MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY JOURNAL. 
HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY-JUNE EXHIBI¬ 
TION. 
The annual exhibition of Fruits, Flowers 
and Vegetables of the Genesee Valley Hor¬ 
ticultural Society, took place at the City 
Hall, on the 10th inst. The display was 
beautiful, but owing to the lateness of the 
season, the show of roses was not as com¬ 
plete as usual. 
Many of the former patrons of the So¬ 
ciety were absent, which was much regret- 
ed, and an expression of dissatisfaction was 
made by those present, that all who should 
interest themselves did not come forward 
with their contributions. To several young 
ladies, the Society are under obligations.— 
Hereafter more interest will need to be ta¬ 
ken to make the display what the “Valley 
of the Genesee’s” Society should be. Sub¬ 
joined are the Committees reports. 
The Committee on Plants and Flowers 
reported the following premiums: 
nurserymen’s class. 
Ruses.-— Best display, Ellwanger & Barry, 116 
named varieties, $5; 2d, S. Moulson, 17 do. $2; 
3d, A. Frost & Co., 15 do. $1. 
Green House Plants. —Best collection, C. J. 
Ryan & Co., $3; 2d, Win. Webster, ,$2. 
Geraniums.— -Best 12 varieties, Wm. Webster, 
$2; 2d, C. J. Ryan & Co., $1,50. 
Verbenas. —Best display, A. Frost & Co., $1; 
2d, C. J. Ryan & Co., 75 cts. 
Fuschias. —Win. Webster, 17 varieties, $2. 
Chinese Peonies. —Best display, Ellwanger & 
Barry, 31 named varieties, $2; 2d, J. J. Thomas, 
Macedon, $1,50; 3d, John Donnelan, $1. 
Herbaceous Plants. —Best display, Ellwanger & 
Barry, $1,50; 2d, C. J. Ryan <&Co., $1. 
Flowering Shrubs. —Best display, Ellwanger &. 
Barry, $1,50; 2d, C. J. Ryan & Co., $1. 
Roquets. —Best, Ellwanger & Barry, $3; 2d, 
C. J. Ryan & Co., ,$2; 3d, A. Frost & Co., .$1. 
Seedling Calceolarias .— 56 plants in pots — very 
Fine, Win. Webster, .$2. 
Seedling Peonies. —John Donnelan, 27 varie¬ 
ties, promise to be very fine, $2. 
AMATEUR LIST. 
Roses. —Best display, Mrs. II. P. Norton, 
Brockport, 17 named varieties, $3. Verbenas .— 
From do, $1. Petunias —From do, $1. 
Table Roquets. —Best, Mrs. S. J. Selden, $2; 
2d, Miss Martha Breck, $1,50; 3d, Miss Emily 
Peck, $1. 
Splendid Hand Boquets were also exhibited by 
Mrs. L. G. Crane, Mrs. W. Ailing, Miss Green, 
Miss Marietta Pardee, Miss Julia Miller, Miss E. 
L. Langdon, Miss Jane C. Warner, Miss Emma 
Ward, Miss Chappell, Mr. James Whitney and 
Mr. S. Shadbolt, to each of whom a book valued 
at 50 cts. was awarded. John Gray, Ch’n. 
EXHIBITION OF FRUIT8, PREMIUMS, AC. 
Strawberries. —From R. G. Pardee, Palmyra, 
N. Y., one dish Burr’s New Pine—some rneas- 
ureing 4 inches in circumference, and very fine— 
1st prize $3. From the same, 1 quart Hovoy’s 
Seedling, very fine and equal in size and quality 
to 2d prize; also very fine specimens of the Black 
Prince. 
From J. J.' Hath way, best Hovey’s Seedling 
2*1 premium. From the same, one Strawberry, 
the Prince of Orleans, similar to Early Scarlet. 
From W. Borden, fine dish, of Ross Phoenix. 
From John Donnelan, one dish Hovey’s Seed- 
iing. 
