J W J I JLi W J W Lf I J I imiU W Jm W LMJ W JL WfWW 
AUGUST 23. 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
THE VIRGALIEU PEAR. 
[Concluded.] 
4th. Tho Pear Culture will not be over done. 
Some m;iy object to going into the culture of 
the Pear on a large scale, on the ground of the 
over supply of the market, and the consequent 
diminution of the price to a few shillings a 
bushel. It seems to me that a little reflection 
and calculation upon this subject will be suffi¬ 
cient to settle the matter. There are now about 
24,000,000 inhabitants in the United States— 
all lovers of good fruit. Will it not be safe to 
say that if this, the best of pears, is placed 
within the reach of our citizens generally, that 
at least one-third of the whole population would 
eat or use one pear each per day, from the time 
it commenced to ripen till gone ? If so, this 
would make a market for at least 8,000,000 of 
pears a day. Say it takes 200 pears of this va¬ 
riety to make a bushel. We then have a daily 
market for 40,000 bushels in the United States 
alone. This variety comes into use about the 
first of October, and with but little trouble may 
be kept till the first of January, or about 90 
days. At 40,000 bushels a day, it will require 
no less than 3,600,000 bushels to supply the 
markets. They can be shipped to all parts of 
North and South America, to Europe, and in 
short, to most parts of the globe—all of which 
might double this demand. Say in round 
numbers that 8,000,000 of bushels might be sold 
annually. 
It is admitted that there is but a small por¬ 
tion of the United States in which this pear 
can be grown to perfection. It is said to suc¬ 
ceed best in Western New-York. But let that 
be as it may. It will take no less than 8,000,- 
000 of trees twelve years from transplanting to 
grow these pears—or 50,000 acres of land at 
160 trees per acre. I think the inhabitants 
will increase in number, and the consequent 
demand for the pear, much faster than the sup¬ 
ply. S uch has been the case for years back, 
and it appears likely to continue for years to 
come. But suppose the price is reduced to $1 
a bushel; then the profit to the acre of twelve 
year old trees is no less than $160,—at sixteen 
years, $480, and at twenty years, $960. At 50 
cents, or perhaps even at twenty-five cents a 
bushel, it will be as profitable as the apple, 
taking into account the certainty of the crop. 
But it is certain that this, the best of all fruits 
when in its highest perfection, never will come 
down to either of these prices, until good pears 
and the best of apples cannot be given away. 
6th. Fire Blight, the only Objection to Extensive 
Culture. 
In certain sections of the country, the fire 
blight is urged by many against the culture of 
the pear even for family use. It is true that 
pear trees are cut down by this disease, more 
or less, yearly in different parts of our land. 
Some varieties are much more subject to it than 
others. This variety is a good, upright grower, 
and ripens its wood well—seems to be hardy 
and very free from all disease, particularly the 
blight, in this vicinity. If a loss of now and 
then a tree is urged as the reason why it will 
not be safe to go into its culture extensively, 
then I ask why not make the same objection 
to the culture of the apple, or peach, on the 
ground of the borer ?—as there are probably 
five trees lost by the borer to one of this variety 
by the blight. But suppose we do lose now 
and then a tree of this variety by the fire 
blight; it will be but little compared with the 
loss of the apple and peach by the borer and 
frost. After all is said that can well be against 
the culture of the pear, it must be admitted, 
when compared with growing other fruits, to be 
by far the most certain and profitable. 
6th. Soil beat adapted to the Growth of the Fear. 
The kiud of land suited to the highest cul¬ 
ture of the Pear can only be correctly ascer¬ 
tained by long and constant observation. 
