NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



36L 



I part of the ten pounds to the working 

 I in your own neighborhood, to come and 

 111 to build the hats :ind bonnets, than tc' 

 ihe whole ten pounds amongst strangers. 

 , I fifing about seven out of the ten to the 

 II. MU- men in the business. 

 1; l^ not to be expected that such a change 

 lii br accomplished all at once. Trifling as 

 t: ilifficulties are, they must be overcome ; and 

 vill now endeavor to remove some of them. 

 le great difference between a Leghorn hat 

 1 an English one consists of the different 

 inner of putlinp the plat together. Tlic 

 ghorn is what is called knitted together; and 

 s is a very nice business, and difficult to 

 Nevertheless, more than ten persons 

 ve sent me some specimens of their knitting, 

 lich I find to be perfectly well done. But it 

 to be observed, that, in order to render the 

 itting practicable, the plaiting must be per- 

 med in a certain manner. The plat must 

 isist of 13 straws, neither more nor less. — 

 le edges of the plat must be so constructed as 

 the eyes, or loops, or slips, as they are caH- 

 nottopuU out when the needle passes along 

 knit the two pieces of plat together. In or- 

 • to secure this point care must be taken, 

 en a fresh straw is put in, to give it so much 

 the fastening before its turn comes to be on 

 edge as to make it secure against the force 

 ithe needle. Whether this can be learned 

 ihout seeing and examining a piece of plat 

 ■tperly made, 1 do not know ; but learned it 

 Dst be for it is essential. 



This work of knitting has been considered as 

 :i ;ort of mystery, retained to themselves by 

 I Tews and Jewesses of London. 



Jo'vever, already has there been an inroad 

 D ie upon the mystery. 1 understand that 

 B< eral Christian women have learnt the Jewess 

 ir^tery- What will take place will be this: — 

 V men will keep schools to teach knitting, and 

 ^;s will very soon be in the habit of learning 

 it t the same time they learn their letters and 

 1( rn to sew. It is right that those who pos- 

 iio talent should be paid for the communi- 

 nt' it to Others ; and they will be paid for 

 course ; but it cannot long remain a thing 

 ■ commonly known and as easily, perform- 

 - more easily too, than the making of a 

 i oi' a shirt. Be it always understood, that, 

 11 as my wishes go, I would not give a 

 ' i".^for the thing, unless it became as gen- 

 ^ any of these domestic works -ichich our 

 duughters and servants are in the habit of 

 iiiing. It is to prevent the thing being 

 ■d to particular districts, that I am taking 

 ';e pains. I want to see it diffused. 1 

 4 :'. to see it in such a stale, that any lady in 

 country shall think no more of sending to 

 don for a bonnet than she would of sending 

 >ondon for butter or milk. It is a thing per- 

 tly matchless in its facilities. The materi- 

 are to be found as easily as the dirt we 

 ad upon. It is not necessary to be possessed 

 farthing in order to acquire them, in acer- 

 I extent, at any rate. There is scarcely so 

 at a brute in existence as to prevent a poor 

 ature from cutting a bundle of grass in his 

 Ige ; and what hedge is there that does not 

 xd such bundle ? 

 tis not the number of hats and bonnets that 

 I'been used which we are to look upon as the 

 ber that will be used. Ceiitlenicn who 



are ashamed to put the poor miserable things 

 of common straw upon their heads, will be de- 

 lighted with a hat made of materials such as I 

 find in Ihe eight sppcimens sent up by W. IJ. 

 I'rom Norfolk. His wife made the plat and 

 knitted it. She had no teaching to do either; 

 and what a beautiful hat migiit be made out of 

 numbers five or seven of this plat. So that wc 

 are not to suppose that the number of hats and 

 bonnets would be increased. Besides, as 1 have 

 elsewhere observed, a great exportation would 

 certainly take place, and in this whole country, 

 particularly (he landholders, are deeply inte- 

 rested. The exportation I'rom Italy is very 

 great. Many millions a year are brought to 

 that country by the export of the several arti- 

 cles made of straw. We are told that the Ital- 

 ians work cheap; but I am quite satisfied, that 

 in spite of their cheap working, we shall very 

 soon work them out of this species of traffic. 

 If I lived in the platting districts, 1 would have 

 persons brought thither to teach the young girls 

 how to knit the plat and how to make it in the 

 proper manner. 



The manufacture that I endeavor to set on 

 foot may be made extensive ; it may be made a 

 blessing to the laboring people in particular. It 

 may be made to draw from the rich of this 

 country, and from those of foreign nations too, 

 the means of good living to those who are now 

 miserably fed and miserably clad. If some Irish 

 Lord were, instead of spending his time at a 

 watering place, to set about the introducing 

 this into Ireland, what good might he not do ? 

