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OCT. 4. 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
319 
anil fetou. 
AMERICAN POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
GRAPE VINES PROM CUTTINGS. 
The Fourth Session of this Society was held 
in this city on the 24th, 25th and 26th days of 
the past month. Under the clear guidance of 
its esteemed President, and the good feeling 
and sense of the delegates and other gentlemen 
who participated in the proceedings, the result 
could not fail to prove satisfactory to all present, 
as the deliberations and decisions will, we 
trust, pro/e useful to the country. Unlil the 
organization of this Society, the branches of 
rural improvement to which its labors are di¬ 
rected were advancing slowly, though surely, 
by individual perseverance and effort, though 
many attempts had been made to insure the co¬ 
operation of the pioneers in Fruit Culture. The 
meeting which has been lately held was the 
sixth since the Society originated, and the 
fourth since its re-organization at Cincinnati in 
1850. 
The display of fruits at Corinthian Hqjl far 
surpassed the expectations of the most sanguine 
cultivator, and though many varieties were not 
as fair in appearance as we have seen them, 
they were at least equal in size to those exhib¬ 
ited on former and more favorable seasons. The 
number of varieties was not as great as it 
rould have been had not the season proved 
peculiarly unfavorable, as many sorts had 
ripened prematurely an. 'others failed to pro¬ 
duce any fruit. The most extensive collection 
of Pears only reached one hundred and seven¬ 
ty varieties, which were grown on the grounds 
of Messrs. Ellwanger A Barry ; while at 
former meetings upwards of two hundred have 
been produced by the President, Hon. M. P. 
Wilder. Many specimens, however, weie no¬ 
ted ns being unusually fine this season, and es¬ 
pecially those from the vicinity of Boston, 
where they were favored with copious rains, 
while in other localities, we languished, hoping 
daily lor refreshing showers, which came too 
late to give to our fruits and flowers their usual 
size and beauty. Insects were highly favored 
by the weather, and our best fruits exhibit the 
marks of their ravages. Apples were present¬ 
ed from the Western States of Ohio, Iowa and 
Illinois which far surpassed those of the Genesee 
Valley, famous hitherto for its grain and fruit. 
In the production of large and beautiful speci¬ 
mens of the choicest varieties of Pears and 
Plums it still stands unsurpassed, if not unri¬ 
valled, for the Virgalieu, Easter Beurre, Duch- 
esse d’Angouleme, Louise Bonne de Jersey, 
Swan's Orange, Vicar of Winkfield, and other 
choice sorts, were represented as the finest 
many of the delegates had ever seen. 
About a dozen varieties of Plums showed 
that the curculio could bo baffled it not over¬ 
come. A few weeks earlier, at least forty dish¬ 
es could have been produced equally fine,— 
only one collection were on exhibition. Mr. 
Penney, of Brockport, made a splendid display 
of choice peaches, and no fruit on the tables 
was more attractive. 
Mr. Messer, of Geneva, a worthy and perse¬ 
vering amateur in Foreign Grape Culture, ex 
hibited a collection of the best Foreign Grapes, 
we suppose, ever seen in Rochester. A bunch 
of the White Muscat of Alexandria attracted 
the notice of many. Three other collections of 
Foreign Grapes were exhibited, one from the 
Grapery of Mr. Bush, grown by Mr. Salter, 
and another from Mr. Sklah Matthews —the 
third embraced 13 varieties from Messrs. Ell¬ 
wanoer A'Barry. 
In addition to the fruits displayed by the 
members of the Genesee Valley Horticultural 
Society, whose autumnal exhibition was held 
in conjunction with that of the Pomological 
Society, several large collections of Pears were 
presented by the Hon. M. P. Wilder, of Bos 
ton ; Messrs. C. M. Hovey A Co., Boston ; Sam¬ 
uel Walker, Esq., Roxbury, Mass.; Wm. Reed. 
Esq., Elizabethtown, N. J.; R. Buist, Esq. 
