MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER; AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY JOURNAL 
A FINE PEAR ORCHARD. 
In the report of the New York County _____ _ __ 
(New Brunswick,) Agricultural Mety we “ a liKE PEAE OECHAEDr 
find some useful observations on the value _ 
of Peat as manure, by Prof. Robb, of Fred- j.j, recently our good fortune through 
ericton, a gentleman of courtesy of the Hon. E. Blackmak, to 
oeoloffist and chemist. He gives three • i i i i i i • 
Ldei by which this substance maybe ad- visit a beautiful pear orchard which he is 
vantageously used for the improvement of rearing upon his farm at Newark, Wayne 
soil, as follows: county. A large field has been devoted to 
1st. It may be carted to the barn-yard experiment of growmg pears upon a 
and spread all around, so as to absorb all much larger than is to be met with 
the liquid mauure, wh,ch It do a « Y„A. It is the in- 
sponge; not only Will It soak up and tlx 11- ^ . 
quid and gaseous matters, which would tention to have growing, in one field, four 
otherwise be lost, but it will thereby take thousand pear trees. Of these over two 
on a state of fermentation itself, which will thousand were set last fall, and such was 
result in its becoming soluble and proper gl^jp bestowed upon them, that, 
for the food of crops Wheu one layer is _ 
soaked and fermented, more or less. It must • j-,- t? ^ 
be renewed, or replaced by fresh stuff from They are now in a fine condition. Before 
the boo-, which will thus become a perma- setting, the land was well enriched with a 
nent benefit to the farm. compost of barn-yard manure, leached with 
2d. The peaty substance may be advan- ashes and lime. The past spring that por- 
tageously composted and brought to a so around the trees was planted to pota- 
liihlfl fnvm therebv If three loads ot nail- , , ^ ^ 
lUDie loim inereoy. y ^ .1 ^ , r Wirir, 
dried peat earth be mixed xvith one of sta- toes, and the most of the field beside to 
ble manure fgreen,) there will be formed corn. The rows of trees are thirty feet 
A® ^ 1 i_ _ J_ II _A aV - ± _ .• . 1 j . T . , • 
on, ^ 
ar- 
^ four loads of manure equal to cow dung it- apart—the trees eight feet distant in the — 
^ self, for the ordinary root and grain crops, ^ow. They have had thorough cultivation, 
) A layer of dry peat should form the base excellent care—some of the trees bear- 
, of the compost heap, then ^ ingafew pears the first season after setting, 
manure, then alternate layers ot peat and- . f ^ /a 1 
manure, ending with a thick layer of peat, f^nd of only two years growth. Over half 
If ashes be added, or if the heap be occa- of the number set are dwarfs from the nurse- 
^ sionally watered with urine, decomposition ry of Messrs. Elwanger & Barry, of Roch- 
I will be rfnore rapid, and the compost be and are as fine trees as could be de- 
5 more fertilizing. In six weeks, more or 
> less, according to the season, the heap may „„ „ .v i, -x • • x 11 
' be shoveled over and then carried on to the doyenne or Virgalieu, though it is intended 
) field, where its effects are equal, if not su- m filling up the grounds to have a succes- 
) perior, to the same quantity of common sion from the most early to a late winter * THE NORWAY SPRUCE FIR. 
\ dumr ' It mav be applied to any soil defi- p-ar , . Figure of a full-grown tree at Studley, 132 feet 
^ • f ■ tyioHov and in anv wav ^ ,rT trunk, 6i ft., and of the head 
^ cient in vegetable matt > 7 y> We are not aware of a more earnest set- 39 ft. [Scale 1 inch to 24 ft.] 
> exactly as if it were well rotted yard manure. . . _ 
: By ashc, alone, the peaty earth may be P?” g™'™«Pto6toWe m 
1 likewise converted into the food of plants i Western New York, and hope rt wrll sue- ^ ornamental evergreen 
> but I believe It IS best to use them as above ceed, so as to richly repay the enterprising f ^ . . t . ® ,7 
^ V A j -A TCT/ V. 1 . trees, either foreign or native. It is eaual v 
) directed. proprietor. If Mr. Pell can make it profit- '^4 
; 3d. The peat may be burnt in the fields able to culUvate 20,000 Newton Pipnin for planting on flat, sloping or 
i for its iBhes, which are appUed with very trees, it would auour well for the success of grof-ds, hardy in the Weakest 
!) good effect as a top dressing to meadows, i j ° situation§, and thrifty on poor soils. The 
It fhp rnt. of 40 or 50 bushels to the acre. pear orchard. h. c. w. \ _i a . 
at the rate of 40 or 50 bushels to the acre. f _ ^ peculiarly adapted to our cold cli- 
Alba ny Cxdttvator. _ CINDERS FOR PEAR TREES. ™^te. 
