AUGUST 1 
Itcto aittj (Bratton. 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
EKUIT GROWERS’ SOCIETY OP WEST¬ 
ERN NEW YORK. 
Discussions at the Summer Meeting at Syracuse, June 
27th and 28 th, 1856.—Concluded. 
CULTIVATION OF THE CHEERY. 
The Society met by adjournment on the 28th 
June, 9 o’clock, at the City Hall, Syracuse, 
when the subject of Cherries, as recommended 
by the Committee on Business, was taken up 
for discussion. The Committee had arranged 
it under the following heads : 
1. Best soil for the cherry. 
2. Comparative advantages of cultivating the 
cherry on the Mazzard and Mahaleb stock. 
3. Best varieties for amateur cultivation and 
for market, 
4. Best mode of protecting the fruit from 
birds and insects. 
The discussion was opened by naming seve¬ 
ral varieties for amateur cultivation. 
The May Duke, by Chas. Downing. 
Napoleon Bigarreau, by A. Covey. 
Black Tartarian, by W. P. Townsend. 
Oov. Wood, by P. Barry. 
Elton, by Chas. Hooker. 
Early Purple Guigne, by T. C. Maxwell. 
White Bigarreau, by A. Stone. 
Great Bigarreau, by Chas. Downing. 
Ciias. Downing spoke of the “ Great Bigar¬ 
reau" as a cherry of the largest size. The 
specimens on the table were not full size. It 
is the largest and greatest bearer he knows, 
though not of the highest quality. Having 
been without a name, it had been known by the 
“ Great Bigarreau" in Westchester Co., N. Y., 
whence the specimens on exhibition were 
brought. 
II. P. Norton named the Belle d’Orlcans. 
R. II. Scott named the Monstreusc de Mczel. 
P. Barry recommended the Napoleon Bigar¬ 
reau as a good market cherry. 
E. Smith objected to it as not being productive. 
Chas. Downing —Had had good crops from it. 
P. Barry —Had never yet seen a small crop 
on this variety. It is not as good as Elton or 
Downer's Late, but sells as well as any light 
cherry. It stands next in this respect to the 
Black Iartarian and Black Eagle, and always 
commands the highest price. One objection to 
it is the facility with which it is injured by 
heavy rains, being liable to rot. 
Dr. Sylvester —Had found it a poor bearer at 
Lyons for the last two years. This may have 
been owing to the severity of the season of 
1855. He preferred it to many other varieties 
for preserving, on account of its firmness of 
flesh. A large tree with him had borne but 
little fruit last year, and less this year. 
A. Covey —Had found this variety to bear 
abundantly for five years. 
II. G. Dickerson —Had trees bearing for 
twenty-five years, and during eight years had 
never obtained a good crop, as they rot on the 
tree. 
J. J. 'Thomas —Recommended Downer's Laic 
Red for amateurs. 
W. P. Townsend. — Knight's Early Black. 
Dr. Sylvester —Would name the Downton for 
pies ; it was a good bearer. 
<7. J. Thomas— Thought it would be seldom 
cooked, as it was found too desirable for eating. 
He would remark that Downton and Downer's 
Late Red were distinct varieties. Downer's Late 
was a handsome tree with fine fruit, not liable 
to rot, and of fine flavor when ripe. 
P. Barry —Thought the Black Eagle the best 
of all black cherries. 
Chas. Downing —Had found it a poor bearer. 
Chas. Hooker's experience was similar. 
P. Barry .—It had proved a hardy tree. 
W. P. Townsend —Thought it more subject to 
blight than the Black Tartarian. 
E. Smith —Had found it too tender,—more so 
than the Black Tartarian. 
II. G. Dickerson— Thought the Black Tarta¬ 
rian a good cherry for market; those now sell¬ 
ing in the city were of that variety almost ex¬ 
clusively. He had sold them at $5 per bushel 
as red cherries, when unripe, and when ripe as 
black cherries; this he considered an advan¬ 
tage. A neighbor who had twelve trees, eight 
of them Black Tartarian, two Black Heart, one 
Yellow Spanish, and one Black Eagle, had sold 
$168 worth of fruit in one season. 
Dr. Sylvester —Had observed cherry trees at 
Lyons affected by the winters of ’54 and ’55 ; 
the end of the limbs were killed ; he wished 
to know if this was the case elsewhere. 
