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http://www.archive.org/details/farmersguideorneOOgaskrich

THE

FAMMEm^g O-WIBM,

A NEW THEORY OF AGRICULTURE:

FOUNDED ON

PHILOSOPHICAL AND PRACTICAL PRINCIPLES,

ADAPTED TO ALL CLIMATEJ

BY JAMKS GASKINS.

ajailttmore:

PRINTED BY SAMUEL SANDS,

N. W. corner of Baltimore & North-sts.

1S39.

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1838,

By James Gaskins,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Maryland.

£

/

^^ -Qxf

r^S'S^

TO THE

AGRICULTURAL INTEREST OF THE U. STATES.

Gentlemen : —

Having, after the expiration of more than
thirty years, spent in the pursuit of practical Agri-
culture, arrived at certain conclusions entirely at va-
riance with the old established doctrines, it is nniy
sincere desire that I may be successful in imparting
to my fellow citizens, that knowledge on the im-
provement of the soil. It is my object also to shew,
why lands are so soon exhausted by the cultivation of
certain crops, and the mode to be pursued for its pre-
servation and resuscitation. The plan which this
work proposes, will insure the cultivation of your
different crops of grain and vegetables without ex-
hausting the soil, and also will insure the restora-
tion of those lands which have been exhausted by the
following crops, viz : wheat, corn, oats, rye, barley,
tobacco and any of the vegetable products. By the
process here recommended, lands may be made very
rich in eight or ten years, though a crop of grain, to-
bacco, or the grasses, be taken from each field every

year. By this entirely new system of husbandry, all
1*

ivi553988

VI PREFACE.

species of property would necessarily rise in value,
and the tide of emigration to distant lands would
cease. It is hoped that the people will open their
eyes to their own interest, and no longer impoverish
their lands, when it is equally easy to improve them.
1 submit this work to the impartial consideration of
an enlightened community, firmly believing that an
adherance to the principles here laid down, will not
disappoint the expectations either of the community
or of the author.

Who very respectfully subscribes himself,

The public^s very humble servant,
JAMES GASKINS,
Proprietor of the American Hotel ^

Jlnd Virginia House,

Baltimore.

INTRODUCTION

The true art of cultivating the earth, is to cause it
to produce the greatest possible quantity of susten-
ance for man and beast, with the least possible in-
jury to the land. This art is the foundation of all
other arts; at once the most useful, healthful, and
agreeable. Snatch from man this glorious art, and
he at once sinks to a level with the savage, who
roams the forest, and dwells in rudely constructed
huts or caverns. Being the most ancient, as well as
the most useful, Agriculture is not only a national
blessing in one respect, that it feeds man and the an-
imals which he governs; but that it gives employ-
ment to seven-eighths of the people of all civilized
countries, and at the same time humanizes and harmo-
nizes the mind.

The first account we have of the rise or of the ex-
istence of Agriculture, w^e find in the writings of Mo-
ses. Cain, we are there told, was a " tiller of the
ground,'^ and that his brother Abel made a sacrifice
of the " firstlings of his flock." Again, we are told
that Noah " began to be a husbandman, and planted
a vineyard."

VHl INTRODUCTION.

The Egyptians carried their veneration for Agri-
culture to a high pitch of enthusiasm; so much so,
that they worshipped the ox in gratitude for his servi-
ces in tilling the soil.

The Chinese, as well as many others of the ancient
oriental nations, held the art of husbandry in high es-
timation, considering it the most honorable and the
most lucrative.

Many works were written on Agriculture by dis-
tinguished ancient authors, though the greater number
of them were lost in the long midnight of time, du-
ring the dark ages, when war was the only accom-
plishment which could elevate one individual above
another. The Greek author, Hesiod, who flour-
ished about the time in which Homier wrote, is said
to have given to the world a poem on Agriculture,
with the singular title of " Weeks and Days," in al-
lusion to the fact that days and seasons are observed
in husbandry.

The Carthagenians, perhaps, carried Agriculture
to a higher state of perfection than any other ancient
people. A certain Carthagenian general is reported
to have written more than twenty -five books on hus-
bandry, and in such estimation were they held, that,
according to several ancient authors, the Roman Sen- ,
ate, tlie most renowned body in the world, ordered
them to be translated into Latin for the use of the
people of the Roman empire. The Roman people
deserved great praise for their devotion to the plough.

INTRODUCTION. IX

At one period a citizen of that mighty empire could
not be rendered more illustrious than to be called a
skilful husbandman. Virgil, in his immortal poem,
has corroborated the fact, that men were distinguish-
ed b}^ their love of this science. M. Cato, the great
orator, warrior and statesman, was more proud in
speaking of an agricultural work he had written, than
when he beheld triumphal arches rise to commemo-
rate his brilliant exploits in the field. Pliny, and
Varro, were also illustrious men who wrote upon, and
admired the subject of husbandry. The celebrated
Columella, who lived during the reign of the emperor
Claudius, gave to the world twelve books on Agricul-
ture, which were highly prized.

But, unfortunately for the present day, as observed
before, the dark ages have buried in their eternal
gloom the proud monuments of many a glorious ge-^
nius. But such is the fate of man. He builds, as he
vainly supposes, imperishable mementos to his re-
nown; yet, alas, they are touched by the noiseless'
tooth of time, and they crumble into dust — they
pass away like the flickering shadows of a summer's
evening.

Yet though the noblest works of ancient genius
perish, and the remembrance of them only lives in
tradition, Agriculture shall still triumph, and shed its
light upon the world, when even the proudest poten-
tates of Europe have tumbled from their thrones, and
ai'e lost in the solitude of the grave^

X INTRODUCTION.

It will be the object of this work to show, howev-
er, that the most distinguished Agriculturists have
mistaken the true path, and that they have groped in
. utter darkness. That this assertion is true, I need on-
ly point the reader to the worn out lands of many
parts of this otherwise flourishing country. Improp-
er tillage has reduced them to what they are, though
nature never designed that they should wear out. It
is unreasonable, it is unnatural to suppose so. As
well might we say that many or all the laws of nature
are fickle and unstable, as to say that nature intended
that the soil, which was intended to feed all animate
nature, should soon by a law become incapable to
fulfil its office. No; it is the mistaken notions, it is
the improper culture of man. Therefore, as observ-
ed before, it will be the especial object of this work
to explode all such unnatural theories.

JAMES GASKINS.
Baltimore.

A NEW THEORY
FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE SOIL,

In which it will be shown that Agriculturists have

HERETOFORE OPERATED AGAINST NaTURE, INSTEAD OF
aiding her. AlSO^ it will BE PROVEN, THAT LAND
MAY BE RENDERED RICH WITHOUT THE APPLICATION OF
A PARTICLE OF STABLE OR COMPOST MANURE.

The landed estate is the most sacred interest that
we have in the United States ; whatever concerns Ag-
riculture concerns every inhabitant of the globe, for
its interests are the interests of the world; and,
therefore, every effort that is made to advance the
success of the farmer, must spring at once from a
pure spirit of philanthropy and patriotism. He who
introduces into the art of Agriculture any thing new
and uselul, renders himself at once a greater benefac-
tor to mankind, than he who thunders at the gates of
cities, and achieves a thousand victories in the field.
I hold the doctrine to be incontestible, that the man
who advances in any manner whatever the art of hus-
bandry, is more deserving of fame than was the mad
Macedonian when he conquered the world, and saw

12 A yEW THEORY

the nations of the earth kneeling before him; — yes,
he is far more worthy of renown than was Napoleon,
though thrones trembled and crowns crumbled at his
approach. Alas, that the benefactors of mankind
should so often have met the cold indifference of the
world, and have been left to pine in penury, and per-
ish unnoticed and disregarded. To the warrior who
destroys thousands of his fellow beings, and makes
so many mothers mourn, the marble monument is
erected, and his renown is recorded on the imperish-
able pages of history. To him who invents a many
chambered rifle to destroy the human race by the
wholesale, thousands of money are given, and his
name recorded in the temple of fame. But how did
poor Whitney, the inventer of the Cotton Gin, live
and die? Alas ! though his invention has given mil-
lions to the Southern States, yet he died a beggar, af-
ter crawling through existence in the most abject
poverty. /

In presenting novel views, upon a subject w^hich
has elicited the profoundest attention of the Geolo-
gist, we well know that we must subject ourselves to
the cavils of the ignorant, as well as the prejudices of
the inexperienced. Relying, however, on the patient
observation and experience of threescore years, we
fearlessly present our views, having seen the practi-
cal effects growing out of what others will term a
dangerous innovation, or novel theory. There is evi-
dently a strong tendency in the human mind to start at

FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OP THE SOIL. 13

any new system which may be advanced, and it has
been the case from time immemorial. When Chris-
topher Columbus first advanced his splendid theory of
the necessity of a fourth quarter of the globe, the
kings of Europe, to whom he applied for aid, ridicul-
ed the project, and denounced him as a dreamer, an
enthusiast or a maniac. He was at last indebted to
a woman, queen Isabella of Spain, for his outfit ;
which resulted in the brilliant discovery of America.
This is mentioned to shew how prone men are to
ridicule and undervalue any thing that does not bear
the stamp of age. Such was the fate of Fulton, when
he projected the plan of steam navigation. The idea of
moving any thing by the mere steam of boiling water,
was perfectly ridiculous to the minds of thousands ;
and, consequently, no purse was open to aid him in his
grand and glorious enterprise. But when the thousands
who came on the wharf at New- York to hiss, saw the
boat move on the water like a thing of life, their hissing
was changed to shouting. What a triumph of genius
was there ! The above facts are brought to show,
that no theory, however novel, should be rejected
without deep and candid examination. Many facts
are elicited, and many discoveries made in the world,
that incredulous persons never could have conceiv-
ed. Thirty years ago, what man would have believ-
ed that in 1838 steam cars would be running on rail-
roads at the rate of twenty, forty, and even sixty miles
per hour.?

14 A NEW THEORY

We assume, then, as a proposition, that land is not
exhausted by its products; but that its exhaustion
arises from the exposure of the land to the sun du-
ring the period of making the crop, together with the
consequences growing out of the naked or unclothed
condition of the land during winter.

To prove this, take a view of lands that are richly
timbered and which are generally found to be the rich-
est. It is evident that the heavy growth of timber
does not weaken the soil in fifty years, for the trees
flourish, and the land is strengthened ; and the leaves
which fall protect tlie soil in winter. Reverse the
matter, and take a view of a tract of land which has
not been sown in grain for many years, but which
has been used for pasture ground. It will become
impoverished ; hence it follows, that the products of
the soil do not weaken it.

In order to sustain the. above proposition, we shall
offer a few illustrations which must come home to the
mind of every practical farmer in the country. If
you place a small coat of grass on your land, will the
sun have the same power to extract the nitre from the
soil and cause it to become dry .-^ Certainly not. —
No man who has observed the operations of nature
will contradict the position here assumed. Then if
your soil remain moist, having a coat of grass upon
it, it will not only be placed in a situation to receive
the moisture of the atmosphere, or the dews of the
evening, but it will retain them. By this mode your

FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE SOIL. 16

lands must become enriched, for the rains, dews and
snow are replete with nitre, and by placing this coat
of grass upon your land during the Fall and Winter,
you not only keep your land warm, but you retain
the nitre which would otherwise have left the frozen
earth. The affinity between the moist grass and the
nitre would retain it until the following day, when it
would melt and fall back upon the soil, enriching and
improving it. For the nitre never leaves the soil in
a frosted state, but becomes so when exposed so to
the atmosphere.

Take for example, to elucidate the above, a plank
ten or twelve feet long and twelve inches wide; lay
it on the naked surface of the ground when frozen;
turn it over next morning, and you will find the under
part of the plank white as snow. This result is pro-
duced every night, and a constant evaporation and
exhaustion is carried on tli rough the winter. Whence
arises this frost ? I answer, (rom the soil ; and it
is this which impoverishes, exhausts, and weakens
the soil, just as the rising of cream on new milk leaves
the milk destitute of its original strength.

The proper mode, then, is to put all your land in
timothy and clover, except that portion you retain for
the production of Indian corn, wheat, oats or tobac-
co, and by this mode, simple as it is, you not only pro-
tect your land from the heat of Summer and the cold
of Winter — you not only preserve its inherent heat
and fertility, but in the course of a few years your

16 A NEW THEORY.

land will become positively enriched. Every farmer
should divide his farm into six part^ or fields, two of
which should be in wheat, corn, oats, tobacco or any
other vegetable productions. The other four fields
should be in clover, timothy, or any of the grasses.
The fields should be numbered one, two, three, &c.
For instance. No. 1 should be in corn ; No. 2 in grass-
es ; No. 3 in grasses ; No. 4 in wheat, tobacco, or
such like production ; No. 5 in grasses, -and No. 6 in
grasses. Now in order to give the land that rest
which it absolutely requires, the fields before number-
ed, must be cultivated in regular routine; that is to
say. No. 1, that is this year in corn, must be left in
clover; and No. 2, that is this year in clover, must
next year be planted in corn. Also, No. 4, that is
this year in wheat, niust be left in clover ; and No. 5,
which is in grass, must next year be seeded with
wheat, oats, or tobacco. This routine should be reg-
ularly followed, by which the greater portion of the
farm, say two thirds, would be in a state of rest ; and
being shielded from the rays of the sun by the coat of
clover, evaporation would be greatly lessened, the
earth would retain all the fatness it possesses, and
would be continually increasing in fertility, from the
abundance that falls from the clouds.

No intelligent fttrmer should tc^ke more than one
crop of grain or clover in one year from any one of
the fields, as the old plan of cutting several succes-
sive crops of clover th^ same year, leaves the land

EVAPORATION, &C. 17

exposed, and the consequent impoverishment which
ensues, more than counterbalances the extra profit
which he deiives. It should be enough that he de-
rives the benefit of a crop iVom every field. The
four crops of clover will be as profitable as the two
crops of grain, after deducting the expenses of culti-
vating the latter. Evaporation is the great enemy to
land ; a much greater f»nemy than mankind have yet
conceived it to he. That the system advanced in this
book may be the better understood, I shall describe
the manner in which water is taken up into the high-
er regions; how clouds are formed, and the rain
thrown down upon the earth.

PHILOSOPHICAL EXPOSITION OF EVAPORATION
— Of the ascent of vapour — Of the formation of
CLOUDS — And of the condensation and fall or

RAIN.

It is a fact well known in Natural Philosophy,
Chat all the water of the earth, seas, lakes, rivers, &c.
is alternately raised by the heat of the sun, and
thrown dovsn from the clouds to the earth. This
beautiful process, this wise provision of nature, is
constantly going @n day and night. Winter and Sum-
mer. It is from this cause that the earth is not drown-
ed by the vast quantities of water which fall upon
it. It is a well known truth, that there is not one

18 PHILOSOPHICAL EXPOSITION

drop more or less of water now, than there was at
the creation of the world.

It is a hwin philosophy, that heat expands and cold
contracts all bodies. It is said that there is but one
exception to this rule, but whether it is really so or
not I am not prepared to say, as the greatest philoso-
phers are at variance on the subject. The excep-
tion I allude to, is the freezing of water. It is well
known to every individual, that water expands in free-
zing, and to such a degree as often to burst asunder
the vessel which contains it. Now whether it actu-
ally absorbs heat in the act of freezing, I am not pre-
pared to say. If it does, it is no longer an exception
to the general rule. Some authors have contended,
that the expansion of water in the act of freezing, is
owing to the awkward arrangement of the parti-
cles.

But tp proceed. In the beginning of the world,
when God said, " Let there be light, and there was
light," the first golden ray which fell from the glori-
ous orb, — the sun, — on the earth and ocean, by ex-
panding the particles of water, it became vapour, and
being lighter than the atmospheric air, it ascended by
a well known law into the regions of space. Now
all bodies have a tendency to approach the centre of
the earth, in proportion to their weight, or in propor-
tion to the great quantity of matter in a small com-
pass. An ounce of gold, which is next to the heavi-
est of all metals, will never 'rise in the atmosphere

CF ETAPORATION, &C. 1 9

while it remains in a solid cube or bar ; but when the
gold beater has hamnnered it into thin leaves, it rises
and floats in the air. Its great surface gives the air
power to support it, and hence the attraction of grav-
itation is destroyed.

It is thus with water. Heat expands the dense
particles of water, which becoming lighter ascend to
the higher regions. If the atmosphere, which ascends
forty miles above the earth, were every where of the
same density, the vapour of the earth and sea would
rise to the top; but nature designed it otherwise.
The density of the air decreases in proportion to the
squares of the distances from the earth. Conse-
quently, so soon as the vapour rises to a region where
the air is equally rarified, it ceases to ascend ; but
floats in beautiful white clouds over the earth, or ap-
pears in the West in darkness and storm, its bosom
occasionally illuminated with the livid lightning.

As was observed before, the vapours arising from
the earth accumulate in the upper regions, where the
atmospheric air is of the same specific gravity.
Here, by the great accumulations of vapours, clouds
are formed; which by coming in contact with a cold
current of air, are condensed into water; and which
by the law of gravity or weight, falls to the ground.
The principle of condensation any one may observe
in Winter, by blowing his breath against a cold pane
of glass. Every person on a frosty morning must
have observed the column of smoke-like breath
which issued from his mouth.

20 PHILOSOPHICAL EXPOSITION

The manner in which drops of rain arc fornied is
this. The cold stratum of air coming in contact with
the vapour, condenses into water the minute particles,
which coming within the sphere of each other's at-
traction, are tinited in the form of drops. Becoming
solid, their weight is increased, and they must de-
scend on the fields and flowers of the earth.

How wonderful, how heautiful, are the works of
nature ! How much should we lift our minds to the
great Author of such wonders ! How nicely he has
adapted every thing to its proper use. If the vast
reservoirs of the earth were never emptied by evapo-
ration, vegetation would perish from the abundance
of water, and on the contrary, if all the waters were
drawn off by evaporation, the vegetable kingdom
must droop and die. Again, were the vapours which
are carried up from the earth always to remain in a
state of vapour, the principle or law of evaporatioa
would be of no service ; and on the contrary, were
the power of attraction increased, the water instead
of coming down fiom the clouds in drops, would fall
in solid masses and crush the vegetable creation be-
neath its mighty mass.

Thus, to recapitulate, we find that the water, which
we find in the ocean to-day, is to morrow carried up
by evaporation in the clouds,, and descends in the form
of rain, hail, snow, frost, or dew, according to the
height which it ascends, and the coldness of the cur-
rent of air with which it comes in contact

OF EVAPORATION, &C. 21

Here, then, I come to the point necessary to eluci-
date the subject under consideration. When rain is
formed, it is by the simple condensation of the vapour
into drops. When hail is formed, it is first by con-
densation of the vapour into drops, which by a very
cold current are frozen into hail stones as they fall.
Snow is nothing more than half condensed vapour, fro-
zen just before it falls, by attraction, into drops.
Dew is fine vapour which has not ascended high into
the atmosphere, and falls before attraction renders
the drops large,, by bringing many of the particles
together.

Now all these, by percolating Or filtering through
the earth, leave the nitre which they contain in the
soil, and render it rich when the land is screened from
the sun by a coat of clover or any oi the grasses. As
was observed before, this is effected in the same man-
ner that a spot of earth becomes rich when covered
with a plank or pile of stones.

ON THE

CULTIVATION OF WHEAT.

Permit me to give you my opinioH as to the proper
and best manner of cultivating wheat. In the first
place, procure the best seed w^heat you can obtain,
and instead of fjloughingyour fallow in the months of
June, July, or August, you should seed your wheat in
the months of September and October, on the top of
your clover, and on the hard ground. Plough your
clover wiieat in about four inches together, and as
soon as you turn them under, seed the same ground
down in buckwheat. Then apply a large fallow har-
row and pulverize the ground. Use the harrow ia
the same direction that you ploughed it ; then seed
the ground in timothy or orchard grass, and the clover
will seed itself from the crop you have turned in.
Clear out your furrow, so as to drain the land, and
then take as heavy a roller as you can obtain and roll
the land crossways. You may see from this mode of
seeding wheat, that it is all manured in the hill. I
have turned under the clover and the soil together,
which manures the wheat. The buckwheat will
come up in six or eight days, and cover the land from
the sun. The clover and timothy will do likewise,

CULTIVATION OP WHEAT. 84

and by the time the frost takes the buckwheat, it will
be from eighteen inches to two feet high. The frost
will kill the buckwheat, but the straw will remain,
which will keep the land warm and the wheat will re-
main beautifully green all Winter, with the clover and
timoihy. Your wheat will branch from ten to fifteen
times, and will branch again in the Spring following.
By this mode of seeding, your wheat will be as
thick as it can stand, and as high as your chin.

It is an undeniable fact, that you will never fail to
make a crop by this mode of procedure. The Win-
ter cannot kill your wheat, clover or grass, for the
straw which remains on the land from the buckwheat
will preserve and keep them warm, as was observed
before.

If there should be a small fall of snow together with
a wind, the snow will lodge in the straw, which will
retain it and keep it from blowing o(F. The crop of
straw will prevent the evaporation of the frosts in win-
ter, for as the Nitre that leaves the earth which makes
the frost on the underside of a plank which lies on
the ground would evaporate in the air, if the plank
were not there, so it is the case with all lands which
are lelt in a naked and exposed state. If your lands
are covered with grass they will retain the Nitre un-
til next day, when it will dissolve and fall back into
the soil, thus rendering your land constantly richer.
In the Spring, so soon as the hard frosts are over,
your land should again be rolled, so as to set the

24 CULTIVATION OF WHEAT*

. wheat and grass back into the soil. Then your crop .
will proceed to grow vigorously, and your soil to im-
prove rapidly. Your wheat land is left under clover
and timothy, and you should not turn any kind of
stock on your stubble field ; but have your stubble ra»
ked as carefully as possible, by which means you
will save all your scattered wheat. You should by
no means pasture any of your lands which you intend
for cultivation and wish to improve ; for the croppifig
of the clover or grass exposes the lands to the direct
rays of the sun, which, as before observed, carry off
by evaporation the richness of the soil.

