MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
43 
THE BOTTOM PEAR. 
(Drrjjnrii uni) (InriMii. 
STRAWBERRIES. 
The subjoined article on the cultivation of 
the strawberry, from the Horticulturist, con¬ 
tains some suggestions which we have not 
elsewhere seen. A friend at our elbow, 
intimately conversant with the culture of 
this fruit, expresses his decided approval of ! 
these suggestions. Having transplanted an- | 
nually, early in April, and also early in Sep¬ 
tember, it has resulted, that the fall planting 
has been liable to heave out by the frosts of 
spring; and if they escape, a partial crop 
only can bo realized the ensuing season.-— 
j The April settings however, have produced 
| a lull crop the next season. But if the soil 
is rich and highly manured, as it should be 
to ensure fruit of fine size and a large crop, 
the plants have invariably been choked with 
an abundant crop of weeds during the first 
three months. This is a great annoyance, 
and to keep them clean an unwelcome labor. 
The vines flourishing till the close of Juno, 
are checked and retarded by the heat and 
drought of July and August, and do not re¬ 
gain their vigor till the autumnal rains.— 
The first of July planting must, necessarily, 
be almost if not wholly free from weeds. The 
ground, during the preceding three months, 
being often spaded or moved, the weeds are 
wholly destroyed, while the plants set out 
at this time being watered so as to secure a 
continued, vigorous growth, will be as far 
advanced in September, as thoso planted 
early in April, and the injury of weeds be 
avoided. As to the liquid fertilizers recom¬ 
mended in the article, we know nothing from 
experiment. They are presumed to be good 
and sufficient, because stated so to be by an 
intelligent cultivator. 
The Buffum pear, was orignated in Rhode 
Island, by Mr. David Buffum, of Newport. 
It has been much underrated generally, as 
it is found to be one of the most profitable 
market pears we possess. It is distinguish¬ 
ed for great growth and hardiness and is a 
most prodigious bearer. Though varying 
in quality from first to second rate, it is gen¬ 
erally handsome in shape and color, and 
of pleasant flavor. 
The tree is of a strong, upright growth, 
beautiful and shapely in appearance, and 
may be depended upon for fruit, when most 
of our foreign pears fail from want of hard¬ 
iness and adaptation to the climate. The 
cultivator who raises fruit for profit will find 
it a paying variety, if properly attended to. 
It i3 sometimes necessary to thin out the 
abundant fruit ono half, and even then a 
very large crop will be given. 
The Buffum pear is described by Thomas 
as follows:—Size medium; obovato, ap¬ 
proaching oblong; skin yellow, with a broad, 
reddish brown cheek, somewhat russeted; 
stalk three-fourths to an inch long, stout; 
cavity and basin moderate or small; flesh 
buttery, sweet, good, not quite first-rate, 
slightly variable. Shoots strong, reddish 
brown, very erect; treo very productive.— 
Early mid-autumn. 
MODELS OF FRUIT. 
WORK FOR THE MONTH. 
Raising or how to Raise the Finest Strawberries. 
BY R. O. PARDEE, OP PALMYRA. 
“ The following is the best wav that I know, 
of cultivating the Strawberry in our favora¬ 
ble soil : 
Select, in the early spring, a .rich, deep, 
mellow, gravelly loam, if possible, in rather 
low moist ground, with a good exposure to 
the sun. Then spade it full a spade deep, 
repeatedly, on the first of every month until 
July, when the ground will have become 
thoroughly broken up and mellow, and also 
the danger of the earth packing and becom¬ 
ing hard, will mainly have past. After 
breaking up the ground well on the first of 
July, and levelling off the soil instead of 
raising it into beds, then immediately set out 
the Strawberry plants, two in a stool, 18 to 
24 inches apart. Then mulch, forthwith, 
the whole ground, including the walk, with 
an inch and a-half deep of old tan-bark, 
saw-dust or well rotted manure ; but I would 
carefully prevent any barn-yard manure, or 
even ashes, becoming incorporated in the 
soil previously or at this time. Next I would 
thoroughly water them, and keep them suf¬ 
ficiently watered to insure a constant and 
vigorous growth, which is not a task if well 
mulched. After this, the occasional pulling 
of a wery few weeds, that find their way 
through the mulching, and a slight coating 
of leaves and straw on the approach of win¬ 
ter, is all the care I would give them, until 
the opening of the following spring, when I 
pursue the following process : 
On removing the coating on the opening 
of spring, I fertilize the plants with a liberal 
sprinkling of a solution of J lb. each of sul¬ 
phate of potassium, glauber salts, and sal so¬ 
da, and one ounco of muriate ammonia, to 
eight gallons water, and continue this once 
in a week or ten days until they blossom, 
when I give them pure cold water till they 
ripen, when I discontinue all applications. 
