MOORE’S RURAL NEW-IORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY JOURNAL. 
A BEAUTIFUL STORY. 
A FEW weeks since, in coining down the 
North river, I was seated in the cabin of the 
magnificent steamer Isaac Newton, in con¬ 
versation with some friends. It was becom¬ 
ing late in the evening, and one after anotli- 
er seeking repose from the cares and toils of 
the day, made preparations to retire to their 
berths. Some, pulling off their boots and 
coats, lay themselves down to sleep; others 
in the attempt to make it seem as much as 
possible like home, threw off more of their 
clothing—each one as his comfort, or appre¬ 
hension of danger, dictated. 
I had noticed on the deck a fine looking 
little boy of about six years old, following 
around a man, evidently his father, whose 
appearance indicated him to be a foreigner, 
probably a German—a man of medium 
height, and respectable dre-ss. The child 
was unusually fair and fine-looking, hand¬ 
somely featured, with an intelligent and af¬ 
fectionate expression of countenance; and 
from under his little German cap fell his 
chestnut hair, in thick, clustering, beautiful 
curls. 
After walking about the cabin for a time 
the father and son stopped within a few feet 
of where we were seated, and begun prep¬ 
arations for going to bed. I watched them. 
The father adjusted and arranged the bed 
the cliild was to occupy, which was an up¬ 
per berth, while the little fellow was un¬ 
dressing himself. Having finished this, his 
father tied a handkerchief around his head 
to protect his curls, which looked as if the 
sun light from his young happy heart al¬ 
ways rested there. This done, I looked for 
him to seek his resting-place; but instead of 
this, he quietly kneeled down on the floor, 
put up his little hands together, so beauti¬ 
fully childlike and simple, and, resting his 
arms on the lower berth, against which he 
knelt, he began his vesper prayera 
The father sat down by his side, and 
waited the conclusion. It was, for a child, 
a long prayer, but well understood. I could 
hear the murmuring of his sweet voice, but 
could not distinguish the words he spoke. 
But what a scene! There were men around 
him—Christian men—retiring to rest with¬ 
out prayer; or, if praying at all, a kind of 
mental desire for protection, without suffi¬ 
cient courage or piety to kneel down in a 
steamboat’s cabin, and, before strangers, ack¬ 
nowledge the goodness of God, or ask his 
protecting love. 
This was the training of some pious moth¬ 
er. Where was she now? How many 
times had her kind hand been laid on those 
sunny locks, as she taught him to lisp his 
prayers ? 
A beautiful sight it was, that child at 
prayer in the midst of the busy, thoughtless 
throng. He, alone, of the worldly multi¬ 
tude, draws nigh to Heaven. I thank the 
parental love that taught him to lisp his 
evening prayer, whether Catholic or Pro¬ 
testant, whether dead or living, whether far 
off or nigh. It did me good; it made me 
better. I could scarce refrain from weeping 
then, nor can I now, as I see again that 
sweet child, in the crowded tumult of a 
steamboat’s cabin, bending in devotion be¬ 
fore his Maker. 
But a little while before, I saw a crowd 
of admiring listeners gathering about a com¬ 
pany of Italian singers, in the upper saloon 
—a mother and two sons, with voice, and 
harp, and violin; but no one heeded, no one 
cared for the child at prayer. 
When the little boy had finished his eve¬ 
ning devotion he arose, kissed his father 
most affectionately, who put him into his 
berth to rest for the night. I felt a strong 
desire to speak to them, but deferred it till 
morning. When morning came, the con¬ 
fusion of landing prevented me from seeing 
them again. Bu^ if ever I meet that boy 
in his happy youth, in his anxious manhood, 
in his declining years, I’ll thank him for the 
influence and example of that night’s devo¬ 
tion, and bless the name of the mother that 
taught him to pray. 
Scarcely any passing incident of my life 
ever made a deeper impression on my mind. 
I went to my room, and thanked God that 
I had witnessed it, and for its influence on 
my heart Who prays on a steamboat ?— 
Who train their children to pray, even at 
home ? 
