140 



NE\V ENGLAND FARMER, 



NOV. 11, is.ia 



FACTS AMD OUSERVATIOKS RELATIVE TO a.linit Water from carh to tlic other, 



THE CULTURE OF SILIC. ' 



HEATI.\G COeuUiNS I'OR r.;:ELl:JG SILK. 



In the last miinht'r of our Silk lilamial, page 82, 

 we gave a brief notice of an apparatus, inventerf 

 hy the Editor, for the purpose of heatiny oocoons 

 for reeling silk; and promised a more delinite 

 description of our invention in a succeeding num- 

 ber. We now |;roeeed to redeem our pledge. 



./?. in the cut, represents a vessel wbamy hie 

 be made of tin, copper, or other suitable material.* 

 The top, or visible part is .about five and a half 

 inches high, and sixteen inches in diameter. Its 

 bottom is closed, in part, by a piate of the same 

 metal, turning horizontally inwards, so as to form a 

 shoulder, which rests on the upper edge of the 

 boiler B. This plate is perforated by a circular 

 bole, about ten and a half inches in diameter, and 

 a short open cylin<ler of two inches in length. 

 is soldered to the edge of the hole or jjerforation 

 above-mentioned. The lower edge of this sliort 

 cylinder rests in a shallow, borizontal groove in 

 the interior of the boiler, about two inches below 

 its top, or upper extremity. 'J^his groove, as soon 

 as the water is made to boil, is filled with water 

 of condensed steam, which effectually prevents 

 the escape of steam from the boiler before it is 

 conducted up the sides of the cylinders, above 

 described, and the little steam, which is not con- 

 densed on its passage by said cylinders, and a 

 vessel which contains the cocoons, to be hereafter 

 described, escapes from the edge of the upper 

 cylinder. 



The cocoon-heater, or vessel containing .the 

 water for beating the cocoou.s is a short cyhnder 

 placed within that which has been described, and 

 IS not s^own in the above cut, closed at the bot- 

 tom, and resting on the edge of the exterior ves- 

 sel or steamer, by a rim or flange. About a 

 .(uarter of an inch of space is left' between the 

 steamer and the cocoon-lieater, for the purpose of 

 admittmg steam from the boiler to heat the vessel 

 contammg the cocoons. The cylinder in which 

 the cocoons are heated is divided into four parts 

 by tm partitions, which cross each other at ri.^hl 

 angles near the centre of the cylinder. T|,e 

 l.ar titions are perforated by small holes, whi(di 



* •" '■■'^'"" wither, or ^vh^i^^^:;7^^:;:;~;;g'ti;^^z^, 



ment is not desired, this vessel may be of woor< lined 

 inside. ' 



eep dif- 

 ferent parcels of the cocoons separate, which is 

 said to be necessary in reeling. 



The lower part of the boiler B, which is of 

 cast iron, is let Into the cylinder C, resting on a 

 flange or shoulder, and extending downwards to 

 the top of the door by which fuel is admitted. 

 The cylin<ler, fire j)ot, ash pit, and stove pipe have 

 nothing peculiar in their construction, except that 

 there is more perpendicular space above the fire 

 door than usual, for the purpose of atiording 

 room for the boiler. For further observations on 

 this apparatus, and notices of its advantages, we 

 would refer to tlie Sific Manual for the last month, 

 page 82. 



This apparatus has been used by Mr Cobb, author 

 of Cobb's Silk Manual, who has favored us with 

 the following : 



I have used Mr Thomas G. Fessenden's Patent 

 Steam Boiler for beating the water in reeling silk, 

 and find it bolli economical aiid useful. The 

 \\:iti r ill which the cocoons are, is kept equable 

 by Mir.ins of the applicuion of steam to the basin, 

 and there is a considerable saving of labor and 

 fuel by the apparatus. J. H. COBB, 



Dedham_, July 12th, 1835. 



The apparatus yiay also be usefully apjdied in 

 killing the chrysalis in the cocoons, and also for 

 drying cocoons before bringing them to market as 

 will be apparent from the following communica- 

 tion from the pen of Mr Adam Brooks, inventor 

 of Brooks' Patent Silk Spinner. 



[From the Silk Miinual.] 

 The disa])pointment that many have met with 

 by not knowing that cocoons must be dryed before 

 they are jiacked away for spinning, induces ine 

 to write a few lines on the subject. Some of my 

 acquaintance have recently lost a number of 

 bushels; others small quantities, f was informed 

 in Connecticut thSit one man lost thirty bushels, 

 and many hare written to me for information, that 

 a few observations which I have ever found ne- 

 cessary to be attended to, in order to insure suc- 

 cess, cannot be unwelcome. Let the cocooiis be 

 baked, care being taken not to haie the oveji too 

 hot, or stifling them is preferable, as then they 

 cannot be hurt by burning. 



