MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER 
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HORTICULTURAL LITERATURE, 
When we consider the extent of the soil of 
our country which i3 still uncultivated, and 
reflect how much of that now subject to the 
plow is but imperfectly tilled — when we cal¬ 
culate the daily increasing homesteads to be 
Baade comfortable by a fall supply of vegeta¬ 
bles and fruits, and the eyes to be gladdened 
by the pleasing forms of flowers and shrubs, 
and trees — we must make provision for the 
supply of skill and knowledge to the rural 
population, through the medium of the period¬ 
ical press, else with our deficient stock of 
professional aid, the progress of horticultural 
improvement may be retarded considerably. 
Horticulture differs from its kindred science, 
agriculture, chiefly in the vast amount of 
minute detail included in its sphere of opera¬ 
tions. Based as these operations are, on the 
same general laws which should regulate the 
labors of the farmer, there can be no discrep¬ 
ancy in the results arrived at by strictly con¬ 
forming to them, either in the farm or garden. 
In one case, however, the field is extensive, 
and the subject easily grasped : in the other 
we have to do with numerous forms, sufficient¬ 
ly distinct to require some special attention 
to the peculiar requirements of each. 
The farmer who prepares a field for a crop 
of parsnips has little to fear as to the result, 
since the requirements of that root are so 
familiar to him, that he must be very ignorant 
if he cannot determine with sufficient accuracy, 
from the character and texture of the soil, 
whether he may expect an average, a deficient 
or an abundant crop, by the precaution taker). 
In the garden of similar extent, twenty various 
descriptions of vegetable products have to he 
suited in the nature of the soil, the quality of 
manure, seasons of sowing and reaping, culti¬ 
vating and saving. And while by a judicious 
classification these may be reduced to a few 
leading groups, still there are peculiarities 
which demand consideration, and thus it is 
that the best of farmers may not be a skillful 
gardener. The skilrul farmer selects the 
most suitable portion of bis farm for a certain 
crop, whose nature and requirements he has 
studied, cultivates and manures it; the garden¬ 
er adapts the soil of his garden, previously 
uniform in its character, to the various crops 
to be taken from it during one season, by 
selection of different kinds of manure, by 
shelter, protection and choice of suitable loca¬ 
tion. Nor is he satisfied with a single annual 
return from the well tilled soil; repeated suc¬ 
cessions of roots and green crops are secured, 
thereby compematirg for the limitation of 
gpnc-, producing a fair remuneration for his 
skilled labor, by the tripled or quadrapled 
harvest, which quickly disappears, trans¬ 
ported daily to the nearest city, where the 
demand for choice vegetables still continues 
unsatisfied. 
Thus gardening differs from farming not so 
much in theory as in more minute details of 
praefee, demanding increased attention and an 
acquaintance with a more extended range of 
subjects, ard forecast to provide for the suc¬ 
ceed irg and -ever varying crop, by providing 
the suitable renovatirg material in a fit state 
and a proper season. Nor can the gardener 
ever be content—if he would be progressive— 
to consider himself proficient in his business. 
Each fre.-h arrival from some distant colony 
or unexplored region, adds new materials to 
the long list of esculents dedicated to his 
especial care, whose history, nature, constitu¬ 
ents, and habits mu3t at once be studied and 
rendered familiar. It has been clearly demon¬ 
s’rated by the experience of the past few 
years, that we can no lorger remain dependent 
on professional horticultural skill in the gar¬ 
den cr orchard, for directions as to the treat¬ 
ment of the various vegetables and fruits 
which our wants require. The skilled prac¬ 
tical hands are few iu proportion to the pupils 
who seek for instruction, hence the necessity 
of providing by means of reliable horticultural 
writers and horticultural journals, for the 
dissemination of those indispensable hints ard 
results of experience, so necessary to aid the 
hopeful amateur, who, relying upon his own 
perseverance, cheerfully takes the spade and 
the kiiUe, determined to be his own gardener 
if he can procure no other. 
