Oct. 10, 1884.] 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



293 



into existence by the recent improvement in the fortunes 

 of Canada, and are not yet sutiiciently developed to have 

 set up rej)<iiring-shops of their own. The work to be done 

 for these includes the casting, boring, and pressing on 

 of car wheels, the machining of locomotive castings, the 

 boring out of cylinders, ifec. If to this we add repairs to 

 brewing plant, Ac, and the erection of boilers and engines 

 for various other tracks, it will be seen that there is 

 enough to keep a shop of forty to fifty hands in full 

 activity; and so, in fact, we found it. The castings turned 

 out — from Scotch pig — were very good in quality, and the 

 foundiy was sufficient to run four or five tons })er day. 

 The boilers are, of course, chiefly adapted for burning 

 wood, and are made with the large grates extending almost 

 the whole way under the boiler ; the gases return through 

 tubes to the front, and thence pass by brick flues along the 

 sides to the chimney. On the whole, the impression given 

 by the general appearance of the works was that of a 

 prosperous, increasing, and, above all, of a tolerably steady 

 trade. The journeyman's wages, when in the shop, are 

 2 dols. — 8s. 4d. — for a day of ten hours, and overtime is 

 reckoned throughout at time and a half. Apprentices are 

 taken, though without formal indentures, generally for a 

 period of three years. 



It must not be supposed that the building here men- 

 tioned contains all, or nearly all, the manufacturing enter- 

 prise of Sherbrooke. Lower down on the river is another 

 and larger machine-shop — which, however, we had not time 

 to visit — besides a file manufactory and other works. 

 Higher up is the Paton Woollen Mill, on a scale which 

 would not look small even in Bradford, running a large 

 number both of looms and mules — the former mainly of 

 American make, the latter bearing the familiar name-plate 

 of Piatt Brothers — and making excellent homespun cloth 

 from Canadian wools, as well as finer qualities from South 

 American, &c. With such mills, and with the aid of steam 

 tailoring establishments, which are already in operation, 

 there seems no reason why Canadian settlers should much 

 longer have to pay more for their clothing than those they 

 leave behind in the old country. 



Hard by the woollen mills we inspected the fire-station 

 of the town, whose complete appointments and spacious 

 premises would have gladdened the heart of Captain Shaw 

 himself. It was tenanted by some half-dozen magnificent 

 Canadian horses, whose numbers are supplemented when 

 required, in virtue of an arrangement made with the 

 authorities having the care of the streets. It contained — 

 besides hand machines — two steam fire-engines, one of the 

 familiar Merryweather type, the other resplendent with 

 nickel sheeting, &c., and bearing an American name-plate. 

 We also inspected a " lumbering " establishment, placed at 

 the very head of the fall, where there is a convenient site 

 for a timber pond. The trees floating in this pond are 

 brought up to the front of the works, where they are 

 attached to an endless chain, and at once dragged up an 

 inclined plane to the level of the sawmUl. Here they are 

 rolled on to a s-aw-bench, and presented to a large saw, 

 which deals with them in a number of minutes which, if 

 stated to an English audience, would hardly be credited. 

 To reduce a good-sized log to rough H in. planks seemed to 

 require scarcely longer time than is needed to describe the 

 operation. I was not able to learn the exact speed of 

 travel, but am certain that it was at least 50 per cent, 

 greater than that which is usual in English mills. Other 

 saws were at hand — some large, some small, some hung on 

 vertical, some on horizontal arms — for the purpose of re- 

 ducing the rough planks to the various dimensions required. 

 Planing machines, kc, were also forthcoming, together 

 with special machinery for making " shingles " and " clap- 



boards " — the former going to cover the roofp, and the 

 latter the sides, of the timber houses which form the 

 general type of Canadian homesteads. As others' educa- 

 tion, like my own, may be in default on the subject of 

 clapboards, I may explain that a clap-board is a light 

 strip of wood, about 4 ft. long, 6 in. wide, and triangular in 

 section, varying in thickness from }, in. at the back to 

 nothing at the front. When laid in strakes, even lapping 

 each other by .3 in., ^^^th the thick edge downward, and 

 well painted, they form an admirable and economical 

 casing to a " frame house," as the luxurious dwelling of 

 the modern Canadian farmer is termed, in opposition to 

 the log hut of the early settler. 



It will be seen even from this slight description that an 

 English engineer coming to Canada will undoulitedly have 

 something to learn — probably something also to unlearn ; 

 but it may be safely affirmed that, if only steady and ener- 

 getic, he will never want employment, and that he will 

 have opportunities of advancement open to him, such as it 

 has long been hard to find in what, for good and for evil, 

 is emphatically the " old country." 



THE ENTOMOLOGY OF A POND. 



By E. A. BuTLEB, 



THE BOTTOM (continued). 



WE have now to consider the life-history of caddis- 

 worms. The parent insect, a moth-like creature 

 living amongst the vegetation at the edge of the pond, 

 deposits her eggs in the water, srimetimes actually descend- 

 ing below the surface, and attaching them to the leaves of 

 water-plants. But it is very seldom that they have been 

 detected doing this. Mr. McLachlan speaks of having 

 seen females of Phryganea grandis, one of our largest 

 species, " on a calm summer evening on the surface of the 

 water, with wings expanded and trembling, causing a com- 

 motion on the surface like that occasioned by a drowning 

 insect; and as they took up the position voluntarily, and 

 were evidently in no danger of drowning," he naturally 

 came to the conclusion that they were depositing their 

 eggs. But, again, on the other hand, females are some- 

 times found with their wings soiled, as though they had 

 had a muddy bath, and had been contaminated thereby ; 

 so that in all probability there are different methods of 

 conveying the eggs to suitable situations. The eggs, when 

 first extruded, are enveloped in a gelatinous mass, and 

 before being deposited in their final resting-place are often, 

 for some time after actual extrusion, 

 carried by the mother attached to the 

 ; V end of her abdomen. When in the 



water the gelatinous substance swells 

 by absorption of the liquid, and attains 

 twice its former diameter. The eggs 

 soon hatch, but the young larv» re- 

 main two or three days enveloped in 

 the jelly ; then leaving their cradle, 

 which by this time is almost in ruins, 

 they begin life on their own account, 

 each constructing a tube for itself, 

 proportionate to its infantile dimen- 

 sions, and each species, even at this 

 early age, manifesting the power of 

 selecting appropriate materials for its 

 domicile. 



The larva (Fig. 1) has a pale, soft body, which is, no 

 doubt, a tempting morsel to fish ; and hence the necessity 







Fig. 1. 



