REMOVAL OF SLAUGHTER HOUSES FROM CITIES. 
113 
PATENT WIRE ^ RAILIN'G-. 
Below, we give another pannel of the beauti¬ 
ful wire railing noticed at p. 81 in our March 
number. It is well suited for guarding low 
windows, balconies, and the lighter kinds of 
fence, as well as ornamental gates. It is strong, 
durable, and may be painted any color that may 
be desired. 
This article, we repeat, may be advantage¬ 
ously introduced in all situations where wood 
and cast iron are used for railing, grating, &c., 
at less than half the cost of the latter. 
REMOVAL OF SLAUGHTER HOUSES FROM OITIES. 
The existence of slaughter houses within or 
even in the neighborhood of cities will soon be 
classed among the most intolerable nuisances of 
a barbarous age. There seemed to be a plea 
for their existence before the period of good 
highways, as it was so much more convenient 
and economical to bring the carcass to market 
on the hoof, rather than in vehicles over a rude, 
half-made road. But all apology for their con¬ 
tinuance, since the era of railroads, has been 
utterly extinguished. 
We stated in the preceding volume, some of 
the reasons for the removal of slaughter houses 
from our midst, since which, there has been a 
strong effort among our citizens to oust them, 
but simply from a present dense population, to 
another location on this island that within a few 
years will be equally occupied. We4rust there 
will be no change of this kind; we hope our 
citizens’ noses will be kept to the present slaugh¬ 
ter yards till satisfied, and they are willing to 
part company with them once and forever. 
What a beastly practice this is, will be obvi¬ 
ous to any one who will take the time to con¬ 
sider it for ten consecutive minutes. The ani¬ 
mals are taken from their accustomed haunts ; 
huddled into masses of strange associates; fed 
with unaccustomed food, and at irregular peri¬ 
ods, and driven through oppressive journeys. 
The result of all this is feverishness and other 
diseases in the animal—loss of condition, dete¬ 
rioration in quality and quantity of carcass, a 
long delay and great expense in reaching mar¬ 
ket. Add to this the largely increased charges 
for cattle pens, yards, sheds and stables, slaugh¬ 
ter houses, &c., in the city, as compared with the 
same quantity of ground occupied in the coun¬ 
try, where land is worth scarcely $50 an acre 
instead of $200 per front foot, as much of it is 
here; then reckon the expense of returning 
hides directly back for tanning, the increased 
expense of trying out the tallow, cleaning the 
bones, boiling the glue, removing the offal; and 
lastly, consider the injury to health, the loathing 
and disgust to a refined taste from the presence 
in our midst, the hardening effect on the charac¬ 
ter of the young, who are often led by curiosity 
to witness these butcherings; and the frequently 
sad and often fatal accidents resulting from 
driving these infuriated animals through a 
crowded city, and we have reasons to spare for 
putting these nuisances forever beyond the 
reach of our citizens. 
All these evils will be avoided by having 
slaughter houses arranged at convenient depots, 
| along the lines of railroads, where cheap 
food, ample room, and entire quiet and rest 
' afford every desirable requisite for the health 
and thrift of the animals, and the best condition 
of their carcasses when dressed. 
When ready for market, the meat might be 
placed in cool, well-ventilated cars, after sun¬ 
down, and be in the city by daylight, after 
passing over 50, 100, or even 200 miles of rail¬ 
road. We trust some enterprising country peo¬ 
ple will take hold of this matter in the proper 
wa}', if the city butchers longer defer it; and 
if our citizens and municipal -authorities, would 
aid this enterprise by a proper patronage and 
just enactments, it would be eminently success¬ 
ful, without a single coercive measure. Such 
an arrangement, properly carried out, would 
save to the consumers in this city over a million 
of dollars annually in the price of their meat 
alone, and we believe, fully two millions. When 
shall we have this reform, so much and so long 
needed ? 
THE POTATO OURCULIO. 
I beg leave to call the attention of the farmers 
of our country to a few facts, which I trust will 
not be uninteresting to them, as, on the authority 
of Dr. T. W. Harris, of Harvard University, they 
are now presented as new and important. I 
allude to the hitherto unknown habits of a small 
beetle, (Baridius trinotatus, Say,) which feeds on 
the inside of the potato stem, causing the plant 
to blight, and giving the fields the appearance 
of having been scalded. 
In August, 1849, my attention was called to 
the subject by Mr. Wilkinson, principal of the 
Mount-Airy Agricultural Institute, who dis¬ 
covered small grubs in the potato vines, on his 
farm, and naturally feared injurious consequen¬ 
ces. On pursuing the subject, I had the grati¬ 
fication of following them through their various 
transformations, and with the assistance of my 
friends, have traced their ravages from Mexico 
to Maine. 
The female deposits her eggs on the leaf buds 
of the potato vine, at the foot stalk of a leaf, 
from 6 to 18 inches above the ground ; they are 
of a bright-red color—from one to three depos¬ 
ited on a stem, and never more than one on a 