Philadelphia, Pa.; aud others which we shall 
refer to more particularly at au early opportu 
nity. Apples were presented by Messrs. Fin 
L«r A Dwirk, and Foster A Negus, Muscatine 
Iowa. 
The Western Apples were generally large 
and fair, and formed a very attractive feature 
of the exhibition. 
Two dishes of the White and Red Bush A1 
pine Strawberries sustained the reputation of 
this fancy fruit, and were much admired ; they 
were from the Mt. Hope Nurseries. 
Several collections of Cut Flowers—including 
Dahlias, Phloxes, Petunias, Verbenas, German 
Asters, aud other early fall flowers,—added to 
the appearance of the room, as well as two 
groups of Pot Plants aud a variety of rustic 
ornaments cunningly devised and neatly exe¬ 
cuted. For further particulars regarding the 
award of premiums, Ac., as well as a full report 
of the discussions at the several sittings of the 
Convention, we must refer to our next issue, as 
our space if^lready fully occupied. We un¬ 
derstand very little change has been made in 
the officers of the Pomological Society. The 
Hon. M. P. Wilder has been re-elected Presi¬ 
dent, with P. Barry, Esq., Secretary, in room 
of H. W. S. Cleveland, resigned. The next 
Biennial Session will be held in New York 
city in Sept., 1858. Many of the fruits on ex¬ 
hibition were to be transported to Watertown, 
to the New York State Fair.—s. 
Some of the readers of the Rural New-York¬ 
er are asking information upon this subject 
and as my late experience may aid the practi¬ 
cal man, at least, I will relate it.■ My vines I 
trained last December, when 1 laid them down 
on the ground for the winter. The cuttings 
were also laid on the ground, and just, covered 
with earth. This spring, my garden being an 
oblong lot, running east and west, with a tight 
and high hoard fence on the south side, 1 trench¬ 
ed the ground well close to and along the north 
side of this fence, and there, in a well pulver¬ 
ized soil, I stuck my cuttings, from a foot to a 
foot and a half in length, leaving one or two 
buds out of the ground, as it happened. Nearly 
all I set out, and I think all the sound and well 
matured cuttings, are growing finely this fall, 
with shoots from one to two feet in length— 
while before this I stuck out one hundred cut¬ 
tings in my garden, with a good exposure to the 
sun, and just one of the hundred grew. The 
contrast, the causes and the results are apparent. 
SjrracuBe, N. Y., 1856. 8. N. Holmes.^, 
liens, four yeats from the bud, bore sixty bush¬ 
els of excellent fruit, such as would sell readily 
jpeu the ground for ten dollars a barrel, which 
would be at the rate of about five hundred dol¬ 
lars per acre, a fair beginning for such young 
bearers.”— Homestead. 
ROOT PRUNING. 
GRAPE CULTURE. 
The grape is a fruit held in high estimation 
by those who have been accustomed to use it 
freely. It is not, however, generally known, 
perhaps, that in addition to its other excellent 
qualities, it possesses medicinal virtues which, 
of themselves alone, would seem to present a 
sufficient inducement for its cultivation. 
In France and Spain, and other vine-growing 
countries, these medicinal properties of the 
fruit are well understood and appreciated, ex¬ 
perience having demonstrated that a free use of 
the grape has a most salutary and invigorating 
eltect upon the animal system ; that it dilutes 
the blood, removes obstructions, particularly 
from the kidneys, liver, spleen, and other im¬ 
portant organs, imparting a healthy tone and a 
vigorous circulation, and increasing the strength 
of the entire physical economy. 
In cases of dyspepsia—a disease which is the 
foundation of many others—and all diseases of 
the liver, by which health is not only destroy¬ 
ed, but the mental powers sadly affected, a 
“grape diet" is almost the only remedy resorted 
to, and generally with success. It is asserted, 
on reliable authority, that those who labor id 
the vineyards, and who are accustomed to par¬ 
take constantly and liberally of the fruit, are 
never troubled with that disease. Those who 
are subject to it in cities, aud other places where 
the grape is not cultivated, on the development 
of the symptoms of the complaint, resort to the 
grape regions for the benefit of the “grape 
diet,” or “ grape cure,” and where the disease 
has not become confirmed, and the system re¬ 
duced beyond the power of remedies, a radical 
cure is often the result. 
