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MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER U AN AGRICULTURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER 
343 
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IN THE ORCHARD. 
I! 
“ In the Orchard ! ” Whose thoughts at 
these words, do not ramble to some pleasant 
place, some near-at-hand reality or far-off 
memory of pleasantness. The grassy slope 
shaded by the Jow-hanging branches of the 
apple trees,—beautiful in spring-time as a gar¬ 
den of Paradise, and so tempting in autumn 
that we wonder not that the primal pair par¬ 
took of the fruit “ so pleasant to the eye ” 
and ,“ good for food ” withal. And now, 
when we need not be pained by the sight of 
barren trees, for this has been a fruitful year, 
how often in thought, if we may not in deed, 
do we go out “ in the orchard.” 
The Apple is an established : favorite with 
man—the fruit which of all others most con 
tributes to his sustenance and comfort. Look 
away back into earliest times. The “ wisest 
man,” whose fame, as such, modern science 
only serves to confirm, was a passionate ad¬ 
mirer of this fruit. “ As the lily among 
thorns ” is an antithesis only to be matched 
by “ the apple-tree among the trees of the 
wood ; ” and he adds “ I sat down under his 
shadow with great delight, and his fruit was 
sweet to my taste.” In his languid hours he 
cries “ Comfort me with apples,” and it was a 
proverb with him that so choice a thing as 
“ a ward fitly spoken ,” was “ like apples .of 
gold in pictures of silver.” The “ golden ap¬ 
ples ” of the garden of Hesperides will occur 
to every one versed in Grecian lore.' 
But it was not of the history and poetry of 
the Apple that we were thinking when we 
commenced to write. We have seen so many 
apples this fall that our thoughts went into 
the orchard—we feared the blessing might not 
be fully appreciated and turned to the best 
advantage. We know that in seasons of 
plenty like this, thousands of bushels of ap¬ 
ples are wasted for want of care and attention 
—and often, we fear, for want of proper con¬ 
sideration of the uses to which they may be 
applied. 
Id the first place Apples are always in sea¬ 
son for family use—for cooking and the 
dessert. Commencing to ripen in summer, 
different varieties succeed and crowd upon 
each other until summer again. As an arti¬ 
cle of food they are cheap, nutritious and in¬ 
vigorating—and we need them as a part of 
our diet to keep the physical man in its most 
healthy estate. By proper care in selection 
and packing they may be kept in constant 
supply, and as there are a great many people, 
who can and will have them, thus a very large 
quantity will be disposed of. 
To keep apples in perfection they must be 
gathered without bruising and kept in a cool, 
dry place. Our cellars are often too moist and 
too warm for this purpose. The temperature 
should be low and equable—from 40° to 50°, 
is a proper medium. The fruit should be ex¬ 
amined every few weeks — if any symptoms 
of decay appear, such defective apples should 
at once be removed ; they taint the air as well 
as infect those with which they are in contact. 
Light should be excluded and ventilation se¬ 
cured, though no great current of air is to be 
allowed Bat we have already given practi¬ 
cal dkections on this subject. 
Our domestic animals have a good appre¬ 
ciation of the Apple. And they arc so cheap 
and plentiful, this year, that the “ common 
fruit” should be largely devoted to fattening 
and feeding sheep, cattle and horses, the com¬ 
ing winter. Many farmers are in the habit of 
feeding swine for pork with a sort of puddiDg 
made of apples, potatoes and meal, and find 
it an excellent practice. We have sees this 
course pursued. Fill a large kettle three- 
fourths full of apples, then fill up with pota¬ 
toes, adding water, of course, for boiling.— 
When boiled soft, add about one-fifth of oat, 
barley or corn meal—or best a mixture of the 
three—and stir thoroughly. Setwayto eool 
and partially ferment, and it forms an excel¬ 
lent material for fattening swine, cattle, sheep 
or poultry. 