Our hope is that but few years will pass 
ere we see some measures taken to organize 
a system of Horticultural Education. A sys¬ 
tem of training, which, in addition to hints 
and notes of actual experiments and results, 
would point cut these in the orchard and gar¬ 
den that would set apart the skillful practical 
Horticulturist, whose education and abilities 
m ; ght fit him to be a teacher of theory as well 
as practice, to impart that acquired knowl¬ 
edge by ac’ual illustrations. No longer should 
we be deceived by nostrums from the fertile 
imaginations of the mere horticultural literati 
of our rapid age. While we await this de. 
s : rable step towards a sound horticultural 
education, let us at least, through the impor¬ 
tant agency of the periodical press, encourage 
the study of gardening, both in its practical 
details and theoretical deductions, by the en¬ 
couragement of practical men to aid the mere 
writers by their crude though valuable notes 
and details of practice and experiment. The 
thoroughly skilled practitioner seldom meets 
the readers of a weekly newspaper in its col¬ 
umns. The Rural may boast of a few who 
occasionally shine out when some popular 
writer essays to advance an ill-digested theory 
out of his own line, or would by his ignorance 
on a subject foreign to his department lead his 
confiding readers into an error. 
Few indeed real ize the demand, day by day 
increasing, for fruit trees for the West. The 
enthusiastic planter procures the trees, but 
he must provide a little skill, either personal 
or delegated, to secure the fruit. Yet after 
all we are almost persuaded that there is no 
secret in fruit cultivation ; no great mystery 
in setting out pear tree3 or apple trees ; no 
cunning art in orcharding, since we are shown 
immense specimens of the very choicest fruit 
from the most remote sections of our more 
recently confederated States,—pears, as it has 
been declared, “ outgrown all knowing.”— 
The presumption is that the virgin soils of 
these new regions are the means, yet we would 
suggest the possibility that some son fremthe 
Empire State having taken west a little skill, 
and perchance there might he found quietly 
secreted in a niche of some of those great 
Iowa pear orchards, copies of our leading ru¬ 
ral journals with the detailed practice of 
some of our eminent pomolcgists. 
Our object is to ergege for the subject of 
sound, practical horticulture a little more 
consideration, not only in the columns of the 
Rural, but also in many other soi-disant 
journals of professed ability in these matters 
—solicitirg a little mere discrimination be¬ 
fore the numerous remedies, and systems, ard 
cures are hurried before the perplexed reader, 
resting satisfied that a small portion of au¬ 
thentic, reliable information—even should it 
not differ essentially from the stereotyped 
counsels of the “ old writers”—will in the end 
be more valued and more gratefully acknow¬ 
ledged than showing any plausible theories 
about Fire Blight, Curculio Remedy, Black 
Knot, Saltirg Orchards, Tan fer Strawber¬ 
ries, Electricity as Manure, or any other of 
the hundred and one new developments.—s. 
ARE WE TO LOSE OUR PEACHES? 
[Continued from page 351 ] 
I have said that the disease of Peach 
trees (the yellows) was capable of being com¬ 
municated to the fruit upon healthy trees, by 
thp pollen from diseased trees. This may 
seem to some rather paradoxical, but I state 
it from actual observation. I have also stat¬ 
ed that the disease was so named from the 
appearance of the foliage of the diseased trees. 
Now the question may be asked by some, 
“ how can the fruit be affected and the tree 
remain in a healthy condition ?” This ques’ion 
I shall leave for vegetable physiologists to 
explain, as my object is to state facts, and 
have already said that I have examined trees, 
where the foliage showed no indication of dis¬ 
ease, upon which not a fruit could be found 
but showed unmistakable marks of the im¬ 
pregnation having been by pollen from trees 
in an unhealthy state. Perhaps physiologists 
will tell you that the juices of the fruit do not 
descend to form wood as they do from the 
leaves, and therefore the tree does not suffer 
by the virus communicated to the pistil of the 
flower which affects the fruit only. However 
this may be, I have seen tree3 that were sur¬ 
rounded with diseased ones, retain a healthy 
foliage for many years, and yet did not pro¬ 
duce one healthy fruit. 
