HEMP by E. Fairbanks cont.
[Letter from Henry Clay cont]
One ton was manufactured into rigging for the North-Carolina 74, prior
to her late voyage to the Mediterranean. Upon her return her rigging
looked well in its external appearance, but on subjecting it to an
analysis, it was discovered that the interior part of the cordage was in
a state of decay, resembling the rot in the wood. I considered that
experiment as decisive against the use of the article when not submitted
to the action of water, as that had not been; but I cannot perceive any
reason why the hemp should not be as good when it is rotted after
separating the lint from the stalk, as if both were rotted together.
The new method therefore which is practised in your neighborhood must
answer all the purposes of the old, whilst it has the strong
recommendation, of essentially diminishing labor. Mr. Smider has
prepared hemp in the same way, but I am not informed as to the degree of
success he has had. Upon my return to Kentucky in the spring, I mean to
make the preparation of hemp an object of particular enquiry and
attention; and if I should obtain any information worth communicating to
you, I will take pleasure in transmitting it in compliance with your
request. I should be glad to be made acquainted with the price of the
machine constructed under the patent of Messrs. Hines & Bain, and what I
could get one delivered at upon my farm near Lexington, to be paid for
on the delivery, & after it was ascertained upon experiment that it
would answer its intended purpose. I am with great respect, your ob't
serv't.
ADONIJAH EMMONS, ESQ. H.CLAY.
-------------------------------------
[FROM THE AMERICAN FARMER]
Cultivation and Preparation of Hemp as practiced in Kentucky.
The most fertile of our lands are selected for the production of
hemp, and that which has been used as meadow or pasture for a long time,
is preferred to any other, experience having proved that it is best
adapted to the purpose. This (if practicable) is ploughed late in the
autumn, and exposed, untrodden by stock, to the frosts of winter;
ploughed again immediately preceding the sowing of the seed. Great care
is taken to harrow the ground until the clods are completely broken, and
to give it as even a surface as can be produced by the use of the common
harrow.
The seed is sown from the 20th of April to the middle of May, (after
spring is over,) at the rate of from a bushel and a fourth to a bushel
and a half per acre, and twice harrowed. The crop then requires no
further attention until it is cut. Its fitness for the knife must be
determined by the appearance of the hemp, and not by the length of the
time it has been growing, or the season of the year. The indications of
a fitness for cutting are a change in the colour of the leaf from a deep
green to a yellow, and the rising, upon the least agitation, of
vegetable dust from the hemp. The ripening of the crop is generally
partial and unequal in different parts of the same field, and regard
ought to be paid to that circumstance in cutting it, taking such
portions of it first as give the strongest indications of ripeness. It
is not necessary or proper to wait for decided change of color in all
the leaves, before the harvest commences; on the contrary, it is more
advantageous to commence when the change is only partial, and as soon as
the dust spoken of begins to rise, or is produced by agitating the hemp
with a stick or the hand. In Kentucky, the practice of cutting hemp has
in a great measure superseded the old practice of pulling it by the
roots, and is found to be generally preferable, being less laborious,
and rendering the hemp better and easier to handle. The operation is
performed with a knife, (commonly called a hemp hook,) made somewhat in
the shape of a sickle, but heavier and not so long, and having a smooth
and sharp edge. As the hemp is cut, it is spread upon the ground from
which it is taken, and permitted to remain there until the leaves are
well wilted, and will easily separate from the stalks. It is then
gathered into sheaves, but not bound, and the leaves beaten off with a
stick, and immediately immersed, if water rotting is intended; if not it
is set up in stacks of from three to five feet in diameter at the ground
and tied closely together at the tops so as to prevent it from falling;
the middle of the stack is left hollow to give it air near the earth.
It is then suffered to stand until perfectly dry, when it is separated
and bound into small sheaves, and put into stacks or ricks, and secured
by a covering of boards or straw, to secure it from getting wet in the
interior of the stack. It can, however, be so stacked as to be secured
from water without any other covering than a thatch of hemp, but some
skill to be acquired only by practice is necessary to do it well.