The nutrimental properties of the ripe grape 
are considerable, and it is said men may live 
and labor on it as an exclusive article of food 
and without becoming exhausted, for a much 
longer period than upon a diet of any other 
species of fruit. It is both stimulating and in 
vigorating, and by retaining the stomach in a 
healthy tone, promotes the general health, and 
energy of all the parts. 
The culture of this truly valuable fruit should 
be encouraged. It succeeds well on almost 
every variety of soil, and will bear lucrative 
crops with very little care or manure more than 
may be supplied by every kitchen. At pres 
ent, no production yields a more liberal profit 
The demand for it in our markets is much more 
likely to increase than diminish for the next 
half century. Insipid Black Hamhurghs,grown 
in hot-houses, are now selling for one dollar and 
twenty-five cents a pound, ant! Isabellas— 
though very few cau be obtained—for more 
than half that sum .—New England Farmer. 
Pruning the roots of t rees is an operation con¬ 
ducive to fruitfulness not practiced to that 
extent which it merits, lu the hands of intel- 
igent cultivators it is a valuable expedient, 
uch more certain in its effects than many of 
the so-called dwarfing systems by grafting.— 
Indeed, many of the stocks used for this pur¬ 
pose grow so vigorously in this climate as to 
defeat the object in view. The mahaleb is used 
as a stock for dwarfiDg cherries, in Europe ; 
here, they grow as strong upon it as on the 
mazzard. Even the quince will not check the 
vigorous growth of some pears, and arc, in con¬ 
sequence, many years in arriving at a bearing 
state. Pear culture on the quince, although 
beautiful iu theory, does not seem to give entire 
satisfaction in general practice. Many are in¬ 
clined to believe that they are short-lived when 
thus grafted. To such it may be useful to 
know, that an tne advantages claimed for dwarf 
stocks can be derived from skillful root pruning. 
Many expedients in the culture of trees that 
we are apt to consider only of recent applica¬ 
tion, have long been practiced. Such opera¬ 
tions to induce fruitfulness, as bending down 
the shoots, cutting the bark, or ringing the 
branches, root pruning, Ac., were practiced dur¬ 
ing the last century. Darwin, seventy years ago, 
alludes to these practices in the following com¬ 
prehensive sentences : 
“ If prouder branches, with exuberanco rude. 
Point their green germs, their barren shoots protrucU*, 
Wound them, je sylphs, with little knives,or bind 
A wiry ringlet round the swelling rind: 
Bisect, with chisel fine, the roots below, 
Or bend to earth the inhospitable bough.” 
The advantage of root pruning is, that you 
can plant a young tree in a favorable position 
for luxuriant growth, and, after it has attained 
a size to hear a crop, throw it into fruit at once. 
This is effected by checking its growth in time 
to admit of the formation of wood buds. By 
digging a trench round the tree a few feet from 
the stem, at the present time, and cutting 
through the strongest roots, wood growth is 
checked, and fruit buds are formed before the 
trees become deciduous. Spring has been 
ecommended for the operation, but the period 
of growth is the proper time to produce imme¬ 
diate effect. This treatment may be peformed 
on all fruit trees that have attained a size for 
bearing a crop.— Horticulturist. 
fomestic fcmtflmy. 
LIST OF PATENTS, 
IsHHcd from the United Staten Patent OBlce for the 
week ending Sept. 16, 1856. 
William Bremwell, Newport, R. X., improved chimney 
cap. 
William M. Bullock, Marcy, Ind., improved machine for 
dressing felloes. 
John Broughton, Chicago, improved feed motion for 
shingle machines. 
