NfiW ENGLAND FARMER. 



45 



slio'ilcl, Ihereforc bo first liiken up — Cor if IfiTt 

 in llie ivatcr a day or two, loo long, llic hemp 

 will be materially injured. 



Dressing and Securing. 



When rotted, open and spread it, that it may 

 dry soon. The i)rocess for brealdnfi; and swing- 

 ling is the same as that of flax. When it grows 

 too long for dressing, (say from 8 to 10 feel) it 

 may be cut into equal parts wiihout any inju- 

 ry. Be very particular in keeping; the long and 

 short hemp separate, and not have the seed 

 iind butt ends put together. Be also careful to 

 dress it clean. When dressing it, put twelve 

 handfuls in one head, laying them straight the 

 length of the hemp. The handfuls must not 

 be tied, but bind the heads light, with a small 

 band, about one foot from the bult end. It will 

 then be ready to be put into such sized bales as 

 may be suitable. Some bale it into a box, 

 across the bottom of which four ropes are laid 

 to tie the hemp when pressed into it. When 

 packed it should be perfectly dry, otherwise it 

 will rot. 



The following remarks from the Plough 

 Boy, on the subject of water rotting in prefer- 

 ence to dew rotting, coincide with the opinion 

 of experienced cultivators. " If the crop is to 

 be dew rotted and got out by hand, its profits 

 must be comparatively small, because it cannot 

 be thus prepared to command the highest price 

 in mai'iet, or compete in quality with the Rus- 

 sia hemp, much less drive it from our markets. 

 But if the American hemp planter be prepar- 

 ed with proper conveniences to water rot, and 

 with proper machinery to dress and prepare it, 

 we ought not to doubt, much less to despair of 

 ultimately arriving at a perfection in the pro- 

 duction and dress of the article to equal, if not 

 excel the best samples of Russia hemp." 



HENRY KIP. 



FIRE-BARS FOR FURNACES, kc. 



" It has lately been found advantageous to 

 have fire-bars much narrower than formerly. — 

 By this alteration a tire burns more regularly, 

 being more equally supplied with atmospheric 

 air than it would be in tire places with bars 3 

 inches. Half that substance is sufficient for any 

 fire place. 



" Respecting the width between the bars, the 

 space which I have found to be the best, is 

 half an inch, and this is sufficient for a tire 

 place of any dimensions. By casting the bars 

 with a shiulJer at each end, exactly a quarter 

 of an inch thick, it gives the proper opening. 



" Such furnaces as are designed for produc- 

 ing great heat should be furnished with loose 

 bars of considerable size, resting upon two or 

 three strong bearing bars ; for all grates, or 

 sets of bars cast together and united in one 

 frame, will warp and twist, and are with great 

 difficulty cleared of the scorias or clinkers. — 

 Joggle bars, as they are called, or such as fall 

 into distinct and separate notches are also very 

 inconvenient. It is seldom advisable to buy 

 ready made fire-bars, but it is more profitable 

 for the proprietor of a manutactory to have a 

 pattern in wood for each kind of furnace, made 

 to his own mind, and to have all the bars of 

 that size cast hy it. 



" If such bars be fixed on strong and plain 

 bearers, they will have room to expand by the 

 heat without bending, may be easily moved to 



the right or le("t to loosen the scoriae, and may 

 be readily drawn out of the fire place at plea- 

 sure. 



" It is a common opinion that if good fire- 

 bricks be used in the interior of the fire place, 

 and in the flues, anything will do for the exte- 

 rior, or for the solid part of the fabric. This 

 is not strictly true, for I have found it advisable 

 10 have even the external jiarts composed of 

 the best building bricks that 1 could procure; 

 l)ecause close joints and compact work can only 

 be made with such materials ; and if the work- 

 man does not lay close joints, and make the 

 whole fabric very compact, he can never be 

 certain that Ihe air will not find a passage into 

 the fire place through other channels besides 

 the ash-pit. Besides, whenever a furnace is 

 taken down to repair a tire place, these bricks 

 may be used again and again ; whereas com- 

 mon place-bricks can never be taken down 

 whole, and consequently are useless for a sec- 

 ond erection. 



" The fire-lute which I have employed for 

 many years, never having been able to discov- 

 er a better, is made thus : Good clay two parts, 

 sharp washed sand eight parts, horse dung one 

 part. These materials are to be intimately 

 mixed, then beaten up with a little water, and 

 afterwards the whole is to be thoroughly tem- 

 pered like mortar, by treading it a considerable 

 time with the feet. Mr. Watt's fire-lute is a 

 good one, but is more expensive. Take, says 

 he, porcelain clay from Cornwall, (not pipe 

 clay) pound it, and mix it to the consistence of 

 thick paint, with a solution of borax, in the 

 proportion of two ounces of borax to a pint of 

 hot water." — Partes'' Chemical Essays. 