It remains in the stack until the season for rotting arrives; it is
then taken down and spread out (on grass if to be had,) as equally as
possible, and exposed to the weather until it is found to be ready for
the brake. (Our western autumns and winters are attended with so little
snow as to give us a choice of time from September until February for
rotting.) Care must be taken to take the hemp up as soon as it is fit
for the brake, or a loss will be sustained. (If, however, it should be
found at any time to be injured by too long exposure, it is not thrown
away, but again stacked, and brought to the brake the succeeding year,
when it will be found to have regained its strength, if not absolutely
rotted before it was taken up.)
When ready for the brake, we take it from the ground and stack it in
small stacks, as in the first instance after cutting, and then proceed
to break it, on brakes made on the plan of a common flax brake, but much
larger, say from five to six feet in length, having the slats much
deeper and wider apart, and wider in proportion at the head of the brake
than the flax brake. With such a brake, a good laborer will break
100lbs. in a day in February, and some will break double that quantity.
The seed is raised by planting in hills like Indian corn, planting four
or five seeds and pulling all out but the most thrifty plant. A single
acre of rich land has been known to produce 60 bushels of seed. We are
very little in the habit of water rotting our hemp, but what has been
thus prepared is found to be equal to the best Russian hemp; from three
to five days, in a very warm season, is found to be sufficient for this
process, if the water be stagnant; longer if running.
An opinion prevails where the cultivation of hemp is not common,
that it is a very exhausting crop. The fact however, is otherwise, and
we cultivate three sucessive crops on the same land with less exhaustion
than is occasioned by either the corn or wheat crop; and no crop leaves
the ground so light as to entirely destroy the production of weeds.
A KENTUCKIAN.
--------------------------------------
METHOD OF HARVESTING FOR THE SEED AND LINT.
The following letter on the subject of harvesting hemp, for seed or
lint, is well entitled to the particular attention of hemp growers in
this section, -- where but little practical knowledge exists as to this
important article. The value of Mr. Hines' remarks will be obvious to
every experienced farmer, and when he perceives the ease with which hemp
is cultivated and looks to the extensive home market secured to it by
the tariff, he can no longer hesitate as to the policy of turning his
attention to the production of an article for which there must always be
a high demand.
"There is no invariable rule as to the time of cutting hemp planted
for seed, by the general complexion of either the male or female; but
particular care must be had to the colour of the seed, when the hull
that encloses it is taken off. The seed should be generally changed to
a grey or brownish cast. If two-thirds of the seed wear that
appearance, the sooner you cut the better. It should be bound in small
bundles immediately after cutting, and set up in small stacks, -- from
four to six bundles in a stack -- binding in all the branches, by
putting three bands round the same near the top of the shocks or stacks.
It may stand in this situation until dry enough to thresh, -- say five
or ten days, as the weather may be for drying.
"The seed may be threshed in the field on sheets made of strong
cloth, or on a floor. Great care should be used in moving the hemp to
the place of threshing. If threshed in the field, it should be moved on
a cloth attached to two poles, to save the loose seed. If removed to a
barn, it should be done on a cart or wagon, with a cloth or tight box.
"We clean with a common fanning mill, taking care to give the proper
speed, and to gauge every part to suit the weight of the seed.
"After the seed is cleaned and put into bins or casks, it will be
well to shovel it over, to prevent it from heating. I am quite sure that
seed kept from heating and from wet will be good as long as three
;years, if kept cool in the summer.
"If your hemp is sown broadcast, and you design to save the seed,
cut it when about half the seeds have begun to change their colour, and
proceed as above directed -- only you will thresh it in four fair days,
without breaking the bundles, and put the hemp under cover to completely
cure, -- and when thoroughly cured, you may thresh again, breaking the
bands as other grain.
"Mr. Lewis Buffett, of Schaghticoke, the last year, sowed five
bushels of seed on two and a half acres of land. -- He cut his hemp with
a cradle, and practised as here directed. He saved sixty-six bushels of
seed, of a good quality; and his share of the hemp sold for seventy-two
dollars, after paying for the dressing in hemp. -- Total value of the
lint, one hundred and eight dollars. Such hemp, when broken in an
unrotted state, and subjected to a water process after breaking, and
properly cleaned, will equal the best Russian hemp.
"We use the common corn cutter for cutting planted hemp; but use it
carefully, so as not to jar off the seed.
"In all cases where you wish to save the lint, you will be careful
to put the stem under cover as soon as you can, to prevent it from being
stained by the weather.
I am, in great haste, your obd't serv't.
JOSEPH HINES."
Stillwater, N.Y. Aug.21, 1828.
