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unnecessary labour,
r, requiring hands.
The apparatus is really a good one,
resembling some I have seen for
merly in Italy, and this last sum-
mer beyond Kiovia, at two estates
of field-marshal count Rasoumouz-
ky, who has mulberry planta-
tions, and got this summer a
bout twenty pounds of pretty good

silk.

"VII. That the rearing of silkworms will take no labourer from the field, nor from any manufacture: it will employ only an elderly woman and a couple of children, of twelve, thirteen, or fourteen years of age, the gathering of the leaves excepted, which will employ one lad of fifteen; all these will rear thirty thousand worms, or more, in the term of six or seven weeks, producing ten pounds of silk.

« VIII. That for the mulberrytree no good land is required, but such as will grow the most common trees on dry land; nay, I will venture to assert, they will grow on Blackheath, on Hounslow-heath, on Finchley-common, and even on the barren Marlborough-downs. To these huts I must add, for the further encouragement of industry, that I found, this summer, at Kiovia, a poor tailor, a native of Upper Silesia, who having a small house over against the mulberrygarden planted by Peter the Great, and having seen the rearing of silkworms in his native country, began three years ago to rear some with the leaves of that garden. Last year he delivered twenty-five pounds of silk to the director of the imperial garden there, who paid him by order of the empress, ten rubles a pound. I visited him as a man of desert: I found his house, about twenty feet square, partitioned into four small rooms; in the corner of one of these I

found a dozen sacks, of about three bushels each, filled with as large and fine cocoons as I have seen in Italy, and much finer than my own; of these, this industrious man hoped to get thirty pounds of silk. Except the men and boys he employed to gather the leaves, he had for his work to take care of his worms, whose number he rated to be near a hundred thousand, no more help than his wife, an elderly woman, and three children, of twelve, thirteen, and fourteen years of age.

"As another proof how encou→ ragement raised industry in a similar object, I must add, that in the Prussian dominions mulberry-trees were planted by order of Frederick William, father to Frederick II. A few hundreds of pounds of silk were made yearly. This last king neglected the object in the first twelve years of his reign; the years 1750, 1751, and 1752, produced together no more than one hundred and fifty pounds. Count Hertzberg got the care of it. Though taken up with ministerial affairs, he found the object so interesting, encouraged the same with such zeal, gave even medals out of his own pocket, that an incredible augmentation ensued. In the year

1794, when he died, fourteen thou sand pounds of silk were denvered into the Berlin manufacture, proved to be Prussian silk. Great Britain and Ireland would outdo them very soon, if steps were taken to procure mulberry seeds and plantations, and that the known public spirit of the nation would turn its attention to that object, and make it a national one.

"As a third and last proof, permit me, sir, to add, that the late empress, hearing that some mulberry-trees, planted by Peter the Great,

on

on an island in the Wolga, near Czaritzin, were grown to a great height, and augmented by nature, she placed there a colony of Russians, to the number of four hundred males (the place called Achtouba); gave them ten years exemption from imposts, after which they were to pay their capitation and imposts in silk, at ten rubles per pound. The first ribbon of the newly instituted military order of St. George was of that produce; and though the same was coarse, she said, smiling, she never wore a finer to ber mind. From the silkworms' produce, give me leave, sir, to say a few words of a plant which seems to be a-kin to them; it is the Asclepias Syriaca, mentioned in Miller's, Mawe's, and Abercrombie's dictionaries, as a perennial plant in Eng land: I found it this summer in an apothecary's garden in Kiovia: was surprised to find its produce so much resembling the silk; and that in Upper Silesia manufacturers exist that cultivate this plant, and spinning its sort of silk with cotton, produce a silky stuff. According to a calculation I have seen, half an acre will produce, in the third year, the value of ninety rix-dollars, and so on. Here I should conclude; but, with a heart full of grateful feelings to a happy country, where I passed seven of my younger years, being attached to the Russian embassy, I must ask you a few questions, that may perhaps prove not unworthy the attention of your truly patriotic society.

