JOURNAL OF MINING, MANUFACTURES, AND ART.

INCIDENTS OF MANUFACTURING.

The Philadelphia United States Gazette, in connection with the progress of manufacturing in that neighborhood generally, remarks, in relation to Ameican manufactures, that its establishment has been no holiday task. From the very beginning they have had not only to contend against the inherent difficulties of the case the creation of skill in workmen, and the building up of new establishments-but they have also had a far more difficult contest to carry on against the disciplined and powerful rivalry of foreign manufactures. More than one branch of the now successful classes of textile fabrics in this city has grown up in defiance of sharp and recent difficulty of this sort. That designated as hosiery manufactures, located in Germantown and the northern part of the city, is a conspicuous case. A very few years since the Nottingham weavers had exclusive control of the market for what is now by far the largest part of this business-the making of those graceful articles of woolen knit-work worn for ornament and for comfort equally, as "operas," "comforters," head-dresses for children, and a great number of uses not easily named. Within ten years this manufacture at Germantown and other parts of this city, has attained a success which completely fills the American market, including the Canadas, to the exclusion of the Nottingham article entirely. The total product we have made up of this class exceeds one million five hundred thousand dollars of value annually, and in this statement we have placed the production of small establishments, working five to ten looms, at only two-thirds the value given by proprietors for each loom in the larger establishments.

These articles are particularly adapted to the general prosperity of a district, from the fact that half the number of persons employed can work at their own choice of hours at their own houses. Though requiring large buildings and steam-power in part of the processes, an equal part of the labor may be given out to be done, and the compulsory attendance on mills, which is sometimes a painful feature of cotton and woolen manufactures, is unnecessary. The value of this resource as an element of prosperity in any community may be judged by a visit to the extending streets of Germantown, and by observing the ease with which the population so employed have borne the recent suspension of business. The principal reason for the success of American fabrics of this sort is the superior grade of wool which can be used here. In England, the high price of all good qualities of wool compels the use of harsh grades, and such as compare at great disadvantage, when made up, with qualities costing the same price here. The skill applied has attained an equality with the best in Nottingham now, and but little more is requisite to change the current of supply, existing a few years since, to one directed towards even England itself. The great point is already gained of liberating the American market from foreign dependence, and this point has cost more of effort and of sacrifice, than the further step of sending goods abroad would now cost. Great credit is due to the energetic proprietors of these factories in this city, since it is by their determined energy that these points have been already gained. If any doubt the difficulties which have actually surrounded even the least efforts at erecting the making of textile fabrics of every class into independence, let them converse, as we have done, with those who have conducted establishments for ten or fifteen years past. The most incredulous and indifferent will then concede that the establishment of a branch of production, making up a million-and-a-half of dollars' worth of goods annually, is a real service.

In silk thread, and many narrow fabrics of silk, silk and wool, silk and cotton, etc., a rapid advancement is now taking place. New and original machinery is applied in one factory, with great success, to the manufacture or completion of laces, ruches, and the like goods. In fringes and ornamental silk

work there is a large production, which is expanding rapidly, under the favorable operation of the reduction of duties on raw silk. Much of the American market is supplied by Philadelphia goods of this class, which are, perhaps, supposed by the purchasers to be English or French. They deserve already to give the city a name which would carry as strong a recommendation with it as to name them Parisian, and a principal purpose we have in these articles, is to give Philadelphia the reputation it deserves in this respect, and to prevent the continuance of the humiliating usage of deferring to foreign cities in this respect. In this class of silk and mixed ornamental goods, there is now a production of two millions of dollars annually in this city, and we challenge a comparison of the fabrics produced with those from any foreign source whatever. It is unquestionable that Philadelphia is to continue to lead all other American cities in the production of delicate textile fabrics, as well as of the heavy classes, so well known as " Philadelphia goods" now. Climate, cheap residence, present skill, and a favorable locality for distribution, all combine to aid this result. The energy of manufacturers is sufficient, also, and we trust the press will do its duty of controlling that general public opinion which does far more in the case than manufacturers are accustomed to think. A perverse taste, which catches at the foreign and remote, simply because they are foreign, will always exist to some extent, but this can be effectively beaten down, even in commercial matters, by a determined course on the part of the press.