I would advise all lovers of this delicious 
fruit to make themselves acquainted with this 
disease and study preventives, a3 cure is be¬ 
yond hope. 
As I have stated that the fruit distributed 
from New York, the past season, through dif¬ 
ferent State3 was diseased, particular atten¬ 
tion should be given to the destruction of 
young trees from pits so distributed.3 
Horticulturists of Western New York and 
other sections of our country where the Peach 
flourishes, should feel the importance of this 
subject and guard against the introduction of 
the disease in every possible manner. The 
interest of our Nurserymen will prompt them 
to guard against the introduction of it into 
their Nurseries, and do not consider them ac 
tuated by selfish motives when they advise 
you not to send abroad for young peach trees, 
although you may in some instances procure 
them at. a cheaper rate. It would be bad pol¬ 
icy for any man in a healthy peach growing 
district to accept young peach trees as a pres¬ 
ent, coming from a section where it was known 
the disease prevailed,—and I should be glad 
if it could be made lawful for any man to 
enter another’s premises, and destroy any tree 
which was known to be affected with the dis¬ 
ease. 
Discouraging as the effects of the last win¬ 
ter were, by destroying the fruit blossoms of 
the peach tree, and discouraging a 9 this dis¬ 
ease appears, I think the cultivators of th ; s 
fruit have sufficient encouragement to double 
their diligence, and extend their cultivation, 
lhe prices paid iu New York, particularly in 
the latter part of the season, certainly held 
out inducements for growing fruit for that 
market; for the general price for such peaches 
as the Morris White, ai d some others, were 
from three to four dollars the basket, contain¬ 
ing half a bushel. 
I think the Nurserymen of Western New 
York might safely increase the cultivation of 
young peach trees, as many are now finding 
out the danger of receiving young trees from 
infected districts, and so long as they can 
keep Western New York clear of the disease, 
a sure market is open for their young trees 
and all the good varieties of Peaches that can 
be produced at remunerating prices. g. 
New Haven, Oswego Co., Oct., 1855. 
PRUNING GRAPE VINES. 
One of our neighbors—that is, if proximity 
makes people neighbors, for our yards join— 
has a vine, a noble vine, planted by the Knick¬ 
erbocker owner who built the house when the 
locality was “ up town ”— it i3 not up town 
now. Last year this vine bore a fair yield of 
grapes, though it was not trimmed, for it had 
its roots within reach cf those city reservoirs 
of fertility that poison the air of back yard 3 
with the effluvia. Last sprirg the new shoots 
started out full of vigor, and i-et with fruit in 
such profusion, and foretold the result that 
would follow where the pruning knife is 
neglected. The owner of his “ own vine,” 
without tqe “ fig tree ” was greedy of a great 
crop. He certainly had the promise. But 
promises are like “ pie-crust.” In thi 3 case, 
at any rate, they were made to be broken.— 
All the summer, we watched the progress of 
this vine and its bushels of fruit. We never 
saw a vine heavier loaded. It had been 
trained along a trellis, and upon a roofing, 
spreading over some three hundred feet of 
surface. It was a sight that we doubt not 
gladdened the heart of many a one that look¬ 
ed anxiously forward to October, and rich 
ripe grapes. 
How often, as we looked down from-our 
side, did we long to get over and put in the 
pruning knife, cutting away two-thirds of all 
that promised crop. We did not even offer 
to tell the owner what to do, because unasked 
advice is rarely kindly taken. So the green 
grapes grew, and looked well till nearly full 
size, and then the over tasked vine began to 
droop, and day by day, the leaves turned 
brown and sere, and now October is here, and 
there hang the green grapes withered and 
worthless ; not a single one will ever ripen. 
Greediness of a great crop, or want of knowl¬ 
edge how to gain it, has lost the whole. If 
this vice had been vigorously pruned last fall 
or winter, and full two-thirds of the branches 
cat away as soon as they formed, these that 
remained would have grown perfect, and the 
owner would have enjoyed a luscious repast. 
Let all owners of vines be advised in time for 
another year.— N. Y. Tribune. 