"Is the Pinus Cembra, or Siberian mountain pine, or Siberian cedar, known to you? It is a very fine tree in appearance, and very valuable by its fruit and timber; I find it both in Miller's, Mawe's, and Abercrombie's dictionaries; and methinks I have seen it at Chel

sea, under the name of a cedar. The fruit grows in their pine-apples, in numerous small sweet kernels: it is offered as a delicacy in every citizen's house in Russia; but those kernels will not do for vegetation, because they are dried in the oven to get them out of the apple. This tree would be an excellent acquisition, for Scotland in general, and for the English parks in particular. Its needles are longer and darker than those of the famous Weymouth pine: its home is on the mountains that separate Siberia from Casan, or rather Europe from Asia.

"Is the Archangel larch-tree known to you? All the men-ofwar built at Archangel are of that timber. I have some of eight years old in my garden that are fifteen feet high; the three last years they rose ten feet. I am curious to know from whence came the seeds of larch planted in England and in Scotland. I do not believe them at home in Scotland, because in Russia, in the government of Olov, formerly of Noogrod, the larchtree begins to grow with the sixtythird degree of latitude: near Archangel, and on the borders of the White Sea, I have seen larch-trees that would serve for masts. Should the English plantations be from thence or America, or from the Alps?

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Why do not the Society offer a premium for the cultivation of the Weymouth pine in particular, that tree being in such repute for its speedy growth; furnishing even masts to the navy? Why not for several timber and walnut trees, especially the black with round, and the other with the oblong fruit ? Why not for a number of other American trees and underwood, espe cially the Pseudo-Aca, so renowned

in Germany for its rapid growth as such?

"All these are well known in England, as I see by lists of the gardeners who sell plants; I know them by three classical works in German; one published at Gottingen, 1789, by Mr. Wangenheim, who served as captain in the Hanoverian troops all the American war; the other, of the late professor Du Roy, who directed for many years the extensive and successful plantations of Mr. Veltheim, between Brurvis and Madgeburg; third, of Mr. Burgsdorff, at Berlin, who has extensive plantations near that town, and carries on a great trade with American and German seeds. These works would be worth your perusal, if you are acquainted with the German language.

"To compensate with something the perhap too tedious length of this letter, I must tell you, sir, how the public spirit of your respectful society turned to the advantage of a distant nation. The society's spirited exertions, and published premiums, gave the

first idea and rise to the Free Economical Society at St. Petersburg, instituted in the year 1766. The late empress, reading the English news-papers, bid one to explain to her many of the society's premiums, with which she was SO much pleased, that soon after a society of fifteen distinguished persons united, with her approbation, who chose soon after many menbers more, of whom I had the honour to be of the first, being then governor of Great Noogrod. The society exists, and has promoted many very useful objects; but not being in such affluent circumstances, by the aid of the public, their exertions fall short of those of the English society.

"This letter proves the due regard with which I am, "SIR, "Your most obedient servant, "J. SIEVERS." "SAMUEL MORE, Esq. Secretary to the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, at London."

EASY METHOD of CLEANING and BLEACHING COPPER-PLATE IMPRESSIONS or PRINTS.

[Extracted from a LETTER of Sig. GIO. FABBRONI, SUBDIRECTOR and SUPERINTENDANT of the ROYAL CABINET of PHILOSOPHY and NATURAL HISTORY of his ROYAL HIGHNESS the GRAND DUKE of TUSCANY, to Sig. LUIGI TARGIONI, at NAPLES, and inserted in the second Volume of Mr. NICHOLSON'S JOURNAL of NATURAL PHILOSOPHY, CHEMISTRY, and the ARTS.]

"SING

INCE the happy invention the revival of the art of chasing of engraving in copper, and ornamenting plate, collectors which no doubt owes its origin to have availed themselves of this

means

means to accumulate and preserve the useful application of its procopies of the most valuable pictures and drawings. This object of research becomes every day more prevalent, and prints of the early and most celebrated masters are now sought for with the utmost avidity.

"Ancient prints are valuable, not only for their own intrinsic merits, but as monuments of the history of the art. But their scarcity renders them still more valuable. Most of those which are still extant are defaced by negligence, during the time of their remaining sus pended against walls exposed to smoke, vapour, and the excrements of insects. Collectors of prints have not, however, shewn the same partiality as antiquarians for the patina; but on the contrary they have sought and practised a method of clearing prints from these impurities.

