•j.n.oo'wn.x.mmi'x'K..... 
MAY 2. 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN*AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
ftcjpit anil fatten. 
THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. 
We hare already given sneh information on the 
Bnbject of Vegetable Gardening ns was needed tor 
the growth of the earlier vegetables. We now re- 
Bome the subject. 
Bush Beans should not he sown in this climate 
until about the first of May, as a slight frost de¬ 
stroys the young plants. They may be grown in 
any good rich soil, though one rather light is pre¬ 
ferable. Sow in drills about two inches deep, the 
beans two inches apart in tho rows, and the rows 
one foot apart. Frequent hoelngs wUI he neces¬ 
sary, and the earth should be drawn towards the 
plants. There are. several good varieties, the best 
of which are Early Six Weeks, Early Mohawk, and 
Dwarf China, 
The Lima is the king of Beans, both for size 
and quality. They should be sown in hills, and if 
three plants grow in a hill it will bo enough, tho' 
it is better to plant half-a-dozen. Cold, wet weather 
is very apt to rot the seed, and it is often neces¬ 
sary to plant the second time. A warm, dry situ¬ 
ation should be selected for this beam Wo have 
heard good gardeners say that they come up bet¬ 
ter if planted with tho eye down, and we think 
there is pome trnth in it. The hill should be raised 
a few Inches and the seed planted two inches 
deep. They require long and strong stakes 
and it la better to put the stakes in the ground be¬ 
fore planting, as they require to be driven in the 
ground two feet, and should be about eight feet 
above ground. The Lima bean is a great luxury, 
either shelled and eaten green, or dry. Every one 
who baa a vegetable garden should have a few 
Lima Deans. 
Caui.ifx.owei!.—T his is the most delicious veg¬ 
etable of the cabbage kind. It has a large white 
head, surrounded with long pale-green leaves, the 
white head being only eaten, Bitist, In describing 
it says ft resembles a basin full of cheese and curd 
and rounded oil, commonly called cottage cheese. 
The plants should lip. raised like early cabbage 
plants, and transplanted in ft similar manner.— 
They require a rich soil, and where grown 
in small quantities in a vegetable garden, if they 
have the benefit of soap-suds, on washing days it 
will help them amazingly. There are several va¬ 
rieties, many of them, however, do not seem to 
head well in this country, under ordinary treat¬ 
ment. There is a variety, which we first imported 
from France called the Early Paris, which heads 
as easily aa cabbago. 
Cakkots are perhaps less used here than in any 
country in the world, in France they are consid¬ 
ered one of the necessaries of the table, and are 
particularly prized as a material for soup making. 
It is a very wholesome vegetable, and deserves 
mote notice than it receives. The Early Short- 
Horn, is the earliest and best carrot lor the table. 
It never grows moro than six inches long. Next 
to this, and valuable for a winter supply is the 
Altringham. A deep, rich, sandy soil is best for 
the carrot. 
Celery is a luxury highly prized, and eagerly 
sought Market gardeners do not raise one half of 
what they conld dispose of at remunerating prices. 
Scarcely a city iu the Union is half supplied with 
this vegetable. Fashion, as well as taste, has cre¬ 
ated a demand for celery that will not be supplied 
in many years. Celery plants should be raised in 
a hot-bed, as before described, or maybe grown in 
a very warm border. The plants should be grown 
thin so that they may become strong and hardy 
before transplanting into the trench. Moat of the 
plants we see exposed for sale at onr seed-stores, 
and sold by the dozen, are grown so thick, tbut 
they are puny and worthless. Tho plants are all 
the stronger and better, if transplanted from the 
seed-bed into a warm border, some three inches 
apart, and there allowed to harden. 
After the plants are ready, dig trenches, a foot 
wide, and tho same in depth, throwing the earth 
out on each side of the trench, and nicely Bioping 
it off) so that the soil will not fall into the trench. 