-----------------------------------
[From the Sandy-Hill Herald.]
CULTURE OF HEMP.
Hemp designed for the seed, to produce the best crops should be
planted in drills, three feet apart, so as to give an opportunity of
running a plough or corn cultivator between the rows.
The plants should stand about eight inches apart. It is in ordinary
seasons, considered the best time to plant between the 15th of May and
the middle of June. The hemp should be kept free from grass or weeds,
in the same manner as corn; although it will not require as much hoeing,
unless the ground should be very foul. Hemp when sown broadcast for the
lint, directly rises above the weeds and so shades and covers the ground
as to prevent the growth of any thing else.
As to the time of harvesting the hemp planted for the seed no
precise rule can be given, it must depend much upon the judgment. The
seed comes to maturity very unequally -- so that you will find the seed
ripe on the lower branches and the lower part of each branch when the
top may be in the blow. it should be cut at that time which will secure
the greatest quantity of ripe seed. As a general rule, however, it
should not stand so long to ripen the latest, that the earliest will
begin to fall -- fir if it be suffered to stand until all or the
greatest portion of the seed is ripened, or tuned a dark brown, you will
lose more in gathering, than is lost by the light and imperfect seed
when cut earlier. It should be carefully cut with a sickle or hemp hook
made for the purpose, great care should be taken not to shell the seed
in cutting and securing it.
It will well pay for the additional labor to give it a light
threshing when it is first cut and before it is bound -- for this
purpose a canvass of about three or four yards square should be taken
into the field and the hemp within a convenient distance, as it is cut,
should be carried to it, and lightly beat with a wythe or small pole, so
as to dislodge all the loose seed, which would be exposed to shell and
waste in handling or moving. it may then be bound in small bundles of 8
or 9 inches in diameter and set up in stooks to dry. At this time it
would be advisable to move the hemp, where it was designed to thresh and
secure it, as it could then be done with less waste than after it had
become dried -- when it has stood in the stook a sufficient time to cure
and perfect the unripened seed, it should again be threshed or beat out
either on the canvass as before or on a bed upon the ground (as buck
wheat is threshed) or it may be threshed on the barn floor, but as it is
a very soft seed it is exposed to much injury upon the floor.
It will be found very little labor to thresh out the seed, and the
greatest care is necessary to prevent it from shelling and waste, in
cutting and securing it -- hence the plan of double threshing is thought
on the whole to be the most economical. A wythe or small pole is the
best instrument to beat out the see, -- The seed should not be put
together in large quantities, but requires to be spread and exposed to
the air until it is thoroughly dried else it will heat and spoil.
Hemp sown broad cast and designed for the lint, if the object be to
secure the best crop without regard to the seed, should be cut about the
time the seed begins to ripen, most of it is then in the blow: to look
through a field of hemp at this time, in the sun shine, the stalk
exhibits a transparent appearance; by cutting at this time, the male
hemp is preserved in a perfect state, and becomes injured if suffered to
stand until the seed is ripened. But as long as seed shall be valuable
as it has been heretofore, the crop is considered the most profitable to
cut it when about one half of the seed becomes ripened, in this way you
will save a considerable portion of the male hemp (which bears no seed.)
And the lint of the female hemp, nearly in perfection, and secure from
8 to 10 bushels of seed to the acre. Hemp sown for the lint should be
cut with a strong cradle made for the purpose.
Some of the hemp growers in Dutches County use an instrument they
call a hemp hook, with which they cut it rather closer to the ground,
unless the land be very smooth, than they can with the cradle, but with
much less expedition.
After cradling it should be exposed to one days sun in the swath and
then bound in small bundles and put together in stooks of about 10 or 12
bundles well secured at the top with bands, and suffered to remain so
long only, as will be sufficient to cure and dry the hemp and perfect
the seed, when it should be threshed and secured from exposure to the
weather, which soon blackens the coat and injures its value in the
market.
--------------------------------------
WATER ROTTING. -- Extract of a letter from Mr. Naman
Goodsell to Mr. Samuel Swartwout, April 1823, taken
from the American Farmer. vol. 5.
"I am prepared to show that water rotting, in all cases where it can
be done, is, most unquestionably, to be preferred. 1st. It is more
durable for all the purposes to which it is applied -- a fact perfectly
well known to those who manufacture sack and cordage. 2dly, it is more
easily bleached; and 3dly, it will yield a greater quantity of fibre
from a given quantity of the plant. My own experiments with respect to
the superior durability of water prepared flax, were very satisfactory.