As a part of the winter food of domestic 
animals we repeat, apples are found not only 
economical but promotive of health and thrift, 
and we hope every farmer will try to thus save 
the abundance too often suffered to go to 
waste. But " Save the Apples” is a pithy in¬ 
junction already given to them by our II. T. 
B., so we will come in from the Orchard. 
Garden Hints— Look well to your vege¬ 
table garden. Clean off all weeds, and care¬ 
fully hoe and rake the ground. This will se¬ 
cure the germination of most of the seeds 
that may be scattered from weeds this fall, 
and thus put an end to them. Cut down as¬ 
paragus stalks and put them in the compost 
heap, and dispose of the dead leaves of rhu¬ 
barb in the same way, with all leaves and 
plants of no value for other purposes. Put a 
heavy dressing of stable manure, if well rotted 
all the better, on the asparagus and rhubarb 
beds. Do not be alarmed if you happen to 
get it on three or four inches deep. It will 
not damage either of these vegetables. If 
well decomposed manure is not at baud, green, 
unfermented manure will not injure them, or 
retard their growth next spring.— Ox. Dem. 
GABDEN SNAILS—CEOPS IN ONEIDA CO. 
Eds. Rural :—I wish to get some informa¬ 
tion which I know no better way of procuring 
than through your widely circulated journal. 
I have been troubled very much this season, 
by the Snails in my Garden. They have 
spoiled bushels of my tomatoes, and are fast 
devouring my cabbages. I was at a loss to 
account for their rapid disappearance until I 
caught the gentlemen making their breakfasts 
from them. They do not touch the red varie¬ 
ty, but are perfect Germans when they attack 
the white. Perhaps some one of your read¬ 
ers can oblige me by telling me how to drive 
the pests from my garden, or how to save my 
vegetables from their greedy maws. 
We have had much wet weather here the 
past few weeks, putting back our fall harvests 
greatly. Corn proves a better crop than we 
expected. Most other crops have been good, 
except potatoes, which are rotting badly.— 
Buyers do not seem disposed to pay very good 
prices for most kinds of grain, but we hope for 
better prices. There has been a great deal of 
fruit raised here this year, and our market, 
Clinton, is sending off hosts of it. Much at¬ 
tention is being paid to its raising, and every 
farmer, nearly, is planting more or less of the 
best varieties of fruit trees. There is not a 
better region in the State for the growth of 
Apples or Pears, and our numerous nursery¬ 
men are taking advantage of the fact. Need 
I say that old Oneida stands unrivalled for its 
beautiful scenery ? There is not a region that 
can surpass some parts of it in beauty, and 
grandeur. Make us a visit and see if my 
boast has not truth for its foundation. 
Westmoreland, N. Y., 1855. J. H. H. 
AUTUMN TRANSPLANTING. 
SHRUBBERY AND VINES. 
An anonymous writer says, let there always 
be a lawn in front of the house, and let the 
hardy climbers find all over it appropriate 
places on which to rest and fasten their won¬ 
drous burdens of green and loveliness; let 
honey suckles and jessamines, clematis and 
bignonia3, and wistaries, and roses cluster 
over it and weave for it a veil of beauty 
which the sun shall every moment diversify 
with bewitching light and shade, and in 
which the zephyrs shall always nestle and 
rock themselves to sleep ; where the bees shall 
come light-hearted and sing their monotonous 
lyrics of industry as they gather sweetest nec¬ 
tar; and where the little birds shall build 
their annual nests and rear their families, not 
more loving than the one that dwells beneath 
those embowering vines. Cultivating such 
natural ornaments upon and about a house 
will refine the taste of the family, will im¬ 
prove the manners, will elevate the morals 
and.strengthen all the domestic and social af¬ 
fections in their hearts. It will assist also in 
forming habits of industry and frugality, ai 
well as habit3 of observation and intelligent 
piety. Let a family plan how best to adorn 
a yard and decorate a house with foliage, and 
they will find springing up in their hearts a 
unity .of feeling and a strength of sympathy 
to which others are strangers. Each one la¬ 
bors to promote th8 pleasures of the others— 
hence domestic affection ; are all planning for 
the future—hence hopeful patience ; all seek 
to turn every spare hour to the common profit 
—hence orderly arrangement of time, frugali¬ 
ty and industry. 