II. G. Dickerson —Had observed that the 
Black Eagle and Yellow Spanish conliuue healthy 
with him, and the Black Tartarian had borne 
well. 
A. Stone— Had two trees injured by the win¬ 
ter a year ago last winter ; they looked bad, 
but afterwards came out vigorously. 
J. J. Thomas —Thought the Early Purple 
Guigne one of the best varieties. It ripens 
early, and the fruit is nearly double the size of 
other early sorts ; its flavor is superior, and is 
as hardy as any other cherry. 
P. Barry —Recommended the Reine Hortense 
and Belle de Choisy for amateurs. Grown as 
dwarf or pyramid trees in the garden, these are 
two very desirable varieties. 
II. G. Dickerson —Had found the HollandBig- 
arreau a good variety for preserving and cook¬ 
ing ; the tree was hardy, the fruit large and 
plump. 
W. P. Townsend —Thought the Early Purple 
Guigne was more liable to burst and blight.— 
The soil was a heavy sandy loam, but deep. 
T. C. Maxwell .—The Early Purple Guigne up¬ 
on my clay soil, with gravelly subsoil, has 
proved perfectly hardy. The Black Tartarian, 
Black Eagle, and Elton, had been discolored. 
BIRDS AND INSECTS. 
E. Smith —Said he had found the best way to 
keep off birds was to encourage the blue bird 
by erecting boxes, and it would drive off all 
others, while it would not destroy the fruit it¬ 
self. Any old box or basket would answer. 
Chas. Hooker —Had found it very inconven¬ 
ient to put up boxes, and frequently they re¬ 
fused to inhabit those he had provided. 
II. P. Norton —Was always in favor of en¬ 
couraging the birds. He could nothave enough 
of them about his place. 
P. Barry —Thought it was only’the early 
varieties that were attacked by the birds ; they 
seldom touch the light colored sorts, such as 
Belle d’Orleans. Gauze nets might be made so 
as to cover the trees, at least on a small scale by 
amateurs. 
J. J. Thomas— Had tried many experiments 
in banishing the birds ; he found that they eat 
early cherries, light colored, and all varieties. 
He had tried scarecrows, but so familiar did 
they become by alighting on them', that, one 
had made its nest in the scarecrow’s pocket.— 
Pieces of looking glass and tin had been tried, 
but they might as well try to frighten a loco¬ 
motive with an umbrella. The cedar or cherry 
bird was the only formidable enemy ; the oth¬ 
ers were as nothing in comparison with it.— 
They came in large flocks and often swept all 
before them ; he had had a bushel of early 
pears swept from the tree in a few hours. His 
best remedy, and the only effectual one, was 
shooting. If practiced for several mornings in 
succession, they will disappear, and being 
frightened may not return for the rest of the 
season. He was not so much opposed to rob¬ 
ins, as they were genteel, and removed what 
they attacked. 
II. P. Norton—Had found that robins often 
take off only a portion like the other birds. 
Dr. Sylvester.— Had used a little windmill, 
such as boys construct, to which was attached a 
clapper—or this might be varied with a spring 
and bell; it would only cost a few cents. Such 
means had proved successful with him. 
J. J. Thomas. —Common gauze netting was 
not strong enough; the birds had torn through it. 
II. G. Dickerson — Concluded to let the birds 
have all the cherries they would take, as they 
took the worms also. He had not troubled 
himself with the birds since he found by de¬ 
stroying them the insects increased. When he 
used the nets he caught more birds than he 
saved cherries. 
IIP. Norton. —The birds take the wormy 
cherries first and then those without worms. 
SOIL. 
T. C. Maxwell— Having been called on, said 
that most of those present already knew the 
nature of the soil of his place, and the charac¬ 
ter of the trees. The soil is clay and gravel, 
with a clay subsoil. The cherry trees here 
stand the winter well, and are not much injured. 
1 like Mahaleb stock for dwarfs, but work large¬ 
ly on the Mazzard stock. A few miles north of 
us, had observed a whole block of cherry trees 
affected with the gum ; the soil was a light 
sand. Our trees were not so affected ; did not 
know whether the fault was in the soil or not. 
