90 



cultivated in small quantities with success. Individuals in 

 Massachusetts have cultivated it with success for thirty 

 years, and there is not, probably a farm in the state on 

 which it may not be raised. The beautiful specimens of 

 the article produced at the agricultural exhibitions in dil- 

 ferent parts of the Union show the degree of interest exci- 

 ted at the present time on the subject, and indicate that at 

 no distant day great national wealth will be derived from 

 the exertions that are now undertaken in this depart- 

 ment. 



EXPLANATION OF THE SILK REEL OF PIEDMONT.* 



The frame is 6 feet 5 inches long, 4 by three inches 

 thick. Distance of the upright posts, AB, 4 feet 4 

 inches. 



CC. Length of the braces of the frame, 20 inches in 

 the clear. 



DD. Legs of the frame, 2 feet 3 inches long. E, shaft 

 with a crown wheel at each end. The wheel F, 9 T \j in- 

 ches in circumference, has 22 teeth. The wheel G, 10 

 inches and 2 T V in circumference, has 25 teeth. This 

 shaft has an iron pin at each end 1 inch long. The pin 

 at the end G, plays in a hole in the shoulder near the top 

 of the post O, so as to enable the teeth of the wheel to 

 catch and work in those of the pinion at the end of the 

 axle of the reel, which axle, by means of a pin at the end, 

 also plays in a hole in the post O. The pin at the other 

 end of the shaft plays in a hole in the post K, and the 

 teeth of the wheel F, work in the pinion H, fixed on the 

 top of the post K, by means of a burr screwed on the pin 

 projecting from the post and passing through the centre 

 of the pinion. This pinion has 35 feet. On the top of 

 the pinion H, is a crank, having a sweep of 4 inches, 

 and receives on its top the end of the iron wire-carrier of 

 the traversing bar 1. The crank is fixed half an inch 

 from the commencement of the grooves of the pinion. 



* See Plate. 



