wood; these two mutually decompose each other and form a nearly insoluble compound of gypsum (sulphate of lime) in the wood, and soluble chloride of iron. By the former, especially, the wood is made more firm, harder, not liable to warp, sustains a fine polish, is nearly incombustible and is made quite so by the addition of alum to the first solution, is liable to little expansion or contraction, increases nearly one-eighth in weight, and becomes in the arts a far more important and valuable material, and in some respects another substance. This is accounted for in the preparatory step. The wood is steamed in a strong cylinder of iron, under a pressure of 40 lbs., or more to the inch, by which its substances, soluble in such heat and pressure are removed, its coloring matter, mucilage, oily compounds and the like are removed from the wood and discharged from the cylinder. This leaves the wood in the state of ligneous matter, solid but porous and prepared to receive the solution of copperas. The air is exhausted from the cylinder by a powerful pump and the solution raised into the cylinder and forced, by a pressure of 160 lbs. to the inch, into the wood so prepared.

These particulars have oeen noticed to show the power by which the solutions are forced into the pores of the wood. The Payenized wood does not undergo either the dry or wet rot; doubtless for two reasons: that the portions most liable to either mode of decay have been removed, and that a hardening and preserving substance has been introduced. It should be added that Payenized materials withstand the action of the Fungus Pit, while those unprepared, immediately begin to decay under its action, as certified by the excellent chemist Dr. Miller.

This fact is of mighty consequence in the uses of wood. It is substantiated by abundant testimonials from England, where the Payenizing process was patented, and has been in operation for years. It is confirmed by the statement of B. P. Johnson, Esq., the active and accurate Secretary of the State Agricultural Society, who has just returned from England. In the use of Elm plank, [Ag. Trans. 1852.]

9

on a plank road, Judge Buel has stated to the committee the fact of its not warping on the ground, as the Elm does before being Payenized. Payenized timber is found to resist the action of the worms and animals of seawater, which are so destructive to docks. and wharves. The testimonials from England, on this subject, are as full as can be desired. All that seems necessary, and this is essential, and on it the approval implied by the committee is based, that the saline matters injected into the wood should be made fully and completely to penetrate every part of the wood or materials operated upon. In ship-building, plank and railroads, in flooring and roofing, and the manufacture of chairs, furniture, and articles innumerable, Payenized wood promises to be immensely valuable. It is not necessary to enlarge on the applications of this preparation, as the extent of them is not conceivable.

The committee are not prepared to report on the proposed use of Payenized wood by the American Patent Wooden Railway Company. The statements and calculations in the prospectus of the company, are certainly plausible-and, should they be sustained, by experiment, the plan will be adopted. It only seems necessary that the Payenized rails shall be found, on trial, to be cheaper than those of iron. That Payenized timber will come into extensive use, the committee entertain no doubt. It can only be necessary for the facts to be circulated among our intelligent and enterprizing citizens.

Extract from Report on Rail Car and Wheels, exhibited at the Fair, by Mr. Horace W. Woodruff, Jefferson County.

Col. L. G. Morris, from the committee appointed on the subject, reported that he examined the car, and that the wood work is of the very best kind, and the wheels are so constructed that should one of them break, their position is retained upon the track, in a very great degree lessening the chance of running off the track, and reducing the risk of railroad conveyance. Diploma.

WINE.

Judges.-John A. King, Chairman, Jamaica; J. Watson Webb, New-York; L. F. Allen, Black Rock; Samuel Miller, John Wil

liams, Rochester, John A. Warden, M. D., Cincinnati; G. W. Holly, Niagara Falls.

Mrs. S. W. Updike, best currant wine, made in 1847, Diploma. Ebenezer Sherman, Crawford, Orange county, currant wine, possessing an agreeable Malaga flavor.

H. N. Langworthy, Irondequoit, White currant wine, Malaga flavor.

A. H. Morris, Stafford, domestic wine, from the Clinton grape, richly sugared.

Dry Catawba wines, from Cincinnati, compared together as to their respective years of vintage.-1850. Best, G. Sleath, Diploma. 2. L. Rehfuss. 3. Thomas H. Brandt. 4. J. Shaub, (sour.)

1849.-Best, R. Buchanan, Diploma. 2. Corneau & Son. 3. Mr. Ware.

1848.-Best, S. Rintz, Diploma. 2. L. Rehfuss, (sample No. 3.) 3. L. Rehfuss, (sample No. 2.) 4. T. H. Yeatman.

