■*»>W 
APRIL U. 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
ftnjpii anti fetfott. 
ROOT GRAFTED TREES. 
Eds. Rural :—I notice in your issue of March 
1st, a brief report of a discussion on the merits 
of root grafted trees, which took place at Au¬ 
gusta, Maine. In the course of that discussion 
it was stated: 
1st. That root grafting merely amounts to 
raising trees from cuttings. 
2d. That in a bundle of 25 trees there were 
not roots enough for one tree. 
3d. That an agent soft 18,000 such trees in 
Bangor last spring, gulled the people, that one 
man bought 300, and all died. 
4th. That root grafted trees would grow well 
a little while and then die. One man would 
not have them on his farm. 
5th. Trees raised from layers grow awhile 
and then die. Trees raised from seeds in the 
same orchard are thriving. 
Before proceeding to answer the above asser¬ 
tions, I will observe that this appears to be a 
sectional movement against root grafted trees. 
Such movements are not confined to political 
circles, but are found existing in every branch 
of human industry, and they are equally disas¬ 
trous in their effects. These sectional isms 
originate somewhat after this wise :—Mr. Z., 
one of the foremost men in a certain range of 
counties, gets an idea into his head, and imme¬ 
diately Messrs. A. B. C. (fee., who have been in 
the habit of looking up to Air. Z. for informa¬ 
tion, are prepared to swallow all he gives them 
undigested at that. It is easy to adduce cir¬ 
cumstances which appear to prove any given 
position, and those facts and circumstances are 
admitted as proving that, the position is uner¬ 
ring, all questions concerning the why's and the 
wherefore's of the case are waived, and the little 
world of which Mr. Z. is the leader, suddenly 
find themselves astonished at the depth of their 
own wisdom. Having premised thus far with 
the sole object of illustrating how local opinions 
are get up, I will proceed to examine the 
charges, and endeavor to ascertain how far the 
observations of the men of Maine are reliable 
as affecting root grafted trees. 
Concerning the allegation that root grafting 
amounts to raising trees from cuttings, and that 
the root perishes as soon as the cutting has 
struck, I will simply say that these persons do 
not know. I have been engaged many years in 
propagating trees by root grafting—in the mode 
referred to. I have with the assistance of la¬ 
borers, lifted thousands of trees four or five 
years old, and have uniformly found that the 
root has lived, and that no roots are sent out 
from the scion. The root does not die. Let our 
Maine friends take one of the obnoxious root 
grafted trees and cut into the root, they will find 
the place of joining above the fibrous roots of 
the tree— the evidences that the root has grown 
with the rest of the plant. 
The second statement might possibly have 
been true, but it is very doubtful, unless the 
trees had been chopped up, instead of being 
carefully raised. I have never seen an apple 
tree root grafted which had not a sufficiency of 
roots if they were all allowed to remain on 
the tree. Every nurseryman knows that there 
is no difference between the roots of a seedling 
apple tree which has been transplanted, and a 
root grafted tree, other circumstances being 
equal. 
Assuming the fact concerning the agent to be 
as stated, that proves nothing. Trees dug in the 
spring, poorly packed, and transported many 
hundred miles with frequent stoppages, and ex¬ 
posed to the hot sun at depots and at wharves, 
alternately dry and wet, cannot be expected to 
succeed well, especially when the only care 
they get after arriving at their destination and 
being unpacked consists in a thorough root¬ 
drying in the sun for a day or two, and then 
being rammed into small holes dry, with too 
sparing a hand, in hard sod or clay land—roots 
jammed down together with the foot and a few 
clods thrown over them merely to cover the 
hole. It is a wonder that so many trees are 
preserved under this treatment. 
Iu Western New York, Ohio, and other pla¬ 
ces, it is, and has been for many years, the 
usual custom to plant orchards of root grafted 
trees, yet in all the places where the practice 
prevails most extensively, the orchards are 
proved to be thrifty and productive ; and not 
only this, but they have not, to my knowledge, 
given any cause to fear their premature decay. 