P. Barry— Had found dry, gravelly loam very 
favorable for the cherry ; though the growth 
was not rapid, yet the trees ripened their wood 
and weie better able to withstand the severity 
of the winter. The bursting of the bark was 
much complained of, especially in the Western 
States. So many trees had been lost that they 
had almost decided to abandon their cultiva¬ 
tion ; this arises principally from the wood 
being only partially ripened. Upon rich, deep 
soils the trees continue growing till late in the 
season and remain green, so that they are una¬ 
ble to withstand the severe winter and the sud¬ 
den changes experienced. It is different in the 
vicinity of Rochester; there the cherry suc¬ 
ceeds well. On dry, gravelly soil the growth 
is matured. When exposed to westerly winds, 
and frequent freezing and thawing in winter, 
the trees are injured, and not so much from any 
defect in the soil. A moderate growth is de¬ 
sirable rather than a very luxuriant one, so that 
manuring highly, or very rich, deep soil, is not 
to be approved of. Trees do not form fine 
fibrous roots in such soils, and therefore do not 
transplant safely. A whole nursery of good 
trees might be planted and not one out of fifty 
live, on this account. 
J. J. Thomas. —The bursting of the bark in 
summer in the Western States, and the burst¬ 
ing in winter, were two distinct things. The 
newly formed wood burst in winter. The 
wood of the sycamore splits occasionally in a 
similar manner. A slit in the bark occurs 
in summer, and an excrescence is formed.— 
He would like to know of some of the Roches¬ 
ter gentlemen, if the disease which occurred 
there partook of the Western character. 
P. Barry —Thought it similar to the Western 
disease. 
W. P. Townsend. —My experience has been 
that trees are worse diseased in sandy soils and 
less so in clay soils; he had known a whole 
block of cherries raised in a very light sandy 
soil. 
II. P. Norton —Was of opinion that where 
the branches were allowed to remain on the 
lower part of the tree, much of this injury was 
prevented. Was not this generally the case ? 
P. Barry —Low branched trees never suffer 
so much. 
With a few additional remarks from various 
members, the discussion on the Cherry was 
brought to a close ; but the time which had been 
proposed for the termination of the session not 
having arrived, it was suggested that the sub¬ 
ject of Pears on the Quince should be discussed. 
COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGES OF CULTIVATING 
THE PEAR ON THE PEAR AND QUINCE STOCK. 
E. Smith. Geneva—Had been engaged in 
marketing fruit for eight or ten years, and it 
was his opinion that standard trees must take 
the lead. He had not confidence in the quince 
stock for general use. A few varieties succeed - 
ed very well, but with care those on pear might 
be brought equally soon into bearing. There 
are a few varieties which are better on the 
quince, but a sufficient number would do well 
on the pear to make it a paying business. He 
had found that where the fruit grew near the 
surface of the ground on the lower part of the 
trees, they were not so good, and were more or 
less injured by rust and insects ; on the higher 
branches the fruit was better. The Virgalicu 
was always better from the upper part of the 
tree. He did not believe it would be profitable 
to cultivate pears on the quince. 
W. P. Townsend— From the experience he had 
had, would couclude that, were it not for blight, 
a pear orchard on quince might be made profit¬ 
able—of course a different course of cultivation 
must be pursued. The roots are near the sur¬ 
face and require a frequent stirring of the soil. 
The trees would return ample remuneration by 
the large quantity of fruit produced, if at the 
end of ten years they should die. The Louise 
Bonne de Jersey six or seven years old, pro¬ 
duced from one to three pecks. 
Mr. Smith, of Syracuse, inquired if the pear 
on quince was not generally more subject to 
blight than on the pear stock. 
E. Smith, Geneva.—Three to one crack on the 
quince in comparison with the pear. He paid 
$90 for the crop of two Virgalicu trees, in one 
season, and picked them himself; from these he 
obtained about ten barrels, which would be 
nine dollars per barrel. The trees were about 
40 years old, of good size. The fruit close to 
the ground was worthless and generally crack¬ 
ed, being within the reach of insects. 
P. Barry —Disagreed with Mr. Smith as to 
the quality of the fruit from the lower part of 
the tree. He had picked superior specimens in 
many cases from the lower limbs. Insects 
were not chargeable with the disease observed 
on the fruit. The same is true with regard to 
apples. , 
E. Smith —Thought there must be some cause 
for it more than the atmosphere. He had ob¬ 
served a small insect upon the young growth 
of his trees, hid in a molasses like matter, 
which in rain trickled down the tree and seem¬ 
ed to carry down the blight with it. 
T. C. Maxwell —Had picked very fine fruit 
close to the ground from Bartlett trees. He had 
quite a number of small dwarf trees in bearing, 
and he preferred the fruit from these as supe¬ 
rior in both color and flavor. 
