NEW ENGLAND MIMES. 



as 



PUBLISHED BY GEO. C. BARRETT, NO. 52, NORTH MARKET STREET, (at the Agricultural Warehouse.)— T. G. FESSENDEN, EDITOR. 



VOL. XII. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JULY 31, 1833. 



NO. 3. 



COMMUNICATION. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 AMERICAN COTTON MANUFACTURES. 



Brooklime, July 22d, 1833. 



Mr. Fessenoen — In your paper of 17th current, 

 under the head of " Capabilities of Machinery," is 

 an article, taken from the London Mercantile. 

 Journal, iti which it is remarked, that " One Mill 

 in Manchester, can, token all the spindles arc at work, 

 spin as-much Collar, thread in a week, as would go 

 round the world." The number of spindles are 

 not mentioned, and the size of the Factory alluded 

 to, cannot be judged of without that knowledge. 

 Some of the factories at Manchester, are known to 

 be on a scale much more extended than any single 

 one in our own country. They are, I believe, 

 generally confined to spinning ; the tceaving being 

 done elsewhere. I do not wish to be understood, 

 in the observations which I make, to pretend to 

 make a comparison between the whole operation of 

 England in her cotton manufactures and that of 

 our own country; but to show, by what is done 

 at this time, on a spot where ten years since was 

 not a yard of cotton made, that if not thwarted by 

 throwing open our trade to competition with for- 

 eigners on equal terms, we may in time, and that 

 not very distant, supply a portion of the manufac- 

 tured cottons of the coarser kinds, not only to the 

 South American States, China and the Eastern Ar- 

 chipelago, but even to Great Britain herself. 



It is notorious that in our manufactories, we use 

 a superior raw material to make the goods; whereas 

 the goods bearing the same denomination as those 

 goods generally made in this country, manufac- 

 tured in England, are made of the most inferior 

 cotton that is imported into Great Britain. We 

 cannot expect to vie with the great establishments 

 of Manchester, in the finer goods; hut in shirtings 

 and sheetings, or of goods known as No. 14 or 16 

 goods in the language of the Factory, I entertain 

 the confident opinion, that so long as the present 

 protection is extended to the manufacturers the 

 establishments will be maintained, and will have 

 gained so much useful information, and got so sys- 

 tematized, as that at the end often years, they will 

 need no protection. In the year 1828, the late 

 mechanist, the lamented Paul Moody, at the re- 

 quest of the writer of this, ascertained the length 

 of the thread spun at that time at Lowell ; which 

 every one knows may be done, with great exact- 

 ness, by ascertaining the number of hanks spun at 

 each factory in a day ; which being «d(Jthe same 

 length, by a simple process gives the whole'Iijngth 

 of the thread. At the time to which I refer,«there 

 were in operation the following Factories, viz. — 

 Merrimack Co. 4 Mills for spinning and weaving ; 

 Hamilton, do. 2 do. do. 



Appleton, do. 2 do. do. 



8 mills of from 4200 to 5000 spin- 

 dles each, and looms sufficient to weave the whole 

 quantity of thread spun. The person referred to, 

 sent the following result of his inquiry. " That 

 there were spun in the above eight mills, each and 

 every week day, a thread that would go round the 

 world/zee and a quarter times ; and that the whole 

 length of the cloth wove in a year, was eight thou- 



sand five hundred miles. At the present time there 

 are at Lowell, the following spinning and weaving 



31 ills : — Merrimack 

 Hamilton 

 Appleton 

 Lowell 



Suffolk 

 ff Tremont 



Lawrence 



and 3 in progress, 



5 

 3 

 2 



1 



o 

 2 

 1 finished, 



16 

 3 



19 

 The above are in full operation, and the three 

 mills now erecting, will be in full work the next 

 Spring, making in all nineteen nulls. There have 

 been great improvements, both in machinery and 

 geering, since the first mills were erected ; and 

 those last erected produce a third more thread per 

 day, than those first built. But taking the work of 

 the mills at work in 182S as the data, upon which 

 to estimate the work that will be done when the 

 three Lawrence mills, alluded to above, are com', 

 pleted, we shall find that there will be made, every 

 day in the week, Sundays excepted, as follows: a 

 thread will be spun daily, which if knotted together, 

 would reach twelve and a half times round the world, 

 and a piece of cloth woven of twenty -one thousand 

 fourhundred tniles long, in one year. In 1828, there 

 were about 13000 bales of cotton used at Lowell. 

 In May 1834, the mills will require thirty thou- 

 sand bales of cotton annually. It will be remem- 

 bered, that the Merrimack Corporation print about 

 200,000 pieces of cloth per aim. and the Hamilton 

 also prim a part of what they manufacture. 