An Aw^ful Judgment. —Melancthon re¬ 
cords the following account of God’s right¬ 
eous judgment on a company of profane 
wretches, who, in a tragedy, intended to rep¬ 
resent the death of Christ on the cross: 
“He that acted the soldier's part, instead of 
piercing with his spear a bladder full of 
blood hid under the garment of liim who 
was upon the cross, wounded him to death; 
he falling from the cross, killed him who 
acted the part of a woman weeping imder 
it; the brother of him who was first slain slew 
the murderer, and for slaying him was hang¬ 
ed by order of justice. Thus did the ven¬ 
geance of God speedily overtake them, and 
they were all hung in chains, for a warning 
to all that should dare to trifle with a great 
and jealous God.” 
Man doubles the evils of his fate by pon¬ 
dering over them; ^ scratch becomes a 
wound, a slight an injury, a jest an insult, a 
small peril a weat danger, and a slight sick¬ 
ness often ends in death, by brooding ap¬ 
prehensions. 
found at the root of the germ; and the wa¬ 
ter, when poured off, will dissolve starch.— 
Put starch into water and it will not dissolve 
but it will dissolve in this water thus poured 
off. Take malt, then, as prepared by the 
brewers, and put it into the food for cattle, 
and it performs in the stomach the process 
of dissolving the starch in the food. This 
is a reason, not why malt is not more nutri¬ 
tive than barley, but why malt may be prof¬ 
itably used when mixed up with other food, 
as it expedites the conversion of the food 
into a liquid form, and is more nourishing. 
I should have made you acquainted, had 
I time, with another thing, and that is the 
influence of the circumstances in which the 
animal is placed on the effect of his food— 
such as the influences of warmth, shelter, 
ventilation, quiet All these circumstances 
have a great effect on the influence that the 
food which he gets has on the animal. I 
have a table of the effects of warmth and 
shelter, made uj) from experiment and show¬ 
ing results of the character which I have 
intimated; but I have said quite enough to 
show you that in addition to the state in 
which the food is given, which modifies the 
effect of that food, the circumstances in 
which the animal is placed make the food 
more or loss nutritious. I think you cannot 
fail to have seen that this interesting depart¬ 
ment of science, which I have merely run 
over—for the time would not permit me to 
go into the details—is not only one of great 
importance to the practical farmer, but as 
worthy of his consideration, and as closelj^ 
connected with the development of Agri¬ 
culture, as an art, as any of those branches 
which it has been my happiness to lay be¬ 
fore you. 
To-morrow night I shall show you, how 
the pursuit of this branch of study throws 
light on the common practical operation of 
the farmer in improving the soil, by ma¬ 
nures. 
SCIENTIFIC WONDERS. 
The general faith in science as a wonder 
worker, is at present unlimited; and with it 
there is cherished the conviction that every 
discovery and invention admits of a practi¬ 
cal application to the welfare of man. If a 
new vegetable product is brought to this 
country from abroad, or a new chemical 
compound discovered, or an anatomical phys¬ 
ical phenomenon discovered, the question is 
immediately asked, cui hono ? What is it 
good for ? Is food or drink to be got out 
of it ? Will it make hats or shoes, or cov¬ 
er umbrellas ? Will it heal or kill ? Will 
it drive a steam engine or make a mill go ? 
And truly this mi bono question has of late 
been so satisfactorily answered, that we 
cannot wonder that the public sliould per¬ 
sist in putting it somewhat eagerly to every 
discoverer and inventor, and should believe 
that if a substance has one valuable appli¬ 
cation, it will prove, if further investigated, 
to have a thousand. Gutta percha has not 
been known in this country ten years, and 
already it would be more difficult to say 
what purposes it has not been applied to, 
than to enumerate those to which it has 
been applied. Gun cotton had not proved 
in the saddest way its power to kill, before 
certain ingenious Americans showed that it 
has a remarkable power of healing, and 
forms the best sticking plaster for wounds. 
Surgeons have not employed ether and 
chloroform as anaesthetics for three years; 
and already an ether steam engine is at work 
in Lyons, and a chloroform one in London. 
Of other sciences we need scarcely speak. 
Chemistry has long come down from her 
atomic altitudes and elective affinities, and 
scours and dyes, bakes, brews, cooks, and 
compounds drugs with contented composure. 
Electricity leaves her thunderbolt in the 
sky, and, like Mercury dismissed from Olym¬ 
pus, acts as letter carrier and message boy. 