Orchards may be easily mismanaged, to their 
manifest and serious detriment, but this should 
not be attributed to the root of the tree—that at 
least is innocent. 
Never having had any experience in relation 
to layered apple trees, I cannot say whether 
these allegations are true or not; but there is 
no cause of which I am cognizant that should 
operate to make these trees any worse than or¬ 
dinary seedlings. These matters are not for 
one County or State to determine, but for all.— 
Let the people speak out. C. II. Strowger. 
Penfield, Marcli 19, 1856. 
Grade Culture — Inquiry. —I wish to make a 
few inquiries^ through the Rural. I have seeds 
of the native grapes of New England. Can I 
propagate the vine from them; how must the 
seeds be treated before planting ; is it necessa¬ 
ry to soak or scald them ; how long with good 
culture before they can be brought to bear ?— 
E. Y. H. Alexander, Beloit, Wis. 
Grape Vines delight in being well manured, 
and will not give the best satisfaction without 
a dry bottom, and abundance of rich soil. 
TRIMMING AND THINNING TREES. 
A great variety of opinions prevail among 
farmers, as to the period of the year most proper 
for trimming fruit trees. From the rationale of 
the process, and a good deal of experience, we 
are disposed to consider the time or season of 
the year of very little importance, so that it is 
not performed during the opening or entire ex¬ 
pansion of the leaves, whereby there is a great 
expenditure of tree food and vitality lost to the 
portion left. 
The spring season, before and at the time of 
the first rising of the sap, is probably as judi¬ 
cious a .time as any for this operation. For 
small limbs and ordinary thinning, the fall or 
winter months are perfectly safe. For cutting 
large limbs and branches, the spring of the year 
is preferable, as the wounds do not season and 
crack—the sap keeps them moist, and they heal 
sooner and better. 
Those trees that have been long neglected 
and become very thick and bushy, it is not ad¬ 
visable to cut too much in any one year, as the 
sap and vital energy that supported the excised 
limbs, is not, as many suppose, turned directly 
to the remaining parts, for every twig on the 
tree has its set of independent pores, extending 
to the roots, and when cut off, the sap does not 
directly finds its way to the parts left; but by 
a kind of exosmosis, or by the lateral viscera of 
circulation, it is slowly diverted to the remain¬ 
ing vessels. A considerable portion is expend¬ 
ed in luxuriant water sprouts—those long rods 
that start out about wounds where the limbs 
were cut off. 
Another objection to excessive pruning, is 
that it has a tendency to deter the trees from 
bearing fruit freely, and frequently for some 
years. V hen a tree makes wood excessively, 
it does not make fruit buds; this is a well- 
known fact. The fruit bud in the apple is two 
years in forming, and in the pear often four or 
five years, and when pushed too fast on its first 
year, it loses its disposition to set—throw's out 
leaves and becomes a twig, the incipient organ 
of a limb. 
The best process for regulating and keeping 
the orchard in proper order for the certain pro¬ 
duction of fruit, and that of the largest and 
fairest kind, is never to let it get in a condition 
requiring heavy primings, but to carefully ex¬ 
amine, then cut and balance the bearing wood 
every year, keeping the tree open in the center 
to admit light and air, for every one is aware 
that the central fruit in a bushy, close tree with 
dense foliage, are small, pale, without flavor, 
and of very little use. 
It is not always safe in grafting old trees, to 
cut too many large limbs at once, for the bark is 
so thick and resisting, and the vitality of the 
tree so spent, that it cannot throw out the dor¬ 
mant buds to carry on the circulation,and dead 
sides or centers of the trunk are apt to be the 
result. The entire alteration of an old tree 
should be the work of three or four years. 
GREEN SWEETING APPLE. 
AIessks. Editors :—Permit me through the 
columns of the Rural to recommend the Green" 
Sweeting Apple to cultivators. I confess to a 
love of sweet apples, and I do think that in the 
class of winter sweetiDgs, this stands at the 
head as a dessert fruit. Though a small apple, 
it is remarkably fair and a great bearer. From 
onp tree in our grounds, of not large size, we 
picked seven barrels last season. It always 
retains its flavor as long as it will keep, is a very 
tender, spicy, high-flavored apple till late in 
summer, and still is fit for eating as soon as 
picked in the fall. There are quite a number 
of green sw'eet appfes cultivated with this 
name ; but the genuine may be described as 
medium size, very fair and regular, rather flat¬ 
ted, green, with a smooth, waxy skin, tender, 
juicy and rich ; in eating from October to June. 