1845.-L. Rehfuss, a sample of very delicate and excellent wine, Diploma.

Sparkling Wines.-Samples of Isabella and of Catawba; the former were pronounced the best; the latter, sparkling Catawba, was then compared with a bottle of the best Heidsick, and pronounced, by the committee, very nearly equal to it.

The committee on Wines beg leave to report the result of their trial of the various native wines offered for examination. Of the several preparations from Elderberry, Currant and Cherry, the committee would remark that however agreeable or useful they may be for domestic use, they can hardly be ranked in competition with wines prepared from the grape. A bottle of currant wine made by Mrs. Updike in 1847, was pronounced the best of the samples presented. No. 214, also a currant wine, had a pleasant malmsey flavor. No. 271, a white currant wine, had the taste of the Malaga wines. No. 218, a domestic wine from the Clinton grape was of fine color and richly sugared. Sugar should be avoided in the manufacture of all dry wines. The committee next proceeded to test more critically the various samples of light wines, sent from the Rhine of America, manufactured upon the banks of the Ohio, near Cincinnati. These wines were divided into four classes, No. 1 being the best; and the vintages of the same year put in competition with each other.

For the year 1850 there were the following samples:

Mr. Shaub's dry Catawba,

sour.

No. 1 Best.

1845. Mr. Rehfuss one sample, a very delicate and excellent wine. Last, but not least, were two samples from Mr. Longworth -the sparkling Isabella and sparkling Catawba. The first was pronounced the best, and very fine. The second was also considered a very excellent quality of wine.

There was also presented by Mr. Sleath, a sample of fair quality of brandy, made from the native grape. All the samples of wine marked No. 1, were very fruity, delicate and well flavored, clear and lively. Indeed, Mr. Rintz, No. 1, 1848, and Mr. Rehfuss' No. 3, 1848, and No. 2, 1850, were of excellent quality and flavor. There are also, many worse brands than Mr. Brandt's No. 3, 1850. Mr. Buchanan's No. 1, 1849, was a very excellent wine; and Mr. Corneau's No. 2, of the same year, was also of fine quality. In Mr. Longworth's sparkling Isabella, the committee thought they could discover a slight taste of some other native grapes, probably introduced to improve its flavor. The character of the Catawba grape being superior to that of the Isabella, the committee doubt not that experience and care in the manufacture of the sparkling Catawba, will render it superior to the Isabella. A bottle of Mr. Longworth's sparkling Catawba was also tested and compared with a sample of the best Heidsick, and

pronounced to be very nearly equal to it. Some remarks upon the soil adapted to the growth of the grape, and the manufacture of wine from it, with some statistics on the subject, and also some facts relating to the subject generally, contained in a letter from Mr. Rehfuss, of Cincinnati, who is engaged in the manufacture of wine, are appended as part of our report, furnishing as it does, the best and most specific information upon the subject to which it refers. All which is respectfully submitted.

LETTER OF WILLIAM L. REHFUSS.

Cincinnati, September 1851. DR. J. A. WARDER,-I send you six bottles of my Catawba Wine, No. 1, 1845, specific gravity of the must 1,078. This Wine is over four years bottled; it kept very well; shows a little sediment and crystals of cream of tartar. The year 1845 was not favorable to wine-raising. No. 2, 1848. First run. Specific gravity of the must, 1,095; specific gravity of the wine, 0,991. This wine will speak for itself. No. 3, two bottles, 1848. First run, two parts, and one part pressed. Specific gravity of the must and wine, similar to No. 2. Of No. 3, I will have 3,000 to 3,500 bottles, ready for shipping this fall. The price here is $6.50 per dozen, packed in boxes.

No. 4, 1848. From Kentucky. Similar to the wines above. Specific gravity of the must about 10 degrees lower than on our side of the river. No. 5, specific gravity of the must 1,080; a wine, when cellar-ripe, about two years, will have a fine bouquet, free from malic acid, and less of tartaric acid. I mixed the soil with silicious potassa early in the spring; the roots found the necessary quantity of potassa, or cream of tartar; the free malic and citric acid were converted into tartaric, and a more full maturity of the grapes brought on. The bitartrate of potassa is mostly all precipitated after the first fermentation. The strewing of wood ashes will have the same effect as silicious potassa. The raising of vines and making of wines, is mostly in the hands of the Germans here. They have adopted the same mode of training and fermentation as is practiced in the southern part of Germany, in the Rhenish coun