506 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[December, 
cause it catches hold of the fine sand, which is fed 
along with water upon the saws, and causes the 
sharp edges of the small particles, of which the 
sand consists, to scratch or cut the hard whetstone. 
Fig. 3.— A WHETSTONE MILL. 
It is very difficult to find blocks of the stone larger 
than 6 inches that are free from seams of quartz, 
which spoil them for use ; the large stones are 
therefore much dearer than small oneSj and cost as 
high as $3 or more a pound ; the smaller ones costing 
from $1 a pound, up to $3.50 for the very small 
ones, which are laborious to make. The saws con¬ 
sist of a frame of timber, in which are stretched 
strips of iron, j- of an inch thick, and 3 or 4 inches 
wide, at such distances apart, as will cut up the 
stones into the sizes desired. The frame, (fig 3) 
is hung up by each of the four corners, so that it 
can be raised or lowered, and is moved back and 
forth 80 times a minute, making strokes 16 or 18 
inches in length, by a pitman attached to a crank, 
which is set in mo¬ 
tion by a water wheel, 
or a steam engine. 
Many of the small 
mills which work up 
Fig. 4.— PENKNITE PIECE. 
the stone, are placed in picturesque valleys, on the 
banks of rapid rocky streams, near the quarries. 
At figure 3 is a picture of one of these mills, of 
which the writer made a sketch some years ago, 
when visiting a whetstone quarry. The stone is 
cut into a great variety of shapes, and the uses to 
which these stones are put, are scarcely known by 
persons outside of the different industries in which 
they are required. At figure 4 is shown the very 
well known penknife piece, and at figure 5 the 
carpenter’s oil-stone. At figure 6 is the wheel used 
in dentist’s and jeweler’s lathes, and also for sewing 
machine needles ; at figure 7 is the round-edged 
slip, figure 8 is the file slip, figure 9 the knife blade, 
figure 10 the bevel edge flat file, figure 11 the dia¬ 
mond shape file slip, figure 12 is the dentist’s point, 
and figure 13 the triangular slip. There are a great 
Fig. 5.— carpenter’s oil-stone. 
number of other peculiar shapes made for special 
purposes, and they are all in requisition in armories, 
sewing machine factories, and machine shops of 
every kind. Watch makers, jewelers, and dentists 
use the most curious and rarest shapes in making 
the delicate machines needed for their operations, 
and which they usually make for themselves. 
In cutting the blocks, which are very irregular iu 
size, these are cemented together with Plaster of 
Paris into a solid mass, and placed upon a table 
under the saw. The top of this mass is covered 
with sand and smoothed off. The sand used 
is a peculiar kind, found only on the beach at 
Northport, Long Island, and valued on account 
of its peculiar sharpness and hardness. When 
the saw is started, 
water is made 
to trickle down 
on to the bed of 
stone, so as to wash 
the sand down 
under the saw. The 
stone is first cut 
into slabs 2 inch¬ 
es thick. These 
are then arranged 
on the bed, and ce¬ 
mented as before, 
and cut into 8-inch 
lengths, which 
are afterward 
sawn into pieces li 
inch thick, which 
makes the staple 
size, all others are 
cut from the mis¬ 
shapen bits, which 
come from the 
sides of the blocks. 
After having been 
cut, the stones 
are smoothed on 
a rubbing wheel, 
(fig. 14). This is a 
large, wooden, horizontal wheel, covered with 
plates of cast iron. The iron plates are sprinkled 
with water and sand, and, as it rotates about once 
in asecond, the stones are ground upon it to a fine 
smooth face or edge ; the fine 
stones, such as the dentist’s 
point, the jeweler’s knife edge 
and others, require great skill 
in the grinding. After rub¬ 
bing, the stones are washed, 
and dried in a hot room, and 
are then ready for sale or use. 
Fi<r (p_ the wheel ^ selecting a stone, a hard one 
is best for fine tools of hard 
steel; carpenter’s tools require a softer stone of a 
fine grain ; a soft stone cuts faster than a hard one. 
