44 



XEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jan. 



The l)ranclies are crooked, often drooping, and 

 terminated by buni'hos of long straw-like leaves, 

 grouped in threes in long sheatlis. When young, 

 these trees have a palm-like appearance which re- 

 minds one of the Orient. The cones are very large, 

 nearly cylindrical, and from six to eight inches 

 long. The seeds are large and very nutritious, 

 and are the delight of squirrels, ^\ild birds, and 

 poultry, which grow fat on them in their season. 



WHAT BECOMES OF OUB WOOL. 



As we are entirely dependent on the home 

 market for the sale of our yearly clip of 

 wool, and as this home market is equally de- 

 pendent on the demand of the manufacturers, 

 wool growers have a direct interest in know- 

 ing what these manufacturers are about, as it 

 is very evident that the future demand for 

 wool must depend on their success in improv- 

 ing old, and introducing new styles of cloth. 

 We are, therefore, confident that the following 

 extracts from the Report of the Secr(;tary of 

 the Association of Wool Manufacturers, will 

 prove interesting to our readers. 



During the war, the standard of excellence in 

 our goods was undoulitedly far too low, and dis- 

 credit was thrown upon our national production. 

 Home competition, the inevitable result of protec- 

 tion, is now for excelU'nce ; and the vast improve- 

 ment exhil)ited the present year is the subject of 

 universal comment and surprise with the leading 

 merchants. The leading organ of the dealers in 

 dry goods — the Economist, a well known free trade 

 advocate — declares as follows : — "It ran be truly 

 said of our manufacturers this season, 'they have 

 made wonderful ])rogiess over last year.' Such 

 continued improvements in the nuinufixcturing of 

 woolen goods will soon place us beyond the fear 

 of rivals, and cause our products to be imitated 

 the world over; as our most choice styles and 

 salable i)attenis are the result of American in- 

 genuity, both in coloring and in style. As the 

 admissions of an opponent are legitimate testi- 

 mony, we may fairly quote in this connection the 

 declaration of the same organ, that 'a great im- 

 pul.-e has been given to domestic manulacturers 

 under the influence of the high tariff, and the re- 

 sult is seen in the splendid display made by our 

 woolen mills.' 



Our progress has not been limited to improve- 

 ments of old fabrics in style or economical pro- 

 duction. Mnny new fiibrics have been successfully 

 achieved. Among the notable examples of recent 

 introductions, nuiy be specified the silk-mixed 

 cloths, having threads of silk incorporated with 

 both tlie warp and filling; adding strength to the 

 texture, and giving agreeable neutral shades to 

 the surface. It is admitted that the American 

 products of these goods, which are largely con- 

 sumed, fall short in no respect of their German 

 prototypes. The introduction of these goods is 

 mterc>tiiig, as aiding in the development of a kin- 

 dred branch of Ameiican manufactures, all the 

 silk used in these goods being spun in this country. 

 The cou.-uuiption of silk is by no means incon- 

 siderable ; that consumed liy one manufacturer. for 

 this class of goods, exceeding annually !9;80,000 in 

 Taluc. The silk and wool manufactures are united 

 in another fabric of great Ixauty, largely made in 

 Couuectiiut, — the Irish poplins, composed of 



worsted filling, which is covered completely by a 

 warp of silk. This hrautifiil addition to our pro- 

 ducts of luxury, it is hoi)e(l, is the harliingcr of a 

 broader extension of the silk manufacture, which 

 needs only sutficient protcciiou to take its place in 

 this country with the manufactures of wool and 

 cotton. 



The great perfection which we have attained 

 within the last two years in the manufacture of 

 the class of cloths styled Esquimaux beavers, for 

 overcoatings, is wortliy of esuecial coinmcnioration. 

 Five years ago, all the goods of this cla-^s, con- 

 sumed in this country, wore imported. The cheap- 

 ness and excellence of the goods of this class re- 

 cently fabricated here, have led to the exclusion 

 of the foreign product. The goods of tliis class, 

 manufactured Ijy the Genuania Mills, exhiliited at 

 the Paris Exposition, received the award of a 

 medal of high class. 



Marked improvements have been made within 

 the last year or two in the productii.n of knit 

 goods. Until quite recently, the manufacture of 

 shaped stockings, shirts, and drawers, made abroad 

 wholly on hand machines, has not bci n aitempted 

 here. An American machine now performs auto- 

 matically the narrowing and widening of the best 

 class of knit goods, wliich is done el i where by 

 hand. A great dilliculty in the manufacture of 

 knit goods has been the seaming, which, when 

 done by hand, involved the distribution of the 

 work to the homes of the skilled women by whom 

 the work was finished at great coi^. "Within the 

 last year, a machine has been perfected by Amer- 

 ican ingenuity for seaming automatical!}'. In one 

 establishment, a hundred little girls are employed 

 on these machines, earning from a half a dollar to 

 a dollar a day, and accomplishing the seaming 

 more perfectly than it was ever done by hand. 

 Thus a completely shaped knit article is produced 

 entirely by power, equal in all respects to the 

 goods of the most celcbraied English makers; 

 while the American goods are afforded at materi- 

 ally reduced jirices. 



Of recent novelties in our manufacture, the fab- 

 rics which have attracted most admiration arc the 

 cloakings, so largely introduced during the pres- 

 ent season. Even experienced manufacturers are 

 astonished by the new range which is given to the 

 application of woolly fibre, by the surprising va- 

 riety of styles and effects obtained, and that they 

 are capable of being produced by machinery. 

 The models which gave the idea of the fabrics pro- 

 duced here, originally conceived and executed in 

 Austria, under a protective system of over 70 per 

 ct. first appeared at the London Exposition in 

 1862, and were regarded as marked features of the 

 Exposition. To the genius and entcri)rise of a 

 young manufacturer of Rhode Island, is due the 

 conception of re-producing the Austrian inven- 

 tions in this country. He was able to carry his 

 conception into practical execution, by personal 

 observation and actual labor in the Austrian mills. 

 Not content with imitation, he introduced new 

 styles and textures adapted to American wool ; 

 arid the goods now produced by him, and by other 

 manufacturers who have followed his exami)le, 

 although purely American in design, are in no re- 

 spect inferior to the foreign models; while they 

 arc sold at from two to three dollars less than the 

 price at which the imported goods can be afforded, 

 — the American goods being woven by machineiy, 

 while the Austrian goods are woven by hand. 



While, in the department of clothing-wool fab- 

 rics, every field seems to have been explored in 

 this country, that of combing wool is still limited 

 by the want of raw material. We have encour- 

 agement in this direction, from the successful 

 working of mills in Rhode Island and cKewhere, 

 producing Italian cloths ; and the estalilishmcnt of 

 another in Lawrence, within the last year, for the 



