played to the public, the Society have very juftly deemed it a proper time to begin the execution of their new defigns. Their annual volume will, in future, wear a much more entertaining appearance than formerly, as a few select papers will be added to the lifts of premiums which used to compofe the whole of their former publications. In this first volume is inferted an Abstract of the Tranfactions and Progrefs of the Society from its Inftitution, to the year 1782. CULTURE. I. This account begins with AGRIThe following are the obfervations on the effects of the rewards which this fociety has bestowed, in the class of agriculture: TIMBER. "The national benefits to be derived from improvements in agriculture made it an early object of the attention of the Society: it engaged them to extend their premiums and bounties largely to candidates in this clafs; and the feveral articles for which they have been given point out, in a great meafure, their utility. The raifing, planting, and preferving trees proper for timber, particularly oak, in à commercial and maritime kingdom, where it is fo much in demand, have been greatly promoted by the premiums they have offered; and the effects may in fome degree be obferved from the quantities for which the fuccefsful candidates have obtained them, though no account has been taken of the quantities raifed or planted by the unfuccefsful ones." НЕМ Р. Hemp being an article effential to our fhipping, and of the highest importance to us as a maritime and commercial people, the culture of that plant has been carefully attended to, and the practicability of growing it to advantage in Great-Britain clearly demonftrated; a matter, which, if ever we fhould be engaged in war against thofe nations by whom that article has been hitherto fupplied, will hereafter prove of fingular benefit to this country." GRAIN. Improvements in the culture of moft kinds of corn and grafs-feeds have been diligently fearched for, and in many articles happily found. Very confiderable improvements in feveral of the common utenfils of husbandry, and others entirely of a new construction, have not only been obtained, but their utility experimentally proved by the Society; and many of thefe, in large, and the models of others, have been placed in their repofitory, for the inspection and ufe of the public." FOOD FOR CATTLE. "The difcovery of a food for cattle and fheep during the fpring months has ever been confidered as a fubject of the firft importance in agriculture; the Society, therefore, began at an early period to turn their attention towards it, and in hopes of obtaining fo defireable an object, many rewards were bestowed for the culture of fuch plants as make an early appearance, as Burnet, Lucerne, &c. At length the wishes of the Society were in a great degree gratified, by fome accounts received of the ufe of the Turnep-rooted Cabbage, or, as it is fometimes called, Reynolds's Turnep, from its having been first cultivated for thefe purpofes by the late Mr. John Reynolds, of Adifham, in Kent, who was rewarded by the Society for the difcovery, and whofe papers on this head have been already printed. Yet, the culture of this valuable vegetable was long confined to Kent, and a few adjoining counties; but it will be found by the letters of Mr. Tugwell, and Mr. Robbins, published in this volume, that the cultivation of the Turnep-rooted Cabbage has now fpread itself into Gloucefterfhire: of what great utility it to the farmers in that counprove ty, is eafy to determine; and as the knowledge of the ufes of fo valuable a plant will now be fpread over the whole kingdom, there is every reafon to believe its culture will extend, and the benefits refulting from it be univerfally felt." will MADDE R. "Madder, an effential article in dying and callico-printing, which had been raifed to an extravagant price by the foreign growers and importers, on a fuppofition that it could not be brought to any degree of perfection in this kingdom, has been very fuccefsfully obtained by the confiderable premiums given for that purpofe; and the English Madder, produced in confequence, was found as good, at leaft, if not better, than any imported. "As the culture of this article is attended with great expenfe, the Society was apprehenfive that the payment of tithes in kind might counteract the good effects otherwife to be expected from their premiums: fome of their members, who had feats in parliament, applied to the legislature, and obtained an act, by which the payment of tithes for Madder was fixed at five fhillings per acre. By the removal of this obftacle, and a continuation of rewards from the Society, the effect principally required has been fully obtained: foreign madder is reduced to a reafonable price, and likely to continue fo, as the growers in Holland, and other countries from whence it is imported, are thoroughly