lumestic foMmjL 
Bread from Sprouted Wheat. —If you 
see fit you may inform the readers of the Ru¬ 
ral who have sprouted wheat, that by grind¬ 
ing three pounds of rice with a bushel of 
wheat, and mixing hard when making the 
flour into bread, a good article of the “ staff 
of life” will be the result. The bread will be 
good as though the wheat was not sprouted, 
and enough more flour will be produced from 
the wheat to pay for the rice. We have tried 
the experiment, and proved the truth of above 
statement. — Guy B. Hathaway, Hudson, 
Michigan. 
RECIPE FOR CURING MEAT- 
Those who will carefully adopt bur method 
of curing pork and beef, will be enabled to 
enjoy as fine hams, tongues, “dried beef ” and 
rounds, as the Emperor of all the Russias can 
command, always providing that the meat 
cured is of the best quality. It is this : 
To one gallon of water, 
Take 1)4 lbs. of salt, 
)4 lb. of sugar, 
44 oz. of saltpetre, 
44 oz. of potash. 
In this ratio the pickle to be increased to 
any quantity desired. Let these be boiled to¬ 
gether, until all the dirt from the sugar, 
(which will not be a little,) rises to the top 
and is skimmed off. Then throw it into a 
tub to cool, and when cold, pour it over your 
beef or pork, to remain the usual time, say 
four or five weeks. The meat must be well 
covered with pickle, and should not be put 
down for at least two days after killing, du¬ 
ring which time it should be slightly sprinkled 
with powdered saltpetre. 
Several of our friends have omitted the 
boiling of the pickle, and found it to answer 
equally as well. It will not, however, answer 
quite so well. By boiling the pickle, it is pu¬ 
rified —for the amount of dirt which is thrown 
off by the operation, from the salt and sugar, 
would surprise one not acquainted with the 
fact.— Germantown Telegraph. 
This subject has often been written upon, 
but from the continued inquiries made of us, 
we are induced to give briefly the chief rea¬ 
sons for and against the practice. 
There are certain conditions under which 
fall transplanting is always advantageous, and 
generally best. These conditions are hardy 
trees and a dry soil. 
1. They should be hardy, for a tender tree 
is always made more susceptible to the cold 
of winter, by removal in Autumn. 
2. The soil should be dry, or admit such 
water as falls upon it to pass off freely. It is 
very severe treatment to allow water to col¬ 
lect about a tree, and then to freeze hard 
among the newly set roots. 
Apple trees are very hardy, and generally 
succeed best if set out in autumn, as the soil 
becomes well settled about them, and they 
have nothing to do early in spring but to 
commence growing. In this way they get an 
earlier start. If the roots of a fall transplant¬ 
ed apple tree are examined in spring about 
the usual time for digging trees, a new set of 
rootlets will be found pushing out from the 
old ones, ai least a week or two in advance of 
any that may be emitted by spring set trees. 
If, however, they are dug in the fail and well 
laid in, the same rootlets will be formed early 
in spring, and sueh trees, if set out carefully 
so as not to injure these, will possess a deci¬ 
ded advantage over such as are dug in the 
spring. 
. Cherry and pear trees are nearly as hardy 
as the apple, and may be advantageously re¬ 
moved in autumn, if the precautions we have 
pointed out, are observed) 
Peach trees are half-hardy, $nd their success 
can be relied on, only under favorable influ¬ 
ences. For instance, the wood should be well 
ripened, otherwise the shoots, or at least their 
tipa, will be winter-killed. The ground must 
not only admit the water to flow off freely, 
but must not retain it in the subsoil. 
