DEC. 20. MOORE’S RIJRAIi NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY 'NEWSPAPER. 
f wjiarti anti (Kaitira. 
FRUITS AND FLOWERS. 
A tear has now elapsed since we took a re¬ 
trospective glance at the rapid progress which 
had been made in Horticultural improvement, 
and the prospects which were then apparent 
gave cheering hope for the future. The year 
eighteen hundred and fit'ty-six has added its 
portion to the records of work performed, and 
left its mark in many regions of our country in 
the shape of frozen fruit trees and dried up fo¬ 
liage. The seasons have been marked by un¬ 
usual extremes of cold and drouth, which have 
exerted an unmistakable influence on the gen¬ 
eral operations of the Horticulturist, demanding 
his utmost skill and attention to counteract, and 
entailing losses which it will tax his industry 
severely to overcome. Such at least are the 
reports which have been current as to the effects 
of the unusually severe frost experienced last 
winter in the Western States, where the ther¬ 
mometer was said to have descended as low as 
34° below zero. 
Let it not be marveled that many transplant¬ 
ed fruit and ornamental trees failed to reward 
the enterprise of their owners, or the unfore¬ 
seen and unavoidable consequence of our cli¬ 
matic vicissitudes be laid to the charge of want 
of proper foresight or skill. It may seem quite 
reasonable for intelligent men, unskilled, how¬ 
ever, in matters horticultural, to speculate as to 
the cause of the dearth of fruit in a country of 
ample resources for its production. The utili'y 
and efficiency of our horticulturists, with their 
journals and associations for mutual benefit, 
may be questioned, but their onward march has 
not been impeded—they are still active and 
efficient, and prepared for the work of another 
season, which may happily dawn upon them 
with more benignant smiles, and their labor be 
rewarded by fruits and flowers in piofusion.— 
The horticultural columns of this progressive 
paper have contained valuable evidence of the 
increased attention bestowed upon a much neg¬ 
lected branch of rural economy, now destined 
to take a prominent place in the domestic re¬ 
sources of our people, and it is to be hoped that 
no lack of interest on the part of our readers 
and contributors will warrant the supposition, 
on our part, that horticulture does not continue 
to command their due attention. 
Though we must necessarily admit that in 
this very year—in which the American Pomo- 
logical Society held its deliberations in our 
midst, ano pointed to the rows of tables loaded 
with choice fruits from various sections of the 
United States displayed in the hall of the Hor¬ 
ticultural Society of the Valley of the Genesee 
—that in this year, but a few months later, 
there is a general cry of a scarcity of fruit, even 
of choice apples, for which our country, and 
especially this region, has been hitherto famous. 
The tempting baskets of “Northern Spy” 
which were noted in other years as peculiar to 
Rochester, are hidden away in reserve, to be 
produced when the price shall have reached 
the highest figure, or the fruit begins to give 
evidence of decay. Choice pears, even those 
grown on dwarf trees, (not always objectiona¬ 
ble,) are by no means plentiful, though at this 
date of last December we remember a collec¬ 
tion being set forth of upwards of fifty varie¬ 
ties with a half peck of each. Easter Beurres, 
Vicars, Winter Nelis, Doyenne d’Alencon, 
Beurre Gris d’Hiver, and many others equally 
select, were by no means scarce in this vicinity. 
At this date we hear of none being on hand, 
except a few of the late winter varieties. Our 
Boston competitors, with whom the pear season 
was a little more favorable, have, we presume, 
a better supply. The interesting question as to 
how much of all the pears which were actually 
produced at the various exhibitions throughout 
the country, were picked from pear trees on the 
pear stock, might throw some light on che value 
of the quince stock as a means of testing new 
varieties of fruit, a point of no little moment in 
a country where so many novelties are intro¬ 
duced with no means of determining their 
value but by actual experiment. 
