39G 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



From the .Manufacturers' and Farmers' Journal. 



WOOL. 

 I observed in a late number of the .lournal,* 

 an cxirnct from a southern paper, ])iirporting 

 to be a conimiiriicatiou from a rnrmtr near Al- 

 exandria, rcijuesting information upon the sub- 

 ject of the iliiTerencc of the price of wool in 

 Alexandria and Boston. The Alexandria far- 

 mer deems it a mastery tiiat imported wool 

 should command in Boston, seventy-five cents 

 to one dollar twenty-Gve cents per pound, while 

 he is selling the produce of his flocks at forty 

 cents the pound, and proposes that the growers 

 of wool should hold free communication with 

 each other in order to mainlain their prices. 

 The dilference is ascribed by the writer with 

 much illiberality and injustice to a '• mere eas- 

 tern trick," to defraud the agriculturists of the 

 south of the fair value of their fleeces. He 

 considers " that since Congress has given en- 

 couragement to our manufactures, an equal en- 

 couragement should be extended to those who 

 raise the wool, which is the raw material." 



It is of much importance that prejudices and 

 erroneous impressions should be (lis>;ipated, par- 

 ticularly when they atfect tiie local feelings of 

 difTcrent sections of our country. The growers 

 of wool a> well iis the manufacturers of that ar- 

 ticle should have a proper understanding of 

 their mutual interests, without harboring un- 

 kindly suspicions of each other. The Alexan- 

 dria f:^rmer observes with much justice that 

 " woo! is becoming too important an article not 

 to be entitled to some altcnlion." 



Agreeably to the request contained in his 

 communication, I shall endeavor to exi)lain the 

 cause of the difference in the price of foreign 

 and domestic wool as sold in this country. 



This dilTerence is owing partly to the rela- 

 tive fineness of foreign wool, and partly to the 

 superior manner in which it is put up for the 

 market. The imported wool is usually assorted 

 into three or more different grades, with appro- 

 priate marks to designate the bales containing 

 each grade. This wool is thoroughly washed 

 in a weak lye, to scour from it the yolk or 

 grease peculiar to wool in its native state. By 

 this process it loses from 25 to GO per cent, of 

 its weight in the rough state, and of course sells 

 for an enhanced price after the operation. The 

 farmers of the United States are satisfied with 

 merely washing their sheep in the river pre- 

 viously to shearing them. This operation com- 

 monly scours ofT but an inconsiderable propor- 

 tion of the grease, when pcrf.)rined with the 

 Htmost care. When the sheep are washed, as 

 tliey usually are, in a careless and transient 

 manner, and are al'terwards left to run several 



exandria farmer seems to labour under a mis-; extra expense of the hive was 50 cents — as if""' 

 take. No particular act has been passed by Con- cannot exceed that, unless you have a lock/* 

 gress with the express view of protecting the (which is an improvement) and would probably 

 woollen manufactures, but only for the purpose add 25 cents more. If your correspondent hag 

 of revenue. They are left to struggle against recommended a better way, of course it will be 

 the overwhelming capitals of English manufac- adopted ; on the other hand, if Blake's hive is 



turers, and to sustain themselves as well as they 

 can under the discouraging effect of excessive 

 foreign importation. Few persojis are aware 

 of the vast sums annually remitted from this 

 country, merely for the articles of cloth and cas- 

 simcres. By the last return of the Secretary of 

 the Treasury for the year ending on the oOth 



not considered too expensive, 

 help him to sell a right. 



this notice may 

 B. P 



pJlC 



;!■ ■' 



From tlie National Intelligencer. 

 COMPOSITION TO PRESERVE \VOOD. 

 Mr. G,\les — It becomes important to have a 

 simple composition, in the application ef which, 



of September, 1C22, the imported cloths and i t^e durability of bridges constructed of wood 



cassimeres amounted in value to eight millions 

 four hundred and ninety-one thousand dollars-- 

 being more than a tenth part of all the impor- 

 tations of the country. The numerous manufac- 

 turers in different parts of the U. States, fur- 

 nish a great additional supply of cloths, which 

 are now often preferred at the same prices to 

 foreign cloths. It behoves many of those who 

 are the most violent in fheir prejudice against 

 the skill and workmanship of their fellow coun- 

 trymen, to look well to their tailor for the-origin 

 of the coats they wear. These woollen manufac- 

 tories have in many places ceased operating on 

 account of the depressed state of the business. 

 .\ny proposition therefore that may tend to raise 

 the price of the raw material they manufacture, 

 without at the same time advancing the price of 

 their goods, must tend still more to discourage 

 and to crush them. The value of imported wool 

 during the year ending on the 30th of September 

 last, amounted to thiee hundred and eighty-seven 

 thousand dollars. There can be but little doubt 

 that some protective measures will be adopted 

 by the next session of Congress in favor of this 

 description of manufacture, which is so necessary 

 to the welfare of the nation, should foreign re- 

 sources be suddenly cut off by wars or other 

 causes, and which might afibrd a most extensive 

 and profitable emjiloyment to the agricultural 

 interest. As a branch of national industry, it 

 has been emphatically termed " the wealth of 

 England." It is particularly indispensable to 

 the wants of a climate like ours, whose wintry 

 blasts are so piercing, and whose summer heals 

 are so often succeeded by sudden and unheahhy 

 changes to chilling winds and storms. A. 



