MOOKE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY JOURNAL 
GOLD PEN MANUFACTUEING. 
The manufacturing -of gold pens is a busi¬ 
ness of very modern origin, and owes its 
success to the perseverance and ingenuity 
of Mr. John J. Hawkins, an American by 
birth, but for upwards of forty years a resi¬ 
dent ofr England. He it was who first 
furnished the public pen with a point, or nib, 
thoroughly indestructible, 'which he did 
about the year 1 S.‘I4. There arc now some 
twenty establishments in the United States, 
for the manufacture of these pens, and the 
number of pens annually turned out by 
them may be guessed at from the fact that 
one house, that of Messrs. Bard, Brothers 
& Co., which carries on the business simul¬ 
taneously in New York and Boston, makes 
upwards of 104,000 annually. 
The point, or nib of the pen is Iridium, 
wliich is the hardest known mineral next 
the diamond, and is the only one which at 
all answers the purpose required in the del¬ 
icate manufacture of these pens. The Ir¬ 
idium used in most of the establishments is 
from the mines of Siberia or South Amer¬ 
ica. Its price in gross bulk ranges from 
$30 to $75 per ounce. An average of 
two hundred ounces of this mineral is used 
every year in the gold pen manufacture, 
by the different establishments in this 
country. 
From a lengthy and interesting article on 
the subject, in the New York Tribune, we 
extract tlie following brief account of the 
process through which every pen has to 
pass before it is ready for the hand of the 
purchaser: 
Fii'st—The gold is melted in quantities 
rang'ing from a few to many ounces, as the 
requirements of the establishment may at 
the time demand. The Messrs. Bard find 
it necessary to melt three times every week; 
other manufactories undoubtedly vary from 
this standard. Here, Victoria sovereigns 
are generally used in preference to all other 
qxialities of gold—occasionally, however, 
fine jewelry is employed for the purpose. 
Usually, the value of one da^’s melting is 
from $300 to $400. This amount suffices 
the wants of the workmen for about a day 
and a half or two day& The metal is al¬ 
loyed with silver and copper for twelve, 
fourteen or sixteen carats. One day, pas¬ 
sing through the factory, we saw 25 ounces 
in the crucible, which was immediately 
moulded into an ingot, (worth $360,) and 
we then had the curiosity to follow it through 
the various processes, until it came out in 
the form of finished pens. The whole op¬ 
eration is performed with marvellous celer¬ 
ity—in the order which follows:— 
Second—The gold is rolled into strips, 
through a powerful machine which thins 
and lengthens the ingot at each revolution. 
Third—The “blocks,” or angular morsels 
of the gold, tapered tcl each end, are cut by 
a seperate workman and m#fehine. 
Fourth—The tapered ends are filed half 
I through the thickness of the block. 
Fifth—In the niche thus fonned, the Ir¬ 
idium point is set This is a very delicate 
operation, requiring a good eye and an ex¬ 
perienced workman. 
Sixth—The “DiamondPoint” is secured 
by soldering together the Iridium and the 
gold. A -very small but intense heat is ap¬ 
plied at the point, by the agency of a mi¬ 
nute jet of flame. 
Seventh — The point is ground square. 
Eighth—The penis rolled and hammered. 
Ninth—It is cut to the proper shape in a 
small, neatly-contrived machine, in which 
works a steel die. 
Tenth—The pen is turned up,'perfectly 
semi-circular, as it comes to the hand of the 
purchaser. 
Eleventh—The point is split—having be¬ 
fore been guarded from injury by small 
grooves in the different machinery through 
which it has ptxssed. " 
Twelfth—After the nib is first started, 
another workman cuts the slit the necessa¬ 
ry length. 
Thirteenth—The nibs are now cut accu¬ 
rately. 
Fourteenth—The points are set together, 
and the pens filed into shape. 
Fifteenth—They pass off into the grin¬ 
ders’ hands. 
Sixteenth—They are stoned and polished. 
Seventeenth — The nibs are finally ad¬ 
justed, the point smoothed, and the p en is 
ready for writing. 
Eighteenth, and lastly.—Every pen is 
now tried with ink. If it be defective, it is 
returned to the operatives; if not, but writes 
readily tand smoothly, it is transferred to the 
office, placed in the holder and exposed for 
sale. 