NoTE.-^I have known one gallon of wheat raised
from a single grain, in the garden of Wm. Brinckley,
of Milford, State of Delaware. The reader, no doubt,
will be anxious to know how it was effected. I will
gratify so laudable a curiosity. The grain of wheat
was planted early in the Spring, and continued to
grow until the month of June, when it was taken up,
seperated into ninety branches, and then transplanted
one foot apart each way. It was then cultivated with
a hoe through the summer, and that wheat branched
as luxuriantly as the first; so that the whole space of
ground was filled up the next Summer. The wheat
was cut and threshed, and measured, to the astonish-
ment of many, one gallon.

From this the frugal farmer may see how much
may be raised by putting in wheat carefully, and by
taking good care to have the land covered in Winter
with the same kind of straw.

CORN. »

ON THE CULTIVATION OF CORN.

Flush your field, which has remained in clover and
grass for the two last years, about six inches deep ;
checker the ground at the distances you wish to plant
your corn. While you are checkering off your
ground, you should not suffer your plough to run
deeper than four inches. By this means you leave
the rich part of the earth two inches lower down than
you drop your corn. Cover your grain out of the
furrow, and you have the rich part of your land at
the bottom of the hills.

Your land having been covered all Winter with clo-
ver and grass, vegetation will spring and grow with
great rapidity ; and the richness of the soil will have
been increased in consideration of its having been
rested for two years. It is an incontrovertible fact,
that the growth of grain is twice as rapid when the
soil has previously been covered, as when it has been
exposed to frost, which causes evaporation to take
place, and your land becomes clammy and dead, until
the land receives the Nitre again by the dews and
rains in the Spring.

So soon as your corn comes up, you must com*
mence the cultivation of it with the harrow ; which
should go over it twice in succession. Then take
your small plough and cross plough your corn, and
by that time your presence will be needed in the har-
vest field. So soon as you get through your harvest,
you should return to your corn field ; and if the sea-
son should prove dry, you should work your corn the
3

S6i

CORK.

faster, say twice a week, and proceed until you find
the silk is dead, and turned black at tlie end of the
car; for so long as there is new silk coaling out of
the ear or husk, you must continue to work your
corn, inasmuch as the cob is growing larger, and new
grains forming. •

By this mode of cultivating your corn, you will be
sure of a full crop, if not a double one. You must
pick your best corn for seed ; break your ear in the
middle, and take the best end for your seed. If your
land is wet, you should soak your corn by passing
hot water through it the night previous ; as it is a well
known fact, that if the ground is wet and the corn
dry, the latter will rot, and vice versa.

If the season should prove wet, you must endeav-
or to keep your land well drained, and work it once
or twice a week with your harrow. So soon as the
silk of the corn becomes black or appears dead, you
should commence taking down your fodder; and so
soon as you get it secured, you should commence cut-
ting off by the ground the stalks, and have them
shocked against the fence of your barn yarn, or some
other convenient place.

You may now seed your corn ground down in
buckwheat with a harrow ; then seed the same ground
in clover and grass ; roll the ground with your roller,
and the buckwheat will come up in six or eight days,
which will cover and give security from the sun to the
land, clover and grass. By the time the frost nips the

CORN. S7

buckwheat^ it will be from eighteen inches to two
feet in height; the straw of which will remain on the
land, and give to it as well as the clover and grass,
all the warmth they require from the cold of Win-
ter.

In the ensuing Spring, so soon as the hard frosts
are over, you should roll your grass and clover, and
settle them into the earth. The next harvest you wnll
have a full crop of hay, and by this mode you will
not any year lose a crop from any of your fields.

You should never plough your land in the Summer
or Fall, unless you cannot avoid it; which must be
done in the seeding of your wheat. You should
never plough your land more than six inches deep, as
it will sink the richer part of the soil so deep as to
require one or two years to bring that soil again to the
surface, and yield nourishment to vegetation.. If I
were at present a practical farmer as I have been, I
would not use any plough larger than a nine inch
plough, and from that size to one of six inches. The
small plough can be made to plough up the most grassy
land, by giving it the double singletree ; that is to
say, if your plough cuts nine inches, your double sin-
gletree must be twenty-seven inches long. If your
plough cuts eight inches, your double singletree must
be twenty-four inches. By having your double sin-
gletree three times the length that your plough cuts,
your plough will always run easy to the horses,
and turn the furrow in the very best manner.

38 &TE;

ON THE CULTIVATION OF RYE.

You should have your seed clean and of the best
quality, and seed your rye on the top of your clover
in the months of October and November. You
should plough your clover and the rye all in together,
about four inches ; and then seed your ground behind
the plough in buckwheat. The next process is to
take your fallow harrow and pulverize your ground
as finely as possible, and afterward clean out your
furrows. The same land should be seeded in timo-
thy, and the clover will seed itself.

Obtain a roller if you have none, and roll the
ground crossways as well as you can. In six or eight
days your buckwheat will come up, and cover your
ground from the sun in the Fall. The buckwheat
will grow from 15 to 18 inches by the time the frost
takes it. There will be straw enough on the ground
to shelter the rye, clover and timothy, from the Win-
ter, and there will be no fear but you will be able to
make a double crop.

By this mode of cultivating your land, it must be-
come rich ; for the frosts cannot draw the Nitre from
^he earth, and by keeping the earth warm in Winter,
and cool in Summer, your land will improve faster
than by the aid of manure raised on the same ground.
It is my opinion that nothing raised from the earth
impoverishes it. Look, as was observed before, at

RYE. a»

the lofty woodlands of the West, that have stood for
ages. Now, according to the common doctrine, so
many large oaks would suck up all the substance of
the soil and render it as poor as silex itself. Look
again at the Prairies of the W^st. They are an evi-
dence at once that my doctrine is true. They are
eternally covered with sedge or grass, and are as rich
as land can possibly be.

The nakedness of the land during Winter and Sum-
mer is the cause of its impoverishment, and another
grand cause is the constant tillage without giving the
land rest. It is as natural for the soil to require rest .
as man. In the State of Delaware, particularly the
lower counties, a ruinous mode of culture has been
pursued for years. The land is mostly held by the
wealthy, and tenants seldom take or rent a farm for
more than one year. His object then is to get all off
the land he possibly can, and of course tills all he
can. They practise entirely on the old plan.

1 beg of the farmers of Maryland, and of the Uni-
ted States, to follow my advice as it respects the
mode of tilling, and put their farms in six or eight
fields ; and my word for it, you will see the benefit
which will follow. You will discover that you are be-
coming rich as well as your land, and your regret will
be, that you did not know this mode of cultivation
sooner.

The action of the sun on the naked land, is like
the power of the ravs which come through a lens or
3*

so EYE.

sun glass. The focus, which is formed by the refrac-
tion of the rays in passing through the double convex
lens, sets on fire the segar or any other object present-
ed ; but if a piece of muslin or any other substance
is interposed between the lens and the segar, no eflfect
is produced. It is precisel} the case with land. If
the sun shines down on its naked bosom, the gasses
which arise from it, carry off into the atmosphere the
richest particles of its substance. But on the contra-,
ry, if the soil be covered with a thick coat of grass
or clover, the sun's rays are excluded, and instead of
losing, the earth is continually abstracting nitre from
the raics, hails, dews, snows, &c. Strip those rich
Prairies of the West, expose the surface to the direct
action of the sun, and my word for it, they will every
year become poorer, though no crop of any grain may
be reaped from them. 1 repeat it again, and I will re-
peat it a thousand times, that the soil is not impover-
ished by what is taken off of it, only that when culti-
vated it is necessarily more or less exposed to the sun.
If land could be cultivated, and at the same time
covered with clover from the sun's rays, I should have
no hesitation in saying, that so far from becoming
poor, it would become rich.

There is a piece of woodland in Delaware once
turned out as a common, and now grown up in oaks,
which has become rich. I recollect having noticed
the wheat ridges, where fifty or sixty years ago grain
was cultivated. It became exhausted and was turned

OATS. 31

out, but was when I saw it, rich. From what cause
was it enriched ? From the growth of timber? No.

ON THE CULTIVATION OF OATS.

I will, in the present chapter, give my mode of rais-
ing a double crop of oats. In the first place, you
should seed your oats on the ground that remained in
clover the last Fall, and one thing should be particu-
larly observed ; the oats should be seeded on top of
the ground, and ploughed in about four inches.
Leave your land in ridges, and then take your large
fallow harrow and harrow the ground the same way
you ploughed it, and pulverize the land as thorough-
ly as possible. After which, clean out your furrows,
and seed the land with clover, timothy, or orchard
grass. The roller should then be passed over the
ground crossways.

You now have turned in the soil together with the
oats in the manner they should be. The roller pass-
ing over the land leaves it packed hard, which pre-
pares it to resist the action of the sun, and prevents
the evaporation of the Nitre ; which is the strength
of the land. Your oats in this condition will soon
come up, cover the ground, and shade the clover
and grass. The clover and grass will thus be screen^
ed from the rays of the sun, and the danger of being
killed ; and you will be sure to realize a double crop

S2 OATS.

of oats. This is not imagination, but fact from expe-
rience.

When you have harvested your oats, you should by
BO means pasture your oat stubble, inasmuch as your
stock will eat down the stubble and expose the earth
to the sun, which I have repeatedly said is ruinous to
any land, be its quality ever so good. Not only will
the land be injured, but the clover and grass will be
killed. It Is evident to the reason of any man, that
the earth should not be exposed to the frosts of Win-
ter, any more than to the sun of Summer. The land,
I contend, is not exhausted by what grows out oj it,
but by the evaporation which is constantly going on
Winter and Summer. Wet your hand for example,
and mark how soon it becomes dry again ; but if you
cover your wet hand with putty, it will require hours to
dry. Why is this ? Because in the first instance, the
hand is exposed to the heat of the atmosphere,
which vaporizes the water and causes it to fly off in
the form of fine steam. But in the case of the cover-
ed hand, the heat of the atmosphere is excluded ; and
hence evaporation cannot take place ; or if it does, it
is in a very imperfect manner. It is precisely thus
with the land when covered or uncovered. To have
an idea how rapidly water is evaporated by heat, ex-
amine the tea-kettle or the steam engine. In the lat-
ter machine, gallons of water are evaporated in a few
hours. The quantity which arises from a single acre
of ground in twenty-four hours, has been ascertained
to be immense.

OATS. S8

How wonderfully and how wisely is every thing in
nature formed ! Observe, for instance, the process
of evaporation. Were evaporation stopped^ the hea-
vens would soon exhibit no clouds to our view ; no
rainbow would span the great arch above, and the
earth would retain all its water. Hence no rain, no
dews, no frosts would fall to nourish and cherish the
products of the earth. The washerwoman might
hang out her clothes, but they would never dry ; and
even the sweat which pours forth on the body of man,
would always remain to render him wet and misera-
ble. How wisely formed then are the works of that
sublime Being, who spoke the universe into existence !
How wisely he has framed every thing for the enjoy-
ment of man ! But man, ungrateful man, pays no re-
gard to His gifts, but destroys them as he has the land,
which the Deity intended never should wear out.

Now that the land should never be left naked eith-
er in Winter or Summer, may be proven by taking
one acre of land and planting it in corn, while you
suffer another acre to lie idle and uncultivated in any
grain; yet you are to work the land as though some-
thing were raised on it. The acre which is culti-
vated according to my plan, will every day grow
richer and richer; whilst the other acre, which is
worked every day without any product, will every
day become poorer and poorer. Is not this a proof
of the position assumed } h not this a proof that the
land is not exhausted by what is grown upon it?

34

GRASSES.

Let it be impressed upon your mind, that you are
never to take but one crop from your land each year,
the balance to remain on the land to preserve it from,
the sun in Summer, and the frosts in Winter. Every
other process will tend to impoverish your land, and
render you poorer in purse.

ON SEEDING

AND RAISING THE GRASS CROP.

Among the many improvements and advantages yet
to be studied by the Agriculturists of this and other
States, there are none more important than those
which concern the cultivation of the grass or hay crop;
I mean the modes which I recommend. Notwith-
standing the evident benefit and great advantages in
point of saving, it appears exceedingly difficult to per-
suade our planters of the value of my plans, and the
truth of my theory. 1 am of opinion, however, that
one experiment described will entirely remove their
obstinacy ; and I trust for the benefit of all concern-
ed, that there are few who will refuse one effort, no
matter on how small a scale, to remove all prejudice.
I am perfectly satisfied that the period will very
soon arrive, when every- intelligent agriculturist will
acknowledge the truth of my theory.

The proper time for seeding grass or clover, is

GRASSES. 35

whenever the ground is in order; that is^ whenever
you seed your wheat, oats, &c. So soon as corn is
ripe and tit to take from the ground, the field should
be seeded down in clover and timothy. Buckwheat
should be sown upon the field, for the purpose of
nnore effectually shielding the land from the sun,
and also of protecting the clover and timothy.

Clover, timothy, and indeed all kinds of grasses
which are intended to be cut for hay, should never be
scattered out of the swarth ; because in addition to
the labour of scattering and again raking it up, the
hay is greatly injured. If indeed the weather be fa-
vorable, it should not be scattered ; for the action of
the sun destroys the sweetness of the hay and grass.
The action of the air is all that is necessary when the
hay is curing. The less it is exposed, the greater
will be its value, and less the labour required. Suf-
fer the hay to lie in swarths, until about two-thirds of
the upper part be sufficiently cured. This, in good
weather, will be accomplished in eight or ten hours ;
and if the swarth be light, in a less time.

When the top is cured, turn the swarth bottom
upwards; let it lie until cured like the first, and
then throw three swarths together, and place reg-
ularly in rows. When carting in, drive between the
two rows and load from each. It is hardly necessa-
ry to observe, that all these operations must be per-
formed after the dews have dried off. It should be
recollected that clover will keep with less drying

S6 GRASSES.

than almost any other grass, by applying a layer of
clover and a sprinkle of salt; and then there is no fear
of your horses having what is called the water- brash j
or a running at the mouth.

Your layers, sprinkled with salt, should rise to
about eight to twelve inches thick, each layer. These
should be continued on top of each other, until all
your hay is prepared.

If desirable, you may apply a layer of wheat straw
between every two layers of clover, by which your
straw will imbibe the juice of the clover, and become
almost equal to some kinds of hay.

The proper test when clover is cured, is to take up
a handful and give it a twist; if no juice issues, it is
cured. I have often cut clover in the morning and
hauled it in, in the evening; and generally the suc-
ceeding day, unless bad weather prevented. When
the above mode is pursued of salting clover or any
kind of grass, cattle are extremely fond of it. Far-
mers will find, that clover hay is the cheapest food on
which they can keep their stock in good order during
the Winter; especially if put up in good order, and
sheltered from bad weather. Both horses and cattle
will keep fat on it throughout the Winter, without the
aid of grain, except when worked.

Clover, when put up in stacks, will not resist the
rays as well as timothy and other grasses. Clover
should be cut for hay when one half of the head be-r
comes of a brown color. If cut earlier, it is be-

VEGETABLES.

37

lieved that it will not be so nutritious. If cut la-
ter, the stem will become hardened and it will lose
its substance.

For hogs and stock that are young, clover may
be cut so soon as in full bloom ; of which they are
excessively fond. They might I think be wintered
on it.

When the farmer can do it, he will find it advanta-
geous to provide himself with long narrow sheds,
open all round for the preservation of hay of all
kinds. Under these sheds, let the hay be put down
in layers as mentioned above. By this mode you
will be able to preserve your hay in a much better
manner than in cocks or stacks. As yet there are
few persons in this country sufficiently expert in the
art as to insure its preservation without narrow sheds.
All farmers who have no sheds or barns, should cap
the top of their stacks of clover with some other
kind of hay, which will insure its preservation.

ON THE

CULTIVATION OF V EGETABLES.

The ground which you intend for a Truck Patch

the next Spring, if not in clover the present Fall,

should be covered with some kind of hay or leaves

from the woods, and brush. The brush is to prevent
4

..^^iAVt''^

38 VEGETABLES.

your leaves from blowing away. From six to ten inch-
es deep you should cover the ground, for the pur-
pose of preventing the Nitre from evaporating during
the time the land is frozen ; for that is the time the
land loses its strength. By preventing its freezing
during the Winter season, it will improve on the prin-
ciples advanced in former pages. The rains and
snows will run down through the hay and leaves, and
thus enrich the soil.

So soon as the Spring is open, you should rake off
the hay or other covering, and set fire to it. You are
then prepared to proceed in the cultivation of your
vegetables, in your own favorite^ manner. When
your crop is ended, you should seed your land down
in clover or timothy, as you have been recommended
to do your corn land. The next harvest you will be
able to reap a crop of clover and timothy.

As an experiment, you should plant a quantity of
vegetables on the south side of your fence, which has
been standing for a number of years and has become
rich, by being covered and shaded from the sun in the
Summer, and the frosts in the Winter, by the grass
and weeds which grow under the fence. After your
fence has stood a few years in the same place, you
will rake up the manure from under those fence
locks, and consider it good ; and then you will
divide it on your other lands, whichyou have suffered
to lie exposed by your very improper mode of culti-
vatioH. This you have done while in the corn crop

ON VEGETATION. 39

in the summer, and you have also left it naked in win-
ter.

But if you adopt my plan, your fields in a few years
will become as rich, and even richer, than the soil un-
der your fences ; and you will need no more manure
than is made on your farm by the genial hand of na-
ture. It must be here understood that there must be ^
a soil, or my system falls to the ground. If the land
is composed of nothing but silex or sand, nature can ^
do nothing in enriching it. But there are none of our \
farms but have a soil, and by a soil I mean earthy ^
substance, in which more or less vegetable matter is ^^
mixed. The next chapter will more fully explain \
what I mean by vegetable matter. njcj^d/j <-

PHILOSOPHICAL DiSaUISITION ON VEGETATION.

A plant or a tree as well as man, is an organized
body, endowed by nature with particularly construct-
ed parts, which perform certain functions, from which
proceed the principle we call life. Mineral bodies,
in contradistinction to these, appear to be more the
creatures of chance, formed by chymical and mechan-
ical attraction. Design is marked on every arrange-
ment of the animal or vegetable parts, and that unt
known principle of Z^/e, which has puzzled philoso-
phers froixi the foi^ndation of the world.> How life

, ^^

40 ON VEGETATION.

causes the animal and vegetable organs to perform
their wonderful functions, vv^ill perhaps never be
known to any but the great Author of Life and Ar-
chitect of the Universe.

Nature deals in simple substances, as well as simple
operations. All organized bodies, whether of the
animal or vegetable kingdom, are made up of a great
many compounds, which however result from a few
elementary principles. Animals are composed of
carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen; while the
composition of vegetables is carbon, oxygen and hy-
drogen, These are the component or constituen^t
parts of animals and vegetables, yet there are many
other substances ; but which, as they are not essen-
tial to organized life, are not component parts. These
substances are silex, sulphur, lime, phosphorus, iron,
&c. It is recorded as a fact, that there is suflBcient
iron in the blood of forty-eight men, to make a
ploughshare weighing twenty-seven pounds.

So long as life exists in the animal or vegetable,
the simple bodies which enter into their composition
are susceptible of only certain combinations ; but the
moment life ceases and death ensues, new combina-
tions are formed. A new order of attraction ensues,
the moment the old one is destroyed; and hence
comes putrefaction and decay. Were it not that
these effects are produced, the dead vegetable or ani-
mal would always retain its natural appearance and
form. But this is not the case, and though we embalm,

ON VEGETATION. 41

dry or preserve in any manner the animal or vegeta-
ble, yet finally in the course of time, it will crumble
to dust. How wisely has the Great Disposer of
Events ordered this ! By this universal decay of an-
imal and vegetable matter, by thus returning to origi-
nal principles, which go back into the earth, the
new plant and the new animal are nourished and sus-
tained. Thus one vegetable rises out of the earth,
flourishes, decays, dies, and returns to first principles,
from which another plant is nourished, and that plant
nourishes another animal. Who knows but the dust
of the mighty Caesar, or the famed Alexander, may
have stopped the chink of some peasant's log cabin,
or have nourished some gay flower or noxious weed?
It is not at all improbable. The bones of the heroes
who fell upon the field of Waterloo, when the star of
Napoleon's glory went down in blood, have been sold
by the load to feed and fatten the soil. No doubt
but many an ear of corn has sprung from the relics of
those, to whom Napoleon once spoke and pointed to
the path of fame. O Tempora ! O Mores ! What
is human glory ! What the blast of fame !

There is a mutual reciprocity throughout nature.
From the dead animal and vegetable spring the living
ones ; and there is, besides, a mutual dependence ex-
isting between man and the vegetable kingdom. It
is well known, that neither flame nor animal life can
exist without oxygen ; and it is equally well known,

that plants, trees, &c. are continually throwing oflF in-
4*

42 ON VEGETATION.

to the atmosphere the oxygen gas, which man breathes.
He, on the contrary, throws off from his lungs car-
bonic acid gas, which is breathed in by the leaves of
trees, plants, &c. Here, then, is one reason why we
are exhilirated in a flower garden. Living flowers
are healthy, but dead ones are quite the reverse,
and should never be kept in a bed-room, as they
throw out noxious gasses or effluvia.

It is to be understood by the reader, that the object
of this work is practical, and, therefore, I shall dwell
only on those parts of the philosophy of vegetation,
which will have a tendency to elucidate this work,
and throw light upon the new theory which I have ad-
vaaced, and which I have no doubt will be adopted
when better understood. I wish the reader particu-
larly to understand, that the author has not advanced
his theory from the stores of his imagination merely,
but from the practice of many years in the State of ,
Delaware, where he possessed every facility for ex-
periment.

It has been asserted in this work, that the soil is
not exhausted by what is taken from it in the form of
product; but by the exposure of the surface to the
sun in Summer, and the frosts in Winter. The wood-
land is an example of this. If the old theory be cor-
rect, there would not be nourishment sufficient in the
earth to supply so many lofty oaks, placed so near
each other. On the contrary, we find that wood land
becomes gradually rich, and if covered with clover,
would more rapidly become so.