I placed on the ground a quantity of flax that had been sufficiently
water rotted for dressing, by the side of an equal quantity of unrotted
flax, and turned them once in three days, until the new flax was
sufficiently rotted for dressing, also; and upon examination, I found
that which had been previously water rotted, had lost none of its
strength, and that it had not altered in any respect, except in its
color, which was a little brighter than when laid out; both parcels were
now suffered to remain upon the ground, until the dew-rotted became
worthless, when the water rotted was found to be still strong and good.
"I repeated these experiments with dressed flax, and with the plant,
and found the result the same. This, in my mind, fully established the
very important fact, that water rotted flax or hemp is infinitely
superior to that which is dew-rotted.
"I made an attempt next to ascertain the proportionate loss in
weight, in each process of rotting, and found them both nearly equal,
viz; about twenty-five per cent; but I found, at the same time, that the
produce of this equal quantity of plant differed materially in weight.
When it came to be dressed, the dew or land rotted averaged from 12 to
16 pounds of fibre only, whilst the water prepared gave from 16 to 25
per cent. The difference in weight, I consider to be quite sufficient
to defray the extra expense of water rotting, whilst the value of the
article would be enhanced one third more. My strong desire to
investigate this subject fully induced me to make other trials, by
boiling and steaming, in order to avoid the rotting process altogether,
but I did not succeed in any of them sufficiently to warrant their
recommendation to the public. On the contrary, I became convinced that
neither would answer.
------------------------------------
[FROM THE ST. ALBANS REPERTORY FEB. 26.]
We have just had a conversation with an intelligent farmer from
Washington county, N. Y. upon the subject of growing Hemp. He says that
he sowed upon wet, marshy land,nine acres to hemp; but owing to the
extreme wetness of the season, but five acres of it was considered worth
preserving. He sold the lint or stalk of the five acres, in the stack,
for $160, and saved 75 bushels of seed, for which he has refused $300.
He further says, that the labor bestowed upon the land was but a trifle
more than would have been required for Indian corn. He intends sowing
twenty acres the next season.
By the following extract of a letter from an intelligent farmer of
Springfield Mass. to a gentleman in Washington County, N. Y. on the
subject of the culture, cleaning and price of hemp, it will be seen by
this branch of agriculture has already become systematized in that
section of the country:
"As to the present price of Hemp, I can only say, that the
Connecticut Company, who own and carry on one of Hines & Bain's machines
for cleaning hemp and flax, at Long-Meadow, pay us at the rate of twelve
dollars per ton for the stem from the field, when thoroughly dried.
They hire it stem-rotted at about three dollars per ton. As to the
labor and cost of growing a crop, it may be reckoned at something like
that of a crop of oats or spring wheat. Our lands produce from two to
four tons of stem per acre; thus affording us not only a living but
liberal profit. The seed saved from the lint will pay all expenses of
tilling the land, harvesting and transporting the crop -- say if within
ten or fifteen miles of the machine. Seed is now high, but the present
price cannot be relied on, as the country will be supplied. -- Hemp
seed, however, is worth as much for OIL as flax seed."
--------------------------------------
HEMP AND FLAX MACHINE.
The Machine for breaking Hemp and Flax, either rotted or unrotted,
invented by Joseph Hines, and William Bain, (the right of using which,
is secured to them by patent,) may be seen at Stillwater Village,
Saratoga county, New-York, where it has been in successful operation
since the last season. This laborsaving machine surpasses any yet
offered to the public for the purpose intended, not only in America, but
it is believed throughout the world. It is so constructed as to operate
one hundred and twelve times on every inch of the stem; and when running
at full speed, rising of two hundred thousand flutes operate on hemp or
flax per minute, in sufficient force to crack and dislodge the stem, and
at the same time preserve unimpared the coat or fibre. When well tended
the Machine will break three hundred weight of hemp or flax in an hour.
The Machine in this village is driven by steam power; and the shives
which are made in breaking hemp serve as fuel both for the engine and
drying-house, in all cases producing an excess of at least one half for
other uses; thus saving an expense to the proprietors of two cords of
wood per day. Experience has proved that the shives may be used as fuel
in distilling and for other steam power to equal advantage. This
machine may be worked either by steam or water power, as may best suit
the convenience of those interested.
