151 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



jrOVEMBER 23. 1S3<!-, 



ded they are alioiit to imitate it, as a large quanti- 

 ty of mulberry seed has gone into different parts 

 of the county from this place. How irresistible 

 would be the charms of the yoiiug lady, when 

 dressed in the fabric of her own hands' produc- 

 tion, and how eagerly would the beaux press for- 

 ward for her hand I— And well might they seek 

 such wives, for they would be worth having. — 

 Reading Press. 



(From tile Maine Faimer.5 

 REPORT OP INCIDEBfTAI- COMMITTEE. 



The Incidental Committee appointed by the Ken- 

 nebec County AgricuUural Society, having at- 

 tended to the duty assigned them, submit the 

 following Report : 



We have examined with a very lively interest 

 the machine for spinning and twisting Silk, pre- 

 sented by Mr Adam Brooks of Scituate, Mass. — 

 Although your committee have no practical knowl- 

 edge of the art of reeling or spnining silk, yet as 

 Mr Brooks, having provided himself with cocoons, 

 was able to give us a practical illustration of the 

 operation of his machine, we were c'onvinced of 

 the justness of his claims to excellence, by wit- 

 nessing the ease and despatch with wl ich it per- 

 formed the busmess for which it was designed. 



Taking into consideration the already great, still 

 increasing, and wide spread interest that is mani- 

 fested in the silk business — the Importance of 

 that business — the undoubtedly good policy of 

 t-Ticouraging it, and the extensive usefulness of an 

 efijcient labor-saving machine, as an auxiliary 

 thereto, we cannot but feel, so far as the funds 

 at our disposal will allow us to, very liberally dis- 

 posed towards Mr Brooks, and cordially recom- 

 mend that there be given to him a gratuity of ten 

 dollars. 



MR brooks' statement. 



To the Incidental Commitlee of the Kennebec Coun- 

 ty Ji<rricuUural Society. 

 Agreeably to your request I make the following 

 statement respecting my domestic Silk Spmner and 

 Twister presented in opeiation for your inspection 

 _ with some remarks on the first process of man- 

 ufacturing Silk from the cocrons. 



With one of my improved Silk Spinners and 

 Twisters, such as the one presented, having three 

 spindles, a boy and a girl twelve or fourteen years 

 old can spin from 150 to 175 skeins of sewing 

 silk in ten hours from the cocoons, and finish them 

 ready for cleansing and coloring. Or they may 

 prepare nearly as much twist in the same time. 

 They can spin more in length than one seven knot 

 skein, each knot containing 80 yards in length to 

 each spindle per hour. 



One person can manage the cocoons and 

 threads while running or spinning sewiug silk 

 for six spindles, and running at the same time 

 and moved by water, steam or horse power, and 

 if the cocoons are of the best quality, evenjinore 

 than this if the threads are wanted fine for warp 

 or filling. I think that it is evident from the nature 

 of the case that the silk sjiun innnediately from 

 the cocoons into a finished thread while the gum 

 or glue upon them is thoroughly soaked, as it is 

 when it is running from the cocoons will he 

 better united in its fibre that it can be by being 

 reeled in the common way, as lias heretofore been 

 done, before It is throwsted or doubled and twist- 

 ed. 



By reeling the cocoons into what is called raw 

 silk we derange nature's perfect work ; for the 

 silk worm spins the thread perfectly even and 

 smooth, and winds it up into a perfect ball as every 

 good cocoon should be. This may be unwound 

 without waste or tangling. The very great speed 

 that may be applied to the ring spindles and trav- 

 ellers which I now make use of, and which sel- 

 dom get out of order, even with the greatest ve- 

 locity, turns the spinning from the cocoons greatly 

 in favor of its being do:ie at one operation, as it 

 is not only cheapest but best and easiest. I now 

 make silk spinning frames to contain any number 

 of spindles to go by any power, and so constructed 

 that the jierson tending the cocoons can stop any 

 two threads when necessary, while the others are 

 going, or can set them in motion again in an instant 

 without leaving the pan in which the cocoons are 

 placed. One very essential property of the ring 

 spindle is this — they maybe so adjusted as to 

 twist the finest thread is wanted for weaving, or 

 the coarsest sewing silk. 



Wth respect 



ADAM BROOKS. 

 jrinlhrop, Oct. 13, 1836. 



BEES, 



When the queen-bee is forcibly taken away from 

 the hive, the bees which are near her at the time, 

 do not soon appear sensible of her absence, and 

 the labors of the hive are carried on as usual. It 

 is seldom before the lapse of an hour, that the 

 working-bees begin to manifest any symptons of 

 uneasiness: they are then observed to quit the 

 larvae which they had been feeding, and to run 

 about in great agitation, to and fro near the cell 

 which the queen bad occupied before her abduc- 

 tion. They then move over a wider circle, and 

 on meettngwith such of their companions as are 

 not aware of the disaster, communicate the intel- 

 ligence by crossing their antennrc and striking 

 lightly with them. The bees which receive the 

 news, become in their turn agitated, and convey- 

 ing this feeling wherever they go, the alarm is soon 

 panicipated by all the inhabitants of the hive. All 

 rush forward, eagerly seeking their lost queen ; 

 but after continuing their search for some hours, 

 and finding it to be- fruitless, they appear resigned 

 to their misfortune, the noisy tumult subsides, and 

 the bees quietly resume their labors. 