Without the quince stock, considered in this 
light alone, our nurserymen would be almost a 
century behind in improved pear culture. Why 
there should be so much bitterness of feeling 
on an open question, the true solution of which 
is alike important to all engaged in fruit culti¬ 
vation, we cannot clearly understand. If it be 
the object of any interested party to grow dwarf 
pears by the thousand, and then depend on 
misrepresentation or error to secure a market 
for them, the trade must be operating on a very 
insecure basis. Let all who believe in the 
pear stock exclusively, and are content to wait 
with.patience, giving indifferent culture, for a 
return for their outlay, plant the pear as a 
standard, without let or hindrance. Those on 
the other hand who wish a few trees in bearing, 
and are disposed to secure these at the cost of 
a little thorough cultivation, should not be 
frightened out of their propriety by the cham¬ 
pions of the other stock. No evil influence 
need be apprehended with those who can see 
and judge for themselves; the danger is to be 
apprehended from those prominent characters 
who are accepted by the unskilled as advisers, 
and who advise as their own partial views may 
dictate. 
Thorough cultivation is our standard rule j 
slovenly culture the exception, and we should 
be sorry to know that the advice of any imper¬ 
fect cultivator should have weight with the 
unskillful amateur about to embark in this 
pleasant pursuit. The experience of the past 
season has been of unusual value for various 
reasons. The hardiness of many varieties 
hitherto doubtful has been decided, and the 
relative value of thorough and imperfect culture 
has been clearly demonstrated. 
The new varieties of fruits likely to attract 
attention throughout the country, of which 
specimens have been displayed at various ex¬ 
hibitions, are not unusually numerous. The 
Rebecca Grape, a hardy white variety, which 
has been tested now for five years at the place 
where it originated in this State, was favorably 
spoken of by all who had an opportunity to 
judge of its merits. The partial experience of 
one or two cultivators in one or two localities, 
is not a sufficient recommendation of a novelty 
to give it a claim on the attention of all Ameri¬ 
can cultivators, and we should suppose that 
with the example of Charter Oaks and Northern 
Muscadines before their eyes people would learn 
to be a little cautious. The price advertised 
for this novelty is only $5 per plant. The 
fruit is certainly very delicious and the bunches 
compact, though of medium size. This is the 
fifth or sixth white native grape which has 
been heralded ; we hope it will be more lasting 
than its forerunners; The Delaware Grape has 
increased its reputation, and several other nov¬ 
elties introduced by Dr. W. D. Brinckle ; the 
herald of almost every reliable novelty in the 
way of fruit, have been advanced a grade. The 
business of the last Bornological Meeting was 
so taken up with the leading fruits, pears and 
apples, and the discussions as to the propriety 
of extending the lists of new varieties, that 
small fruits, such as currants, strawberries and 
raspberries, were crowded into a corner. But 
for the “blackberry question,” that portion of 
the business would have passed off very quietly. 
That same New Rochelle blackberry has crea¬ 
ted some noise in its day. How many have 
eaten fruit of it out of the thousands who have 
planted it, at from one dollar down to twenty- 
five cents per plant ? 
We have become so deeply engrossed with 
the fruit topic, that we had almost overlooked 
the novelties in flowers. New varieties of 
roses pour in upon us with names of all the 
heroes of the Crimea to recommend them. A 
famous rose grower of England, alarmed at the 
precocity of French roses, has summed up, in a 
very quiet way, the sum total of one florist’s 
new creations during the last few years, and in¬ 
forms us that four hundred and eighty-six new 
varieties have been sent out in the last fifteen 
or twenty years, at from three to five dollars per 
plant. Of these he shows that only twenty- 
seven proved really good roses. This is the 
result of the new varieties raised by one firm 
only. What a crowd of novelties must be 
brought into trade, when the thousand florists 
of Paris and other parts oi France, independent 
of their English brethren, furnish their quota ! 