ON VEGETATIOK. 43

The roots of a tree consiitale evidently the stom-
ach, corresponding to that of man. This stomach, or
the fine fibres of the roots, takes up vegetable matter,
vrhich is ver}^ minutely dissolved in water, and con-
veys the fluid, w^hich is like the chyle when it leaves
the animal stomach, up the alburnum, or heart wood,
to the lungs or leaves ; for it is evident that the leaves
of a plant or tree constitute the lungs. Now when
the chyle, (or milky fluid,) leaves the stomach of the
animal, it is not blood, and has not the power to nour-
ish and do the offices of blood, until it enters the lungs
and becomes oxydized by absorbing the oxygen from
the atmosphere, when it becomes red, and is sent to
all parts of the body. It is precisely so with the sap
or blood of the tree. So soon as it reaches the
leaves, it is elaborated or changed in its properties by
the action of the air ; and it is for this purpose that
Nature formed the leaf so large and thin, giving a
large surface to the action of the air. When the sap
is properly changed by the action of the atmosphere
through the surface of the leaf, it is sent down the
tree between the cortical layers^ and deposits as it
goes the woody matter, which gradually hardens into
wood.

Here we see the wisdom of God in the wonders of
the vegetable creation. I mean, the great similitude
or resemblance between the animal and the vegetable
creation; particularly in the circulation of the blood,
in each. The roots represent the stomach in the an-

44 SWEET POTATOES.

imal ; the holes or pores in the alburnum^ are the
veins ; the leaves are the lungs, and the delicate corti-
cal layers^ the veins. The only difference is, that
the organs and functions of the animal are much more
complicated than those of the vegetable. In Winter,
when the circulation of the tree ceases, and the leaves
are no longer required as lungs, they drop off, and
give back to the earth vegetable matter, spreading be-
fore man as they fall, a beautiful emblem of mor-
tality.

ON THE

CULTIVATION OF THE SWEET POTATO.

The seed of the sweet potato should be selected
in the Fall, when the crop is housed. Potatoes in
Winter should be put away in dry sand, in a hole
made for the purpose under the kitchen floor, near the
hearth, where they can neither be frosted nor freeze.
About the first of March, a hot-bed should be made
large enough to contain whatever quantity of seed
you should wish to plant. The piece of ground you
intend for a hot-bed, should be in a warm place on the
south side of your house or fence. Dig up the
ground from fifteen to eighteen inches deep, removs
that dirt, and then fill up the space thus made with
the best rotted stable manure, nearly to the top ; say
within four inches.

SWEET POTATOES. 45

Now take your sweet potato, and place them near-
ly touching each other ; then cover them with rich
mould about four inches deep, and by the middle of
May, or the first of June, your potatoes will sprout
and come through the ground from eight to ten inch-
es. Potatoes at this time will have no roots. Your
ground should be prepared and put jn perfect order,
and if a sandy soil, manure it with hog manure.
Make your hill about eighteen or twenty inches high,
and so soon as your ground is in order, then go to
your hot bed and break up one side, from which take
up the potatoes carefully. The sprouts should not
be broken off. Take them to the hill, dig a hole in
the top deep enough to set in the potato, and leave
the top of the sprout about three inches above the top
of the hill. Then the potato will commence grow-
ing again, and as soon as your hills become grassy,
you should pick it off carefully from the top and weed
down the sides two or three time^, or until the vines
begin to cover the hills. Then take your hoe and hill
up those hills, until you nearly cover the tops of the
vines. Treat your hills in this manner two or three
times, and your cultivation will be finished. By the
first of September, if the weather be seasonable, your
potatoes will be large enough for the table. So soon
as the frost kills the tops of the vines, you may dig
them, as they will then cease to grow. It appears
that frost is fatal to all vegetation, and if so powerful
on vegetation, why not on the soil which produces
that vegetation?

46 IRISH POTATOES.

ON THE

CULTIVATION OF IRISH POTATOES.

I now intend to draw the reader's attention to my
plan for cultivating Irish potatoes. In the first place,
it is necessary to show the difference in the growth of
the Irish and sweet potato. The former grows up-
ward from the side, the latter downwards; therefore,
it is necessary to plant your Irish potatoes as deep as
you can ; say from twelve to fifteen inches. This
crop is for your Fall and Winter potatoes.

When you prepare your land, plough your furrows
two or three times in the same place, so as to make
the furrow as deep as you can; say from fifteen to
eighteen inches. Then drop your potatoes in the bot-
tom of the furrow. If they are cut, they should be
split lengthways ; then put about six inches of stable
manure on tlie potatoes, after which cover the whole
with five or six inches of rich mould.

So soon as your potatoes come up, work the dirt to
the hill ; and by so doing, you will cover up the grass,
which will destroy it. By this process, the soil will
always remain light round the potatoes, and they will
always be well covered. The cooler they are kept
the better, while growing. Kept reasonably cool,
they grow larger, dryer, and the skin is remarkably
thin. Potatoes raised in this manner, are so mealy
that they fall to pieces when boiled.

IRISH POTATOES. 47

In cultivating early potatoes, I should plant the first
of December; and would prepare my ground in the
following manner: I would take a piece of land that
was in clover, and plough one iurrow; then drop or
plant my potatoes in that furrow. I would then collect
some coarse stable manure and cover the potatoes
about three inches thick, then turn the next clover sod
on the potatoes, and then go on to flush the clover un-
til time for another row ; say about three feet six inch-
es. The next row should be planted in the same
manner. The potatoes should be dropped about three
inches apart. As before observed, split your pota-
toes lengthways, and make four quarters.

When you have planted your crop, take your roller
and roll the ground as hard as you can; after whi^ch,*
take your cart and haul a quantity of old hay or straw,
from your barn yard, or leaves from the woods, and
cover your potato patch all over, about six or eight
inches thick. In the next place you should haul some
kind of brush, which will serve to prevent the wind
from blowing away the hay or leaves. In doing this,
you not only enhance the value of your land, but your
potatoes will be protected from the frosts of Winter ;
and you will have new potatoes on your table from
one month to six weeks sooner than your neighbor,
who plants his in the Spring. So soon as the genial
breeze of Spring returns, and the hard freezing of
Winter is over, you should have the leaves taken
from over the potatoes and carried to your cow-

48^ IRISH POTATOES.

yards, where they will undergo decomposition, and
be resolved into good manure* Thus the leaves will
subserve a double purpose.

The common potato, the Solanum Tuberosum of
Natural History, was originally found in the woods of
America, from whence it was carried to Ireland, and
afterwards to England, w^here it flourished so well
that it took the name of Irish potato. Its introduc-
tion into these countries, was about the beginning of
the Seventeenth Century. There are many species
of the Irish potato, but it is useless to enumerate them
here.

There are a variety of insects, worms, grubs, &c.,
which commit their ravages on the potato; but besides
these, it is subject to several diseases, among which is
the curl^ which affects the root. . Agriculturists have
long endeavored to account for this disease; some
thinking it a blight, others that it is caused by frosts,
after being planted, or by improper planting. The
disease is divided, by some authors, into three stages.
First, the half curl^ in which the leaves are long and
curled. The season must be very good, or the pota-
toes are small and watery. Second^ the full curl, in
which stage the potatoes scarcely attain the height of
seven inches ; arrive soon at maturity, and soon de-
cay. The potatoes are of a dark red color, and are
not so large as a nutmeg. In the third stage, they are
called corrupted potatoes. In this stage they do not
appear above the ground, are very small and very

IRISH POTATOES. 49

few. After the curl, comes another disease called
the scabj by which is meant excrescences, and then the
canker^ caused by little cavities, which make their
appearance in wet weather. These by some, are
considered to be the cause of the curl, and they be-
come worse when the potato remains long in the
earth, after time for harvesting.

The proper time for digging potatoes is in autumn,
when the weather is dry, and when the stems and
leaves begin to decay. If fields are planted in pota-
toes, they should be ploughed up, taking care to take
off the coulter of the plough to prevent cutting them.
When those which are turned up by the plough
are carried away, a drag may be used to obtain
those potatoes which remain covered up. But if
the potatoes are cultivated on a small scale, they
may be dug with the hoe, or other implement.

The potato is a great vegetable luxury, and forms
a great part of the food of the Irish people. Pota-
toes, when boiled, are excellent food for hogs and
poultry. The fattest fowls I ever beheld, were fed
almost exclusively on them. For farm horses, pota-
toes are very good. Mr. Bradley, in his Notes on
Husbandry, proves their superiority over Indian
corn.

Many modes have been suggested, for preserving
in winter, this valuable vegetable. The most com-
mon way, is to deposit them in pits dug in the earth,
and to cover them first with dry straw, and then with

50 IBISH POTATOES^r

earth. They keep in this mawner a long time, provi-
ded they are kept dry. Another plan is, to pile them
up in the form of a roof, to cover them as before with
straw and afterwards with earth. There are many
other modes of preserving potatoes ; these appear to
me to be the simplest and best. In Pennsylvania,
they are kept in a vault, under the barn \ but, accord-
ing to my experience, they become green when laid
upon a floor, or in any way exposed to the air. They
should in all cases be kept dry, and as much excluded
from the atmosphere as possible. Could ihey be put
up in jars, and stopped tightly, I have not a doubt but
that they would keep good for years. It is said that
they are kept for sea stores, by slicing them, baking
them slightly, and then packing them down in jars.
A beautiful starch is made from Irish potatoes, far
superior to that which is made from wheat. The po-
tatoes are first rasped, after being peeled, and the
pulp placed in a cloth and subjected to pressure.
The juice, which is caught in a basin, is mixed with
an equal quantity of water, and set away in a shallow
vessel where it will not be disturbed. In a few hours
the sediment will be deposited at the bottom of the
vessel, which to render it beautifully white, should
be washed two or three times, to free it from the im-
purities which it may contain.

ARTICHOKES. M

ON ARTICHOKES.

There are many articles which might be cultivated
to great advantage by the farmer, were there not that
lear existing of going out of the path which their fa-
thers trod, and of trying new experiments. Among
the number may be enumerated the artichoke.

The artichoke is as easily cultivated as the pota-
to, and the cultivation is the same, with this differ-
ence, that the artichoke should be planted earlier, the
latest period being not later than March. It produ-
ces a beautiful shade, especially the Jerusalem firti-
choke, under which no weeds will thrive. Nearly
all animals are fond of it, even more so than of the
potato when cooked.

Some culturists have declared, that the potato is
superior to turnips or beets as food for cattle, and, if
so, the artichoke is superior to them all ; for, when
cooked, it is certainly superior to the potato. And
then the expense of cultivation is only the same; itii^
proof against injury from frost, is more nutritious to an-
imals, leaves the land clean, and yields from twenty to
forty per cent, more than potatoes. There is but one
thing to be opposed to its cultivation, and that is the
care which is necessary in digging them, it being well
known that if any are left in the ground, they will
vegetate the next year. This, however, is no great
inconveriience.

52 GftOVMD NUTS.

It is a fact well authenticated, that cattle will eat
them with greater avidity than the potato, and that
they will thrive faster upon them. I have seen calves
eat them without refusal. Then the beauty of the
matter is the great yield. The experiment being tried
upon a quarter of an acre, it was found that the arti-
chokes yielded at the rate of upwards of 600 bush-
els, whilst the potatoes came out a little more than
half. In a very dry season, the experiment was again
tried, and the artichoke gave one hundred and fifty
bushejb^^w^hile the potatoes produced nothing. Five
hundred and seventy bushels vrere produced in the fol-
lowing year on an acre. A half acre of the same
land, highly manured, produced in turnips less than
three hundred bushels.

From this it will be seen, that the crop of arti*
chokes was the most plentiful, as well as most profit-
able; and I would recommend the enterprising far-
mer to use some of his land in this product, instead
of reaping a meagre crop of wheat, corn, or other
grains.

ON GROUND NUTS.

Among the many articles to which the farmer
could turn his attention, there is none which would
prove more profitable than the cultivation of ground

C^RODND KCTS. 68

huts; or, as they are sometimes called, pea nuts.
They are of easy cultivation, and require compara-
tively but litllB attention. Thousands of bushels are
imported from the West Indies, and yet they are fre-
quently so scarce as to sell at from three to four dol-
lars per bushel. They require a warm sandy soil,
and there are thousands and thousands of acres in
Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, and other Middle and
Southern States, which do not produce five dollars in
value per acre, which might, if cultivated in ground
nuts, bring an amount which would astonish the culti-
vator.

Wherever the sweet potato thrives, there also will
the ground nut flourish luxuriantly; for both grow best
in a light sandy soil. There is one peculiarity attend-
ing the cultivation of the ground nut, which is, that
the nut comes from the blossom, though it grows like
the potato under ground. This is different from any
other production with which I am acquainted.

The ground inlended to be planted in ground nuts,
should be dug up and perfectly mellowed, without a
tree or any other object to cast a shade upon it, for
the sun's rays are absolutely necessary. The nuts may
be planted somewhat like corn, only not so far apart.
Put two or three nuts in a hill, and let the hills be
about eighteen inches or two feet apart each way.
When the vines run, they will meet and till the ground.
They should be planted as early in the Spring as pos-
sible, to avoid frost ; say in April, or the first of May.
6*

54 MELONS.

After the vines spread, they require no attention fur-
ther than to go among them every morning, and vsrith
a hoe cover up every blossom that is to be seen. For
convenience, the ground should be in long beds, so
that the cultivator may walk between them without
treading on the vines. When all the vines are cover-
ed, a considerable bed of earth will have been raised
on the original one, and in this bed, and from the
blossoms so covered up, will spring a mass of nuts as
thick together as they can grow. In half a yard
square of ground, I have raised a peck of very large
nuts. An acre of ground would produce to the
amount .of several hundred dollars. The nuts are
much larger and better than those brought from the
West Indies.

CULTIVATION OF MELONS.

As the watermelon is one of the most delicious lux-
uries of our Summer season, it is proper that all the
light which experience has gathered concerning its
cultivation, should be given to the community. There
is no production of the earth which improves more
by cultivation than the watermelon. From a small
worthless article, it may by cultivation be brought to
a large delicious fruit, frequently weighing from
twenty to thirty pounds. I shall give the best mode
of cultivating them with which I am acquainted.

MfeLOK§. 55

To prepare the ground, holes should be dug about
one or two feet square, and about as deep, and fill them .-
half full of long manure and garden mould, packed
down hard, and made very wet. The holes should
then be filled to the top with rich mould, into v\hich
should be put about a dozen seed taken from the best
watermelon. Cover them with a layer of well rotted
manure. Over all put a thin layer of pure sand,
which should be kept watered. These holes or hills
should be ten or twelve feet asunder, and when the
plants have come up and have put forth four or five
leaves, they should be seperated ; that is, the worst
plants should be taken out, leaving but three or four
of the best plants in A hill. The sand mentioned, is
put over the seed to prevent the ravages of the yellow
bug, which may be removed and rich earth put in its
place, so soon as the bug disappears. If the season
be dry, use water liberally.

When the plant has put forth six or eight leaves,
the centre shoot should be taken off, so as to cause
the vine to spread laterally. The lateral shoots,
however, should also be taken off, when six or
eight inches long. This will cause the vine to spread
still more. A very good plan is, to put some earth
on a leaf joint about every four feet, taking care not
to cover up the leaf. The joint covered, if well wa-
tered, will take root; which will give strength to, and
cause the vine to spread over the whole ground. No
male blossoms should on any account be taken off;
but all improperly formed melons should be thrown

56

MELONS.

away. Let the vine run as far as it will, but if any
of the lateral branches shew a tendency to turn up,
they should be extracted ten or twelve inches from the
main vine. Be particular to suffer no melon to form
within four feet from the root. One melon only
should grow on a side branch, and three or four ta
one plant. But when the melon has attained near-
ly its full size, a second series may be suffered to
grow.

It is recommended to plant pumpkin seed near the
melons to attract the bugs; though, of course, they
should be removed so soon as the bugs are gone.
Melon seed should never be planted in the neighbor-
hood of gourds, nor indeed of pumpkins, squashes,
musk melons, nor any thing of the kind, if it is in-
tended that they shall flower; for the pollen will
mix, and if hybrid varieties are not produced, the
melon is injured by the flavor of the gourd, or redu-
ced in size.

One thing I would particularly mention, concern-
ing the preparation of land intended ior melons. If
it is desirable to have early melons, at least one
month earlier, the spot of ground should be covered
by hay, straw, fodder stacks, manure, or something
else, which will entirely prevent the freezing of the
ground. Now it requires a month or more in the
Spring for the frost to get entirely out of the earth,
and if this plan is pursued, your ground is ready as
soon as the frosts are over in the Spring.

By pursuing the plan laid down above, watermelons

CIDER. 57

may be had not only earlier, but of the finest and lar-
gest kind. A little more labor is all the difference
between this and the common careless mode, but
the difference in the number and size and flavor of
the melons will be gieatj and will amply compensate
the cultivator.

ON MAKING CIDER.

When you wish to make your cider to put away
for Winter, you should cull your apples and have
them all sound and all of one kind. The trough that
you grind your apples in should be scrupulously
clean, and the cask which is to receive your cider
should be well scalded and then rinsed with cold wa-
ter. Have the straw clean through which your cider
runs. Strain the cider through straw, and then through
flannel. Then pour it into your hogshead or cask,
which should be put in the cellar. Put into each
hogshead about three pounds of lard or about five
pounds of fat pork, stop the bung, and clay it over
closely. Your cider manufactured in this manner,
will keep sweet until the next harvest. Never suffer
any water to be put in your cider, as it will render it
flat and stale.

Inattentive farmers frequently collect their apples
when wet, and throw them in a pile, exposed to the

58 CIDER.

sun and wet weather. This is a miserable practice.
The whole mass becomes sour, and if delay ensues
in pressing the pumice, fermentation takes place, a
small quantity of which juice will spoil a large quan-
tity.

The apples should always hang on the trees until
they are fully ripe, and instead of being threshed off,
they should be gathered by hand when the weather
is dry. They should in no case be bruised, or suffer-
ed to become wet. The} should be assorted, and
placed in seperate piles, where they should remain
from eight to ten or twenty days, to sweat. This pro-
cess improves them, and the length of time they
should sweat, should be in proportion to the inferior-
ity of the apples; those of a hard and crude nature
requiring much longer than the best kinds. The ap-
ples should be piled where the air will have free ac-
cess to them, and should any rot, they should be care-'
fully picked out and thrown away, as they give a bit-
ter disagreeable taste to the cider.

The apples should, in the next place, be ground,
and the pumice spread over the trough to take the air,
by which the cider will acquire a fine color and be
much improved in flavor. It is asserted by some,
that the longer the pumice lies thus exposed to the
air the better, provided fermentation does not take
place before the operation of pressing is completed.
" The following experiment," says a sensible author,
^' will prove this. Bruise a tart apple on one side,

CIDER. S9

and let it lie until brown ; then taste the juice of each
part, and it will be found that the juice of the bruised
part is sweet and rich: so if sweet and tart apples
are ground together, and put immediately on the
press, the liquor which they produce will have the
taste of both kinds of fruit ; but if permitted to lie
until the pumice become brown, the cider will be
greatly improved."

Some farmers are opposed to pressing cider through
straw, because they say, the straw when heated in
the stack gives the cider a bad taste. I have never
known any such effect produced, when the straw
was sweet and clean, and that it should always
be.

After the operation of pressing is over, the cider,
as before observed, should be put into clean, sweet
casks. When the casks are full, they should be pla-
ced in the shade, and after fermentation takes place,
they should be filled up once or more, so as to dis-
charge as much as possible of the foreign matter from
the bung. So soon as the white froth makes its ap-
pearance, the bung should be placed in loosely to
check gradually the fermentation. After this, in the
first clear cool weather, the cider should be racked
off into other casks.

Some farmers are opposed to the use of fresh meat
in fining cider, and recommend isinglass jelly. They
steep the isinglass in white wine, dissolve it over the
fire, and boil it in some of the cider which is to be

W HAY.

fined. It is a plan with others to dissolve the isin-
glass over the fire, and steep it several weeks in
white wine, by which it becomes a jelly.

Cider should be watched very closely, as a slight
change in the weather may injure it. Should it be-
come tart, it is recommended to boil and hull half a
peck of wheat, and put it into each hogshead. This
is recommended in preference to animal substan-
ces, though I must confess, that I never saw any
evil effects from putting a piece of pork or beef into
cider.

During the heat of summer, cider is a very cool-
ing and wholesome beverage, when properly ferment-
ed and free from deleterious ingredients. Cider
which has been kept in leaden vessels, should always
be avoided; for when drank, it produces violent co-
lics and obstipation. It should not even be suffered to
run through leaden tubes, as from the union of the
lead with the acid of the fruit, sugar of lead^ a dead-
ly poison, is produced ; destructive to life if taken in
any quantities.

O N T H E *

PRODUCTION OF NATURAL HAY.

I have singularly called this natural hay, because
the terra is used generally to denote any thing out of
the common order of things. The hay I here re-

HAY. 61

commend, is intended as a substitute, when the far-
mer has no clover, timothy, or other kind of grass of
his own raising. When you cut your wild grass,
you should be sure not to cure it too much. I would
recommend you to take it the next day after it is cut,
if the weather is favorable, and have it stacked ; and
while stacking, to put a layer of hay and then a
sprinkle of salt, and so on, until you have put away
the quantity you desire. If the weather should prove
wet, and you should be disappointed in curing your
hay, and you should not have enough to serve your
stock through the winter, I would recommend anoth-
er mode of preparing and providing yourself with
another kind of hay, which has seldom been thought
of; it is equal to the best hay if properly attended to
and cured. It is the leaves of all trees, of which
cattle are fond, in a green state. Take the boughs of
the Lombardy Poplar, of the Maple, and of most of
the bushes in the woods and branch, while they are
green; carry them to a place where they can be cu-
red and stacked like timothy hay. A ton of this kind
of hay is worth a ton of timothy, as food for stock.
Cattle are known to leave green clover to eat the
leaves of the Mulberry, which can be easily cur-
ed, and on which cattle will thrive. The experi-
ment has been tried, and is, thereforCj no matter of
speculation.