THE WHEAT MIDGE. We have examined the rows of trees re- During a recent visit to the Nursery of 
- ferred to in the following communication, Samuel Moulson, (noticed in our last 
The Rural New- Yorker observes that and can vouch for the good results record- number,) we observed a large number of 
“there can hardly be a doubt that this des- ed therein: young Norway Spruce Firs. Mr. M is 
tractive plunge has overrun ye™0”‘ Dear S,e As I notice ^me discussiori g,.owing them quite extensively, having from 
the eastern part of this State.” The writer going on respecting the value of mineral cr* a a A ai , ^ ^ 
observes that he had “indulged the hope manures for fruit trees, I send you the fol- fo seventy-five thousand Seedlings, from 
This is one of the most desirable and 
in . . ' - -r -o — 
^ precipitous grounds, hardy in the bleakest 
° situation!, and thrifty on poor soils. The 
COAL CINDERS FOR PEAR TREES. 
that there was some incompatability in our lowing brief notes on this subject: 
one to four years old. They appeared to 
p climate and the nature and habits of this Having heard it stated that the sweep- be in a fine, thrifty condition—giving evi- 
^ great plague, as its prevalence in the great ings and cinders of a blacksmith’s shop dence of proper care and management 
-wheat growing region of the west would be made an excellent manure for the pear **.We extract from an article in the second 
^ almost equal to war, pestilence and famine, tree, I determined to make tnal of it i <• vt • , tt • , . , 
^ He also expresses the hope that it is “but Accordingly, four years ago this spring, I ^ ® Horticulturist the fol- 
) local and transitory,” in the western part of procured three or four cart loads of this notice of this splendid evergreen:— 
; this State, as he has heard of but one in- material. It was composed of a variety of “ Perhaps the most popular foreign ever- 
> stance of its appearance, and has not dis- matters — cinders of the forge, fine scales g^eeii in this country is the Norway Spruce, 
) covered it in any crops he has examined. of iron, iron filings, parings of hoofs, clink- exceha.) In fact, it is so useful and 
' This insect was noticed in some of the ers, charcoal dust, and ashes of bituminous '’aluable a tree, tliat it is destined to be- 
' eastern States, and in Lower Canada, near- <^03,1; the latter constituting probably about much more popular still. So hardy, 
ly thirty years ago, and for many years its one-third of the whole. that it is used as a nurse plant, to break off 
ravages were such that it occasioned almost order more satisfactorily to know the wind in exposed sites, and shelter more 
an entire suspension of wheat culture in result of the application, I chose for the lender trees in young plantations; so readily 
those sections. It has been gradually purpose some rows of dwarf pear trees, in adapting itself to any site, that it thrives up- 
working its way westwardly; and four or a piece of strong loamy soil. They had soils, from light sand, or dry gravel, 
five years since was so numerous in Onon- been planted two or three years. • deep moist loam or clay; so accommo- 
, daga and Cayuga counties, as to do much I put a bushel of the sweepings referred dating in its habits, that it will grow under 
; injury to tlie wheat. It has appeared Avith- to around every other tree, in each row — the shade_ of other trees, or in the most ei- 
} in a few years ia the more western districts leaving the alternate tree untouched, but posed positions; there is no planter of new 
I of this State anj Ohio,—:1 vno- considerable i^ceiving in other respects the same treat- P^uces, or improver of old ones, who will 
) damage in that Slalc ihiyi.iseason. Its uient and culture. uot find it necessary to call it in to his assis- 
< prevalence in the eastern section of the Afterapplying the blacksmith’s sweepings, lunce. Then, again, the variety of purpos- 
^ country, has been gradually diminishing for I spread it over the ground as far as the which this tree may be used is so in- 
) several years; and the notice of this fact has roots extended, and turned it under about definite.^ Certainly, there are few trees 
) encouraged the farmers to revive the eul- three inches deep. more strikingly picturesque than a fine Nor- 
ture of wheat, which in most instances has The first year there was very little, if ^^^7 Spruce, 40 or 50 years old, towering 
) latterly, and especially the present season, ^oy, effect perceptible. All the trees were from a base of thick branches which 
\ been quite successful.— Cultivator. good condition that received the dress- droop and fall to the very lawn, and hang 
^ - - ing, and the others nearly alike in growth' in those depending curves which make 