Dr. Sylvester. —The best flavored fruit is that 
most exposed to the sun. One-half the fruit 
growing near the base of the tree were shaded ; 
those near the top were exposed during the 
entire day. 
E. Smith —Believed-the fruit grown on quince 
was not as juicy as that on the pear stock, and 
would not keep as long. 
J. J. Thomas. —They were not very likely to 
agree on this subject. The difference of opin¬ 
ion arose from not making a clear division of 
the subject, and treating the two classes of 
fruits separately, as each required a very differ¬ 
ent treatment—eacli being best in the circum¬ 
stances best suited to it. Dwarfs were garden 
trees, requiring garden treatment, more manure, 
and high cultivation; they bore soon, and oc¬ 
cupied but little ground. Some varieties had 
been cultivated on the quince which were not 
suited to it, and had failed. Much disappoint¬ 
ment arose from want of care in the selection of 
varieties, and their failure led to a want of con¬ 
fidence in the stock. One variety he would 
name, however, which invariably does well as 
a dwarf—the Duchessc d’Angoideme. He had 
made extensive observations on this subject, 
and found that this variety was generally suc¬ 
cessful. 
P. Barry —Attributed most of the failures of 
pears on the quince to this indiscriminate 
choice of varieties. No experiments abroad had 
produced this unsatisfactory result. Scattered 
over the country, without any attention to 
proper treatment, with deficient cultivation, it 
could not be expected that they would do well. 
No proper system of pruning is practiced, no 
frequent stirring of the soil. " Many bear for a 
few years and then fail. It is important that 
the practical men here should come to a defi¬ 
nite conclusion with regard to those sorts which 
were suitable for cultivation on the quince.— 
The great secret of the matter was, that there 
was no attention given to the nature of the 
stock and the variety worked upon it. They 
should resemble each other in their constitu¬ 
tion, for it was upon ;he proper assimilation of 
the juices that the union of the stock aud scion 
depended. There was a long list of varieties 
to select from, and he hoped they would now 
recommend a select list. 
W. P. Townsend —Thought they owed it to 
themselves and the public to come to sogie de¬ 
termination upon this subject of varieties suit¬ 
able for the quince. 
Mr. Smith, Syracuse—Thought that all slow 
growing kinds should be abandoned. 
After considerable discussion of the merits 
of many varieties, the following sorts were 
passed as suitable for cultivation on the quince: 
Tyson, Bcurre Diel, Duchesse d 1 Angouleme, 
White Doyenne, Louise Bonne de Jersey, Vicar of 
Winkjield, Beurre d’Amalis, Urbaniste, Glout 
Morceau, Easter Beurre, Buffum, and Uvcdalc’s 
St. Germain. 
A considerable discussion arose on the merits 
of Rostiezer, Flemish Beauty, Belle Lucrative and 
Osband's Summer ; it was, however, agreed that 
these varieties should not be recommended for 
the present. 
P. Barry reminded the members of the ap¬ 
proaching meeting of the American Bornologi¬ 
cal Society at Rochester, and hoped all the re¬ 
liable information which they could obtain 
would be made available on that occasion, as 
this Society was to hold its autumn session in 
conjunction with the former, on the 24th Sep¬ 
tember, at the Corinthian Hall, Rochester. 
After the arrangement of some business mat¬ 
ters, and the passing of resolutions reported 
elsewhere, the meeting adjourned. 
In the morning the members visited the nur¬ 
sery grounds of Messrs. Thorpe, Smith & Han- 
ohett, in the vicinity of the city, a suitable 
conveyance having been provided by the pro¬ 
prietors, when a few hours were spent in exam¬ 
ining their extensive stock of trees, which 
evinced much care and attention.—s. 
D. D. T. Moore :—The interesting report in 
the last Rural, of the proceedings of the Fruit 
Growers’ Society of Western New York, at 
Syracuse, in giving the substance of the remarks 
made there, partly in the condensed language 
of the reporter, represents me in one instance 
as expressing an opinion which I think must 
have been advanced by some other person. I 
allude to these sentences—“ A great deal of this 
talk about staminates and pistillates, was quite 
useless, and mere theory. He could see no 
ground for these accurate distinctions, and 
thought the further discussion of these points 
were better dispensed with.” I have do recol¬ 
lection of entertaining at any time such an 
opinion, or of expressing it—but on the contra¬ 
ry, I stated to the meeting then, some experi¬ 
ments showing the great importance of a proper 
attention to the fertilization of pistillate straw¬ 
berries. 