You should not take too many branches off of one

tree, lest the tree should be injured. The branches
Q

62 HAY.

should not be cut until the leaves have acquired their
full size, for I have seen the stock that were in a clo-
ver field, and whenever a tree was felled the cattle
would leave the clover, go to the tree, and eat the
leaves as high as they could reach. This is a proof
that the leaves of some trees, particularly the mulber-
ry and maple, are good food for cattle; and if they
are so when green, why not so when cured like clo-
ver or timothy ?

Suppose an individual were to remove to a newly
settled country, and set himself down in the midst of
the wilderness. He commences clearing the land,
and while he is falling his timber, if it be in the fall,
he may collect the limbs and leaves, to secure for his
horses hay enough to serve them for one year ; which
will be the best of hay, if properly cured and stack-
ed away. This should be done in the same manner
in which clover or timothy is cured, and stacked.
This would be a blessing to thousands of men who go
to those unsettled countries, and are not aware that
the leaves of the woods will make hay. A great
many leaves might be collected in a short time, by
cutting off the twigs and ends of the branches, and
even one tree would make considerable provender.
Nature is kind to those gentlemen who sit themselves
down in the wild woods, for they are abundantly sup-
plied with horse food from the trees, without much
labor.

TOBACCO.

63

ON TOBACCO.

The preparation of the ground for tobacco seed is
very simple. If the cultivator has ever prepared
ground for cabbage seed, he has an idea at once how
it should be done. If the ground is new,- brush should
be burnt upon it for the purpose of cleaning it. To
avoid burning, some recommend weeding the bed ev-
ery year, after the crop comes oflF.

PLANTING.

The proper time for planting, is from the last week
in May to the middle of July. In the first place,
however, the seed should be sown. As it is uncer-
tain as to the number of seed which will vegetate, a
great many more should be sown than will be requir-
ed; say about half a pint to a piece of land 12 feet
square. When they come up, it is a custom to rake
out the superabundance, with a rake made of sharp
iron points or nails, placed about one-half or three-
quarters of an inch apart. This rake is carried
through the plants with an irregular motion, so as not
to leave them standing in rows. Some do this by
hand, as cabbage plants are thinned. The proper
time for this operation is about the beginning or
middlejof May, a little before the time for plantingj
and when the plants are of the size of a fip or half-
dime.

64

TOBACCO.

From the latter part of May to the middle of July,
as observed above, is the proper period for planting.
The plants should be about three inches broad ; strong
and healthy. They should be set out in hills, some-
thing in the manner of transplanting cabbages. Like
these the tobacco plants should be worked, but much
oftener with the hoe or plough.

TOPPING.

This operation takes place in common about the
middle of August, and some of the crop later. The
necessity for this is known, or the ripeness of the to-
bacco is pointed out by its buttoning and blossoming.
All cultivation now ceases, and the culturist proceeds
to topping or breaking off the blossoms to a leaf that
will ripen as soon as the bottom leaves. The top-*
ping and priming should, according to my experience,
be done high ; for then more leaves will be turned
out, the number of which should not be less than six-
teen. The leaves will of course be smaller, but at
the same time they will be richer and of a finer tex-
ture. There is another advantage in high topping;
the leaves will be higher from the ground, and of
course more clean, more free from dirt. The leaves,
though smaller, will be greater in number ; being long-
er growing, they will be richer, and the smaller size
of the leaves will give them greater advantages froo^
the light and air.

TOBACCO.

CUTTING.

65

Great loss ensues to the cultivator from performing
this operation before the tobacco is perfectly ripe.
Twenty-five per cent, and even more, is often tobacco
lessened in value by being cut only a few days before
the proper time. In cutting too soon, the rich flavor
is destroyed, the weight is diminished, and the elasti-
city of the leaf lessened.

The flavor of tobacco is every thing ; and) there-
fore, it should not be cut until it is fully ripe. Some
cultivators say that the whole crop should be cut at
once, but I cannot agree to this, for I have seen part
of a field perfectly ripe, another part half ripe, and
a third portion perfectly green. Now to cut it all
at once would infallibly ruin a great portion of
the crop. It should therefore be cut as it ripens.

The operation of cutting is done with an instru-
ment resembling a butcher's cleaver. It should lie
for a while on the field after it is cut, until the leaves
wither, and there is no danger of breaking from be-
ing handled.

^ HOUSING AND CURING.

From the field it should be carted to the house for
curing. Here a peg six inches long is driven into the
butt, by which it is hung on sticks. Sometimes it is
split, that is, the stalk is split down almost to the butt,
before it is brought in. This split is placed across
6*

Sfe TOBACCO.

the sticks, which are placed on standards about fire
or six inches apart, and the plants placed about the
same distance asunder. Tobacco may be cured eith-
er by fire or by air, and the proper test of its being
cured, is the perfect dryness of the stem of the leaf.
The tobacco house should be close and tight, with
numerous doors and windows. In houses not prop-
erly ventilated, the smoke gives a very disagreeable
bitter taste to the leaves, and a nauseous flavor, which
the tobacco never loses.

There are several ways of curing tobacco by fire,
such as kiln-drying it as plank is dried. Others cut
a ditch in the floor and arch it with bricks. In one
end of this the fire is made, the heat from which es-
capes up into the room, while the smoke is conveyed
along the arch into the open air. In general the air is
sufficient to cure tobacco ; yet in wet weather fire is
necessary. The top leaves of tobacco are always
the richest and the best.

STRIPPINa.

Tobacco can never be stripped except in damp or
moist weather, for it is only then that the leaves can
be handled without crumbling under the pressure of
the fingers. After being stripped, it is tied up in bun-
dles and laid in a pile, when care should be taken
that it does not ferment. After this, it is straddled
again, and in moist weather taken down for packing.
The hogsheads in which it is to b^ packed, should

I'OBACCO. W

never be made of green wood, or the tobacco will in-
fallibly be injured. It is said that the acid of the
wood is more injurious than the dampness. The
loss is sometimes very considerable to the planter
from ignorantly using green or damp hogsheads.

PACKING.

The process of packing is very simple, and scarce-
ly needs a description. I shall, however, give it for
the benefit of those who are not skilled in the matter.
In Virginia, it is customary to place, in packing, the
leaves parallel to each other, and never to have more
than five or six leaves to the bundle. In this way
they lie regularly in the hogshead, and are easily ta-
ken out without tangling and tearing. In the Western
States, it is a bad custom to pack the tobacco in the
hogsheads in a careless and irregular manner, to the
great injury of good tobacco. One-half of the va-
lue and quality of tobacco depends upon the good
management of it, or in other words upon the cutting,
curing, packing, &c.

Tobacco is valued for quantity or quality, and they
seldom go together. If the soil, like that of the
Western States, is strong and rich, the tobacco will
grow luxuriantly, the quantity will be great, and the
quality inferior. But if the soil be light and sandy,
the quantity will be small and the quality superior.
Tobacco is perhaps one of the most troublesome of
all crops. Unlike other crops, the new seed are put

68 TOBACCO.

in the ground before the old crop is disposed of.
There is no vegetable which has so many enemies.
Like the silk worm, every insect appears to be its en-
emy, and yet when tobacco is manufactured, no ani-
mal will use it besides man, with the single exception
of the monkey.

r shall enumerate some of the enemies of the tobac-
co plant. The most voracious of all is the horn
worm. Then come the bud worm^ the ground worm^
the wth worm. There is also a fly which devours the
plants while in the bed, and which follows them when
they are carried to the field.

The most common method of ridding the plants of
these enemies, is to pick them off by hand ; but I have
seen chickens, ducks, turkies, &c., turned into the
field, where they soon wake war with the enemy.

It is a historical fact, that in the year 1622, only
20,000 pounds of tobacco were raised in Virginia.
In the beginning of the Revolution 100,000,000 of
pounds for four years were raised, from 1772 to 1775.
In 1789, the quantity raised was 89,000,000 of lbs.
The quantity increased until 1815, until which time
the production of tobacco averaged 82,000 hogs-
heads, or upwards of 99,000,000 pounds annually.
In the year 1834, there were exported from the Unit-
ed States 87,979 hogsheads of tobacco to different
ports in Europe, and the exports of tobacco in the
year 1836 amounted to something more than 12,000,-
000 of dollars.

PLOUGHING. 69

From this we see that the tobacco trade is second
in greatness and value, the exportation of cotton be-
ing greatest; it being no less in 1836, than 80,000,-
000 of dollars. We hear persons speaking against
the use of tobacco, but they are not aware of the vast
income from this trade, how much it builds up the in-
terests of the country, and to how many thousands it
gives employment. Strike from our exports the ar-
ticle of tobacco, and what a chasm would there be
left? How many would be thrown out of employ-
ment ? How many would be destitute of bread }

^ ON PLOUGHING.

You should never plough your land at any season
of the year unless you are compelled by having to
seed some kind of grain or vegetable ; for the mo-
ment the soil is broken, you are preparing your land
for exposure to the sun's rays, and also to the frosts
of winter. I warn you against any larger plough
than nine inches, for any kind of grassy land may be
broken up with a plough of that size, as deep as any
land should be broken in this part of the country.
The consequence is, if it is ploughed, any deeper than
six inches, the better part of the soil is turned over
ajnd sunk, w^iile the yellow dirt is thrown up. When
this is the case, it will generally require two years

70 PLOUGHING.

for the soil to rise to the top of the earth again. The
less you take of the surface at a time, the easier it is
broken in pieces, and the sooner it is pulverized.

When you commence ploughing, you should re-
member to have your double singletree of a length
to correspond with the plough, or the plough will not
run well. Your double singletree should be three
times the length that your plough cuts ; that' is, if
your plough cuts nine inches, your singletree should
be twenty-seven inches in length from each staple at
the end. If your plough cuts eight inches, your
singletree would be twenty-four inches.

By observing the above directions, your plough
will run flat and turn the furrow well over. The
horse in the furrow governs the plough, therefore you
should never move the clevis at the end of the beam.
Observe this, and your plough will run steady with-
out any trouble to the ploughman, and your plough
will rise up at the end when your horses turn round,
and will take the proper distance. If there are no
stones or stumps, the plough will run to the end of
the row without the ploughman having any necessity
to touch her.

The proper test whether a plough runs well or not,
is to throw her on her side ; and if all is right, she
will rise and take the proper distance herself. By
this I have always judged, and it is a perfect test.

To recapitulate. The New York farmers, who
are perhaps as good as any in the United States, have,

SFRUIT TREES. 71

I am happy to see, adopted the plan of shallow
ploughing; believing it to be the proper mode pointed
out by nature. Reason and experience evidently go
in favor of it, and that which is proven by experience
should be immediately adopted. That it will be uni-
versally adopted, there is not the shadow of a doubt.

ON THE PRODUCTION OF FRUIT TREES.

I have been astonished, for a number of years, at
hearing farmers speaking of raising trees of all kinds
by the process of grafting scions on other stalks.
This is not necessary to obtain the kind of fruit de-
sired. I have come to the firm conclusion that graft-
ing is not the best mode of obtaining the kind of fruit
you want, and that it is not the soonest. The manner
I recommend, is to take those sprouts which grow out
of the trunk of the tree, at that point where the first
limbs rise, and are conjoined. These should be cut
off transversely with a smooth surface, and the ends
covered with cement, made of beeswax and resin.
Have your ground ploughed and in good order, and
then lay off the rows with your plough, about four
feet apart. Plough the furrows about four or five
inches deep, and take of the best rotted stable ma-
nure, and put about two inches in each row. Then
take those sprouts, and lay them down lengthways

12 FRUIT TREES.

in the furrow; one at the end of another. In the
next place, fill the trenches where you have laid your
cuttings, with rich mould or loam ; and you will have
a sprout for every bud on the cuttings. Roots will
start out from around the buds, and when the trees
are large enough to plant out, you should lay the cut-
tings bare, and saw or cut between the buds. Every
tree will thus have its roots, and will be ready to
be transplanted or sent to market. By this mode
you may produce them more rapidly than any other
way, and with the perfect assurance that they wWl
be of the genuine kind desired. The seed of
an apple will perhaps bring forth trees of all
kinds, except the kind you want ; but the cutting
can never bring forth any but the genuine original
kind.

In this w^ay the largest and thriftiest fruit trees may
be obtained. Every other year, those young fruit
trees should be manured, except the plum and the
peach ; which require a very light soil. The first,
if not the second winter, the roots of the young sci-
ons should be covered with straw to prevent them
from freezing; and early in the spring, this straw
should be carefully raked away and carried to the sta-
ble-yard.

WOODLANDS. 73

ON WOODLANDS.

You should never cut down your timber in the
spring, when the sap is up in the tree, unless the bark
is the grand object; as you will injure your land, and
the timber will not last half so long. You should
clear your woods of the undergrowth, or bushes and
briars; and suffer them not to encumber the ground.
By doing so, the trees will grow faster and larger.
Then seed your woods down in clover and herd grass,
for the purpose of having pasture for your horses,
cattle, sheep, and your sows and pigs, while the pigs
are young.

If you should have any spare land, which you do
not intend to cultivate, and improve by my mode of
cultivation; and you should wish to introduce the
pine, you must procure some of the seed, put them in
a barrel full of water, and let them go through the fer-
mentative process. Then sow them on the land that
you have set apart, and with your large spike har-
row, go over the ground, so as to cover them. If
well done, they will soon come up. Beware of sow-
ing them too thick, as it will give you the trouble of
cutting up the superfluous scions. In ten years you
will have a beautiful woods.

It appears that all living objects of the creation are
subject to disease. Trees are no exception, for they
too have their diseases in great variety ; such as the

74 WOODLANDS.

canker, moss, &c. The health of trees, whether for-
est or fruit trees, may be much promoted by cutting
away all diseased and dead parts. Every rotten, hol-
low, or decaying limb, should be immediately re-
moved, as soon as observed. And they should not
be removed only, but they should be cut off until the
axe comes to the sound woad, the surface of which
should be left perfectly smooth. Mr. Forsyth, of
London, gives the following composition, for putting
on the stumps of limbs which have been amputated.
To twenty-five gallons of human urine, and a peck of
lime, mix as much cow dung as will bring it to the
consistence of paint. This substance should be laid
on with a brush, about the latter part of March, until
a sufficient coat is on the stump to protect it from the
weather. This is said to be effectual, though I have
never had occasion to use it.

By properly trimming and cutting away the dis-
eased parts, trees may be made to last much longer ;
nay, their very existence is often renewed. An acre
of woodland, properly attended to, is worth two
acres suffered to run to waste, to languish and die.
Disease in trees, as well as in the human, destroys
them, if not arrested by amputation or proper reme-
dies.

LIME* 75

ON LIME AS MANURE.

Though lime has been used for ages as a manure,
there are thousands who shut their eyes to the testi-
mony of the most enlightened nations, and in their
pretended contempt for " book-farming,^^ affect to
know more about the matter than those who are ex-
perienced and know from practice. I do not believe
every idle tale concerning the efficacy of lime, nor do
I believe that it acts on the soil in every respect as
others believe ; yet there cannot be the shadow of a
doubt that its proper application ameliorates the soil,
as was taught by the ancient Roman writers of cele-
brity. Like marl, lime binds the sandy and renders
more porous the clayey soil, attracting moisture at the
same time from the atmosphere. My object, in wri-
ting upon the subject, is not so much to extol its
merits as a manure^ as to describe its merits in a true
light.

There are two kinds of lime used as a manure for
land. The first is procured by burning ojster shells,
and the second by burning limestone in a kiln. The
first is by far the best, inasmuch as it is much finer,
purer, and acts more rapidly on the soil than the Oth-
er.

The oyster shell lime is adapted to every soiljpro-*
vided the soil is not too low and wet. Lime acts, as be-
fore observed, by absorbing moisture from the atmos-

76 LIME.

phere, and it isj therefore, reasonable to suppose that
a wet soil would only render the lime a mass of mortjar.
But as was observed of marl, it benefits clayey land
by opening the pores of the soil, making it friable and
giving free passage to water and the roots of vegeta-
bles. Now there is sometimes too great a quantity
of acid in the soil, and the lime serves a good part by
neutralizing this acid, and thereby benefitting the
plants growing therein.

Lime is beneficial also to sandy and gravelly soils
by binding their particles together, by which they re-
tain whatever falls upon them. The heat of the sun
vaporizes and carries off from sandy soils, the best
anid most nutritious portions of vegetable matters and
gasses. When the soil is limed, great care should be
taken that it be covered from the sun, so as to retain
these juices and gasses.

Care must be taken how and when lime is applied.
^It is well known that quick lime is caustic, and that
lime water destroys a plant when thrown upon it.
But when lime is spread upon land, it unites itself
chemically with vegetables, becomes a compost, dis-
solves in Water, and in this way becomes nutritious to
vegetation.

Land should properly be limed in the summer, say
in June or July, when the soil is in fallow, by which
it will be thoroughly incorporated with the soil be-
fore the sowing of the crop. This should be the
case, if it is intended that turnips should be sown.

LIME. *7t

If the lime is to be spread upon an old field, some
recommend that it should be applied to the sward
before the plough enters, or the surface is bro-
ken.

Other writers on lime say, that it should be plough-
ed in a few days before seeding. But if the ground
be new, they say it should be spread upon the sur-
face, ploughed under in autumn, and ploughed to the
surface again in the ensuing spring. I must confess
that this strikes me as being a very good plan. In
planting corn, I have not a doubt but that this is
the very best plan that could be pursued.

Chemists have demonstrated the positive fact, that
lime forms a part of the composition of nearly all veg-
etables, and hence we find that it has been known
from time immemorial.

There is a great diversity of opinion with respect
to the quantity of lime necessary to be spread upon
a given number of acres. There appears to be no
certain quantity used in England, varying from two
to six hundred bushels. My opinion is, that where
the soil is sandy, the quantity of lime should be in pro-
portion to the quantity of vegetable matter contained
therein. In France, they use small quantities, declar-
ihg that from twenty-five to thirty bushels are sufficient
at one time. In America, also, the quantity varies
from sixty to three hundred bushels per acre. Six hun-
dred bushels have been applied to strong clayey soils^

but this quantity would be too much for sandy lands.

7*

18 LIMK.

Whether or not the benefits derived will balance
the expense of such heavy applications, I am not pre-
pared to say ; but be this as it may, the shell lime is
far preferable, and should in all cases be used, though
not in any such quantities as here spoken of. Indeed
if my system be correct, no lime is needed, and no
other artificial manure, unless it be made into a com-
post, which should be made as follows :

To make a compost pile, take all the long manure
you have, and all the vegetable matter that can be
gathered on the farm, such as leaves, hay, grass from
the hedges, and what else that may be found, and
place them in layers in the field, sprinkling on each
layer a good coat of lime. Let each lawyer of dung
and vegetable matter be five or six inches thick, and
on each alternately or successively spread a good
coat of lime. When it has risen into a pile, and con-
tains all the matter you possess, cover it over with
dirt five or six inches thick, so that the gasses which
do escape, may be caught and retained in the earth
on the top, \vhich they will serve to enrich. Heat
will soon be generated, fermentation will ensue, and
the vegetable matter be decomposed, or reduced
to original principles ; that state in w^hich the dead
plant becomes food for the living one. Thus life
springs out of death and decay, for vegetable matter
must be not only dead, but rotten, before the living
plant can derive nourishment from it. The very
roots of the living, riot in the dead matter of the dead

MAltL. 7d

plant, which but last year sprung from the ruins
of another. Nature continually deals in wonders.

Many farmers notoriously throw away many re-
sources, which they might turn to great advantage.
Does a horse die on the farm, straightway his hide is
taken off and sold, and the more valuable part drag-
ged out to feed the " bleaking buzzards of the night,"
as though the carcass were good for nothing. The
same is performed when an ox, cow, sheep, or any
other animal dies, or gets killed on the farm. And
thus they labor, I mean all such injudicious farmers,
to throw away the very best sources of manure on
their farms. All dead animals, even to dogs, cats,
and rats, should be turned to account, by making a
compost of them with lime. Animal matter makes
the best of manure, when decomposed or reduced to
original principles. How many loads of the best ma-
nure are thus lost every year by injudicious manage-
ment ! Heaven has placed within our reach all that
we need, if we will not blindly overlook our advanta-
ges, and despise the blessings which an all-wise God
bestows upon us.

ON MARL

Though my system of agriculture is based on the
fact, that nature will manure the land if kept covered

80 MARL.

from the sun; yet I do not condemn the use of Marl
and other manures, when they can be obtained easily
and without too much expense. But if marl is to be
hauled from a distance of 5 or 10 miles, it is better to
let it remain; for it costs more than it comes to. I
advocate marl not as a manure, but as an ingredient
to improve the texture of the soil ; for there must be
a soil, or my system cannot be brought into operation.
Upon naked sand I can do nothing, and therefore I
recommend the use of marl, as it has a tendency to
bind together a sandy soil and to render a clayey one
more porous, by which the rains can be received and
retained. Clay marl for sandy land, and stone marl
for a clayey soil should be used. With this neces-
sary introduction, I shall proceed to speak of the
subject proposed ; the kinds and nature of marls.

The component parts of marl are clay, sand and
calcareous matter. Sometimes two of them are united,
but chalk or lime in some proportion is always found.
Glay marls are found of various colors : blue, brown,
reddish, yellowish white and yellowish grey. The
blue clay marl is never found in conjunction with sand,
and the shell marl is not often found combined with
clay. There is in stone marl sometimes a super-
abundance of clay and sometimes of sand, though it is
more frequently sand. As observed before, the sand
marls, be it shell or shistus, should be put upon clayey
soils and clay marls on a sandy soil, because in the
first they render the soil more porous, and in the

MARL. 81

second less so. The defect in each is thus remedied.
Marl has somewhat the appearance of fine clay,
but of a color considerably lighter, and like clays,
seems to be of a greasy consistence ; yet it is not te-
nacious like clay, but crumbles to pieces between the
fingers. It has very little or no smell, and tastes very
like chalk. It is found in many parts of our widely
extended country ; sometimes in wet flat lands, and
at other times under sand banks, by the margin of
rivers.