Plants always Poisonous are such as 
have Jive stamens and one pistil, with a dull, 
lurid corol and a nauseous sickly smell, as 
nightsliade, henbane, <kc. Umhelliferious 
plants growing in wet soil, as water hemlock 
and cicuta:—but if they have an aromatic 
smell, and grow on dry soil, they arc not 
poisonous. 
Those plants with labiate corols and seeds 
enclosed in a capsule are generally poison¬ 
ous, as foxglove; so also are those whose 
flow'ers have nectaries or any sort of 
appe'iidages to the calyx or corol, if they 
have twelve or more stamens. So too are 
those plants which, on being pierced or 
broken, a milky yjoce issues from the wound, 
excepting such as belong to the syngenesi- 
ous class. 
A more general rule is — those plants 
with few stamens, are not frequently poison¬ 
ous unless they be the umbelliferous ; but 
if the number of stamens be twelve or more, 
and the smell nauseous, heavy and sickly, 
beware. 
Many plants po&sess a degree of the nar¬ 
cotic principle that are hurtful. Of other 
plants one part may be poisonous and an¬ 
other wholesome. In some the poison re¬ 
sides in the seed, in others it is found in the 
root, and again it pervades the whole plant 
Wilson, May, 1850. t. e. w. 
J scale, but that you should try the experi- 
^ ment on a small scale. But it is a fact, that 
( on such land as I have described, thorough 
/ drainage has been found the most beneficial 
^ of all methods of improvement. In this 
< neighborhood, you have sandy plains, and 
7 yOu have other stiff clay land. Now in 
I summer, the sandy land bears the extreme 
< heat, better than loam, and the loam better 
7 than clay; that is the soil which is most 
open, is least acted on by the sun. This is 
S the case in the land on the plains of Athens, 
< of which I have spoken, which is liable to be 
^ burnt up by the sun. 
( Now if -we consider the several causes by 
I which this drought is produced, and how 
i drainage affects it; you ■will see on what this 
j! experiment is founded. If the soil is merely 
I burnt up by drought, and you suppose the 
; roots to descend only to the depth of about 
j 3 inches, it is obvious that the heat of sum- 
< mer dries up the land to the roots. But if 
( by drainage, you open up the soil three feet 
$ deep, so that the rain, instead of flowing off 
s the surface, descends through the soil, tlms 
? made pervious to it, the roots will grow 
) deeper, and while the upper surface is dr}', 
V the drought does not reach the roots, which 
\ are thus enabled to live longer than they 
^ otherwise would. But there is another sin- 
i gular circumstance, Avith reference to soils 
( that contain saline matter; potash is saline 
( matter. The water with which it is satura- 
> ted, comes to the surface, and evaporates, 
\ and this substance which is held in solution, 
( is left on the surface, and kills the soil. — 
i Prof. J. here stated that he had sent him a 
specimen of the soil on the plains of Athens 
for his examination and advice. On these 
plains, the grass grows luxuriantly in the 
spring; but as the sun grows more scorch¬ 
ing, it gradually withers and dies. Prof J. 
f said that knoAving the character of the rocks 
} in that region, and that the sudden check 
^ to vegetation was the results of the salt 
( held in solution in the soil, and left upon 
the surface by evaporation, the remedy Avas 
^ simple and easy; and that was drainage and 
< plowing. So that when the rain brought 
( down the salt from the heights, it would also 
} run away Avith it, and not remain in the soil. 
I Thus, you see, that the practice of drain- 
; ing has been found to succeed where it 
might have been least expected; and that it 
< is an experiment Avell worth trying. I am 
/ Sony to detain you so long, but you will ex- 
; cuse me if I occupy a few moments, in an- 
) swering the question, will drainage do in 
< New York; Avill it pay ? I do not speak of 
, this or that county, for I believe a discus- 
^ sion of this question has already taken place, 
' and that a great deal is to be found on the 
' subject, in your volumes of Transactions; it 
is a discussion highly creditable in itself, and 
■ from Avhich I infer that you have confidence 
that it can be applied with profit, to certain 
' parts of your State; but some general con- 
^ sidcrations may be of use. Ime quantity 
■ of rain that falls, determines the quantity 
^ that remains. The quantity in New-York, 
is much greater than in Great Britain; yet 
Ave find in Great Britain, that it is not only 
necessary, but profitable. Noav, the first 
question is, as to the quantity of rain that 
^ falls. Without any other data, I should say, 
that the quantity here renders it probable 
I that drainage Avould do here. Knowing as 
I do, the profit of drainage, Avhere there are 
but 24 inches of rain, I infer that where 
there are 40 inches, thorough drainage must 
^ also be profitable. 