Hoping this correction may not appear too 
trifling for the small space it will occupy, I 
am, very truly, thy friend.—J. J. Thomas, Union 
Springs, N Y., Jidy 25,1856. 
Keep your seeds, bulbs, tubers, etc , in a place 
where neither heat, nor frost, nor damp can 
reach them. 
ethnic fits, See. 
LIST OE PATENTS, 
iHMicd from the United State* Patent Offlee for the 
week ending July 15,1856. 
Warren S. Bartle and Ebenezer Vaughan, Newark, N. 
Y., for straw cutter. 
Alvin Barton, Syracuse, improvement in plows. 
VIoses Bemiss, Lyme, Ohio, for improvement in corn 
planters. 
Arthur Barbarin -and B. F. Simms, New Orleans, for 
e'ectm-.magnetic fog bills. Patented in England, August 
Benjamin F. Bee, of Warebam, for improvement in 
means for controlling ieed water apparatus of steam 
boilers. v 
grade's* 6 ^' anc * lar ^> York, improvement in nutmeg 
^Thomas G. Boone, Brooklyn, improvement in rope ma- 
B. C. Cambridge, jr., North Enfield, N. H., improved 
method for turning ornamental forms. 
Ira Carter, Malone, improved marble sawing machine. 
Marines 1\ Crape, Humboldt Co., Cal., improved ma¬ 
chine for striking unburnt brick. 
Joel Dawson, BarnesviUe, 0., improved self-setting tail 
block for sawing mills. 
S. M. Echelo, Lafayette, Ind., improvement in fire backs 
oi fire places. 
Henry E. Elwell, Meriden, improved door knob. 
Cotton Foss, Painesville, for straw cutter. 
Charles W. Glover, Itoxbury, Conn., improved cutting 
device for harvesters. . 
A. M. George, New York, improved stone dressing ma¬ 
chine. ° 
Victor M. Griswold, Lancaster, Ohio, improved collodion 
lor photographic pictures. 
Thomas J. Godman, Madison, Ind., for apparatus for 
slaughtering hogs. 
Moses G. Hubbard Penn Yan, improvement in the 
frames of mowing and reaping machines. 
A - 0. Ketchum, New York, improvement in railroad 
car wheels. 
Julius J. Koenig, Chicago, machine for composing and 
distributing types. 
Giles Langdell and Maicus A. Root, Philadelphia, foi 
mode of tinting photographic pictures. 
Oren Moses. Malone, for straw cutter. 
Lucius Paige. Cavendish, Vt., improved sash lock. 
John Rich, Kingsbury, improvement in plows. 
Cyrus W. Saladee, Columbus, 0., for improved three¬ 
wheeled pleasure carriages. 
J. G. Siemers, St. Louis, improvement in the adjustment 
of mill stones. 
Geo. H Soule, Jersey City, improvement in fire-arms. 
John J. Speed, Jr., and John A. Bailey, Detroit, improve¬ 
ment in making seamless metal tubes. 
Geo. \v. Swift, Oxford, Ill., improvement in machines 
for threshing and cleaning grain in the field. 
Hiram Tarbox, 2d, Tremont, N. Y., improved cattle stall. 
Peter Teal, Philadelphia, improvement in detachable 
shaft coupling. 
Hiram Thompson and Richard Q. Tuson, Lebanon, N. 
H., improvement in mop head. 
H. H. Forrey, Buffalo Grove, Ill., for washing machine. 
John W. Thompson, Greenfield, improvement in mowing 
machines. 
John B. Witherel, Upton, Mass., improvement in car 
coupling. 
John C. Briggs, Concord, N. H., for improvement in 
regulating the conical pendulum of time keepers. 
Josiah Dodge, Dommerston, Vt., improved mode of 
charging cannon. 
Oliver F. Grover, Middletown, Conn., for printers’ com¬ 
posing stick. 
Wilderick Joseph Von Kammerhuler, Washington, D. 
C., improvement in centrolineado. 
W. F. Shaw, Boston, improved apparatus for heating 
or cooking by gas. 
Fredrich Emil Schmidt, N. Y., improvement in prepar¬ 
ing vegetable dye-stuff. 
John W. Truslow, Lewisberg, Va., improvement in 
fenders for fire places. 