From the American Farmer. 



HONEY. 

 A'ewburyport^ Mass. May 20, 1 823. 

 J. S. Skinner, Estj. — " A lover of honey," in 

 your paper, No. 9, vol. 5, says " there is a gen- 

 tleman ia the lower part of your native county, 

 who knows much better how to take honey 



will be extended for a long period of time with- 

 out a roof; whereas, if left exposed to the wea- 

 ther, ten years is their estimated limit of dura- 

 tion. It well deserves the attention of the di- 

 rectors of the city bridge company, for, as the 

 limbers are new, well seasoned, and have suf- 

 fered no apparent decay, the mixture being 

 now put on will be in time to prevent the ope- 

 ration of the rot. 



I send you two receipts, one for Ihe preser- 

 vation of wood or timbers liable to be injured 

 by the weather ; and one for Ihe roof of a house, 

 to defend it not only from the weather, but also 

 from fire, and I doubt not they will be both ac- 

 ceptable to many of your subscribers, among 

 whom I am ONE 



Mi 



DO:; 

 BO'; 



jiel 



kil 



j«ii 

 \t 

 itlii 



days before they are siieared, their fleeces are [ from bees than the German mentioned in your 



often saturated with oil to the amount of one 

 half of their weight. It is probably owing to 

 this circumstance that the Alexandria farmer 

 complains that he obtains less tor his wool, of 

 equal fineness, than is paid elsewhere for for- 

 eign wool well cleansed. The account would 

 stand thu'i : 



Cost of unwashed wool at 40 cents per lb. — 

 10 lbs. is ;j;i. Loss by washing, say 50 per 

 cent. — 5 lbs. Remaining of washed wool 5 lbs. 

 cost ^4, or 80 cents per lb. 



As it regards tlie encouragement afforded to 

 our woollen manufactures by Congress, the Al- 



See N. E. Farmer, No. 49, p. 388. 



paper, No. 48, vol. 4, and with Icxs expense than 

 Blulcc^s paieni hives ,•" and goes on to state fhe 

 process of taking off the top of the hive, &c. 

 I confess I am not authorised to answer for your 

 numerous patrons, but have the sanity to think 

 a majority would [irefer a hive like Mr. Blake's, 

 that the top could be lifted like a chest cover, 

 and the honey taken in a draw or box, iliat 

 would he no disgrace to any table, if placeil on 

 it, to Ihe method of knocking off the top of a 

 hive, and breaking up a ipiantity of comb, as it 

 must necessarily be broken; to say nothing of 

 dropping the honey, and leaving the hive in a 

 stale of ruin, that would take the industrious 

 little animals a long time to re^iair — even if the 



Composition for preserving weather-boarding, and i . 

 all other irork liable to be injured by the ivcathrr. 



Lime, it is well known, however well burnt, 

 will soon become slacked by exposure in the 

 open air, or even when confined in a situation, 

 if not remarkably dry, so as to crumble of itself 

 into powder. This is what is called air-slacked 

 lime, in contradistinction to that which is slack- 

 ed in fhe usual way, by being mixed with water. 

 For the purpose of making the present u?eful 

 composition to preserve all sorts of wood ivorks 

 exposed to the vicissitudes of weather, take 

 three parts of this air-slacked lime, two of wood 

 ashes, and one of fine sand, pass them through 

 a fine sieve, and add as much linseed oil to the 

 composition as will bring it into a proper con- 

 sistence of working with a painter's brush. As 

 particular care must be taken to mix it care- 

 fully, it should be ground on a stone slab with 

 a proper muller, intbc same manner as painters 

 grind their white lead, SiC. But where these 

 conveniences are not at hand, the ingredients 

 may be mixed in a large pan and well beat up 

 with a wooden spatula. Two coals of this com- 

 position being necessary, the first m;iy be rather 

 thin, but the second should be as thick as it caa 

 conveniently be worked. 



This most excellent composition for preserv- 

 ing wood when exposed to the injuries of the 

 weather, is highly preferable to the customary 

 mode of laying on tar and ochre. It is indeed 

 every way better calculated for the purpose ; 

 being totally impenetrable by water, and so firr 

 from being liable to injury by the action of the 

 weather, or heat of the sun, that the latter, 

 though such a powerful enemy to tarred and 

 ocbred palings, &c. even hardens and conse- 

 quently increases the durability of the present I 

 proposed composition. 



Another receipt for the rnnf of a hovse, to defend 

 it from the iceathcr and from fre. 

 Take one measure of fine sand, two measures 

 of wood ashes well sifted, three of slacked liaie 



