346 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



From the United States Gazette. 



On the Manufacture of Straw and Grass Bonnets. 

 No. VII. 

 At the request of the writer, Mr. Baylies 

 has furnished hira with a sketch of his remarks, 

 in the House of Representatives, in favor of 

 the increase of duty proposed on Leghorn hats. 

 They are highly interesting, quite to the polirf, 

 and furnish materials for melancholy reflection, 

 upon the indifference exhibited by our Repre- 

 sentatives, to the source of vwalth which the 

 Manufacture to which they refer, opens to the 

 United States. 

 »a Friend 1 Agriculture, Commerce and Manufactures. 



Remarks of Mr. BAYLIES, of Massachusetts, on his 

 motion to amend the Taritf, by striking out the min- 

 imum of one dollar on Leghorn Flats and Hats, and 

 inserting three dollars. 



I am aware, that by altering the minimum 

 price on which the cost of this article is to be 

 estimated, from one dollar to three, a high du- 

 ty in proportion to its cost, will be imposed. 



It has been assumed as a principle in the 

 course of the debate on this bill, (the Tariff) 

 that a protecting bill ought to be given in such 

 manner, and to such an amount, as shall enable 

 the domestic manufacturer to compete on equal 

 terms with the foreign manufacturer in the do- 

 mestic market. This principle will not apply 

 to my motion. It is my design, I admit, to ex- 

 clude these flats and hats from our own market, 

 and that exclusion is to be wished, by all who 

 are friends to domestic economy, as well as do- 

 mestic industry. 



During the year ending September 1822, the 

 amount of the cost of Leghorn hats and flats, as 

 estimated for the purpose of ascertaining the 

 duty, was about g610,000. 



During the last year the Treasury estimate is 

 $313,394. 



If the Importation of (he fabrics of Leghorn 

 was prohibited, trade would not be injured. We 

 do not exchange our commodities for Leghorn 

 lonnets and hats, but the proceeds of half the 

 American trade in the Mediterranean, are in- 

 vested in these straws, which otherwise would 

 have been invested in articles more necessary, 

 less costly, and paying more freight. 



But ray object, Mr. Chairman, is to protect, 

 to encourage, and to renew a branch of a do- 

 mestic manufacture, which has been ruined by 

 the introdtiction of the straws of Leghorn. 



Some twenty or twenty three years 

 since, a young lady either of Franklin or 

 Wrentham, in Massachusetts, was induced 

 merely for the purpose of experiment, to un- 

 dertake the fabrication of a bonnet from straw. 

 Her experiment succeeded, and in consequence 

 of her success some of the females who lived 

 in her vicinity, were also induced to try the ex- 

 periment, and they also succeeded. In the 

 neighborhood the business soon became gene- 

 ral. All bonnets and hats for domestic use, 

 were fabricated at home. These bonnets were 

 at length introduced by the country traders, in- 

 to the cities and seaports, and met with a fa- 

 vorable reception. In the year 1806, I met a 

 New York trader on a journey, who informed 

 nie, that he had purchased straw bonn^is at 

 Wrentham, to the amount oi'icn thousand dollars. 

 1 well recollect my astonishment at this infor- 

 mation, for so ignorant was I at that time, of 

 <he extent of this business, that 1 did not be- 



lieve that bonnets to that amount were manu-!eign fabric, the revenue will be benefitted ai 



f.,^l„.„A ;„ ..II (l,„ „!..» mu^ I7_~l:„U T->.._ il- _ __.:._ .11 -_v ^ .. . . . ' • 



factured in all the slates. The English Dun- 

 stables were excluded from the American mar- 

 ket, by the American straws, which surpassed 

 them in elegance, durability and cheapness. — 

 Fashion soon gave them currency and they met 

 with a rapid and profitable sale in the markets 

 of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, 

 Norfolk, Charleston and Savannah. 



At the commencement of the late war this 

 manufacture was in its most flourishing slate. — ■ 

 I was told on good authority, that the annual 

 amount of the sales of straw bonnets ma-.iufac- 

 tured in ten adjoining towns,(townships,) in Mas- 

 sachusetts, was $500,000. The whole amount 

 has been stated by the chairman of the com- 

 mittee on manufactures to have been ^800,000 ; 

 and a circular from some gentlemen of respec- 

 tability who are well acquainted with the sub 



the nation will gain something, by taxing a foH 

 ivhich cannot be prevented. If on the oth«i 

 hand, the importation is prevented, you will if 

 store and revive a branch of manufacturing iu 

 duslry which cannot injure the nation, m 

 which will enrich it. 



From the Hampshire Gazette. 



GYPSUM. 



