or attachment, so that any number of 

 duplicates can be made. After all this expensive preparation 

 and experiment the invention may be soon replaced by some- 

 thing better, and abandoned. 



The American sewing machine from the first has en- 

 joyed a large foreign sale on account of its recognized supe- 

 riority over the machines manufactured abroad, which are 

 usually copied after the models of the American machines. 

 This is especially true in regard to the cases and wooden 

 parts of the machine. The great abundance of timber prod- 

 ucts suitable for sewing machine woodwork produced in 

 this country, and the superiority of the methods used in 

 their production, have made possible competition by Amer- 

 ican manufacturers in the markets of Europe and elsewhere. 



