6 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 1. 



nffeatest quantity of «rreen sand intermixed witii it, 

 IS always the most efficacious ibr rlie first and se- 

 cond years, but alter lliat time, I cannot perceive 

 much ditference m its eHects. Lime in any iorm 

 applied to our lands, fertilizes the soil in a reniark- 

 jibie degree, especially when aided by clover, but 

 untbrtuiiately fur us, clover, and gypsimi pariicu- 

 iarly, are almost eiuirely strangers in this land. 



'The price of land with us, is very low indeed, 

 and I hope most fervently, that it is at its lowest 

 ebb. A farm, a part of wiiich is well timbered, 

 sold but a. very lew days since, lor one dollar ])er 

 acre. 



A. A. 



RAIL ROAD IROX. 



The iron that will be required for rails, chains, 

 and carriages, and other works lorthe roads lor 

 which bills were obtained, during the last session 

 of Parliament, will amount to at least 220,000 tons, 

 and lor bills previously obtained, 70,000 tons, 

 making a total of 290, 000 tons, which will probably 

 be in requisition ti)r the next lour years. Wiih 

 respect to the United States rail roads, we find by 

 ihe j/merican Rail Road Journal, tliat the extent 

 either actually under comract, or in progress of 

 being surveyed, amount to more than 3000 miles. 

 To lay a double line this distance will take 750,000 

 tons of irou. — Lon. Mln. Jour. 



From the Genesee Farmer. 

 RECEIPT AKD PATEKT VENDING. 



There is a pretty extensive class of men among 

 us, men too lazy to work, and having the fear of 

 tlae state prison too vividly beibre their eyes to steal 

 or counterleit, yet who adopt measures to gain 

 a living, in our opinion, less honorable, and infinitely 

 more nuschievous. One of these ways of obtaining 

 money, and which among the Yankees is called 

 getting a living by hook or by crook, is by procuring 

 a patent for something new, or which may be 

 deemed so — a churn, a gimlet, or a gristmill per- 

 haps — and then travelling in all directions to vend 

 rights, privilege of use, &c. Another secures an 

 antiquated receipt ostensibly producing the most 

 valuable and astonishing results, and forthwith 

 commences a magnificent system of plunder upon 

 the pockets ofthe gullible many. The truth is, we 

 must feel a pleasure in being cheated — not in the 

 remembrance of it — or we should not suffer these 

 wandering vagabonds to touch our cash so olten. 

 A smooth-spoken rosy-gilled man enters your 

 house, and unfbiiiing his ample pocket-book, lays 

 before you a plan of some machine or iniplement 

 calculated to lacilitate labor, and add materially to 

 the profits of the farmer or mechanic — a churn that 

 will make butter out of skimmed milk — a plough 

 or harrow to go without a team — a pump to draw 

 water li"ora a dry well, with a multitude of other 

 things, represented by a variety of black scrawls 

 on paper, are tendered for your mspection. Should 

 he discover that your way lies not among such ar- 

 ticles — and it is a thousand chances to one if our 

 man does not make you believe some one of them 

 is exactly adapted to your fiirm and circumstances 

 — he turns over a leaf and presents you with re- 

 ceipts to preserve apples the year round, (perhaps 

 by impregnating them witli some of the oxides of 



lead,) ^- for boiling potatoes without allowing 

 their skins to crack; or should yoti be afflicted in 

 body or in mind, fbr a trifle he will invest you with 

 the power of creating a salve tiiat will cure the 

 rheumatism or the gout in a twinkling — waters 

 that will give instantaneous sight to the blind — 

 and tmctures that will make your ^conscience or 

 your character white as a sheep's liver, ere you 

 can say ".Jack Robinson!" 



'J\) be serious, our farmers and our citizens gen- 

 erally, are too much the prey of such designings 

 speculating men. The utility or inutility of imple- 

 ments, machines, or medicines, should be made 

 [manili^st ?J at the expense ofthe inventor, and 

 not at tJie expense ofthe public. If an implement^ 

 or machine, on proper trial, proves really valuable, 

 there can be no difficulty in obtaining the written 

 testimonials ofthe (itci, from men well known to 

 the public — men who could not be easily deceived, 

 and who would not lend their names to deception, 

 or ceriily to fiicts which they had not seen fully 

 sustained. Tens, if not hundreds of thousands of 

 dollars are in this way annually taken from the 

 hard-workinjj and industrious for patents, and 

 things in themselves utterly worthless, and of 

 which fact the venders themselves must have been 

 pertecily satisfied. On this point we say plainly 

 to our fiumingfi'iends, beware how, what, and of 

 whom you purchase patents or receipts: ascertain 

 if the principle of the invention oti'cred be practica- 

 ble in execution, and if so. whether it is one adapt- 

 ed to your circumstances and your wants. Re- 

 member, that because a thing is good, it is not 

 absolutely necessary you should possess it; and if 

 you do not actually need it, by procuring it you 

 are suflering an unqualified loss. VVe have one 

 other ren)ark to make on the subject of patents, 

 and that is, such is the operation of the system, 

 that where an implement or machine is decidedly 

 beneficial, there is in ordinary circumstances no 

 safety for the fiuTner in their purchase or use. 

 Take fbr instance the revolving or patent liorse- 

 rakc, one of the most valuable implements for 

 facilitating labor that science or art lias put info 

 the hands ofthe agriculturist. They are made in- 

 various districts, counties, or towns, in which the- 

 right ofmakingand using them has been properly 

 secured. Perhaps the supply manufactured is 

 greater than the demand in the privileged district, 

 and then they are distributed in the neighboring 

 towns fbr sale. Farmers unacquainted with the 

 technicalities ofthe patent law, purchase, pay the 

 full value ofthe rake, and are satisfied with its 

 operation. By and by, along comes the patentee, 

 or the owner ofthe right fbr the district or town, 

 and demands ofthe agriculturist, a sum in general 

 equal to the first cost of the implement, or 

 threatens him with a prosecution. On inquiry the 

 f;\rmer finds that no right has been taken out for 

 the town or county in which he resides; he finds 

 too that the law ijives the patentee or the owner 

 ofthe right, the privilege of proceeding against 

 either the maker, the vender, or the user of the 

 rake, and as the latter person is generally the- 

 most responsible ofthe three, he finds he must 

 again pay fbr the rake, or, which is worse, experi- 

 ence the vexation and expense of a protracted 

 lawsuit, the greatest evil that can befal the fiirmer. 

 We are convinced that the discoverer of a usefiil 

 invention should be amply protected in the enjoy- 

 ment ofthe fruits of his genius and study; and u» 