Those setting out winter sweet apples I think 
cannot do better than to set largely of this va¬ 
riety* k. w. L. 
Greece, 1856. 
SOPS OP WINE APPLE. 
At the Fruit Growers’ Convention, assembled 
at Rochester the 8th and 9th of January last, 
this apple was brought up for discussion, and 
dropped on account of insufficient knowledge of 
its merits. 
I have cultivated the Sops of Wine Apple for 
more than twenty-five years; have sold hun¬ 
dreds of bushels of them, and always at the 
highest market price. They are fruitful, more 
hardy than many other kinds, producing crops 
on old trees and on exhausted soils, and bring 
in the money where many other varieties are 
unprofitable. They are, with me, always a 
huge, red and handsome fruit, very pleasant, 
almost sweet, and by most persons preferred to 
the Early Harvest or Astrachan. With me it is 
the apple for an early market fruit. It is a most 
splendid grower, will please the eye, and when 
it fruits, will satisfy the palate.— Linooln Fay, 
Portland, Chautauque Co., H. Y. 
SAVE YOUR TREES. 
Eds. Rural :—I see by the papers that there 
is a good deal of complaint about the loss of 
fruit trees by being girdled by the mice. A 
great portion of these may he saved, if attended 
to in time, by simply taking twigs of last 
year’s growth,cutting them long enough to insert 
one end below the girdle and the other above, 
fastening them with grafting wax. These twigs 
serve to cany the sap from the roots to the up¬ 
per part of the tree while the wound is healing. 
In small trees where the girdle is close to the 
ground, they may be saved by putting dirt 
around them three or four inches above the gir¬ 
dle. They should be attended too as soon as 
the snow is off the ground.—M. H., Barre. 
SEASONABLE HINTS. 
Budded Roses. —What are known as hybrid 
perpetual roses are adapted to the circumstances 
of those who have not much opportunity to at¬ 
tend to tender plants, as they are quite hardy, 
robust in habit, and profuse bloomers, with a 
few exceptions. They are not so easily propa¬ 
gated as some of the other classes ; some of the 
varieties do not succeed by cuttings, and are 
generally budded—the Alanetti stock suiting 
admirably for this purpose. Alany persons ob¬ 
ject to budding plants. This arises from care¬ 
lessness and want of attention in cultivation, 
which has resulted in many failures and dis¬ 
appointments. Care should be taken to remove 
all suckers from the stock, as this checks the 
growth of the rose, and in many cases the shoots 
have been encouraged instead of the scion, until 
eventually the latter died out. The hybrid 
perpetuals require a strong clay loam, with suf¬ 
ficient manure to render it friable, as they are 
of luxuriant growth. 
A Good Hot-Bed. —An excellent hot-bed may 
be made by procuring one or more regular green¬ 
house sashes-r-say three feet two inches, or three 
feet eight inches wide, by eight to nine feet 
long. Alake the boxes or frames to correspond 
in dimensions, and with the proper pitch— say 
about thirty-six inches in the tack, and some 
eighteen inches in front. The ends should, of 
course, have a regular slant from back to front. 
These frames should be made of stuff at least 
one-and-a-half inches thick ; common two-inch 
pine plank is the best. Nail them together 
substantially, with good corner posts, and they 
will last for years, if well taken care of. Choose 
a dry location for the hot-beds, where they will 
have a good southerly exposure, and be protect¬ 
ed by fence or building from cold winds. 
Horticulture in New York City. —The Hor¬ 
ticultural Society of this city has resolved to 
apply to the Corporation to set apart a portion 
of the Central Park for horticultural purposes. 