Ebeneter Coleman and Philemon Coleman, Philadelphia, 
improvement iu heading holts. 
John G. Coates, Big Lick, Va., improvement in dentista’ 
forceps. 
Abraham Casey, New York, improved saw set. 
Joseph S. Foster, Buffalo, improvement in reefing Bhips’ 
sails upon extra yards. 
John Feix, San Francisco, improvement in granulating 
metals. 
Edmund H. Graham, Manchester, N. H., improvement 
in fire-arms. 
William Gage, Buffalo, improvement in harvesters. 
George VV. Hatch, Princeton, 111., improvement in the 
preparation of hides for tanning. 
George Kenny, Milford, N. H., improved mode of attach¬ 
ing shafts to sleighs. 
Harvey I,sw, New York, machine for cutting paper. 
J. W. Mahan, Lexington, 111., improved carpenters’ 
bench. 
A. Newbury aud B. Newbury, Windham Centro, N. Y., 
for printing press. 
Albert Pease, Weston, Vt , improvement in churns. 
W. B. Parrott, Boston, improvement in locomotive and 
steam boiler furnace. 
Edwin A. Palmer, Clayville, N. Y., improved clevis. 
Pascal Plant, Chicago, Ill., improvement in riding sad¬ 
dles. 
Charles H. Reynolds, Lewiston, Me., improvement in 
variable cut-oils for Bteam engines. 
Benjamin G. Shields, Martin, Texas, improvement in 
cotton pickers. 
Philo 0. Sherwin, Jamestown, N. Y., improved shingle 
machine. 
George W. Tolhurst, Cleveland, 0., improvement in 
harvesting machines. 
David D. Tupper, Boston, Mass., improved shingle ma¬ 
chine. 
John B. Wickersham, New York, improved construction 
of iron fence posts and ties. 
Jesse Whitehead, Manchester, Va., improvement in self- 
actiug rakes for harvesters. 
RB-ISBUR. 
E. Locher, New York, improvement in folding" life¬ 
boats. Patented January 2, 1855. 
additional improvement. 
Frederick D. Newbury, Albany, assignor to Richard 
Varick De Witt, ol same place, improved lire-aims, 
August 12, 1856. 
Dated 
THE GREAT WROUGHT - IRON GUN. 
CAKE RECIPES. 
CONSUMPTION OF, PERFUMERY.j 
We learn from a foreign journal that full 150,- 
000 gallons of perfumed spirits are yearly con¬ 
sumed by British Inuia and Europe in titillat¬ 
ing the nose. One French house alone annually 
uses eighty thousand pounds of orange flowers, 
sixty thousand pounds cassia flowers, fifly-three 
thousand pounds roses, forty-two thousand 
pounds of jasmin blossoms, thirty-two thousand 
pounds of violets, twenty thousand pounds of 
tuberose, sixteen thousand pounds of lilac, and 
other odorous plants in still larger portions.— 
Flower plants exist in the south of France, 
Turkey in Europe, Turkey in Asia, and India. 
Nor is England without the cultivation. In 
Mitcham, lavender is extensively grown, and 
produces a plant unrivalled in the world—four 
times the price even of French lavender; and 
the same spot is noted for its cultivation of 
roses. Nor is this extensive use surprising, 
when we consider the quantity of flowers ne¬ 
cessary to produce an essence; a dram of ottar 
of roses requires two thousand rose blooms.— 
ThiB, however, is nothing to jasmin ; the price 
of its essential oil is $45 the fluid ounce. Of 
course there a good deal of “ manufacture” go¬ 
ing on with the more expensive perfumes. The 
rose-leaf geranium does duty for the rose ; the 
‘ perfume of the magnolia is superb,” says our 
author ; but “ practically it is of no use to the 
manufacturer,” from the scarcity of the plant 
and other causes ; the purchaser, however, gets 
a combination of half-a-dozen articles instead, 
and if he is satisfied with his “essence of mag¬ 
nolia,” who has any right to complain ? The 
perfume of the lily and the eglantine evaporate 
to such an extent under any known treatment 
that they are never used. 
