NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



IMPROVEMENTS IN COATING METAL- 

 LIC SUBSTANCES. 



A patent has recently been issued in England 

 to Messrs. E. Morewood and G. Rogers, of En-i 

 field, for improvements in coating or covering met- 

 als with lead, tin, copper, &c., which is described 

 in the Mechanics' Magazine as follows, viz: j 



111 coating zinc with lead by casting, a quantity j 

 of lead is first melted in a shallow vessel, and whenj 

 it has been raised above the melting point of zinc, 

 pieces of that metal are placed on the surfaces of i 

 the lead, or molten zinc is poured on; and afteri 

 standing some time to allow the metals to separate,! 

 in the event of their having become mixed, the ves- 

 sel is removed, and the slab cooled down altogether, 

 or to about 300 deg. Fahr., when it may be rolled 

 in the customary manner. In order to coat the zinc 

 on the opposite side, when both sides are required 

 to be so coated, the slab is heated to a little above 

 the melting pointof lead and sprinkled with sal-am- 

 moniac, and a stick of lead rubbed on until a suf- 

 ficiently thick coating is obtained. In coating zinc 

 with copper, a slab of copper is prepared by melt- 

 ing in a shallow vessel and allowed to cool down 

 to a little above the melting point of zinc: or a 

 plate of copper is heated to the requisite tempera- 

 ture and sprinkled with sal-ammoniac, or other 

 suitable flux, and the coating is effected in either 

 case by rubbing the surface of the copper with a 

 stick of zinc, till a sufficient quantity has been de- 

 posited on it; or two slabs of copper are placed in 

 a mould, and molten metal poured in between them. 

 To coat zinc with tin or solder, the zinc is sprin- 

 kled with sal-amiTioniac, and heated, and a stick of 

 .solder rubbed on until a sufficient quantity is melted 

 to ol)tain the requisite depth of coating. Lead may 

 be coated in a similar manner, and these prepared 

 sheets may be attached to sheet tinned or zinced 

 iron, by sprinkled the surfaces to be united with 

 weak muriatic acid or salammoniac, and laying the 

 tinned lead or zinc on the tinned surface of the 

 plate of iron, which is to be previously heated to 

 above the melting point of the tin or solder. A 

 heated roller is then passed over the two surfaces, 

 to maintain them in contact and prevent buckling 

 or warj)ing, after which a colder surface isapplied, 

 to aid in causing the solder to set rapidly. 



NATIVE ARTISTS. 



resources. "And this man, who was a common 

 plasterer a few years ago in Charleston, has al- 

 ready struck out some of the bcddest conceptions, 

 He has made a cast of his equestrian statue, and 

 he has dispensed with the use of the clay mould. 

 He has made an equestrian statue in which he has 

 dispensed with any other support to the horse ex- 

 cept his own two feet. And he has invented a 

 furnace for casting it, which economises and pre- 

 serves the caloric in a wonderful degree." Yet 

 so it is. Such is another fruit of our free and glo- 

 rious institutions. In a country where every man 

 can be anything — where official honors and popu- 

 lar applause are thrown open to every man who de- 

 serves them — where many of the most distinguished 

 men in the republic have won their way to the 

 highest distinction by the force of their own mer- 

 its and vigor of their own will — where the poor 

 man is able to pass the rich man in the career of 

 excellence, because the hereditary worth of the 

 latter only paralyzes his motive for improving him- 

 self — it is not astonishing that such men as Pow- 

 ers and Mills should write their names high on the 

 column of fame. 



dl^In England, Scotland and Wales, there is 

 but one voter to every 17 inhabitants; in Ireland 

 only one in eighty. 



(J^ The zeal which begins with hypocrisy must 

 conclude in treachery; at first it deceives, at last 

 it betrays. 



Caiiica' pepartmcnt. 



The reputation of Powers as an artist of the 

 highest order is firmly established wherever the no- 

 ble specimens of his genius and art have been ex- 

 liibited. But he is not alone, or rather it is dis- 

 covered that another young and gifted mind is des- 

 tined to future distinction as one of our most emi- 

 nent sculptors. This individual is Mr. Clark Mills, 

 who has been for some time engaged on the work 

 of a colossal statue of General Jackson. The 

 Washington Union remarks: Mr. Mills is a inan'of 

 decided genius. If God spares his life and Mr. 

 Mills exerts his talents with that devoted enthusi- 

 asm without which no man can attain to lofty emi 

 nen'^e, we risk nothing in predicting that he is des- 

 tined to attain a brilliant distinction amoncst the 

 finest artists of this glorious country. We have 

 never seen a man more struck with the genius of 

 another than Tupper was with that of Mr. Mills. 

 He told us that he had spent two agreeable hours 

 in his studio; that he had found in him a genius 

 of high order — an inventive power of the greatest 



LETTER FROM A FARMER'S WIFE. 



Mr. Editor : — Will you allow a farmer's wife 

 to say a few words to her sisterhood, through the 

 columns of your excellent paper. We are aware 

 that a farmer's calling does not reflect as much 

 honor on his companion as that of many other pro- 

 fessions, but I trust the time is not far distant when 

 a "farmer's wife" will no more give one an idea 

 of a coarse, red-faced woman, with no intelligence 

 above her butter and cheese, than a "lawyer's la- 

 dy" will fill one's mind with a vision of loveliness 

 and grace. 



But the most serious objection we hear girls 

 urge against this life, is that there is always so 

 much to do in a farm house, that no time is left for 

 mental improvement. Now, we beg leave to say, 

 — this need not be so. Any woman, in good health, 

 can do the housework and plain sewing for four or 

 five, and have at least one hour each day foi study 

 besides all the little odds and ends of time, for books 

 and newspapers ; and surely a mind need not starve 

 upon that. Any woman who cannot secure this 

 amount of time to herself, and will still do without 

 help, is doing what is not her duty, either to her- 

 self or family. 



It is a mistaken idea that a woman can discharge 

 her household duties properly, without any educa- 

 tion, or that doing housework tends to deaden the 

 sensibilities, or produce a disrelish for books. No 

 such distaste is ever formed but by needless neg- 

 lect, and any one who has ever tried it, knows that 

 the mind inust be ever on the alert, and that caring 

 for and contributinir to the comfort and happiness 

 of those around us so continually, cultivates the 

 inost active benevolence. Thus, too, we are in a 