I do not say my combination of fertilizers 
cannot be improved, but it proves efficient 
enough with mo until I learn of a better one. 
If not convenient, I do not break up the 
ground until the 1st July, when I plant out; 
although I think it better not to allow tho 
ground to be occupied the previous part of 
the season, and to bo frequently stirred. 1 
prefer, all things considered, the 1st to 10th 
July for planting out, for the reason the soil 
does not bake so hard as if set out in spring, 
and at this season I can secure the largest 
crop next June. If tho setting out is delay¬ 
ed till August, I can only depend on half a 
crop, and only a quarter if delayed till Sep¬ 
tember. 
By this plan, it will be scon, I avoid all 
trouble in forking over the ground in the 
fall or spring—I do not find it necessary. 
Although so many succeed unsatisfactorily 
in raising Strawberries, yet I know of no 
fruit raised in this climate on which I can. 
with such confidence, rely for a certain and 
regular largo crop, as by this plan, with good 
varieties—only amateurs, who wish to raise 
remarkably fine fruit, may choose to take so 
much pains as the whole process here laid 
down involves, yet what is worth doing at all 
is generally worth doing well. 
I will not presumo to say that this plan is 
perfect, or is tho best. Other soils and cli¬ 
mate may demand some modification, yet 
after examining a large number of grounds 
for years past, and listening to, or reading 
tho mode of procedure of a large number of 
the most successful cultivators, I have sum¬ 
med them all up, and prefer the above to all 
others which have come to my knowledge. 
Every cultivator has his own best way to ac¬ 
complish tho object, and yet, perchance, all 
have much to learn from the experience or 
observation of others.— R. G. Pardee. 
The Coffee Tree is from six to ten foot 
high, bogins to bear tho second or third year, 
and remains fruitful ten years. 
[ One of our correspondentswho attended 
the Winter Exhibition of the State Agricul¬ 
tural Society writes us as follows :] 
But tho grandest exhibition to me was 
at tho Stato Agricultural Rooms. What I 
alludo to is a show of models, representing 
different kinds of fruits, &c. They were 
made by Townsend Glover, of Fishkill- 
Landing, Dutchess Co., N. Y., and are de¬ 
cidedly the most perfect mode's of fruit I 
ever saw. 
Mr. Glover informs me that he has pre¬ 
pared models for over 700 different varieties 
of fruit. The length of time which it took 
him to make these specimens, is seven years; 
or at least, such is his account of the time 
employed in forming them. They are pre¬ 
pared of several different kinds of material, 
and it requires a tremendous blow to break 
one. Mr. G. tried the strength of ono, in 
my presence, by striking it against a railing. 
It stood the test well. It is believed that 
these models will last fifty years, and appear 
like perfect fruit at the end of that time.— 
Persons visiting the rooms were much de¬ 
ceived in Mr. Glover’s models, and perhaps, 
half the people that observed them did not 
know but what they were real apples and 
plums, &c. 
Mr. G. deserves much credit for his in¬ 
genuity and labor in getting up these ad¬ 
mirable models. The Society awarded him 
a gold medal. He has been awarded med¬ 
als by other Societies, and most certainly ho 
deserves them and much more, for he has 
spent a great deal of time and labor in their 
execution. W. Taffen. 