convinced that we can fupply ourfelves with any quantity, and of the beft kind, whenever, by an advance of the price, the profits are found fufficient to engage the attention of our husbandmen. Our dyers and callico-printers have been greatly benefitted, and the nation has faved many thoufand pounds, by the reduction of the price of this article." II. CHEMISTRY, DYING, and MINERALOGY. The advantages of the Society's rewards are ftated in thefe obfervations: COBALT. "The difcovery in thefe kingdoms of the mineral fubftance called Cobalt, from which Zaffre and Smalt are prepared, was a very early object of the attention of this fociety: and though their expectations, that a mine of it would have been worked, have not been gratified; yet, by the feveral premiums offered and bestowed in order to promote that defign, this good effect has followed, that a mine has been difcovered, though not worked, and that the miners, aflayers, and chemifts of this country are become much better acquainted with the nature of cobalt, and the manner of preparing zaffre and fmalt from it, than they were before. And as it is well known, that there are other mines, or, at leaft, fome veins of this fubftance in Cornwall, Devonfhire, and alfo in Scotland, and probably in other parts of the kingdom, it promifes, in time, to become a matter of very great and profitable importance. For when it is confidered that all the cobalt ufed in our manufactories, and nearly all the zaffre and fmalt confumed here, are imported at a large expence from abroad, the discovery of the original material, and making the preparations from it, will open a new bufinefs, and establish a manufacture, which has hitherto taken place here only on a fmall scale. Great quantities of fmalt imported, as has been obferved, from abroad, are used under the name of powder blue, in washing linen; and very large quantities of zaffre are annually fent to China, for the ufe of their manufacturers. Much of the zaffre brought to England is mixed with matters that debase its quality, and injure its colours; and as the manner of preparing it from cobalt is now well known in England, and as all mixture of foreign matter may be eafily avoided, there is not a doubt, that if a mine of cobalt fhould be properly worked in this kingdom, that material, fo ufeful in our manufactures, and of fo much confequence as an arti cle of commerce, may be prepared here in a more accurate manner than has hitherto been practised abroad.” CRUCIBLES AND RETORTS. "As all crucibles and earthen retorts ufed by chemifts, affayers, and melters of metals, were imported from abroad, the Society thought the difcovery of proper materials for manufacturing them in this country was an object well worthy of confideration; and having bestowed fome few rewards for that purpofe, were pleafed to find that a manufactory for making these veffels was eftablifhed at Chelfea; where they are not only made for home confumption, but confiderable quantities have been exported. It may be here obferved, obferved, that thofe kind of crucibles or melting pots, called black lead, or blue pots, which are the only forts made ufe of in Cornwall for affaying tin ores, were not to be obtained from any part of Europe, except a fmall place called Hafner's Zal (i. e. Potters Place) or Paffou near Rehgenfburg in Germany, where the only manufactures of this kind were carried on. This inconvenience laid the tin fmelters in Cornwall very frequently under great difficulties, not only with regard to the advanced price in time of war, but for want of an importation of the pots a ftop has often been put to many of their works. Lifbon or elsewhere, and of which large quantities have been exported to foreign markets." DYING TURKEY RED. "The art of dying this colour on cotton, was formerly unknown in these kingdoms; but, by the attention of manufacturers to the premiums offered for the difcovery of it, it can now be done here of as beautiful and as lafting a colour as that imported from the Levant." SAL AMMONIAC. "The making of this falt in England has fucceeded fo far, that very large works of it are now carried on; to the attainment of which, there is good reafon to believe, the premiums offered, and the bounties given, by the Society, have in a great meafare, con "The Society have the fatisfaction to find by certificates from fome of the moft refpectable aflay-mafters in Cornwall, that in confequence of their attributed. And if it be confidered, that tention and rewards, a manufacture of pots, fully anfwering all their purpofes, is now citablished at Chelfea; and many of the principal refiners, and the workmen at the mint, ufing no other than what are made there, the molt fanguine wish the Society had on this important object has been fully gratified." TANNING with OAK SAW-DUST. "The reward given by the Society to the perfon who difcovered