The Coffee Tree, in Maine.— Mr. Drew, 
of the Rural Intelligencer, says that a friend 
of his in the town of Mt. Yernon, has for the 
last three years raised the coffee plant in the 
open air, from seeds brought from Cuba. It 
grows about two feet h : gh, and produces its 
berries in pods, something like peas. The 
plants, he says, have matured, even this cold 
season, and the berries ripened without injury 
from frosts. He has promised us some of the 
coffee of this year’s growth to plant in cur 
own garden, for he desires that we also should 
test the truth of his experiment. 
Blackberries in the Middle of October. 
Prof. Page showed us yeeterday a bucch cf 
blackberries, eight in number, in every stage 
of prog-ess, from the ripe to the green fiuit. 
It was plucked from a vine of the new varie¬ 
ty known as the Lawton cr New Rochelle 
blackberry, and i3 the second crop from the 
same root. We have now strawberries, rasp¬ 
berries, and blackberries in October, and 
what next ?— Nat. Int. 
ttMlMiMiMK'tiHillinuiKMilllMlllUllinkflUMlMiflUmntniMUlhllD 
Keeping Eggs. —Eggs can be kept for 
years in lime w^ter, made like common white¬ 
wash. A pine barrel or tub is the best thing 
to put them in. First make your whitewash, 
which must stand two or three weeks before 
usirg, or it will cook the eggs. Putlheeggs 
into the barrel and pour on the lime water— 
the lime settles around the eggs, and the 
water should stand over them three or four 
inches deep. Always keep water on top, and 
they will keep for years, if desired. 
Bird’s-nest Pie.— Take a deep baking tin, 
and set as many apples in it as will cover the 
bottom. Pare them and remove the core 
from one end ; make a custard ard fill each 
apple, as it is placed in the dish. Then make 
a thick flour batter, peur over the whole and 
bake one hour. Serve with sour sauce.—0. 
Farmer. 
Boiled Pot-Pie.— Take two quarts of ap¬ 
ples, pare, core and quarter, then put them 
into a pot or kettle, and sprinkle on a little 
sugar, grated nutmeg, and pour in wa'er 
enough to boil them. Then make a light sa!- 
eratus crust and roll one inch thick, of the 
size of the kettle, and lay it on the apple; 
boil three-fourths of an houv without cessa¬ 
tion. Prepare the sauce in the same way as 
for the bird’s nest pie.— lb. 
A quart of flour we’ghs just one pound, 
quart of corn meal one pound and two ounces, 
quart of butter one pound one ounce, a quart 
of loaf sugar one pound, quart of whne su¬ 
gar, powdered, one pound one omce, a quart 
of best brown sugar one pound two ounces, 
ten eggs weigh one pound, sixteen ’arge table 
spoonsful make a half pint, eight make a gill, 
four half a gill, &c. 
LIST OE PATENTS. 
Ismid frem the United States Patent Office for Ckt 
ending Oct. 23, 1855— each hearing that dote. 
John Bell, of Harlem, improved dovs-tailiDg machine. 
Cyrus Clapp, Montague, Mass., improvement in sej the 
fastening. 
Wm W. Cumberland, Newark, improvement in felt¬ 
ing hat bodies. 
Jno, B. Creemer, Philadelphia, improvement in coal 
lifters. 
Julius C. Dickey, Saratoga SpriDgs, improvement in 
gas regulator*. 
Samuel S. Day, New York, improved daguerreotype 
plate vise. 
Sam’l Fays, Lowell, improvement in finishing carpets. 
Thomas Harsha, West Union, 0. card printirg press. 
George G. Hunt, Wolcotville) Conn., improvement in 
melodeons. 
Charles Mchon, Washington, improvement in safety 
attachment in front of railroad cars. 
Daniel B. Neal, Mount Gilead, Ohio, improvement in 
seed planters. 
St’mmel Lutz, Philadelphia, improvement in sealing 
preserve cans. 
Oscar Reichenbach, Norriton Township, Pa., improve¬ 
ment in preparing cotton seed for extracting oil. 