Observation shows that the pear tree grows 
and bears fair crops upon nearly all soils, but 
lives longest, flourishes best, and bears the 
most prolific crops where alumina predominates 
—where the top soil is either clayey loam or 
vegetable mould mixed with clay sub-soil, 
where clay greatly preponderates. The pear 
tree as well as the fruit grows to its greatest 
perfection in and about the beautiful village of 
Canandaigua. Trees that were planted there 
when the town was first settled are now 60 or 
70 feet high, and 15 to 18 inches in diameter, 
sound, healthy and thrifty, and bid fair to con¬ 
tinue so for years to come. These trees consist 
of both natural and grafted fruit. The white 
Doyene was grafted considerably at an early 
day, as many of the trees now indicate, some of 
which are from 40 to 50 feet high, and one foot 
in diameter, and which bear prolific crops of the 
finest fruit grown in America. 
Other varieties flourish equally well here.— 
The soil in and about this village is clayey 
loam, with a stiff clay sub-soil. There are 
many trees in this town, Lima and Avon equal¬ 
ly large and thrifty, that were planted by the 
first settlers, and which bear prolific crops 
yearly. The land that bore these old settlers 
is the same as above described. There are a 
great number of trees along the St. Clair River 
that were planted by the early French settlers, 
which are prodigious in size, healthy and fruit¬ 
ful. Soil clayey. Similar facts might be ex¬ 
tended to any length to establish this position. 
7th. How to Prepare the Land for planting. 
Prepare the ground as a good farmer would 
to raise a great crop of corn. Say, by spreading 
twenty-five loads of manure per acre, and from 
four to six loads of leached ashes—then plow 
and sub-soil sixteen inches deep, and your 
ground is ready for the trees. 
8th. Selection of Trees. 
Success depends much upon the selection of 
trees. They should be thrifty, healthy and 
stalky, and be taken up with as much root as 
possible, as they will add much to the growth 
of the tree the first year. Trees two year old 
from the bud, that have made a good growth, 
are of the best age to transplant. Indifferent 
or stunted trees should never be planted for an 
orchard, however cheaply they may be obtained. 
Better pay fifty cents for a good tree than take 
a poor one for nothing. A good thrifty tree 
will pay for itself four times over before a stunt¬ 
ed, rootless one will come into bearing. Again, 
trees should be selected, that branch low—say 
from 2^ to 3 feet above the ground. See rea¬ 
son under head of Pruning. 
9th. How to Transplant. 
When the land is prepared as above, the holes 
for receiving the trees need not be dug more 
than 15 or 18 inches across, or just large enough 
to receive the roots, and 16 inches deep. The 
general tendency of the roots is downwards in¬ 
to the clay. They branch but little horizon¬ 
tally, hence it requires but a small hole to re¬ 
ceive them. 
All bruised roots should be cut smooth and 
the limbs shortened in to correspond with the 
amount of the roots, so as to give an equilib¬ 
rium between the two. Care should be taken 
at this time, also, to give the tree its future 
shape by cutting off those limbs that will not 
be required to form a judicious top, and shor¬ 
tening others to give the top its proper form. 
This done, place the tree in the hole. Now 
much care is necessary—first, not to set it to 
deep, and, second, to see that the dirt is well 
filled in among the roots. It should not be set 
deeper than it was in the nursery. Shallow 
set trees always do better than deep set ones. 
The reason is that the roots of all trees require 
air, light, and heat to flourish. They root by 
nature just right in this particular; hence they 
should be set no deeper than before. After this 
is well looked to, see that the dirt is well filled 
in among the roots, and moderately pressed 
down, but not hard. 
It requires no water in planting trees at the 
proper time, either spring or fall. Planting 
trees in mortar made of clay soil is always un¬ 
wise. Reason—it becomes caked and as hard 
and as dry as a brick-bat, and the result is the 
tree withers and dies in mid summer. Thou¬ 
sands of trees are lost every year from this 
cause alone. Thousands are also lost from set¬ 
ting in small holes, dug in sward ground, in 
door yards, borders of gardens, <fcc. Those 
that plant trees in this way have and may ex¬ 
pect to lose them through all time. When the 
soil becomes hard and packed, it prevents the 
circulation of air, light, and heat, and vapor in 
the air—all necessary to its growth. The true 
policy is to leave the earth light and porous as 
possible when setting the tree, and keep it in 
the same condition after by hoeing and cultiva¬ 
ting deep and often. When this is well done, 
but very few trees will be lost by dry weather. 