Those who wish occular demonstration of the correctness of this
statement, are desired to call and examine for themselves. All persons
are forbid using this Machine without license from the patentees. The
subscriber offers for sale the right to use the machine in any territory
of the United States, not before sold on reasonable terms.
Communications in writing, post-paid, will be promptly attended to.*
JOSEPH HINES.
Stillwater Village, July 12th, 1828.
* E. & T. FAIRBANKS of St. Johnsbury, and Col. ELLIS COBB of Barton are
appointed agents for vending the right to use this machine in the
Counties of Orange, Washington, Caledonia and Essex in Vermont.
Since it has been ascertained by experiment that Hemp and flax can
be divested of its glutenous or vegetable substance, after breaking with
less expense and greater safety than before, by the simple use of water
-- the above machine is increased in value, to the public and those
engaged in the culture and manufacture of hemp or flax -- inasmuch as
these important articles of American growth and consumption, can now be
manufactured at home of as good a quality, and at a much less expense
than in any other country. The undersigned have fully tested this newly
discovered and highly improved mode of rotting and cleaning hemp and
flax; and with confidence recommend its adoption to the public. Three
days immersion in still or running water is sufficient to cleanse the
fibre of its vegetable substance. After which it will only require to
be dried in the sun, or the drying house; and again run through the
machine, to render it ductile and fit for use. Any information
respecting this process, or the use of the Machine, as well as the
culture or manufacture of hemp or flax, will be readily imparted on
application to the subscribers, or either of them.
JOSEPH HINES,
JAS. W. STRANAHAN,
S. P. HINES.
Stillwater Village, July 12th, 1828.
---------------------------------
The following certificates from Messrs. Cookes of Ohio will be read
with interest, as they are gentlemen of extensive acquaintance, highly
respected for their intelligence and practical knowledge in agriculture,
particularly in culture and manufacture of hemp. One of them has been a
member of the Legislature of that state, and the other is, and has long
bee, Post-Master of the village in which he resides, and extensively
engaged in mercantile and agricultural pursuits:--
"We hereby certify that in the autumn of 1824, we established in
Huron County Ohio, one of Mr. Hines' Machines, (called Hines and Bain's
Machine for breaking flax and hemp,) and that since that period we have
kept the same in constant and profitable operation.
There have been several machines, made in that country, embracing in
part the same principle, but varying in their construction from that of
Mr. Hines, in order to evade his patent; all of which have proved
unprofitable to the owners, and highly injurious to the general
character of hemp prepared by machinery. -- We have observed these
failures and attempts at evasion with regret; and having thoroughly
tested, by long experience and observation, the decided superiority and
preeminent practical utility of Mr. Hines' Machine, compared with
others, we are fully satisfied, that it is altogether the most perfect
Machine for the purpose now in operation. And we are equally well
satisfied, from much observation and reflection upon the principles of
its operation, and the nature of the plan upon which it is designed, to
operate that no other machine different from his is principle can ever
be invented, to supersede it.
An experience of four years has confirmed us in the opinion we had
long entertained, that there is no branch of agriculture that will
afford as great a profit, or contribute so vastly to advance the wealth
and prosperity of the country, as that of the culture of hemp, aided by
said Machine, and that without such aid the great labor and expense of
preparing it for market, would continue, (as heretofore) to discourage
its cultivation. We are therefore, clearly convinced that the invention
and introduction of this Machine by Mr. Hines, in a national point of
view, will ultimately confer the most lasting and important benefits
upon his country, and, at no distant day be looked upon as constituting
the brightest Era in the history of American Agriculture. So far as we
are individually concerned, Mr. Hines has our most sincere thanks for
the very great benefits we have received through his improvement, and
whatever may be the pecuniary rewards of his enterprise, they can never
equal the fame which awaits him at the hands of his country."
E. & E. COOKE.
Four Corners, Huron Co. Ohio, June 20, 1828.
STILLWATER, August 7th, 1828.
P.S. I have this day seen and examined Mr. Hines' Machine, now in
operation, by steam power, at Stillwater, Saratoga Co. New York. The
only fuel used, is the shives it makes in breaking the hemp, only one
half of which is required to keep it in constant operation. It performs
its work with great facility, and in my opinion, the heat after creating
the steam, by passing through a flue nearly horizontal, will be fully
sufficient for a dry-house. I have also seen samples of hemp that were
broken in an unrotted state, and afterwards, water-rotted, which I thing
to be fully equal if not superior in quality to the best of Russian
Hemp. E. COOKE.