GERMAN MARRIAGES. ‘"^^d health. fr such a favorite with artists. Any one 
- The second year, the dressed trees took wishes occular demonstration of the 
Marriage in Germany is preceded by a start They grew a third more in height of this, will do well to 
) the following forms and ceremonies, and it than the others in the same roAvs; the wood mind, (for certainly, once seen, he can 
^ is by no means an easy affair after all:— was stronger, and the buds longer. never forget them,) the fine specimens on 
^ First, proposal; second, betrothal; third, a Last year, the same difference in growth laAvn at the seat of Col. Perkins, near 
public dinner or supper of announcement; and vigor continued; so that noAv the trees Boston; or tAvo or three, still larger, and al- 
fourth, the testimonials required b}”-govern- are—some of them—half as large again ^ost equally developed, in the old Linmean 
ment — being, first, a certificate of vaccin- as those not dressed with the sweepings. — Grarden of Mr. Winter, at Flushing, Long 
nation; second, a week-day school ticket, in I have observed also, that the leaves are a 
proof of regular attendance there; third, a darker green, and the fruit, though not The Norwa,y Spruce, abroad, is thought 
certificate of attendance on a religious teach- much larger, has been much fairer in ap- grow rapidly only on soils someAvhat 
er; fourth a certificate of confirmation; fifth, pearance. damp. But this is not the case in America 
> a conduct certificate; sixth, a service book; The result was so satisfactory that I have lately, a young plantation of them 
seventh, a wander back (this refers to the since engaged all the sw'eepings that are to 10 or 12 years groAvtli, in the ground of 
compulsory travels of the handicraft men;) be had in my neighborhood, and mean to ^^P^- Lorbes of Milton Hill, near Boston, 
^ eighth, an apprentice ticket; ninth, a state- try them upon other fruit trees. ''®^7 high and dry gravelly soil, many 
) ment as to propriety, which, if not consid- I must also be allowed to add that four which made leading shoots, last season, 
) ered to be satisfactory, destroys the whole; pear trees, to which I gave, by 'way three or four feet Their growth may 
^ tenth, a permission! from the parents; elev- of experiment, a peck of leached yfooA be greatly promoted, as indeed may that of 
) enth, a residence permis.sion ticket; twelfth, ashes each, at the same time AAuth the evergreens, by a liberal top-dressing of 
I a certificate as to due performance of militia sweepings, have all along been decidedly ^^hes, applied early CA’ery spring or au- 
s duties; thirteenth, an examination ticket; the most vigorous of all, and have borne _ 
j fourteenth, a ticket of business, or occupa- the finest fruit. Rose Cuttings.— One of ^th^est meth- 
tion, at the time The higher classes have I follow the plan suggested some time ods of securing the success of these is to 
even more difficulties than these. Thus— ago by the Horticulturist, of keeping the stick the cutting into clean river s^d— 
a Bavarian officer cannot marry, until he trunks of my pear trees sheathed witli straw with properly prepared soil about an inch 
has deposited enough to provide forty pounds all the year round; and, since I have done below to receive the roots as soon as they 
per annum for the maintenance of his fu- so, have not been troubled with blight— strike. The clean sand prevents the wood 
ture fa mily. Horticidturist. ^ P. M. C. from rotting. A correspondent of the J^or- 
> IT- ^ ^ ■.n,-uT_i..i-Lji—_— ticulturist succeeded with this when every 
He IS great who is what he is from na- The mtelligent have a right over the ig- other mode failed, and says he does mi 
ture, and never reminds us of others. norant—the right of instructing them. ' lose one in twenty. 
Irfs k ^nrau. 
LIST OF PATENTS 
ISSUED FROM THE UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 
For the week ending August 20, 1850. 
To T. Batty, of New York, N. Y,,for improved 
Serving Malleis. 
To Robert Brown, of New London, Ct., for im¬ 
provements in Gun Harpoons and Lances. 
To F. H. Chase, of Clintonville, and A. Wes¬ 
ton and Leander Babbit, of Ausable, N. Y., for 
improvement in Obstetrical Supporters. 
To J. Dougherty, of Mount Union, Pa., for 
method of propelling boats in shallow water. 
To Imla Drake, of Mansfield, N. J., for im¬ 
provement in compound wagon-boxes. 
To R. E. Dibble, of New York, N. Y., for im¬ 
proved Steam Boiler. 
To I. D. Garlick, of Lyons, N. Y., for improve¬ 
ment in changing rotary motion into reciprocating 
motion. 
To J. L. Hardeman, of Arrow Rock, Mo., for 
improvemenqin machines for cutting hemp. 
To J. C. Millar, of Springfield, Mass., for im¬ 
provement in Fulling Mills. 
