INDIA RUBBER VARNISH. That India rubber dissolved in various liquids yields a good varnish is well known; but in general they are too viscid for delicate purposes, and are only good for making stuffs water-proof. India rubber liquified by heat, dissolved in oil of coal tar, or drying linseed oil, does not give e varnish of sufficient fluency or free from smell. Moreover, a considerable quantity of India rubber remains undissolved in a gelatinous state, suspended in the liquid, so that the solution is never clear. Dr. BOLLY has recently published some remarks on this subject which may be useful. If India rubber be cut into small pieces and digested in sulphuret of carbon, a jelly will be formed; this must be treated with benzine, and thus a much greater proportion of caoutchouc will be dissolved than would be done by any other method. The liquid must be strained through a woollen cloth, and the sulphuret of carbon be drawn off by evaporation in a water bath; after which, the remaining liquid may be diluted at will with benzine, by which means a transparent, but still yellowish liquid, will be obtained. A more colorless solution may be prepared by digesting India rubber cut into small pieces for many days in benzine, and frequently shaking the bottle which contains it. The jelly thus formed will partly dissolve, yielding a liquid which is thicker than benzine, and may be obtained very clear by filtration and rest. The residue may be separated by straining, and will furnish an excellent water-proof composition. As for the liquid itself, it incorporates easily with all fixed or volatile oils. It dries very fast, and does not shine, unless mixed with resinous varnishes. It is extremely flexible, may be spread in very thin layers, and remain unaltered under the influence of air and light. It may be employed to varnish geographical maps or prints, because it does not affect the whiteness of the paper, does not reflect light disagreeably as resinous varnishes do, and is not subject to crack or come off in scales. It may be used to fix black chalk or pencil drawings; and unsized paper, when covered with varnish, may be written on with ink.-Galignani. SWISS CHEESE. Each parish in Switzerland hires a man, generally from the district of Gruyere, in the Canton of Freyburgh, to take care of the herd and make the cheese; one cheeseman, one pressman or assistant, and one cowherd, are considered necessary for every forty cows. The owners of the cows get credit in a book for the quantity of milk given by each cow daily. The cheeseman and his assistants milk the cows, put the milk all together, and make cheese of it; and at the end of the season each owner receives the weight of cheese proportionable to the quantity of milk his cows have delivered. By this co-operative plan, instead of small-sized, unmarketable cheeses, which each owner could produce out of his three or four cows' milk, he has the same weight in large, marketable cheeses, superior in quality, because made by people who attend to no other business. The cheeseman and his assistants are paid so much per head of the cows in money or in cheese; or sometimes they hire the cows, and pay the owners in money or cheese. A similar system exists in the Frence Jura. COTTON CROP OF THE UNITED STATES. I. STATEMENT AND TOTAL AMOUNT FOR THE Year ending 31st August, 1861. II. PRODUCTION OF EACH STATE IN 1850 AND IN 1861. III. PER CENTAGE OF PRODUCTION IN EACH STATE. IV. EXPORT FROM EACH PORT. V. CONSUMPTION IN THE UNITED STATES, 1847-1861. Decrease from crop of 1860, 1,018,684 bales; 1859, 195,895 bales. Increase over crop of 1858, 542,124 bales. EXPORT OF COTTON TO FOREIGN PORTS, From September 1, 1860, to August 31, 1861. 1860-1,.. 1859-60,.. 1858-9,.. 1857-8,.. 1856-7,... 1855-6,. 1854-5,... 2,847,839 1845–6,... 2,100,587 1886-7,....... 1,422,930 1827-8,....... 1853-4,... 2,930,027 1844–5,.... 2,894,508 1885-6,....... 1,860,725 1826-7,....... 1852-3,... 3,262,882 1843-4,.... 2,080,409 1884–5,....... 1,254,828 1825-6,....... 720,027 8,656,086 1851-2,.. 8,015,029 1842-3,.. 2,378,875 1838-4,. 1,205,894 1,683,574 1832-8,. 1,070,488 ..... 987,477 870,415 727,598 957,281 CONSUMPTION IN THE UNITED STATES, 1861. Total crop of the United States as before stated,............ ..bales, 3,656,086 Add stocks on hand at the commencement of the year, 1st Sept., 1860: Burnt at New-Orleans, St. Marks, Charleston and Philadelphia,. 4,890 Taken for home use in Virginia and South and West of Virginia,. Total consumed in the United States, (including burnt at the ports,) 1860–61,... Estimate of the amount of cotton consumed the past year in the States South and West of Virginia, and not included in the receipts at the ports. Thus : North Carolina, bales,. Georgia,. Alabama,. Tennessee, 1854. 1855. 1856. 1857. 1858. 1859. 1860. 1861. 20,000.. 18,500.. 22,000.. 25,000.. 26,000.. 29,000.. 80,000.. 88,000 12,000.. 10,500.. 15,000.. 17,000.. 18,000.. 20,000.. 21,000.. 24,000 23,000.. 20,500.. 25,000.. 28,000.. 24,000.. 26,000.. 28,000.. 82,000 6,000. 5,500.. 6,500.. 5,000.. 8,000.. 10,000.. 11,000 .. 12,000 6,000.. 4,000.. 7,000.. 9,000.. 10,000.. 18,000.. 15,000.. 17,000 On the Ohio, &c.,..... 38,000.. 26,000.. 42,000.. 88,000.. 39,000.. 45,000.. 49,000.. 52,000 Total to Sept. 1, bales, 105,000 85,000 117,500 117,000 125,000 143,000 154,000 170,000 To which, if we add (for the past year) the stocks in the interior towns 1st September, (say 6,200 bales,) the quantity detained in the interior, (say 25,000 bales,) and that lost on its way to market, (9,000 bales,) to the crop as given above, received at the shipping ports, the aggregate will show, as near as may be, the amount raised in the United States the past season-say, in round numbers, 3,866,000 bales, (after deducting 300 bales new crop received this year to 1st ult.,) against The quantity of new cotton received at the shipping ports to 1st September was, in STATEMENT SHOWING THE AMOUNT OF COTTON CONSUMED YEARLY IN THE UNITED STATES, FROM 1847 TO 1861. 1860-1,.. COMPARATIVE STATEMENT OF THE PRODUCTION OF COTTON IN THE UNITED STATES FOR THE YEARS 1860-61 AND 1849-50, AND PER CENTAGE OF EACH STATE AT THOSE PERIODS. Louisiana,.. Alabama,. 1860-61. Per centage. 1849-50. Per centage. 7.24 22.87 Bales. 178,737 564,429 Florida,.. 121,172 .. |