MARCH 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
95 
ftclpti anti (Saibit. 
ORCHARDS—CLOSE PLANTING. 
ORNAMENTAL TREES.—NO. IV. 
evergreen trees. 
Before the ground is in a fit state for plant¬ 
ing, we hope to have concluded our notes on the 
most suitable trees for that purpose. Spring is 
generally admitted to be the best season for 
planting evergreens. As their foliage remains 
throughout the winter, and is susceptible of in¬ 
jury from severe frost when followed by a rapid 
thaw, it is deemed the most safe practice to af¬ 
ford time for the tree to be established before 
required to withstand these vicissitudes. Very 
dry and warm summers, however, are on the 
other hand very disadvantageous to trees re¬ 
moved in the spring, and particularly when in 
a very late season this cannot be done till late 
in April, as may happen this year. We have 
already spoken of the points to be observed in 
planting, and have only to add that a good 
mulching is indispensable to late-planted ever¬ 
greens. 
In addition to the species already noted, we 
may mention the Balsam Fir ( Picca balsamea,) 
a tree very much in demand ; it grows readily, 
and is not very select as to the quality of the 
soil. When, however, it is properly suited in 
this respect, it forms a very pretty tree, though 
for some tastes a little too formal in its outline. 
It does not droop or bend its branches like the 
Norway Spruce, and is of a darker shade of 
green. No evergreen tree, perhaps, is so much 
planted around our cities. 
The YVhite Pine, or YVeymouth Pine (Pinus 
slrobus) is desirable for extensive grounds.— 
Large specimens, when in a suitable location 
form striking and noble objects ; being indige¬ 
nous and easy to transplant, it is one of our most 
useful as well as beautiful trees. 
The Scotch Fir ( Pinus sylvestris) is a gen¬ 
eral favorite; its robust and vigorous habit al¬ 
ways secures for it admirers. A good specimen 
on a lawn cannot be overlooked. 
Similar to the last mentioned is the Austrian 
Pine ( Pinus Austriaca.) Its foliage is more 
rigid and stiff, and of a darker hue. We have 
always admired it for its rugged aspect. For 
exposed situations, there is no better tree of its 
character. 
The Bhotan Pine ( Pinus cxcelsa) is a beau¬ 
tiful tree with long silvery foliage, somewhat re¬ 
sembling that of the YVhite Pine. It is not, 
however, so hardy as the others we have named, 
but in a more southern latitude proves a splen¬ 
did ornament for the lawn. 
Of the more select hardy coniferous trees, we 
may mention the Cephalonian Spruce ( Albies 
Gephalonica,) very hardy, with horizontal 
spreading branches, and quite distinct from 
those already noticed. The Black and Red 
Spruces somewhat resemble the Norway Spruce, 
but differ in the hue of their foliage and habit. 
They are both desirable where an extended 
assortment is required. We must omit many 
very select trees in these brief notes, our object 
being to inform amateurs about to improve 
their homesteads, of the most useful and hardy 
trees and shrubs. 
Within the last ten years many new intro¬ 
ductions have been received from Europe, sent 
thither by collectors ; several of the most inter¬ 
esting of these trees are originally from the 
mountains of Oregon and Texas. Much enthu¬ 
siasm is at times felt by patriotic gentlemen, or 
if not felt, at least simulated, but up to this 
time there has been little inducement held out 
to fearless American collectors or enthusiastic 
botanists. YVe are content to receive the splen¬ 
did products of our Southern and Western terri¬ 
tories after their being transmitted to the great 
European depot. A few of our nurserymen 
have invested a few hundred dollars in this 
way, at their own risk, and have only been re¬ 
paid by the personal satisfaction of attempting 
to rival their less scrupulous competitors on the 
“other side.” Their prudence, however, is 
only commendable, for they would not be sup¬ 
ported in any exertions they might make to se¬ 
cure for American gardens and plantations, 
American trees and plants direct from their 
native habitats. We have now Torreya 
Taxifolia from Florida, but how few among 
our planters have ever inquired for it. Y r et it 
is one of the most beautiful of evergreen trees. 