It is supposed that the sum of one hundred 
thousand dollars can be raised among the friends 
of this enterprise—appropriated to the founding 
of a garden free to all citizens. Such a project, 
if successfully carried out, would do much to 
promote the cause of improved horticultural and 
floricultural science. 
Planting Ornamental Trees. —Our decidu¬ 
ous trees do hot hold their foliage half the year, 
and, on this account, evergreens should enter 
largely into the ornamental planting of grounds 
around the dwelling ; they should be planted 
densely on the sides towards the prevailing 
cold winds, and placed towards the boundaries, 
in irregular and natural belts and masses. The 
most rapidly growing, and one of the most beau¬ 
tiful, is the Norway fir. The white pine, on 
favorable soils, will grow about as fast. As the 
latter grows to a large tree, it should be placed 
on the most distant points, and allowed as much 
room as may be practicable. The hemlock, 
balsam, fir, American arbor-vitie, white and 
black spruce, and American pine, may be in¬ 
troduced and variously intermingled. Among 
the smaller evergreens, to be placed towards 
the inner side of the plantings, are the juniper, 
the red cedar, the tree box, savin, (fee. —Home 
Journal. 
ftoraartic ftiraiimg. 
To Preserve Citron. —Take 3 lbs. of sugar to 
14 lbs. of citron, cut in as large pieces as con¬ 
venient. Put the sugar in a preserving kettle 
with a little water; boil and skim, add cloves, 
cinnamon, mace and coriander seed. Put in as 
much of the citron as the syrup will cover and 
cook till you can run a straw through, then 
place upon plates to dry. Alolasses can be used 
instead of the sugar. A little citron thus pre¬ 
pared, if used in mince or dried apple pies, will 
add much to their flavor.—S. A. H., Forest Hill, 
Md. _ _ — 
AIince Pies. —Aleat, finely chopped, 5 lbs., 
good apples 7 lbs., sugar 3 lbs., raisins 2 lbs., 
currant jelly 1 lb., butter 4 oz., mace or cinna¬ 
mon 1 oz. When this is prepared make a crust 
of two-thirds the usual quantity of lard, and 
one third of fat salt pork very finely chopped ; 
all of which should be rubbed in the flour, and 
wet with cold water. Bake in a slow oven one 
hour.—C. W. B., Westmoreland, N. Y. 
Good Crackers. —I have used the following 
recipe for making crackers for forty years, and 
consider it superior :—One pint of warm water 
set as a sponge over night, half pound of butter, 
and same amount of good lard, rubbed into the 
flour; knead hard, roll thin and cut with com¬ 
mon tin cutter. They should be baked as soon 
as made.—A. S., Prattsburg, N. Y. 
Cream Tartar Cake. —Half a cup of butter, 
two of sugar, three of flour, three eggs, two tea- 
spoonfuls of cream tartar, one do. of soda dis¬ 
solved in one teacup of milk, one tablespoonful 
of flavoring. Stir together quickly and bake 
in a quick oven.—AI. H., West Bloomfield, H. Y. 
Nothing Cake. —One egg, a piece of butter 
same size, one cup sugar, one do. milk, one pint 
flour, one teaspoonful soda, two do. cream of 
tartar. Divide the milk, and dissolve the cream 
of tartar and soda separately, then pour them 
together.—D. J. W., Skeneateles, H. Y. 
Hunting Pudding. — One loaf baker’s bread ; 
half pound English currants; four eggs; tea¬ 
cupful brown sugar ; half a pound beef suet; 
put in a bag and boil three hours. The bag 
should not be entirely filled. 
YCliailif Hit's, &f. 
LIST OF PATENTS, 
Issued from the United States l’atent Office for the 
week ending April 8, 1856. 
Stephen V. Appleby, New York, improvement in ma. 
chines for drying wet grain, &c. 
Aaron Arnold, Troy, improvement in inclosing propeller 
shafts in keels. 
E. B. Rigelow, Boston, Mass., improvement in looms. 
John Plant and Chas. G. Ball, Washington, D. C., im¬ 
provement in cooking ranges. 
Edward J. Baker, Baltimore, improved waste attachment 
to hydrants. 
Jason Barton, Middle Haddam, improvement in pressure 
bells. 