In our own country new roses have been raisid 
of merit. Two of the latest, which have been 
represented as desirable, -were raised by a Bal¬ 
timore florist, and named the Beauty of Green- 
mount and Woodland Favorite. Baltimore has, 
in its day, issued many choice roses and camel¬ 
lias. The rose has always commanded a large 
share of attention, and is perhaps the best 
known of all our flowers. The “ Rose Manual,” 
by R. Buist, the successful horticulturist of 
Philadelphia, has done much to increase its 
cultivation. Upwards of five hundred choice va¬ 
rieties of the rose may now be found in the gar¬ 
dens of our amateurs and florists, though we have 
seen it stated lately, on respectable authority, 
(issuing from the well known Farmers’ Club of 
New York city,) that only a dozen new roses 
had been introduced in addition to those known 
to the ancient Romans. This is a startling an¬ 
nouncement, copied in the N. Y. Tribune. The 
“ Big Tree" of California is among our novelties. 
Young plants are now growing luxuriantly, and 
have completed the three hundredth feet of 
their growth in two years. It has not yet been 
ascertained whether it will prove hardy. 
With the above reminiscences of the past 
season’s operations, we must beg leave to re¬ 
mind the readers of the Rural New-Yorker of 
the importance of patience in all their horti¬ 
cultural operations. Without it they will be¬ 
come dissatisfied with many details in garden¬ 
ing. We have been permitted to offer hints 
occasionally on these topics during the past 
twelve months, and hope that the conductor of 
your favorite paper will continue to provide for 
your interest in the selection of reliable infor¬ 
mation on all important horticultural ques¬ 
tions.—s. 
[It may be proper to state, in connection with 
the above, that the author, Mr. R. Robinson 
Scott, former editor of The Florist, (who has 
coniributed to the Rural during the past year, 
over the signature of S.,) has been engaged as a 
regular contributor to the next volume, and will 
perhaps conduct the Horticultural Department 
— a position for which his ability and experi¬ 
ence render him well qualified.— Ed.] 
Seedless Pears. —We had an oppoitunity, 
during the holding of the United States Ex¬ 
hibition, of examining some very fine pears, 
which were wholly withoutcoreorseed. They 
were from the farm of Mr. Davis, who resides 
on the West Charter road, about six miles from 
this city. In appearance, taste and size, they 
greatly resemble the Seckel, and are, beyond 
doubt, a seedling from that standard favorite.— 
A number of distinguished horticulturists were 
present at the examination, and.all pronounced 
them superior. We have no doubt that this fine 
fruit will be extensively propagated, as it is 
certainly deserving the attention of the lovers 
of good fruit.— Pa. Farm Journal. 
Cutting Grafts. — Do not cut them in cold, 
frosty weather. If you do, you will find, on 
working them, that many will be black at 
heart, and the growth will be much checked 
the coming season. 
OREGON FRUIT. 
That Oregon is one of the finest fruit growing 
countries in the world, is becoming more and 
more apparent. The size, quality and quantity 
of apples, raised here from young trees, chal¬ 
lenge competition, and justly excites the won¬ 
der of all. 
It is estimated that not less than $75,000 
worth of apples will be shipped to California 
this season. The last steamer took away some 
2,000 bushels, we learn. It is estimated that 
$30,000 worth were sold last year. The size of 
our apples is almost incredible. We saw a 
bushel of pippins at Pritchard’s, the other day, 
whose average weight was eighteen ounces 
each. From a small orchard, Mr. Pritchard in¬ 
forms us he will realize about $600. From one 
small tree he has gathered six bushels of Tolpy 
Hockings. Quinces and pears also grow in 
abundance. 
Almost every farmer has an orchard grow¬ 
ing ; and from the yield of the young trees, as 
they grow, w,e cannot resist the conclusion that 
Oregon is destined to become the most cele¬ 
brated portion of the Union for fruit. It is no 
uncommon thing to see specimen apples which 
weigh from one and a half to two pounds.— Or¬ 
egon Times, 
f Mttfstic Iciranmy 
CURING HAMS. 
At the late Fair of the Maryland State Agri¬ 
cultural Society, the first, second, third and 
fourth premiums were awarded to hams cured, 
as follows: 
1st. To 150 pounds of ham, take 1% ounces 
of saltpetre, 4 quarts of fine salt, with molasses 
enough to make it paste ; rub well on the flesh 
side ; let it lay 4 weeks ; make a pickle strong 
enough to bear an egg ; let the hams lay in it 
four weeks ; then hang and smoke. Two days 
before removing from the smoke house, paint 
with black pepper and strong cider vinegar, 
after which bag them. 