Wm. Wilkersham, Boston, improved filtering medium. 
Jeremiah S. Senseny, Chambersburg, assignor to him¬ 
self and George H. Merklein, of same place, improvement 
in lard lamps. 
re-issue. 
Pierpont Seymour, Bloomfield, improved sowing ma- 
machine. Patented May 7, 1845. 
Preston Bennet and John Kendrick, Providence, and 
Lyman A. Cook, Cumberland, R. I., assignors (through J. 
M. aud S. F. Stanton) of Humphrey M. Glines, improve¬ 
ment in machinery for filling seine needles. Patented 
October 2, 1856. . 
David G. Olmstead, Vicksburgh, assignee of R. L. A. 
McCurdy, Sabine Parish; La., improvement in cotton gins. 
Patented J un« 20, i860. 
additional improvement. 
Jacob W. Goodwin and Moses C. Hawkins, Edinboro 
Pa., improvement in wind pump. Patented April 8, 1856. 
TIN AND ITS USES. 
Every child in the land knows what tinware 
is, but the number of persons who have even 
seen a piece of pure tin, or are acquainted with 
its nature and various uses is not large. Tin or 
“ stannum” is one of the ancient metals, and was 
known to the old Egyptians and Hebrews. It 
is found in the state of an oxyd in various coun¬ 
tries—Spain, Hungary, South America and the 
Indian Archipelago, but most abundantly in 
Cornwall, from which place it was obtained by 
the Phoenicians when Tyre was mistress of the 
seas, and before Britain bore the impress of the 
Roman’s heel. As a metal, it has a white, bril¬ 
liant appearance, is very malleable, emits a 
crackling sound when bent, a peculiar odor 
when rubbed, and when cooled slowly from a 
molten state it crystallizes. 
The tinstone of Cornwall is found in veins 
associated with copper ore, in granite and slate 
rocks, hence it is called “ mine tin.” The oxyd 
of tin is also disseminated through the rocks in 
small crystrals; and in alluvial deposits it is 
found mixed with rounded pebbles, and is 
called “ stream tin.” When tin ore is mixed 
with copper—after being roasted— it is treated 
with sulphuric acid, which dissolves the copper 
but not the tin. After it is washed, the ore, 
then called “black tin,” is ready for smelting. 
The common method of smelting the ore is in a 
reverberatory furnace with coal, the ore being 
mixed with powdered anthracite or charcoal.— 
When very pure metal is required, the smelting 
or reducing is conducted in a small blast fur¬ 
nace, powdered charcoal being used to mix 
with the ore, also a very small quantity of lime 
as a flux. After the first smelting of the ore, it 
generally requires two other smelting opera¬ 
tions to purify it for use. All these demand 
great care and experience to conduct them 
economically. The refined and purest tin is 
that which is used in the manufacture of tin 
plate, it being used lor this purpose in a molten 
state, and thin plates of iron dipped into it, just 
like dipping thin boards of wood into liquid 
varnish. The metal plates for tinning are made 
of the best charcoal iron. All the oxyd is first 
rfemoved from them, when they are scoured 
bright, and kept in soft water ready to be dip¬ 
ped in the molten tin. The tin is melted in an 
iron pot over a fue, and its surface is covered 
with about four inches of molten tallow. The 
prepared plates are dipped in this, and leit to 
steep for an hour or more, when they are lifted 
out with tongs and placed on a rack. The 
plates generally have a surplus quantity of tin 
adhering to them when taken out of the first 
ot; this is removed by dipping them into a pot 
of molten tallow and brushed. Great care and 
experience are required in all the manipula¬ 
tions in order to cover the places smoothly, and 
not have too thick or too thin a coating of tin. 
The covering of such an oxydizable metal as 
iron with tin, like a varnish, is one of the most 
useful qualities which this metal possesses, and 
lenders it better adapted for making various 
vessels, such as our common tin-ware, than any 
other metal. Nails, bridle-bits and many small 
articles of iron may be covered with tin, by 
first scouring them to remove the oxyd, then 
dipping them into the molten tin. 
The metal is so ductile that it can be rolled 
out into sheets of tin-foil as thin as writing 
paper. It is now much used for covering to¬ 
bacco, for coarse gilding, for what is called 
“silvering looking glasses,” and for bronze 
powders. 