Robe t A. Smith, Philadelphia, improved machine for 
sweeping gutters &c. 
Wm. S. Loughborough, Rochester, machine for com¬ 
posing and setting types. 
Joseph Woodruff Rahway N. J., improvement in 
elastic diaphragm steam pressure regulators. 
George H. Yard, Trenton, N. J., improvement in 
whiffle-tree3. 
For the week ending Nov. 6. 1855. 
Henry Burt Newark, improvement in machines for 
sawing marble. 
Tho.L W. Bakcwell, Cincinnati, method cf heating air 
for blast furnaces. 
George C. Barney, Biookiine, Mass., improvement in 
whiffle-trees. 
[Jerry A. Bieckman, Eonsdorf, Prussia, bench plane 
iron, 
Andrew Blaikie and Walter Clark, St. Ci ir, Mich, 
lath machine. 
Aler. H. Brown. Washington, improvement in brick 
machines. 
Thomas Doyle, New York, improved arrangement of 
two be m engines with parallel shafts. 
Michael Egan, Ogdensburg, improvement in automa¬ 
tic lubricators for railroad axles. 
Arasmus French, Waterbury, Conn , improvement in 
knitt ng mach ne3. 
Darnel Hildeman, Morgantown, Va., improvement in 
washing machines. 
John Harris, Lawrence, Mass., improvement in self- 
a-rirg mules. 
D W. G. Humphrey, Gray, Me., improvement inlocks 
Stephen Hill and Wm. J. Wood, Rochester, improve¬ 
ment in gas holders. 
Horace Lane, Windsor, Vt., saw horse. 
Jeremiah A Marden, Newburyport, and Henry A. 
Butters, Haverhill, improvement in machines for split¬ 
ting leather. 
Wm. Niron, Adrian, Mich., improved cutter-head for 
rotary plane . 
Bernard O Rsilly, New York, improved composition 
for kmcling fires. 
Loomis E. Payne and Orvis Pier, Stewc, Vt., mortis- 
irg machine. 
Chas Perley, New York, improvement in chain locker 
p'pes. 
Henry N. Pettingill, Rockford, Ill., improvement in 
steam-coilers. 
Robert G. Pine, Newark, improvemei t in marble 
sawing machines. 
Elias Matteson. Dayton. Walter M, Parris, Dorset, Vt., 
and Hervey Parris, Pawlet, Yt., improvement imotary 
steam engines. 
J. W. Ross, Zanesville, improved mode of hanging 
window sasbe3. 
Jrmes Sacgebury, Philadelphia, improvement in 
c othes clamps. 
Samuel W. Shryock, Hopkinsville, Ky., improvement 
in drilling and boring machine. 
Elliot Savoge, East Berlin. Conn., improvement in ar¬ 
ranging andteeding screw planks. 
I-aac M. Singer, New fork, improvement in sewing 
machines. 
J. Sutton. N. Y., self-feeding atmospheric lubricator. 
Amos Westcoit, Syracuse, improvement in aoor- 
springs. 
Pe,er Van Zile, Searles M. Griffin and J. W. Dey, New 
York, sofa life-boat. , 
John W. Davies, Richmond, Va., chimney cap. 
KE-IStUK. 
Jonathan Haines, Pekin, Ill., improvement in harvest¬ 
ing machines. Patented March 27, 1849. 
ADDITIONAL iiIPKOViMSXT. 
Henry Rattan, Cobourg, Canada, ventilating and 
warm.ng homes. Patented Dec. 6, 1843. 
TURBINE WATER WHEELS 
We owe an -apology to James B. Francis, 
Engineer of thi Corporations of Loweil, 
Mass., lor not noticing at an earlier date his 
work on the above subject, which doe3 him 
great credit as a man of science ard engineer¬ 
ing skill. We had received ecnmramcations 
last year from two of our correspondents, in 
which they stated they were preparing works 
escriptive of their experiments with lurbice 
water wheels, ard anticipating the early pub¬ 
lication of these, we wa.ted till now in the 
vain hops of being able to compare and pre¬ 
sent some of the peculiar information belong¬ 
ing to each. 
