SjS agricultural museum 



than the best English, ixnd was equal, in all re«5pects, t« 

 the Fren-h T'lis fact I know to be true. The gun pow- 

 der manufactured by Mr. Diipoiit will also have this ef- 

 fect. 



From the kno\^'ledgc I possess of the process of re- 

 fining salt petre, and of the directions uniformly given 

 by ehymical writers, I am convinced, that the mode 

 employed at the Fiavikford mills,* in several important 

 pirts,is eiUirclydiiifcrent from tluit generally made nse of. 

 In considprif)g so useful a branch of manufacture as 

 that of gun powder, a circumstiince is worthy of remark, 

 numdi;^ the mode of obtaming nitre from our own re- 

 sources. 



Thisobjf^ct, we are well assured, was the primary 

 consi it-ration of the congress of "7o' ; and tlie numerous 

 essays and pamjihlets, wliich w^cre pj^blished at that 

 time, weie of imn>ensc service to the country in detail- 

 ing the diffei-ent modes of pieparing nitre. To no one 

 can these reflections be more obvioui, than to the gun 

 powder manufacturer ; and to no one can they be more 

 really sei-viceable. Did not the French, according to 

 accounts \\hen this article was extremely scarce, invent 

 every method to obtain it in their country ? and did ihey 

 not succeed? They had no nitre pits; of which our 

 western countr\ abounds • but they had refuse vegeta- 

 ble and animal matter, and a number of other substan- 

 ces, which, when properly treated, aiHorded saltpetre in 

 abundance. ^Ve are, however, better situated. From 

 what we learn relative to the nitre pits of the western 

 country, and particularly from the remarks of Dr.Biown^ 

 we are assured, that the quantity of nitre which could 

 -be manufactuied, would suppi}' all the exigencies of 

 our country. Though it may be truly said, that the 

 spirit of '76 led the genius of Columbia to the cellars, 

 barn yard, and earthen floors of tobacco houses, for a 

 suppl}' oi this article, yet, in our day, the caves or caverns 

 of the western country will render this extent of research 

 unnecessary. 



.OwDe4 tj 3. H- Worrell, tif, 