Peroxyd of tin is used by jewelers as a pol¬ 
ishing material; and fused with glass it forms 
a white opaque enamel. It is much used when 
mixed with copper, to form various useful al¬ 
loys of metal; such as gun-metal, the specula 
for telescopes, the bearings for shafting, the 
bronze of statues, and was used by the ancients 
for swords, spears and armour; and it is said 
these were tempered by a process now lost to 
the arts. 
Block tin is struck by the dies into various 
vessels for drinking, such as cups, tea and cof¬ 
fee pots, and mixed with a little copper to give 
it hardness, it forms the beautiful Britannia- 
ware.” In the chemical arts tin is dissolved in 
acids, such as nitric and muriatic, and seems a 
common mordant for some of the most brilliant 
colors printed on calicoes, and those dyed on 
wool and silk. The uses of tin are more vari¬ 
ous than those of any other metal, and it pos¬ 
sesses very valuable properties. England is the 
greatest tin-producing country on the globe.— 
She possesses the most abundant natural sources 
of this metal, and has long been the tin plate 
manufacturer of the world. The produce of the 
metal in Cornwall is about 10,719 tuns per an¬ 
num, but it is used for so many purposes that it 
is the source of a vast amount of wealth to Great 
Britain. We cover our houses with tin plate, 
and we manufacture vast quantities of it into 
vessels of every description for domestic use.— 
We have iron mountains, and innumerable beds 
of copper and lead ; we have the greatest coal 
fields on this globe, and gold and silver exist 
abundantly in our hills and valleys. No coun¬ 
try is so rich in useful minerals, but- as yet no 
rich deposits of tin have been discovered. We 
have some faith in the existence of this metal 
in our rocks, and that it will yet be obtained in 
considerable quantities. We hope that more 
attention will be devoted to prospecting for it, 
as it is more valuable than copper, and far more 
useful. 
We pay $4,700,000 annually for tin plate and 
sheets ; $23,000 for tin foil; $724,000 tor tin in 
pigs and bars, and $44,000 for unspecified tin 
manufactures.— Selected. 
PAVEMENTS. 
The attention of the inhabitants of our own 
and the principal cities in this country has been 
directed for several years past to the subject of 
providing street pavements that would with¬ 
stand the enormous travel passing over them in 
their main thoroughfares. For a great number 
of years the cobble-stone pavement was the only 
one used or thought of in our large cities, and it 
answered every requirement until the travel 
upon it increased to something near its present 
extent. In fact, for cities of 30,000 or 50,000 
inhabitants it is still generally used, and no bet¬ 
ter is needed or called for; but for the larger 
cities its inefficiency and constant need of re¬ 
pair long since called for a substitute better 
calculated to sustain the wear and tear of the 
great number of vehicles in use in them. The 
first substitute proposed in this country, and 
adopted in the cities of New York, Philadel¬ 
phia and Boston, was the wooden blocks laid 
with the grain placed vertically so that the 
wear was received on the end of it. This an¬ 
swered so good a purpose for the first year of its 
trial that the hopes of the inventors and pro¬ 
jectors were supposed to be realized, but a 
second season’s wear, and the unexpected rot¬ 
ting away of the blocks, dispelled the illusion, 
and the wooden pavement was doomed to share 
the fate of its predecessors. Many ingenious 
attempts were made to increase its power of 
resistance and to add to its durability, but they 
w r ere unsuccessful, and there is not now, to our 
knowledge, a specimen of it in use in this 
country. 
The stone pavement, known as the “Russ” 
plan, was next presented to public notice ; and 
from the durability of position, ease of draft, 
and slight wear shown in the first specimens of 
it laid down, it was generally supposed that 
the proper plan had been found, and the main 
streets of this and other cities were, at an early 
day after its introduction, paved with'it. Either 
from the size or the quality, or both, of the stone 
used for this plan of pavement, in this city, not 
being correct, it seems to have fallen into equal 
disrepute with its predecessors, from becoming 
too slippery to afford a proper foothold for 
horses passing over it. This evil has attained 
such magnitude that the general feeling has set¬ 
tled into a conviction that this pavement will 
have to be taken up. and some other plan 
adopted that will afford one at least equally 
durable, and possessed of all its good and none 
of its bad qualities.— Inventor. 
There is on sale at Saratoga, a piece of fash¬ 
ionable jewelry, in the shape of a bridal set, 
magnificently enriched with diamonds, and 
which is valued at the very modest sum of ten 
thousand dollars. So says the Saratogiau. 
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