Unfortunately it is not quite so hardy as the 
Austrian pine or Norway Spruce, or we should 
try to prevail on some of our readers to try it. 
YVe learn from our advertising columns that 
the “Big Tree of California" has been brought 
direct from its native locality, and successfully 
propagated from seeds sent by a collector. YVe 
wonder if he was a real American collector who 
accomplished this, or an envoy, who being 
chartered by a foreign house, just slipped a few 
seeds into one of our homeward-bound ships, 
and so they are here 1 From time immemorial 
we have eagerly received our novelties from 
second hands, our Californian annuals have 
been in European collections years before they 
were sown in our gardens. This, however, can 
be satisfactorily and reasonably accounted for, 
and we shall never complain, or object to any 
product of the soil from whatever source it may 
be received, provided it embellishes or adds in 
any way to the beauty of our grounds and our 
own gratification in contemplating a new mem¬ 
ber of the great family of nature. Let us not, 
however, feel sore if our English neighbors 
pick up our weeds, or even trees, and reship 
them to us, reduced in character by pinning on 
to them the title of some of their great tyrants, 
or warriors. Science has granted to the pioneer 
discoverer, or even describe! - of a novelty, these 
privileges, to which we should bo ungenerous 
now to object.—s. 
At the recent Fruit Growers’ Convention in 
Rochester, Mr. Burtis and others advocated 
close planting, but I must dissent entirely from 
their opinions on the subject. I believe it to be 
a'fact universally admitted that trees and plants 
are not as healthy when crowded as when en¬ 
joying a due exposure to the sun and air. Such 
trees are the first to become diseased, and the 
mildest type of the yellows, (there being two 
kinds of this disease,) often commences on that 
part of the orchard where the trees are thickest 
and where the soil has been most exhausted by 
heavy crops of fruit. 
Eight years ago I purchased four acres of old 
apple orchard—the trees of which had “ ex¬ 
hausted the soil, exhausted themselves, and were 
dying of starvation.” Many had died and were 
cut out, and at least one-half of those standing 
had commenced dying at the ends of the limbs. 
I plowed, manured and cultivated the orchard, 
and trimmed and grafted the trees, which in 
consequence of lessening and changing their 
tops, gave them rest from bearing, so that they 
have become thrifty, and are now bearing me¬ 
dium crops. 
I have six acres of apple orchard planted 
from 35 to 40 years ago, 24 feet each way in the 
rows, by my father. It was grafted years ago 
to all the good varieties then known here, and 
many of them have been grafted two or three 
times—the object being to get the kinds most 
profitable in market. The soil is gravel and 
sand, and sandy loam ; the trees on the latter 
soil have made a heavy growth, completely cov¬ 
ering the ground, so that nothing grows under 
them. My father supposed he could manage 
by close and judicious pruning so as not to cut 
out the trees, but when they got so as to lock 
together, the under limbs ceased growing; 
some died and were cut off, and the growth was 
mostly at the top of the tree, which caused the 
trees to become tall, and to me nearly worthless. 
Two years ago I commenced cutting out 
wherever I could find a tree of inferior value to 
its neighbors, which has left the orchard quite 
uneven. The past season the orchard bore full, 
and I picked the fruit for the first time since 
the trees had become so large as to take the 
entire ground. A part of the orchard is nearly 
all Roxbnry Russetts, so that I had no chance 
to select out less valuable trees to cut down. 
Though the trees have been well trimmed, and 
to appearance were thin, yet, when we came to 
pick the apples we found them on all the lower 
branches nearly worthless. The best of the 
apples were on the tops of the trees, and were 
picked at an expense double or three-fold to 
those on low trees in open situations. I found 
also upon measurement, that trees equal in size 
standing singly and not touching others, pro¬ 
duced twice, and in some instances three times 
as much, as those standing regularly in the 
rows 24 feet apart. 