When the ground is in good condition no 
manure is necessary in transplanting. All that 
is required is to select good top soil and fill 
with that as above. Better put the manure on 
top of the ground after the tree is planted. No 
crop should be allowed to grow within four feet 
of the tree at any time after planting. Low 
crops are best for an orchard. 
XOth. Number of Trees to tho Aero. 
The number of trees that may be economi¬ 
cally set to the acre always depends upon the 
size, shape and habits of the variety. The Vin- 
galieu is an upright, compact grower, and gen¬ 
erally covers but little space. Hence the trees 
may be set comparatively close together with¬ 
out ever interfering with each other. I am set¬ 
ting my trees one rod apart, each way, and 
think from the habit of the tree that they will 
do well at that distance. This gives 160 trees 
to the acre. 
llth. Pruning. 
In trimming this variety for standard orchard 
culture, three things should be considered.— 
The tree should be always so trimmed as to 
commence the top from Hy to 3 feet above the 
ground. Those limbs and branches should be 
left at this height that give an open round head, 
and all those that cross each other aud tend to 
much to the centre of the top to give it its per¬ 
fect shape are the ones to cut out. It requires 
some thinking and planning to give the top of 
each tree its proper shape in the commence¬ 
ment, as the top of all trees vary more or less in 
their natural formation in the nursi ry. Hence 
the necessity of making the most out of each 
natural top. As a general thing, ho .vever, the 
same general form may be given to all the 
trees in the orchard. When this is well done 
three important points are gained. First—The 
tree will commence bearing from two to four 
years sooner than it would if trimmed 6 or 8 
feet higher before the top is formed. Second— 
The fruit is much easier picked. Third—The 
fruit is less liable to be blown off by high 
winds. Stephen H. Ainsworth. 
West Bloomfield, Ontario Co., N. Y„ 1856. 
ABOUT WATERMELONS.—INQUIRY. 
Can I learn through thi. Rural the certain 
marks which indicate the ripeness of a water¬ 
melon ? The inquiry may seem trifling, but to 
farmers in this part of the countiy it is impor¬ 
tant, fof if their melons are not picked by 
themselves the moment they are ripe, some 
watchful thief disposes of them in his own way. 
Some pretend to tell of the ripeness by the 
sound, and others by the deadening of the little 
curl at the end of. the stem, but both certainly 
are poor guides.—I. Jenkins, Bergen, N. Y. 
Next to the taste, the indications mentioned 
(appearance of stem, and sound,) are the best 
guides within our knowledge. Can any of our 
readers give an infallible test or mark of ripe¬ 
ness ?— Eds. 
FERTILIZERS FOR FRUIT TREES. 
In relation to appropriate fertilizers for trees 
a diversity of opinion prevails. All agree that 
certain substances exist in plants and trees, and 
that these must be contained in the soil to pro¬ 
duce growth, elaboration and perfection. To 
supply these, some advocate the use of what are 
termed “special manures,” others ridicule the 
idea. I would suggest whether this is not a 
difference in language, rather than in principle; 
for in special fertilizers, the first make simply 
those which correspond with the constituents of 
the crop ; but are not the second careful to se¬ 
lect and apply manures which contain those 
elements ? and do they not, in practice, affix 
the seal of their approbation to the theory 
which they oppose ? Explode this doctrine, 
and do you not destroy the principle of man¬ 
uring and the necessity'of a rotation of crops ? 
Trees exhaust the soil of certain ingredients, 
and, like animals, must have their appropriate 
food. All know how difficult it is to make a 
fruit tree flourish on the spot from which an old 
tree of the same species has been removed. 