If several trenches are dug they should bo three 
feet apart. Some six inches of thoroughly rotted 
manure should then bo dug into tho bottom of the 
trench. If the subsoil is poor it will bo necessary 
to take out abont six inches, and throw in the 
same quantity of surface soil, to mix with the ma¬ 
nure. Then take the plants np carefully, cut. oil 
the tops of the leaves, und shorten the roots if they 
are long and straggling, and plant them in the 
trenches, four inches apart. Water, and shade 
from tho sun for a few days, until the plants are 
established, l’he after culture will simply consist 
in keeping the soil mellow, and earthing up. The 
earthing may bo done at several times, but it will 
not be necessary to commence until about the first 
of September. Hold the leaves tightly together 
with one hand, while with the other draw the fine 
earth carefully around the stems. Care must be 
exercised that no earth gets into the center of the 
plant, or it will discolor the stalks, and sometimes 
cause them to rot. As the weather becomes cooler 
iu the fall the earthing must be continued, and 
kept nearly to the tops of the leaves. Tho earth¬ 
ing, like all other operations in the garden, should 
be neatly done. Celery can remain in the ground 
until winter is expected to set in, when it should 
bo placed in the cellar, in earth or sand, where it 
will keep good for a long time. 
— - - -»*»- 
. NUTMEG. 
Tins is a hardy annual plant, said to bo a native 
of Egypt, It is sometimes, though rarely cultiva¬ 
ted in this country for the seeds which are used iu 
various kinds of cookery, imparting to it much 
the same flavor as the nutmegs of the shops. It 
is propagated from seeds which arc sown in drills 
eighteen inches apart, and when the plants are 
two or three incites high, they should be thinned 
so as to stand six inches apart in the drills. The 
best time for sowing the seeds. Is abont the first of 
May, but it will do well and ripeu its seed if sown 
as late as the first week in June. The only care 
the plants require is to be hoed occasionally, and 
kept olettr Of weeds until the seed Is ripe. When 
the capsules turn yellow, the stalks should be cut 
oil close to the ground and Bpread in a dry, airy 
place for the seed to harden, after which it should 
bo beat out and put away for use.—il. (>., Portage 
Co., Ohio. 
WHAT FRUIT SHOULD I PLANT P 
A correspondent, after examining 
the engraving we gave in the last num¬ 
ber of a Dwarf Pear Tree, asks if dwarf 
trees always grow as straight-limbed, 
and of ho beautiful and graceful aform. 
To this query we answer, that with the 
best care all trees could not be made 
to assume forms like that shown in the 
engraving. To obtain such a tree, it is 
necessary to keep np a very vigorous 
growth, and it must be properly pruned 
from the time it is a year old. If a 
dwarf tree is neglected only one year 
it is difficult to bring it into a proper 
form. Many trees that are bought from 
the nurseries at two years old, from 
entire neglect, or improper pruning, 
are unlit fqr making pyramids. This is ^ 
as much the fault of planters as nurse- S< 
rymen, as those who buy generally call 
for tall trees, regardless of other more U 'v a. 
important points, sncli as a good trunk * 
and strong lower branches. Xurseiy- 7(C~7- 
men, therefore, find it unprofitable to TfJ'f.’Ti. \ 
give their trees a proper pruning, for v&i:- 
while it makes them better in every (/’{» \ 
respect, it detracts from 1 heir height - 
and their salableness. A dwarf tree 
two years old should be something 
like the engraving, given below, and be 7 
planted as deep as where the ground 
line is shown. This covers all the 
quince root. After planting, each limb 
should be pruned, as shown by the 
cross-lines. 
Some varieties make a crooked growth, and 
therefore their form will be different from that 
shown in the engraving in the last, number. We 
give ft very correct portrait of a tree growing near 
this city. Although different from the engraving 
we gave last, week, it is a very beautiful tree. 
We have now given all the space we can at 
present afford on the snbject. of dwarf trees; in a 
week or two we will give an article on pruning, 
when we shall endeavor to make the matter so 
plain that there will be no excuse among our read¬ 
ers for bad pruning. 