My mind is made up to cut out every other 
tree, so as to leave them 48 feet apart, though I 
shall destroy many valuable trees in so doing. 
YVere I to plant extensively to raise the best 
and fairest apples, I would set my trees from 
40 to 60 feet, let the tree branch out at three or 
four feet above the ground, and then grow hori¬ 
zontal just high enough to pick the fruit from 
the lower limbs without a ladder. There is a 
marked difference in the flavor and size of fruit 
growing on trees in open and in crowded situa¬ 
tions, and I wonder that it was not remarked 
upon at the meeting when this discussion oc¬ 
curred. 
Can any of the numerous readers of the Rural 
show twenty pear trees set in close proximity, 
say 20 or even 40 ft. apart; producing such crops 
as are said to be produced by some lone trees 
at Canandaigua anti other places, about door- 
yards and buildings, where the roots often run 
for rods to barn-yards, liog-pens, sink-drains, 
and other stores of food, and thus bear immense 
crops for years. L. Fay. 
Portland, Chautauque Co., N. Y. 
VEGETABLE ALIMENT. 
1.—FRUITS. 
[Continued from No. 9. page 71, this Volume.] 
4. Apples (homa, Mala; pyrus, Mains, Lin.)— 
The apple is the fruit of a tree which is pecu¬ 
liar to temperate countries. * * * Apples 
are very nourishing; they contain a considera¬ 
ble quantity of the malic and carbonic acid.— 
The latter renders this fruit very flatulent. 
"Wild apples are very sour, and are rarely used 
except for cider, the quality of which is superior 
to that obtained from the fruit of the domesti¬ 
cated tree. The immoderate use of apples is 
not without danger. It sometimes occasions 
serious diseases, and especially, dangerous 
cholics and rheumatic affections. The vegeta¬ 
ble cholic is often the effect of it. The Devon¬ 
shire cholic, which prevailed as an epidemic in 
1724, and which has been described by Hax- 
n am, was owing to the excessive use of cider 
and of apples, which were very abundant that 
year.* It was no doubt from similar accidents 
that Horace was induced to say, that years in 
which apples were abundant were bad ; pomifi- 
ero grave tempus anno. 
5. Currants (Siberia) are the frnit of a shrub, 
of which two species are cultivated in the gar¬ 
den. The first is an original of the woods (sibro 
rubrum, Lin.;) it has two varieties, the one red, 
the other white fruit, both growing in clusters. 
The second is the Cassis, or black currant. It 
is less sour than the others, and has an unplea¬ 
sant odor, Csibro nigrum, Lin.) This is an 
original of the damp woods. Black currants 
are diuretic. A ratafia is made of them with a 
handful of the leaves of the shrub, and is sup¬ 
posed to be a stomachic, and to be good in cases 
of indigestion ; we think it doubtful whether it 
possesses these virtues. The red currants are 
the most cooling,—they conlain nearly as much 
citric as malic acid,—they have more aroma 
than the white, and lose it when they become 
perfectly ripe. The white and red currants are 
eaten without any preparation, but are improv¬ 
ed by sugar. Children, and especially young 
girls, who are affected with chlorosis, and per¬ 
sons with fever, are very fond of them, in con¬ 
sequence of their acid, vinous, and agreeable 
taste. YVhen preserved with sugar, they fur¬ 
nish a light and cooling aliment, which is pecu¬ 
liarly proper in a convalescent state from acute 
diseases. From this fruit and sugar, a syrup is 
made, that is very similar to that of lemons, 
and the agreeable taste of which has been a 
means of introducing it from the pharmacy to 
the confectionary. YVine may be made from 
each species of the currant. Ned. 
“ Old Mansion,” March, 1856. 
* The Devonshire Cholic has generally been attributed 
by medical writers, to the pernicious effect of lead, leaden 
vessels having been used in the process of manufacturing 
the cider. In addition to the other virtues of cider, it is 
believed by many to be a powerful promoter of the secre¬ 
tion of bile. It certainly assists much in clearing the skin 
from its yellow discoloration in jaundice, after the febrile 
symptoms have been removed, it should be drank hard, 
that is after fermentation has gone on to some extent. 