Nurserymen's List .— From Ellwanger &, Bar¬ 
ry, No. 1, seedling, first quality in flavor, nearly 
equal to Burr’s New Pine,—very promising speci¬ 
mens Monroe Soedling,—of Burr’s New Pine,— 
also very good specimens of Large Early Scarlet, 
Duke of Kent,—large fruited Alice Maud, Red 
Alpine, Black Prince,and Boston Pine. Also very 
fine specimens of Scarlet Prolific Seedling, in fla¬ 
vor like Hovey’s Seedling, and of Unique Scarlet 
Seedling, of similar quality to Early Scarlet— 
large size. 
From Bissell & Hooker, very good specimens 
Burr’s New Pine, Black Prince, Burr’s Old Pine, 
Scarlet Melting—similar to Early Scarlet, Boston 
Pine, 2d best; Cushing—large and rather pcor. 
Crimson Cone Seedling, rather large—very simi¬ 
lar to Early Scarlet. 
From M. G. Warner, 15 varieties, largest and 
best collection. Five specimens of Austrian Scar¬ 
let, 1st best, Burr’s Old Pine, Early Scarlet, Co¬ 
lumbian . Medium, Crimson Cone, Burr’s New 
Pine, Boston Pine, Black Prince, Alice Maud, 
Roseberry, Bishop’s Orange, Rural Hudson, Hov¬ 
ey’s Seedling, Scarlet Melting, and Ross Phcenix- 
From A. Frost, very fine dish of Hovey’s Seed, 
lings. 
Grapes .— L. A. Ward, Esq., very fine Grapes. 
Black Hamburgh and Maderia. Hot-house not 
n amed. 
Cherries. —Zera Burr, a Seedling Cherry—a 
slight improvement on May Bigareau. 
Apples .—From Dr. Long, specimens of the 
Kingsley Apple, well kept, but have lost most of 
their flavor. 
From J. H. Watts, fine specimens of Northern 
Spy. 
S. Moulson, ) 
J. J. Thomas, > Com. 
Alonzo Frost. ) 
REPORT OF VEGETABLE COMMITTEE. 
The Committee regret very much that there 
should be such a small show of vegetables, though 
this regret is somewhat modified by the fact, that 
every tiling exhibited was of the best variety, and 
the finest growth. 
The first tiling that attracted our attention was 
a fine basket of new potatoes, of the A* h-leaved 
Kidney variety, raised and exhibited by John Gray 
of Gates. They were the carliost seen, and very 
fine. First premium, $2. 
Radishes .—Early Short Top, 1st premium to 
John Donnelan, $2; 2d, C. F. Grosman, $1. 
Peas. —The only specimen in the room was 
raised and exhibited by John Donuellan, of Early 
Kent. We should have been much pleased to 
have compared them with the Emperor, and other 
early varieties, 1st premium $3. 
Rhubarb. —Best, C. F. Crosman, $1. 
Cucumbers. —Best, John Donnelan, $2; 2d, C. 
F. Crosman, $1. 
lettuce .—To decide on the merits of the vari¬ 
eties of Lettuce presented, was the most difficult 
duty the Committee had to perform. The Pales¬ 
tine Lettuce presented by John Donnelan, and a 
variety called the Victoria Cabbage, by John Gray, 
raised from English seed, were both so fine, that 
although the Committee called in the assistance of 
many gardeners and amateurs present, and finally 
tested it as prepared for the table, they hardly feel 
competent to say which is the superior variety.— 
The Palestine was rather finer flavored, but not so 
tende'f as the Victoria. This feature, however, de¬ 
pends much on culture. With these prefatory re¬ 
marks, the Committee award to John Gray, for 
the Victoria, $2; to John Donnelan, for Palestine, 
•$L Jamks Vick, Jr., Ch'n. 
PEARS. THE.ST. GHISLAIN. 
Under modern cultivation, pears have 
become one of our most delicious fruits and 
only rank second on the list, because they 
do not keep like apples, and are more sub¬ 
ject to diseases, which render their growth 
and perfection in some cases uncertain. 
