Meports from the American institute. 
27 
Ameriejin Institute Premium Reports. 
We subjoin some extracts from the manuscript re¬ 
ports of tile American Institute of this city, on the 
exhibitions of products of American art, from state¬ 
ments offered at their Annual Fair, October, 1841. 
Silk. “ It is a subject of regret that among 
the large number of silk growers who are now 
producing the raw material in considerable 
quantities, the competitors should be so few in 
number. They however, take great pleasure 
in stating that some very handsome and inter¬ 
esting specimens have been exhibited at the pre¬ 
sent fair, and indulge a hope that the number 
may be greatly increased in time to come, for 
there is no doubt but a much larger assortment 
could easily have been sent to the Fair from the 
different sections of our country where attention 
has been devoted to the producing the raw ma¬ 
terial and manufacturing it into sewings, hosie¬ 
ry, shawls, handkerchiefs, dress patterns, vest¬ 
ings, velvets, &c. &c. which your committee is 
informed is now done to considerable extent in 
the United States. The silk business seems to 
have obtained a footing here. It is satisfactorily 
ascertained that it can be conducted so as to a£ 
ford females and children, who from their situa¬ 
tion are incapable of performing hard labor, an 
easy, pleasant, and profitable employment. 
One of the specimens offered for exhibition 
has afforded great satisfaction. It was produ¬ 
ced by two ladies, who, at an actual expense of 
$100.15, have the past season produced a 
crop worth nearly $500, beside the state boun¬ 
ty, (50 cts. pr lb.) which, it is understood, is suf- 
ficienttopay all the expenses of production,besides 
the interest on the investment of $1000 for land, 
trees and cocoonery. Some other fine speci¬ 
mens were also exhibited.” 
Silk Machine. —Dr. Thomas White, of Tennessee, 
received a premium for a silk machine of which the 
committee speak as follows. 
“ It is made to execute several distinct opera¬ 
tions in the process of manufacture, at one and 
the same time, carrying forward the same from 
the cocoon to the well-formed threads fit for the 
loom or sewing purposes. 
Its construction is of the most simple form 
and made of cheap materials, and can be fur¬ 
nished at small expense to the user, tjy a class 
of mechanics found in great numbers in any 
part of the United States, and therefore conve¬ 
niently open to the acquisition of all who may 
desire it. A system of reels is made to transfer 
the silk from one stage to another, avoiding the 
trouble of spooling or throwing, as well as the 
liability to break from tanglement of threads. 
By the simultaneous action of all the several 
parts and processes, the silk reeler will have 
produced an article of thread, instead of “reeled 
raw silk,” in nearly the same time he would 
have produced the latter, had that process been 
the only one performed ; the amount of power 
to propel the whole being so small as to offer 
no objection to its use by feeble persons. 
.Regarding this branch of American enter- 
prise as one of the highest importance, your 
committee solicit for this machine the most pro¬ 
found attention, and recommend an award of the 
highest honor to be bestowed upon it, and beg 
leave to add in the present state of the art for 
which this machine is a branch, your committee 
regard that class of machines which are calcu¬ 
lated to advance the raw material in the hands 
of the growers to the nearest stage of approach 
to completion for the consumer, best calculated 
to promote the early, profitable, and general em¬ 
barkation of the people of the United States in 
the culture and manufacture of silk, and sub¬ 
mit the following reasons as the foundation of 
their opinions,” &c. &c. 
“ The Steam Excavator,” originally invented by 
Wm. S. Otis, for the purpose of excavating earth for 
canals, roads, &c., received the following high com¬ 
mendation from the intelligent committee appointed to 
report upon it. 
“ It is calculated to do the work of 150 men. 
Allowing for stoppages, &c., one minute is suf¬ 
ficient to load a car containing 11-2 cubic yards. 
This would give 900 cubic yards per day of 10 
hours. 
The interest on the cost, wear and tear, labor 
&c., is $13 50 per day, which if we call $20 
per day, gives us the labor of 150 men for less 
than 14 cents per day each. The steam engine 
by which it is moved is 14 horse power, and is 
easily managed by two men. It works well in 
clay, sand, gravel, and all soils. Being placed 
upon a car, its position is easily changed, and 
advances or recedes in the manner of a loco¬ 
motive as the case may require.” 
Here follows a more particular description which 
we have not room to subjoin. 
“Stephen Yate’s Process or making 
Cheese. In the making of cheese in the or¬ 
dinary way practised by the dairymen of Her¬ 
kimer Co., I discovered that when the milk was 
scalded, an oil would rise on the top and run off 
in the whey. I directed my dairyman not to 
scald the curd, and found I not only retained 
the aromatic oil, but also all the cream that 
would otherwise escape in the whey, and I kept 
the cheese in press for some days, (occasionally 
turning them,) until the linen wrapper was no 
longer moist. After this they were attended to 
in the usual way, except that they were rubbed 
with hog’s lard instead of whey butter. 