2d. Ham weighing 10% pounds, cured by 
Mrs. Samuel Carr ; half-bushel of sale, 2 ounces 
of saltpetre, 2 pounds of black pepper, 2 pounds 
of cayenne pepper, 8 pounds of brown sugar.— 
This mixture, rubbed on 50 hams, averaging 10 
pounds, smoked gradually with hickory chips. 
3d. To 100 pounds of ham, to average 10 or 
12 pounds, half-peck ground alum salt, 1 pound 
sugar, 1% oz. saltpetre, 1 quart hickory ashes, 
2 ounces saleratus, 2 ounces red pepper ; mix 
them well together, rub the hams well, and 
stand them on their hocks, and let them remain 
for five weeks, then hang them up and smoke 
them about one week. For 1,000 pounds of hog 
meat, half-bushel of fine salt, half a gallon best 
molasses, 3 pounds of brown sugar, 2% pounds 
of saltpetre, pounded very fine. Mix all the 
ingredients -well together in a large tub, and 
rub the meat then with it until you absorb the 
whole quantity. The meat must be taken out 
of the cask once a week, and rubbed with the 
pickle it makes. The two last times you take 
it out, add at each time a plate full of alum 
salt. It ought to remain in pickle five or six 
weeks, or according to the size of the meat. 
4th. For 100 pounds of ham, 8 pounds of salt, 
2 ounces of saltpetre, 2 pounds of sugar, 4 gal¬ 
lons of water—the ham remaining in pickle 
eight weeks .—American Farmer. 
RENOVATING FURS. 
As the season for wearing furs is at hand, a 
few words on the subject will be useful to many 
persons. 
Muffs, capes, cuffs and other articles of fur 
should be beaten smartly with a switch, then 
brushed with a stiff brush, and carefully exam¬ 
ined. If there are any moth-eaten parts in 
them they should be cut out, and their places 
supplied with other pieces of fur which match 
them in color, neatly sewed in. The lining and 
stuffing will have to be removed for this pur¬ 
pose. White furs should be rubbed over smart¬ 
ly with a stick of pipe clay, then switched, and 
afterwards carefully brushed. This operation 
will make them look clean. 
To remove grease from furs they require to 
be treated thoroughly by a person engaged in 
the business; still, any person may remove 
some of the grease from a muff or cape by pla¬ 
cing the article on a table, covering the spot with 
a layer of soapstone dust about an inch deep, 
laying a sheet of blotting paper upon it, and on 
the top of that a warm flat iron—not too hot.— 
The heat of the iron softens the grease in the 
fur, and the soapstone dust then absorbs it.— 
Warm soapstone dust rubbed among furs, then 
switched out and brushed off improves their ap¬ 
pearance. Soapstone dust can thus be employ¬ 
ed for all kinds of fur, and of every color.— 
Scientific American. 
Labor-Saving Soap.— Dissolve a quarter of a 
pound of lime in a gallon of cold water, then 
take off the clear ; dissolve half a pound of sal 
soda in a quart of water, and mix it with the 
clear lime water. One pound of brown soap 
dissolved in a gallon of water is then to be ad¬ 
ded to the clear liquor formed with the sal soda 
and lime water, and this forms the soap. This 
soft soap is excellent for boiling white linens; 
it removes all grease that is in them, because it 
contains an excess of caustic lye. About one 
quart of it is sufficient for boiling clothes in a 
ten-gallon wash kettle. A quantity of this 
may be made up and kept for constant use. 
Isinglass, is a most delicate starch for fine 
muslins. When boiling common starch, sprin¬ 
kle in a little fine salt; it will prevent its stick¬ 
ing. 
fjjitjratm &r. 
LIST OF PATENTS, 
Is«ned from the United Staten Patent Office for the 
week ending Dec. 2, 1856. 
Frederic Allen, Worcester, improvement in mop-bandies. 