It is difficult to keep vegetable matter in a sandy
soil, as it gives it up readily, not only to plants, but
is vaporized and carried off by the heat of the sun's
rays. Herice it is called a hungry soil, and hence,
too, I recommend it to be covered by clover or grass
to protect it from the volatilizing power of the sun.
All sandy soils need clay and a portion of calcareous
matter to improve their texture and increase their fer-
tility. Marl at once answers this purpose, as it con-
tains both clay and lime. The quantity put on the
soil should be in proportion to the deficiency of these
substances in the soil. It is said that the effect of marl
on the sandy soil will be seen for twenty or thirty
years. This arises from, and proves the fact, that the
earths do not constitute the food of plants, but that
the soil is only the stomach which digests, or assimi-
lates the animal and vegetable matter which nourishes
and enters into the composition of plants. The very
best soil is that in which the three earths, sand, clay,

82 MARL.

and lime are blended in certain proportions. Wheat
cannot grow in a soil destitute of, or deficient in, cal-
careous matter, which is generally more or less the
case wnth sandy land. Gypsum, or Plaster of Paris,
is sometimes used. It is a sulphate of lime, or sulphu-
ric acid (oil of vitriol) combined with lime. The
lime binds the sand, and the sulphuric acid is a stimu-
lus, and serves to attract moisture from the atmos-
phere, which, when covered, serves to enrich the
soil.

Clay lands are denominated cold, because they are
of a compact, solid texture, resisting more than sand
the action of the sun's rays. The roots of plants
cannot penetrate such a soil freely, and like all so-
lid bodies its temperature is low, being too cold to
carry on the process necessary to the health and rla*-
pid growth of plants. It is here that the stone or
sand marl is beneficial, in rendering the soil more po-
rous, by which heat and moisture are admitted to as-^
sist in digesting the food necessary to the growth of
the plant.

It is a very easy matter to distinguish marl from
mere clay, and also to discover whether it is marl 01^
not. Put a piece or a portion pulverized into one of
the acids, even vinegar, if strong, and if effervescence
takes place, it is an evidence sufiicient that it is marl^
for clay will not effervesce in any of the acids. The
effervescence is occasioned by the action of the acid
on the lime contained in the marl.

MARL. 83

How wisely has Nature adapted every thing not
only to use, but as it respects location, and Providence
never suflers them to be discovered until they are
needed by man. When a country becomes scarce of
wood, extensive coal mines, as in England, are discov-
ered ; or peat and turf, as in Ireland. So with re-
spect to marl. Now it is a fact that beds of clay
marl, the very substance needed, are generally found
under sandy soils, and shell and stone marls under
clayey soils. And how wisely has Nature designed
it, that every thing which springs from the earth shall
go back to it, a proof that Providence never intended
the land to wear out, and it never would but for the
ignorance and folly of man. All animal and vegeta-
ble matter that springs from, or exists on the earth,
undergoes the chymical process of decomposition,
and is resolved into water and air, in which forms
they serve to nourish other animals and other veg;eta-
bles, thus almost agreeing with the doctrine of trans-
migration of souls, held by some of the oriental na-
tions.

There is a mode of making artificial marl, which
is as follows : Place in a pile a layer of good clay,
and upon it a layer of lime, and so on alternately, un-
til it rises to a heap; there being equal quantities of
clay and lime. Let this lie exposed all winter, and
in the spring spread it upon a light soil and it will be
beneficial; but if the soil is a heavy clay, then the
composition should be lime, sand, and loam. These

84 MARL.

mixtures will greatly resemble the true calcareous
earth, and will repay the labor.

I spoke above of spreading the marl in the spring,
but the proper time is in the summer, as the marl is
then very dry. The farmer, however, can use his
pleasure, and put it on the land even in winter, when
he has nothing else to do.

The ground should be put in proper order before
the marl is spread upon it. All weeds should be ex-
terminated, and the ground rendered level by the use
of the harrow. This is necessary, because then the
marl may be equally spread over the soil, and have
an equal effect on every part of it. In the spring it
should be harrowed into the soil, but with great cau-
tion; as from its weight, it has a tendency to sink too
deep into the soil, and thus by falling in the furrow
made by improperly ploughing it in, its virtue is lost,
and the ignorant farmer condemns it as a valueless sub-
stance. The great object should be to incorporate the
marl thoroughly with the soil, so that it shall become
a part and parcel of it. In its thorough incorporation
with the soil lies all the benefit ; if it remain upon
the top, or in the furrow, the effects are but par-
tial.

The quantity of marl which should be spread upon
land is another matter of importance. I would re-
commend too small a portion rather than too large,
as it is much more easy to add to than take from. On
a sandy soil a thick coat may be spread with safety,

MARL. 85

as it will tend to bind the land, and cause it to retain
every thing that falls upon it. On stiff soils a thin
coat should be spread, sufficient to render it more po-
rous, by which it may receive and retain whatever
falls upon it.

" To find the composition of marl,'' says the Do-
mestic Encyclopedia, '' pour a few ounces of diluted
muriatic acid into a Florence flask ; place them in a
scale, and let them be balanced ; then reduce a few oun-
ces of dry marl into powder ; and let this powder be
carefully and gradually thrown into the flask, until af-
ter repeated additions, no farther effervescence is per-
ceived. Let the remainder of the powdered marl be
weighed; by which, the quantity projected will be
known. Let the balance be then restored. The dif-
ference of weight between the quantity projected and
that requisite to restore the balance, will shew the
weight of air lost during effervescence. [That air
proceeds from the calcareous earth alone, w^hich con-
tains 44 per cent, of this carbonic acid air. Suppose
500 grains of marl lose 44 grains by the escape of air,
then that marl contained lOOgrains, or one-fifth of its
whole weight of limestone. — T. C] If the loss
amount to twenty or twenty-five per cent, of the quan-
tity of marl projected, the marl assayed is calcareous
marl, or marl rich in calcareous earth. Clayey marls,
or those in which the argillaceous ingredient prevails,
lose only 8 or 10 per cent, of their weight by this

treatment, and sandy marls about the same proportion.
8

8^ wiitL.

1* he presence 6f tnuch argitlacedus fearth may te
judged by drying the nfiarl, after being washed with
spirit of salt, when it will harden and form a brick.

" To determine with still greater precision, the
quantity of calcareous earth in marl, let the solution
in muriatic acid be filtered and mixed with a solution
of carbonate of potasli, till no further precipitation
sippear. Let the sediment subside ; wash it well with
water; lay it on a filter, previously weighed, and dry
it. The weight of the dry mass will show how much
carbonate of lime, the quantity of marl, submitted to
experiment, contained.''

There have been a variety of opinions held at dif-
ferent periods of the world, concerning the efficacy
of marl as a manure ; for it is certainly of very an-
cient date. Lord Bacon defines marl to be the best
compost in use-, ^having fatness, and being nutritious
to the earth. An ancient author declares, that a
piece of land once marled continued fertile eighteen
years, while Anderson's statement is thirty years, with-
out further improvement. These are no doubt exag-
gerations.

The word marl signifies in its original meaning,
marrcwy or fatness, from the supposition that it impart-
ed fatness to the earth ; though, as has been shown, it
acts from binding or opening the pores of the soil, and
from attracting moisture from the atmosphere. The
lime has also the power of decomposing vegetable
and animal substances in the earth.

HORSES* ^7

ON THE MODE OF

RAISING AND TRAINING HORSES.

You should in all cases endeavor in the first place,
to obtain a good breed of horses ; and, particularly,
you should aim to get that kind which is full made,
and full of action. For breeding mares, choose such
as will breed after the horse, and then you will find
no difficulty in obtaining a good stake of hors€3.

As soon as your mares have colts, you should com-
ijfience handling them, and so continue on until three
or fou^ years old. Great care should be taken of
them, Too much grain should not be given them
while young, but plenty of good hay, and salt once a
week, if you do jqotlive near the salt marshes. When
you commence breaking.the colts, you should be very
gentle with them, and never, suffer them to be storm-
ed at or abused. Put the bridle on them, let them
stand two or three hours at a time, and then lead them
about the yard several times in a day. In the next
place, the saddle should be put on and girted rather
tight; again be led about; after which a light boy
should ride it, whil;e you mount ahorse and ride along
side. Thus propeed up and down the road together ;
then put your carriage harness on, and let the colt
stand about an hour every day. Be sure to girt your
hiarness on well, and never* suffer the colt to become
entf^njjlecl in thu^nji; Le^d it abpi^t, once a day, witiji \\i^

88 HOUSES.

harness on; and then put one of your horses in the shafts
of the carriage, whilst you hitch the colt along side,
with the harness on. Drive them in this way several
times, then put the colt in the shafts and drive them
several times, with the old horse at his side. While
you are on the road, you should have the old horse
ridden ahead of the young one, and then drive the
latter by himself. By this process, you will have a
first rate family horse, gentle and docile.

That peculiar people, — the Turks, — at Constanti-
nople, give the following account of the Turkish
horse. Our own wise people may learn a lesson of
humanity from their words. " There is no creature
so gentle and respectful to his master, as the Turkish
horse. The reason is, they treat their horses with
great lenity ; they make them lovers of mankind, and
they are so far from kicking, wincing or growing un-
tractable by this gentle usage, that you will hardly find
a vicious horse among them." Alas! " our christian
grooms go on another rate. They never think them
rightly curried until they thunder at them with their
voices, and let their clubs or horsewhips dwell on
their sides. This makes some horses tremble when
their keeper comes into the stable, so that they hate
and fear them too. But the Turks love to have their
horses so gentle, that at the word of command they
may fall on their knees, and in that position receive
their riders. They will take up a staffer club on
the road which their rider has let fall, and hold it up to

HORSES. ^^

l^im ?ig^in. I have seen some horses when their mas-
ter was falling from the saddle stand still, without mo-
ving a foot, until he got up again. Once I savy soin§
horses when their masters were at dinner, prick up
their ears to hear their voices; and when they did so,
neighed for joy."

DISEASES OF HORSES.

I shall add to this work, a short treatise on the
most frequent diseases to which this noble animal is
subject. Of all the creatures which an All Wise
Providence has given to man, the horse is without
controversy the noblest, the most valuable and useful.
How necessary, then, that the diseases of so useful a
creature should be understood ! Yet how melan-
choly the fact, that in all the Medical Schools of
America, there has never been established a veterina-
ry chair, notwithstanding the warmth with which the
celebrated Dr. Rush urged the necessity, and the ad-
vantage. A veterinary chair in the schools of Europp
is common. Farriery, as well as physic, should be
taught and studied as a profession. The horse should
be known from his anatomy to his diseases; for, next
to mankind, he ranks in the scale of usefulness.
Such a knowledge would save thousands of these in-
dispensable creatures from destruction prematurely,
^^d save thousands of dollars to the ignorant owners
of them.

Ip the fpll9J5fin^ ^hpr.t treatise^ I shall^spe^ak only of

90 H(Wtsfis;

the more prominent diseases to which the horse is
subject; such as colic, botts, distemper, blind staggers,
scratches, &c.

GOLIC*

This disease attacks the horse very suddenly, and
carries off many noble animals •, and, yet, if taken in
its early stages, it is easily cored. The causes of
colic in horses are numerous, among which I shall enu-
merate the following. I have known bad food, such
as improperly cured hay, to produce it. Horses that
are warmly clothed and well housed, are attacked
with it from drinking very cold water. Sometimes it
is brought on by a draught of cold water, after hav-
ing travelled rapidly. Again there can be no cause
apparently assigned, save a sudden loss of tone in the
stomach or bowels, causing a spasmodic stricture of
the intestine, and a consequent retention of air. Con-
fined air is very frequently the cause of this disease.

The symptoms of this painful disease, are as fol-
lows : In the beginning, the horse appears uneasy,
paws the ground, and vainly attempts to evacuate.
After a while his agony increases, he throws his head
from side to side, and groans, as if he would tell his
misery. At length he tumbles down, and rolls over,
while a profuse sweat breaks out upon him. At in-
tervals he appears to get better ; he gets up ; but the
spasm returns, and he suffers still greater agony.
The pulse remains nearly the same, and no fever is

flORSEI?. SI

observable. Though sometimes the disease will grad-
ually abate, without the application of any remedy;
yet frequently the air continues to accumulate in the
intestine, until inflammation takes place, or perhaps
rupture, when the unhappy horse immediately sinks
and dies.

A very good remedy in this disease, is a quart of
gin, in which a small portion of tobacco has been boil-
ed. Hold the horse's head back, and drench him
with it. If the pulse becomes quick, three quarts of
blood should be taken, in order to relieve the spasm
and prevent inflammation of the intestine. The first
draught will generally relieve, in the early stage of
the disease ; but should the misery continue an hour
or two, repeat the draught of gin and tobacco. If
this should not be found to answer the purpose, ad-
minister a pint of castor oil, with an ounce and a half
of laudanum. The horse, after he gets up, should be
well rubbed and clothed with blankets.

The best manner in which a draught can be admin-
istered, is by means of a bottle with a long neck.
The bottle is introduced into the horse's mouth, as far
as possible, so that the liquid will run down his throat.
His head should be elevated high enough to prevent
him from throwing out the liquid. His tongue must
be at liberty, in order that he may swallow, that or-
gan being absolutely necessary to that operation.

09 HORSED.

BOTTS.

According to zoology, botts are nothing more or
less than a kind of worms, hatched and nourished in
the al'mientary canal of a horse. There are three
kinds of worms to which horses are liable. These
are truncheons, mawworms and botts.

The truncheons are considered most dangerous.
They derive their name from being short and thick,
with dark heads. They are found in the stomacj)
or maw, through which they eat, and destroy the
h orse.

The maw-worm is found in the maw, somewhat
like an earth worm, and of a reddish color. They ^fjE^
about three inches in length.

The bott is found in the great gut. Though a
small worm, they have a large head. Botts and the
nitts, may be found in the excrement of the horse, ais
well as in the fundament.

It is a species of fly which lays the egg of the bott.
Some authors contend, that the female fly enters the
anus of the horse and there lays her eggs ; that they
are hatched by the heat of the parts, and ascend into
the intestines and stomach. Other authors contend
that the fly lays her eggs on the hair and legs of the
horse, and that from the itching, he carries his mouth
to the spot, gathers them in the saliva, and finally suckn
them into the mouth, from whence they descend into
the stomach. These flies are seldom found in cities,

HORSES.

gs

and the horses, if kept in stables, are seldom affect-
ed.

I have seen these botts, which are large maggots,
put into strong Nitric Acid, (Aqua Fortis,) through
which they waded apparently as if it had been water.
The Sulphuric Acid, (Oil of Vitriol,) was then pour-
ed upon them, which completely cooked them.

The bott is of a singular construction. Around
them are circular rings, and they have prickly feet,
which enable them to hold on to the part where they
breed. The rough muscular coats of the stomach are
well suited to them, for there they cling and suck
like leeches, until the part looks like a honey-
comb. They cause convulsions, and often throw the
horse into great agonies, painful indeed to wit-
ness.

It may be easily discovered, whether a horse is trou-
bled with any of these worms, by the following r He
will strike at his belly with his hind legs, and paw
the ground with his fore legs. He will turn his head
to look behind, as if trying to discover the cause of
his agony. He will also groan like one in misery,
and roll his restless eyes.

Botts are not often discovered to be in the stomach
of the horse, until they have acquired considerable
size ; and hence they are very dangerous. They are
not so dangerous in the beginning of summer, in the
straight gut, for they often come away in the dung.
The worst effect is, that they render the horse rest-

94 HORSES.

less. The horse suffers most from them in May and
June, for they seldom disturb him longer than from
fifteen to twenty-five days at a time.

From the following symptoms, it may be known
when the horse is suffering from the truncheon or
maw- worm. His hair stands out the wrong way, and
he strikes his hind feet against his belly. He looks
jaded, becomes lean, and lias spasms in the belly. He
will occasionally after being griped, stretch himself
on his belly, and then get up to his food. But above
^11, the presence of the worms in the excrement

Now to the cure. Calomel, repeated in large
doses, is an excellent remedy for botts in, t|be stomach.
After the calomel, an active purge.

For botts in the straight gut, give thp fpllowii^g:
Savin^ a spoonful ; cut into small pieces, twice a day,
in moistened mealy to which add four or five clo^^^s of
garlic.

Perhaps thjere is no better treatment than, the fal-
lowing : Let t,he horse b^ kept from food du^'ing
one day, and at night give him a mixture of molassQS '
and milk. This, it is said, will cause the botts to lose
their hold, and pass off by the bowels. Or bran and
warm water, in small quantities, m;^y be given. As
soon as possible, after this, give him a ball made of
bread and honey ; mix with one scruple of turbith
mineral and the same quantity of calomel. The next
evening give him one pint of castor, and half a pint
of linseed qij. It is supposed that the worms, in their

HORSES. 95

eagerness for food, will eat the mercurial ftiixture,
which will destroy them, and that the oils will throw
them oflf.

APOPLEXY, OR BLIND STAGGERS.

This disease, in the brain of the horse, is caused
by too great an accumulation of blood in that part.
The symptoms are a want of appetite ; drowsiness ;
inflamed and watery eyes, and a staggering movement
of the animal, from which the disease takes its name.
The head of the suffering creature leans on the man-
ger; the urine is discharged in small quantities, and
fever prevails in the system. Sometimes, in the ad-
vanced stages, he reels about as if blind, and unable
to keep his feet or see his way. Sometimes he
beats his head against the wall, and is struck for-
cibly to the earth, as if by some invisible power.

The causes, besides too great fulness of blood in
the brain, are as follows: Colds, caught by being turn-
ned out into the field too early, after violent exer-
tion; high feeding; want of exercise, and by moist
cobwebs^ either taken in through the nose or mouth*

If the first, or too much blood in the brain, be the
cause, copious bleeding must be resorted to ; two
quarts of blood from the neck, and a pint from the
thigh; after which administer half a pint of linseed
oil, the same of castor, forty grains of calomel, sixty
of jalop, and two ounces tincture of aloes. Gii^e
the above every morning and evening, and be par-

9$ Worses.

ticular to avoid all cold water, as it is very injuri-
ous.

If the animal being turned too suddenly to grass af-
ter great exertion be the cause, it will be proper to
bleed freely, and with straw to support the head. Al-
so a clyster of senna and salt should be given, morn-
ing and evening. The fumes of burning tar passed
tip his nose will be found excellent, inasmuch as the
disease proceeds from cold. Equal parts of an-
timony, cinnabar and guiaciitn, made into doses of
one ounce, should be given every day for a month.

If fulness of blood, want of exercise, or high feed-
ing be the cause, small quantities of blood must be
frequently taken, and a diet given which will have a
tendency to open the bowels.

With respect to cobwebs as a cause of this disease
very little is known ; and it is useless to say any
thing further here.

SCRATCHES OR GREASE.

This disease is said lo be very prevalent among the
horses of England, owing to the carelessness and bad
management observed. It arises from excessive la-
bor, a miry stable, and from suffering the hair to grow
long on the fetlocks without being cleansed from the
dung and dirt which collect there. The dirt collects,
becomes hard and heats the foot, even so as to disease
the sole. Owing to this, the foot and leg swell, from
which a matter is thrown out much resembling grease,

HORSES. 07

from which the disease derives in part its name. The
joints become stiff and swollen, and the horse entirely
lame.

Let it be forever remembered that, instead of suf-
fering the hair to grow, as many people believe to be
an advantage, in preserving the foot from injuries on
hard roads, it should be kept trimmed and clean. If
the hair that grows on the part, is the only defence
against injury from stones or frozen earth, it is a poor
one, and not worthy the attention of the farrier.
Such injury bears no comparison to that inflicted by
the disease. Another thing should be remembered.
A horse should never be rowelled for this disease, as
all experience djemonstrates the fact, that instead of
proving a cure, it too often leads to consumption.

The best remedy for this disease, with which I am
acquainted, is the following: Clean the part with a
corn cob, and wash it well with strong soapsuds; af-
ter which apply a plaster of boiled tar. According
to my experience, this remedy never fails. The fol-
lowing is very good in the incipient stages of the dis-
ease : Four ounces of Venice turpentine, one ounce
of quicksilver, and grind them until the quicksilver
disappears ; then add mutton suet and honey, each
two ounces. Anoint the part once or twice a day,
with this composition.

But if the horse is of full habit, and the hair turns
the wrong way, then a more extensive practice must
be pursued. He must be bled, purged, and altera-

98 HORSES.

tives used, to correct the vitiated state of the
blood.

Sometimes deep seated sores and cavities are form^
ed in tlie horse's heels. In this case, the knife must
be resorted to ; the parts laid open, and one of the
preparations, above spoken of, applied ; for the ap-
plication must be made to the bottom, or a cure can-
not be effected.

The following is an excellent purge in this disease:
Two ounces Aloes, three drachms Rhubarb^ two
drachms Calomel^ and oil of aniseed enough to
make a mass. Divide this into two pills^ or balls.

A pint and a half of Castor oil may be given for
a purge.

FOUNDERED.

This is a disease in the feet of horses, and arises
from the following causes: First ^ severe labour;
second J too great a quantity of new grain ; third, hard
riding; fourth, sudden colds; fifth, great heats.
These inflame the blood, and as farriers say, melt the
grease, which settles into the feet, causing the disease
above named. Thomas Cooper declares this disease
to be a species of gout, '^produced by permitting the
animal to eat or drink heartily while hut ; or by vio-
lent exercise on a full stomach."