How to Start Melons.—A correspondent of 
the Country Gentleman gives the following plan 
for this purpose :—“ My plan for obtaining early 
plants, is, to construct a rude basket or wicker¬ 
work of willow or other twigs, something like a 
bird’s nest, without the inside filling up. Make 
a hole in the soil of the hot-bed of sufficient 
size to admit the basket, fill up, plant and 
cover the seeds, rake, and smooth the surface. 
\Y r hen the weather is warm enough, and suffi¬ 
ciently settled to admit of outside planting, I 
make my hills, and lift the little baskets con¬ 
taining the plants, and carefully remove them 
to their places, where they quickly strike 
through the open net-work of the basket into 
mother earth, and soon repay all trouble for 
giving them ‘ a start in the world.’ ” 
YVild Flowers. —Many of our wild plants 
and flowers are well worth cultivating in the 
garden ; yet it is very seldom that any of them 
are seen. The Cardinal Flower, (Lobelia Car- 
dinalis,) which is quite a favorite in European 
parterres, is found in its native haunts, in the 
damp woods only, although few have a more 
graceful form, or brighter color. Growing from 
eighteen inches to two feet high, its scarlet 
flowers show to great advantage in the latter 
part of summer. There are two Mexican spe¬ 
cies, which are also well adapted to cultivation, 
as well as some others with blue flowers.— Ohio 
Farmer. 
Never remove a plant from one place till you 
are ready to put it in another, unless to get rid 
of it. 
ftomesHt ftflimmij. 
INDIAN CORN MEAL COOKING. 
The following methods of cooking Corn Meal, 
were communicated by a lady, who signs herself 
“The YVife of a Corn Cracker,” and we insert 
them for the benefit, not only of our own coun¬ 
try folks, who are unfashionable enough to enjoy 
a good warm Johnny Cake, but principally for 
our European readers, where the staple produc¬ 
tion of our country is every day gaining in its 
introduction among all classes. YVith the ex¬ 
ception of potatoes and perhaps oat meal, there 
is no vegetable or farinaceous food so cheap and 
absolutely healthy as corn meal for bread. 
Baked Pudding. —To 1 quart of milk boiling 
hot, stir in half a pint of corn meal, 1 tablespoon- 
full of ginger, butter the size of an egg and 
sugar or molasses (treacle) to taste. Give it a 
long baking, in a sharp heated stove or oven.— 
Eaten without sauce of any kind but its own. 
N. B.—One or more eggs would spoil an At¬ 
lantic ocean of this pudding. 
Mush or Hasty Pudding. —This is a very dif¬ 
ferent article from porridge ; for when properly 
made it is as thick as it can be stirred. 
Put a kettle over the fire with water and a 
sufficiency of salt, and when it boils, commence 
stirring in slowly the meal, and continue with¬ 
out intermission, till it is of the light consis¬ 
tency ; then boil with a lighter heat for half 
an hour, taking care that the bottom does not 
burn. It is eaten with milk, or butter and mo¬ 
lasses or sugar. 
N. B.—If allowed to stand over night and 
cut in slices and fried, it makes, when buttered, 
one of the finest addendas to a cup of coffee for 
breakfast, that can be got up. 
Fried Bannocks. —Make a thick batter that 
will drop from a spoon with meal—sour or but¬ 
termilk, a small quantity of salieratus or carbo¬ 
nate of soda and one egg to the pint of meal, 
or without the egg by adding one-fourth flour. 
Fry in quite hot lard or drippings fill brown, 
about the size of a coffee cup. Split and eaten 
for breakfast with butter while hot. 
Pone or Southern Johnny Cake is made the 
same as the Bannocks, only stiff enough to 
knead. Bake brown in an oven, or stove, about 
inches thick. 
