FARMERS' REGISTER- WORKING CAST STEEL. 



339 



stability of society, that we see a case sufficiently 

 strong to make llio nation at large takeup the sub- 

 ject as a national measure. 



In order more elVectually to promote this object, 

 and carry the project extensively into operation, a 

 national institution of locomotion, unconnected 

 with any trading company, is now m progress oJ' 

 being ibrmed to promote tlie application of steatn 

 to general |)urposes of transport and husbandry, 

 and to supply the desideratum which has long been 

 experienced of there being no metropolitan associ- 

 ation m connection with the various con)panies 

 and local societies throughout the united kuigdom, 

 formed tijr the advancement of commerce and ag- 

 riculture. 



We need say nothing of the advantages to arise 

 to our inland transport and navigation, trorn an in- 

 stitution which shall watch over these important 

 inicrests, and hold out premiums for improvements 

 in them; neither how beneficial, as regards agri- 

 culture, will the existence of an institution be, 

 which will serve for the united kingdom generally 

 the similar important purposes to what the High- 

 land Society is eflecting for Scotland. 



An institution likewise which shall concentrate 

 genius and science of the countrj^, and where at a 

 glance the public will be able to see all that mind 

 can de\'ise, and ingenuity perfect, lor the advance- 

 ment of our social prosperity, will not tail, if sup- 

 ported as it deserves, to be productive of the most 

 important benefits to the nation. That support, as 

 far as one portion of the union is concerned, we 

 trust it will find in the Highland Society and people 

 of Scotland. 



When we consider how exigent is the want 

 which steam apj)lied to economic uses is commis- 

 sioned to alleviate, and how reckless in its conse- 

 quences, as that volcano indicates whose eruptions 

 are now nightly visible in the farm-yards of some 

 dislrict or other of the country, we consider it for- 

 tunate that, if cheap bread be wholly unavoidable, 

 it can now be procured in a way that makes it 

 wholly desirable. The bane of having prices re- 

 duced by steam transport, and the antidote of pro- 

 viding for the same by steam husbandrj'-, are both 

 before our agriculturists. We cannot suppose that 

 the}' will allow the one to be introduced unaccom- 

 panied by the other. In the hope that this will be 

 the case, we cannot conclude this paper without 

 congratulating all orders of our fellow subjects 

 upon the bright prospects which the genei'al a])pli- 

 cation of steam to brute labor purposes opens upon 

 us. At a moment when the resources of the coun- 

 try are no longer adequate to the wants of our po- 

 pulation, ^'■when a restless spirit of discontent is 

 everywhere abroad,'''' and cheap food oi' home growth 

 is a sine qua noii to an ameliorated condition, this 

 beneficent agent stops in to accomplish what could 

 not have been effected by any external process 

 whatever. The speedy and general introduction 

 of steam cultivation is all that is required to make 

 cheap bread in Britain, m a way that will reduce 

 no one to destitution in Britain. If our industrious 

 classes must still earn and eat bread by the sweat 

 of their brow, they shall nevertheless eat it in 

 plenty, and in contentment. Under the social 

 economy which the extension of steam to the 

 purposes of animal labor will allow, it shall 

 no longer be said that the wealthiest empire 

 in the world is also the most wretched one, or 

 Jbat, with all our boasted wisdom in science 



and art, we are unwise in that which not rightly 

 to know is misery and unhappmessl The bet- 

 ter policy of the age of steam must be to make 

 millions rich instead of the units, — to render 

 monopoly the property of the state and not of the 

 stock-jobber, — to comfort a thousand happy homes, 

 instead ofbuilding up one bloated capitalist. Steam 

 which, confined to physical purposes, hitherto has 

 wrought such marvels, extended further to econo- 

 mic uses, can achieve all this, for by home means, 

 equalizing the price of necessaries and conve- 

 niences, iticill adjust prcdiiction and consumption; 

 the unbalanced condition of which alone has de- 

 ranged the currency, — paralyzed transaction, — 

 abridged industry; and, in a word, occasioned all 

 these evils which at length have produced a nation 

 divided into usurers and paupers, to the danger 

 alike of the constitution, the altar, and the throne. 



B. B. 



DIRECTIONS rOR WORKING CAST STEEL, 



From the Soutliern Planter. 



Mr. Editor — The knowledge of the enclosed 

 Recipes of Rules \'ov working Cast Steel cost my 

 father, some years ago, ,^20. As it may be of use 

 to some of the mechanics among your subscribers, 

 to whom it is not generally known, you are allow- 

 ed to publish it for their benefit. j. g. 



DIRECTIONS. 



Take borax and melt it in an iron ladle until 

 it will run like melted cmders or wax, then pour it 

 into a clean iron plate; let it stand until cold, then 

 pound it to powder, when it is fit for use. 



TO MAKE ALL KINDS OF AXES. 



Make the head or poll in the common way, and 

 weld the iron firmly where the steel is to be placed; 

 then with a thin chisel split the iron one inch deep 

 in the middle, then heat the iron where it has been 

 split; when hot hammer the iron with the pane of 

 the hammer so that the edges of the iron may be 

 thin on each side of the steel. Then the chisel 

 should be entered once more to open the iron which 

 should be nearly whitfi hot; when opened, some of 

 the powder should be put into the split on both 

 sides; then the steel should be put into the same 

 and the iron gently closed to it, so that the steel 

 will keep its place until the welding heat is taken; 

 put it loosly into the fire, heat it until the steel is 

 red hot, sprinkle on more of the ingredients to pre- 

 vent the steel from burning; turn it and let it be un- 

 til a smoke arises, then it is fit for Avelding. Care 

 should be taken to keep the iron clean, that no 

 particles of coal or dust come between it and the 

 steel. The edge of the axe should run past the 

 teu iron, and be raised a little above a level. 



RULE FOR TEMPERING TOOLS. 



All tools should be heated slow and regular, for 

 hardening, say to a dark red, or as Ioav as will take 

 a sufficient degree of hardiness. Take one gallon 

 of salt to six gallons of water. — Temper your tools 

 in this water. 



FOR AN AXE. 



Draw the temper to a Pigeon red, then cool it. 



FOR CUTTING STONE. 



Draw the temper to a deep straw color. 



FOR TEMPERING CO LD CHISELS. 



Draw the temper from the heat of the chisel to a 

 deep blue. 