# The discussions on the snb- 
Jr ject of dwarfs, and the fine 
| specimens which their early 
[ fruiting have enabled grow- 
p ers to exhibit, have attracted 
J ' general attention to this most 
I delicious fruit, and created a 
> I great demand for trees.— 
r | / Several of our leading nur- j 
(U y* f series are almost entirely 
V t \f destitute of salable standard 
X. ! UY pear trees. The demand for 
Xi Y pears on their own roots is 
\ A «T greatly increasing, and from 
\ V this we judge that farmers 
v f v are more S ener al.ly engaging 
in their culture, and prefer 
),{/ large trees. We are glad to 
zaS see this state of things. Let 
care be used in the selection 
|ijt of varieties, and iu i ,cw 
years good pears will be in 
our markets, and within the 
mv A,lF ’ 2 Y Rs 0IjP ’ means of those who are not 
millionaires. The American Fomological Socie¬ 
ty recommends the following list, on pear stock, 
as worthy of general cultivation; 
Summer.— Animas d’Kto, Bloodgood, Dearborn’s Seed¬ 
ling, Doyenne d’Ete, Madeleine, Manning’s Elizabeth, Dos- 
tieziiT, Tyson, Harriett. 
Autumn.— Andrews, Belle Lucrative, Buerre d’Anjou, 
Buerre Diel, Buerre Bose, Buerre St Nicholas, Iluffnm, 
Doyenne Bonasock, Flemish Beauty, Fulton, Golden Buerre 
of Bilbao, Howell, I.oulse Bonne do Jersey, Paradise d’An¬ 
tonins, Seeitel, Sheldon, Urbanist**. 
Winter — Buerre d’Arelnbere, Lawrence, ITvednlea St 
Germain, (for baiting,) Vicar of Win’*field, Winter Nelis. 
Mr. Bahrv recommends the following as ten 
hardy, prolific, varieties: 
Summer .—Summer Francreal. 
Autumn.— Bieeker’s Meadow, BnfTnm, FultoD, Harvard, 
Oswego Buerre. 
Winter. —Lawrence, Prince’s St. Germain, Vicar of Wink- 
lield, Pound (for cooking.) 
The following are profitable sorts for market 
culture: 
Summer .— Bartlett. 
Autumn .—Buerre Diel, Duchess© d’Angouleme, White 
Doyenne, Grey Doyenne, Flemish Beauty, Louise Bonne 
de Jersey, Stevens’ Genesee. 
it inter .—Buerre d’Aremberg, Easter Buerre, Lawrence, 
Vicar of Winkfield, Pound (for cooking,) 
--4—*-- 
FLOWERS.—WILL THEY PAY. 
Mr. Editor:—T volunteer to thank yon in bo- 
half of many who, I doubt not, have been gratified 
and helped by the information which your pen 
has lately furnished in regard to the culture of 
flowers. With several of the kinds described by 
you I had already become acquainted, and having 
found my experience to accord so well with yours, 
I shall confidently rely upon your judgment for 
the rest. 
But will It pay? That is the first questiou to be 
answered in all our investments and operations.— 
I should bo unwilling to trust the decision to the 
vote of the land cultivators in general. I think I 
know what a large majority would say. Nor do I 
propose to decide the question myself, bnt to re¬ 
cord for your use, if yon deem it. worthy, the re¬ 
sults of my experiments,—which have been suffi¬ 
cient, to convince me, that no part of my small 
farm Is more profitable than that devoted to care¬ 
ful and thorough culture ol flowers. 
Sly calculations are based upon two considera¬ 
tions, 1st, that ft good home market is always to be 
preferred to any other, and 2d, that a dollar’s 
worth of happiness is worth aa much as a dollar's 
worth of anything else. 
If a man has no wife, or children, nor any love 
for what is beautiful, and never means to have. I 
wotiUI say at once, plant no flowers. But it is to be 
presumed that the readers of tho Ruraj. are of ft 
different stamp. 
Now for tho experiments. I have, for a few 
years pasr, devoted a small piece of my best 
ground to the culture of a few Verbenas, Petunias, 
Dahlias, Pansies, l hlaxes, Chrysanthemums, As¬ 
ters, Fuchsias and Geraniums, not omitting quite 
a variety of the old stand-by Bnbous plants, Pe- 
m 
Wm 
’a* 
m 
DWARF, 2 V RS OLD. 
DWARF PEAR TREE. 
rennials and Annuals, such as Crocuses, Tulips, 
Hyacinths, Peonies, Pinks, Balsams, Poppies, Arc. 