 The Italians cannot work cheaper than the Irish 

 could. However, I expect I must confess, much 

 more to be done by the middle ranks of society 

 than by any body else. To them we must 

 leave the undertaking. / hear and indeed I 

 knosj the fact, that the importers are now selling 

 Leghorn bonnets at a loss. But what will the 

 benefit be if we prevent the sending of half a 

 million of money out of the country ? To do 

 it effectually, large tracts of grain must be sown 

 in the fall, for the purpose of raising straw. 

 Nevertheless, I cannot help thus early observ- 

 ing that, if I were a little farmer (no matter in 

 what part of the kingdom,) I should be already 

 fixing upon a piece of ground in which to sow 

 some wheat or some rye. Fine employment for 

 daughters and boys to cut, to bleach, pluck, and 

 to prepare the straw." 



From the American Farmer. 



TO PREVENT SKIPPERS IN BACON. 



Mr. Skinner, — One of your correspondents, 

 some time ago, recommended packing hams in 

 dry oats, to prevent their being injured by 

 skippers. 



In the year 1822, having plenty of coarse 

 salt on hand, I prepared dry casks, placed the 

 hams and shoulders on their ends, and filled the 

 insterstices with dry coarse salt, covered the 

 tops completely with salt, and settled it 

 well ; about mid-summer, I unpacked and ex- 

 amined the hams, replaced them again in the 

 casks as before, and drew them out for use 

 when required, there was not one skipper 

 found, and the bacon was fine. Last year not 

 having a sufficiency of salt, I packed my hams 

 and shoulders in dry oats, in the same manner, 

 examined them once in the summer, arid found 

 they kept eg jalij as well as when packed in 



salt. 1 have not seen a single skipper on ba- 

 con so treated ; but I have, before I adopted this 

 method, been sometimes very much injured by 

 thorn. It is now tho right time to pack hams in 

 oats, and I shall take mine down in a day or two. 

 It is a cheap and very practicable method, no 

 expense attending it, the oats are not injured, 

 they can be used when you have your old hams 

 in the fall, and I would advise a general adop- 

 tion of this method. It is very little trouble to 

 unpack them, and it may be beat to examine 

 them two or three times in the summer — it 

 changes their position. When two pieces 

 touch each other they may get mouldy, but be- 

 ing very particular to see mine welt spparaled 

 by the oats, not one would have injured if they 

 had remained until the fall without being drawn. 



TO THE EDITOn. OF THE AIUKRICAN FARMEK. 



SOAP MAKING — by the " toi.n rnocEss." 



Mbemark, Va. May 15, 1824. 

 Mr. Skinner, — It is my custom, in reading 

 over your valuable journal, whenever I come 

 across any article relating to domestic encono- 

 my, to read it out to my wife, who, you must 

 know, is a notable manager and great econo- 

 mist. In the 4th No. of the Farmer, a process 

 of making soap is detailed by a housekeeper, 

 of simply mixing the ley and grease together, 

 and placing it in the hot sun, without any boil- 

 ing. When I read this account to her, which is 

 wound up by the emphatic enquiry on youjr part, 

 '■'■ can this be true?'''' "True!" said she, "cer- 

 tainly, it is true; I have made soap in no other 

 way this three years, and 1 believe every body 

 in this neighborhood does the like — only I do 

 not take the trouble to measure the ley and 

 grease, and set it in the hot sun, but I put my 

 barrel, (a common fish barrel,) in the cellar 

 where it is intended to stand, and fill it nearly 

 full of strong ley, then add as much grease, 

 without melting it, as I think sufficient, stirring 

 it once every day or two. In a few days I caa 

 tell whether I have put too much or to little 

 grease, and add ley or grease as the case may 

 require. In two or three weeks it becomes 

 excellent soap. We call it the cold process. — 

 In this way we make better soap, get rid of the 

 trouble and risk of boiling, and can make it as 

 suits our convenience, or occasion requires. — 

 And 1 wish, my dear that you would write to 

 Mr. Skinner and tell him from me, that it is 

 true. And besides, you have not written to Mr. 

 S.Tor a long time, and he is very kind and at- 

 tentive in sending you valuable seeds — and 

 moreover, we hear that he is sick — and I should 

 be glad to hear that he is getting better." 



I forthwith sat down, and have given you her 

 own words, as many of which she says you 

 are at liberty to use, as you may think necessa- 

 ry to support or confirm the cold process of 



making soap. — 



A Frenchman, named Jaques, is now exhibiting 

 himself at Belfast, Ireland, whose dimensions are 

 as follows : height? feet 4 inches; round the 

 chest 4 feet 3 inches ; round the arm, under the 

 elbow, 15 3-4 inches ; round the wrist 9 1-2 inch- 

 es. The span of his hand, when expanded on a 

 table, is 13 1-4 inches ; and the distance betwixt 

 the extreme points of the middle fingers of his 

 rigb4 and left hands when his arms are extended 

 along a wall, is 7 feet 8 inches. His foot is 14 

 inches in length. He has not much flesh oa 

 his bones, and yet he weighs 24 stone. 