-------------------------------------
The following is an extract of a letter from Joel Buttles, Esq.
Post-Master of Columbus, (Ohio) dated July 24, 1828, to Joseph Hines the
patentee on the subject of his machine for dressing hemp and flax: --
"Thomas Carpenter's Machines turn out about as you predicted they
would -- they do but little, and that but poorly, There are other
machines introduced into the northern part of this state, none of which
do well. I sold one of your machines last week, to put up on Huron
River, instead of one which had been in use for some time (the kind I do
not now recollect.) The purchaser said his would clean hemp and flax --
still he is willing, it would seem, to throw it by, and purchase yours
with the right to use it, and be at the expense of transporting it one
hundred and twenty miles by land. There have been a great many machines
tried here, but none of them answer the expectation, or recommendation,
nor does any one of them clean near as well, or as fast as yours."
----------------------------------------
[FROM THE SANDY HILL SUN.]
The following is an extract of a letter from Joseph Hines, Esq. the
patentee of the only Hemp machine in successful operation in the United
States, to the Editor, under date of 20th August.--
"Samples of Duck, manufactured from Hemp rotted in our newly
discovered mode, may be see here next week. The principal of the
factory informs us that our hemp works finely, and it will make duck of
a better quality than the best of flax. This too is hemp you must know
that stood for the seed to get ripe. We have commenced making
Bale-Rope."
---------------------------------------
[From Niles' Register]
IMPORTANT INVENTION.
The Editors of the New York Statesman have recently seen in
operation in that city a most ingenious and valuable machine for
spinning flax and hemp, invented by Dr. Bell and Mr. Dyer, two
intelligent and highly respectable gentlemen from New England. The
following is a description of this machine, as far as the editors have
been permitted to speak of it.
"It is constructed on an entirely new principle, having no analogy
to the process for the cotton, woolen, worsted, or other manufacture.
The quality of yarn produced is pronounced by competent judges, to
surpass other linen upon the present improved machinery, are superior to
those wrought by hand. The size of the thread can be varied to any
extent, from that of cambric to that of the rope yarns used in the
manufacture of cordage. In the degree of velocity its operation is
limited only by the quickness which the spindle's fliers are capable of
supporting.
The instrument now in operation produces about the same quantity of
thread pr. spindle, fineness being equal as the throstle spindle in
cotton manufacture. The whole formation of the thread from dressed flax
is complete at one operation. The material laid on the machine is wound
upon the spools ready for the loom, without the intervention of any
assistance; the whole being effected by the rotary motion communicated
from drums. Indeed all the motions of the instrument are of a circular
kind."
In relation to its advantages the editors remark: "So far as our
observation of knowledge extends, this invention is entirely original,
and nothing of the kind exists in the work-shops of the United States or
Europe, where fabrics from flax are entirely wrought by hand. The
manufacturers of linen will now be placed upon the same ground and enjoy
the same facilities as cottons. It has been estimated that upon
moderate calculations two millions of dollars may be saved annually to
this country by the reduced expenses of linen fabricks, effected by this
invention. If it be not introduced abroad, and foreign prices thus
diminished, the products of our own looms will supply our markets and
prevent importation from maintaining competition. -- Such is our
impression of the importance of this machine."
-------------------------------------
[From the Vergennes Aurora]
MANUFACTURE OF HEMP.
The Spinning Machine erected here under the direction of an
ingenious English artist, opens a fair prospect for a home market of
hemp and flax, for the protection of American industry, by the exclusion
of European linen fabrics. This curious piece of mechanism is so
constructed that by first separating the flax into small parcels it is
then drawn out with a slack twist and fitted upon spools which are
removed and placed ready to receive a compressure from several pairs of
rollers, which is at last received upon the flyers and is formed to that
size and twist the manufacturer chooses. The frame is constructed with
thirty-two spindles, that require the attention of one girl to tend
three frames, and one person will rope upon the machine as much as three
persons will want to run through the day. Yarn enough to make fifty
yards of four quartered cloth can be spun in one frame in day, and this
is all done by the labor of one girl, from the flax. -- Much prosperity
may be anticipated from manufacturing of linen.