The profits I cannot state in dollars and cents, 
but can confidently affirm tbut no portion of my 
grounds have yielded so large an income of re¬ 
freshment, to drudgery and toil—of healthful and 
improving occupation to children—of bright and 
cheerful looks und feelings in the whole house¬ 
hold, as that which has filled dear little hands,day 
by day for mouths, with large branches of every 
colored blooms, and adorned the stands and man¬ 
tels with bouquets rich in beauty and perlnme.— 
Fellow reader of the Rural, make the experi¬ 
ment this year. Procure from a neighboring 
green-house or nurseryman, a few of the best 
plants for bedding out. and the seeds of a rewsorts 
of choice annuals. In the fall you can add, if you j 
choose, a few butbg. Make the ground deep, and 
rich, and keep free from weeds, and I feel sure you 
will find it pay. h. 
Hudson, Ohio, 1857. * 
-- 
inquiries ait& gtnstoew. 
CULTIVATION OF GRAPES. 
Eds. Rural: — Having received the following 
letter from one of your subscribers, allow me to 
answer it in tho Rural, for the benefit of all your 
readers who may need the information: 
S. N. Holmes, Esq. —Dear Sir :—I saw in the 
Rural of 18th ult., an article ov r your signature 
on “ Growing Vines from Cuttings.” I am pleased 
with your remar.-.A on shading, and nave no doubt 
It will prove an excellent mode of propagation.— 
l am about planting some three thousand cuttings, 
ami would be much obliged to you for some of 
your ..views iu regard to length of cutting, at what 
Angle or upright, and how deep to set them? Also 
if it would he advantageous to place the lower end 
| in a potato; if the rows should be placed east and 
west, or north and south, when permanently set in 
the vineyard; and for Isabella, what distances 
apart in the row? Should the lower end be fresh 
cat at time of planting, and would watering with 
soap suds and night soil or mulching with fine lit¬ 
ter and leaves be beneficial? Also,how high, and 
whati3 best to be used for shadiDgthe cuttings 
and what time of year is, in your experience, the 
best for planting out the cuttings and the vine? 
A communication front yon on the above mat¬ 
ter will be very thankfully received. 
BviBtol, Ont. Co., X. Y. A. Spencer Wolcott. 
feet apart and trained them upon a light arbor 
three feet from the fence and connected with it..— 
About the first of December in each year T trim 
aud lay them down on the ground with a stick of 
wood upon them if necessary, and cover lightly 
with potato tops or other refuse, and aa soon as the 
hard frosts are over in the spring, T put them upon 
the trellis again—(the present year I took them up 
a week since)—and in so doing have annnal re¬ 
ceipts of real luxuries designed for all the diligent, 
which few enjoy. S. N. Holmes. 
Syracuse, N. Y., April, 1857. 
Eon Plant—W ill you, or some of your corres- 
dondents, describe the mode of cultivating the 
Egg Plant? Also, the usual method of preparing 
the same for the table? By so doing you will 
oblige a subscriber.—D. L., Caledonia, X. Y, 1357. 
Remarks.— For raising early plants the seed 
must he sown in a hot-bed, and should not be trans¬ 
planted until about the middle of May. Those 
who have no hot-bed should sow the seed in a 
warm border, about the fir3t of May. Keep the 
bed free from weeds and the ground light, and 
about the first of June the plants will lie large 
enough for removal. Transplant, on a showery day, 
two feet apart t-ach way, water if necessavy, after 
transplanting, beep well hoed, and draw the earth 
towards tho plants. A few may be left in the seed 
bed, where they will grow and do well. They are 
fit to be eaten when of abont the size of a goose 
egg, and until nearly ripe. The usual way of cook¬ 
ing is to cut into thin slices, and fry them, when 
they taste something like fried oysters. We be¬ 
lieve they are also used iu soups and stews, though 
we have never tasted them prepared in this way. 
Lima Beans. —Will you, or some of your corres¬ 
pondents, inform me through the columns of the 
Rural, if the " Lima Bean ' is grown to any ex¬ 
tent in the east, by gardeners or others, for pirk- 
Img in the pod, and if not much used in this way, 
in what state are they generally sold by market 
gardeners, green or dry, shelled or in the pod, and 
at what prices? V reply will much oblige—A. 