A bee deprived of his antennse, immediately be- 

 comes dull and listless : it desists from its usual 

 labors, remains at the bottom of the hive seems 

 attracted only by the light, and takes the first op- 

 portunity of quitting the hive, never more to re- 

 turn A queen-bee, thus mutilated, ran about 

 without apparent object, as if in a state of delnuiin, 

 and was incapable of directing her trunk with pre- 

 cision, to the food which was offered to her. i.a- 

 treille relates that, having deprived some laboring 

 ants of their antennte, he replaced them near the 

 nest; but they wandered in all directions, as if be- 

 wildered, and unconscious of what they were do- 

 in.^.— Some of their companions were seen to no- 

 tic'e their distress, and approaching them with ap- 

 parent compassion, aj^plied their tongues to the 

 wounds of the suflTerers, an.l anointed them with 

 their saliva. This trait of sensibility was repeat- 

 edly witnessed by Latreille, while watching their 

 movements with a magnifying glass.-i>r. Begets 

 Bridsewater Treatise. 



The following incident, illustrative of the nffec- 



tioii of bees for their queen, is very graphically 

 described by Mr Bagster, in his work on the Afan- 

 agemenl of Bees, an occupation to which the author 

 seems to be enthusiastically attached. Our read- 

 ers are probably not aware that the process of tak- 

 ing the honey is not necessarily attended, as was 

 formerly the case, with the destruction of the won- 

 derful little insects, who with so much labor and 

 skill have hoarded their treasures as a provision 

 against future exigencies. A species of large 

 mushroon (Fungus maximus,) commonly known 

 by the name of " bunt," " puckfist," or " frog- 

 cheese," is humanely employed by those who wish 

 to spare the lives of their bees, whilst taking pos- 

 session of their sweets. A small piece of this 

 " puck," previously dried, and properly prepared, 

 being ignited and placed underneath a hive, oper- 

 ates by its vapor as a powerful narcotic upon the 

 bees which fall unhurt into an empty hive, placed 

 to receive them. By exposure to the fresh air, 

 these bees are soon restored to health and activity ; 

 when they set about repairing the loss which, dur- 

 ing the temporary suspension of their busy exis- 

 tence, they have sustained. Mr Bagster had been 

 taking some stocks of honey, in the way we have 

 just mentioned, when an accident happening to 

 one of his hives, the queen bee was thrown out, 

 and a sceae o( distress and considerable confusion 

 ensued. 



"I thought," says Mr Bagster, "that I might 

 put the queen into possession amongst some of the 

 comb ; hut to be certain, I gathered up every bee 

 I could find, and put the emptied hives on their 

 side against mine, so that the queen might have 

 every opportunity to get in, if not already there. 

 The profusion of split honey, the hot weather, and 

 the liees from my other hives, caused a great com- 

 motion, so that the real cause, the absence of the 

 queen, was undiscovered. The next day the same 

 hurly-burly continued ; when, fearing that my 

 queen was unseated, I took an apiarian friend to 

 form a judgment. It was his opinion that there 

 surely was a queen in my new hive, or that, if de- 

 stroyed, one soon would be made out of the brood 

 comb. I pointed to groups of bees on the grass, 

 and around the stand, siili fearing that my queen 

 was among them ; but he so positively said such 

 was not the fact, that I did not then extimine any 

 of the masses. Naturally inquisitive under such 

 circumstances, I visited my perturbed hive late iu 

 the evening, and found, while the others were 

 quiet, that this was in an uncomfortable state. All 

 the masses or companies of bees, which had been 

 licking up the dropping sweets through the day, 

 had now retired, save only a lot, about as large and 

 as round as a small cricket-hall. At dark 1 again 

 visited them — hope revived, for the mass remain- 

 ed unmoved : by the earliest peep of day I rose 

 from bed, after a sleepless night to look for my 

 beauty. 



« 1 confess myself an enthusiast ; I laid myself 

 at full length on the grass, and with my hand open- 

 ed the benumbed, but still clustering, mass : there 

 was the queen, surrounded by her faithful and 

 watchful subjects, paralyzed, and to all appear- 

 ance quite dead. I picked her up. placed her in 

 my hands, breathed upon and cherished her for a 

 considerable thne, until, I think with joy of a new 

 kind, 1 saw her move one joint of one leg; my 

 tender care was renewed until the sun had mount- 

 ed high in the heavens, and by his beams renewed 

 the perturbation of the defenceless hive ; and then, 