-------------------------------------
The following letter from Gen. Barnum to the compiler, dated 3d of
August 1829 will correct any erroneous reports which may exist as to the
present state of the hemp business in the vicinity of Vergennes.
"DEAR SIR -- I have received yours of the 29th ult. and in reply
have to inform you that the Hemp Machine erected at this place last
season (after the Model of Hines' patent) was kept in operation until
June, and finished breaking most of the hemp raised in this region of
country, excepting a few small lots, which will be brought in this fall.
The performance of this machine has in every respect equalled the
expectation of the proprietors.
"Several experiments have been made in this neighborhood to build
machines less expensive, which it was hoped might perform equally well;
and I am sorry to add, that the projectors and builders have been
disappointed in their expectations. The proprietors of two of these
Machines reserved a quantity of Hemp for the purpose of dressing in
theirs. They have both tried the experiment, and have since applied to
the agent of this machine to have their hemp thus reserved, broken out
as early as the machine commences operation for the fall business, which
will be in the early part of September.
I look for no improvement in the principles of the machine -- Its
performance is satisfactory on rotted hemp or flax, and none other ought
to be taken to any machine. A scotching machine, or dresser may be
justly considered a useful appendage. It can be built with trifling
expense, and is necessary to disengage the shives from the coat and
prepare it in first rate condition for market.
In consequence of the unfortunate error into which all our hemp
growers were led in this country last season, to wit: the belief that
the process of water rotting hemp was unnecessary, many of our farmers
have been deterred from making a further attempt this season. Others
who attributed the partial failure to the proper cause, have doubled
their diligence, and will, I have no doubt, be abundantly remunerated.
I consider it decidedly the most profitable crop our country produces,
on lands well adapted to its growth.
It is true that yankee enterprize and perseverance has overdone
almost every thing in which they have been spiritedly engaged. With
this article however, I believe for the next five or six years at least,
the increased home consumption, the foreign demand, and the falling off
of importations will afford abundant scope for the full exercise of all
their energies.
Your obedient and very humble servant.
A. W. BARNUM.
-------------------------------------
The following is a copy of a letter from Horace Wheeler Esq. agent
and proprietor of the Vergennes Machine to A. Emmons Esq. another of the
proprietors, dated April 22, 1829.
DEAR SIR, Agreeable to your request I forward you the cost of our
machine -- the quantity of Hemp dressed per day, the expense of tending
it &c.
Cost of Machine - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - $1500
Deduct for Tools, shop to build in &c.- - - - 300
----
1200
Cost of buildings - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1000
----
$2200*
*Gen. Barnum in his estimate has taken into the account the right
of running the machine.
Our machine works well, and has in some instances dressed one and a
half Tons of lint per day --say between sun and sun. Much depends on
the quality of the stem -- middling sized stem, produces most hemp and
is easiest broken. I have run the machine when it did not dress more
than half a Ton a day; but I consider a fair average per day -- say
month in and month out, from 12 to 15 hundred weight.
The number of hands employed in and about the machine is seven and
distributed thus: Three men at the head of the machine; one boy to take
hemp off the apron; one man to prepare it for baling; one man to tend
drying house, and one boy to run on errands &c. I have found this
number of hands to be necessary in order to work the machine to
advantage, whether the hemp be rotted or unrotted. A greater quantity
of hemp may be dressed after rotting than before. Our machine is
perfect -- I have run a quantity of dew rotted Hemp, and it takes the
shives out perfectly clean, except some few which are easily divested
from the lint by shaking it. It dresses Flax equally well and without
waste.
Our business is improving -- All that is wanting, or has been, to
make it profitable is funds to carry it on. Our hemp is nearly all
prepared for market, and will be shipped, in a few days; and poor as it
is (owing to the uncommon wet season -- having all stood for seed to
ripen -- and all unrotted) will command, as I am informed by Mr. Wells,
the great Hemp dealer in New-York, one hundred to one hundred and twenty
dollars per ton. He writes me that he sold American water rotted hemp
last week -- rather inferior quality -- at two hundred dollars per ton.
He quotes it from two hundred to two hundred and fifty. We are making
preparations for water rotting all our hemp the coming season.
Respectfully yours, *c.
H. WHEELER."
A. EMMONS, Esq.