13., Anna, III-, 1857. 
Remarks. —Lima Beans are grown by al ost all 
market gardeners. We do not know' that they are 
used for pickling. The kind generally grown for 
this purpose is the Snap-Bean. Limas are sold 
shelled, when green, at from fifteen to twenty cents 
: per quart, and when dry at about $5 per bushel. 
! Grubs, &c. —Can any of your contributors in¬ 
form me through the Rural, of some method of 
preventing grubs and cut worms, from destroying 
onions, cabbages, and other garden vegetables?— 
An answer to the above would be thankfully re¬ 
ceived by J. P., St. Lawrence Co., N. Y., 1857. 
Pruning Grape Vines. (J. K„ CavansviUe.)— 
The system recommended is, where four or more 
bauehes have formed on a branch, 10 pick off, when 
small, all but two, and then cut hack the branches 
to within one eye of the last hunch left. Girdling 
the branch is well enough as au amusement, or ex¬ 
periment, but we think of no practical value. 
Large Cabbage. —In the Rubai, of March 14th 
I read of 'Riel's large pumpkins, cabbage and 
radishes, i can v*eat him on caooa.ge. I raised 
• one last year that, with the leaves all on, weighed 
, 36 lbs., and with the leaves stripped off measured 
( 56 inches. I have the cabbage now.—J. Ryder, 
l Monroe Co., .V. 11, March, 1857. 
i " ■ 11 ■ "" . . - . 
; iJanifStif furaaratj. 
3 . - ’ - : 
l LOOK TO YOUR PAPER HANGINGS, 
t - 
A recent number of the London Lancet, a high 
1 medical authority, has an article from which we 
make the following extract, as a timely caution to 
j housekeepers abont to paper their rooms. The 
suggestion has been made that the National Hotel 
disease at Washington may have arisen from this 
Hjiamt Iris. Set. 
Reply. —The inquiries contained in your letter 
of the 23d inst.. f will answer with pleasure;and in 
so doing will first relate my practical experience .— 
My lot is an oblong running east and west—of the 
earth, clay largely predominates. The south side 
of my lot, as well as the north side, is enclosed by 
a tight board fence, some six feet and a half high, 
and a year since on the south side of my lot and 
close to the north side of said south fence I spaded 
the ground thoroughly and deep; then, taking my 
enttings of the December previous ont from a 
slight covering of earth, cut them from a foot to 
eighteen inches in length, and stuck them in that 
mellow earth a little slanting, leaving four or five 
inches out of the ground, A few were cuttings of 
two feet in length, and I stack both euds in the 
ground, lcavingthe middle a bow with twoorthree 
buds out; both ways did well. I finished the pre¬ 
paration of the ground by covering it with alight 
coat of muck, and planted them from four to six 
iuches apart. The result was as stated in my 
former communication. 
My experience is not favorable to putting tho 
lower end of the vine in a potato, as the potato 
grows and soou becomes a nuisance, and I have 
not discovered any advantages from it. The 
present is a good time to put ont the cuttings.— 
The best known varieties for this climate are the 
Isabella and Catawba, but some others promise 
well. Watering from a sprinkler with soap suds 
or luke-warni water at night is excellent—mulch¬ 
ing with fine litter and leaves first rate. All strong 
manures should be used cautiously abont vines or 
trees, and should be well mixed with the soil in 
moderate quantities contiguous to them. 
The mode I have practiced in setting out vines 
permanently I still prefer. On the north side of 
my lot, adjoining the fence, I dug a trench four 
feet wide and foot- feet deep, and tilled it up with a 
eouipoaition of muck manure and earth, besides 
the carcasses of numerous cats, like Walker's sol¬ 
diers iu Nicaragua, when ceasing to bo otherwise 
useful, have added their mite and principal virtue 
, by enriching the soil. These were placed a short 
distance from the vine, so as to be well decomposed 
when reached by the roots; and their virtues will 
be demonstrated long after they would otherwise 
I be forgotten. I set my vines iu the trench twelve 
Dr. Hinds, of Birmingham, has called attention ! 
to a method of accidental arsenical poison, which 
should be generally known, and from which he 
wa3 himself the sufferer. He chanced to select, 
for the adornment of his study, a particularly tint¬ 
ed wall paper, the pattern of which was confined 
to two shades of green. About two days after it 
had been applied, he first used the room in the 
evening, sitting there, und reading by gas light. 