Even the mysterious magnetism, which 
once seemed a living principle to quiver in 
the compass needle, is unclothed of myste¬ 
ry, and set to driving turning lathes. The 
public perceives all this, and has unlimited 
faith in man’s power to conquer nature.— 
The credulity which formerly fed upon uni¬ 
corns, phoenixes, mermaids, vampires, kra- 
kens, pestilential comets, fairies, ghosts, 
witches, spectres, charms, curses, universal 
remedies, pactions with Satan, and the like, 
now tampers with chemistry, electricity, and 
magnetism, as it once did with the invisible 
world. Shoes of swiftness, seven league 
boots, and Fortunatus wishing caps, are 
banished even from the nursery; but an 
electro-magnetic steam fire balloon, which 
will cleave the air like a thunderbolt, and 
go as straight to its destination as the crow 
flies, is an invention which many hope to 
see realized, before railways are quite worn 
to peices. A snuff-box full of the new ma¬ 
nure about to be patented, will fertilize a 
field; and the same amount of the new ex¬ 
plosive will dismantle the fortifications of 
Paris. By means of the fish-tail propeller, 
to be shortly laid before the Admiralty, the 
Atlantic will be crossed in three days.— Ed¬ 
inburgh Revieio. 
give food that contains gluten, and looking 
over this table (pointing to a diagram) you 
will see that beans and peas contain this in 
the largest quantity, and you know how im¬ 
portant an article of food beans and peas 
are for horses and cattle, particularly for 
working horses. Cabbage contains about 
nine-tenths of its weight of water. Wheat, 
35 or 40 per cent of gluten, or of this mat¬ 
ter from which muscle is formed. The 
flower of the cauliflower contains more of 
gluten than any substance we raise for the 
food. If you want to lay on fat, you will 
give the animal food that contains more fat, 
such as Indian com; so if you want to give 
it a good coat, you will give it oats or In¬ 
dian corn. 
You can make an animal fat by giving it 
fat, but in general we select seeds or grains, 
such as linseed, that contains a large quan¬ 
tity of oil, sometimes 20 per cent liape- 
seed contains 70 per cent, and poppy-seed 
contains a great per centage of oil. In 
Flanders and France and other parts of Eu¬ 
rope, it is cultivated for its oil The cake 
which is left after expressing the oil, is ex¬ 
ceedingly nourishing, and can be used ad¬ 
vantageously in feeding cattle. This poppj' 
cake does not contain opium enough to hurt 
an animal; when seed-cakes are employed 
to feed animals, oil-cakes are imported for 
this purpose. Here is a table of the com¬ 
position of oil-cakes. Three different vari¬ 
eties can be made. This oil-cake contains 
what forms muscle and fat, and farmers 
know that to lay on muscle and fat, it is a 
most profitable kind of food. But the ani¬ 
mal is often fed for milk. Now milk has 
three different qualities. The milkman wants 
DOUGLAS’ FORCE AND SUCTION PUMP. 
We have been requested to call attention 
to this pump, and inform farmers and others 
'where it can be obtained. It is claimed to 
be a superior article, and less complicated 
and e.xpensive than similar pumps hereto¬ 
fore used. We have not seen it in opera¬ 
tion, but from the testimony of others con¬ 
sider it worthy of notice and trial by those 
requiring a machine of the kind. 
In the above engraving, A is the force 
pump, fastened to a plank about 25 or 30 
feet from the surface of the water. B is 
the suction pipe from force pump to the 
water. C, discharge pipe, terminating in a 
chamber or barrel with a spout, causing the 
pipe to throw a more uniform stream. 
The inventor says “ these pumps are de¬ 
signed to be used for deep wells, or for forc¬ 
ing water up into Bathing Chambers, Fac¬ 
tories, (fee. (fee.; and by the application of 
hose, may be used for the protection of 
buildings in extinguishing fires. They are 
adapted for being worked either by hand, 
water, steam, wind, horse, or any other pow¬ 
er, as may be desired. Thus they may be 
used for conveying water by means of pipes 
from wells, springs, or streams, to any point 
or station required.” 
Price ^15 and upwards, according to size. 
For sale at the Genesee Agricultural Ware¬ 
house, Rochester. 
^ quantity and not quality, and therefore he 
I gives his cattle grains from the brewery— 
< drinks of various kinds and water—and if he 
' finds, after all, that the milk is too rich, he 
'' puts a little water in it [laughter.] But 
\ where the daiiy^man wantsbutter or cheese, 
^ then he wants (quality. If he makes butter, 
^ the milk should be rich. He can add large- 
PORTABLE SAW BOLL. 
