2-24 



NEW £ xN G L A N D FARMER, 



J AS. 12.18 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



ARTIFICIAL ICE. 



One of llio iiinst remarkable inventions of the 

 (lay, is that of arlijicinl ice, pavements of floors of 

 which are to be laid down for the amusement of 

 til )Ke useless people whose time is of no conse- 

 quence. The world is indchled to some genius in 

 England for this invention. — The following is from 

 a Into London paper : 



" In America they are boasting the construction 

 of a railroad to convey ice to Charlestown for llic 

 supply of the West Indies ! Very well ; but that 

 is real ice. England has done something nron.' ; 

 she has established hor independence of winter. 

 She can do without frost altogether, and yet go on 

 sltatinr: all the year round. She has discovered 

 more than Parry did at the Pole ; she has found 

 out — artificial ice. 



To Mr. Bredwcll, whose ingenuity as a machin- 

 ist has su long been signalized in Covent Garden 

 Theatre, the public will he indebted for the rcali- 

 z:\tion of this wonder. It is proposed that in what 

 were once tiie nursery groimd.'f, in the New Road, 

 the infant sliall be nursed and reared, and the New 

 Road to enjoyment thrown open. Magnificent 

 rooms, on a scale of e.xtraordinary magnitude, will 

 be laid with sheets of patent ice, upon which the 

 common skate can be used with the same facility 

 as upon the frozen Serpentine. There will be 

 rooms for learners and private parties. The arliti- 

 cial ice has been put to the test of tlie extreme 

 heat, and is unaffected by it. It may be used in 

 jirivate houses, and be carpeted wlien skating is 

 over. 



Such is the accredited statement, and our infer- 

 ence naturally is, that skating soon will become 

 popular all over the world. The speculiitors who 

 long ago sent out skates to India, will now ma!;e 

 their fortunes. With ourselves it will soon be the 

 national pastime. People will get up in the dog- 

 days early, and go out for e. morning's skating. 

 They will enjoy the sport with advantages hitherto 

 undreamed of; there will be no keen winter wind 

 to cut them int wo, no ' mobocracy' to mi.x «ilh, no 

 rheumatisms to catch, no duckings to dread. The 

 word ' dangerous' will be osa term in the unknown 

 tongue. They will not anticipate a draw. back in 

 llie use of drags, and though they mix in every so- 

 ciety, the ' Humane' will be untroubled ; there will 

 be neither falling in nor falling out. 



Skating. floors of course, will be laid down in 

 nil the houses of the affluent, and invilea will be 

 issueu irom Portland-place and Park-lane, after 

 the fashion of the accompanying curd : 



. Mr. and Mrs. Slippers request the honor of 

 Mr., Mrs. and Miss Slider's company to an evening 

 party, on the Ist ot July, 184-. Skates at 10.' 



It will be the privilege of a gentleman to soli- 

 cit the hand of a lady for the ne.M ligure-of eight, 

 to beseech her to take part with him in the date of 

 the year, or to join him in a true lover's knot. 

 Servants will skate in and out with real ice. The 

 text of .Milton will be altered in llic next edition, 

 and his couplet will be rend — 



" Come trip il, long aii'l Inte, 

 On the light faiita»li»tknu." 

 But the skating-tloor will b'e'in equal requent for 

 family use as for company. On a wet morning 

 when it is impossible to go oot, the gentlemen will 



say ' Here's a soaker ! no ride, no walk ; James, 



bring mc my skalca.' Or perhaps the lady will 



cry, ' V/hat a horrid dry day 1 nothing but dust ! 

 Why don't ihoy put an awning all over Hyde 

 Park .' Eustace, my skates ?' What an im- 

 mense saving will there be in the article of firing, 

 when people are thus irresistibly moved to ' stir 

 their stumps,' instead of the fire. 



But will the advantage end here r Certainly 

 not. There can be no question but that the ex- 

 periment will be tried in tho new House of Parlia- 

 ment, where, should a ekating-fioor be laid down, 

 notices of motion will be far less abundant than 

 motions without notice. Changing sides will be a 

 matter of constant practice ; to cut figures, not to 

 cultivate them, will be the order of the day ; the 

 noble lord will • feel great reluctance in reducing 

 himself to the level of the honorable gentleman,' 

 and the honorable gentleman ' will be very unwil- 

 ling to adopt the position of the noble lord.' Sup- 

 porting /ic-titions will be of less consequence than 

 supporting par. titions ; and the strong party mea- 

 sure that will be necessary, will be a strong party 

 wall. 



Westminster Hall will of course be furnished 

 with a floor for the use of the lawyers, and the ju- 

 ries in waiting ; the counsel will show where an 

 action may lie, the plaintiff will naturally go 

 against the defendant, and the defendant will nat- 

 urally move for a new trial. The town-halls 

 throughout the kingdom will be similarly supplied. 

 But may not patent ice-pavements be laid down in 

 our popular thoroughfores ? We have asphalte 

 promenades and wooden highways ; but what are 

 such inventions as these to the convenience of 

 ice-pavemenle, and the luxury of skating down 

 Cheapside, to be early on 'Change ? What a 

 ninth of November will that be which shows us 

 the two Sheriffs skating away to Guildhall after 

 the new Lord Mayor, followed by the Court of Al- 

 dermen and the Companies. A procession on 

 skates ! the Cabinet Ministers, the Judges, the 

 sword-bearer, and the men in armor, — all skating 

 like Dutchmen !" 