The true Bush Johnny Cake is simply wet 
with hot water, a little salt added and baked 
before the fire on a pan, on board, depending 
upon radiated heat and turned till crusted on 
both sides. Many prefer this to any other. 
Flour and Indian Meed Bread. —Make a thin 
porridge with meal, water and salt, boil well, 
and when blood warm add to the flour with 
yeast or emptyings, and when light, bake.— 
The meal should not exceed one-quarter the 
quantity of flour. 
Corn meal requires more cooking and a longer 
heat than the flour of any other grain. 
jrlmmc gfcfe, &C. 
LIST OF PATENTS, 
iKsued from f b United States Patent Ofiloe for the 
week ending March 4, 1856. 
W. W. Albro, Binghamton, N. Y., improved apparatus 
for cooking with quick lime. 
Timothy Alden, New York, machine for sweeping streets. 
Christian Amazeen, Newcastle, N. H., improvement in 
machines for sawing marble in taper form. 
James W. Beebee, Brooklyn, improvement in manufac¬ 
turing hats. 
Wm. M. Boniville, Camden, Del., improvement in corn 
harvesters. 
J. M. liurke, Dansville, N. Y., improved skein for axle 
arms. 
James J. Cadenhead, Macon county, Ala., improvement 
in plows. 
Ranson Clifford, Lowell, improved shingle machine. 
Robert Cornelus, Philadelphia, improved arrangement of 
steam tubing for regulating the heating ofbuildings. 
__Laac Davis, Groton, N. Y., improved hinge for shutters. 
Owen Dorsey, Howard county, Md., improvement in 
harvester rakes. 
Elon Dunbar, Philadelphia, self-acting farm gates. 
Wm. E. Everett, New York, improved lubricator. 
Geo. Fetter, Philadelphia, improvement in boot crimps. 
Luther B. Fisher, Coldwater, Mich., improvement in 
sheep shears. 
Daniel Fitzgerald, N.Y., improvement in portable houses. 
R. F. Fearing, Philadelphia, improvement in supple¬ 
mentary grating for stoves, furnaces, &c. 
F. R. Ford, Ophir, Cal., improvement in rifle boxes. 
James Greenhalglr, Sen., Waterford, Mass., improvement 
in potver looms. 
George C. Jenks, Boston, improved guard for coalholes. 
Charles H. Johnson, Boston, improvement in the appa¬ 
ratus for heating buildings by the combination of, and 
burning gas, air and steam. 
James Kelly, Sag Harbor, improvement in stoves and 
furnaces for railroad cars and other purposes. 
Ebenezer Mathers, Morganstown, Ya., improved bench 
planes. 
George T. McLaughlin, Boston, improvement in railroad 
car seats. 
John T. Ogden, Boston, improvement in handle for vice. 
Eugene J. Post, Vienna, N. J., improvement in scythe 
rifles. 
Alphonse Quantin, Philadelphia, improved method of 
bottling fluids under gaseous pressure. 
Prentice Sargent, Newburyport, improvement in lamp 
for burning rosin oil. 
George Schuh and Phineas I,. Say ton, Madison, Indiana, 
improvement in machines for pegging boots and shoes. 
Horace B. Simonds, West Hartford, Vt., improved mode 
of attaching hubs to axles. 
Hiram Smith, Norwalk, O., improvement in air escape 
forpumps. 
Aaron and Thomas S. Smith, Troy, 111., improvement in 
gang plows. 
Jeremiah P. Smith, Hummelstown, Pa., improvement in 
corn shelters. 
Abraham Steers, Medina, Ohio, improvement in tanning 
apparatus. 
Vinzenzo Squarza, New York, improvement in candle 
dipping machines. 
Daniel and George Tallcot, Oswego, N. Y., improvement 
in ships’ capstans. 
Wm. B. Tilton, N. Y,, improvement in guitars. 
Andrew L. Whiteley, St. Louis, improved method of ad¬ 
justing circular saws. 
Sylvanus H. Whorf, Roxbury, and Charles Rice, Boston, 
Mass., improvement in the application of soles to boots and 
shoes by means of pressure and gutta percha or other 
cement. 