‘EXPERIMENTS WILH CAST-IRON. 
DWARF PEARS. 
In the family of grasses our botanists in¬ 
clude not only the corn tribes of all sorts, but 
sedges and reeds—the bamboo aud the sugar¬ 
cane —so that a walking-stick is but a straw of 
a stronger kind ; a cane in the tutor's hand is 
a grass stalk rendered tough and pliable for its 
peculiar office. 
'J vI t is nearly time to plant trees, and we wish 
to bear testimony to the profit of planting dwarf 
pears. In the spring of 1855, we planted a tree 
some ten years old of the Vicar of Winkfield. 
It bore a few the first season. It has now (Sept. 
20) sixty-nine fine pears very uniformly dis¬ 
tributed upon its branches and presenting a 
very tempting appearance. Five years ago, we 
planted a small Virgalieu two years from the 
bud. Last year it bore thirty fine pears, free 
from crack or rust. This year it has sixteen 
quite as good. A neighbor of ours last year 
set out a Louise Bonne d'Jersey four or five 
years from the bud. This year it, has about 
fifty splendid specimens, that would be an or¬ 
nament to any horticultural fair. Our dwarf 
pears have done almost uniformly well. They 
must have a good deal of care and manure. 3 o 
stick them into a small hole in grass ground, is 
to make sticks of them, aud throw away your 
money. Make a good rich border for them, 
with a bushel of broken bones for each tree, 
and follow them up with generous culture and 
they will repay your toil. If they become 
stinted in growth, put a barrow full of stable 
manure around each tree in November, and 
fork it iD April, and you will be likely to see 
vigorous shoots start next season. 
A writer in the Country Gentleman has just 
visited the large plantation of Ellwanger A 
Barry, at Rochester. He says :—“ Two rows of 
Virgalieus eight years old, in a very thrifty 
state, furnished a decisive proof of the success 
of dwarfs, when well cultivated. Many of 
them were bending under large crops. They 
were pruned once a jear in spring, the labor of 
which was trifling, and the cultivation they re¬ 
ceived was not probably more than every good 
farmer and gardener bestows upon liis hoed 
crops. Last year a half acre of dwarf Virga- 
Eds. Rural :—As domestic recipes seem to 
be the rage among many of your lady readers, 
I will help to keep up the excitement by send¬ 
ing you a few which have been tried in our 
family, and proved to be very good. 
White-Face Cake. — The whites of three 
eggs, oue cup white sugar, one half cup butter, 
one halt cup sweet milk,one half teaspoon soda, 
one cream tartar, spice to your taste. 
Soft Tea Cake.— One cup butter, two cups 
sugar, four cups flour, one cup milk, four eggs, 
a teaspoon of saleratus, flavor with Vanilla. 
Ginger Cake. —Three cups molasses, one cup 
butter, one cup sour milk, one tablespoon of 
ginger, three teaspoons of saleratus, six cups 
silted flour. 
Po^k Cake.— One pound of pork, cut very 
fine, one pound raisins, one pint boiling water, 
two cups sugar, one of molasses, one tablespoon 
of cinnamon, one of cloves, eight cups flour, one 
tablespoonful saleratus. 
Jelly Cake. — One pound of sugar, three- 
fourths pound of flour, ten eggs, flavored with 
essence of lemon, baked in small dishes, aud 
one cake placed upon the other, with jelly be¬ 
tween them. 
Gingerbread. —Four cups molasses, two caps 
boiling water, four teaspoons saleratus, one 
tablespoon heaping full of ginger, a small piece 
of melted butter, make it stiff with flour, roll 
it thin, and bake in pans. 
Know Nothing Cake.— One pound flour, one 
cup sugar, half-pound butter, seven eggs, a half 
pint cream, a few drops rose water. 
Soft Molasses Cake.— One egg, one teacup 
molasses, one of water, one tablespoon salera¬ 
tus, one tablespoon melted butter. 