The work of Mr. Francis is a large vol¬ 
ume, illustrated with beautiful plates, and is 
tie only book worthy of the name ever pub¬ 
lished in our country, or any other, on the 
subject of “ Turbine Wneels.” The experi¬ 
ments described in this work were made on 
that hard-worked stream, the “ Merrimack 
River,” at Pawtucket Falls, where throbs the 
heart of busy Lowell, the greatest manu-ae- 
torirg city on our continent. The fail, in or¬ 
dinary low water, is 33 feet, and the proprie¬ 
tors of the locks and eanais on the river at 
Lowell hake grant-.d 139 11-30 mill powers, 
of 3595-933 cubic ieet of water per second, 
amounting in ail to 8965 4 horse power, 
which is now employed in turning the busy 
wheels, and giving motion to thousands of 
spindles, looms, &e., belongirg to eleven com¬ 
panies, employirg the immense invested capi¬ 
tal of §13,000,000 in manufacturing. Much 
of this great water is employed on turbine 
water wneels of a very superior description, 
as the results of expenmen's show. At one 
time breast whee s were exclusively used at 
Lowell, and until the year 1844 much preju 
dice existed against reaction wheels. “ The 
attention,” says Mr. Francis, “of American 
engineers was first directed to improved re¬ 
action wheels in France, by some articles 
published in the Journal of the Franklin in¬ 
stitute, and by a translation of Morin’s 
French treatise in 1843, by Elwood Morris. 
The experiments with one of Mr. Morris’ 
wheels indicate a useful effect of 75 per cent., 
and this being as good as that claimed for over¬ 
shot wheels, the attention of our millwrights 
was directed to their merits.” It appears to us 
that the pamphlet of William Whitelaw, on 
re-action water wheels, published in 1840, de¬ 
serves some credit for Drioging the subject 
prominently before our people, as his wa^er 
wheel, erected in that year, indicated o useful 
effect of 75 per cent. 
From the detailed experiments of Mr. 
Francis, we are led to conclude that over shot, 
breast, and under-shot wheels should no longer 
be tolerated, as the very best of them give 
out no more than 75 per cent, of the water 
power, and are far inferior in efficacy to the 
most improved turbines. 
In 1844,.Uriah A. Boyden, an eminent hy¬ 
draulic engineer of Massachusetts, construct¬ 
ed a turbine wheel for the Appleton Co.’s cot¬ 
ton, mill at Lowell, which was found by ex¬ 
periments with the dynamometer to give out 
i 8 P er een , t - of the water power. This was 
first rate, but greater triumphs were yet in 
s,ore for Mr. Boyden. In 1846 he superin¬ 
tended the construction of three turbines of 
190 horse power each, for the same company, 
and by the terms of the contract his compen¬ 
sation depended upon their performance. If 
the mean power derived from them was equal 
to 18 per cent, oi the water power expended, 
he was to be paid §1,200 for his services ex¬ 
clusive of patent rights ; and if still greater 
k? recei ^ e az i additional compel sation 
or §400 for each per Gent, of power gained. 
In accordance with the contract, the useful 
effect ot two cf these wheels were tested by a 
»ery perfect dynamometer, and the quantity 
of water gaged by. awier. The observations 
on Uem were put into the possession of Mr. 
Francis for computation, and he found that 
the mean maximum of their effective power 
was 88. per cent, of the water extended.— 
According to the terms of the contract, Mr. 
Boyden was then fully paid $5,200 tor h ; s 
cervices and patent rights. Tins was certain- 
-y a g r sat triumph for him—one worthy of 
universal admiration. The experiments upon 
one oi these wheels, and the flow of water 
over the wiers, are ably and fully detailed, 
with illustrations, in this work, which should 
be in tne possession of every hydraulic en¬ 
gineer. * 
lb ere is no subject whichhas ergaged more 
discussion, and respecting which a greater 
variety ot.opinion prevails among millwrights 
than turbine water wheels. We are convinced 
that the dynamometer is the only test of the 
working qualities of each wheel, and no other 
should be admitted, for it is a positive fact 
that, the effective value of such wheels, ac¬ 
cording to their construction, varies from 50 
to 88 per cent. 