It i3 absolutely necessary in all coses, and 
with ail sorts of trees, hardy and otherwise, 
to secure them from being blown about by 
the wind. Small trees, with long, carefully 
taken up roots, will not be easily moved, and 
all that is necessary with these in any case, 
will be to bank up a small steep mound 
around the stem a foot high—which will also 
protect them perfectly from the mice, and 
also assist in keeping the frost out of the 
roots, by the depth of the soil above them— 
these mounds to be removed the following 
spring. But larger trees, and especially those 
with the roots cut short, will require s'akiDg. 
The stake may be driven with less danger of 
hitting and injuring the roots, if the opera¬ 
tion is performed before the hole is filled. 
When ail the preceding precautions cannot 
be properly taken, it is best to procure the 
trees in autumn, and “lay them in by the 
roots, or dig a trench or hole, place the roots 
in, and bury that and half the stems for the 
winter.. Bnt.especial care is needed to fill in 
all the interstices with finely pulverized earth ; 
to place them on a dry bottom, or else on the 
surface of the ground, and bank up to them ; 
and where injury from mice is apprehended! 
to set them nearly upright, and throw up the 
earth in the form of a mound around them._ 
No mouse will ever ascend a mound of fresh 
earth under the snow ; and if there are no 
interstices among the trees, they will never 
touch them. 
It must not be forgotten, however, that im¬ 
portant as is the proper transplanting of 
trees, their subsequent success, fine growth 
and productiveness, depeud more on good, 
clean, and careful after culture, than on every 
thiDg else together— aud that the planter 
might as well expect to raise 40 bushels of 
corn in an unplowed meadow, as to look for 
truit or young trees growing among grass and 
weeds.— Horticulturist. 
i To Keki> Preserves. —Apply the white o 
cranberries on upland have not been re-i au egg, with a suitable brush to a single 
markably productive the past season. A thickness of white tissue paper, with which 
; j^sackusetts grower raised 36 bushels on cover the jars, overlapping the edges an inch 
t ods ot ground, but these he sold at $4 or two. When dry, the whole will become as 
per bushel. I become as tight as a drum. 
A Hint on Household Management.— 
Have you ever observed what a dislike ser¬ 
vants have to anything cheap ? They hate 
saving their master’s money. I tried this ex¬ 
periment with great success the other day. 
Finding we consumed a vast deal of soap, I 
sat down in my thinking chair, and took the 
soap question into consideration, and I found 
reason to suppose we were using a very expen¬ 
sive article, where a much cheaper one would 
answer the purpose better. I ordered a half 
dozen pounds of both sorts, but took the pre¬ 
caution of changing the papers oa which the 
prices were marked, before giving them into 
the hands of Betty. 
“ Well, Betty, which soap do you find 
washes the best?” 
“ Oh, sir, the dearest, in the blue paper ; it 
makes the lather as well again as the other.” 
“ Well, Betty, you shall always have it 
then.” 
And the unsuspecting Betty saved me some 
pounds a year, and washed fi the clothes very 
much better. 
Pudding Unique. —A quarter pound of 
raw potatoes, scraped ; a quarter pound of 
raw carrots, scraped ; a quarter pound of cur¬ 
rants, and the same quantity each of suet, 
chopped fine, and flour ; a little salt and all¬ 
spice. Mix all these well together, and make 
it the consistence of a puddiDg for boiling, 
by stirring in molasses; about two table- 
spoonfuls will be enough, or it may require 
rather more. This should be put into a 
greased puddiDg mould, and boiled two hours. 
It may be served up either with or without 
sweet sauce. 
its, it. 
LIST OF PATENTS. 
Anted from the United States Patent Office for the vseek 
ending Oct. 16, 1855— each hearing that date. 
Jame.s M. Cook, Taunton, llas3., dust deflector for 
windows of railroad cars. 
Albert Fuller, Boston, improved faucet. 