The general mode of treating this disease is to
bleed first, and if not entirely effectual, cooling salts,
clysters, and an opening diet to be administered, to

HORSES. 99

kss€n the rapid circulation. Emollient poultices are
applied around the hoof, to soften and restore an equal
perspiration. I have found hot brine bathed over the
parts to be an excellent external application. The
horse should be led about immediately after.

The hard part of the sole should be cleared away,
in order that the poultice may be applied for the open-
ing the pores. No greasy application should be made
under any pretence whatever, as they are all injuri-
ous. Exercise, as the horse can bear it, is very ben-
eficial.

I , LOSS OF APPETITE.

It is often the case, as every farmer will readily ac-
knowledge, that the horse from bad management, or
ill treatment, will lose his appetite and refuse the choi-
cest food. The causes are cold, a long journey, too
great labor, and an exess of food. When this is the
case, he looks hollow eyed, lean, and his hair dry and
frizzy. He appears dull, and has little disposition to
move.

Eggshells are an excellent remedy. They should
be dried before the fire until they are very dry, but
not scorched; and then powdered in a mortar. Then
scald some bran and sift the eg^ shells into it. Give
the horse a small draught of this two or three times a
day, and the eff*ect will be very soon visible. It will
loosen him, and act as a tonic in restoring the lost
tone of the stomach. Also, wrap a piece of Assa-

100 HORSESr-

p

foelida around the bit of the bridle, and keep the sicK
horse from the society of other horses. 1 have seen
wonderful effects produced, in restoring decayed ap-
petite, by simply tying a small piece of this substance
round the bit of the bridle, and keeping it in the
horse's mouth. In a short time he became more live-
ly and active, and soon showed symptoms of return-
ing appetite.

In obstinate cases, it is recommended to take a
quart of blood from the neck vein, and afterwards to
administer a purge. Where there is a foulness of
stomach, it is recommended to diet the horse a few
days, or one or two days, before giving the purge.
Let him be one or two hours before, and the same
time after taking the medicine, without food.

An excellent purge is the following ; Julop, one
drachm ; Jlloes, one ounce ; Rhubarb, one drachm ;
with Castor Oil sufficient to make it into a mass. A
while after he has taken this, give him gentle exercise
in the open air.

SPAVIN.

There are two grades of this disease, the one call-
ed the blood spavin, and the other the bone spe^-
vin.

The blood spavin is a soft swelling, which appears
on the inside of the hock, some suppose the master
vein; but it is erroneous. A horse afflicted with this

HORSES. 101

disease, raises his leg from the ground with a stiff jerk,
and he appears to have a lame movement, " * ' ^
The first thing to be done towards a cure, is to cut
off the hair from the part swollen, and alter rubbing;,
with a piece of soap, round the outside of the spaviri)
apply a blister composed as follows : Hogs lard^
half an ounce; ^eeswao;, three drachms; Sublimatey
half a drachm ; and Cantharides , two drachms.
This generally effects a cure; if not, repeat the blis-
ter. Let the blister be spread upon a piece of soft
white leather.

BONE SPAVIN.

The second form of spavin is called bone spavin^
which consists of a bony excrescence, or hard swell-
ing on the inside pf the hock, a little under the joint,
somewhat lower than a blood spavin. It often causes
lameness just before it makes its appearance, which
may be discovered by feeling the part, which is hot
and tender. The same treatment as in blood spa-
vin.

A blister should be applied, and repeated as often
as necessary. But when the disease is of long stand-
ing, the cure often becomes difficult. Should this be
the case, the skin should be irritated with caustic, and
the day after, the application of a strong blister will
be necessary. After this, the horse should rest seve-
ral months.

I have said thus much on the most common diseases

^ gilt ^'n 3 j4J 0^^f| h\mm\motiom'^) >-i /r^>0l

102 cows.

of the horse, because there are so few who know how
to treat this noble animal when he lies stretched and
groaning at their feet. If owners of horses would
but study superficially these diseases, how many fine
beasts might be saved from incurable malady, or a
sudden death !

O N TH E

IMPROVEMENT OF MILCH COWS.

So soon as you find your heifer becomes very for-
ward with calf, you should commence feeding her
with slops or some kind of grain ground, so as to
make slops ; and that will cause the heifer to spring
her bag. About two or three weeks before she has
her calf, and the same time after, you should give
her some short corn ; say half a gallon of ears each
day, which will strengthen her, and she will soon re-
cover from calving. She should then be fed high,
and that will make her one of the first rate milch
cows, and you must continue on to feed with plenty
of hay and slops during the whole time your cows are
giving milk.

When your cow has had her second calf, and it has
broken and made the bag soft, they should be seper-
ated. The cow should have but very little slops or hay
to-day, as to-morrow I would have her spaid.. After

cows.

103

this operation is performed, and while she is getting
well, you should suffer the calf to suck her occasion-
ally ; but never suffer it to hunch. Your milkmaid
should, in milking her, strip every drop that she can
get, as a neglect of this practice has often caused
cows to go dry. The milkmaid should be very gen-
tle. The milk may be taken from the cow and giv-
en to the calf, which should by all means be weaned
so soon as the cow gets well.

After the calf is weaned, the cow should be fed
very high on slops, grass, and hay, which course
will insure the cow to give abundance of milk for ten
or fifteen years, and generally as much as cows give
four weeks after having a calf.

One thing I wish particularly to mention. All
cows should be housed as carefully as horses are.
They should have their stables, and their beds made
in wet and cold weather. A cow kept in a good,
warm and dry stable, will become fat more easily,
and her milk will be as rich as yearling's. Another
thing to be observed is, your cow should be curried
and rubbed down as regularly and as often as your
horse ; morning and night will be sufficient. This
course will render your cow gentle and docile as a
dog, and two cows thus used will furnish a large fam-
ily in the country with milk and butter. If your cows
are good, they will give from two to three gallons at
a milking; which will be ten or twelve gallons per
day. The more pains you take with your stock, the
finer and larger they will be.

104 BEEF CATTLE.

ON RAISING BEEF CATTLE.

Calveg which you wish to grow large, should be
takcjn when about two weeks old. Their feed should
be as follows : Take a s^all quantity of Indian mush
made thin, and put into it an eg^^ which has been
well beaten in a bowl. The eg^ should be stirred in
the mush while boiling, and afterward some milk must
be stirred in the same. This should be given to the calf
with a spoon, until it learns to drink the mush and
milk. It should be regularly fed three or fcur times a
day, and keep it in or under a dry shed, never sjufFer-
ing it to run out until it is a year old, when it should
be transferred to a small clover lot, and should be
curried and carded two or three times a day.

By pursuing this course, you can have your beeves
at eight years old, to weigh from five to six thousand
pounds ; which will bring you from two to three
thousand dollars for each beef.

To prove what I am going to relate, concerning a
calf of mine treated in this manner, I shall refer you
to the inhabitants of Talbot County, Eastern Shore of
Maryland, at the last cattle show in Maryland in 1826.
I took a small runt of a calf, and commenced feeding
it in the above manqqr. At the time the cattle show
^came on, my calf was eighteen months old, and
weighed twelve hundred pounds alive ; and if I had
^CjOntiau^d on u^tU jt Ijad been eight years old, what

Hoasi 103

would it not have been ia the same ratio? I say
it would have weighed six thousand four hundred
pounds.

There were two beeves passed through Baltimore
for Washington city, about the middle of March,
1838, which were said to weigh four thousand each ;
and both of them sold for three thousand five hundred
dollars.

Well, then, my gentle readers, suppose you had
been keeping twenty head of cattle during the same
time, in the manner graziers keep them ; and you car-
ry them to market on the same day, and sell them.
They will not bring more than twelve or fifteen hun-
dred dollars.

Now, my dear reader, is it not better to keep less
stock and take more pains with them, which will
bring you double and treble the amount of money ? I
should say so ; but many have such old fashioned
habits that they will not retract. Take my advice,
and depend on it you will not rue it ; for if you will
count the cost between raising twenty head and two
head for eight years, I think you will be ready to
agree that I am right.

ON THE RAISING OF HOGS.

You should take the best breed you can obtain for
your ovv^n interest, which will be those that will fatten

106 HOGS.

young; say from ten to fifteen months old. Be sure
never to keep your hogs over one winter, as they be-
come expensive when kept longer. Breeding sows
should be kept in fine order ; and as soon as your sow
has pigs, and even before, you should commence giv-
ing her slops, and never suffer your pigs to become
poor ; for a diminution in size is invariably the con-
sequence. Put them in a pen, so soon as the sow
weans them. A large pot should be kept to boil po- '
tatoes, pusley, lambs quarter, cabbages, &c. Pump-
kins, simblens, and all kinds of vegetable matter when
boiled, will give far more nutritious matter than when
unboiled. One bushel of potatoes boiled, is equal in
nutriment to a bushel and a half raw. The above sub-
stances boiled, should be put into a hogshead, togeth-
er with some small quantity of bran, and all the meat
liquor and dish water. Let it stand until fermentation
takes place, and it becomes sour; for it is then better
for hogs than when perfectly sweet.

Keep but ^e\\ sows that you intend to breed from,
and as soon as one has pigs, or the next day after, she
should not have much to eat, for the course of twenty-
four or thirty-six hours ; and then take three pints of
meal, and one pint of hogs lard, or the skimmings of
the pot ; to which add one pint of salt; work them
well up together, and spread it upon a board arvd bake
it, as you would bake bread, until nearly done. Give
it to your sow as hot as she can take it. In one day
from the time she eats it, she will take the boar; and

HOGS. 107

in due time will prove with pig. Hogs that are in-
tended for bacon, should never run at large ; for the
best pork and easiest fattened, is that which is kept
up in pens. They are fat, w^hile those which run
out are lean on the same food; and another advantage
is, that when kept in the stye they are out of the corn
field, and out of mischief.

My opinion is, that any man who has from two to
five hundred acres under cultivation, can kill from six
^ to ten thousand pounds of pork annually. This too
may bfe done from the offal of the farm, for instance :
small Irish potatoes, lambs quarter, pusley, pump-
kins, &c. As soon as your clover is old enough to
cut, give your hogs a portion every day, and your
pork will be of the very best kind.

Your pigs should be trained to go in the pen with
the sows to eat slops, so soon as they are large enough ;
and when your sows are about to wean her progeny,
the pigs should be taught to go into the pen, where
they should be kept about half their time at first; As
soon as they become accustomed to confinement, they
should be put up in a clean pen for good, which pen
you should be careful to keep clean, particularly in
warm weather ; for I have seen large hogs, of three
hundred weight, fall victims to a filthy sty. Besides
the loss, filthy pens are injurious to health, producing
fevers and malignant diseases. During the period the
Cholera raged, the disease was traced in a town, in
a neighboring State, to a number of filthy pens con-
tiguous to each other.

108 H0t5S.

Filthy pens cause the holes in the legs of the hogs
to be stopped, their throats become affected, and they
fall helpless to the ground and soon die. The only
remedy is to wash their legs Tn a tub full of warm
soap suds, with a stiff brush, and run a knitting nee-
dle five or six inches up those holes, until they are
perfectly cleansed. The throat should also be scrub-
bed with the brush; after which, grease the legs and
throat with tallow, and the hogs will very probably
recover.

BEST MODE OF CURING BACON.

Hogs should never be killed unless in a thriving
condition ; and if the weather should prove cold, you
should, when salting your meat for bacon, have all
your salt heated tolerably hot in a pan. With this
hot mixture, rub your meat until you bring the grease
out of it. Pack your hams in a hogshead at the bot-
tom ; and for every hundred pounds of your shoulders
and jaws, take one bushel of alum salt ground, or
boiled salt. Let your pork remain for seven or eight
days, and then make your pickle to bear an egg.
For every 1000 pounds put two pounds of saltpetre,
and one gallon of molasses. Put these in the pickle,
and then pour it down the side of the cask into the
meat, and let it remain seven weeks, when you should
rinse your meat in the pickle, and hang it up in the
smoke house. The smoke house should be rendered
as dark as possible, to keep out the flies; for it is from

SHEEP. 109

the eggs which they lay in the meat, that the worms
originate.

The smoke should be regularly kept up until the
meat stops dripping ; when it should be slackened.
This process of curing bacon, I know to be good ; for
I have tried it many years, and never knew it to fail,
while my neighbors were complaining every year of
spoiled bacon.

ON THE

MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP.

You should endeavor, in purchasing a flock of
sheep, to get them in good health and sound ; for one
bad sheep injures the whole flock. Pasture your
sheep in the dryest pasture you can obtain, which
should be changed for another of the same kind,
whenever practicable ; ?ind have the sheep penned
every night in a dry pound well littered, and give
them some salt once or twice a week. Give them ,
about a gill of beans, or corn ; one quart of potatoes,
turnips or some kind of vegetable matter that will be
of much nutriment, and that will cause your sheep to
improve in flesh and wool. This treatment will ren-
der them gentle and docile ; and in the summer you
should pasture your sheep in the woods, if not too

thick with undergrowth. Be sure to have some
10

110 SHEEP*

shades round your sheep pen, so that they can retreat
in wet weather, which will prevent them from tak-
ing cold, which brings on many disorders among
them.

Be particular when you shear your sheep, to put
them under these shades ; for that is the time when
they are most injured by taking cold. You should
pay strict attention when they are about to have lambs,
and feed the ewes with grain. Sheep should be fed
in winter with clover hay, which has been salted ;
and while feeding on this hay you need not give your
sheep any salt.

I am of the opinion that you can improve a flock
of sheep as much in proportion as you can your stock
of cattle, and we have all seen to what extent cattle
have been improved. Our common steer will only
weigh from five to eight hundred pounds, while an
improved breed passed through Baltimore to Wash-
ington, one of which weighed four thousand pounds.
Two of them which passed through in March, 1838,
weighed four thousand each. Here then, my dear
readers, you see what improvement can do for cattle ;
and by the same judicious mode of treatment, your
sheep may be improved likewise.

BEES. , 111

0 N THE

MANAGEMENT OF BEES.

My plan for the management of the honey bee is
as follows : In winter, the gums should stand in the
warmest place that can be found ; and in summer, the
coolest. The gums should be set about three feet
from the ground, and a sort of house or shed should
be erected over them ; so as to shade them from the
sun in summer, and shield them from the blasts of
winter. The gums should hold about a bushel, and
when it is necessary to take the honey from them,
they should be raised up and a cloth spread under
them. Then turn up the cloth, and tie a cord round
the gum to prevent the bees from coming out at the
bottom. The next step is to take off" the head of the
gum, and with a pipe of tobacco blow in the smoke
at the top, and the bees will settle to the bottom and
remain there, while you are blowing in the smoke.
So soon as you take what honey you think proper,
you should nail on the top again, and the next morn-
ing take off the cord and the cloth. The bees will
cheerfully resume their work again, and fill up the
hive.

Two or three empty and unoccupied gums should
always be kept on hand ; and you should watch your
bees vigilantly, for you may generally tell when they
are about to swarm. When this takes place, you

112 BEES.

should have an iron pan or some sounding body, and
with an iron bar beat on it, which will cause them to
pitch. Then take one of the spare gums and rub it
inside with a mixture of sweet fennel, salt and water,
or a decoction of hickory leaves, with salt and water;
after which set your gum on a clean table, covered
with a cloth. The whole should be placed under the
limb on which the bees have pitched. Shake the
limb and they will settle, and run into the gum and
soon go to work.

When your gum becomes old, you should kill the
bees, as they are good for nothing. Should your
bees fail, on account of the severe and protracted
w^inter, or of being robbed too close, they should be
fed with iTiolasses and water. Never suffer any per-
son to disturb the gums by thumping against them ;
for when disturbed, they are very apt to commence
eating their honey. In England, they destroy the
bees in robbing them, but this is cruel, besides being
useless and a considerable loss.

In a bee hive we behold a representation of a re- ^
public, containing from ten to twenty thousand inhab-
itants. In this republican city, industry is the order
of the day, and order and equality are every where
observed. Their houses, or cells in the comb, are
made of virgin wax, and these not only serve as the
homes of the young bees, but as receptacles for their
stores of honey. Between these combs there are
streets wide enough for two bees to march, and there
are also transverse passages or streets.

BEES. lis

The working bees compose the most numerous part
of the republic. To them is entrusted the defence
of the city; they bring in the honey ; build the cells,
and nourish the young. They do all the offices of
the hive ; they fight against all intruding strangers,
and, in short, attend to all the concerns of the
State.

Drones are distinguished from the working bees by
their larger size, and by their making more noise
when on the wing. They die in July, and are
carried out of the hive by the working bees.

The bee or apis is a genus of insects, of which
the mellificaj or common bee, is the most valuable. It
is very remarkable in their history, that they will not
remain domesticated amowg a savage people. Sev-
eral authors mention the circumstance, that the honey
bee and the common house fly do not, and will not re-
side with the North American Indians.

Bees have their superior officers, whom they follow
and obey in all cases. When one of these dies, if
he be at the head of the government, all working ceas-
es ; the bees are no longer on the wing in quest of
honey, but the whole city appears to be covered with
mourning and confusion. The bees are seen through
a glass hive, some standing in groups as if discussing
the merits of the deceased, or the order of the fu-
neral procession ; while others, like guards, are walk-
ing to and fro before the passage. The funeral pro-
cession then takes place — the dead dignitary is car-
10*

J^ p^

■-::■/

^14 BEES;

ried in pomp out of the city ; after which, they return
more briskly to elect a new officer. When the new
officer is elected, they proceed in the Turkish plan^
to get rid of all who might attempt to usurp the gov-
ernment. Certain bees are appointed to go round
and strangle all the rest of the royal blood in their
cells. These curious proceedings have been observ-
ed through a glass hive. It has been observed that
the bees invariably return to their labors, as soon a&
their new officer is appointed.

It as something remarkable, that the bee has two-
stomachs, in one of which is digested the pure honey,
and in the other the crude wax.

I shall now speak more fully of the government of
bees, and the most approved manner of preserving
them after robbing them.

• An aparj/ should be situated in a pleasant south di*
rection. A valley is preferable to a hill, as the bees
on their return to the hive can descend much more ea-
sily than ascend when loaded with honey. The hives
should be situated where there are no bad smells, and
near a stream of water where they can drink. Wa-
ter appears to be a necessary ingredient in the produc*
tion of honey. The hives should be placed in a spot
surrounded by, or in the neighborhood of flowers and
shrubby trees, from which the bees may obtain ho-
le^ey, and on which they may settle when they swarm^

BEES. 115

BEE HIVES.

Of all the substances of which hives are made, and
they are many, straw has been most generally prefer-
red. They have been preferred for three reasons. First^
hives made of straw are cheaper than those made of
wood, glass, or any other material. Second, they
are warmer in cold weather ; and Third, they are
cooler in warm weather, than any other hives.

An ingenious French gentleman recommends the
floor of the hive to be made of plaster of Paris, and
the hive a basket work, composed of straw bound
with bands made of the internal bark of the lime-
tree. Over this, he says, should be smeared a full
coating made of one part ashes and two parts cow-
duHg. Cleanliness appears to be essential to these
industrious insects, and nothing could better answer
this purpose than the smooth white plaster of Paris.
The coating of the hive is said to prevent the entrance
of noxious insects, while the smell of the straw is
peculiaily agreeable to the bees. The cover of this
hive is a broad board, nearly eighteen inches in dia-
meter. The entrance has a door, which may be
closed in winter, to keep out all intruders. At the
bottom of the door are small holes, in the form of a
half moon, just large enough to permit two bees to
enter abreast. Above these are other holes, only
large enough for one bee to enter. The straw wall
of the hive should be an inch, and the cement half aa

inch in thickness. One great advantage attending
the straw hive, is, that the bees, from their comfort-
able state during winter, swarm much earlier in the
spring. There have been many kinds of hives in-
vented, but it is needless to enumerate them. The
Egyptian bee hives are made of clay and coal dust,
blended together, and formed into a hollow cylinder,
from six to ten feet high. When dried in the sun, in
the manner of clay bricks, this hive becomes extreme-
ly hard, and may he carried from place to place with-
out danger of breaking. It is not uncommon in
Egypt, for the natives to carry their bees into differ-
ent parts of thfe country to procure honey, when from
the overflowing of the Nile, they can get none at
home. They start in October and return in Februa-
ry, after the bees have gathered the sweets of flowers
through an extent of hundreds of miles, on the banks
of the dark and turbid Nile.

Floating bee hives are not uncommon in France.
They are carried in boats or barges, one of which
will carry from fifty to a hundred hives. The barge
is so constructed, that the bees are screened from
both sun and rain. They float along the river, while
from the flowers on the banks the bees gather their
delicious sweets. But bees are not only transported
from place to place by water, but by land also.
They are carried in a cart, which contains about fifty
hives.

It has not yet, I believe> been ascertained how

BEES. 117

much cold bees can endure. In extreme northern
countries they are found in trees. Even in the cold-
est parts of Russia, they are found in winter, in hol-
low trees, alive. The hives in Russia, are made of
bark. In Portugal, bee hives are constructed of the
rind of the cork tree, in the form of a cylinder, and
a little more than two feet high, by twelve or fifteen
inches in height. The inside of these hives is divid-
ed into three compartments, and the top is covered
with an earthen pan inverted.

Bees, as well as the silk worm, have their diseas-
es ; one of which is the diarrhaea, brought on by
feeding voraciously on certain planets, such as the elm
and milk thistle. It is said that pomegranite seed
pounded, united with honey and sweet wine, is an ef-
fectual remedy. Also raisins and rosemary, boiled
in wine. When hives become infested with insects,
they should be thoroughly cleansed, and perfumed
with the leaves of pomegranite.

Many winged insects are very annoying to bees,
among which may be mentioned hornets and butter-
flies. The best plan to destroy hornets, is to place
basins of water round the hive, into which the hor-
nets will fly to drink, and will be drowned. Lighted
candles,- it is said, will exterminate the butterflies.