G. H. Lindner, Hoboken, improvement in door fast¬ 
eners. 
Nathan Berham, Hartford, improvement in fastening 
door knobs. 
Geo. E. Burt, Harvard improved machine for combing 
seed off broom corn. * 
Geo. Bucket and TO ward Dorch, Monroe, Mich., im¬ 
provement in shot guns. 
Calvin Carpenter. Jr., Providence, improvement in mag¬ 
neto-electric machines. 
Thomas Crane, Fort Atkinson, improvement in rotary 
pumps. 
John J. Crooks. New York, improved sash fastener. 
Robert B. Fellow, Shelburne Falls, Mass., improved tem¬ 
pering furnace. 
Geo. W. Flanders. Lvnn, improved flood gate. 
Orlando V. Florey, Yellow Springs. 0., improved vice. 
A. W. Fox, Athens, Pa., improved machine for planing 
felloes. 
fm. S. Gale, New York, improvement in piston valves 
for steam boiler regulators. 
Wm. P. Gamble. Philadelphia, improvement in machines 
for polishing leather. 
Wm. Greenleaf, Greenfield, O., improvement in carriage 
coupling. 
Chas M. Gould and Chas. B. Lamb, Worcester, improve¬ 
ment in submarine lanterns. 
Samuel Harris, Springfield, Mass., improvement in ma¬ 
chines for sifting coal and other articles. 
Augustus A. Haves, Boston, assignor to Geo. Ashman 
and Chas. Phelps, Springfield, Mass., improvement in pro¬ 
cess for extricating oil from cotton seed. 
Wm. M. Henderson, Baltimore, improved arrangement 
of slide valves and means for operating them. 
Liveras Hull, Charlestown, improved machine for taper¬ 
ing whalebone for whip handles. 
Henry W. Hunt, Peeksville, and John Sands, Greenwich, 
Conn., improvement in machines for mixing lime and sand 
for mortar. 
Robert T. Knight, Philadelphia, improvement in the 
construction of envelopes. 
Wm. Murer, New York, improvement in locks. 
Earl Parker and Wm. Reynolds. East Hartford, auto¬ 
matic thermo-hydro-olaio pneumatic valve. 
Andrew Patterson, Pittsburgh, improvement in door 
locks. 
Sandford S. Perry, of the County of Charles City, Va., 
improvement in charring wood. 
H H. Smith, Cincinnati, improved governor valve for 
steam engines. 
P. H. Wait, Sandy Hill, impiovement in the felt guide of 
paper machines. 
Edward Whitely, Boston, improvement in boilers for 
cooking by steam. 
Anson Wolcott, East Bloomfield, N. Y., improved meth¬ 
od of treating surface springs. 
Edwin Young, Philadelphia, improved slate frame 
Wm. W. Cotton, New York, machine for making envel¬ 
opes. 
Jacob W. Goodwin and Moses C. Hawkins, Edenborougb, 
Pa., improved method of regulating pumps by wind wheels. 
John D. Heaton, Dixon, 111., improved arrangement of 
valves for hydraulic engines. 
Chas. Harrison, New York, basin cocks. 
Jesse Lincoln, Uniontown, Pa., improvement in ma¬ 
chines for sowing seed broad-cast. 
E.P. Lacy, Rochester, improvement in corn planters. 
Michael Nickermann, Pittsburgh, chuck for lathes. 
Robert G. Pine, Sing Sing, improved machines for pol¬ 
ishing buckles. 
Martin Snow, North Bridgewater, Mass , improved spoke 
shave. 
Edw. J. Updegraffe, York, Pa., improved machine for 
bending wood. 
Jno. Demarest. Mott Haven, assignor to “ The J. L. Mott 
Iron Works,” of same place, improved core bar for pipe 
moulding. 
Royal Hatch. Stratford, Vt., assignorto Henry C. Hatch, 
of same place, improvement in wash boards. 
Julius Bevin, Uoadilla Forks, assignor to himself and 
Samuel Stillman, of same place, improvement in boxes for 
axles. 