the ufe of oak faw-duft in the tanning of leather (of which full trial was made, and the efficacy thereof afcertained, as appears by the famples in the Society's repofitory) threw new lights on that very extenfive and ufeful manufacture, and the improvements made in confequence thereof will probably, in time, be practifed to great advantage, when the legiflature fhall think proper to repeal that law which confines the tanner to the ufe of very few materials in his bufinefs." DYING OR COLOURING LEA THER. "The introduction of the eastern manner of dying red and yellow leather has been attended with great advantages to the public, a manufacture of confiderable extent being now established in England, where thefe kinds of leather are prepared and dyed in a manner fuperior to what are imported from great quantities of this material are confumed in various operations, the whole of which was formerly imported, its attainment will be found to be an object of great confequence." VARNIS H. "The beauty and durability of the Varnish invented and ufed by Monf. Martin, of Paris, and for which large fums of money were annually fent out of thefe kingdoms, induced the Society to offer premiums for difcovering the method of making the like here; and the high perfection to which our workmen are now arrived in that art evinces that thofe premiums have had a happy effect." VERDIGRIS. "This article, of great ufe to dyers, and fome other manufactures, was formerly wholly imported from France, at a very great expence; but the Society having reafon to believe that verdegris might be made in England, at a reasonable price, feveral premiums were paid for attempts to obtain it; and of late years a work has been established, where it is manufac tured in very confiderable quantities; but an ingenious perfon at Manchefter has difcovered a method of preparing a cheap fubftitute, which on repeated trials has been found fully to anfwer the purpofes for which verdigris is ufed in dying." III. Co *An account of this difcovery, for which the Society gave a reward, is published in this volume. III. COLONIES and TRADE. Thefe are the obfervations on the effects of thefe rewards: eafily excited by well-timed, thoughr moderate, rewards; and, therefore, that there fhould be a bank of generofity, to which fuch genius may, without difficulty, apply, and from whom, with certainty, it may expect the reward of merit, as well as a mark of honour, is here undeniably proved to be the fureft means of employing and applying fuch genius to national benefit. "The Society, influenced by the tenor and fpirit of fundry acts of parliament, fubfifling for more than a century paft, and being of opinion, that to encourage in the British Colonies the culture and produce of fuch commodities as we muft otherwife import from foreign nations would be." It is not our intention to infimore advantageous to the navigation and commerce of this kingdom, than if the like things could be raised within the island of Great-Britain, have liberally extended their premiums and bounties for fundry articles fuited to the climates and circumftances of the North-American provinces: among which, the manufactures of Pot-Afh and Pearl-Afh happily fucceeded to their wishes, and the importation of thefe articles from North-America was an established and important branch of trade. "The planting of Mulberry Trees, the propagation of filk worms, and the produce of filk, were fo far advanced, that, in confequence of the rewards given by the Society, eleven thousand five hundred and feventy-five pounds of raw filk were imported from thofe provinces. nuate, that the rewards given by the Society have been, in any degree, equal to the national advantages obtained by them: we mean only to fhow what great benefits have been, and may be derived from fmall means well adminiftered." CARPET S, Manufactured in the Turkish manner. "This was an early object of attention in the Society; by their rewards it is now established in different parts of the kingdom, and brought to a degree of elegance and beauty, which the Turkey Carpets never attained." CAMEOS and INTAGLIOS in artificial Gems. In confequence of premiums offered in the clafs of polite arts, for introducing and improving the art of imitating ancient fculptured Gems, "The planting of vines, and making Cameo and Intaglio, by exact imprefwine from grapes; the improvement fions, in various coloured paftes, a main the making of indigo, and the ob-nufacture of this kind is eftablished in taining oil from vegetables, the pro- England, and fucceeds fo well, that all duce of thofe colonies, have been the forts of engraved or emboffed gems, ancient or modern, can be exactly copied, objects of the Society's attention." IV. MANUFACTURES. From the and at fo finall an expence, that whatrewards feveral beneficial difcoveries ever there may be of taste and