The great practical question now agitating 
the community is, how shall we ascertain what 
fertilizing elements are appropriate to a partic¬ 
ular species of vegetation ? To this two replies 
are rendered. Some say, analyze the crop; 
others, the soil. Each, I think, maintains a 
truth ; and both together, nearly the whole 
truth. We need the analysis of the crop to 
teach us its ingredients, and that of the soil to 
ascertain whether itcontains those ingredients; 
and if it does not, what fertilizer must be ap¬ 
plied to supply them. Thus, by analysis, we 
learn that nearly a quarter part of the constitu¬ 
ents of the pear, the grape, and the strawberry 
consists of potash. This abounds in new soils, 
and peculiarly adapts them to the production 
of these fruits, but having been extracted from 
soils long under cultivation, it is supplied by 
wood ashes or potash; the value of which has 
of'late greatly increased in the estimation of 
cultivators. 
Among the arts of modern cultivation, uni¬ 
versal experience attests to the great advantage 
of “ mulching” the soil around fruit trees, as a 
means of fertilization and of preservation from 
drouth and heat, so common with us in mid¬ 
summer. In illustration of this, experiment 
has proved that on dry soils, where the earth 
has been strewn with straw, the crops have been 
as large without manure as with it, where evap¬ 
oration has disengaged the fertilizing elements 
of the soil.— Marshall P. Wilder, in Patent 
Office Report. 
Shade trees should be so transplanted as to 
stand turned in the same direction of their 
original growth. 
fbraesHc f tyraumy. 
RECIPE FOR SODA CRACKERS. 
Editors Rural : —Some time since, I noticed 
in your paper that a subscriber requested a 
recipe for soda crackers. Not having seen 
any such recipe as yet, I have presumed to 
send the following, not thinking, as some ap¬ 
pear to, this a secret too valuable to tell, but on 
the contrary “ most too good to keep.” So I’ll 
just tell you, (if you won’t ever say anything 
about it, so that it will “get round,”) in this 
wise : 
Take 14 cups of flour, 2 teaspoonfuls of 
cream of tartar, 1 do. soda, 1 cup of butter or 
lard, (half a cup of each is preferable to either 
alone,) and 2 cups of water—milk is sometimes 
thought better than water. Roll thin without 
pounding, cut in large squares, mark regularly 
with a fork, bake in a moderate oven, and if 
you don’t have a good article it will be “ some¬ 
thing new under the sun.”— Greenie J., Pratts- 
hurqh, N. Y 
Green Corn Pudding. —Take dozen ears 
of green sweet corn, (good size) and with a 
3harp pointed knife split each row of kernels, 
and scrape from the ear. Mix with this pulp 
—2 eggs well beaten, 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 of 
butter, 1 salt spoon of salt, y pL sweet cream, 
(milk may be substituted with an extra spoon¬ 
ful of butter) and 1 dozen oyster or half dozen 
soda crackers, grated or pounded very fine. 
Mix well together and bake 3 hours if in a 
pudding dish—or 2 in custard cups. Use the 
corn raw in both recipes. 
To Make Tomato Wine. —Take small, ripe 
tomatoes, pick off the stems, put them into a 
basket or tub, wash clean, then mash well, and 
strain through a linen rag, (a bushel will make 
five gallons pure,) then add two and a half to 
three pounds of good brown sugar to each gal¬ 
lon ; then put into a cask, aud ferment and fine 
as for raspberry wine. If two gallons of water 
be added to each bushel of tomatoes, the wine 
will be as good. 
Ripe Tomato Pickles. — Select handsome 
sized tomatoes, wash them and prick them with 
a fork ; lay them in dry salt twenty-four hours; 
then soak in equal quantities of vinegar and 
water for 24 hours; then take them out and lay 
them down in a crock, with sliced onions, first 
a layer of tomatoes, and then onions, with cin¬ 
namon, cloves and brown sugar, and then cover 
the whole with good cider vinegar. 
uljauit ftfe, &c. 
LIST OF PATENTS, 
Issued from the United State* Patent Office for the 
week ending: Aug;. K, 1866. 