The pear figured above, tbe St. Ghislain 
is of Belgian origin, and when in perfection 
is represented to be of the highest excel¬ 
lence. The tree is beautifully upright and 
vigorous in its growth, but the fruit is some¬ 
times quite variable in quality. The follow¬ 
ing is Mr. Downing’s description: 
“ Fruit of medium size, pyriform, taper¬ 
ing to the stalk, to which it joins by fleshy 
rings. Skin pale clear yellow, with a few 
gray specks. Stalk an inch and a half long, 
curved. Calyx rather small, open, set in a 
shallow basin. Core small. Flesh white, 
buttery and juicy, with a rich, sprightly 
flavor.” 
Mr. Thomas describes it as follows: 
“ Size medium; pyriform, neck narrow, 
acute, tapering; surface pale yellow, some¬ 
times a faint blush; stalk an inch and a half 
long, curved with fleshy rings at insertion; 
basin very shallow; flesh white, buttery, 
juicy, with a fine flavor. Growth upright, 
vigorous, shoots light brown. Somewhat 
variable in quality, from first to second-rate. 
Early autumn.” 
The author of “The Fruit Garden,” Mr. 
Barry, commends it as a valuable Septem¬ 
ber pear. 
PROPAGATING FLOWERS 
Mrs. Lydia Jane Pierson, a well known 
lady writer of Pennsylvania, writes thus to 
the Farm Journal: 
I have made a discovery in the floral 
kingdom which is worth disseminating. It 
was accidental, like all important discover¬ 
ies. I gave a sick child some hyacinths to 
amuse himself with, merely the flower stalks 
carelessly broken off, and the next morning, 
as they lay withering on my table, I pitied 
them, as I do all drooping things, and ta¬ 
king them up, thrust with my pen-holder, 
holes in the earth of a pot in which plants 
were growing, and fixed the stalks in the 
damp earth. After a few hours they re¬ 
vived; but a few days subsequent, after the 
blossoms were withered, I drew them out 
to throw them away, and was surprised to 
find that they had formed bulbs at the bot¬ 
tom of the stems. Since then I have re¬ 
peated the experiment, always with suc¬ 
cess. They invariably wilt at first, and 
sometimes do not straighten themselves up 
until the seventh or eighth day. I have 
no.t tried any other flower, but intend this 
summer to make the experiment with 
tulips. Any lady may, in this manner, 
rear hyacinths from a withered boquet. 
Late Transplanting. — Dig a narrow 
trench carefully round the tree, so as to 
leave a good ball of earth, not inconvenient 
to manage, about the principal part of the 
roots. The trench should be as narrow as 
your spade will permit you to make it. Fill 
the trench with water, and let it stand for 
12 hours. Then fasten a piece of coarse 
cloth or matting about the ball—lift it out 
of the hole, and transplant it, tree and all. 
GRAFTING PEAR STOCKS. 
Editors New-Yorker: — I have in some 
cases engrafted large pear trees with the 
■ improved varieties, and find some of these 
to be more delicate in the formation of wood 
than others, and requiring peculiar treat¬ 
ment in order to have them succeed. Such 
is the case with the White and Grey Doy¬ 
enne, Winter Nelis, Bloodgood, Oswego 
Beurre, Julienne. Itseems that these kinds 
make a slim and weak growth during the 
first season after their insertion, and the 
next summer’s growth being from near their 
extremities, they are not capable of support¬ 
ing themselves, and consequently become 
bent down, and are liable to be blown off 
by high winds, or cease their growth from 
hanging below a horizontal. 
My plan has been to head back the first 
year’s shoots to about five or six buds and 
the growth from these has continued up¬ 
right and grew thriftily; this I have done at 
the time of the first spring’s pruning, before 
the leaves put forth, and I would recom¬ 
mend a, second shortening back, so that the 
grafts may acquire strength and not grow 
too much in length. With the stronger 
growing varieties, this treatment is not ne¬ 
cessary, as their strength of wood will en¬ 
able them to maintain the position they 
grew in. Such will be the case with the 
Bartlett, Beurre Diel, Vicar of Winkfield, 
Jargonelle, Flemish Beauty, &c.; their 
growth being free, coincides with that of 
our natural pear trees; but the first men¬ 
tioned kinds are of such slow growth that 
it requires skillful management, to encour¬ 
age sufficient growth to form a top so that 
the whole sap can be appropriated by these 
grafts. 