WOOLEN FACTORY IN OREGON.

A late Oregon paper says:-We have received from Mr. L. E. Lyon of Independence, Oregon, a sample of woolen fabric made by the Willamette Wool Manufacturing Co." in Salem. In point of texture and quality it compares favorably with any manufactured in the mills of the Eastern States. The experiment of a woolen factory in a newly-settled country like Oregon, speaks well of the enterprise of those engaged in it, and is deserving the utmost success. We find the following description of the factory, at which the sample before us was manufactured, in a correspondence to the Siskiyou Chronicle :—

"The woolen factory at this place (Salem) is composed of handsome and substantial edifices. The machinery consists of sixteen looms-eight broad ones, for the manufacture of blankets and broadcloths; two spinning jacks of one hundred and fifty spindles each; six set of carding machines; fulling mill, not one of the great pounding kind, but of singular contrivance, and fulls by squaring the cloth between rollers; a very angry-acting little wool-picker, that has teeth resembling those of threshing machines, and makes one thousand revolutions per minute, creating a perfect wool storm. There are also several ingenious contrivances for reeling, spooling, and washing the wool, and dyeing the cloth when made. The entire cost of the concern was about seventy five thousand dollars, including the digging of the ditch which supplies the machinery with water. The factory employs at present thirty persons; thirteen of whom are girls. The advantages which must necessarily result to Oregon from this manufacturing enterprise are incalculable. I consider that in this, we, of Oregon, have much to be proud of; and the projectors will not only reap rich and merited rewards for their public spirit, but universal admiration everywhere."

NEW GOLD REGIONS ON THE PACIFIC.

Recent accounts from Vancouver's Island represent that extensive gold mines have been discovered to the northward, in the British Possessions, between Fort Hope and Thompson's River, and that a regular stampede from the settlements to the diggings has taken place; the gold fever raging with as much violence as it did in California after the first discovery there in 1848. These accounts are cumulative testimony towards establishing the fact that the gold re

gion extends on the Pacific coast, from Mexico, through California, Oregon, and Washington Territories, to the frozen regions of the North. Probably not onefourth of the gold fields of North America are explored sufficiently to warrant any conclusion as to their value. It is safe to say, however, from facts already known, that the gold mines on this coast are ample in extent, to give profitable employment to a million men for a very long period. Few who have traveled through the mines of California, are willing to admit that the gold deposits can be exhausted in centuries. There are single mountains, like Table Mountain in Tuolumne County, that will require more labor, before exhausted of their riches, than would be needed to build the Pacific Railroad.

MANUFACTURE OF SILK IN CHINA.