Samuel Arnold, Wilson county. Tern., for fly trap. 
James H. Banta, Piermont, improved weather strip for 
doors. 
Jno. A. Railey, Jersey City, assignor to John Warrin,of 
New York, for reel for fishing rods. 
Thos. R. Railey, T.ockport, improved mortising machine. 
Moody Belknap. Boston, improvement in spike machines. 
Sherburn O. Blodgett, Philadelphia, improvement in 
sewing machines. 
Joseph Bond, Jr., Philadelphia, improvement in sewing 
machines. 
John Boynton, East Hartford, improved brick press. 
Henry Brown and Win. Brown, Philadelphia, improve¬ 
ment in ice-breaking boats. 
John M. Brooks. United States Navy, improvement in 
means for attaching and detaching boats to and from the 
tackle. 
Wm S. Carr, New York, improvement in water closets. 
Wm. B. Coates, Philadelphia, for envelope. 
Chas. H. Dana, West Lebanon, N. H., improved sash 
supporter. 
Wm. H. Danforth, Salem, improved printing press. 
S. R. C. Denison, Rochester, improvement in carpet 
fastenings. 
Solomon B. Ellithorp, New York, improved metal pave¬ 
ment. 
John W. Fowble, Cincinnati, improvement in mecha¬ 
nism for compressed air railroad signals. 
Samuel H. Gilman, New Orleans, improvement in ba¬ 
gasse furnaces. 
Lorerzo D. Gilman. Troy, improved wrench. 
Isaac H. Giffing, New York, for instrument for breaking 
ice. 
Augustus J. Gofle and Demus Gofie, Cohoes, improve¬ 
ment in knitting machines. 
J. H. Gooch, Oxford, N. C., improvement in straw cut¬ 
ters. 
Peter Hannav, Washington, D C., improved blanks for 
bark notes, bills. &c. 
Wm. A. Jordan, Thibodeaux, La., improvement in 
means for guiding line ferry boats, or flying bridges. 
Jacob 0. Joyce, Cincinnati, improvement in corn and 
cob mills. Ante-dated February 5, 1856. 
Joseph M. Lippincott, Pittsburgh, improvement in locks. 
T. Kenton Lyon. Richmond, improved pen-holder. 
David MunBon, Indianapolis, improvement in lightning 
rods. 
Sydney W. Park and Edgar S. Ellis, Troy, improvement 
in rotary knitting machines. 
Anson II, Platt, Yellow Springs, Ohio, improved door- 
stay. 
John R. Sees. New York, improvement in heating feed- 
water apparatus for steam boilers. 
John Shopland, Honesdale, Pa., improved combined 
steam and hot-air cooking stoves. 
Gilbert Smith, Buttermilk Falls, improvement in breech¬ 
loading fire-arms. 
D. H. Spooner and H. B. Spooner, Springfield, Mass , for 
mode of coloring photograph pictures on glass. 
Meliwether Thompson, St. Josephs, Mo., improvement 
in hemp brakes 
Francis A. White, Roxbury, improvement in methods 
of stuffing leather. 
Linus Yale, Newport, N. Y., improved bolt for vault 
and safe doors. 
Richard Hoe, New York, for method of securing types 
on rotary beds. 
RE-ISSUES. 
Samuel H. Gilman, New Orleans, improvement in ba- 
gaRse furnaces. Patented Dec. 4,1855. 
COPPER STATUE OF WASHINGTON. 
TnE statue of Washington, made by Mr. 
Newman of this city, of sheet copper, by the 
simple instruments of his trade, is life size, as 
we learn from the Journal of Commerce. The 
figure represents Washington standing in a 
dignified attitude, his right hand resting upon 
a book supported by a light'table, and his left 
hand hanging easily by his side. The propor¬ 
tions of the statue are v«ry good, the anatomy 
and drapery correct, and the features life-like 
and expressive. Some idea may be formed of 
the toil involved in this novel work of art, when 
we state that the entire face and part of the 
back head were made from a single piece of 
copper, which, by incessant hammering and 
working, was shaved into acountenance notin- 
ferior in accuracy or lineament to some of the 
marble representations of the same illustrious 
subject. The entire figure, which is composed 
of many pieces, deftly put together, weighs 
about two hundred pounds. The work will 
probably be put on exhibition before long, and 
we hope that the self-taught artist will receive 
some substantial token of public appreciation. 