< The way in which rain falls, is also im¬ 
portant, and how many rainy days there are 
i in a year. I did not anticipate that I should 
< be drawn into this point, and cannot tell the 
i number of rainy days in Ncav Brunswick. 
} During four months, spent among the prac- 
^ tical agriculturists there, and after a thor- 
\ ough canvassing of the Avhole subject, I am 
satisfied, that thorough drainage, though 
expensive, can be safely recommended. In 
I St Johns, Avhere it rains most, there, are 74 
< rainy days in a year. In Ncav York, 111 ; 
; in Rochester, 115. Here is anoth<}r argu- 
^ ment which strengthens the probability that 
( thorough drainage might be resorted to 
) with profit I do not recommend it, nor do 
S I want you to adopt my opinions because I 
( state them here. It was my duty to go in- 
) to eveiy county in England and Scotland, 
) with a view to this subject I conversed 
( Avith the most experienced, practical men, 
? in whose way I was thrown. The results 
; are what I now tdi you; that drainage has 
I been found effectual, in a country where 
( they have less rain than you; where the soil 
/ is not stronger, or heaAder than yours, and 
where the number of rainy days is not 
; greater than at the places I have mention- 
( ed in your State. This being so, whatever 
I opinions you or I may entertain, the infer- 
, ence is irresistible, that the system may be 
< tried with eminent advantage to the practi¬ 
cal farmer; and I Avould say that there is a 
probability, that thorough drainage may be 
') the means of gradually improving your soils. 
( I think it is worth while seriously to con- 
\ sider, whether you may not turn it to your 
• 'S'l! aiilagc, and thus coutri" 
bute to the wealth of all. 
LIST OF PATENTS 
I A CHAPTER ON BOTANY. 
RULES FOR DISTINOUISHING POISONOUS PLANTS. 
The study of Botany is too greatly neg¬ 
lected by aU classes of our countrymen, 
but particularly so by our farmers. There 
is certainly no study that can be more de¬ 
lightful than that of the flowers and plants 
that God has so wisely giA'en to beautify and 
enrich this earth of ours. Besides, to the 
farmer particularly, there is none that can be 
made more subserAuent to profit It tends 
greatly to enlarge the analytical powers of 
the mind, strengthens the reasoning faculties, 
and opens the heart to a closer communion 
with the Author of all things. Surely it 
does seem that farmers at least, whose busi¬ 
ness is the cultivation of plants, should have 
a thorough, practical knowledge of this 
science, when it tends so greatly to fill their 
granaries, to lighten their toil and sweeten 
tlK'.i)- pleasures. It should not be left alone 
to the fairer portion, for it is certainly a no¬ 
ble, manly study. 
But my design is not now to Avrite an arti¬ 
cle upon this study, but to present to the 
readers of the “Rural” certain general 
rules, which, if well remembered, may save 
many hours of trouble and vexation if not 
of sickness and even life. I reproduce them 
from an article furnished for the Niagara 
Democrat some three years since. They 
were taken mainly from Eaton’s North 
American Botany, and as they necessarily 
contain botanical terms it may be well to 
preface them with a few brief explanations. 
The Calyx is the outer envelope of the 
flower and is universally green. It may be 
composed of one entire piece, with diids- 
ions, or of distinct parts named sepals .— 
Next Avithin the calyx, and AAffiat in com¬ 
mon parlance is termed -the flower, is the 
corolla. If composed of leaves or parts 
they take the name of petals. If it be 
one whole piece its usual cognomen is 
corol. Some flowers, as the lily, are pos¬ 
sessed of but one of these envelopes, term¬ 
ed perianth. Again there may be append¬ 
ages to one or both in the form of spurs, 
scales, &c. These are commonly called nec¬ 
taries. Next within the corolla comes the 
reproductive organs, thread like in appear- 
'ance, termed stamens dcnA-pistils —the latter 
being the most central of all and directly 
connected with the germ, which, when filled 
with seeds, as in the poppy or violet, and be¬ 
coming matured, takes the name of 
carj) or capsule. 