Moses S. Beach, Brooklyn, improvement in feeding paper 
to piloting presses. 
Edwin Bennett, Baltimore, improvement in earthen ves¬ 
sels for hermetrically sealing purposes. 
John P. Derby, Boston, wristband fastener. 
William Filmer and Edward Bookhout, New York mode 
of packing electrotype plates. 
Robert Griffiths, Philadelphia, improvement in nut 
machines 
John P. Hayes, Philadelphia, improvement in ovens. 
Jonathan P. Grosvenor, Lowell, Mass., improved method 
of champing cutters in putter heads for planing machines. 
Stephen R. Hunter, Cortlandt, N. Y., improved raking 
apparatus for harvesters. 
Martin Gore and John P. Gore, St. Louis, improved rock 
drilling machine. 
James H. Morley, St. Louis, improvement in railroad 
chains. 
Henry Newmenger, Nacungie, Pa., improvement in 
pentagrapbs. 
Horace W. Peaslee, Malden Bridge, N. Y., improvement 
in drviDg cylindeis for fibrous manulacture. 
E. Y. Robbins, Cincinnati, improvement in the baby 
wa’ker and jumper. 
Harley Stone, Uxbridge, Mass., and Mason D. Cole, 
Blackstone, Mass., improvement iu expanding tap. 
Stephen Scotton, Ricemond, Ind., ice saw. 
Wm. H. Saunders, Hastings, N. Y., improved axle box. 
Henry M. Walker, Watertown, Conn., improvement in 
the Siphon a’ Clapit. 
Albin Wartb, New York, improvement in converting 
rotary into reciprocating motion. 
Jesse Whitehead, Manchester, Ya., improvement in self- 
acting rakes for harvesling machines. 
Job White, Belfast, Me, improved method of applying 
steam to and of cutting scaifs from wood. 
Orin O. Withered, New York, improvement in wrenches. 
Theodore T. Woodruff, Alton, 111., improvement in rail¬ 
road car Feats and couches. 
Thomas Floyd, Chambersburg, Pa , assignor to Thomas 
Floyd and Geo. fl. MerkliDg, of same place, improvement 
iu vault covers. 
Vespasian 0. Palcom, Bedford, Mass., and Charles H. 
Hill, Billerica, Mats., improvement iu engines ior grinding 
paper stock. 
Edwin Jones., Greenfield, Mass., improvement in the 
Bramah planiDg wheel. 
Andrew L. Fuller, ClintoD, Mass., improvement in cover¬ 
ing thread with wool. 
David W. Smith, Boston, improvement in steering ap- 
paiatusfor ships. 
Jas. Smith, Jr., Norton, Mass., improvement in casting 
metalic tubes. 
Nathan Ames, Saugus, Mass., assignor to the Boston 
Hand Stamp Co , Boston, Miss., hand stamp. 
Design —George Bruce, New York, design for printing 
types. 
VICTORIA BRIDGE AT MONTREAL. 
