HORTICULTURAL REPOSITORY". 



265 



stone, saves the expense and trouble that attends the 

 taking up, renewing and wedging those now in use. 

 The inconvenience of repairing the common ones, 

 often induces the millers to leave them in long after 

 the spindle begins to warble, and thus much inferior 

 ilour finds its way to market ; but Mr. Taylor's im- 

 provement does away this objection. (It can be seen 

 at this office.) 



CAST IRON FIRE TONGS. 



High polish and cheapness, and also strength, ap- 

 pear to be the recommendations of this improvement. 

 Theyare particularly adapted for kitchen use. (They 

 can be seen at 113 Beekman-st.) 



MACHINE FOR PLANTING SEEDS. 



The patent for this improvement was taken out in 

 August last, by two persons of the name of Roberts, 

 residents of Denmark, N. York. The machine has 

 been sometime in operation, and has, says the editor 

 of the Franklin Journal " been found to answer the 

 intended purpose in the most perfect manner." An 

 intelligent gentleman who resides in the neighbour- 

 hood of the patentees, writes thus, " there can be no 

 difficulty in the application of this machine to the 

 planting of any kind of seed, and any number of 

 them at a time, at any required distance, as fast as a 

 man can walk. When the rows are set four feet 

 apart one way, and eighteen inches the other ; there 

 is no difficulty, nor is it a very hard day's work for a 

 man to plant ten acres after the ground is properly 

 prepared to receive the seeds." 



ART. 164.— -On a method of Cleaning Silk, 



JToollen, and Cotton Goods, By Mrs. Anne 



Morris. 



Take raw potatoes, in the state they are taken out 

 of the earth ; wash them well ; then rub them on a 

 grater, over a vessel of clean water, to a fine pulp ; 

 pass the liquid through a coarse sieve, into another 

 tub of clear water : let the mixture stand, till the fine 

 white particles of the potatoes (the fcecula) are pre- 

 cipitated : then pour the mucilaginous potato-liquor 

 from the fascula, and preserve this liquor for use. 



The article to be cleaned should be laid upon a 

 linen cloth, on a table ; and, having provided a clean 

 sponge, dip it into the potato-liquor, and apply the 

 sponge thus wet upon the article to be cleaned, and 

 rub it well upon it, repeatedly, with fresh portions of 

 the potato-liquor, till the dirt is perfectly loosened : 

 then wash the article in clean water several times, 

 to remove the loose dirt : it may afterwards be 

 smoothed and dried. 



Two middle-sized potatoes will be sufficier.t for a 

 pint of water. 



The white fajcula, which separates in making the 

 mucilagiaous liquor, will answer the purpose of tapi- 



oca ; will make a useful nourishing food, with soup 

 or milk ; or serve to make starch and hair-powder. 



The coarse pulp, which does not pass the sieve, is 

 of great use in cleaning worsted or woollen curtains, 

 tapestry, carpets, or other coarse goods. 



The mucilaginous liquor of the potatoes will clean 

 all sorts of silk, cotton, or woollen goods, without 

 hurting the texture of the articles, or spoiling their 

 colours. 



It is also useful in cleaning oil-paintings, or furni- 

 ture that is soiled. 



Dirty painted wainscots may be cleaned, by wet- 

 ting a sponge in the liquor, then dipping it into a lit- 

 tle fine clean sand, and afterwards rubbing the wain- 

 scottherewith — Trans. Eng. af Arts. 



[Under the impression that no information which 

 our columns could convey, will be more acceptable 

 to farmers than that on neat cattle, we commence the 

 following as the beginning of a series of articles, 

 each ot which will be accompanied by one or more 

 cuts of the most improved breeds of English bulls. 

 Our readers may rely on the accuracy of the draw- 

 ings, taken from that celebrated work, Loudon's En= 

 cyclopedia of Agriculture.] 



ART. 165— JVeat or Homed Cattle. 

 The neat or horned cattle used in agriculture are 

 included under two species of Bos ; the B. taurus or 

 Ox, and the B. bubidus or Buffalo ; the latter less 

 used in Britain than on the continent and in other 

 countries. These animals are more universally used 

 as beasts of draught and burthen than the horse, and 

 have the additional advantage of furnishing excel- 

 lent food and other valuable products. There is 

 scarcely a country in which the ox or the buffalo is 

 not either indigenous, or naturalized and cultivated ; 

 while in many parts of the world, the horse is either 

 wanting, or reserved for the purposes of war or the 

 saddle. 



The Ox.— Bos Taurus, L. Ochs, Ger. ; Bazuf, Fr. ,- 

 Bueij, Span. ; and Bue, Ital. 

 The male ox is the Bull, Taureau, Fr. ; Stier, Ger.: 

 Toro, Span, and Ital. ; and the female the Cow, 

 Vache, Fr. ; Kuh, Ger. ; and Vaca, Span, and Ital. 

 The bull and cow inhabit various parts of the world, 

 and, as already observed, are domesticated every 

 where. In most countries, however, they are the 

 mere creatures of soil and climate, the same atten- 

 tion in breeding and rearing that is bestowed on the 

 horse being withheld ; the natural habits little re- 

 strained or the form improved for the purposes of 

 milking, fattening, or for labor. It is almost exclu- 

 sively in Britaiu that this race of animals have been 

 improved so as to present breeds for each of these 