Flowers are of various forms, divided into 
certain classes. The cruciform have four 
petals in opposite pairs, and six stamens, two 
of which are shorter, as in the cabbage 
and mustard. 
The papilionaceous, or butterfly shaped, 
have their type in the pea, locust and clo¬ 
ver blossoms. 
Labiate corols have someAvhat the fanci¬ 
ed resemblance of an animal’s lips. Such 
are found among the mint and sage plants. 
Syngensious or compound flowers are 
those of the sun-flower, may-Aveed, thistle, 
artichoke, &c., so called because each seed 
has a corol, stamens and pistil of its own— 
the stamens hoAvever are united into one by 
their anthers or upper portions. 
! The Monodelphous flowers have the fil¬ 
aments of their stamens united in a column 
surrounding the pistils. Such are the hol¬ 
lyhock, mallous and geraniums. 
Umbelliferous flowers are borne on little 
stalks spreading out from a common centre, 
like the rays of an open umbrella, but usu- 
aly presenting a flat upper surface, as the 
carrot, fennel and parsnip. 
Plants never Poisonous. —Those with 
a glume (chaff) calyx, as wheat, oats, Indian 
corn, grass and sedge. 
Those whose stamens stand over, ox spring 
from the calyx, as currant, apple, raspberry 
thorn, rose, aven’s root, &c. Some of this 
class contain prussic acid in sufficient quan¬ 
tities to render some parts, at least, deleteri¬ 
ous, as is the kernel of the peach. 
Those plants, with labiate corols, whose 
seeds rest uncovered in the bottom of the 
I calyx, as exemplified in the sage, mint, pen¬ 
nyroyal, (fee. 
I Monodelphous plants, as the mallous, (fee., 
and ail plants bearing their fruit in strobiles, 
or cones, as the pine, cedar and hemlock. 
Plants that are rarely if ever poisonous 
are such as have cruciform or papiliona¬ 
ceous .flowers. So also are the syngenesious 
plants. 
ISSUED FROM THE UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE, 
For tfie week ending Ajml 30, 1850: 
To C. Austin, of Concord, N. H., for improve¬ 
ment in reed musical instruments. 
To A. H. Brown, of Albany, N. Y., for coupling 
for pijies and ho.se. 
To C. Broyles, of Greene co., Tenn., for im¬ 
provement in apparatus for draiving water. 
To S. E. Crocker, of Boston, Mass., for im¬ 
provement in machines for holding and dressing 
slates. 
To M. R. Dudley, of New Orleans, La., for im¬ 
provement in grain drjers. 
To H. Elliot, of Manchester, N. H., for improA’e- 
ment in gearing for regulating .speed. 
To J. M. Keep, of Bath, Me., for improvement 
in gages for spreading plasters. 
To J. Knowles, of Buffalo, N. Y., for improA’e- 
ment in let-off motion of looms. 
To E. H. &, S. E. Parsons, of Wilkesbarre, 
Pa., for improA'ement in hanging saw's in saw mills. 
To S. Peck, of New HaA'en, Conn., for improve¬ 
ment in holding daguerreotype plates. 
To B. Roaa'p, of Albany, N. Y., for improve¬ 
ment in apparatus for splitting and stretching 
leather. 
To A. N. Severance, of Cherry Valley, Ohio, 
for improvement in vats or press-boxes for cheese. 
To W. H. Trissler Sc, E. Brecht, of Fairview, 
Pa., for improvement in roasting coffee. 
To W. Van Anden, of Poughkeepsie, N. Y., for 
machine for making wrought iron railroad chairs. 
To B. M. Van Der Veer, of Clyde, N. Y., for 
improvement in board and log rules. 
To C. YVamer, of Loui.sville, Ky., for pipe 
coupling. 
To F. Wright, of Indianapolis, Ind., for im¬ 
provement in the rubbers of smut machines. 
To J. Wurfflein, of Philadelphia, Pa., for meth¬ 
od of preventing accidental discharge in the Prus¬ 
sian Gun. 
RE-ISSUE.S. 