While thus engaged, he was seized with severe de¬ 
pression, nansea, abdominal pain and prostration. 
The same chain of symptoms ensued on every sub¬ 
sequent evening when he occupied the room,— 
This led to an inquiry into the cause. He scraped 
off a little of the bright coloring matter from bis 
pretty green paper, and, by sublimation, produced 
abundant crystals of arsenions acid. The paper 
was colored with arsenite of copper, (Sebeelc’s 
green.) The use of this pigment to color wall 
paper has already proved injurious in previous 
eases. In one, a child sucked some strips of paper 
thus colored, and narrowly escaped with life. (Ed. 
Monthly Journal, 1851.) Dr. Hinds remarks, that 
the presence of the arsenical pigment, may he re¬ 
cognized by its brilliant hue, and by a little run¬ 
ning of tho color at the edges of the pattern, as 
though it did not take freely on the paper. 
See that you buy your paper hangings at the 
right place, and look to the colors aud character¬ 
istics above indicated. 
-4---*-- 
Black Ink. — Some one inquired for a recipe 
for Black Ink, in the Rural, and if you think the 
following is worth having, from which the ink used 
by myself is produced at a very trilling cost, you 
may give it:—Ground logwood. 4 ©z; pulverized 
nut galls, 12 oz; gum arabic, 1 oz; copperas, 4 oz; 
ruin water 4 quarts. Bring to a boiling heat in an 
iron vessel and allow to cook When cold, add 
two tablespoons of loaf sugur. Keep in bottles 
well corked, and when too thick it will bear dilu¬ 
ting to the. amount of one-third with soft water,— 
E. G. P., Wright’s Corners, Xiag. Co., X. II 1857. 
-- 
Soft Soar. — Seventeen pounds of potash to 
twenty pounds of grease; boil the grease; putin 
two pails of scalding water, and stir it together; 
fill np the barrel the next morning with cold water; 
stir it from time to time. It will be fit for use in 
three days. 
AN AMERICAN LEG IN THE HUNTING FIELD. 
The most pleasing feature of the day wag the 
re-appearauce of the veteran Joe Maiden in his 
old post, after having been absent from it over 
since the spring ,of 1855, during which time the 
master, Mr. Davenport, has hunted the hounds him¬ 
self. Owing to the exceeding fiontraction of the 
knee, both before and after bis left log amputation 
in the winter ot that, yenr, it wns considered quite 
hopeless for him to think of riding again to bounds, 
and he had quite given up the idea of doing more 
for the remainder of his days than acting as ken¬ 
nel huntsman, and coming to the cover aide on a 
pony occasionally. Not sharing, however, in the 
diplomatic coldness which exists between the Old 
and New’Worlds, he determined, with all bis char¬ 
acteristic pluck, as “a forlorn hope,” to try ‘‘Pal¬ 
mer's Patent American Leg” (which took a gold 
medal in the 1851 Exhibition,) and accordingly ho 
journeyed off once more to London in November. 
Thanks to his patience, and the skill of the Lon¬ 
don licensee (Mr. Edwin Osborne, of Saville Row,) 
the contracted knee and stump wero “got out” 
considerably, and after a preliminary trial onhorse- 
bflek, at Tattersall's and Rotten-Row, he returned 
in high spirits, with a new leg, to Staffordshire, 
where not a few beta have been laid, for these two 
months past, as to whether he wonhl ever be seen 
to take a jump with bounds again. The backers of 
the leg have got quite the best of it, as, judging 
from tho style in which (after practising on a cou¬ 
ple of bye days) ho rode to his hounds, and took 
his fences on Monday, he has lost none of bis old 
nerve, and feels more comfortable in the Bad die 
than he lias done daring those twenty-five years of 
agony which he underwent after his boiler acci¬ 
dent. W ith the aid of a stick, lie is not only able 
to walk very fairiy on it already, considering the 
knee difficulty and the very short time he has been 
in active training, but it. is impossible for any one 
notin the secret to tell, when he is mounted, which 
leg is American and which “native English.” We 
only wish that the two countries they represent 
would learn in future to fraternise as well.—Bril’s 
Life. - 
MATCHES. 