—A”. Y. Mirror. 
HOLLOW AXLES. 
A manufactory of Hollow Railroad-Car Ax¬ 
les is about being commenced, in Twenty-sixth 
street, near the establishment, late the Chelsea 
Iron-Works. Heavy machenery is being put 
in and it is intended that the American shall 
fully equal the English manufacture. A light 
tube is now fully proved to be much stronger 
and more durable than a solid axle of the same 
weight; and, but for the high price rendered 
necessary by the difficulty of constructing 
them, hollow axles would at once he generally 
adopted. For passenger business, we maintain 
that cost should not be allowed to exercise any 
influence. The best should be employed with¬ 
out hesitation ; and we hope soon to see every 
passenger car supported on tubes of sound aud 
well-worked iron, unless something still better 
shall be discovered. We have not learned the 
price proposed for the American article, but be¬ 
lieve the foreign axles, of which quite a num¬ 
ber are now running in this country, cost about 
four times as much as the solid.— N. Y. Tribune. 
The Wrappings of the Mummies.— A news¬ 
paper came to us yesterday from Syracuse, New 
York, made from rags imported directly from 
Egypt, and which had once wrapped within 
their folds the mummified remains of the de¬ 
scendants of Mizraim. They were imported 
by Mr. G. W. Ryan, paper manufacturer at Mar- 
cellus Falls, and he thinks them quite as good 
as the general run of English and French rags. 
The paper is certainly of very good quality ; 
rather superior to that generally used in this 
country for newspaper purposes. What it costs, 
the publisher does not say, but as there are 
thousands of bodies in Egypt, wrapped up in 
linen folds, it is quite probable tliat the rags 
are as cheaply imported as those from any 
other country .—Philadelphia Sun. 
Artificial Oysters. —Grate as many ears of The same iron ore furnishes the sword, the 
green corn as will make 1 pt. of pulp, add one plowshare, the pruuing-hook, the needle, the 
teacupful of flour, y teacup butter, 1 egg, and graving tool, the spring of a watch, the chisel, 
pepper and salt to suit your taste. Dropped the chaiu, the anchor, the compass, anti the can- 
and fried in butter. non-ball. 
HAT FACTORY. 
We quote the following passage from “A 
Day at a Hat Factory,” in the Penny Magazine: 
At what time felted wool was first employed 
for making hats it would be difficult now to say; 
but there is a legend current among some of 
the continental hatters which gives the honor 
to St. Clement, fourth Bishop of Rome. Most 
fraternities love to have a patron saint when 
they can find one; and those hatters who re¬ 
gard St. Clement in this light, inform us that 
this holy man, being forced to flee from his per¬ 
secutors, found his feet lo be so blistered by 
long continued travel, that he was induced to 
put a little wool between his sandals and the 
soles of his feet. On continuing his journey, 
the warmth, moisture, motion and pressure of 
the feet worked the wool into a uniformly com¬ 
pact substance. Finally, the wanderer, observ¬ 
ing the useful nature of this substance, caused 
it to be introduced in the manufacture of various 
articles of apparel. 
In Butler’s Arithmetical Questions onaNew 
Plan is the following : 
Hats for men were invented at Paris by a 
Swiss, in 1404. They were first manufactured 
at London by Spaniards in 1510. Before that 
time, both men and women in England com¬ 
monly wore close knit woolen caps. F. Daniel 
relates that when Charles II. made his public 
entry into Rouen, in 1449. he had on a hat lined 
with red velvet and surmounted with a plume 
or tuft of feathers. He adds that it is from this 
entry, or at least under his reign, that the use of 
hats and caps is to be dated, which hencefor¬ 
ward began to take the place of the chaperons 
and hoods that had been worn in France. 