To J. L. Mott, of New York, N. Y'., for im¬ 
provement in cooking stoves. Patented August 22, 
1848. Re-issued April 30, 1850. 
DESIGNS. 
To P. A. Palmer, of Le Roy, N. Y., for design 
for stoves. 
DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS. 
English Cast Steel. —The finest kind 
of steel, called English cast steel, is prepar¬ 
ed by breaking to pieces bilstered steel, and 
then melting it in a crucible with a flue 
composed of carbonaceous and A’itrifiable 
ingredients. The vitrifiable ingredient is 
used only in it as a fusible body, which flows 
over the surface of the metal in the cruci¬ 
bles, and prevents the access of the oxygen 
of the atmosphere. Broken glass is some¬ 
times used for this purpose. When thor¬ 
oughly fused it is cast into ingots, Avhich by 
gentle heating and careful hammering are 
titled into bars. By this process the steel 
becomes more highly carbonised in propor¬ 
tion to the quantity of flux, and in conse¬ 
quence is more brittle and fusible than be¬ 
fore. Hence it surpasses all other steel in 
uniformity of texture, hardness, and close¬ 
ness of grain, and is the material employed 
in all the finest articles of English cutlery. 
To Keep Chimneys Clean. —Instead of 
plastering the inside of chimneys the usual 
way, the Albany Cultivator says, take mor¬ 
tar made of one peck of salt to a bushel of 
lime, adding as much sand loam as Avill ren¬ 
der it fit to Avork, and then lay on a thick 
coat If the chimney has no offsets for 
the soot to lodge on, it Avill continue per¬ 
fectly clean and free from all danger of ta¬ 
king fire. A trial of three years Avarrants 
the assertion. 
shrubs, 
vines, 
trees, 
Incombustible Paper. —Messrs. Ebart, 
proprietors of one of the largest paper man¬ 
ufactories in Germany, situated at Neustadt 
ElbersAvald, haA^e just invented an incom¬ 
bustible and impermeable paper, Avhich 
they term stone paper, and Avhich is intend¬ 
ed especially for roofing houses. It is des¬ 
tined to take the place of tiles, over which 
it has this tAvo-fold advantage, that it is not 
fragile, and is very inexpensive. 
A New Rifle.-t-P. W. Porter, of Mem- 
pliis, has made a self-loading rifle. It has 
a revolving Avheel perforated by forty cham¬ 
bers. The discharge of one chamber loads 
the adjoining one. This is an improATment 
on Colt’s revolver, and will be of great ben¬ 
efit to the Californian adventurers. 
A TREATISE on Campanology published 
in Norwich (England) states according to 
an accurate calculation, that the number of 
combinations of definite sounds, that can be 
produced on 24 bells, is so great, that at 
the rate of 2 in a second it Avould require 
to strike them 117,000,000,000,000 years. 
Origin of the Honey Dbav. —Let any 
man Avho takes delight in the works and 
scenery of Nature, keep a watchful eye over 
peculiar tender buds, in the Avoods and the 
garden, and he will soon find out, from ob¬ 
servation, from whence comes this dew; 
(some think from Heaven) and he will soon 
discover that it is from gregarious insects, 
which arc almost stationary during the day, 
and move or migrate late in the evening or 
at night; and, on leaving the saccharine 
bud they drop their honey, either to light¬ 
en their load, or, perhaps, for the more no¬ 
ble purpose of feeding others. The honey 
is only discernible after the dcAv of Heaven 
has fallen during the evening or night. 
A NEAV machine, capable of making 26,- 
000 perfect bricks per hour, at the cost of 
about one guinea, has recently been exliib- 
ited by the Messrs. Harts, engineers, of 
London, and Avas highly approved of. 
Apibe of cast iron 14 inches in diameter 
and three quarters of an inch thick, will 
sustain a head of Avater of 600 feet. One 
of oak, 2 inches thick and of the same di¬ 
ameter, will sustain a head of 180 feet. 
If you wish oaks, plant acorns; if you 
Avish a fortune, plant dollars; but if you 
prefer happiness, sow the seeds of virtue, 
and “cultivate them Avith charity.” 
We can bear all that is ordained for us. 
Our strength is freshly renewed with every 
trouble. 
Words may pass, but blows fall hcaAT". 