The Morristown Jerseyman describes a 
saw mill propelled by two horses, made by 
Clark (fe Overton, of that county. The Jer- 
syman says: The mill can readily be taken 
to pieces and put on three wagons and trans¬ 
ported to any place required in a dense for¬ 
est. It saws a log 30 feet in length, and a 
few days since he transformed a log 15 feet 
long 15 inches in diameter in 3-4 boards in 
short order—the saw running through the 
the log in 4^ minutes with the greatest ease. 
The crank can be transformed from an eight 
inch to a ten-inch stroke in five minutes, and 
to prevent the usual jarring or heavy pres¬ 
sure on one side of the machine, it has a 
pitman on each side of the saw. These gen¬ 
tlemen can furnish these saw-mills with the 
horse pow'er, in complete running order for 
$350. 
material that forms curd. But if I desire 
milk for butter or rich cheese, I give more 
fat, and of all the materials that we know of 
linseed oil-cake is the best. 
I do not dwell on the feeding of animals, 
for growing young calves. When the ani¬ 
mal is growing it is necessary to adopt the 
food to its condition. You must give it such 
food as is necessary to increase the bone.— 
The cow in calf must also have a supply of 
food in proportion to its condition, so if you 
are rearing young animals you must give 
food to preserve the milk of its natural con¬ 
sistency, but we in England feed animals 
with a view', merely, to fill up the farm yard 
w'ith manure. The farmer does it not for 
profit in such cases from his animal, but from 
the richness of the manure. Under all cir¬ 
cumstances the kind of food should be se¬ 
lected w'ith reference to the result of analyt¬ 
ic research, and according to the purposes 
for which the animal is fed—regarding also 
the food which is the cheapest in market or 
which is most readily within reach. 
One of the circumstances, (for. I have but 
five minutes more and must hurry over this 
part of the subject)—it is of great import¬ 
ance to attend to, the state in which the food 
is introduced into the stomach. If I select 
Indian corn without mixing it with other 
food, the animal cannot digest it readily.— 
So with other food, this shows how import¬ 
ant it is, that the food, wdiatever its compo¬ 
sition, if it is to produce its full feeding ef¬ 
fect, should be given in such a state that 
the animal can avail itself of it The feed¬ 
ing of animals with prepared food, is a 
branch of knowledge which has resulted in 
great profit to the farmer. A mixture of 
different kinds of food is better than one 
kind; better, because it is of different kinds 
than because it has different compositions, 
and by mixing food we are more likely to 
meet the wants of the animal. When food 
is mixed with cut chaff, it is far more nour¬ 
ishing; in short, food goes further, and per¬ 
forms its functions more effectually, when 
mixed up in this way. Now, you have all 
heard of malt being used in feeding stock; 
malt differs from ordinary barley from its 
being sprouted a very little, and dried.— 
Barley contains starch and gluten; when it 
sprouts, a certain quantity of gluten chan¬ 
ges its character, being converted into a sub¬ 
stance soluble in water. If you take malt 
and crush it, and put it mto water, the wa¬ 
ter will dissolve out this substance, wliich is 
REFORM OF THE PATENT LAWS. 
If we can judge correctly by the debates 
in the Senate, the Bill for amending the 
Patent Laws, w'ill pass this session. The 
main reforms proposed, if carried, will make 
patentees exceedingly careful about their 
iirst specifications, as it will be morally im¬ 
possible to get a re-issue to correct specifi¬ 
cations, for the Bill proposes that all appli¬ 
cants for additions, re-issues or exten.sions 
of patents, shall publish notices of the same 
in three daily papers published at Washing¬ 
ton, the first publication of which shall at 
least be 00 days before the re-issue (fee., is 
obtained. Congress must therefore be ap¬ 
plied to for a re-issue. Well this would 
cost more one way and another than the 
whole patent would be Avorth. Inventors 
after this must never ask for a re-issue, but 
make all snug at first, and the Patent Office 
officers must be brought to the mark for 
they do not do right in fulfilling their gen¬ 
eral duties, by taking charge of inventors’ 
consciences, as they often do. There must 
also be a reform in the Patent Office. 
The amendment to the Laws, requiring 
additions, and corrected specifications to go 
before Congress, will have an injurious ten¬ 
dency, for new additions are now passed 
upon as new inventions} and every re-issue 
that claims more than was in the first pat¬ 
ent, is null and void in the opinion of our 
ablest jurists. The only thing which a re¬ 
issue should cover, is to render claims and 
descriptions more definite and intelligible, 
and tliis is all— Set. Am. 
