537 
Proceedings of Public Societies^ 
from the reed, iti the way practised with 
fiax, and should then be beaten, scutch¬ 
ed, and hackled, in like manner, when it 
will be til for spinning. 
The article trius produced is fit for 
every use to which hemp and flax are 
applied, and is particularly calculated for 
making twine for fishing-nets, on account 
of its fibres being stronger than those of 
flax, and not so harsli as those of hemp. 
Mr. Smith, thinking tiiat the refuse 
and under-growth might be vveii applied 
to the manufacture of paper, which, 
from the late introduction of cotton into 
its composition, is become of very infe¬ 
rior quality, tried experiments with this 
view, which succeeded perfectly well; 
and several samples of paper thus pro¬ 
duced, have bee!) sent to the Society of 
Arts, The processes used in these ex¬ 
periments need not be repeated^ for, as 
Mr. Smith made them without any of 
the usual implements, there can be no 
doubt that, with tiieir assistance, a bet¬ 
ter article might be produced, in the 
manner generally known, and which is 
described in numerous publications. 
The following specimens of articles 
produced from nettles, by Mr. Smiti), 
are deposited at the Adelphi buildings. 
Samples of nettle-fibres in their rough 
state, in tlieir finest state, and spun into 
yarn, which is remarkably strong. 
Samples of coarse paper, and of fine 
paper of a good white, prepared from 
bleached fibres. 
(Samples of a siibstance resembling cot¬ 
ton, prepared from coarso bleached fibres. 
On the Man?/factU7X of Leghorn (Strazo) 
Plait fur Hats, SjC . hij iVir. William 
C oRSTON, of hud gate HiU, 
The design of this papei of Mr. Cors- 
ton’s, is ro announce to the Society of 
Arts the flourishing state of this manufac- 
tore, which at present employs many 
hundreds of women and children, in dif¬ 
ferent parts of the kingdom. 
From the gieat benefit wliich ?»Tr. 
Corston takes for granted the finding 
work for children must be to tiie king¬ 
dom, he wishes to induce government to 
grant him 3000 acres of land lying vvaste 
on Bagshot Heath, for a few years with¬ 
out any fine, and afterwards at an in¬ 
creasing rent, according to the improve¬ 
ment of the soil, on which he would raise 
in straw alone what would occasion 
20,0001. to be expended annually for tlie 
employment of poor cblldien ; in which 
way, he says, thousands of tliem miglit 
be employed from seven years old till they 
were old enough to go out as servants, 
MoMiiLY No, 22T 
For our poor rates, which amount tD 
more than 5,000,0001. annually,’'Mr, 
Corston asserts, there can be no remedy 
equal to setting poor children to work, 
and therefore trusts that every assistance 
will be given to so extraordinary a 
source of national wealth as the straw^ma- 
nufacture, in which so many thousands 
of them can be employed, 
Mr. Corston states the fallowing fact 
in confirmation of his positions. He 
put into a scale some straw plait he liad 
to sell, and found it netted upwards of 
twenty-three pounds sterling per pound 
weight. 
Mr. Corston recommends-that, to pro¬ 
duce straw proper fur the manufacture, 
rye should be sown on the most waste 
and barren lands ; and offers to take the 
produce of from 50 to 100 acres of such 
land, provided it lay convenient to his 
<’1 , 
manufactory. By these means landa 
now unproductive will be made profit¬ 
able, and the poor-rates diminished by 
the employment of sucli numbers of poor 
children : Mr. Corston states, that dsis 
manufacture affords an opportunity lor 
benevolent persons to give education to 
poor chnld.ren at a cheap rate, by build¬ 
ing cheap sciiools in villages; and assem“> 
bling poor children in tliem, who, by 
being eufployed in the stiaw manufaC'= 
ture, might eaim tlieir own breAd. 
Sash Windozes contrived so as to he Cleaur’ 
ed or Repaired tcithoid the NecessUp rf 
any Person going outside the Houses 
by Mr. G. AIarshal, of St. Mar* 
t Ms-Lane. 
Mr. Marshal’s window-sash is fitted 
with grooves, weights, and pulleys, m 
the common manner, but the fillets of the. 
sash are not made in llie same piece as 
the sash-fjame, but are fastened thereto 
by pivots about the middle of the sash on 
which it turns, so that either side riiavhe 
brought next the apartment for cleaning 
or repairing. "When the sash stands ver- 
tlcally, two spring catches shoot into and 
bold-ihe sliding fillets, in wliich state the 
sash slides up and down in tiie usual 
manner; but it can be iimnediately re¬ 
leased, and turned inside out by pushing 
the springs back, and pulling its bottom 
inwards, without removing the beads; 
wiiich, in the common w ay of shifting the 
sashes, are frequently broken or mis= 
placed, and often cause considerable 
trouble by being loose. By inclining the 
sash inwards on its pivots, and raising the 
part inside highest, the window may be 
left open in rain without any danger ol 
its smering the room, 
iF 
MONTIiLX 
