1839] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



487 



enco there is between the actual pleasure of ihese 

 two operaiions, (to say nothing of the profit,) will 

 be appreciated by most. 



SILK MAJVUFACTURING. 



From the Genesee FariiuT. 



One great reason why we have such an unsha- 

 ken confidence in the ability ol this country to en- 

 ter successfijlly into the culture of silk, its manu- 

 facture as well as its production, is /bund in the 

 superior enterprit?e, industry and ingenuity of our 

 citizens, over those of any part ol the u-orld. Great 

 Britain thought to prevent the establishment of the 

 cotton manulacture in this and other countries, by 

 prohibiting, under severe penalties, the exportation 

 of machinery, or patterns Ibr its construction. New 

 England machinists went to work, built shops, 

 made their own patterns, and produced specimens 

 of machinery so much superior in action and prin- 

 ciple to European models, that we at once obtain- 

 ed the preference in their own market, and now 

 annually export large quantities of machinery to 

 order. So it is already with machinery for the 

 manufacture of silk. In reeling, and now in wea- 

 ving the narrow kinds of silk, such as laces, rib- 

 bons, and other goods of that description, we have 

 already made great advances on the clumsy and 

 ill-arranged implements of the old v/orld. 



In the manufacture of ribbons, which forms so 

 important a branch of the Lyons, or French silk 

 manufacture, the foreign workman uses a narrow 

 loom, resembling the common hand-loom in either 

 respects, and weaving but one piece of ribbon at a 

 time. A machine, called in France a Jacquard, 

 is attached to this narrow loom, and regulates the 

 pattern of the ribbon, flowers, &c. These looms 

 are worked by girls, and these delicate and beauti- 

 ful fabrics are the result of their labors. A Jac- 

 quard was brought to New-York, and fell under 

 the notice of Mr. Bergen, an ingenious mechanic, 

 and member of the legislature. Mr. Bergen in- 

 stantly saw that great improvements might be 

 made in the machine and loom, and immediately 

 constructed one which is worked by power instead of 

 the hand, makes seven pieces of ribbon or lace, 

 where only one was made in the French loom, 

 and gives the figure, color, or pattern, with equal 

 exactness and greater rapidity. In this single im- 

 provement of the ribbon loom, then, five or six- 

 sevenths of the labor required abroad is wholly dis- 

 pensed with, and articles of any pattern can at 

 once be furnished. In very narrow patterns, from 

 ten to fifteen pieces can be woven at once. Such 

 improvements at the outset leave no room for doubt, 

 but that when the attention of our artizans shall 

 be directed to the manufacture of silk machinery, 

 we shall soon find our improved processes amply 

 to compensate for any supposed difference in the 

 price of labor. 



DEPTH OF FROZEN EARTH IN NORTHERN LAT- 

 ITUDES. 



From the Genesee Farmer. 



Mr. Schergin, a merchant of Jakutsk in Siberia, 

 anxious to possess a well from which water might 

 be obtained without being obliged to use melted 

 ice for half the year, coiTimenccd boring through 



the frozen earth which always exists at ashortdis- 

 tance below the surface, with the intention of 

 reaching the unli'ozen springs below. The place 

 is in lat. 62° the themoiueicr in December as low 

 as 42"^ below zero, and in July was 79° above. 

 Average temperature 18°. After penetrating 50 

 feet, the temperature was found to be 18^. 

 At 77 feet 19o. At 119 feet 23o. At 382 feet 

 30". This rate gives an increase of tempera- 

 ture of 10 for every 60 feet ; and proves that the 

 boring to unfrozen water must equal about 600 feet. 

 As a necessary consequence, the large rivers and 

 springs in such districts must draw their supplies 

 from regions farther south, and below the frozen 

 strata, or they would he dry every winter, which 

 in Siberia is found to be the fact with most of them. 

 Wrangel and Frebre state that in Siberia, in the 

 open lands, the surliice is thawed during the sum- 

 mer to the depth of 2 1-2 to five feet; but that in 

 the foiests it only reached from 3-4 foot to 1 1-2 in 

 depth. This is a curious fiict, as showing how 

 near vegetation can be brought in contact with ice, 

 and that growth in plants depends more on the 

 temperature of the air in the spring, than on that 

 of the soil. 



ON KEEPING POULTRY. 



From tlie Maine Farmer. 



3Iessrs. Editors : — I once knew a couple of in- 

 dustrious sisters, who lived near a never failing 

 brook or stream in Massachusetts, who kept 

 generally through the winter 30 geese, male and 

 female. They had erected some suitable but not 

 costly sheds, in which they had apartments Ibr 

 them to lay, set and hatch. Their food in the 

 winter was meal of the various kinds, to some 

 extent, but principally apples and roots. In the 

 summer they had a pasture inclosed with stone 

 ivall or board fiance, which embraced the water. — 

 They kept their wings so clipped that they could 

 not fly over such fence. Their owners well knew 

 (what we all know,) that live geese feathers are a 

 cash article, at a fair price. They picked off their 

 feathers three times in the season. Those 80 

 geese wintered, would arise say 75 goslings or young 

 geese, and of course they had thai number to dis- 

 pose of every fall or in the beginning of winter, 

 when they are sent to market, and again picked 

 making four times that they obtained feathers 

 from those they wintered, and twice from the 

 young ones that they killed. 



I tell the story to induce some family, sisters or 

 brothers, fiithers or mothers, .situate near some 

 never failing brook of water, to go and do likewise. 

 Those remote from water cannot be benefited by 

 the history, yet their fiiends may; but if I can by 

 this account cause one family to partake of the 

 benefits of the business, T shall be satisfied. Many 

 families there are, in all our towns, so situated 

 that they may make the raising of geese a profit- 

 able business; yet perhaps have never thought of 

 their privileges. It is known that we import most 

 of our feathers ; and is it necessary to send abroad 

 for an article so easily produced among us? Those 

 who calculate to commence the business must 

 prepare for it the ensuing fill, and not kill their 

 ireese. No one will object to the keeping of even 

 more than 30 geese, il" an enclosure is made suf- 

 ficient to keei) them at home and out of mischief 



N. P, 