A Genuine Dutoh Girl. 
Canoga, Seneca Co., N. Y. 
This wondrous instrument of warfare has 
now been waiting for three weeks the arrival 
of some of the Government officials to test its 
power. So far it appears to have surpassed the 
anticipations of eveu military officers. An in¬ 
strument weighing nearly 22 tons, manufactur¬ 
ed of wrought-iron, and throwing a ball of up¬ 
wards of 31)0 pounds weight a distance of more 
than four miles, with its present degree of ele¬ 
vation, and with a very small quantity of 
powder, is what was not expected by the mili¬ 
tary men present at the experiments. Such is 
the ease, too, of loading the gun, ponderous 
though it is, that it can be charged and fired 
again in less than ten minutes. Of its destruc¬ 
tive powers 1 ) 4 tie is yet known ; but if the 
effect of the trial made on Thursday, the 22d 
ult., be any evidence—namely,the smashing to 
fragments a slab of aron a ton weight and 4 
inches thick—no walls yet constructed would 
stand before its terrible projectile force ; and 
it is not too much to 6ay of the gun,that, with¬ 
in raDge of the finest liue-ol-battle ship in the 
world, one charge would be sufficient to com¬ 
pletely destroy the largest ship that ever sailed. 
The mere flight of the ball as seen close to 
the gun is no test of its power. He who would 
wish to see the effect of the missile must go to 
a distance of a little beyond 2)£ miles. The 
ball can be distinctly observed in its career, 
although the noise made in its rapid transit 
through the air may affect even a strong nerved 
person, and cause him to believe himself on 
unsafe ground. As soon as the ball drops it 
tears up the ground for some distance, and 
sends the sand many yards high in the air. It 
then plunges on its course, aud continues to do 
so until it is fully spent. The excavation made 
in the ground on its first descent is two or three 
feet deep. Slung on Mr. Julius Roberts’ prin¬ 
ciple, at an angle of 15 to 75 degrees, the ball 
could be projected a much greater distance 
while its destructive effect would be greatly 
increased. If such a gun were employed 
against a place like Odessa, where all the pub¬ 
lic buildings and all the principle houses are 
bomb proof, a few hours would suffice to level 
it .—Liverpool Mercury. 
The inteiesting fact has been developed by 
experiments of the Ordnance Department,that 
iron, by repeated fusion up to a certain num¬ 
ber of times, is thereby greatly improved in 
strength. Guns cast solidly, and those cast 
hollow, through which latler water was made 
to circulate after casting, showed an astonish¬ 
ing difference in their relative strength, differ¬ 
ence being in favor of the hollow cast gun, 
which is attributed to the method of cooling— 
the solid gun, contracting from the outside, ex¬ 
erting a strain upon the arrangement of the 
particles of the metal in the same manner or 
direction as the strain of the discharges. The 
experiment also showed that oflA&stinga. are 
a great deal stronger than nt^pBEigtyt-inch., 
guns, proved thirty days afterbeins castsoJR!, 
stood but 72 charges; thirty-four daypP# 
charges; one hundred days, 731 charges ; aud 
six years, 2,582 charges. This^j^enomennn is 
accounted for by supposing tjpw the particles 
strained in the cooliDg, ije-adjust themselves in 
the course of time temheir position, and be¬ 
come free orjiearly so. 
Tomato Catsup. —Take ripe tomatoes and 
scald them just sufficiently to allow you to 
take off the skin. Then let them stand for a 
day, covered with salt. Strain them thorough¬ 
ly, to remove the seeds. .Then to every two 
quarts, three ounces of cloves, two of black 
pepper, two nutmegs and a very little cayenne 
pepper, with a little salt. Boil the liquor for 
half an hour, then let it cool and settle. Add 
a pint of the best cider vinegar, after which 
bottle it, corking and sealing it tightly. Keep 
it always in a cool place. 