I have seen but few large trees engraft¬ 
ed to the first mentioned kinds that suc¬ 
ceeded—the grafts either become smoth¬ 
ered from the luxuriance of the natural 
stocks sending out a growth of sprouts, or 
they bend down and cease growing, and 
in nine cases out of ten this happens by the 
neglect of those who should bestow good 
care upon them. Their welfare is a mat¬ 
ter of much importance, for good pear trees 
are the best property that it is possible for 
a farmer to possess, according to the outlay 
required, where they have the trees grown 
to their hands. 
In grafting large pear trees to these slow 
growing varieties, every limb should be ta¬ 
ken, as the more grafts the sooner they will 
be capable of taking the growth to them¬ 
selves, and the more fruit will be produced 
a every one will produce its proportion. 
Fruit growers should enter largely into 
the cultivation of pears in districts where 
the trees do well, as is the case throughout 
most of the State, even where the peach, 
plumb and cherry fails, and in the counties 
of Yates, Steuben and Chemung, there is 
scarce a case of blight ever known, which 
is so much complained of in other sections. 
Big Stream Point, N. Y., June, 1851. I. II. 
QUICK LIME IN OLD GARDENS. 
A correspondent at Norwich, Ct., in¬ 
quires “ whether quick lime would be use¬ 
ful in an old and long cultivated garden, 
and how it operates. 
Quick lime is exceedingly useful when 
applied to old garden soils. Such soils are 
glutted with half decomposed vegetable 
matter, roots and fibres of previous crops, 
and insoluble and inert portions of manure, 
so accumulated during a long time as to 
render the soil “ sour,” as the gardeners 
say. It acts by decomposing all such ma¬ 
terial, and combining with any excess of 
humus, renders the soil sweet and fit for 
the active growth of plants. Nothing so 
wonderfully restores the original fertility of 
an old and long cultivated garden, in which, 
though the soil has grown dark with repeated 
manuring and continual cultavation, many 
vegetables and fruits do not thrive as they 
once did, so quickly as a moderate dressing of 
caustic lime—applied when the ground is 
broken up, (at the rate of 150 bushels to 
the acre,) and to lie for a short time in that 
state—either in the fall or spring. 
To preserve Strawberries. — Look 
them over with care. Weigh a pound of 
sugar to each pound of fruit. Put a layer 
of fruit on the bottom of the preserving ket¬ 
tle, then a layer of sugar, and so on till all 
is in the pan. Boil them about fifteen min¬ 
utes. Put them in bottles, hot, and seal 
them. Then put them in a box, and fill it 
in with dry sand. The flavor of the fruit 
is preserved more perfectly, by simply pack¬ 
ing the fruit and sugar in alternate layers, 
and sealing the jar, without cooking, but 
the preserves do not look so well. 
Pinch off all superfluous sprouts on 
choice fruit trees. 
LIST OF PATENT CLAIMS 
ISSUED FROM THK UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 
For the week eliding June 10, 1851. 
ToClias. F. Brown, of Warren, R. I., for bal¬ 
anced rudder. 
To Davis Dutclier, of Springfield, N. Y., for 
improvement in churns. Ante-dated Feb. 15, 
1851. 
To T. W. Hill, of Leominster, Mass., for im¬ 
provement in comb cutting machines. 
To Robert Newell, of New York, N. Y., for im¬ 
provement in yeririutation safety locks. 
To I. S. Richardson, of Boston, Mass., for im¬ 
provement in churns. 
To A. C. Arnold, of Norwalk, Conn., for im¬ 
provement in crossing the fibres in forming the 
bats for felt, cloth, &c. 
To G. II. Corliss, of Providence, R. 1., for im¬ 
provement in governors. 