R. M. Evans, Laconia, N. H., assignor to himself and 
Charles S. Gale, oI same place, improvement in railroad 
car brake. 
Thos. Priestly, Saxonville, Mass., assignor to Dan’l Hol¬ 
den, ot same place, improvement in oil cans. 
John Sawyer, Fitchburgh, assignor to himself and Thos. 
Hale, of same place, improved apparatus for heating and 
ventilating buildings. 
MUSIC BY STEAM POWER. 
Dear Rural :—From the time that I first 
heard the steam whistle from the cars, I have 
had strong faith to believe that if one such 
sound can be made, many more can be made to 
accord with it,— and that sooner or later some 
Yankee would find it out. And may we not 
hope that ere long the traveling public may be 
treated with the luxury of sweet music at every 
stoppiug place ? But especially would the mu¬ 
sic be appreciated, when the cars emerge from 
some of these unconstitutional snow-banking 
institutions after a long detention, and progress 
reported. Then we may be prepared to sere¬ 
nade John Bull with Yankee Doodle, Ode on 
Science or Hail Columbia, (fee. The following 
extract I clip from a California paper, and have 
not seen it in any other. Simon Pierson. 
Le Roy, N. Y., April, 1856. 
“Joshua Stoddard, of Worcester, Alass., has 
coostructed an instrument for making music by 
steam. It consists of a series of whistles like 
those used on locomotives. These whistles are 
made of different sizes, so as to produce the de¬ 
sired tone corresponding with each note, (fee.— 
This completes the machine, with the exception 
of a cylinder similar to those used in a common 
hand organ or music box, containing cogs which, 
when properly arranged, will, when turned by 
hand or otherwise, operate upon the valves in 
such a manner as to play any tune desired by 
simply changing the position of cogs, which are 
intended to be moveable. The music of these 
instruments can be heard from ten to twenty 
miles on the water, and every note will be per¬ 
fect and full. We heard the inventor play Ro¬ 
salie on it, and it looked like ‘ getting off tall 
notes’ mechanically. This invention is so com¬ 
pletely under the control of the operator, that 
were it arranged with a key-board similar to a 
piano, it would obey the slightest touch, and a 
child could play slow or quick tunes, every note 
of which might be heard several miles. It is 
the design ot the inventor to place these instru¬ 
ments upon locomotives and steamboats. It 
would appear rather novel to John Bull to hear 
‘Yankee Doodle’ from one of our ocean steam¬ 
ers as she was about to enter a British port, (say 
twenty miles,) and it would remind a Yankee 
of his jack-knife to hear ‘ Sweet Home’ from the 
same vessel on its return to New York or Bos¬ 
ton. The invention, if it meets the expectations 
of most who have seen it, will alter the tone of 
public demonstration on important occasions 
very essentially.” 
NEW YORK & LONDON TELEGRAPH. 
The failure which attended the laying of the 
submarine cable last year across the Gulf of St. 
Lawrence, from NewFoundland to Cape Bre¬ 
ton, has not deterred the company from the 
prosecution of their enterprise, and arrange¬ 
ments have already been made to secure its 
successful accomplishment during the approach¬ 
ing summer. That failure, it may be remem¬ 
bered, was caused by the elements, the steamer 
employed in laying the cable having been over¬ 
taken by a storm when about fourteen miles 
distant from the Island of St. Paul’s, near Cape 
Breton. Over forty miles of it had been payed 
out, when the captain of the bark Sarah L. Bry¬ 
ant ordered it to be cut, as the only means of 
saving the vessel, which was in imminent dan¬ 
ger of being wrecked. In the cable formerly 
used, there were three conducting wires, each 
about as thick as a knitting needle, and a flaw 
in any one of these was sufficient to stop the 
electric current from one end to the other. In 
view of this, it was determined to manufacture 
a cable with only one conductor, which should 
consist of some small-sized copper wires twisted 
together, and a flaw or break in any one of 
"which would not interfere with the progress of 
the electric current. This cable is less than 
half the thickness of the three wire cable, and 
weighs only two tuns to the mile, while the 
weight of that lost was five tuns. It has also 
the additional and important advantage of be¬ 
ing more pliable, and can, therefore, be laid 
with less difficulty. 