.1 Challenge of Love. — The following anecdol 

 is too good to be lost. Two of our most respeclil 

 ble and benevolent citizens, whom we shall de 

 nate as B. and W., were in conversation reso 

 ing a poor family who needed aid. Said B., ' 

 you ought to give them a barrel of flour." 

 will," replied the oilier, " if you will whe 

 down there in twenty minutes." " I'll do it," 

 •ponded B. The barrel of flour was purck 

 and B. trundled it off, in compliance with tlie< 

 lenge, through the snow and mud of last Satur 

 to gladden the hearts of the poor family, at a { 

 tanco of not less than a mile. — HampaKire Ga 



A man named Stone exclaimed in a bar-n 

 " I'll bet I have the hardest name in tliecomp 

 " Done," said one of the company, " what's 

 name ?■" "Stone,' cried the first. "Hand I 

 the money," said the other ; " my name is Hi 

 er I" 



Jl Quaker's Advice. — A pretty girl was 

 plaining to a young Quaker that she was dread 

 ly troubled by chaps on her lips. ' Friend M^ 

 replied broad brim, ' thou should'st not allow 

 chaps to come so near thy lips.' 



GRifZEN'S PATENT 8TRA IV CUTTER. 



4 



JOSKPH BRECK *. CO. at the New England A 

 tural Warehouse and Seed Store Nog. 61 an<i62Nort! 

 ket Slreel, hove for sale, Green's Patent Straw, Hav A 

 Slalk Culler, operating on a mechanical principle not btfe 

 applied toa»y iniplemeni for this purpose. The most 

 inenl effects of ilus upplicaliou, and some of the cour- 

 peculiarities of the maeUine arc: 



1. i5o great a reduction of the quantum of power r( 

 to use il, thai the strength of a half grown boy is sul 

 to work il clficieiitly. 



2. With even this moderate power, il easily cuts tvi 

 o,) In the -iirp nf BPvpntv els a minute, which is lull iwice as fast us has bcea 

 ed to the age ot seventy. ^ ^^^ ^^^ other machine even when worked hy horse o 



I 3. The knives, owing to the peculiar manner mwnu 

 cut, require sharpeuiug less often than those of any 

 straw cutler. 



4. The machine is simple nuts construction, mad* 

 together very strongly. Il is therefore not so liable 

 complicated machines in general use to get out of 



Age of Animals. — A bear rarely e.^ceeds twenty 

 years ; a dog lives twenty years ; a woif the 

 same ; a fox fourteen or sixteen years ; lions are 

 long lived. Pompey 



The average age of cats is fifteen years ; a squir- 

 rel or hare seven or eight years ; rabbits seven. 

 Elephants have been known to live to the great 

 age of four hundred years. When Alexander the 

 Great conquered one Porus, king of India, he took 

 a great elephant which had fought valiantly for the 

 kingi «n<l named him Ajax, dedicated him to the 

 sun, affd let hiin go with this inscription : " Alex- 

 ander the son of Jupiter hath dedicated Ajax to 

 the sun." This elephant was found with this in- 

 scription 350 years afterwards. Hogs have been 

 known to live to the age of 30 years ; the rhinoce- 

 ros to iO. A horse has been known to live to the 

 age of (;'2, but averages a.5 to 30. Camels some- 

 times live to the age of 100. Stags are long 

 lived. Sheep seldom exceed the age of ten. 

 Cows live about fifteen years. Cuvier considers it 

 possible that whales sometimes live one thousand 

 years. Mr. Mallerton has the skeleton of a swan 

 that attained the age of two hundred years. Pel- 

 icans arc long lived. A tortoise has been known 

 to live to the age of one hundred and aovcn. — 

 StUcicd. 



The purest pleasure is that which arise* from 

 the conscioBsness of having done our duty. 



9 



alllMDSTOSES, ON FRICTION ROL.t.EBl. 



Grindstones cf (litferciil sizes hung on friction roller* 

 moved with n foot Iroodor, is found to l.c a great ""I* 

 menl on the present mode of hanging grindstones. W 

 case with which tliev move upon the rollers, render? IIB 

 very easy In turn with the loot, by which llic lalor uf 

 man is saved, and llie person in the ocl of grindinj!, 

 goTern the stone inure to his mind by having the cc 

 control of his work. Stones hung in this inannnr 

 coming daily more in use, and wherever used, give 

 sal satisfoclion. Tho rollers can be allacbed to »lor 

 in ihe coniiiion wav. _„ 



For sale l)y JOSKPU DRECK &, CO., Nos. H aiiB 

 North Market Uoston. JuljM 



N EW ENGLAND FARMKE. ^ 



A WEKKLT PAPER. ^ 



Terms, $2 per year in adtance, or $2 53 if nol|^ 



within ihirly days. 



N. B. — Poilmnslers arc permitted by law to frii 



(iibscriptiona and remittance* for newipapen, 



ezpfnsB to aubacribcra. 



TUTTLK ABB DKWNITT, 



II 