Hard spots, which are an injury to a stone,may be dis¬ 
covered by discolored patches of veins; a milk white, 
even colored, and clear stone, is to be preferred. 
Improvement in the Sheep Interest. 
One of the first important industries of the coun¬ 
try to feel the influence of the general improvement 
is sheep breeding. A very marked change has oc¬ 
curred since 
last spring. 
There has not 
been a time 
Fig. 7. round edged slip. since thc un _ 
natural excitement of twenty years ago, in which 
there has been a more active demand for rams 
for the improvement of flocks. Breeders in Ver¬ 
mont and New York, who make a special busi¬ 
ness of supplying this demand, have nearly ex¬ 
hausted their stock, and hundreds of fine animals 
have been sent to all parts of the West to sheep- 
raisers there. Other breeds of sheep are in similar 
demand, and the Eastern shepherds are buying up 
South-down, Hampshire-down, and Cotswold rams, 
for the production of lambs for market. There is no 
other industry that more deserves to flourish than 
this. Under favoring circumstances a well cared for 
flock offers a greater income from the amount in¬ 
vested, and a richer reward for labor, than any 
other interest iu live stock. At the outset of this 
improvement it is encouraging to notice that the 
tendency is towards a higher breeding, and a more 
productive sort than the common native sheep. 
8 .—THE FILE SLIP. 
Every sheep owner should consider well, what an 
important matter it is to him to increase his income 
from 50, a 100, or a 1,000 sheep, by improving the 
standard of his flock, rather than to enlarge it mere¬ 
ly by addition of numbers. A doubled weight of 
fleece costs no more than the original weight, ex¬ 
cept that perhaps a little extra feed may be re¬ 
quired to restore the draft upon the vitality of an 
animal which yields 16 to 24 lbs. of wool and yolk; 
but the housing, attention in feeding, shearing, and 
other incidental expenses, cost no more for a high 
grade Merino than for a half-bred Mexican-Merino. 
The larger western sheep owners are acting upon 
this principle, and are adding the best rams to their 
Fig. 9.—THE KNIFE BLADE. 
Fig. 10.— BEVELED FLAT FILE. 
flocks by the car-load at a time. Eastern flock 
owners, who keep the larger breeds, should take a 
hint from the enterprise of the western men. While 
the demand for the clothing wool, coming from 
the western plains, will undoubtedly increase steadi¬ 
ly, it is equally true that combing and worsted 
wools will keep pace on the market with those, for 
the latter are a staple raw material which enters 
very extensively into those manufactures which are 
ready to come into active demand on the very first 
impulse from renewed business. The business in 
Fig. 11.— THE DIAMOND SLIP. 
Fig. 12.— dentist’s point. 
Fig. 13.— THE TRIANGULAR SLIPS. 
this class of poods has suffered perhaps more than 
almost any other from the forced economies of 
consumers, but it must be evident that a forced 
economy—necessitating as it must a complete using 
up of clothes and goods in stock—will be followed 
by a demand all the more active, from the worn-out 
condition of clothing and the low stocks in dealers 
hands. A large increase in the production of wool 
can not be made so easily or so quickly as an in¬ 
crease in the cotton, corn, or tobacco crop, but 
when the business does revive, the revival is usual¬ 
ly more or less permanent. Besides, there is an 
outlet for mutton abroad, and a large consumption 
to be encouraged at home, and by and by farmers 
themselves will learn to look upon “a lamb from 
the flock ” as a choice morsel, equally with the 
Fig. 14.— THE RUBBING WHEEL. 
pastoral patriarchs of the ancient time. So that fo-r 
the large breeds common in the eastern portion of 
the country, there is as hopeful a future as for the 
fine wool breeds ; and it is very certain that these 
breeds pay even better for improvement by pure 
blood than the fine wools, for there are the two 
dividends-*-the lamb and the fleece—and the capi¬ 
tal stock—the carcass—is returned, in many cases,, 
with an agreeable bonus besides to the breeder. 