The worthy editor of the Gospel Banner (Au¬ 
gusta, Me.,) accepted an invitation ^nd attended 
the recent celebration of the Grand Trunk. Rail¬ 
way at Montreal. His experience is laughable, 
particularly the loss of hat and shawl at the 
dance, and he revenges himself by some pretty 
severe strictures upon Canadian celebrations 
and hospitality, though owning up that the eat¬ 
ing, drinking, etc., at Montreal, was on a grand 
scale. In his sketch he thus describes the Rail¬ 
way Bridge : 
“ This is to be a great structure. It is to be 
the longest, and every way the largest bridge 
in the world. It will be finished early in 1860, 
and will cost about $7,000,000 ! It will con¬ 
sume 2'0,000 tuns of stone, and 11,000 tuns of 
iron. It crosses the St. Lawrence diagonally, 
on 24 piers and two abutments. The centre 
span will be 330 feet and there are 12 spans 
each side of 242 feet. Each abutment is 242 feet 
long, of solid masonry. The height above sum¬ 
mer water level is 60 feet,—high enough for all 
vessels to pass. The contents of the masonry 
will be 28,000,000 cubic feet. The iron tube 
through which the trains pass, will be 22 feet 
wide, and 7,000 feet long. The total length of 
the bridge is 20,284 feet, or, 50 yards less than 
two English miles. The foundations of each 
pier are solid rock. The approaches to the 
bridge are inclined planes—the banks of the 
river being flat. That on the St. Charles side 
being 1,300 feet long, and on St. Lambert, or 
south side, 700 feet long. It is a gigantic un¬ 
dertaking, and when completed will be the 
wonder of the age. There is no bridge on 
earth that approaches it. The bridge over Me- 
nai Strait, the greatest bridge in the world, com¬ 
pared to this is as a pigmy to a Titan. It will 
be a highway over which, in the future, must 
pass a tide of traffic and life that cannot be 
computed. We cannot help being afraid that 
it may not stand, after all. It seems immova¬ 
ble. It will be as strong as human skill can 
make it, but this mighty river, on a spring tide 
is a fearful thing. It will be worth a long jour¬ 
ney to see it, when it shall be finished.” 
NEW AND CHEAP MOTIVE POWER. 
A gentleman in Kirkaldy, Scotland, has 
trained a couple of mice, and invented ma¬ 
chinery enabling them to spin cotton yarn.— 
The work is so constructed that the common 
house mouse is enabled to twist, twine and reel 
from 100 to 126 threads per day. To complete 
this, the little pedestrians have to run 10% 
miles. A half-penny worth of oat meal, at Is. 
3d. per peck, serves one of these treadwheel 
culprits for the long period of five weeks. In 
that time it makes 110 threads per day. At 
this rate a mouse earns 7s. 6d. per annum._ 
Take off 5d. for board, and Is. for machinery, 
there will arise 6s. clear for every mouse, annu¬ 
ally. The mouse employer was going to make 
an application for the lease of an old empty 
house, which would hold 10,000 mouse-mills, 
sufficient room beiug left for keepers and some 
hundreds of spectators .—English Paper. 
Economy of the Arts.— The horse-shoe nails 
dropped in the streets, carefully collected re¬ 
appear in the form of swords and guns. The 
clippings of tinkers’ shops mixed with the par¬ 
ings of horses’ hoofs, or cast-off woolen gar¬ 
ments, appear afterwards, in the forms of dyes 
of the brightest blue, in the dress of courtly 
dames. The bones of dead animals yield the 
chief constituents of lucifer matches — phos¬ 
phorus. The dregs of port wine, carefully re¬ 
jected by the port wine drinker in decanting 
his favorite beverage, are taken by him in the 
form of Seidlitz powders. The washings of 
coal gas re-appear carefully preserved in the 
lady’s smelling bottle as an ammoniacal salt. 
MECHANICAL GENIUS OF THE U. S. 
The annual report of ihe United States Pa¬ 
tent Office shows that the march of invention 
is exceedingly rapid. Two ponderous volumes, 
embracing descriptions of the mechanical im¬ 
provements patented during the year 1855, 
have just been issued from that office. They 
demonstrate tnat the number of applications 
made to the office for patents was 5,435, being 
nearly twice the number made in 1853. The 
number of patents issued was 2,024, more than 
twice the number issued two years ago. In 
184o ten years previous—the casu receipts of 
the office were $39,395, while last year they 
were $216,459, or five and a half timesgreater. 
In this report we behold the record of the pro¬ 
gress of American mind in the line of inven¬ 
tion for facilitating mechanical operations._ 
Yankee ingenuity certainly surpasses that of 
the rest of the world. In the pages of the re¬ 
port are described machines for decreasing the 
labor in every department of agriculture, and 
making it more profitable; for working all 
kinds of metal, and for fibrile and textile sub¬ 
stances ; new devices for the many manufac¬ 
tures depending upon improved chemical pro¬ 
cesses ; improvements in steam, gas and fire en¬ 
gines ; machines for boring wells and rocks, 
dredging machines, and indeed something use¬ 
ful in every department of industry. If any 
other country can show such a chronicle of the 
triumph of inventive industry, we should like 
to see it. 