We Dave a letter now before us frn*" rr^tn 
& Arthur, of Laurel, Mri,« wffifen they state 
that one of h. wan Dewater’s 9 feet Jonval 
turbines does all the work of their factors, 
driving 1 200 dead spindles, 36 locms, and the 
necessary machinery and shaitirg for making 
No. 6j.< yarn and cloth from it, with 20 per 
cent, less water than three of Parker’s whee's. 
They do not state what the total useful effect 
of the wheel is, but, that it is a gain of from 
2o to 30 per cent, over lhe three of Parker’s, 
which it has superseded, for with these wheels 
the factory never cou'd turn out over 600 lbs. 
of yarn per day, while with the Van Dewa¬ 
ter wheels, it turns cut 750 lbs. without diffi¬ 
culty,—sometimes running in two feet cf back 
water. 
This information which we have presented, 
respecting.the value of turbine water wheels, 
should claim universal attention. No other 
kind of wheel, not the best over-shot in the 
world, has been known to give out within ten 
per cent, a3 much power as the Lowell ones. 
Turbine wheels, then, should be used in pref¬ 
erence to all others, not only because of their 
economy of water power, but also because of 
their compactness, simplicity and cheapness. 
No doubt much depends on tte workmanship 
of each wheel, for the principle of applying 
1 the water on Boyden’s wheels—giving the in¬ 
let water a whirling motion in tee wheel’s di¬ 
rection—is that discovered and first applied 
by Parker. We scarcely expect much further 
improvement to be made in such wheels, for 
12 per -cent, allowance for friction is very 
small. Yet in this era of great mechanical 
skill, and progressive science, we dare not 
pVace a limit to improvements on any machine. 
To struggle to perfection, as the standard of 
effort, is rhe only way to improve and pro¬ 
gress .—Scitntfic American. 
A Mechanical Invention.— We have seen 
lately, as a specimen of rare American me¬ 
chanical genius, a machine, costing not over 
§500, invented by a werkirgman, which tabes 
hold of a sheet of brass, copper, cr iron, and 
turns eff complete hinges, at the rate of a 
gross in ten minutes—hirges, too, neater than 
are made by auy other process. Also, a ma¬ 
chine that takas hold of an iron rod and 
whips it into perfect biSpointed screws, wi.h 
wonderful rapidity and by a single process.— 
This is also tfce invention of a workingman. 
And both these machines are superior to any¬ 
thing of the kind in the world. No other 
process of manufacture can compete with 
them. Yet these are but a fraction of the 
marvellous inventive triumphs constantly go¬ 
ing forwaid in this country.— N. Y. Mirror. 
Rapid Work —Capt. Ward, of Detroit, 
havirg deteimined on replacing the broken 
shaft of the steamer Planet, with one to be 
made from the Collins Company’s (Lake Su¬ 
perior) iron, on the 20th dispatched Captain 
Estabrook to New York. He arrived in New 
York on the following Monday, and during 
that day succeeded in geitirg suffie’entof that 
iron at the Franklin Fcrge. The work of 
forging the shaft began at 7 o’clock that even¬ 
ing, and was completed at 7 o'clock Wednes¬ 
day evening. Thursday it was turned, and 
on Friday at 8 o’clock it was shipped under 
rhe care of the Union Express Company, and 
fifty-eight, hours afterward reached Detroit.— 
It i3 said to be the best shaft, ever put into a 
boat on the lakes .—Buffalo Commercial. 
There has been d’'scovered in Liberia what 
is supposed to be the most valuable bed of 
iron ore in the world. Rev. J. Tracy repre¬ 
sents, on chemical authority (A. A. Hayes, of 
Mass. ) the chemical composition to be 98,40 
pure iroa. 
Copper —The yie’d of the Lake Superior 
mines for 1855, is put down at 4,790 tons— 
valued, at present prices, at cne million six 
hundred thousand dollars. 
