Pare Salt — Substitute for Silk. 279 
own State, was, 15,983 tons, exceeding that of 1846, 566 tons, 
as will be seen by a statement from the books in the canal office. 
The quantity of cheese from out of the State, in 1847, was 4,056 
tons. The value of cheese received at tide water, the product of 
our own State, at 7 cents per pound, which is the average price 
as estimated by the canal board, will be $2,237,620. To this is 
to be added the cheese consumed in the interior of the State, as 
well as that which reaches the market from the landings on the 
North River, and the value of the cheese manufactured in the 
State probably exceeds ^8,000,000. — Rep. of Com. on Cheese 
Dairies, for the M. Y. State Ag. Society. 
PURE SALT FOR DAIRY PURPOSES. 
A mode of manufacture entirely new, and different from any 
heretofore employed, has been adopted in the steam mill of Mr. 
B. Ransom, of Brooklyn, for grinding rock salt and preparing 
it for the table and the dairy. In this manner, a perfectly pure 
article is obtained, free from admixture with all foreign matter, 
and there can be no doubt that whenever it shall come into gene- 
ral use, our markets will no longer be clogged with that most 
unhealthful of all things taken into the human system — rancid 
butter, especially when impure salt is the cause. It has a most 
beautiful appearance, and in flavor is most suitable for the table, 
and those who have been so fortunate as to obtain it once, will, 
as a matter of economy and comfort, be sure to procure a constant 
supply of this useful and necessary article. — Far. and Mec. 
A NEW DISCOVERY— SUBSTITUTE FOR SILK. 
We learn from recent intelligence from Europe, that a new 
production, which had excited much interest, had been discovered 
on the continent, which is described as exceedingly valuable. 
The account states that the owner of some spinning mills in Ber- 
lin, has lately brought into the market a new species of flaxen 
thread, which is extremely long and silky, and spun and dyed with 
extraordinary facility. This preliuiinary material, which pos- 
sesses, even in a superior degree, all the qualities of silk, is likely 
to compete with it from its simple and rapid fabrication, and from 
its price being very low as compared to that of silk. The appear- 
ance of this new article of commerce has caused a general sensa- 
tion among the dealers at the fair of Leipsic, and an Englishman 
has offered the inventor ^£20,000 for his secret, but this was re- 
fused, as the owner intends to reserve to himself the benefits of 
his discovery. — Far. and Mec. 