elegance have arifen, on which we fhall give the in thefe epitomifed compofitions of obfervations, as they ftand in the Tran- the ancients, they are now no longer factions: "The great and good effects of re wards beftowed in this clafs afford the cleareft proofs of the advantages which this nation has derived from the benevolent labours of the Society. "Genius, though not confined to any particular rank, often fieeps with the affluent, while neceffity compels the indigent to exert it. "That noble enthufiafm, which always exifts in the authors and inventors of agreeable and ufeful arts, is confined to the cabinets of the curious, but for the benefit of young artists, and the gratification of all others, are diffufed among the publick." CHIP HATS, "Being of very general and popular ufe among the female part of the nation, are confequently, while they continue to be imported from abroad, an important article in the national outgoings; but now they are brought to fuch perfection in the manufactories fet up in Devonshire and other parts, "It is of the greatest importance, that every branch of the woolen manufactory, esteemed the staple trade of the kingdom, fhould be carried on at the fmalleft expence. "The combers of wool generally heat their combs by charcoal, which, in parts where wood is fcarce, is immoderately dear, The inventor of a Comb Pot, whereby the fame operation is effectually performed by pitcoal, was judged to be well worthy of being diftinguished and rewarded by a bounty." DRUGGETS. "The Society having been informed, by merchants, that a particular fpecies of foreign druggets were in great requeft in the fouthern markets of Europe, eftablished and continued annual premiums, till our manufacturers made the like fort in perfection equal to the foreign." LEATHER. "Hides being a native commodity, the converting them into leather was attended to by the Society, as another staple manufacture. In confequence of their rewards, Losh, or Buff-Leather, has been made in England, equal to the best imported. "Alfo, a very extenfive manufacture of Red-Leather, in imitation of Turkey or Lisbon, has been established under the influence of their rewards: great improvements having been made in the procefs laid before the Society by the foreigner from whom they purchafed the fecret (fee the article in clafs Chemistry). The fkins are now prepared and dyed in fo excellent a manner, that they are not only preferred to the foreign by the confumers of that commodity at home, but have been exported in confiderable quantities." SPINNING, WEAVING, &c. "Great and repeated improvements have been produced to the Society, in Spinning-wheels, and, machines for winding, doubling, and twitting linen, cotton, and worsted yarn; and alfo a very extraordinary improvement in the loom itfelf: the general intention in all thefe machines being to fhorten labour, and to fave expence; the machines themfelves, or perfect models of them, are preferved in the Society's repofitory. "It is no improbable conjecture, that the great improvements in Spinning, which have taken place within twenty years, in these kingdoms, particularly in the cotton works in Lancashire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, &c. are to. be affigned to the premiums offered and paid by this Society. "In the year 1760, premiums were firft offered for the best invention of a machine for fpinning fix threads of wool, cotton, flax, or filk, at one time, and that will require but one perfon to work and attend it;' and in 1764, fome premiums were paid for attempts at obtaining that defirable object. At the time, therefore, of the first offering rewards on this fubject, there feems reafon to believe the thought had not occurred to the manufacturers in general; for from the best information hitherto obtained, it appears, that about the year 1764, a poor man, of the name of Hargreaves, employed in the cotton manufactory, near Blackburn, in Lancashire, firft made one in that county, which fpun eleven threads; and that in the year 1770 he obtained a patent for the invention. The conftruction of this kind of machine, called a Spinning Jenny, has fince been much improved, and is now at so high a degree of perfection, that one woman is thereby enabled, with ease, to fpin an hundred threads of cotton at a time: nor did the spirit and ingenuity of the manufacturers in this extenfive branch ftop here, for fince that period thofe ftupendous works, the Cotton Mills at Crumford, in Derbyshire, and feveral other places, have been erected; where, by the motion of a large waterwheel, the cotton is carded, roved, and fpun into threads, infinitely more expeditiously, and with greater truth, than can poffibly be done by hand, and better adapted to the general purpofes of the manufacturers. "Of how great advantage these contrivances have been to the trade of Manchester, |