132 
editor’s table. 
(Srbitor’s $abl t. 
The Cast-Iron Plow. ~A bill has recently passed 
the Senate of the United States, and is now pending 
m the House of Representatives, to extend the patent 
of Jethro Wood, for seven years, which he obtained in 
1S14, and renewed in 1819, and again in 1833, for 
fourteen years, claiming to have invented the cast- 
iron plow share, &c. This bill proposes to grant to 
the heirs of Jethro Wood, the privilege of exacting 
fifty cents from the manufacturer, for every cast-iron 
plow made in the United States, for seven years after 
the passage of said bill. 
As there are about four millions of farmers and 
planters at present in the United States, and as each 
would require on an average at least one plow every 
four years, this privilege would be worth HALF A 
MILLION OF DOLLARS ANNUALLY, all of which 
would be taken from the hard earnings of the planter 
and farmer ! And what makes the matter more un¬ 
just, is, that a large share of the interest of the heirs 
of Wood in this patent, has been purchased for a 
mere song; thus nearly the whole benefit of it will 
inure to a company of greedy speculators. 
But Jethro Wood, as is shown at page 121 of this 
number of our paper, was not the original inventor of 
the cast-iron plow share, nor did he ever improve 
the plow in the slightest degree; he was consequently 
entitled to no merit in this thing, and much less to a 
patent; and had the facts of the case been known by' 
the Commissioner of Patents, in 1814, he would not 
have granted him one, nor renewed it in 1819, nor 
would Congress have extended it for fourteen years in 
1833; neither would the United States Court have 
confirmed him in it after it had been granted. 
With these facts before them, the public will now 
see how great an injustice it would be for Congress to 
extend the patent of Jethro Wood, and give his heirs, 
or rather a company of greedy speculators, the privi¬ 
lege for seven years, of exacting fifty cents per plow 
from every one engaged in their manufacture. Jethro 
Wood has enjoyed the benefit of his patent for thirty- 
three years, which we think quite enough. During 
this time he and his family have drawn large sums 
from the public, and it is about time now, that these 
exactions should cease. 
The Legislature of New York and the State Agri¬ 
cultural Society, have passed resolutions against the 
passage of this bill, and have requested the New York 
Members of Congress to vote against it. We observe, 
also, that the measure is generally denounced by the 
press throughout the country. 
We hope every one will read our articles on this 
subject with attention, and aid in spreading the facts 
before the public; for the hard-working farmer and 
planter ought to be immediately apprized of what so 
vitally concerns them. We invite all those who are 
opposed to injustice and special privileges, to assist in 
the defeat of so iniquitous a measure, and thus defend 
the farmer’s rights. 
Hovey’s Fruits of America. —The fourth num¬ 
ber of this excellent work has been received. It 
treats of the Early Crawford Peach; the Doyenne 
Boussock Pear; the Tyson Pear; and the Red Astra- 
can Apple. Each number contains four splendid 
engravings representing the twigs, leaves, and fruits, 
printed in colors, with numerous wood cuts denoting 
the appearance of the trees, outlines of fruits, &c. 
The descriptions, accompanying these plates, are 
more accurate, more complete, and consequently more 
valuable to the American fruit grower, than those in 
any other publication with which we are acquainted. 
The illustrations, also, are sufficiently well execu¬ 
ted to identify the kinds of fruit described, and 
that is all we need. 
Plum Trees Killed by Salt.—W e understand 
that Judge Cheever, of Saratoga county, N. Y., seeing 
a statement in some paper, that salt was an excellent 
fertilizer for plum trees, killed severable valuable 
ones the past season, by scattering a gallon of that 
substance over the roots of each tree. 
Keeping Beef Fresh. —In preserving beef, the 
ribs will keep longest, or five or six days in summer; 
the middle of the loin next; the rump next; the round 
next; and the shortest of all, the brisket, which will 
not keep longer than three days in hot weather.— 
Combe. 
To Preserve Water in Sea Casks and Cis¬ 
terns. —It is said that water may be preserved quite 
pure, either on long voyages, or in cisterns, by the ad¬ 
dition of about 1 lb. of black oxide of powdered man¬ 
ganese to 1,000 gallons ; stir it well together, and the 
water will lose any bad taste it may have acquired, 
and will keep for an indefinite length of time. 
Diseases of Cats. —Cats are seldom ill, except 
from cold, which generally gets well without any par¬ 
ticular care being taken of it; but where they have 
any serious disease, it generally proves fatal.— Mrs. 
Loudon. 
How to Enlarge Vegetables.— A vast increase 
of food may be obtained by managing judiciously, and 
systematically carrying out for a time the principle of 
increase. Take, for instance, a pea. Plant it in a 
■very rich ground. Allow it to bear the first year, 
say half a dozen pods only. Remove all others. Save 
the largest single pea of these. Sow it the next year, 
and retain of the produce three pods only. Sow the 
largest one the following year, and retain one pod. 
Again select the largest, and the next year the sort 
will by this time have trebled its size and weight. 
Ever afterwards sow the largest seed. By these means 
you will get peas (or anything else), of a bulk of which 
we at present have no conception.— Exchange Paper. 
A Nat’ral Cow Doctor. —In the case of May¬ 
nard vs. Litchfield, to recover damages for the loss of 
a valuable cow, the Boston Daily Advertiser reports 
one witness to this effect:—“ The testimony of this 
witness (Dr. Stoddard), was as follows :— 4 1 live in 
Scituate, and am sixty years of age. I am a cow doc¬ 
tor. I have followed the business these forty years. 
I doctor sheep, hogs, and horned critters. I set broken 
bones, jints, &c. I never read no books on critters. I 
took the business up kind o’ nat’ral. I doctor in Scitu¬ 
ate, Hanover, Hanson, and all about. Mr. Maynard and 
Mr. Litchfield came to me about this cow. I told 
them to give her a pint and a half o’ castor ile, and if 
they had’nt got that, to give her a pint o’ lamp ile, or 
a pound o’ hog’s lard. I went down to see her the day 
afore she died. I gave her a dose of thorough-stalk 
tea, strong. I went to see her agin on Saturday, and 
dosed her agin. I thought if I could start her idees 
up a little, and kind o’ jog natur, she might get along. 
She revived up a little, and I left her. I went down 
agin Sunday mornin’, got there about half arter ten, 
and found her dead as a herrin’. I was mightily 
struck up. We skun her, and snaked her out upon 
the snow. I then cut her open, and examined her. 
She had what I call the overflow of the gall. I found 
a bushel basketful o’ fox-grass hay, and nothin’ else, 
in her intrils. I found a peck more in the manifold, 
all matted down and dried on. My neighbors use this 
kind o’ hay. It will do for young critters that browse, 
but I never see any living critter touch it growin’. 
Even grashoppers will run from it for life. I took 
some sperits down with me, Sunday mornin’. The 
cow having no further use for any, I took a dose my¬ 
self.”” 