GRAPE CULTURE. 
Whatever will promote the knowledge of 
fruit culture, in this region of country, is. 
worthy of notice. In tho Courier, we find 
the following communication from Mr. Win. 
Scott, Practical Gardener, which wo copy 
for the benefit of such of our readers as 
may be interested in the subject to which it 
relates : 
Persons that wish to grow Grapes should 
attend to their cultivation, for if neglected 
at the proper season erf pruning, a deficient 
crop of fruit must be expected. From now 
to the middle of February is the proper 
time, while tho sap is dormant—if neglect¬ 
ed till March, the fluids are in circulation, 
caused by the action of the sun; though tho 
weather be cold and frosty, it is powerful 
when out, and will cause them to discharge 
their fluids, so that they will bo lost when 
they should support the fruit, and small 
grapes will be tlie result. When the frost 
leaves tho ground, tho soap-suds and dish- 
washings should be saved, and half a peck 
of hen manure put into each barrel with 
four pounds of nitre of soda. The ground 
should be dug with a threo pronged fork, 
where the roots extend, and the liquid ap¬ 
plied, with a good coat of rotten manure on 
the top, so that the rain may wash the liquid 
down to the roots. Soap-suds may bo ap¬ 
plied at any time the fruit is growing, for it 
requires a constant supply of food while 
bearing, which can only be received into tho 
roots in a liquid state. If properly pruned 
and trainod, and this decoction applied, a 
crop of fine fruit will be the result.— Niag¬ 
ara Democrat. 
Mr. Rodney Parsons, of West Springfield 
picked from three trees, in October, ninety- 
one bushels of Baldwin apples, and sold 
them for $68,50. Tho trees are not large 
and tho prices sold at, rangod from 50 cents 
to $1 25 per bushel. 
N ery little can be done in the garden or 
orchard during the month of February._ 
Old apple trees that have been neglected 
until tho heads are become dense and twiggy, 
may be thinned out atany time; scions may 
bo cut; poles for peas and beans, and sup¬ 
ports for climbing plants, rustic baskets, 
flower stands, or other ornaments, may be 
constructed; manures and composts collect¬ 
ed, turned, mixed, and prepared for appli¬ 
cation ; implements may be put in order: 
and various arrangements made that will 
facilitate operations in the spring. 
Those who intend to use hot-beds may bo 
getting them in readiness for the middle of 
March. The fruit room will demand atten¬ 
tion; and it must be remembered that the 
conditions most favorable to preservation are 
dryness, coolness, and uniformity. Warm 
air should never bo admitted among fruits, 
as it creates moisture by condensation, and 
this promotes decay. AH unsound speci¬ 
mens should be removed at once, and noth¬ 
ing liko decaying vegetables, or anything 
that emits an offensive odor, be for a mo¬ 
ment permitted near the fruits.— Gen. Tar. 
A cultivator of fruit, whose example is 
referred to in tho New England Farmer, 
keeps a circle of several feet about every 
tree, clear of grass, and enriches with chip 
manure, bones, ashes, and other fertilizing 
substances. He has large crops of excellent 
fruit, which bring him more monoy than 
any of tho neighboring farmers obtain from 
all their crops. 
Doniffltif (Brcmonu). 
How TO MAKE NICE CANDLES.— Caildlo- 
wick, if steeped in lime and saltpetre, and 
dried in the sun, will give a clearer light, 
and be less apt to run. 
Good candles may bo made thus:—Melt 
together ten ounces of mutton tallow, a 
quarter of an ounco of camphor, four oun¬ 
ces of beeswax, and two ounces of alum; 
then run it into moulds, or dip the candles. 
These candles furnish a beautiful light.— 
Agriculturist. 