To L. V. Newton, of New York, N. Y., for im¬ 
provement in preparing the face of metallic types, 
engraved plates, &c. 
To George Pollock, of Roxbury, Mass., for im¬ 
provement in hot-air Registers. 
To J. D. Rice, of Philadelphia, Pa., for Regis¬ 
ter for steam boilers. 
To S. P. Ruggles, of Boston, Mass., for ma¬ 
chine for cutting sheet metal, &c. 
To George Tingle, of New York, N. Y., for im¬ 
proved opening and closing bucket for paddle- 
wheels. 
To John Van Brocklin, of Middleport, N. Y., 
for improvements in machines for heading bolts, 
rivets, &c. 
To J. A. WinsloAV, of Roxburj% Mass., for im¬ 
proved method of carrying vessels over shoals. 
To James Young, of Manchester, England, for 
improvement in processes for making stannates 
of potash or soda. Patented in England, Dec. 9, 
1848. 
To William R. Nevins, of New York, N. Y., 
for improvement in machines for c’jUirig crackers. 
DESIGN. 
To Robert Donavan, of Pittsburg, Pa., for de¬ 
sign for stoves. 
COATING IRON WITH COPPER. 
To coat iron with copper, as well as it 
has long been done by tin, has occupied the 
attention of many inventors for centuries. 
Their labors have uniformly failed of suc¬ 
cess. They have produced a mechanical 
union between the copper and tin, such as 
by the electrotype process, but for all truly 
useful purposes no good result was produce 
ed; no coppering of the iron by a chemical 
union was ever accomplished until within a 
short period, and a knowledge of this dis¬ 
covery has been known to but a very few. 
The discoverer is Mr. Pomeroy, of Coving¬ 
ton, Ky., who secured, after no little trouble, 
a patent for the same on the 8th of last 
January. We have seen samples of plate 
iron, (one of which is in our office,) copper¬ 
ed and finished by Mr. Pomeroy’s process. 
Unless the edge of the plate was seen, no 
one could tell that it was anything but a 
copper plate. The application of this dis¬ 
covery to the coating of iron, so as to make 
it more durable, and render its application 
to various branches of art more expansive, 
makes it one of the most valuable discove¬ 
ries of this or any other age. The iron can 
be coated with any thickness of copper, and 
spikes for ship-building have been tested as 
we have been told, and found to answer as 
well as those made entirely of copper. As 
a matter of economy, then, this discovery 
Avill greatly cheapen the price of sailing ves¬ 
sels. For boilers, roofing, coating of pipes, 
covering iron Avith the precious metals, har¬ 
ness plating, &c., this discoveiy is singularly 
applicable, and Avill be the means of increas¬ 
ing the general comforts of the human race. 
—Scientific American. 
MANUFACTURE OF RAZORS, 
The manufacture of razors, like that of 
surgical instruments, is one of the highest 
branches of cutlery handicraft, on which 
the very superior workmen are employed. 
They are made of rods of cast steel, half an 
inch broad, and just as thick as a razor’s 
back, Avhich rods are first attacked at the 
“ razor forge.” To manage the operation 
two men are required—a maker and a stri¬ 
ker. The maker manages, Avith his left 
hand, the rod, glowing red, while he uses 
the hammer with his right; and the striker 
wields a sledge hammer, delivering his 
strokes alternately with those given by the 
maker. The sound issuing from the smith¬ 
ies where these double hammers are at 
work (weighing respectively 3-f lbs., and 
7 lbs.) have not only found commemoration 
in Handel’s “ Harmonious Blacksmith,” but 
in the poems oi one of our poets, Avho 
dAvells over— 
Vulcan’s strong sons, who with nervous arms, around 
Tlie steady anvil, and tlie glaring mass 
Clatter their heavy hammers down by turns. 
Flattening ihe steel. 
The anvil for .razors is a little rounded at 
the sides, which enables the forger to give 
the blade a little thinner edge, and thereby 
save the grinder much trouble. The razor 
blades, as soon as they leave the anvil, are 
hardened by being heated to a white heat, 
and then immersed in cold water. They 
are next tempered by being laid side by 
side with their edges upward, with a flat 
iron plate over the fire until they have ac¬ 
quired a yellow brown color, which leaves 
them still very hard. 
