THE Commercial and A‘oricultural Magazine.

No. IX.J APRIL, 1800.[Vo IL

We feel ourſelves ſo ſolicitous to encourage original information from the practical manufaQurer, that we have not hehtated to inſert the following communication, from: Newcaſtle upon Tyne; though we could have wiſhed the copy had been handéd tous in a more reviſed ſtate. We are, however, fully-aware‘of the moral impoſſibility of the conſtant junétion of perſpi- cuous language, and’ pra@ical knowledge, and‘in ſuch caſes can only aſ- ſure the Communicator, and the Public, that all efntial Errata ſhall(on Notice) be faithfully corre&edin a ſuccéeding Number, Nothing could be more pleaſing to us, becauſe we ate ſure nothing‘could be’more uſeful to the Public, than to-colle& in our Magazine a body of original information concerning the extenſive and various efforts of the induſtry of our coun=

trymen. 2a N

To the Editor of the Commercial aud Agricultural Magazine. SIR,:: ERMIT me, through the medium of your publication(which from its adopting the’ title of a ManufaQurer’s Magazine,

ſeems properly adapted for the diſplay of manufaQures) to throw in my mite towards your ſucceſs, by giving your readers the ac- count of one hitherto little known; I mean€ Hat-máking.” As the detail is longs, I ſhall not fll Up your pages with apology, with accounts of the immoralities of the men, or any other‘exor- dium, but proceed diredly to the ſubje&.‘The Hat Manufac- turer on a large ſcale, employs ſix* diſtin ſets of men. The makers of felts, or wool hats, from Is. to 75:-Or 85. each,. Thole of plaits, or rough all-overs, from 78. to 16s. or-18s. and the makers of ſtuff, or fine plain hats, from. 89s. to 265. To the wool then; lamb and fleece wool are weighed out after undergo ing the previous operations of ſorting, waſhing, and carding. ‘The two firſt operations are moſt generally done by women, the laſt moſt generally by an engine,“ as much as will make, for ex- ample, 12 doz. of one quality:” if men’s hats,” about 9 ouñces of good clean wool in‘each, if ſmaller hats, or for youths, from 5 to 7 ounces: this is the proportion in-which it is weighed by the piece-maſters to their men. The weight for one hat is then laid npon a hurdle(a ſquare table parallel to the horizon) on this with an inſtrument called a bow, much like that of 2 violin, but eight or nine times larger, whoſe fring is worked by a. bowk pin, and being made fo play on the wool by the: vibration of the fring, it flies and mixes together; the duſt and flth at.the ſame

* Theſe divifions of the manpufa@ure are not very methodically diftinguiſh- ed by the author: apparently they ſhould ſtand thus: x. Pelters, 2. Plait- ers. 3. Makers of; ſtuFür-fnt hats, 4. Dyers. 5. StifÆuners. 6, Finiſhers:

CoM.& AG. MAC, Geg