328 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



There has lately been patented by Mr. Selleck, of Greenwich, Ct., a pro- 

 cess of hardening wrought iron, that promises great benefits to farmers. 

 In the extraction of zinc from the ores of New- Jersey, a new metal, or 

 rather iron in a new form, was found. It is probably a silicate of iron, and 

 is called Franklinite ore, or metal, and is worth no more than any other 

 iron ore — hardly as much for the manufacture of iron — because it can be 

 used only in small quantities, mixed with better ores. Now this metal 

 will melt at a welding heat of wrought iron, and it has such an affinity for 

 it, that if a little piece is placed upon the hot bar, it melts, and spreads 

 over the surface, just as a lump of tallow does upon a moderately-heated 

 iron, and like that, it seems to incorporate itself with the surface of the iron, 

 and is malleable while hot, but, when cold, is so hard that no one can touch 

 it. The corks of a horse-shoe, to which this Franklinite metal has been 

 applied, are as hard as glass. The importance of this great, good, cheap 

 improvement in iron manufactures for farmers, is wholly incalculable. We 

 hope they will not abuse this discovery, by neglecting to proffit by its use. 



Now, lest you should say that I abuse my subject, by subjecting it to too 

 long a trial of your patience, I will barely allude to the greatest of all 

 abuses that iron is ever put to about a farm, and then hold up for some one 

 else to go on with the subject. 



This greatest of all abuses is in the form of bird-murdering shot guns, 

 which I expect to hear popping all round the country, a few weeks hence, 

 just as the little songsters are preparing nests for the propagation of their 

 species. 



Now, in an old settled farming country, like this around New York, the 

 best possible use that iron can be put to in the form of a shot gun, is to 

 shoot every prowling ragabond that comes upon your farm, blazing away at 

 your birds, yours as much as the trees they light upon — yours as the tur- 

 keys, geese, ducks, chickens, doves, around your barn, for you bought them 

 with the land — and none but a villian too base to live will come upon your 

 premises to destroy your most faluable friends, the birds. The use of iron 

 for their destruction is the worst abuse it was ever put to on a farm. It 

 is worse than using a wooden shaft and crank to a shank ling old grindstone, 

 or a wooden trammel to hold the dinner pot over the wood fire in a wooden 

 chimney. 



John Gr. Bergen thought there had been a very great abuse of iron at 

 Lawrence, Mass., lately. 



Wm. S. Carpenter. — Mr, Robinson spoke of a kind of iron pump for 

 farmers. He says that this pump will not freeze. I wish he would tell us 

 why it will not freeze, as that is a great difficulty with me. 



Mr. Robinson replied. — The pump is fixed below the platform in the 

 well, and as cold weather comes on, a little plug is pulled out of the bottom 

 of the pipe that sends the water up to the spout, so that all above the plat- 

 form runs back. 



Dr. Wellington spoke of the great benefit of iron to the farmer in its 

 use in fruit growing. The scales of a blacksmith shop are highly valuable, 