India Rubber Buttons. —A style of buttons 
for overcoats and general business clothing, has 
been introduced within the last two years, 
which grows more shiny with age and wear, 
and in its every quality seems to be an admi¬ 
rable button. It is made from one of the Good¬ 
year varieties of prepared rubber, and a manu¬ 
factory is now in operation in New Brunswick, 
which gives employment to some two hundred 
hands, male and female. The buttons have, 
until this season, been held at so high a price, 
as to a great extent to prohibit their introduc¬ 
tion ; but a material reduction has, we learn, 
been lately made, which bids fair to render 
them the standard style for the clothing de¬ 
scribed. 
Filtered Water Becoming Hard.— A friend 
has a cistern for collecting rain-water, and has 
divided off a portion with a wall, consisting of 
one thickness of soft-burned or jobbing bricks ; 
through the pores of which all the water has to 
filter before reaching the pipe and rising to the 
pump. The filter is perfectly successful in 
clarifying the water, which comes up delight 
fully clear, but, to our surprise, has from the 
first continued to be, to all intents and purpo 
ses, hard water, although the concern has been 
in use some years. The soft bricks are laid 
with common cement, as are the bricks of the 
cistern itself. How does soft rain-water be 
come impregnated with calcareous or other 
material which gives it the properties of hard 
water by simply filtering through baked clay? 
f 
Melted Stone.— Near Birmingham, Eng¬ 
land, works have recently been started for the 
manufacture of architectural decorations in 
basalt by melting and casting in hot moulds. 
The products are very firm and beautiful, and 
are assumed to be very durable. When cast 
cold moulds, a glossy lava termed obsidian 
is produced. The material generally employed 
is the ragstone of the neighborhood, but fur¬ 
naces have been erected for the reduction of 
quartz by direct fusion according to a new 
process, in which the pulverized quartz is 
mixed with fiuor spar, lime, aud oxyd of iron, 
which agents combine with the silica aud ren¬ 
der the whole perfectly fluid. 
Lieut. Walton, of the British Navy, has 
prepared a mixture of sawdust and cautchoe, as 
a lining for the interior of vessels. He claims 
that it will immediately collapse when perfor¬ 
ated by a ball, and thus prevent the entrance 
of water. He adds that by its buoyancy it will 
keep a vessel afloat, even though it should be 
riddled with shot. 
Bread. —One of the most important house¬ 
hold rules is not to eat new bread, for it is ex¬ 
pensive and unwholesome, and does not afford 
near so much nutriment as bread two or three 
days old. 
Glasses should be washed and rinsed in cold 
water, and the water wiped off with one cloth ; 
then rub dry and clean with another. 
A great compliment has been paid to Amer 
ican mechanical skill, in the recent election of 
Mr. A. W. Ladd of Boston, as a member of the 
Grand Imperial Society of Piano-forte Maker 
of Paris, Mr. Ladd having recently been offi 
cially notified of his admission. 
The artistic productions of Ducornet, an ex¬ 
traordinary French painter recently deceased, 
who was born without arms, and held his 
brush either in his mouth or with his toes, are 
about to be sold in Paris. 
A new work for the benefit of patentees is 
announced, viz : “ The Language of Specifica¬ 
tions,” by John McGregor; it _ is intended to 
aid the inventor in describing his invention. 
Railroad Station Indicator. — One of tb» 
cars on an Eastern road has a machine for ex¬ 
hibiting to the passengers the name of the next 
station. After leaving each station the brake- 
man pulls a wire which turns a wheel and 
shows the next name, and at the same time 
rings a bell to attract attention to it. It would 
appear to be a decided convenience. 
Watch Making is said to be carried to such 
a degree of perfection by the Swiss, French 
and English, that some minute watches have 
been constructed by them, on less than half an 
inch diameter, and of the most perfect me¬ 
chanical execution. 
Mr. Gustin, manager of the iron works at 
Quinsigamond village, Mass., has applied elec¬ 
tricity as a motive power to a pleasure boat, 
with great success. 
........... 
4 