It is well known that bees often go to war with one
another ; one hive battling against another. To pre-
vent this. Dr. Darwin says, a board one inch thick
Ijhould be laid on the bee bench, and so fixed with

118 BEES.

respect to the hive, that the assailing bees will fight
under great disadvantage. This is an interesting sub-
ject, and I vrould refer the reader to larger works on
the subject.

AN ESSAY

ON THE

CULTIVATION 01? THE MULBERRY,

AND THE

REARING OP SILK WORM^.

There can now be but little doubt that the silk cul-
ture is destined, at no distant day, to become one of
the grand resources, and silk one of the great staples
of the United States. A little antecedent to the
American Revolution, the people of the Colonies
went heart and hand into the cultivation of silk ; and at
the instigation of Dr. Franklin, a silk filature was es-
tablished in Philadelphia. Large trees of the White
Mulberry, (Morus Alba,) are still standing in Connec-
ticut and other New England States, which were
then used for the propagation of that interesting in-
sect, the silk worm.

The first account, however, that we have of the
cultivation of silk in this country, was in the reign of
King James, who was a great patron of that elegant
employment ; and who granted a certain number of
acres of land to any settler, or emigrant, who would

120 CULTIVATION OF

plant a certain number of Mulberry trees. It is well
known that the silk worm cannot be profitably prop-
agated in England, on account of the humidity of the
climate; and it was for this reason that he was desi-
rous of introducing the culture into the Colonies.
England, at the present day, manufactures large
quantities of the beautiful silk fabrics seen in our
markets; but the raw material is not produced at
home, bfeing brought from France and Italy.

At the period above mentioned, considerable quan-
tities of silk were cultivated, or produced, in the Uni-
ted Colonies, until the storm of war arose, and burst
like a tornado on the devoted head of America. Dur-
ing that period, in which the torch of civil war
flashed through our cities, like the flaming sword of
the angel at the gates of the garden of Eden, the
.spirit of individual enterprize was paralyzed; all
eyes were turned to, all hands united in, the defence
of the country ; and hence, it is not to be wondered
at, that the silk culture languished, and finally expir-
ed ; for the few who w^ere exempt from the ranks,
were required to furnish subsistence for the army and
the people.

At the conclusi,on of the long war, no more was
thought of silk, or the silk worm, with the exception
of the inhabitants of a few places in the New England
States, who have continued the culture, they and their
posterity, up to the present time. They labored too
under great disadvantage, having to climb trees from

THE MULBERRY. |gl

forty to sixty feet in height. They had not the ad-
vantages which the Chinese Mulberry, (Morus Mul-
ticaulis) confers, of rapid growth, large leaves, easily
gathered, and of a superior quality.

The successful and universal introduction of this
species of manufacture, as well as culture, will save
the country from sixteen to twenty millions of dol-
lars annually in woven fabrics, to say nothing of the
sewings, refuse silk, &c. It will give employment
to thousands of children and aged persons, who
would otherwise be a burthen to their parents, friends,
or the public. Advance this business, and the inmates
of alms-houses, particularly, in the country, would so
far from being a burthen to the county, pay the ex-
penseg of the establishment, and have a surplus.
Another great advantage would accrue from the uni-
versal establishment of the silk culture. In many of
the states, and particularly in Maryland and Dela-
ware, there is a vast number of acres of land worn
out and turned out, which might be turned to advan-
tage, by being planted with the Chinese Mulberry
trees. Poor land, and particularly a warm sandy soil,
is peculiarly adapted to the Mulberry ; the leaves are
more relished by the worm, and contain more nutri-
ment, as well as more of the resin which forms the
silk, than leaves produced from a rich soil ; simply be-
cause the latter are more crude, and from their rapid
growth less compact in their structure. The leaves

tan a poor soil of course are much smaller; but what
11

122 CULTIVATION OP

they lack in quantity is recompensed by the quality,
and though more tedious to gather, it will require a
less number to produce a given quantum of silk. The
silk will also be stronger, and of a finer, smoother
texture.

Our Legislatures are beginning to awake lo the in-
terest of the people and the nation at large, and with a
liberal hand, worthy the munificence of the greatest
Republic in the world, are offering a bounty or pre-
mium for every pound of silk raised or reeled. Con-
fucius, the great philosopher of China, acknowledged
and declared, that China was indebted for her great
wealth and splendor to the tree called the Morus
Multicaulis, or Chinese Mulberry. Every incentive
should be used to stimulate and arouse our people to
this grand subject ; for I religiously believe, that the
culture of silk will prove a fountain of wealth to the
country. There is no country under Heaven better
calculated for the business than the United States,
particularly the Middle and Southern states. The
climate is- adapted to the growth of the Mulberry,
and particularly suited to the nature and instinct of
the worm. There is every inducement that can pos-
sibly be offered, for the people of the Middle States
to engage in this healthful, profit?ible, pleasing em-
ployment; and that it is profitable, no one will pre-
tend to deny. The expenses are not great. A co-
coonery may be built for, comparatively, a small ,
sum, as there is no finish about it, requiring nothing

THE MULBERRY. 123

but a bare frame covered over with boards, leaving
spaces for windows to ventilate the room. These
windows should be numerous ; with shutters to close
in damp or cold weather. On the inside should be
shelves put up, and here ends the items of the cocoon-
ery.

The Mulberry (Morus Multicaulis) may be plant-
ed, say five feet high, this year; and be fed from the
next. The idea, that the cultivator must wait five or
six years is erroneous; all that is necessary, is to
have a sufficient number of them. Having written
thus much by way of introduction, I shall proceed to
the Mulberry.

THE MULBERRY.

It is piversally conceded by all authors on the sub-
ject, that the only natural food for the silkworm is the
Mulberry, though there are a variety of substances
on which the worm will feed, such as lettuce, black-
berry leaves, rose leaves, &c. Some recommend the
culturist to sow a bed of Mulberry seed, as the first
thing to be done towards the cultivation of silk ;
but I prefer planting the cuttings, if the Chinese
Mulberry is to be cultivated. The cuttings will
certainly produce a tree sooner than the seed. The
seed of the White Mulberry, however, may be
sown.

There are many varieties of the Mulberry, spring-
ing from several speqies. The best varieties of tha

124 CULTIVATION OF

tree should be chosen, and the soil most suited to its
cultivation.

The varieties of the Mulberry spoken of are as
follows: First, the White Italian; second, the Tar-
tarean ; third, the Shining Leaved ; fourth, the Dan-
dolo ; and fifth, the Chinese. The last has three va-
rieties, viz: the Morus Cucullata, the Morus Multi-
caulis, and the Perrottet Mulberry.

Among^ the varieties of this tree, not suitable as
food for the silk worm, some authors enumerate the
Red and Black Mulberry. This is an egregious er-
ror, for I have fed worms both on the red and the
black ; and though the worms did not grow quite so
fast, or so large, yet they spun very compact balls ^
they reeled well, and proved to be fine, soft and glos-
sy silk. Those worms fed on the White, grew some-
what faster, and somewhat larger ; yet the silk pro-
duced from the red and black was equal, if not supe-
rior.

I have not the least doubt but that of all the Mul-
berry tribe, the Chinese is the best; both as a food,
and in the facility of gathering the leaves. Some cul-
turists believe, that the Chinese Mulberry cannot
stand the severity of our winters ; but I am of the
opinion that they can, after the first winter ; for I left
many out the last winter, and not a single one died,
though the experiment was tried under very unfavor-
able circumstances. In all cases, where the Chinese
5»Iulberry has been killed by the severity of the cli-

THE MULBERRY. 125

mate, fhe indigenous trees have also fallen victims,
v^^hich goes to prove that it is not so much the
delicacy of the tree, as the intense severity of the
weather.

The culturists of the New England States, recom-
mend the White Italian Mulberry as a reserve, incase
the Chinese Mulberry should fail. But I do not be-
lieve it will fail in the Middle States, and would re-
commend its cultivation alone, inasmuch as the leaves
are sa large, and it is so easy of propagation. That
it will soon become acclimated in the United States,
there can be no doubt; for its tenacity of life is such,
that it cannot be otherwise. I have frequently
broken off limbs in the middle of summer, the ends
of which being covered with rich mould, they have
taken root and grown.

Besides the Chinese Mulberry, and the Morus Al-
ba, there are several other varieties, which are richly
worth cultivatin'g; especially when the Chinese, or
Morus Multicaulis, cannot be had. Among them
may be enumerated the Tartarean, the Shining Leav-
ed, and the Dondolo Mulberry; the latter of which
was found by Count Dondolo, the great Italian silfc
culturist, in the woods of Italy. They all have large
leaves, are easily propagated, and the worms are ex-
cessively fond of them. Large quantities of silk may
also be produced from them.

There h«^ ^^een much dispute concerning the soil
best adiRv o the Mulberry, to insure a proper

126 CULTIVATION aF

growthk Some have contended that the Mulberry re-
quires a dry, warm and sandy soil, while others have
strenuously contended, that it should have a low, wet
and rich soil. My experience has taught me that the
Morus Alba, or White Mulberry, flourishes best in a
dry, sandy soil ; but I am fully convinced, from am-
ple experiments, that the Morus Multicaulis is most
favored by being placed in a damp, rich mould.
Judge Comstock is of opinion, that any soil which
will produce Indian corn, is suitable to the last men-
tioned tree. This is no doubt true ; but at the same
time, the soil above mentioned, I have found from ex-
perience, to be the very best soil for the Chinese
Mulberry. It is very true, as Judge Comstock ob-
serves, that in Italy, Piedmont and France, where
the growing of silk is earried to a great pitch of per-
fection, Indian corn is found growing with great vig-
or, and is used for bread stuffs by the generality of
people. I think, if my memory serves me rightly,
that it is in Cambria, in Italy, where the Black Mul-
berry (Morus Nigra) is universally used as food for
the worm; and silk from the leaves of that tree has
been declared to be much finer and stronger.

PROPAGATION OF THE MULBERRY.

Culturists enumerate six different methods of prop-
agating the Mulberry. The first is by the seed ; the
second, by budding or inoculating ; the third, by graft-
ing; the fourth, by cuttings ; and the fifth, and sixth,
by layers and suckers.

THE MULBERRY. 127

To procure the seed, the fruit should be put into a
vessel of water, bruised, and the water and pulp
should be carefully poured off. The seed that are
good will sink to the bottom, while those which are
unripe will float, and should be poured off with the^
pulp. A sheet, or other large cloth, should be spread'
under the tree, and the tree shaken gently, so as to
detach all that are ripe, without disturbing the unripe
berries. The berries should be washed as soon a& ,
possible after being gathered ; for if kept several
days, fermentation takes place, and destroys the vege-
tating property. But when it becomes necessary to
keep the seed, they should be spread upon a board
and dried in the shade ; after which, they should be
put into a bottle and sealed hermetrically.

When the time arrives for sowing, and theculturist
is under the necessity of buying seed, he should be
careful in the selection, as many cheats have been
practised by those who vend foreign seed. I would
recommend those of our own growth, in preference
to foreign seed ; as the silk growers and manufactur-
ers of Europe, look with a jealous eye on every at-
tempt at the silk culture in America. Several kinds -
of seed, such as turnip, have been sold in this country
fot the genuine Morus Multicaulis. At first, this con-
duct would appear strange ; but when we recollect
the fact, that if you touch a man's purse you touch
his soul, we need not be astonished. When the cot-
ton manufacture was in its infancy, swarms of spiea

128 CULTIVATION OF

were sent over to discourage and decry the efforts
then being made to establish cotton factories of our
oim,'' Millions were thus abstracted, or rather detain^
ed, from the pocket of John Bull, and he was left to
chew his lip with mortification and disappointed hope.
The cotton manufacture is now established upon a
base firm as adamant, and which can never be shaken
by the arrows of envy, or the shafts of malevolence
and jealousy.

'The proper time for sowing the seed, is about the
first of May; but the time may be extended to the ,
beginning of September. A bed should be made,
large or small, according to the quantity to be sown.
Trenches should be made across the bed, and the
seed dropped in about two or three inches apart; for
if planted too closely together, they will smother
each other and come to naught. When winter ap«
proaches, the roots of the young trees should be cov-
ered with straw; for there alone lies the danger.
The shoot may be killed to the ground, but it will
come forth again the next spring, and will grow more
vigorously than before. Some culturists recommend
the cutting off all the stalks of the first year's growth,
and suffer them to come forth anew the next season.
I am inclined to think this a very good plan, so far as
my experience and judgment extends. When this ex-
periment is tried, they should be cut off* about two or
three inches from the ground.

In dry situations, and in dry weather, the young

THE MULBERRY. 12^9

plants should be watered every day ; but it should al-
ways be done before sunrise, or after sunset. They
should also be carefully hoed, and all weeds destroy-
ed.

TRANSPLANTING.

When the trees in the nursery have grown too thick
to thrive, they should be transplanted to a lot of
ground where it is intended they shall remain. It is
unnecessary to describe particularly the mode of
transplanting, as the Mulberry is taken up and set in-
to the earth again, precisely in the manner of other
trees. Some recommend shortening the tap root;
but I do not believe in the doctrine, for if any part of
the root is cut away, part of the stalk or branches
should be cut away also. If they are transplanted
through necessity in midsummer, all the leaves should
be stripped off; they should be removed in a wet
season, and shaded when clear, from the sun's rays,
until the roots take hold, and new leaves put forth.

The trees may be transplanted when one or two
years old, and, if intended for standard trees, they
should be placed about eight feet asunder, one from
another. There will then be left sufficient room for
the admission of the plough, and for cultivating the
ground in potatoes. Mr. Cobb recommends planting
them at the distance that apple trees are planted from
one another.

Yhe young trees should be cultivated with greaik

130 CULTIVATION OF

care for several years, and from the first year, should
be annually pruned, Mr. Goodrich, President of the
Hartford County Silk Society, writing upon this sub-
ject, says — ,

" I would begin to prune the trees the first year,
observing to cut off all sprouts which grow near the
ground ; no leaves ought to be suffered to grow near-
er than two or three feet to the ground. The earlier
you begin to prune, the easier it will be to form good
trees, and the more rapidly they will grow.

" The second year I would begin to make silk of
the twigs which are trimmed off. If the trees have
been properly cultivated from the beginning, I think
you may make silk enough the second year to pay
all the expense of making the silk, and of cultivating
the trees that year. The principal object, however,
ought to be, not to make silk the second year, but to
cultivate the trees in the most judicious manner."

The same author recommends heading down trees,
from year to year, to avoid the necessity of climbing
large trees, as at Mansfield, Connecticut, some of
which are from thirty to forty feet high. He says —

" I propose to save this labor in a great measure,
by trimming and heading down the trees from year to
year, so that they shall not grow more than six or
eight feet high, and in such a manner that the leaves
may always be gathered by a person standing on the
ground . In this manner mulberry leaves are gathered
in Persia, and in the vicinity of Constantinople."

THE MULBLRRY. 131

Cultivating the White Mulberry in hedges, has
been highly recommended by some ; but I am far
from being in favor of them, except they are intended
merely as a fence. The trees, or rather bushes, in
hedges, are generally very crowded ; and, conse-
quently, bear very small leaves, which are tedious to
gather ; and another inconvenience is, that those trees
are apt to become thorny.

There are two methods of making hedges; the
first, by sowing the seed ; and the second, by trans-
planting the trees as before stated. Judge Comstock
thinks the hedge the best method of cultivating the
Mulberry. I shall quote a passage from his work on
the subject of transplanting.

" To make a hedge," says the Judge, "by trans-
planting from the nursery, take plants one or two
years old, and set them at thfe distance of eighteen
inches apart, or, if it is intended to make a thickset
hedge, at the distance of one foot. Cut off the tops
at four or six inches from the ground, leaving two
buds opposite each other, and removing all the rest.
This causes the stock to have two vigorous branches
the first year. The next spring, cut one of these two
branches on the same side, a-t ^oout twelve inches
from the ground, in such manner that each plant may
have a long one and a short one. Cut horizontally on
the same side, also, one after another, all the branches,
and fasten them with cords or writhes, so that they
may form a line parallel with the earth, and leave (he

132 CULTIVx\TION OF

entire branches untouched. At the commencement of
the third year, the plants will have branches to form
a hedge.

" The height, form, &c. of a hedge, may be regu-
lated according to the taste of the cultivator, by cut-
ting off the branches, when covered with leaves, and
feeding the silkworm upon them. Some cultivators
are permitting their standard trees to grow up out of
their hedges at the distance of ten or twelve feet from
each other. This is doubtless an improvement, as by
cutting away the hedge, an orchard of standard trees
would be left, should it ever be found desirable so to
do. Rails might also be inserted into the standards,
and a good fence easily made."

CUTTINGS, LAYERS, &C.

Having treated upon'seed, as one of the modes of
cultivating, or rather of propagating the Mulberry, I
shall now proceed to speak of the other methods,
without, however, observing any particular order,
taking them as they occur to my mind.

In propagating the Chinese Mulberry, I consider
the cutting as the best and the surest means of ob-
taining the genuine* Morus Multicaulis. This tree^ \
it is said, cannot be propagated from the seed without
producing hybrid varieties ; as the pollen of the na-
tive Mulberry, will mix with its own when in blos-
som, and hence a mongrel class is produced.

I have some experience in planting the cutting, and

THE MULBERRV. 133

have never failed in producing large and thrifty trees ;
many of which grew from seven to eight feet high
the first season, and put forth limbs of considerable
size. These limbs I cut off in the ensuing spring, or
rather in February ; cut them into pieces, each piece
having on it two buds, all of which were placed in a
box, covered with dirt, and placed in the cellar until
the time for planting, which, in the Middle States, is
in April or May. Some cultivators say that they
should be cut off in the fall, and kept in sand until
Spring. I have tried this experiment, and nearly all
of them rotted. They should be taken off the tree
in the Spring, for then it is seldom that any of them
will rot. They also grow more vigorously.

There is another prevalent error among cultiva-
tors, of planting the cutting perpendicularly in the
earth, and having an idea that one bud forms the roots
and the other the trunk. This is a most egregious
mistake. Each bud has within it the elements of a
tree, in the same manner that the seed has, and so far
from the bud producing the roots, the bud sometimes
rots while the roots are shooting out vigorously. The
roots are thrown out below, and have no connection
with the bud, as may be seen by examining one when
growing.

As every bud produces a tree, the cutting should be

planted horizontally, and after the ends have been

covered with wax of some kind to keep out moisture,

they should be covered about two or three inches
12

134 CITLTIVATION OP

deep, and in rows about eighteen itiches or two feet^
one from another each way. They should always
have air and light when they begin to rise above the
earth. Some say a shady location is preferable ; but
it matters not so they are well watered when the sea-
son is dry. I would prefer propagating the White
Mulberry from the seed.

The second method of propagation which I shall
treat of, is by layers ; and it is without doubt the ea-
siest, but I have one objection to its being the best,
which is, that the buds being so close to each other,
the trees spring up in clusters ; and those which are
most forward, soon overshadow and destroy the
growth of the others. I have tried this method to
my satisfaction, and what is here related will be found
true by others.

^The method of making layers, is by bending down
the branches of a tree and fastening them to the earth
by wooden prongs stuck down; or by planting the
tree in a slanting direction, and covering the whole
tree, save the ends of the branches, to the depth of
three or four inches with rich mould. Many trees
are said to have been raised by this method from one
in a season. Mr. Kenrick states that a gentleman of
New England produced from two trees, in one season,
two hundred and two, besides the two original trees.
This, however, was a rare instance, and can seldom
be accomplished.

After the growth of one season, the trees are

THE MULBERRY. 1S5

separated by the knife, and transplanted into situations
where they will have sufficient room to grow.

Grafting is the third means of propagating the
Mulberry, and many cultivators are of opinion, that
the Morus Multicaulis, grafted on the stalk of the
White Mulberry would stand our winters much
better.

The shoulder grafting is, to my judgment, the best
mode. It Js performed like splicing two pieces of
timber together, each piece cut half through from the
end down to a shoulder, about an inch or two in
length ; then lashed together with a soft bandage, and
covered with wax. The operator should be veiy
careful to adjust the two pieces, so that theVood and
bark of each may come together and admit the ascent
of the sap.

In many parts of Europe, and particularly in Italy
and France, grafting is practised on all, whether
standard, hedge or dwarf trees. They entertain a
mistaken idea that grafted trees bear more leaves.

The fourth species of propagation is denominated
budding, or inoculating. It is much more easily per-
formed than grafting, and by many is considered far
better. The manner of performing this operation, is
by taking a bud from a scion of the kind you desire,
and putting it into another tree. An incision should
be made across the scion about an inch above the bud,
into the heart ; the knife then turned and run down
an inch below the bud. This should be taken ofTj

136 CULTIVATION OF

and the woody part dexterously cut out from the bark,
taking care not to destroy the eye of the bud, as it is
then good for nothing. This being absolutely neces-
sary, it is easy to tell when the eye of the bud is de-
stroyed, as^ hole will be discovered.

The next thing to be done, is to prepare the stock
or limb to receive the bud. This is done by making
an incision transversely, and then downwards, about
an inch or two long, in the form of a T. The bark
is now carefully pealed up with a thia blade of bone
or ivory, taking care not to wound the cambium.
The bud, or rather the bark, to which the bud is at-
tached, is now to be slipped into the opening made in
the trunk or limb of the tree, and nicely wrapped
with soft bandages, observing to leave the bud out.
A little wax over this will complete the process.

The fifth mode of propagation is by suckers, which
are shoots which start up from the roots. In the
Spring they should be taken up with some roots to
them and planted out in a favorable situation. Ne-
glect not to water them.

THE CHINESE MULBERRY.

Moras Multicaulis.
Morus Cucullata.
Perrottet Mulberry.

Universal opinion appears to concede the palm toi
this Mulberry. It seems to combiue in itself all the

THE MULBERRY. 137

excellencies of all the species ; the principal of which
are its rapid growth, its easy cultivation, and large
leaves, by which so much time and labor are saved.

In consequence of the great quantity of resin in the
leaves, more silk is made than from a given quantity
of leaves from any other Mulberry.