Geo. Woodward, Brunswick, Me., improvement in head¬ 
ing bolts. 
Wm. Yost, Goshen, 0., improvement in weighing scale 
beams. 
Daniel F. Haasz, Philadelphia, improvement in the con¬ 
struction of grand pianos. 
Pelatiah M Hutton, Troy, improved mode of construct¬ 
ing cast iron pavement. 
re-issue. 
David Matthew, Philadelphia, improvement in spark ar¬ 
resters. Patented Dec. 31, 1840. Extended Dec. 27, 1854. 
DESIGNS. 
Samuel D. Vose, Albany, for design for parlor stoves. 
Theodore Evans, New York, for design for the handles 
of forks and spoons. 
PHOTOGRAPHY. 
Like all other arts in their infancy, Photogra¬ 
phy, or sun-drawing, had a very humble be¬ 
ginning. It was used originally for producing 
the images of leaves, plants, and other simple 
things, upon sheets of paper, prepared by satu¬ 
rating them in a solution of nitrate of silver, 
and then drying them in the dark. These 
sheets, if exposed to the light, would assume an 
indelible black color, those place s from which 
the rays were excluded still retaining the orig¬ 
inal hue. If, therefore, after the image of the 
given object had been impressed, the paper was 
washed in a solution of some chemical re-agent, 
so as to remove or neutralize the nitrate, the 
shades as then existing would remain perma¬ 
nent. This mode of procedure was chiefly con¬ 
fined to the chemical laboratory, and used more 
as an experiment and illustration before classes 
of students, than for any practical or beneficial 
purpose. 
It was not until M. Daguerre and M. Niepce 
revolutionized the art, and made it applicable 
to the production of portraits and landscapes, 
that Photography arose at once to the dignity 
and importance it deserved among the fine arts. 
YVith a liberality and foresight worthy of a 
great and enlightened nation, the French gov¬ 
ernment purchased the exclusive right of the 
discoverers, and threw it open to the use and 
benefit of all mankind. The manipulations of 
the Daguerrean art require at once the nicest 
accuracy of chemical and mechanical skill. It 
does not demand extensive and liberal learning 
to practice it successfully, but, within the range 
of the chemical agents and the philosophical 
apparatus employed, it is all important that at 
least a perfect knowledge of effects should be 
understood. 
Daguerre, in Jiis invention, employed sheets 
of copper plated with silver, the same as are in 
common use at. tins day. These plates are pol¬ 
ished and burnisheu in the meet ertect man¬ 
ner, by means of cotton, olive oil and pumice 
stone powder; all scratches and imperfections 
must be avoided, and the image surfnet oust 
be made a perfect plane. The ; la:- .s thou 
exposed in a box to the fumes oi iwiine v. tew 
minutes, until it assumes a golden nue; at 
which moment, it is immediately transferred to 
the camera standing ready to receive the image. 
The camera is an optical instrument construct¬ 
ed with a couple of adjustable lenses, so arrang¬ 
ed as to form an image at a given distance in 
the tube. Into this tube the prepared plate is 
slid, the person, or object to be taken, is placed 
in the proper position, the cover which excludes 
the light removed, and in a few' moments this 
portion of the process is perfected. The light 
must at the instant be excluded, for if too long 
continued the picture would be ruined. The 
light has now done its portion of the work, but 
as yet no image would be visible even if ex¬ 
posed to view. The plate, still kept from the 
light, is now transferred to another box, and 
exposed for a certain length of time to the fumes 
of heated mercury, which then first render the 
image visible. After this the plate is washed 
successively, first in warm water, then in a so¬ 
lution of hydro-sulphite of soda, which acts as 
a re-agent, and prevents further action of the 
chemicals previously used, and finally again in 
pure distilled water, for the purpose of remov¬ 
ing every particle of the saline liquid. 