A. Hotchkin, Schenevus, N. Y., bench hooks. 
Andrew Hotchkiss, Sharon, Conn., imnroved projec¬ 
tile for ordnance. 
Benj. Hancock, Troy, improvement in excavators. 
Jasper Johnson. Genesee, improvement in vises. 
Joseph Keech, Waterloo, N. Y., improvement in wash¬ 
boards. 
Ebenezer McCormic, Connellsville, Pa., improvement 
in seed planters. 
John McLaughlin, Steubenville, Ohio, improvement in 
wringers for cloths. 
^ Hiram Morris, Elijah Gorton and Edward Saeger, 
Crawford County, Pa., impact water wheels. 
Lewis P. Pease, Mount Carmel, Ill., improvement in 
churns. 
Isaac M. Singer, N, Y., improvement in sewing ma¬ 
chines. 
Benj. Wright and John Bean, Hudson, Mich., improve¬ 
ment in gram separators. 
Daniel K. Winder, Cincinnati, inking apparatus for 
card printing presses. 
Edwin Wilson, Prattshurgh, N. Y., improved exten¬ 
sion reach for carriages. 
H. B Weaver, South Windham, Conn., improvement 
in breech loading Are arms. 
Chas. Love, Peru. Ill., improvement in washing ma 
chines. 
John H. Doolittle, Waterbury, Conn., assignor to the 
American Hosiery Co, of same place, improvement in 
knitting machines. 
Francis G. Wynkoon, Corning, assignor to Henry L. 
Edson, of same place, improvement in seed planters. 
Theo. Ackerman, Cincinnati, assignor (o H. H. How- 
man, Wm. Muhle and Theo. Ackerman, of same place, 
improvement in casting teapot spouts and handles. 
THE FORM AND USES OF PAPER, 
It is light, soft, and fleecy as snow, it pro¬ 
tects the finest cutlery; pressed into the form 
of a roller, it becomes as hard as metal; and 
turned in a lathe, is used as an instrument for 
manufacturing paper itself. It is a package 
for the common wares, and a thin slip of it 
pays for an estate or a cargo of the richest 
merchandise. It now constitutes the chief 
money of the world. The bulk of all com¬ 
merce is carried on by its means. All the 
wealth of the opulent classes consists of bits 
of paper. Preserving the impressions of price¬ 
less skill, jealously guarded in portfolios, or 
surrounded with rich frames, it is among the 
most valued possessions of the man of genius ; 
at the same time it is proverbially the cheap¬ 
est of all materials. Playirg cards, trays of 
all kinds, drinking vessels, boxes, mouldings 
and cornices for rooms, panels for apartments, 
and bulkheads for ships, are all made of paper. 
It covers our walls, and boards for binding 
books, frames for pictures, toy3 for children, 
ornaments for boudoirs, are amongst the few 
of the countless uses to which ingenuity has 
applied old r8g3. Perhaps the most singular 
part of the wiiole is, that paper is made from 
articles which have no value except as mate¬ 
rials for its manufacture. The vilest refuse— 
our cast off garments, the beggar’s rags, the 
waste of cotton, worn out ropes, all of which 
we should be troubled to dispose of—is con¬ 
verted by the paper maker into an article in¬ 
dispensable to civilized man.— Sci. Am. 
Side Screw Steamers. —The steamer Bal¬ 
tic, of Lake Erie, once a paddle wheel beat, 
was divested of her paddles and engines last 
year, and has been propelled during the pre¬ 
sent season with Capt. Whittaker’s side screws 
—one at each side—and two short stroke high 
pressure engines connected by direct applica¬ 
tion to the cranks. It has been running—in 
connection with the New York Central Rail¬ 
road a,nd Lake Erie Railroad—between Buf¬ 
falo and Sandusky cities, and with astonish¬ 
ing succere. She now carries 300 tun 3 more 
freight, and uses only one-half the fuel that 
she required with her paddle wheels and old 
engines. Her cylinders are of three feet 
stroke aud 26 inches bore, and her steam pres¬ 
sure is 45 lbs. on the square inch.— Sci. Am. 