. LIST OF PATENTS 
ISSUED FROM THE UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE, 
Fbr the week ending May 14, 1850. 
To O. P. Allen, of Ringe, N. IT., for improve¬ 
ment in machines for slitting clothes pins. 
To A. Atwood, of Troy, N. Y., for improvement 
in stoves. 
To L. Bissell, of New York, N. Y., for improve¬ 
ment in connecting rods of steam engines and oth¬ 
er machineiy'. 
To B. F. Broomell, of London Grove, Pa., (As¬ 
signor to I. Jackson,) for improvement in steaming 
grain preparatory to grinding. 
To H. C. Brown, of Xenio, Oliio, for improve¬ 
ment in balancing sash. 
To D. H. Chamberlain, of Boston, Mass., for 
toothed segment lock for fire-arms. 
To T. M. Collins, of Marion, Ark., for cylinder 
and trough gold washers. 
To N. Colver, of Boston, (Assignor to N. Col- 
ver, of Boston, Mass., and W. S. Damrell, of Ded¬ 
ham, Mass.,) for revolving jaw wrench. 
To A. Combs, of Farminrton, Ohio, for im¬ 
provement in connecting the skeins with axles. 
To J. C. Dodge, of Dodgeville, Mass., for im¬ 
provement in preventing fibres from winding on 
drawing rollers in spinning machines. 
To J. Houghton, of Ogden, N. Y., for improve¬ 
ment in machines for washing table furniture. 
To J. L. Mott, of New York, N. Y., for im¬ 
provement in cooking stoves. 
To H. Patterson, of Templeton, Mass., for im¬ 
provements in splint machines. 
To A. S. Pelton, of Clinton, Conn., for improve¬ 
ment in threshing machines. 
To O. L. Reynolds, of Dover, N. II., for im¬ 
provements in sewing machines. 
To W. Scarlett, of Newark, N. J., for improve¬ 
ment in suspender buckles. 
To J. Trees, of Salem, Pa., for shell propeller. 
To J. N. Warren, of Buffalo, N. Y., for im¬ 
provement in the joints of stove-pipes. 
DESIGNS. 
To J. Hutchison, of Troy, N. Y., (Assignor to 
Deborah Powers, A. E. Sc N. B. Powers, of Lan- 
singburg, N. Y.,) for design for painted floor cloth. 
To W. Race, of Seneca Falls, N. Y., for design 
for stoves. 
A MOTHER, who was in the habit of ask¬ 
ing her children, before they retired at night, 
what they had done during the day to make 
others happy, found her young twin-daugh¬ 
ters silent The older ones spoke modestly 
of deeds and dispositions, founded on the 
golden rule, “ Do unto others as you would 
they should do unto you.” Still those little 
bright faces were bowed down in silence. 
The question was repeated. “ I can re¬ 
member nothing good all this day, dear 
mother! only one of my school-fellows was 
happy, because she had gained the head of 
the class; and I smiled on her, and'ran to 
kiss her. So she said I was good. This is 
all, dear mother.” 
The other spoke still more timidly. “ A 
little girl who sat by me, on the bench at 
school, had lost a baby brother; I saw that 
while she studied her lesson, she hid her 
face in her book, and cried. I felt sorry, 
and laid my face on the same book and 
cried with her. Then she looked up and 
was comforted, and put her arms round my 
neck. But I do not know why she said 
that I had done her good.” 
The mother knew how to prize the first 
blossomings of sympathy. She said, “ Come 
to my aims, beloved ones I To rejoice with 
those who rejoice, and to weep w'ith those 
who weep, is to obey oiu: blessed Redeem¬ 
er.” 
Advice about Caveats.—A case recent¬ 
ly came under our notice where the Patent 
Office refused to accredit the $20 paid for 
the Caveat fee towards a patent because the 
fee for Caveat was paid as follows by a mis¬ 
take :—the invention was the work of two 
individuals, but they thought it was all one 
whether the caveat was filed in one or both 
of their names, if the patent was applied 
for in the names of both. They applied 
for the patent in both of their names, and 
requested that the caveat fee be applied to- 
Avards the Patent fee. This Avas refused, 
because the Caveat was in the name of one 
of the inventors only.— Ib. 