To Sommers Crowell, of Reading, I’a., for im¬ 
provements in railings. 
To Albert Eames, of Springfield, Mass., for im¬ 
provement in machines for facing and polishing 
stone and other substances. 
To Wm. Gardiner, of New York, N. Y., for im¬ 
provement in governors. 
To C. H. Guard, of Brownville, N. Y., for im¬ 
provement in carriage springs. 
To John O’Neil, of Xenia, Ohio, for improve¬ 
ment in washing machines. 
To Hugh and James Sangster, of Buffalo, N. 
Y., for improvement in lanterns. 
To T. J. Sloan, of New York, N. Y., for im¬ 
provement in method of finishing the heads of 
screws. 
To Wm. Van Anden, of Poughkeepsie, N. Y., 
for improvement in centrifugal sugar diainers. 
To N. T. Allen, of Ludlowville, N. Y., for im¬ 
provement in grain harvesters. 
DESIGNS. 
To S. W. Gibbs, of Albany, N. Y., (assignor 
1° Jagger, Treadwell & Perry,) for design for 
stoves. 
To W. G. Hallman, of Philadelphia, Pa., for 
design for stoves. 
To A. Cox, Elias Johnson & D. B. Cox, of 
Troy, N. Y., for two designs for stoves. 
To J. F. Rnthbone, of Albany, N. Y., for design 
for stoves. 
To David Stuart & Jacob Beesley, of Philadel¬ 
phia, Pa., (assignor to W. P. Cresson,) for design 
for stoves. 
LIGHTNING CONDUCTORS. 
The wise man will employ all such means 
as are within his power to preserve life, 
health and properly, in order to increase 
and perpetuate, not only his own happiness 
and enjoyment, but that of all those who 
are dependant in any way upon him. Such 
a man will not unnecessarily expose himself 
to heat or cold, storm or wind, but will use 
every reasonable precaution to protect him¬ 
self and his, from known dangers and evils. 
Man has devised many ways in order to 
shelter himself from the storm, tbe cold, 
and the wind. He feels himself bound to 
use these means to shield himself, and his 
family if he has one, from the peltings of 
the rain, from the wind and the cold. He 
who neglects to provide thus for himself 
and family, a covert from the storm and the 
inclemency of the weather, has no claim to 
the title of a provident man. 
The wise man who builds in situations 
exposed to winds, or to earthquakes, uses 
the precaution of constructing low edifices, 
and of using stronger and heavier material. 
This is right. If he may shield himself 
from the wind, the rain, the burning heat 
of the sun, and from the cold, aye, more, if 
it be his duty to preserve himself as we 
have seen from tbe destruction attendant 
upon these agencies, why should he not, 
also, from the lightning? 
No sooner had Franklin become con¬ 
vinced of the electric nature of lightning, 
than he devised the means of averting it 
from buildings. To do this, lightning-con¬ 
ductors, or lightning-rods as they are called, 
were made and elevated in order to con¬ 
duct the electricity from the cloud to the 
earth. It is a philosophic fact as well es¬ 
tablished as any other fact in physics, that 
the lightning will follow the conductor when 
made and put up according to the direc¬ 
tions given by philosophers —thus affording 
the most perfect protection from the light¬ 
ning during the passage of a thunder show¬ 
er over or near your residence. 
The rod or conductor should be made of 
bars of wrought iron, from half an inch, to 
an inch in diamater, joined by screws, which 
are better than hooks. It is usually fast¬ 
ened to the building by wooden stays— 
and is generally attached to the chimney of 
the house, extending six or eight feet or 
more above it, according to the area to be 
protected, terminating in one or three points 
plated with silver to prevent their rusting. 
The lower end of the rod should extend to 
the permanently moist earth—-this should 
not be forgotten. Place charcoal in the 
earth around the rod, for it will prevent cor¬ 
rosion, and is also a good electric conductor. 
Paint the rod above with lamp-black. See 
that there is no interruption from the point 
tipped with silver to its lower extremity. 