►Short-Bread. —Rub one pound of butter, 
and twelve ounces of finely-powdered loaf 
sugar, into two pounds of" flour, with tho 
hand; make it into a stiff pnste with four 
eggs, roll out to double the thickness of a 
penny-piece, cut it into round or square 
cakes, pinch tho edges, stick slices of can¬ 
died peel and some caraway comforts on the 
top, and bake them on iron plates in a warm 
oven. 
Half fay Pudding. — Four ounces of each 
of tho following ingredients, viz., suet, flour, 
currants, rasins, and bread crumbs; two 
tablespoonfuls of treacle, half a pint of milk 
—all of which must be well mixed together, 
and boiled in a mould for three hours. It 
is an excellent substitute for Christmas plum 
pudding, at small expense. To be served 
up with wino or brandy sauce. 
Tea Cakes. —Take a pound of flour, half 
a pound of butter, and the same of sugar; 
tho peel of a lemon finely grated, a little 
of tho juice, an egg, a little brandy to flavor, 
and a teaspoonful of bruised coriander seed. 
Roll it out thin, make into cakes, and bake 
them in a quick oven. 
Caution. —A young man lately came to 
his death in Hall, England, through putting 
tallow on a pimple that was on his face— 
mortification ensued, which ended in his 
death though* tho affected part was cut 
away. Tho use of tallow, for such purposes, 
is most dangerous, as arsenic is much used 
by tallow chandlers for the purpose of im¬ 
proving tho appearance of the candles. 
IHecljaitif 5lrts & Irientt. 
LIST OF PATENT CLAIMS 
issued from tuk united states PATENT office, 
For the week ending January 20, 1S52. 
To Jos. Sawyer, of Rovalston, Mass., for im¬ 
provements in machir.es for splitting rattan. 
To Fred’k. Seitz, of Easton, Pa., for improved 
process of mashing maize. 
To G. W. Follnirst, of Cleveland, Ohio, for im¬ 
provement in planing machines. 
To Thos. Van Fossen, of Lancaster, Ohio, for 
bopioVcment in grain harvesters. 
To W. Yudin, of Havre de Grace, Md., ft r 
improvement in canal locks. 
To Jno. Waters, of Southwark, Pa., for improve¬ 
ment in spring mattresses. 
To Horatio Blasdell, of New York, N. Y., for 
improvement in mill for grinding quartz. 
To Edwin B. Clement, of Barnet, Yt., for im¬ 
provement in churns. 
To Henry Gou.'ding, of Boston, Mass., for im¬ 
provement in machines for drilling stone. 
To Jno. McLaughlin, of Goshen, Ohio, for im¬ 
provement in washing machines. 
To Henry Moeser, of Pittsburgh, Pa., for im¬ 
provement in hand printing presses. 
To Oliver Pearl and Henry P. Chandler, of Law¬ 
rence, Mass,, for improvement in spinning ma¬ 
chinery. 
To Jessee Pannabecker, of Elizabeth Town¬ 
ship, Pa., for improvement in self-sharpening 
grindstone. 
To Sami. CL Reynolds, of Worcester, Mas-., for 
improvements in nail machines. 
To Win. Linton, of Baltimore, Md., for improve¬ 
ment in brick kilns. 
To Robt. White, of Washington, D. C., for im¬ 
proved cast and wrought iron blind. 
. EFFECTS OF COLD. 
V ,— 
Gun powder so cold it would'pt burn—Expcrimcrd 
—Its falsity and cause—Effects of cold on steel, a 
vulgar error; Us explanation and the cause. 
Mr. Moore :—Having had my mind bro’t 
to the subject of the effects of intense cold 
on various substances, by tho late severo 
frost, and by reading some discussions in 
your paper on that point—permit mo to re¬ 
late an instance of what was supposed to bo 
the effects of frost, oh gun powder. 
In the winter of 1808 and 0,1 was in Mon¬ 
treal, during that extreme cold season. On 
the morning of the celebrated cold Friday,* 
a gentleman belonging to tho Northwest 
Fur Company, came into the house where 
I was staying, the proprietor of which was 
a keen sportsman, and kept guns and dogs. 