Interesting to the Agriculturist. — It is fair to 

 presume, from an experience of four years, 

 that a man can safely make up judgment. — 

 With that experience, I beg leave to make 

 known, and strongly recommend the introducing, 

 and raising the extra large geese of Germany; 

 I recommend them in preference to all others, 

 by their weight, extra quality and quantity of 

 down, and feathers (yielding double ;) they are 

 perfectly while, set much earlier; are more 

 sure of bringing off a brood, and are remarka- 

 ble hardy, will weigh when fatted double that 

 of our common geese. James Sisson, Esq. of 

 Warren, R. I. who imported the breed, has for 

 sale, some of the full blooded Bremen Geese. 

 For direction to his farm, apply for information 

 at Horton's in Providence, or at Cole's in War- 

 ren. They will he sent to order to any part of 

 the country, at a small expense. — Prov. paper. 



iFacts $c <©*srii)attoH.s 



OS 



.AGRICULTURE AND DOME.STIC ECONOMY. 



[prepared for the n. e. farmer.] 



Remarks on the Alkalies, a,nd scouring yarn. — 

 The alteration which is prod'uced by the alkalies 

 of commerce by the admixture of quick lime, is 

 so manifest, and is attended with such important 

 consequences, that the circumstance ought never 

 to be forgotten by those who are engaged in any 

 of the manufactories where large quantities of 

 [lotash and soda are consumed ; tor in some, the 

 quality of the manufactured article is much in- 

 fluenced by the state of the alkali, and another 



very great saving might be made by using caus- 

 tic potash or soda, in cases whcre'the mild al- 

 kalies are now cmplovod. 



i\Iany instances of these peculiar cITocts might 

 be adduced ; but I shall select one from the de- 

 tersive jiroporly of the alkalies, lh;il will soni- 

 cicntly elucidate the practice which I am now 

 attempting to enforce. 



In scouring woollen yarn to free it from the 

 oil which is combined with it in combing and 

 spinning, it is no uncommon thing for ihc work- 

 men to prepare a large boiler of he, by dissolv- 

 ing American or Russian pearl ash [or potashj 

 in water, by means of heat. When this liquor 

 is hot they immerse lljcir brown yarn in il, and 

 soon find it sufficiently freed fom Ihe oil and 

 other filth attached to it. More is then immers- 

 ed, but this takes a longer lime to become clear ; 

 and the next [larcel longer still; till at length it 

 is so far spent as to have little or no efl'ect upon 

 the yarn, and is therefore sulTered to run away 

 to make room for a fresh lixiviation, although 

 one half the alkali in the former one is not con- 

 sumed. Instead of proceeding in this way, let 

 the workmen mix a quantity of potash with one 

 fourth of its weight of fresh burnt quick lime, 

 [if potash be used, one half its weight of lime 

 should be taken] put it into a vat or into an iron 

 pan, and then by the addition of water make a 

 lixivium from il, as described above, and put 

 only so much of this into the hot-water as is ne- 

 cessary to scour that quantity of wool or yarn, 

 which is usually cleansed at once. Then let 

 him add a few quarts more to the next parcel, 

 and proceed in this way till the whole be finish- 

 ed, and he will find that any given quantity of 

 work may be done with more expedition, and 

 with less than half the alkali that is usually em- 

 ployed. 



The lye made in the common mode operates 

 very well at first, because a portion of the alka- 

 lies of commerce is generally in a caustic state; 

 but as soon as this is saturated with the oil of 

 the yarn, Ihe remaining, and often Ihe greater 

 part, having no efl'ect in Ihe way Ihey use il, is 

 thrown away as useless, and is a total loss to the 

 manufacturer. Many thousand pounds, I be- 

 lieve, are thus lost to the community annually, 

 which might be saved by a general knowledge 

 of the simple fact, that alkalies will not combine 

 with oleaginous matter., unless they are actually in 

 a state of causticity. The greater part of our, 

 American pearl ash is combined with a very 

 large portion of carbonic acid, and it will not 

 only form an intimate union with whatever oil 

 or greaje it comes in contact with, but it will 

 render these impurities so completely soluble in 

 water, that the whole will be as easily washed 

 out from yarn, and dissolved, as if it were sti- 

 gar or salt. — Parkes'' Chemical Essays. 



Ancient Soap. — That the ancient Romans were 

 acquainted with the fixed alkalies, or with one 

 of them, at least, is evident from a circumstance 

 that occurred in exploring one of the streets of 

 the ancient Pompeii, which was overwhelmed 

 by an eruption of Vesuvius, in Ihe 79lh year of 

 the christian era. On examining the excava- 

 tions on the spot where this famous city formerly 

 stood, a complete soap-boiler's shop was discov- 

 ered, with soap in it, which had evidently been 

 made by the combination of oil and an alkali. — 

 This soap was still perfect, though it had been ' 

 manufactured more than 1100 years.— Ibid. 