The rule for determining the height of 
the rod must not be forgotten. “ A rod” 
says Prof. Gray, “ will protect a space in 
all directions from its point equal to twice 
its height” For example: A rod 50 feet 
; high will protect a space represented by a 
| one with two hundred feet for the diameter 
ot its base extending to the top of the rod. 
It the conductor be not well joined, or if 
the connection with the ground be imper¬ 
fect, the lightning may, if attracted by the 
rod, produce injury—that is, the building 
may be shattered or the inmates killed, or 
both. Gay Lussac under the auspices of 
the Academy of Science, gives the follow¬ 
ing important instructions on this subject 
If the lightning-conductor be 27 feet in 
length it should be composed of three 
pieces, viz., an iron rod 25£ feet in length, 
a brass rod of 18 inches and a platinum 
needle 2 inches long: taken together they 
should form a cone sloping "upwards in a 
regular line. The platinum needle is sol¬ 
dered to the brass rod with silver, and the 
place of junction surrounded by a covering 
of copper. The brass rod screwed into the 
iron one and secured by transverse pins.— 
Ihe iron rod may be composed of two 
pieces or more—one of these fastens into 
the other by means of a long conical pro¬ 
jection, 7 inches in length secured by a 
transverse pin. The mode of attaching the 
rod to the building, and connecting it with 
the ground, are very similar to those al¬ 
ready given. 
We have thus presented in a condensed 
form the manner of protecting buildings 
from destruction by lightning. 
And yet, notwithstanding what science 
and philosophy have done to enlighten the 
people on this important subject, there are 
in the rural portions of the country very 
few lightning rods put up to protect life and 
property. Scarce a thunder shower passes 
over any portion of the earth’s surface with¬ 
out leaving destruction and death in its 
pathway, which might have been almost en¬ 
tirely averted by lightning conductors, and 
this too, at a very moderate expense.— 
There is something awfully grand and ter¬ 
rible in a thunder shower—many persons 
are very much excited by fear as it makes 
its way through the expanse—and no won¬ 
der if the cloud be near, and the house 
without a lightning-rod for the electricity 
with which it is charged is a destructive 
agent. The number of persons killed an¬ 
nually, or during the warm season, may be 
relatively small—yet in the aggregate, it is 
not so. So of the destruction of property. 
Many barns, full of hay and grain, are de¬ 
stroyed every year by lightning. A barn, 
when thus filled, is much more liable to be 
struck by lightning than when it is empty. 
We do earnestly commend the consider¬ 
ation of this important subject to all, and 
more especially to our rural population.— 
The tornado you may well fear, because you 
cannot protect your buildings from it—the 
lightning you need scarcely fear if you will 
avail yourselves of the means of protection 
devised by Dr. Franklin. Will you do 
so • _ * w. 
A Curious Piece of Workmanship.— 
A singular illustration of the ductility and 
tenacit yof iron, has been produced at the 
establishment of G. Downing, Esq., the 
Crown Iron Works, Smethwick. It is in 
the form of a book, the leaves of which are 
of iron, rolled so fine that they are no thick¬ 
er than a piece of thin paper. The book is 
bound in red morocco, and contains forty- 
four of these iron leaves, the whole being 
only the fifteenth of an inch thick. This 
curious book, is the work of Charles Hood, 
who is in Mr. Downing’s employment, was 
rolled in the ordinary sheet rolls; and is a 
singular illustration of the extreme tenacity 
of iron.— Birmingham Journal. 
Curious watch. —Among the curious ar¬ 
ticles on exhibition at the World’s Fair, is a 
penholder of the usual size, showing the 
hour, the day of the week, and the day of 
the month. It is wound up and set to time 
without a key, by a small button on the 
outside, and regulated by the finger at the 
end between the signs of “ slow and fast!” 
As the narrow space does notallow of many 
wheels, it has one less than usual watches, 
and no barrel: it is set in motion by a main 
spring and chain in the holder; it goes 32 
hours, and does not vary more than a min¬ 
ute in the week. This unique affair was 
manufactured at Geneva, Switzerland.— 
Olive Branch. 