The silks manufactured by the Chinese are especially remarkable for their bright colors; and, with the exception of their velvets, are fully equal, if not superior, to those of European manufacture. Everybody who is able wears silk, not only his clothes and stockings, but his boots and shoes also being made of that article. The finest silk is made in Tsche-Kiang and Kiand-Su, 27° and 32° north. In Canton there are 17,000 silk weavers. The other principal manufactories are in Nankin, Hancheu, and Tu-tscheu. The looms differ but slightly from those used in Europe before the time of Jacquard. The work is done entirely by hand, and the workmen are paid at the rate of six to ten dollars monthly, their daily labor continuing from fourteen to sixteen hours. The combs are made of reeds, the shears and pinchers of iron, and the polisher of the same metal. A knife is used to cut off the threads from the velvets. They have also double looms, by which two pieces of equal length may be manufactured simultaneously. They weave foulard, gauze, and taffeta, and their green cloths are especially excellent on account of their stability of color. They also make handkerchiefs, although they formerly used paper for the purpose to which they are applied. Their Gros de Naples is very much superior to that manufactured in France. The warp is formed of twisted silk, the woof of mi grenade. Another kind of Gros de Naples bears more resemblance to that of European manufacture. They also manufacture serge and blue velvet. All silk fabrics are stamped with the manufacturer's name, in Chinese characters. The crape is prepared as in France. The gauzes are distinguishable from the French by their superior lightness and neatness. The Chinese are also very dexterous in knitting. The knitting-needles of Ningpo are well known, and do not cost more than ours, although they are made one at a time, with the hand. The handsomest specimens of knitting are executed by men, the ordinary by women, and the prices of their wares are wonderfully low. In printing the silk fabrics in Ningpo, the color is laid with a brush upon a form, and cloth being spread out upon it, is beaten with a wooden block. This operation is best performed in Tung-Yung and in TscheKiang. The various colors employed by the Japanese show them to have made greater progress in chemistry than the Chinese. In Tu-tscheu the simple foulard handkerchiefs are made which are sent to India and this country. They are stamped in Canton, where also there are prepared knitted shawls for the South American market, where they are used alike by men and women. A beautiful scarlet shawl of this kind, manufactured for a Peruvian General once cost $200. A knitted fire-screen, made of velvet, on which were portrayed a Chinese woman with a child, a dog, a rose, and an almond tree, and several animals, cost $50. The most beautiful of all their fabrics of this kind are their paintings on velvet, the figures of which stand out in relief. Entire scenes are delineated in this manner. The silken sun-shades are sent to South America particularly. On their ribbons are pictured fantastic flowers, trees, birds, and insects, of the most outlandish forms and brighest colors. There is as great a demand there for these articles as among us. The most important manufactories are in Nankin, Tutscheu, and Hang-tscheu, and their cost is extremely low.

STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE, &c.

FRUIT TRADE OF FRANCE.

Paris is the very best market for the sale, in almost unlimited quantities, of everything eatable in the shape of fruit. Many species which, from their delicate nature, seem unfitted for distant transportation, yet find their way thither from great distances, and are freely offered to the consumers of the capital. They come, too, as fresh as when first gathered, owing to their peculiar mode of package in baskets, in which they may remain forty-eight hours, and withstand all sorts of shaking and jolting, without suffering any change.

The art of packing chemes and gooseberries in baskets is termed, in the rustic language of the market gardener, ring—bagging-baguer. The wives and daughters of cultivators in the neighborhood of Paris possess this talent in remarkable perfection. Their mode of proceeding is in this wise:-the fruit being first gathered in the most delicate way possible, is deposited in large, round, flat baskets, borne upon the head. As they are brought in, the women pack the fruit in other baskets of the capacity of four or five kilogrammes. The shape of these baskets is perfectly suited to their destination. They are made of brown willow, covered with its bark. They are very loosely put together, so that at short distances around the tops may be inserted small branches of chestnut with their foliage upon them, while the bottom of every basket has a thick bed of the same kind of leaves. These precautions taken, the baskets are filled and heaped up to the top of the handle. The ends of the branches are then folded over the fruit, passing them above the basket handle in intertwining their extremities. The whole is then tied together by a few turns of large pack thread, and the packing is complete. A basket of cherries or gooseberries well bound together in this way can travel without any extraordinary precautions and without danger to the fruit, not only in boat and railway car, but even on a diligence or donkey cart, on the roughest roads.

The process just described is hardly practiced or known beyond the departments bordering on the Seine, or such as send fruits to Paris. By means of the complete network of railroads which now environ the capital, the departments of the south and center are put in the way of participating in the advantages of this rapid means of communication. Extensive orchards now newly planted will soon yield immense additional quantities of all sorts of fruits for Parisian consumption. Among these fruits, cherries, blackhearts, bigarreaus, could safely reach their destination only by being carefully packed in the manner described. The cherries of the departments of the south are sold in Paris at fabulous prices prior to the time when the environs of Paris can furnish any addition to the supply. This may be inferred from the following figures. A kilogramme of cherries is sold, delivered in Paris, for two francs, in the latter part of May. The retailers buy these first cherries to decorate rods ornamented with the braided leaves of the lily of the valley -every rod has six cherries weighing at least 34 gr. With a kilogramme of cherries, then, they can make fifty batons or rods of cherries, each selling for ten centimes. So from a kilogramme of cherries, the retailer clears full five francs from the sale of his cherry rods, from which is only to be made the very trifling deduction of the cost of the rods and leaves. After the red fruit, the kind most difficult to pack well is the grape. In all the communes which send to Paris the excellent Chasselas grape, sold under the name of the Chasselas de Fontainebleau, of which Thomery is the center, numerous companies of women and children are accustomed to seek in the forests of Fontainebleau, Ferrieres, Sercette, and Orleans, the fern leaves necessary for grape packing. They are dried with great care after removing their stalks and the coarser parts, and are then kept ready for use. The clusters are placed in their leafy bed in sheets of unsized paper, and then covered with a thick layer of leaves, kept in place by sprigs of fresh willow. The peculiar elasticity of the dry fern leaves thus keeps the grapes from every bruise.