Amongst the items of the produce of our coun- 

 try, used at Lowell, is eight thousand tons of an- 

 thracite coal, a large quantity of whale oil, and not 

 a small quantity of iron. The number of inhabit- 

 ants in 1822, was not an hundred ; it is now more 

 than 12000 souls. 



As the Editors of papers are rather fastidious in 

 copying from the papers of each other, should you 

 think the information given above would be gene- 

 rally interesting, you may suggest to your brother 

 Editors, that you should be pleased to have them 

 copy it, particularly in the South, where they are 

 not apt to attach much importance to the North as 

 a consumer of their Cotton ; whereas, Great Brit- 

 ain excepted, we manufacture more than any other 

 country, of the Cotton of the Planting States. 



A Dormant Manufacturer. 



RULES 



From the Southern Agriculturist. 

 FOR THE HOUSING AND PRESERV- 

 ING OF SWEET POTATOES. 



Lv compliance with my promise, I herewith fur- 

 nish you with the rules by which I have been 

 governed for many years in putting up my pota- 

 toes. I have been very successful in following 

 them, and I hope they may prove beneficial to 

 others. The first thing to be considered is the 

 cellar, and I would recommend — 



1st. The rails or puncheons to be split in July, 

 or the first of August, and stacked up for drying. 



2d. The cellar to stand east and west, with the 

 door in the centre and perpendicular, to face the 

 sun the most part of the day. 



3d. To be made on as dry and high a spot, and 

 convenient for draining as possible, and made at 

 least five weeks before wanted. 



4th. To be double banked, by making a coarse 

 frame to support the same. The earth to be taken 

 four feet from the foot of the cellar all around, 

 about three feet wide, eighteen or twenty inches 

 deep ; in this ditch never let any water remain, 

 but keep it perfectly dry. 



5th. To be supported inside by short crutches, 

 standing three feet high with poles, or rails laid 

 lengthways in those crutches. By thus supporting 

 your cellar, it will last you two years with safety, 

 by airing it. When your cellar is finished, small 

 fires are to be made at each end, that it may be 

 perfectly dry and clear of damp. 



6th. The cellar to be perfectly tight, with no 

 air holes left — to have two doors, one a tight doer 

 for the inside, the other a slat door hung on, and 

 opening on the outside ; the slat will admit the 

 requisite air as much as it may be necessary. 



7th. The pine-trash to be well dried as usual, and 

 laid in the cellar six inches thick at least, and if 

 dried a second day, it would be of advantage. 



8th. To begin with your potatoes — make four 

 sortments in the field ; 1st, all that are the least 

 touched with frost or chilled — 2d, all that are cut 

 — 3d, seed — 4th, eatable potatoes — to be harvest- 

 ed free from any kind of wet or rain, and brought 

 in by sunset, and on no consideration move them 

 a second time, but put them where you intend to 

 keep them from the first move out of the field. 



9th. On commencing your housing, small fires 

 to be made in any thing convenient, say a large 

 pot, with a little earth in the bottom, every eve- 

 ning, until all are housed ; your slat door then to 

 be used, leaving the inner one open, and admit 

 the air freely every morning, but shut in time, say 

 two or three hours before sunset. 



Now, having housed your crop, you will find 

 considerable damp, but not detrimental, if you will 

 pay attention to it, which is one of the principal 

 secrets to be observed. On seeing this in a moist 

 morning you must have a small fire or a smoke of 

 light wood or pine bark made, to clear up this 

 damp; and sometimes a second tire will be requi- 

 site, of which you will be the best judge when 

 sufficient. Observe to keep the tight, or inner 

 door, open at the same time, and they will soon be- 

 come cool. In a state of moisture your potatoes will 

 remain for ten or twelve days. After this you will 

 find them become more cool and much less damp in 

 your cellar, which you should examine every morn- 

 ing. About this time you will find them sprouting ; 

 then you are sure of their keeping. But little trouble 

 is now required — only, on seeing the damp, to 

 make a little fire and open your inner door for air. 

 The sprouted part of them is only on top of the 

 heaps, not more than five or six inches deep : on 

 examination, you will find the inner or lower part 

 of them clear of sprouts, and dry. In my opinion, 

 slips may be kept thus for two years ; and root 

 potatoes much longer than they generally are in 

 our country. 



The slat (of which the doors are made) is about 

 two and a half inches in width, and the same be- 

 tween each slat to be open. The door is about 

 live feet high and two feet six inches wide. 