The image must not be rubbed or touched 
after it is perfected, as the slightest friction 
would deface it. To prevent this the edge is 
covered with paper, in order to elevate slightly 
the glass above, and the whole is then enclosed 
in a case. 
Great improvements have been made in the 
photographic art since the days of M. Daguerre. 
Nearly every year sheds new light upon the 
mysterious and wonderful process. Bromine 
has been used in connection with iodine to pre¬ 
pare the plates, which renders them more sus¬ 
ceptible to the effects of light. Cullodion has 
more recently been successfully employed fora 
similar purpose, and a solution of gold is used 
by many of our best artists for the purpose of 
rendering the images more fixed anfl permanent. 
There is as much difference in the excellence 
of the cameras used, as in any other class of op¬ 
tical instruments. As much scientific skill is 
necessary to correct the aberrations of light, 
render the lenses achromatic, and prevent the 
distortion of images, as to manufacture glasses 
for the telescope. The image in the camera is 
produced in an inverted position, precisely as 
upon the retina of the eye ; the base being up¬ 
permost, and the right hand becoming the left. 
To correct this in taking pictures of buildings, 
printed matter, <tc., a reflected image in a mir¬ 
ror is employed. A recent modification called 
the Ambrotype, whereby the picture is taken 
on glass, and seen through it from the other 
side, obviates this defect. 
Photography, wonderful as it seems, and per¬ 
fect as many suppose it to be, is yet in its in¬ 
fancy ; and bids fair to make as much progress 
in the next twenty years, as it has done during 
the past quarter of a century. No man in this 
country is so poor as to be unable now to pos¬ 
sess the portraits of his family ; and their pos¬ 
session, after the home circle has been broken 
by death, has given unspeakable satisfaction 
to many a grieving heart. For this single 
thing, M. Daguerre deserves the lasting grati¬ 
tude of the civilized world. 
Coining by Air-Power. —All the gold and 
silver coins of England are struck by atmos¬ 
pheric pressure, or in other words, the air we 
breathe coins money. By a complicated ar¬ 
rangement of pneumatic valves/levers, springs 
and other mechanical appliances, the air is made 
to exert its vast weight in rapid alternations 
upon a series of pistons, which, again connected 
with the coining presses, carry down the dies 
upon the pieces of metal to be coined with un¬ 
erring precision and force. 
Iron Manufacture. —At the late meeting of 
the British Association of Science, Professor 
Culvert read a paper on the iron manufacture, 
in which he stated that by mixing about half a 
bushel of common salt with every ton of coal in 
the coke room, the coke so made gave off no 
sulphurous fumes, and when used in a cupola 
in melting, it produced iron much closer in 
grain, and 20 per cent, stronger than that made 
from common coke. It is also superior for loco¬ 
motive use.—iV. Y. Com. Adv. 
An Extensive Establishment. —The consoli¬ 
dation cf the Perkins Mills and the Dwight 
Manufacturing Company, at Chicopee, Mass., 
brings into one concern a capital of $1,900,000. 
This is said to be the largest establishment in 
New England devoted entirely to the manufac¬ 
ture of domestic goods. Seven first class mills 
are included in it, running 60,000 spindles, and 
giving employment to more than 1,500 persons. 
The number of miles of railway now in ope¬ 
ration in the United States is 23,242, which is 
an increase of 3,408 miles since the first of last 
January. Estimating the value of the comple¬ 
ted railroads at $30,000 per mile, we obtain the 
sum of $697,260,000 as the amount of capita 
invested. 
In a new kind ;:f Lucifer Watches, the two in j 
flammable ingredients are separated, one being 
on the .natch, and the other lodged in the sand 
paper. 
-Jr. James Bullough, of Acrington, England, 
has taken out a patent for preventing broken 
warp thread becoming entangled in the shed of 
of a loom.— N. Y. Com. Adv. 
A trial of a new steam fire engine took place 
in New \"ork on Friday week. The results, 
were not such as to commend the machine to 
the public. The greatest elevation to which 
water was projected was-only one hundred and 
seventy-three feet. 
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