We have frequently heard farmers remaii 

 that gypsum or plaster has no effect on somi 

 of their lands, where it operated powerfully 

 few years ago ; and we are informed that th' 

 quantity of this article used in the towns on th 

 Connecticut river is diminishing yearly. Itaii 

 pears from an address of Cuthbert Powell, Esi 

 President of an Agricultural Society in Virgii 

 ia, "• plaster has ceased to produce any visib! 



ject, states the amount to have been in some '"' F'^^i^r nas ceasea to produce any visib! 

 years p 500 000 |etlect upon vegetation on land m Virginia, wheti 



The straws were woven and shaped by voun? " ^^' hitherto been long and freely used." Ml 



haped by y 

 unmarried females, of that class whose labor is 

 not generally productive. The work was doke 



IN FAMILIES UNDER THE P.1TERNAL ROOF, and by the 



DOMESTIC FIRE-SIDE, and never was labor sweeten- 

 ed with such rewards. I have known, and I have 

 heard of many farmers who were relieved from 

 embarrassments and mortgages, by the labor of 

 their daughters, and those daughters when mar- 

 ried could carry to their husbands marriage 

 portions, frequently of a thousand and some- 

 times of two thousand dollars, which is an es- 

 tablishment for any young farmer in New Eng- 

 land. The profitable exercise of this employ- 

 ment extended its benefits, not fanciful, not spec- 

 ulative, but real, to all the neighboring fanners. 

 Their unproductive lands were devoted to the 

 culture of rye. Eighty dollars have been of- 

 fered and refused, for the rye growing on a 

 single acre. The face of the country was im- 

 proved, and a vast addition was made to the 

 value of the soil, by multiplying its capabilities. 

 The comforts of the farmer were increased, 

 his falling fences were reared, his decaying 

 house was repaired, taste came in with het em- 

 bellishments, and neatness and plenty literally 

 united around the hut of povert/. Sad indeed 

 is the reverse. Cold and cheerless want, once 

 more revisits the mansions of (be poor. 



The caprice of fashion has introduced an ar- 

 ticle manufactured from the straw of Tuscany, 

 which, to say the least, has deprived numerous 

 .'\merican families of many of their comforts. 

 The tulip-mania of Holland was not so ruin- 

 ous to that nation, as (he mania for wearing 

 Leghorns is to this. The vast amount which 

 was formerly paid to our own citizens, which 

 gladdened the poor man's heart, which increas- 

 ed the productiveness of our soil, and relieved 

 our citizens from debt, is given to the Tuscans! 

 Fashion has said that it is wigenleel to appear in 

 a domestic bonnet : — a word has ruined a man- 

 ufacture which subsisted thousands ! 



Sumptuary laws are not justifiable, could they 

 be justified in any case they would be, in this. 



Should the motion now before us prevail, 1 

 think it will go far tovvards the exclusion of the 

 coarser, and least valuable fabrics of Leghorn; 

 and if our country women choose to pay $50 

 or $tj0 for a Leghorn, when one of home man- 



P. proceeds to account for this seeming mysli 

 ry. He adopts the opinion of Sir Humphjo ,k 

 Davy, that gypsum forms a part of the foo^ n 

 certain plants, as clover, and other arti^ f( 

 grasses, and is intimately combined as a ne^ 

 saiy part of their woody fibre, and that tl 

 reason why it is not generally efficacious, 

 because most soils contain it in sufficient qua 

 titles for the use of the grasses. Sir Humphn 

 found, on analysing soils from several counti 

 of England, where gypsum produced no effe^ 

 that they already contained a sufficiency of it 

 their composition. Mr. Powell concludes frc| 

 these facts, that the lands in Virginia, on whi 

 plaster has been so operative in years ft 

 were naturally deficient in that material ; tl 

 the use of it removed the natural defect, i 

 brought into action the other productive na 

 rials of the soil, which could not be wroiigfit 

 without it; and that a course of luxuriant en 

 thus produced has exhausted the other mati 

 als of vegetation, which must now be supplied 

 an application of animal and vegetable maBW 

 REMARKS. — The foregoing observations relatiprl"'"'''-' 



the ineflicacy of plaster of Paris, when it has b 



plied for a series of years, although its first op^K^S' 



were beneficial, are corroborated by the experiSB"""" 



many cultivators. Jonathan Roberts, Esq. Prefi^f*'""! 



of the Pennsylvania Agricultural Society, in 

 dress to that Society, states that farmers can 

 collect how beneficially gypsum or plaster 

 was exhibited as a manure, and that in the 

 eight or ten years after its general application, tiK 

 ver afforded neither a wholesome summer pasting, 

 winter fodder. Recourse was then had to the 

 of fibrous rooted grasses ; — an evident dimui 

 the ploughed crops followed. Of these grassi 

 thy was found to be the most productive, but then 

 pernicious to the soil. It was recommended by 

 kindly commixing with clover, but with these qoali 

 it is in but very little estimation at present amoni 

 perienced farmers. The orchard, ray and herd's grs 

 appear to be entitled to no preference over the la 

 rasses of our country ; they do not afford so ric 

 sward for the plough. The clover at present swu 

 have regained its original value. The cause of it; 

 terioration or recovery I pretend not to explain. I 

 The use of gypsum for a while superseded the 

 of lime — during that period the soil became sacMd 

 and unproductive. A recurrence to its use pronj 



piri/j n 

 •ililiniiii 



mm 



■teoffi 

 'mreof 



ufacture could be purchased for six, it becomes 



a proper subject for high duty, and if they will, | j^^T (brmer results, an open and productive m 



With this high duty, continue to wear the for-l^he effect of lime on grass crops in this secondly., 



^> 