The New York and New Foundland Tele¬ 
graph Company have entered into a contract 
with the English manufacturers, Messrs. W. 
Kuper (& Co., London, according to which the 
cable is to be laid by the mannfacturers them¬ 
selves, under the direction of their engineer, 
Mr. Canning, and given into the possession of 
the company in perfect working order some 
time next June. 
•In the meantime, extensive preparations are 
being made for the laying of the transatlantic 
cable, which is to he completed and in opera¬ 
tion in the year 1858. This is also to have but 
one conductor, made in the way we have de¬ 
scribed, and will weigh about three-quarters of 
a tun to the mile. In the process of laying it 
across the ocean from St. Johns, New Found- 
land, to the nearest point on the southern coast 
of Ireland—a distance of sixteen hundred and 
forty-seven miles—two steamers will he em¬ 
ployed. The cable itself will he two thousand 
four hundred miles long, the surplus being re¬ 
served to make up for the inequalities in the 
bed of the ocean, and the drifting caused by the 
currents and winds, though it is hardly proba¬ 
ble that one-half of this surplus will be needed. 
Each steamer will have twelve hundred miles 
of this cable on board, weighing nine-hundred 
tuns, and after joining the ends of the coils and 
dropping them in the ocean, midway between 
the two points of land which it is intended to 
connect, will start for their separate places of 
destination. While this operation is going on 
a constant communication can be kept up be¬ 
tween the two vessels, through the cables, while 
it is landed on the opposite shores of Europe 
and America. Thus the whole work can be 
accomplished in one-half the time that would 
be required for one steamer to lay it from coast 
to coast, and starting either from St. Johns or 
Ireland. 
Allowing for interruptions by the weather or 
repairing any damage that might happen to the 
cable during the process of paying it out, it is 
estimated that not more than ten days at the 
utmost will he required for the whole work. 
We also learn that by recent improvements in 
the telegraphic instruments, it has been conclu¬ 
sively demonstrated that an electric current can 
be transmitted through a cable extending from 
Ireland to New Foundland. These are certain¬ 
ly wonderful improvements on the former plan, 
and would seem to guarantee its success beyond 
the possibility of a doubt.— Hew York Herald. 
Shooting Molten Iron. —This process con¬ 
sists of a hollow shot of any given calibre, with 
a round hole or fuse on its side ; on the sides 
of this fuse are two parallel raised lines, grooved 
on the inner sides of them, into which to slide 
a piece of wrought iron to clean the fuse when 
the shell is filled. The inside of the shell must 
be coated with some substance to prevent the 
molten iron from coming into contact with the 
iron of the shell. The shell can be fitted to 
any sized gun ; when filled with molten iron it 
has the weight and form of a cold hall; when 
it strikes a solid body it will burst, and the 
molten iron is a thousand times more destruc¬ 
tive than a hot shot.— H. Y. Spectator. 
New AIetals. — Dr. Roscoe, of Heidelberg, 
read before the British Association a paper on 
the formation of the new metals, strontium, cal¬ 
cium, lithium, aluminum, (fee., from the chlorides 
of those substances. The metal lithium, he 
said, was the subject of much interest, from the 
fact of its being lighter than water or rock oil, 
in which it is preserved. One great quality of 
aluminum is its sonorousness,—exceeding, in 
sharpness of sound, when struck by a metal in¬ 
strument, the finest bell-metal. 
----- 
Paul Garnier, of Paris, has invented a tele¬ 
graph “communicator,” of very ingenious con¬ 
struction, intended to be used with Morse’s 
telegraph. Instead of operating the key by 
hand, for sending messages in the common way, 
the message is composed befoie hand, and dis- 
pseod helically along a cylinder, which is pro¬ 
vided with 2,000 keys, made of some non-con¬ 
ducting substance, and according as they are 
arranged dn the cylinder they effect the breaking 
and closing of the circuit and write the message 
n iiTU r 1 iTUTlin HTuTun 1WLJ1 
..................... 