SOMETHING ABOUT DUST. 
In Household Words there is a paper on the 
microscope, which says:—Dust is commonly 
spoken of as a precise, unvarying, specific 
thiDg ; the same under all circumstances and 
in all places. Dust is a nuisance to be despised, 
to be wiped away, or where not, to have the 
word Slut reproachfully traced on it with a 
fiiiger-tip. But the microscope repeals to us 
dust as existing under a thousand charming 
and admirable forms. The microscopist is 
obliged to study dust attentively, that he may 
not mistake some stray hair or scale for a por¬ 
tion of the object he is engaged in examining. 
There is antediluvian dust, which was organ¬ 
ized into beauty before Adam had come into 
the world to behold it; there are dust skele¬ 
tons, which constitute mountains in their im¬ 
mense aggregate; there is living dust, which 
drops from cheese, or metamorphoses itself out 
of farinaceous matter, or discolors water, or eats 
through solid oak. On a ship ou t at sea, leagues 
and leagues away from land, there falls a show¬ 
er of impalpable dust, brought from the great 
desert by the heated winds, and close exami¬ 
nation proves it to consist of the remains of 
dead animalcules. There is fertilizing dust, or 
pollen, without whose influence neither grain 
nor fruit would reward the cultivator’s care. 
NUMBER OF THE STARS. 
Of the stars thousands are visible to the 
naked eye and millions are discovered by the 
telescope. Sir John Herschell calculates that 
about five and a half millions of stars are visi¬ 
ble enough to be distinctly counted in a twenty 
feet reflector in both hemispheres, and thinks 
that the actual number is much greater. His, 
illustrious father estimated on one occasion that 
one hundred and twenty-five thousand stars 
passed through the field of his forty foot reflec¬ 
tor in a quarter of an hour. This would give 
twelve millions for the entire circuit of the 
heavens in a single telescopic zone; and this 
estimate was made under the assumption that 
the nebulae were masses of luminous matter, not 
yet condensed suns. But with the increase of 
instrumental power, especially under the 
mighty grasp of Lord Rosse’s gigantic reflector 
and the great reflectors at Pulkova and Cam¬ 
bridge, the most irresolvable of these nebula; 
have given way ; and the better opinion now is 
that every one of them is a galaxy, like our own 
milky way, composed of millions of suns.— 
Selected. 
A Valuable Gift.— The New York Evening 
Post states that the Trustees of t ie Astor Li¬ 
brary have just received a copy of the “ Publi¬ 
cations of the British Commissioners of Patents” 
—a gift from the Commissioners. These publi- 
calions embrace specifications of all the patents 
granted in England since the commencement of 
1852, when they were begun, and also drawings 
of nearly all the patents. They comprise 137 
royal 8vo. volumes of specifications, and 137 
folios of drawings. In addition there are twenty 
volumes of indices, which render this very ex¬ 
tensive work as easy of consultation as a com¬ 
mon dictionary. 
--«*—*-—,—^—_ 
Fern Pulp for Paper.— An excellent pulp 
for paper is now obtained by subjecting to a 
newly invented process the Scotch fern plant— 
the stems, stalks, and even the roots, possessing 
a strong fibre, which is found to be peculiarly 
adapted for the manufacture of a powerfully 
cohering paper pulp. The plants may be used 
either green or dry, the dry being preferable. 
These are bleached by any of the well known 
processes for bleaching textile fabrics or mate- 
lials; and, after being bleached, they are broken 
up and reduced to a pulp by any mechanical 
agency. 
Iron in Government Buildings.— The Secre¬ 
tary of the Treasury has awarded a contract to 
E. Harmon & Co., for the erection of an iron 
building for a Marine Hospital at New Orleans. 
This model fire and heat proof structure is des¬ 
tined to initiate the use of iron in the construc¬ 
tion of the public architecture of the country. 
It is regarded as the most important measure 
for the interest of iron manufactures ever adopt¬ 
ed by the National Government. 