Thomas G. Fessenden, Editor of the New 

 England Farmer, lias an apparatus for warming 

 rooms, which has been advertised in th; t most 

 useful paper. Tbis will be found a conveaience 

 indeed for killing the chrysalis, as well as useful 

 for many other purposes, having a [lan* aflixid to 

 it to heat by boiling water, which is exactly what 

 wo want for killing the moth. Let them be heat- 

 ed in this pan about half an hour; when they are 

 warm, put into the pan a very little camphorated 

 spirits, and they may be ke|;t for years, and no 

 insect will injure them. When tliey arc taken 

 out, spread them on a cloth, or smooth boards ; 

 if it is damp weather and you have a large parcel, 

 spread them thin in an open room, and stir them 

 about as often as once a day, or the uiuh'r side 

 will mould and spoil the silk; or they may be 

 dryed in the same pan that the chrysalis is killed 

 in, if we dry a few at a time. If we have a clear 

 sun, it is a better way to lay them in the sun and 

 dry them until they feel light and rattle by shak- 

 ing; then, and not until then, is it safe to pack 

 them away for spinning or for market. 



The stove above alluded to, is also a most con- 

 venient apparatus for spinning the silk, there is a 

 pan with it, made for that purpose, set into another 

 pan of water,t that the water the cocoons are in 

 never boils, but may be kept of the right tempe- 

 rature for spinning. With this necessary appara- 

 tus, and Brooks' Patent Silk Spinner I could insure 

 success with but a little practical experience. 



A. Brooks. 

 In conversation with the Editor, Mr Brooks 

 suggested that some cocoons wind the better for 

 being immersed, for a short time in boiling water, 

 before attempting to reel oft' the silk ; and then 

 placing them, dnring the process of reeling in 

 water of a somewhat lower temperature. This 

 can easily and readily he effected by taking oft" 

 the steamer Jj, together with the cocoon-beater, 

 raising the temperature of the water in the cast 

 iron boiler B, to a boiling heat, and immersing 

 the cocoofis, for a sliort time in the boiling water, 

 and then placing them in the steam heated water 

 for winding. 



Rush's Silk Manual observes, that « The tem- 

 perature of the water is to be regulated, 1st by 

 the nature of the silk, resulting in part, from the 

 quality of the food on which the silk-caterpillars 

 have been fed. This is exemplified in a striking 

 manner by a f>ict recorded by Aldiui, which is, 

 that in Piedmont and in Lombardy, the gummy 

 cement of the cocoons is so easily soluble as to 

 require the water to be heated only to 60" or 66* 

 of Reaumer (168'^ 181*= of Fahrenheit,) while 

 the cocoons spun in the south of Italy, and par- 

 ticularly in the Papal territories, require a heat of 

 80° of R. (212 of F.) owing to the greater tenac- 

 ity and solidity of the gum. Ex])eriments can 

 alone, therefore, determine the various degrees of 

 beat re<piisite for the water in different places, 

 and for several varieties of cocoons, and even for 

 different parcels of cocoons of the same sort. As 

 this is a point connected with the succ-'ss of the 

 opiu-atioii, it affords another argument for the use 

 of the thermometer, in order to ensure it, and to 

 prevent the delay and trouble which will ever 

 ensue from guessing at the heat of the water, by 

 dipping the finger in it. Our own sensations are 

 very inaccurate tests of the heat of water ; the 

 use of the thermonieter,^besides saving much time 

 and trouble to the spinner, will ensure an evenness 

 of thread, and perfection in the whole operation." 

 Dr Lardner observes that, " it is considered 

 essential to the production of good silk, that the 

 thread should have lost part of its heat and adhe- 

 siveness before it touches the bar of the reel. 

 For this reason the Piediiiontese reelers are 

 obliged by law to allow a distance of three 

 feet between the guides and the centre of the 

 reel." This, as well as many other apparently 

 insignificant matters, is, no doubt, indispensible to 

 success in reeling ; and the manufacturer must be 

 "great in little things" or he will not be successful 

 in the great objects connected with his pursuits. 



* This pan is the vessel described above as the cocoon 

 heater. 



[l''or Fessenden's Silk Manual.] 

 Mr. EniTOR — Having embarked in the silk 

 culture, and being desirous that others should do 

 the same, I am pleased to see the public press 

 wielding a portion of its energies in the service 

 of this enterprise. And what is attempted in the 

 way, 1 shall wish, by all means, to see, not only 

 prompted by zeal, but undertaken with prudence 



t Or rather overs boiler, and hented by steam. 