This method consists in simple washing with clear water, or a ley made of the ashes of vine stalks or reeds, and lastly by a long exposure to the dew. Aqua fortis is also used for the same purpose, but with a degree of risque at least equal to its advantages. The ley dissolves not only the impurities but likewise the oil of the printing ink, and either discharges it totally, or leaves a cloudy appearance. The aqua fortis acts on the vegetable fibre, of which the paper itself is composed, and produces a dark colour, which cannot be removed by means of this liquid, but by an action which would considerably injure the paper itself.

"The discovery of Priestley, of the fluid erroneously named by him, but since known by the name of oxygen; and the information we have obtained from Scheele, of the effects of its combination with muriatic acid, have led Berthollet to

perties to the act of bleaching cloths, Chaptal to that of bleaching prints and books, and Giobert to the art of painting. But the method of making this preparation is too inconvenient for a mere amateur and collector of prints, and the oxygenated muriatic acid is not yet to be purchased ready prepared in Italy. It may not, therefore, be unacceptable to describe an easy method of effecting this purpose without the difficulties of chemical processes, and within the ability of any person to perform.

It is known that oxygen is abundantly contained in the combinations called metallic calces, though in a state of inactivity; and it is equally well ascertained, that these substances have a very strong attraction for it. On the other hand it is a fact, that some of the metallic calces of very moderate price are capable of easily yielding the whole or the greatest proportion of this constituent part. Manganese is not very well adapted for this purpose; but minium is much better. Nothing more is required to be done, but to provide a certain quantity of the common muriatic acid, for example, three ounces, in a glass bottle, with a ground stopper, of such a capacity that it may be only half full. Half an ounce of minium must then be added; immediately after which the stopper is to be put in, and the bottle set in a cold and dark place. The heat, which soon becomes perceptible, shews the beginning of the new combination. The minium abandons the greatest part of its oxygen with which the fluid remains impregnated, at the same time that it acquires a fine golden yellow, and emits the detestable smell of oxygenated muriatic acid. It contains a small

small portion of muriate of lead; but this is not at all noxious in the subsequent process. It is also necessary to be observed, that the bottle must be strong, and the stopper not too firmly fixed, otherwise the active elastic vapor night burst it. The method of using this prepared acid is as follows:

"Provide a sufficiently large plate of glass, upon which one or more prints may be separately spread out. Near the edges let there be raised a border of soft white wax half an inch high, adhering well to the glass, and flat at top. In this kind of trough the print is to be placed in a bath of fresh urine, or water containing a small quantity of ox gall, and kept in this situation for three or four hours. The fluid is then to be decanted off, and pure warm water poured on, which must be changed every three or four hours until it passes limpid and clear. The impurities are sometimes of a resinous nature, and resist the action of pure water. When this is the case the washed print must be left to

dry, and alcohol is then to be poured on and left for a time. After the print is thus cleaned, and all the moisture drained off, the muriatic acid prepared with minium* is to be poured on in sufficient quantity to cover the print; immediately af ter which another plate of glass is to be laid in contact with the rim of wax, in order to prevent the inconvenient exhalation of the oxygenated acid. In this situation the yellowest print will be seen to recover its original whiteness in a very short time. One or two hours are sufficient to produce the desired effect; but the print will receive no injury if it be left in the acid for a whole night. Nothing more is necessary to complete the work, than to decant off the remaining acid, and wash away every trace of acidity by repeated affusions of pure water. The print being then left to dry (in the sun if possible) will be found white, clear, firm, and in no respect damaged either in the texture of the paper or the tone and appearance of the impression."

USEFUL ECONOMICAL INFORMATION.

[Selected from ETON'S SURVEY of the TURKISH EMPIRE.]

COTT

NOTTON at Smyrna is dyed with madder in the following manner :-The cotton is boiled in mild alkali, and then in conmon olive oil; being cleaned, it will then take the madder dye: and

this is the fine colour we see in Smyrna cotton-yarn. I have heard five thousand pounds were given, in · England, for this secret."

"I have seen practised a method of filtering water by ascension, which

*As I have not repeated this process, I cannot estimate how far the presence of the lead may weaken the corrosive action of the acid on the paper; but I should be disposed to recommend a previous dilution of the acid with water. Whoever uses this process will of course make himself master of the proportion of water required to dilute the acid, by making his first trials with an old print of no value. N.

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