The grinder now takes possession of them, 
and in his hands they are subjected to three 
operations—grinding, glazing, and perish¬ 
ing. From the concavity of the razor blades, 
they must, of necessity, be ground upon 
stones of ve^ small diameter; and the ob¬ 
ject of grinding the blades upon one of four 
inches, is to impart to the edge or cutting 
side a uniform thickness of a certain width 
that shall supersede the necessity of grind¬ 
ing after use. Indeed, we consider a razor 
that requires grinding no longer fit for of¬ 
fice ; it ought to be cast off like an old coat 
as superannuated and exempt from further 
work, like a broken doAvn exciseman; or 
else like an old blood-horse in a dung cart, 
condemned, when worn out to serve a less 
noble office, that of cutting corns. As ra¬ 
zors, like most cutting instruments, require 
a certain temper, they are ground on a whet¬ 
stone, which has its trough filled with water 
sufficiently that the edge of the stone may 
as it passes, just touch the water’s surface. 
The next operation is glazing, which con¬ 
sists of applying successively emery of dif¬ 
ferent degrees of fineness, until the article 
is rendered as smooth as it can possibly be 
made by such means. The tool for glazing 
is composed of a circular body of wood, 
formed of many pieces put together in 
such a manner that the edge of the in¬ 
strument always presents the end of the 
Avood. The pieces are placed in this posi¬ 
tion in order that the contraction of the 
materials may not destroy the circular fig¬ 
ure, Avhich Avould otherAvise be the case, as 
the wood contracts laterally. The surface 
of the glazing tool is prepared for use by 
first touching it Avith a sharpened hammer, 
and then filling up the notches with emery 
and talloAv. Polishing is next performed 
by means of a circular piece of Avood cov¬ 
ered with buff’ leather, Avhich, from time to 
time, the workman covers with the brown 
red oxider of iron, called ei’oscus. The 
speed of the glazing instrument in its rota¬ 
tion, is more than double that of the grinding* 
stone. The speed of the polishing tool is 
much less than the latter, being not much 
more than seventy or eighty feet in a sec¬ 
ond.— Domestic Economist. 
BALLOON RAILWAY. 
A gentleman connected with a scientific 
institution, in Cincinnati, describes to us a 
balloon railway—its object being to make 
the balloon practicable by giving it direction, 
power of starting, stopping, raising and light¬ 
ing at the will of those attached to the car. 
He proposes to have a guiding rail suspend¬ 
ed by posts at any reasonable distance from 
the ground. In order to work a balloon on 
this railway, he proposes to render it suffi¬ 
ciently buoyant, to sustain freight and pas¬ 
sengers, and have it secured by a cord 100 
or more feet long, connected to the rail by 
means of a sliding eye or cap made in two 
sections, so that by means of a smaller cord 
of the same length the eye or cap can be 
shut tigh^ on the rail to stop or hold the 
balloon; or allow it to float along at the 
pleasure of the ballooner. While thus se¬ 
cured it can, by means of the rope, be drawn 
to the earth at any time, for letting out and 
taking in passengers. This proposition to 
drive a ball )on is the only one which has 
any sort of practicability about it, but we 
have no confidence that it Avill over be 
adopted, for the reason that during the rap¬ 
id progress of the balloon thus attached, it 
would exert a Avonderful binding force be¬ 
tween the sliding eye and the rail tending 
to retard its rapid flight. 
All attempts to apply balloons to the pur¬ 
poses of conveyance, Ave must regard as 
Avild chimeras, tending only to disappoint 
the projectors. They are much older than 
the steam engine, and hitherto all experi¬ 
ments have proved abortive, and are only 
calculated to stimulate good mechanics and 
truly scientific men to look upon them as 
phantoms. 
We would add that the same plan as the 
above described, was shoAvn to us and sev¬ 
eral other editors in this city, something like 
a year since. We well remember, that one 
of our cotemporary editors stimulated the 
inventor with the belief that it would revo¬ 
lutionize the travel of the world. His ar¬ 
dor, hoAvever, Avas a little dampened after 
Ave had pointed out some of the insurmount¬ 
able scientific objections, and Ave have not 
heard from him since. American. 
Neav Tent.— It is stated that a ncAV tent, 
on an improA^ed plan, has just been con¬ 
structed by Mr. J. H. Landell, sail-maker, of 
Newark, N. J., which combines many 
advantages over the “ wall tent,” now in use 
in the army. It is circular in form, capable 
of accomodating a much larger number of 
persons, and hence proportionately cheaper 
than the tent commonly used. 
Mule Trade in Ohio. —The Editor of 
the Cincinnati Chronicle S Atlas Avrites 
from Chilicothe: 
I have noticed within a few days quite 
(to me) a new branch of trade. Several 
large droves of mules have passed our door, 
within two weeks. They come on the new 
road from Maysville, and are destined for 
the Eastern markets. I think that the 
droves I haA’c seen are worth more than 
$20,000. The animals are large and fat 
