150 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Ulciljamcs' Dcpavtimnt, ::ii-t3, ^c. 



RAZOR STROPS. 



Mr. Moore: — It is said that he who makes two 

 blades of grass grow where but one grew before 

 confers a greater benefit on society than all the 

 speculative theorists, from the false prophets of old 

 up to father Miller; and I don't see why he that 

 causes the catting down of a had and troublesome 

 growth of human weeds, in a comfortable and ex- 

 peditious manner, is not also entitled to the meed 

 of praise, and to be elevated another round on the 

 Jacob's ladder of commendation. I am getting on 

 the shady side of three score, and find on calcula- 

 tion that I have cut from my face more than two 

 rods of beard, and sometimes with a most villan- 

 ous dull razor, which I fear has caused me to add 

 some anathemas to the vocabulary of curses, on 

 cutting edges. 



Not having anything else to bequeath to posteri- 

 ty, that they will sensibly feel, do me the favor to 

 publish the following recipe, for renewing or con- 

 structing the sharpening propertiesof a razor strop. 



Buy two pennies worth of pummicd stone, from 

 the druggist, or paint dealer, in two pieces with 

 flat surfaces; rub these above the strop, letting the 

 dust fall on its surface. When sufficiently covered, 

 invert it to allow any coarse particles to fall off; 

 smooth and rub it down wit't the blade of a knife, 

 and it is ready for the razor. If the strop is dry 

 and stiff, moisten it, and add a little oil or soft 

 grease before dusting it. If it makes too harsh an 

 edge at first, reverse the manner of stroping from 

 heel to point, to from point to heel, and if proper 

 management and skill is used, it will cut three 

 days under the skin. — Rural New-Yorker. 



GLAZE FOR COMMON EARTHEN- 

 WARE. 



The glaze usually employed for common kinds 

 of earthenware is compounded of litharge of lead 

 and ground flints, in the proportion of ten parts by 

 weight of the former to four parts of the latter. 

 Cornish granite is sometimes substituted for flint, 

 and used in the proportion of eight parts to ten of 

 litharge. This mctliod of glazing is objectionable, 

 on account of the injury which, notwithstanding 

 every caution that can be taken, it occasions, in its 

 application, to the health of the workmen employed, 

 who frequently are seized with paralysis; and be- 

 cause the lead, which is soluble by means of acids, 

 and highly poisonous, renders vessels thus glazed 

 improper for preparing or containing many articles 

 of human food. 



The bad effect of raw glazes upon their health 

 is greatly lessened to the workmen when they can 

 be brought to the fiequent use of ablutions. In 

 every pottery the men employed in glazuig should 

 be, and in most establishments they are, plentifully 

 supplied with soap, which they are enjoined to use 

 on every occasion of quitting their work. Unfor- 

 tunately, however, the workmen themselves have 

 become erroneously impressed with a belief in the 

 superior etheacy of ardent spirits in warding off or 

 counteracting the poisonous effects of lead, and fly 

 to the use of this as a specific, to a degree which 

 too often proves, both physically and morally, worse 

 than the evil which it is intended to prevent. 



The mixtures just mentioned are called raw 



glazes; their employment is convenient to the pot- 

 ter because of their cheapness and ext'eme fusibili- 

 ty. Flint, which remains unaffected in the focus 

 of the most powerful lens, is, when combined with 

 lead, melted and vitrified at a comparatively low 

 heat. The method of using tliis glaze is to reduce 

 the ingredients to the state of a fine powder, and 

 throw them into as much water as will make them 

 of the consistency of cream. The mixture must be 

 well stirred, that the powders may be kept uni- 

 formly blended throughout the fluid. The pieces 

 are first brushed to free them from dust, and then 

 merely dipped into the liquid and withdrawn, when 

 they must be turned rapidly about in all directions, 

 that the glaze may flow equally over the whole sur- 

 face. The superfluous liquid having been allowed 

 to drain off a few seconds, and the pieces having 

 been set on a board during a few minutes, they are 

 ready i'ov insertion in the seggars. 



Chaptal, in his "Chemistry applied to the Arts," 

 has given a process for forming white enamel, 

 which answers well for glazing the superior kinds 

 of earthenware and tender porcelain. Equal parts 

 of lead and tin ate kept in fusion until completely 

 oxidated. The powder thus formed is ground 

 with water, all impurities are removed by repeated 

 washings, and being dried it is kept for use. The 

 whitest flints are then chosen, and used with car- 

 bonate of potash, the latter being in such propor- 

 tion to the flint, that the mixture will be soluble in 

 water. To the solution of flint thus made, muri- 

 atic acid must, from time to time, be added, until 

 no further precipitation occurs. The precipitate 

 thus obtained is pure silex, which, being washed 

 and dried, is also fit for use. If then one part of 

 this silex, and one part of the metallic oxide, be 

 added to two parts of carbonate of potash, and the 

 whole be fused in a crucible, the mass need only be 

 reduced to a fine powder to prepare it for use in 

 glazing. — Scicndjic American. 



LABOR IS CAPITAL. 



This adage is strikingly illustrated in a fact that 

 has recently come under our own observation, in 

 the case of the journeymen scale makers, who, 

 some two years ago, without money or other means 

 except th3ir hands and tools, and a good reputa- 

 tion, formed themselves into a company, for the 

 purpose of establishing for themselves a business 

 that was then making others rich, but at merely 

 journeymen's wages, keeping thein poor. The re- 

 sult, as might have been expected by those who 

 knew their enterprise, has been exceedingly favor- 

 able. The business has continued to increase un- 

 til their original establishment has become too small 

 for their use, and they have enlarged their factory 

 and are now employing additional hands. They 

 now employ a number of journeymen themselves, 

 whom they pay liberally and promptly. It is said 

 that their siles already amount to more than $25,- 

 000 a year, and are constantly increasing. Their man- 

 ufactory is 13 Green Street, and their warehouse 187 

 Water Street, in tliis city. They manufacture every 

 kind of Hay, Floor, Por'table Platform, Bank, Gold 

 and Counter Scales, Patent Balances, &c. , and every 

 scale m id3 by them is correct, and warranted not 

 liable to get out of order. Mr. George G. Sheppard 

 is the sole agent, and we trust their praiseworthy 

 enterprise will be liberally rewarded. — iV. Y. Far- 

 mer and Mechanic. 