Valuable Discovery. —Niepiece, the co¬ 
laborer of Daguerre, has, after' years of study 
and experience, succeeded in almost perfecting 
the art his associate discovered. 
_ “ I have begun,” says he, “ with reprodu¬ 
cing in the camera obscura, colored engrav¬ 
ings, then artificial and natural flowers, and 
lastly dead nature, a doll dressed in stuffs of 
different colors, and always trimmed with gold 
aud silver lace. I have obtained all the colors, 
and what is more extraordinary and curious, 
the gold and silver are depicted with their 
metallic lustre, and rock crystal, porcelain 
and alabaster, are depleted with lustre natu¬ 
ral to them.” 
The bi sulphuret of carbon is made by 
raising charcoal to a red heat in a retort, and 
then introducing small pieces of sulphur.— 
The vapor that passes off is condensed into a 
liquid by being passed through a worm im¬ 
mersed in cold water. This liquid is sensi¬ 
tive to heat, aud easily condensed with cold. 
It cannot dissolve in water, and it is there¬ 
fore well adapted for a motive agent by 
condensing it under water in a covered con¬ 
denser. It is a combustible compound, and 
ignites with a brilliant flash of flame, but 
without a violent explosion. 
Meerschaum is a mineral of a white earthy 
appearance, and composed of silica and car¬ 
bonic acid. It is found in Piedmont, Wales 
and other parts of the world. When first dug 
up, it is soft and greasy, aud lathers like soap, 
and on this account is used by some Tartar 
tribes for washing their clothes, instead of 
soap. The well known Turkey tobacco pipes 
are made of it, by a process like that of mak¬ 
ing pottery ware. The bowls of there pipes 
are prepared for sale in Germany, by soaking 
them first in tallow, then in wax, after which 
they are polished up. 
An interesting experiment was lately per¬ 
formed by Professot Farraday. A diamond, 
held by a little platinum clamp, and ignited to 
whiteness in the oxy-hydrogen flame, was 
plunged, while incandescent, into a jar of oxy¬ 
gen. It was speedily dissipated into carbonic 
acid gas. 
CLEANING STRAW HATS. 
Straw hats — such as leghorns, tuscans, 
dunstables, &c.—when they become soiled, are 
ceaned as follows:—They are first steeped 
for half an hour in a tub of clean warm 
water, in which there has been dissolved a lit¬ 
tle sola ash. This softens the grease, which 
has been given out to the hats from the hair, 
and prepares them for the soaping. Each 
hat is then placed on a smooth board over a 
tub, rubbed with bar soap, and then scrubbed 
with a hard hair brush until all the oil, grease, 
and dirt are taken out. They are then rinsed 
in two tubfulls of warm water, and left to 
drip in a basket for about ten minutes ; after 
this they are placed in a clean tub containing 
dissolved oxalic acid, about one degree in 
strength. They are sunk in liquor and left to 
steep for half an hour, then taken out, and 
hung up to dry in the air, or a moderately 
warm room. 
Before being quite dry, they are removed 
and subjected to an atmosphere of sulphurous 
gas in a close box. A few pieces of roll 
brimstone are placed on the top of some red 
hot coals in an iron pot, which is set on the 
bottom of the box, aud the lid is closed tight¬ 
ly down. They are subjected to this gas for 
about six hours, then taken out, sponged well 
with a strong solution of white parchment 
size, hung up until they become partially dry, 
and are then blocked and pressed ready to be 
trimmed. When straw comes in contact 
with an alkaline solution like soda or soap 
suds, it assumes a deep yellow color; the ox¬ 
alic acid partly removes this, and also any 
iron stains which may be on straw hats. The 
sulphurous gas is called “bleaching the straw,” 
but some straw hat cleaners never submit 
their hats to this part of the process; and 
their hats look about as well as those who 
pursue it. It is an offensive process ; the gas 
is exceedingly disagreeable, and if it can be 
dispensed with it is wisdom to do so. 