The changeful climate of Paris does not allow regular crops of apricots to be counted upon in the gardens and orchards of that capital. There are frequently intervals of five years between full crops. Paris, therefore, obtains this fruit, rare and expensive always, from the department of Puyde-dome and from l'Allier. The apricots are gathered a little before maturity, so that they may not decay during their transport; they are then packed in flat boxes, and sent by railroad. They arrive in good condition, maturing in the boxes, and are frequently kept some days before consumption.

Rouen, Havre, Fecamp, and Dieppe make to Russia, Sweden, and Norway frequent shipments of apples. Each apple is wrapped in a sheet of grey common paper. They place the fruit, thus treated, in large boxes containing a thousand each, and in order that they may not become bruised on the passage, the space between each apple is carefully filled with paper clippings, tightly pressed together. The best pippins, or Reinettes, particularly the Reinette gris or grey pippins, are the best for a long voyage, if carefully treated in this way.

The same process of packing is resorted to with the oranges of Portugal and Malta, the Baleares and Azores, where the whole harvest is destined for transportation. The orange boxes are, however, rather smaller than those used for apples, as the peculiar nature of the fruit does not permit the confinement of so great a quantity in a confined space.

The figs and dates of the East, packed in baskets and boxes, are the object of an immense trade. In the kingdom of Darfour, (Central Africa,) baskets of dates of a determined weight, supply the functions of money; a certain number of baskets representing a horse, a camel, a coat, a bag of grain, and are thus received in exchange for these articles.

COTTON CULTIVATION IN AFRICA.

Mr. Thomas Clegg, of Manchester, has published an interesting letter, describing the result of the efforts which have been made by him for the last seven or eight years to promote the cultivation of cotton in Africa, with the view of putting down the slave trade by showing the native chiefs and others " that it was their interest to employ their people, instead of making war upon each other for the sake of getting a colorable right or pretext for selling into slavery the prisoners taken in such marauding expeditions." An opening experiment at Sierra Leon failed, and he decided to go at once to interior cotton fields, and to the residence of the chiefs about Abbeokuta. Finding, however, that the European agents either died off or had returned to this country, several young Africans were selected by the Missionary Society and sent over to England, at the expense of the Native Agency Committee, to be educated and instructed in the best method of cleaning the cotton without injury to the fiber. The African Native Agency Committee of London also supplied packing presses and other machinery, and Mr. Platt supplied cotton gins, goods, and money to purchase the cotton with. Up to the 1st ultimo he had sent out 175 cotton gins, costing from £3 17s. 6d. to £10 10s. each. He has entered into correspondence with upwards of 76 native and other African traders, 21 or 22 of them being chiefs, and many of them having begun to consign their cotton and other produce to him. Three manufacturers, of Manchester, have sent out 250 cotton gins, and the natives are at present, with their present appliances, able to turn out yearly 4,368,000 pounds of clean cotton, equal to 10,000 American bales. This he regards as a rare instance of rapid development of a particular trade, and, after a view of all the known facts, he "can clearly see a prospect of the slave trade being entirely starved out." The cotton, from whatever part of Africa it comes, will invariably sell in Liverpool for 2d. or 3d. per pound more than East India