The gentleman of the Northwest Co., came 
in with a thermometer in iiis hand and said 
he was going into the steeple of the cathe¬ 
dral, to try tho temperature of the weather, 
and said, “I have hunted many a day at 
Hudson Bay, when it was so cold that pow¬ 
der would not burn, and I think if you Will 
expose one of your best guns while I am 
gone, you will find this one of those days.” 
Incredulous as all present were, the gun 
which was a flint lock (as all were in those 
days.) was primed and set out in tho yard. 
In about half an hour, the experiment was 
tried, and sure enough, with repeated snap- 
pings it was no go off'; the sable grains reso¬ 
lutely refused to explode, and the principle 
becamo a fixed fact in tho minds of all 
present-. 
The gun was taken into a warm room, and 
after a few minutes the powder burned on 
the first trial. Tho rationale of this fact, 
was attributed to the frost that was absorb¬ 
ed by tho steel of tho hammer, destroying 
the ability to produce fire with the flint. 
Having, myself, previous to that time, 
doubted that principle, and illustrated its 
fallacy, I set about solving the question, and 
discovering the cause. On trying the ex¬ 
periment again, it was evident that there 
was a feebleness of action, and a want of life 
in the springs. On taking off the lock, the 
cause, to me, was apparent. Tho oil used 
for lubricating the lock was frozen as hard 
as tallow, and instead of assisting, was a de¬ 
cided hindrance, destroying the action, and 
power of the springs. On cleaning out the 
oil and allowing it to act entirely dry, the 
weather had no effect on the ignition of 
the powder; it burnt at every trial,showing 
the absurdity of the vulgar error, that frost 
—frozen watery vapor — penetrates metal. 
Another familiar instance of this error of 
opinion, occurs daily during cold weather. 
Wood choppers have found out by experi¬ 
ence, that their axes are apt to break on ex¬ 
treme cold days, and hold them over the fire 
to draw out the frost; the evidence of which 
to them is, the water in liquid drops that 
appears on the surface, when it is simply 
due to the condensation by the cold body of 
tho vapor passing from burning wood, or 
other vegetable matter. This will bo ren¬ 
dered self-evident, by heating tho axe or 
other metal instrument in the oven of a 
stove, where no vapor is present, and it re¬ 
mains dry in all stages of heat applied. 
It is true that all metals, and in fact all 
other substances, break easier in cold weath¬ 
er than in warm; owing entirely to tho 
hardening process of condensation by cold. 
An instrument so soft as to bend in warm 
weather, is of a right temper in cold weath¬ 
er. and a good cutting instrument and ono 
of tho right temper for warm woa!her be¬ 
comes too high tempered—too hard fi r cold 
weather, and will break. n. y. 
VENTILATION, 
The fundamental truth that air as inhaled 
by breathing is essential to the preservation 
ot animal, including human life, we may 
presume to be generally understood. If 
any one could bo found to doubt it lie might 
easily be convinced by trying tho experi¬ 
ment and not breathing for two or three 
minutes. But the intimately related and 
equally important truths that every human 
being has lungs, or air chambers, wherein 
the inhaled air or breath is consumed or 
worked over by a process akin to combus¬ 
tion—that oxygon which forms one-fifth of 
tiie air is thereby extracted from the residu¬ 
um, or nitrogen, and employed to clarify the 
blood ot' its constantly accumulating impu¬ 
rities—that the blood which, thus freshly 
renovated with oxygen, has been ejected in¬ 
to the arteries of a bright red color, and in 
a thoroughly liquid state, is returned thro’ 
the veins saturated with carbon and othor 
impurities, and thence dark, sluggish and 
clotted—that it must now be renovated by 
fresh air, containing a large proportion of 
oxygen, for which purpose the air already 
in the lungs or once inhaled or respired 
therefrom is no fitter than the ashes of yes¬ 
terday s tue! would bo to make a new firo 
for to-day — that tor this purpose every 
adult, healthy human being needs to inhale 
about eighteen breaths per minuto of about 
one pint of fresh, pure air, each, making 
over two gallons of air per minute—and 
that the inhalation instead, of air already 
deprived of oxygen and loaded with impu¬ 
rities by respiration is a process alike bano- 
ful to health, strength and life—these truths 
are not generally understood, or their im¬ 
portance could no fail to be realized and 
respected. 