VALUE OF TELEGRAPHS TO RAILROADS. 
On New Year’s day, 1850, a catastrophe was 
averted, on one of the London Railroads, by 
the aid of the telegraph. A collision had oc¬ 
curred to an empty train at Gravesend, and the 
driver having leaped from his eugine, the latter 
started at full speed to London. Notice was 
given by telegraph to London and other stations, 
and, while the line was kept clear, an eDgine 
and other arrangements were prepared as a 
buttress to receive the runaway. The superin¬ 
tendent of the railroad also started down the 
line on an engine, and, on passing the runaway, 
had it transferred at the next crossing to 
the up line, so as to be in the rear of the fugi¬ 
tive. He then started in chase, and on over¬ 
taking the other, ran into it at speed, and the 
driver of his engine took possession of the fu¬ 
gitive—and all danger was at an end. Twelve 
stations were passed in safety ; it passed Wool¬ 
wich at fifteen miles an hour ; it was within a 
couple of miles of London before it was arrest¬ 
ed. Had its approach been unknown, the mere 
money value of the damage it would have caus¬ 
ed might have equalled the cost of the whole 
line of telegraph.— Washington Intelligencer. 
THE HAMMER. 
The hammer is the universal emblem of me¬ 
chanics. With it are alike forged the sword of 
contention and the plowshare of peaceful agri¬ 
culture. In ancient warfare, the hammer was 
a powerful weapon, independent of the place 
which it formed. The hammer is the wealth of 
nations. By it are forged the ponderous engine 
and the tiny needle. It is an instrument of 
the savage and the civilized. Its merry clink 
points out the abode of industry ; it is a do¬ 
mestic deity, presiding over the grandeur of the 
most wealthy and ambitious, as well as the 
humble and impoverished. Not a stick is 
shaped, not a house is raised, a ship floats, or a 
carriage rolls, a wheel spins, an engine moves, 
a press speaks, a viol sings, a spade delves, or a 
flag waves, without the hammer. Without the 
hammer civilization would unknown, and the 
human species be only defenceless brutes ; but 
in skillful hands, directed by wisdom, it is an 
instrument, of power, of greatness, and of true 
glory.— Selected. 
Convention of Inventors. — In accordance 
with the terms of a circular forwarded to In¬ 
ventors by Marcus P. Norton, Esq., of Tin- 
mouth, Vt., we have fixed upon the Crystal 
Palace in New York city as the place, aud 
Wednesday, the first day of October next, as 
the time for holding the proposed Convention 
of Inventors. The Fair of the American Insti¬ 
tute will be open at that time and p'ace, and 
we doubt not that the Directors of the Institute 
will afford the necessary accommodations for 
the assemblage of the large number of invent¬ 
ors who are every year drawn here to contribute 
to, and visit the Fair, as it is to their exertions 
that they are mainly indebted for success. We 
expected to have been able to present, in this 
connection, Mr. Norton’s views in regard to the 
objects and plan of operation of the Convention, 
but we are obliged to postpone them until our 
next number.— Inventor. 
American Clocks. —The clock business is at 
pretty low ebb just now. There are only thir¬ 
teen clock factories now in operation ; two years 
ago there were thirty-two. The largest facto¬ 
ries have failed and are stopped. All this re¬ 
sulted through unwise competition. Only 
142,000 clocks will be made this year; two 
years ago there were 600,000 manufactured in 
one year. 
The manufacture of watch cases is carried on 
very extensively in Philadelphia. There are 
eleven firms engaged in the business, all of 
whom employ over three hundred hands, and 
turn out at least five hundred cases per week, 
at a cost of more than one million dollars an¬ 
nually. The gold manufactured into cases, 
weekly, does not amount to much less than 
$14,000, or over half a million of dollars a year. 
U f lWiil W lBW 