The friction match is cow, says Life Illustrated, 
a “necessary of life,” yet twenty-five years ago 
there was not a friction match in existence. Sav¬ 
ages, from the earliest periods, procured fire by the 
friction of one dry stick upon another; bnt civil¬ 
ized nations, from time out of mind, used flint, steel, 
and tinder. Some thirty years ago, the sulphur 
match came into partial use, dipped in a mixture 
of sugar and chlorate of potash: thi 3 was set on 
fire by plunging it in a small bottle of concentrated 
sulphuric acid, which accompanied the f ox of 
matches. Some other kinds of matches, some¬ 
thing similar, preceded these by a Tew years, and 
some succeeded them. Tn 1832. the true friction 
match, called in Europe “Congreve,” first made 
its appearance. These first were set on fire by 
drawing them quickly through a piece of folded 
sard p:u:- n r *hst a'rompmied tho mnSohoo iu the 
box—which, containing 24 matches, sold at retail 
for 12.) cents. Tn 1834 pliosphorti3 began to be 
used in the manufacture; and soon after saltpetre, 
instead of chlorate of potash—and now the best 
matches are made of phosphorus 4 parts, saltpetre 
IS, fine glue 4, red lead 5, smalt 2. From 1834 
friction matches rapidly improved and rapidly 
cheapened. Thousands of men, and large amounts 
of capital, are now employed ia manufacture, both 
in Europe and America. Tn 1850, in prance, 20 
tnns of phosphorus. 112 tuns of saltpetre, andl.350 
tuns of sulphur were used for matches; and the 
s manufactured matches exceeded 5,000 tuns. 
i -- 
, Curious Photographic Process. — Gutta per- 
cha photographs are among rhe novelties which 
j seem to be so continually multiplying in that 
unique and beautiful art. The negative picture is 
produced in the ordinary manner upon the collo¬ 
dion film on a sheet of glass, and it is fixed and 
; dried in the ordinary manner; it is then dipped 
into ft solution of guttapercha, and after draining 
' off the excess it is dried by a gentle heat, and a 
j nearly transparent film of gutta percha will he 
k found upon the collodion. If the film is notsuffi- 
, ciently thick, this operation is repeated one or 
more times until a sufficiently thick film of gutta 
percha is formed. The whole is next immersed in 
water, which causes the collodion to separate from 
. the glass, au.l come away, with the film or sheet of 
. gutta percha firmly adhering to it. These films or 
j sheets are sufficiently transparent, are tough and 
g flexible, may be bandied without injury, aud be 
i preserved in a book or portfolio. 
American YIarbls for European Markets.— 
Those feeliug an interest in American productions 
wilL be pleased to learn that the hills of New Eng¬ 
land are furnishing an ornamental marble of suffi¬ 
cient merit to attract the attention of European 
dealers in the article. The Boston Allas learns 
that the Yerde Antique Marble Company, working 
the quarries of this beautiful ornamental marble, at 
Roxbnry, Vermont, have recently shipped several 
blocks on order to France, and have within a few 
days received an order from one of the most promi¬ 
nent. dealers in London, for a quantity in the rough 
block. In both England and France it is said to 
be superior to the Italian veined marbles now used, 
aud must hereafter, to a large extent, supply their 
places. This is the first instance where marble 
has been exported to Europe on the order of a 
European manufacturer, our marbles having been 
considered inferior to the Italiau article. 
--» -» - 
Telkgrafh Wires. — Numerous experiments 
have been made in England by Mr. Yarley, with 
gutta-percha covered wires. He states that if a 
wire could be suspended in an unbounded non¬ 
conductor, or atmosphere with no eonduotingbody 
near it, the transmission of an electric current 
through it would be instantaneous, no matter what 
might be the length of the wire; that the approach 
of any conducting body to the wire, would, by in¬ 
duction, reduce the speed of the transmission. 
The conduction of telegraph wires is in proportion 
to their solid section; their induction according 
to their surface. 