It is not possible that men and women 
would consent to bo shut up in a close, 
crowded,low-roofed car, having possibly ono 
or two small, utterly inadequate apertures 
for the escape of vitiated air. but none at all 
for the ingress of that which is pure, and 
that, while thus poisoning theinseivos, they 
would raise a row against any one who 
should kindly and slightly raise the window 
by his side, if they only knew what they 
were doing. Nor would they build eostly 
churches and commodious halls for public 
meetings, and there huddle for hours, en¬ 
during discomfort and imbibing the seeds 
of fatal disease, if they only knew that co¬ 
pious ventilation was the very first require¬ 
ment for such halls, and that they might ar 
better, even during a tempest, sit there with¬ 
out any roof at all over their heads, (ban 
with a roof which imprisons and returns up¬ 
on their lungs the poisonous, corrupting < x- 
halations from their own chests and bodies. 
So with private dwellings. A man has 
toiled hard and long for a competence, and 
having finally attained it, resolves to build 
a house after his own heart. He grudges 
no expense to secure an agreeable location 
and prospect, pure water, spacious rooms, 
tasteful draperies, ample bedding, elegant 
furniture, &c., &c., providing carefully and 
bountifully for every want but the first and 
greatest ot all—pure fresh air. He might 
have secured this in every room of his man¬ 
sion for some paltry twenty or thirty dollars; 
vet he neglects it, and leaves his children 
to fester in their own curruption night after 
night, until they finally sicken and die for 
want of that element which God abundun - 
ly and freely supplied for their sustenance, 
hut which he in his dense ignorance has 
perversely shut out and rejected.— Trib. 
THE CALCULATING MACHINE. 
We used to think it was a jest—the idea 
of a calculating machine; but we have seen 
it and its ingenious proprietor, Mr. Fuller, 
who is now stopping at the Irving IIouso. 
The rapidity and accuracy with which all 
business problems are solved is truly sur¬ 
prising. It needs only to be seen to be ad¬ 
mired. Although an American invention 
it has been extensively sold in England, 
France, Germany, and Holland. Upwards 
of thirty of the principal London bankers 
have it in use. It computes interest, at 
every possible rate per cent, upon any sum 
of money for any length of time, both at 
three hundred and sixty and three hundred 
and sixty-five days to "the year, and has a 
most perfect time-telegraph to compute the 
number of days any note has to run. To 
work equations of payments, or average of 
accounts, is one of its conveniences. 
Copies have been purchased in Washing¬ 
ton by all the Departments, for uso in the 
public offices, as well-as by the principal 
bankers, merchants, and mechanics. Less 
time is required to obtain an answer to any 
business question than to prepare the state¬ 
ment. Full printed directions accompany 
the work. It is learned by one or two hours"* 
study and practice. It occupied a promi¬ 
nent place in the Crystal Palace.— Am. Tel. 
PREMIUM TO INVENTORS. 
Mr. F. M. Ray has offered the following 
premiums, with tho object of devising somo 
means to prevent tho many accidents oc¬ 
curring on railroads, and promoting the 
comfort as well as the safety of railway pas¬ 
sengers. The inventions are to bo such as 
can be adopted and put into general uso, 
the inventors retaining their right to pat¬ 
ents, and the premiums will remain open 
until the next annual fair of the American 
Institute: 
$1,500 for the best invention for prevent¬ 
ing loss of life from collisions, and from tho 
breaking of axles and wheels. 
$800 for the best method of excluding the 
dust from cars when in motion. 
$400 for the best railroad brake. 
$300 for tho best sleeping or night seat 
for railroad cays. 