Some use lemon juice as a substitute for 
oxalic acid, but it is more expensive and not 
quite so efficacious. Some have used sour 
milk as a bleaching agent for straw, but 
it is scarcely possible to wash it out, and it 
should therefore never be used; vinegar, if 
rendered colorless by being passed through 
ground charcoal, is much better. The fore¬ 
going process for cleaning straw hats is that 
pursued by some of the most experienced 
straw hat bleachers in our country. Care 
must be taken to remove every particle of 
grease from each hat before it is submitted to 
the acid. Those straw hats which require al¬ 
tering in shape, have their fronts separated 
from their crowns before being washed ; they 
are much easier handled than entire hats.— 
Ladies who use colored oil for the hair, soon 
render their hats unfit to wear, as the oil i 3 
generally colored with madder or alkanet 
root, which stains the straw with a perma¬ 
nent color. 
Tunneling the Niagara. —The Buffaloni- 
ans, under the impulse of a general enterprise, 
which does them vast credit, have it in con¬ 
templation to tunnel the Niagara, and thus 
link the great Canada railways with their 
city. Mayor Cook recommends the project, 
and with an eye upon the indomitable cour¬ 
age of private enterprise, says : 
“I entertain no doubt whatever that a 
company will be readily organized that will 
subscribe for, and take all the stock necessary, 
and press the work to au early completion ; 
and therefore feel justified in saying that, in 
my judgement, so great will be the demand 
for this stock that there is no probability of 
any demand upon the city to take any part 
of it.” .. 
The report of Mr. "Wallace, an ei . >r, 
who has made an estimate upon the . of 
the work, represents the work as feasible.— 
The estimated cost of the tunnel is $659,204. 
The cost of tunnel under the river, under a 
part of the city, and railway through the city, 
$853,747 .—Cleveland Herald. 
New Building Material. —The Cleveland 
Herald speaks of a new kind of bricks which 
have been introduced there for building pur¬ 
poses. They have the appearance of granite, 
are made of sand aud lime, aud the blocks 
subjected to a great pressure while in nearly a 
dry state. In size th y are ten by four and 
five inches, and hollowed, the indented part 
being seven by one and a half inches. After 
the bricks are formed into shape and pressed, 
they are subjected to the action of the atmos¬ 
phere, and soon become as hard as rock, and 
insensible to the frost or rain. These bricks 
cost twenty dollars per thousand ; but the in¬ 
ventors say that they are cheaper than clay 
bricks that cost but three dollars, because 
they furnish so smooth an interior surface that 
no plastering is necessary, and being hollow¬ 
ed, the walls do not require to be furred. 
Mineral Statistics of the United King¬ 
dom.— Mr. Robert Hunt gives the following 
statistics of the minerals raised yearly in the 
United Kingdom Coal; 64,661,401 tons, 
worth nearly fifteen million sterling. Of tin, 
the annual produce is stated at 5,763 tons, 
which, at from £112 to £118 a ton, would be 
worth nearly £700,000. Of copper, 13,000 
tons were produced in 1S54, worth about £1,- 
229,000 ; of lead, 54,000 tons ; and of silver, 
700,000 ounces. Of pig iron, the produce 
was 3,069,838 tons, valued at £9,500,000. 
Mr. Hunt has ascertained that more than 
300,000 persons are employed in mining ope¬ 
rations in Great Britain—nearly one-third of 
them being males under 20, while nearly 9,000 
are females; and of these the larger proportion 
are under 20 years of age. 
A papier mache manufacturer in England 
has submitted to the authorities a model hut 
of that material, intended for camp use. The 
papier-mache pulp is mixed with rags, the re¬ 
sult of which is a paper plank, much stronger 
than wood, all bat uninflammable, a non-con¬ 
ductor of heat or cold, and impenetrable by 
wet, as well as very durable. 
