14 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



sweet oil, butter, or lard, and sprinkled with yellow 

 Scotch snuff, is said to have performed wonderful 

 cures in cases of croup ; it should be placed where 

 the distress is greatest. Goose-grease, or any kind 

 of oily g'.-ease, is as good as bear's oil. 



Equal parts of camphor, spirits of wine, and harts- 

 horn, well mixed, and rubbed upon the throat, is 

 said to be good for the croup. 



Severe cases of croup have been cured by the 

 liberal application of cold water to the neck and 

 breast, then rubbing with a coarse cloth, till a glow- 

 is produced. 



Method of prevknting Cold Feet at Bedtime. — 

 Draw off your stockings just before undressing, and 

 rub your ankles and feet with your hand, as hard as 

 you can boar the pressure, for five or ten minutes, 

 and you will never have to complain of cold feet in 

 bed. It is hardly conceivable what a pleasurable 

 glow this diffuses. Frequent washing of the feet, and 

 rubbing them thoroughly dry with cloth or flannel, 

 is very useful. 



The Slippery Elm. — One of the most valuable, 

 as it is a well-known article in our country, is the 

 Slippery Elm, ( Ulmus Ftilva.) All our apothecaries 

 keep it, both the flower and the bark. It is generally 

 called slippery elm, red elm, or rough-leaved elm. 

 It is indigenous to our country, and what is re- 

 markable, yet but little known, it contains a great 

 amount of human nourishment ; it is medicinal 

 also. It is an excellent substitute for water, and you 

 can carry in your waistcoat pocket sufhcicnt to 

 subsist upon for ten days ! The shipwrecked sailor, 

 the soldier in Mexico, and the traveller on the prai- 

 ries, should never be without it. It always mitigates 

 hunger, and is nourishment and drink. Lot no ship 

 go to sea without it, no traveller fail to have it with 

 him, no army march without it. 



iHecl)auics' IBcpavtmcnt, Tlrts, $Ci. 



The mechanic, like the farmer, is a producer, and 

 these arc the two great classes which add wealth, 

 comfort, and power to a nation. They are the main- 

 spring that puts in motion and sustains the whole 

 mechanism of society. Numerous other professions 

 are also absolutely necessary for the well-being of 

 the community, and form important component parts 

 of the great machine which constitutes the body 

 politic. All acting in harmony and unity, intimately 

 blended, and depending on each other, complete the 

 great social fabric. 



The labor and ingenuity of the mechanic have 

 made vast improvements in agriculture, by furnish- 

 ing superior implements and machines, that not only 

 lighten and expedite the labor of the cultivator, but 

 give more thorough culture and better operations in 

 almost every process. 



The raw material of the fanner, in many respects, 

 must receive the plastic hand of the mechanic, or 

 artist, to give it currency and value. And his labors 

 are not only in the line of utility, but they contribute 

 largely to instruction, to improved taste, to elegance 

 and refinement. Fine specimens of art are mute, 

 yet eloquent teachers, often more impressive than 

 the precepts aiid didactic instruction of the living. 



The beautiful and accurate engraving on our ninth 

 page, speaks more than tongue or pen can express, in 

 regard to fonn, and with the touch of the artist's 

 pencil, its colors would be more distinctly impressed 

 on the mind than by the power of language. 



Mechanics, as well as farmers, can learn by reading 

 of the inventions, discoveries, and experience of 

 others, and by observation beyond their own routine 

 of action. Besides, most mechanics have a spot of 

 earth which they delight to cultivate, promoting 

 their health by exercise in the open air ; therefore 

 they will be pleased and instructed by other parts of 

 this paper. Their families will share also in the 

 pleasure and profit. 



» 



New Inventions. — A new flax-breaking, scutch- 

 ing and hackling machine has been invented by a 

 gentleman in St. Louis. The noti^.e which we have 

 seen of this machine, states, that the breaking Ls 

 accomplished by means of solid, polished, cast iron 

 rolls, ribbed in a peculiar serpentine form. Fine, 

 spiral, brass hackles are attached to cylinders, by 

 means of which the fibre is perfectly softened and 

 thoroughly hackled, at the same time that the break- 

 ing and scutching is going on. By the use of this 

 machine, two children can do the work of tv.-clve or 

 fifteen persons using common hand cleaners. 



The soil and the climate of these North- "Western 

 States are peculiarly favorable to the growth of flax. 

 By the process of preparing it for market, v.ith the 

 fiicilities offered by such a machine, and the applica- 

 tion of steam to the proper rotting of the stalk, we 

 may anticipate the time as not far distant when this 

 article, flax, will be one of our most profitable agri- 

 cultiu'al productions. — Iowa Farmer. 



The Manner of soldering Ferrules for Tool- 

 handles, &c. — Take your ferrule, lap round the 

 joining a small piece of brass- wire, then just wet the 

 ferrule, scatter on the joining ground borax, put it 

 on the end of a wire, hold it in the fire till the brass 

 fuses. It will fill up the joining, and form a perfect 

 solder. It may afterwards be turned in the lathe. 



"Water- proof Glue. — Soak common glue in cold 

 water till it becomes completely soft without chang- 

 ing its foiTu ; then dissolve it in common warm linseed 

 oU, and apply it as usual ; it will dry quickly. 



Celebrated French Polish. — To one pint of 

 spirits of wine add one and a half ounces of shellac, 

 one quarter of an ounce of gum copal, and one quar- 

 ter of an ounce of gum Arabic ; all the gums to be 

 bruised. Keep the vessel into which these are put 

 well corked, and let it remain in a warm place for 

 two or three days ; then pour o!f the clear part into 

 another bottle. Apply the polish to the end of a 

 rubber, made by rolling up a piece of firm muslin 

 verj^ firmly, fastened to a stick or skewer, and covered 

 with a firm cotton cloth, perfectly free from lint or 

 dust, and just moistened with a very small quantity 

 of cold di-awn linseed oil ; use the rubber briskly, 

 with a moderate pressure, in a circular direction, over 

 a space of about a square foot at a time, and replenish 

 both as the wood dries. Go over the whole surface 

 in this manner, and give three or four coats, accord- 

 ing to the grain of the wood. The operation must 

 be performed in a place of moderate warmth. Grad- 

 ually clear off the oil from the surface with the polish, 

 and sometimes turn the rag, otherwise the bright- 

 ness will not be perfect. 



This polish imparts a superior brilliancy and clear- 