The Morus Multicaulis was brought from Manilla,
in 1821, whither it had been carried by the Chinese
as a tree of ornament and usefulness. M. Perrottet,
who obtained these trees, carried only two to France,
and from them have sprung the millions that are in
Europe and America. I think, if my memory serves
me, that their introduction into* the United States
was between the years 1830 and 1833.

It is a tree of extremely rapid growth, attaining fre-
quently in a season, a height varying from five to ten
feet. It is of a spongy texture, succulent, and of
course very susceptible of the influence of cold and
frost. Many are still in doubt whether it will endure
our climate ; but for myself, I have not a doubt but
that it will soon become acclimated. Many distin-
guished culturists in the United States, have given us
their experiments upon the best modes of treatment,
among whom are Mr. Kesrick, Dr. Stebbins, and Mr.
Davenport, who are fully acquainted with all its pe-
culiarities, as well as its excellencies. These gen-
tlemen recommend the following course of treat-
ment.

A poor soil must be chosen for the Morus MultU
12*

138 CtTLTIVATIOK OF

caulis, so that the cultivator may have it in his power
to make the tree grow rapidly or slowly as he pleases.
In the early part of the season, by the aid of manure,
its growth must be forced until the last of July, or
the first of August, when every stimulus mustbewith-
draw^n, so as almost entirely to stop its growth. By
this means, the succulent limbs have time to harden
before they are nipped by the autumnal frosts.

From my experience in cultivating the Morus Mul-
ticaulis in one of the Middle States, this course ap-
pears to me entirely unnecessary, for I have invaria-
bly observed that the trees grow very little after the
beginning of August.

The Chinese Mulberry, as observed before, is easi-
ly propagated by any of the methods described ; but
I prefer the cutting to any other. The cutting may
be calculated upon with certainty, as it puts forth its
roots readily, and grows with great luxuriance. Cul-
tivators appear to be at variance, with respect to
propagating this tree from the seed ; some declaring
that the seed will produce the genuine tree, w^hile oth-
ers contend that they will not. As observed before, it
no doubt arises from the mixing of the pollen of two
varieties, thus producing a hybrid variety, that the
dispute has sprung.

The Chinese Mulberry is denominated Morus
Multicaulis, from the many stalks which annually
shoot up from the roots, bearing immense quantities of
foliage. In speaking oi the delicacy, and the liability

T«E MULBERRY. IS9

of this tree to be killed by the frosts of winter,
Judge Comstock observes —

" We have little doubt of the ultimate acclimation
of the Chinese Mulberry in this country, and consid-
er it but of little consequence w^hether they can or
cannot be propagated from the seed ; but should it
finally be compelled to yield to the severity of our
climate^ "we should still consider it the most valuable
variety of the Mulberry for cultivation in tliis coun-
try. It is the opinion of the most skilful and experi-
enced cultivators and culturists, that should the shoots
of the Chinese Mulberry be destroyed by the frosts
of every winter, so that nothing could be gathered
from the plants but the foliage on the annual shoots,
they would be far preferable to the White Mulberry,
as more silk could be made from them, than from trees
of the White eight and ten years old."

It has been declared by many, that worms fed on
the leaves of theMorus Multicaulis spin much larger
cocoons, and that the silk is much stronger ; seldom
breaking in reeling. I have never had a fair oppor-
tunity to test the truth of this oft-repeated assertion,
yet I am inclined not to doubt it, knowing that worms
fed on 'the White Mulberry produce larger cocoons
than those fed on the black.

About the last of October, all trees of one season's
growth should be taken up, being very particular not
to break the roots, and also to preserve as many of
the small fibres as possible ; for they are the mouths

140 THE SILK WORM.

through which all aliment is taken into the stomach
or roots. They should never be drawn up forcibly
from the earth, as this detaches the ends of the roots
and the fibres ; but they should be dug with a small
blunt hoe and with the fingers.

When out of the earth, the next process is to place
the roots in boxes, and pack dirt around them, so that
no spaces are left. Place the boxes in the cellar, and
examine them once or twice in the winter, and moist-
en rthe roots if dry.

OF THE SILK WORM.

The silk-worm belongs to agreat family of insects,
genus phalena ; sub genus bombyx ; species^ mori,
from Morus the Mulberry. It was first found in the
woods of China, which consist principally of the
Mulberry, and the intelligence reaching the ears of
Her Royal Highness, Shi-ling-Shi, queen of China
and sister to the moon, she ordered some of the won-
derful worms to be brought into the palace, where she
reared them with her own hands, and studied their
nature, habits, and diseases. The Royal maids, see-
ing their mistress so pleasantly and amusingly enga-
ged, soon followed her example, and the worm from a
tiny insect, grew by the aid of cultivation, to the
length of three or more inches.

THE SILK WOHrM. 141

To imitate royalty, the people soon became enga-
ged in rearing the worm, and experimenting upon the
cocoon, until their amusement resulted in the art of
reeling silk, and afterwards of weaving it. Beauti-
ful crimson fabrics were produced, which astonished
the world ; for so secret were they in the matter, that
in the time of the Roman Empire, under the Caesars,
the people of Europe knew not from what, or in what
manner, silk was procured ; some supposing that it
was the bark of a tree, others that it was the entrails
of an insect, &c.

During many centuries, the silks of China sold at
an immense price. None but the vastly rich could
afford to buy them ; for it is recorded of one of the
Roman Emperors, that he refused his queen a rich
silk dress on account of the high price, it being worth
its weight in gold. Even down to a later period, silk
fabrics were extremly costly. History informs us
that one of the kings of England borrowed of the
Earl of Mar a pair of silk hose, giving as an ex-
cuse, these words : " Surely ye would not that your
king should appear as a scrub before strangers!"
The Royal personage was to attend a party.

For ages China enjoyed the exclusive privilege
of cultivating and manufacturing silk. But the day
of competition came, and her monopoly was at an
end. Two monks, travelling on a pilgrimage from
Constantinople, wandered into China; where they
were well received on account of their religious oh?-

142 THE SILK WORM,

racter. They took advantage of their privilege, and
though to carry off any of the silk-worm's eggs they
knew was death, if detected, one of them concealed
some of the eggs in the hollow head of his cane.
Though searched, he escaped with them, and carried
them safely to Constantinople. The king was pleas-
ed at the recital of the process of rearing the worm :
but, unfortunately, the travellers had forgotten to as-
certain upon what kind of leaves they were fed ;
whereupon the king offered him a large reward to go
back to China and discover what tree the leaves were
taken from, on which the worms were fed. They
went, and returned with intelligence that it was the
Mulberry.

Thus was the silk worm, and the silk culture, in-
troduced into eastern Europe ; and from that thimble
full of eggs have sprung the millions, and billions, and
trillions of worms, which since have toiled to adorn '
the angel form of beauty. When we look at the la-
bors of a single worm, how insignificant it appears;
yet how magnificent is the product of congregated
millions ! Who, that did not know, would suppose
for a moment, that all the silk in those fabrics which
grace the limbs of female loveliness, and which are
used for a thousand other purposes, sprung from the
labors of a tiny worm ?

The limits of this work will not admit of my go-
ing into detail, and giving a history of the march of
the silk culture over Europe. Suffice it to say, that

tms. siLic WORM. 14S

it lingered for a long time on the confines of Eastern
Europe; in Greece and the Grecian Isles; then
spread into Italy, France, Spain, &c. Italy and
France have excelled all the countries of Europe in
the rearing the worm, and in the beauty of silk fa-
brics.

REARING THE WORM.

When the silk-worm first comes forth from the egg,
it is a small black insect resembling the tiny black
ant. Leaves being placed near, they will crawl up-
on them and commence eating, as fast as they hatch.
They should be fed three or four times a day, with
fresh leaves, cut up in small pieces, for the first five
days, and then oftener as they grow larger.

At the end of five days the first moulting, or shed-
ding of the skin takes place, when the worm is a quar-
ter of an inch in length. It now droops its head,
ceases to eat, and appears extremely sick. In twen-
ty-four or thirty-six hours it slips- out of its skin, and
again commences eating. On the eiglith day of its
age, the second moulting takes place, when it is again
sick and ceases to eat. It is now half an inch in
. length, and begins to assume a lighter colour. The
third moulting takes place on the thirteenth or four-
teenth day, and the fourth on the twenty-second or
twenty-third. The worm now eats ravenously, and
is two inches in length. In ten days more it acquires
its full length, ceases to eat, and goes wandering

144 THE SILK WORM.

*bout, with head erect, and leaving fibres of silk ott
every thing it touches. Its back is of a yellow co^
lor, and the worm is ready to spin. The next thing to
be done, is to bring in some oak or hickory branches,
which have been previously cut, and withered in the
sun, and place them back of the shelves, or over the
worms. They will soon climb, and, after finding suit-
able places, will commence spinning their cocoons.
Each worm will require four or five days to com-
plete its cocoon. Five or six days after the last
worm has commenced spinning, the cocoons may be
gathered from the bushes. A keen sighted person is
required to gather the cocoons, or some will be over*-
looked, which are spun in leaves curled up. The
largest and most firm cocoons should be laid aside
for seed, and the others should be put into shallow
baskets and placed in ovens to bake, taking care not
to scorch the silk. When the chrysalis or worm in
the cocoon is dead, the cocoons should be taken out
and spread in the shade to dry, otherwise the va-
por which arises from the dead chrysalis will ruin the
silk.

The cocoons saved for seed should be placed in an
airy room, where they should remain untouched. In
about twelve to fourteen days, according to the state
of the weather, the fly will come forth from the co-
coon. This is effected by throwing out a fluid,
which dissolves the gum of the silk, and the legs of
the fly serve to part the strands of silk until the head

THE SlLIt WORM. 145

projects. So soon as the flies come forth the room
should be darkened, and the flies placed upon news-
papers spread upon a table. After copulation, the
female commences laying her eggs, which vary in
number from two to five hundred. All those eggs
which do not change their color within a few hours
after being laid are unimpregnated, and consequently
are good for nothing.

I have given a mere outline of the silk-worm,
which will be filled up in future pages. When we
contemplate this interesting insect in all its operations
and transformations, the mind is irresistibly led up to
that sublime Being, who has placed before us in the
transformation of the worm, a complete picture of
nian's redemption. Like man it toils through life and
plays the glutton ; but more wise than maiiP, it prepares
for the tomb; or, in other words, it spins its own
tomb, the cocoon. In twelve or fourteen days it
bursts the barrier of the grave, and comes forth
robed in white, a beautiful butterfly. It labors and
toils no more, but all is pleasure, all is enjoyment.
The very instruments or organs with which it labor-
ed are gone, and a new form is given to enjoy its se-
cond existence. But in a few days this beautiful
creature dies, and here ends the simile ; for man shall
live immortal, " unhurt by the wi^ck of matter and
the crush of world^'
13

146 THE SILK WORM.

DISEASES OF THE SILK WORM.

The silk-worm is perhaps the most delicate insect
in existence. The least injury, wet leaves, or tobac-
co smoke, is fatal to them. The rest of the caterpil-
lar tribes, which are a mere pest to mankind, have a
great tenacity of life ; for I have by way of experi-
ment, cut the common catterpiliar suddenly in two
with a sharp knife, and one-half crawled with the same
facility that the whole body did. I have also placed
them in close confinement, and smoked them with se-
gar smoke during twenty minutes, without apparently
the least effect.

The silkworm is also the most inoffensive creature
in the world, Nature having made it entirely for
usefulness, without giving it any means for self-de-
fence. Yet almost every creature in the creation ap-
pears to be an enemy to it. Among its enemies may
be enumerated the cat, rat, mouse, cockroach, ant,
spider, and many smaller insects, as bird lice. A gen-
tleman in Pennsylvania had a whole crop of worms
destroyed by lice, which fell from pigeons' nests
above them. I had a very large silk-w^orm, which
commenced spinning late in the evening, and to my
great astonishment next morning, a spider had wound
its threads around the worm and hoisted it up an inch
or two above its cocoon. I examined it, and found it
dead. Mice are extremely fond of the eggs, as well
as the worms. I have known a whole crop of worms

THE SILK WORM. 147

destroyed by mice. Wishing to cross the breed of
^ vo species of the silk- worm, I placed two flies on a
able near a window, which opened on a shed. In a
few hours I returned and found them literally eaten
up by large black ants. From the delicate texture of
the worm, it must be a sweet morsel to those rav-
enous animals and insects which live by plunder.

The silk-worm is subject to six diseases, which
frequently prove fatal to thousands of their race.
The first disease I shall treat of is the Lusette.

They are generally attacked in the fifth age by
this disease. It generally arises from want of atten-
tion, and a scanty supply of proper food. When af-
fected by it, the body of the worm has a shining ap-
pearance, and the head becomes much enlarged. The
stomach on dissection is found full of a transparent
fluid. The proper remedy is to seperate the infected
from the sound worms, and give them a full supply of
fresh leaves. They should, however, not be fed
to the full immediately, but the leaves given in
small parcels at first; otherwise, a disease pre-
cisely the reverse will be the consequence.

The next disease is denominated the GraBseriey
the reverse of the former. This disease is brought
on by feeding the worms too liberally on young and
tender leaves. The period at which they are most li-
able to it is in the third and fourth ages, when they
begin to eat voraciously. Affected with this disease,
the worm becomes dyspeptic, appears dull, while its

148 THE SILK WORM.

body becomes short and thin. The body swells,
turns a green colour, and becomes opaque. The
slightest touch will break the skin, which is covered
with a greasy humor. The remedy is plainly point-
ed out, which is a reduction of food, and that jvhich
is not so nourishing.

The Tripes is another, and the third disease, to
which this useful insect is liable. It is caused by the
stench which arises from the litter on the shelves, and
want of general cleanliness and ventilation. Worms
thus afflicted become soft and wrinkled, and look
when dead, like the living worm. I have seen them
become putrid fifteen or twenty minutes after death,
and so rotten that when taken up vvith a stick they
would not hold together, but fall to pieces. Worms
in this country are more subject to this disease than
any other, though a little precaution would prevent it.
Chloride of lime, dissolved in water, and set in the
cocoonery, will destroy all noxious exhalations. The
floor should be sprinkled with the solution, especially
in hot weather, when it is dangerous to, sprinkle with
water alone, on account of the vapor which arises.
Nothing is more injurious to worms than wet leaves
and a damp atmosphere. I have seen hundreds die
from both these causes. Whenever the worm* prove
to be sick, they should be immediately conveyed
away where the air is pure and dry ; for one sick
worm will infect hundreds.

The Yellows is the fourth disease, and is brought

THE SILK WORM. 149

on by placing the worms in a room too warm, and
where the heat is too sudden. It generally attacks
the worms in the fifth age, near or about the time
they ascend to spin. When attacked by this disease,
the body swells and changes to a yellow color, from
which circumstance the disease takes its name. The
feet of the worm appear drawn up, and the rings be-
come enlarged. The worm refuses to eat, goes wan-
dering about, and stains every thing yellow it touch-
es. After this the body becomes soft and soon
bursts, throwing out a fluid which is death to those
worms upon which it may fall. It is certainly by far
the most fatal disease that the poor worm has to con-
tend against. The diseased worms should be imme-
diately attended to, and conveyed away to another
apartment. Change of air and increase of heat are
said to relieve some worms, but no remedy is to be
depended upon; for there is no disease which proves
so deadly as this. The great object is to prevent the
spreading of the disease. Judii;e Comstock mentions
a case, where worms were cured of this disease by
accidentally eating oak leaves.

The JVluscardine is known among the worms in the
fifth age. It is occasioned by a very hot, dry and
close state of the air, and is known by the black spots
on different parts of the worm, which turn different
colors afterwards, until the whole body becomes co-
lored. A curious mould covers the body finally, and

it dies. Ventilation aijd purification are the remedies.
13*

% 160 THE SILK WORM.

The Passis^ the last disease to which the silk-worm
is subject, is occasioned by too much heat in the ear-
ly state. The body in this disease becomes thin, and
the appetite destroyed. The only thing necessary,
is to remove the diseased worms, ventilate the room,
and feed temperately with young leaves.

COCOONERY.

. All that is requisite in building a cocoonery, is to
have a house capable of being well ventilated, or
closed up, so as to exclude moisture, wind and cold.
Many persons use barns, sheds and rooms in their
dwellings, which being fitted up with shelves, answer
the purpose very well. In some parts of Turkey, a
room or rooms are always appropriated to this pur-
pose in their dwellings.

In furnishing cocooneries, Mr. Cobb gives the fol-
lowing directions: "I have used three tiers of rough
pine boards, fixed upon upright posts, about four feet
in width, one above the other, with a space between
of two and a half feet, affording room sufficient to
pass all around the frame, so that I could reach any
part of it. In making the shelves, it is well to have
the lowest one six inches broader than the one above
it, and to make the same difference in the shelves
above, so as to break the fall of such worms as happen
to tumble down." Mr. Cobb describes another me-
thod as follows :
. " It is about two and a half feet wide, by five or six

fTHE SitK WORM. 151

long, made of thin boards, with a piece two inches
wide, nailed flat on the upper edge along the sidei
and ends, with legs about a foot long in the corners.
The legs do not pass through the table, but leave a
part of the hole on the upper side for the feet of
another table to set in. Thus contrived, five or six
of these tables are set one above another, and are ta-
ken down, cleansed, and again set up with facility.
One of these shelves will accommodate five or six
hundred worms." I have always followed the plan
of covering the shelves with newspapers, and Mr.
Cobb recommends the same.

Having planted the Mulberry, and built the co-
coonery, the next process is to hatch the eggs. The
Italian process of hatching the eggs is calculated to
embarrass the American silk grower, but be it known
that it is entirely useless in this country, as Nature
generally accomplishes that part about the first of
May, in the Middle States. Mr. Rhind describes
the Italian process, as follows:

" The temperature of ihe chamber near the place
where the eggs are put, should be 63i degrees; this
is obtained by increasing the fire, should the temper-
ature be less; and by opening the ventilator, and even
the door should it be greater. This temperature
should be observed two consecutive days. On the
third day, the temperature is raised to 66 ; on the
fourth to 68 ; on the fifth to 70 ; on the eighth to 77;
on the ninth to 79 ; and on the tenth, eleventh, and
twelfth, to 81 degrees."

152 THE SILK WORM.

How different is this from the process in our own
country! Here, all that is necessary, is to bring the
eggs from the cellar, place them in a south window,
taking care that the sun does not shine upon them,
and they will hatch in a few days.

The time for hatching is various, as are the cli-
mates of our widely extended country. In the Mid-
dle States, the first of May is the usual time, though
the matter must be governed by the putting forth of
the Mulberry leaf. In New England they are not
hatched until the latter part of May or first of June,
while in the South, April is the usual month. A very
good plan for hatching and feeding is to place the eggs
on the table, and place over them a paper pierced
full of holes, through which the worms can ascend
and fix on the small, tender leaves which are placed
on top of the paper. Some culturists peal off the
eggs from the paper before they hatch, but I do not
coincide with this plan. The worms require some-
thing to fasten their feet to, and when the eggs are
glued fast to the paper, they have the power of draw-
ing themselves from the egg shells.

One thing should be particularly observed. The
worms which hatch on the first day, should be placed
to themselves ; those hatched on the second, to them-
selves, fyc. By this means each lot will moult or shed
their skins about the same time, and be ready to spin
about the same time You are then not under the
necessity of feeding some while others are moulting.

THE SILK WORM. 143

So soon as the worms are hatched and on the
leaves, they should be carried to the cocoonery and
placed on the shelves. Three or four times a day
will be often enough to feed them during the first age.
Young and tender leaves chopped, should be given;
because the worm almost invariably fixes upon the
edge of the leaf. This is owing to the organic struc-
ture of the mouth, and when the leaves are chopped,
the worms are not under the necessity of eating
through the leaf. No wet or wilted leaves must in
any case be given, as they are sure to produce disease.
The leaves should be kept in a cool cellar or milk-
house ; I have kept them thus for three, four and five
days. Feed not too liberally at first, as the litter in-
creases, covers up some of the worms, and they are
apt to be thrown out with it. The leaves from young
trees are better than those from older ones, during
the first and second ages. Great cleanliness should
be observed, particularly in warm weather, and to
remove the litter. All that is necessary is to place
fresh leaves on one corner of the table, and thus
tempt the worms there, when the refuse matter may
be swept off.

When the worms arrive at the third age, they may
be fed with unchopped leaves from the full grown
tree. Frequent cleaning must now be practised, and
all diseased worms instantly removed, least they
should infect others. If proper attention is paid to
cleanliness and to ventilation, very few or no worms

154 THE SILK WORM.

will die from disease. Damp or wilted leaves, want
of pure air and space, and want of cleanliness, are
the great causes of disease in the silk- worm. All
means should be used to prevent insects and mice,
ants, cockroaches, &c. from ascending to the shelves,
as they will destroy jnany during one night. Lemon
juice on the shelves is said to prevent the approach of
ants.

Sufficient room must in all cases be allowed the
worms, as much of their growth and product depends
upon it. In the first age, they will require compara-
tively but little ; but as they advance in age and size, ,
they will necessarily require more room. Mr. Cobb
has laid down the space which is required in every
age of the worm. He says, *' It is calculated the
worms proceeding from an ounce of eggs (40,000)
should have space as follows :

sq. feet, inches.
In the first age, 7 4

In the second age, 14 8

In the third age, 34 10
In the fourth age, 82 6

In the fifth age, 183 4"

No certain rule, however, can be be laid down,
and the culturist can alone come at the matter by ex-
perience.

The quantity of food eaten by a given number of
worms is astonishing and almost incredible; and
equally so the quantity of silk which they produce.

THE SILK WORM. 155

Many culturists have attempted to ascertain the
weight in each case. M. Bonafous informs us, that
7217 pounds of leaves were required to feed 200,000
worms. Count de Kazzi says that 200,000 worms
will destroy 10,000 pounds of leaves, as follows :

lbs.

In the first age, 50

In the second age, 150

In the third age, 460

In the fourth age, 1 390
r In the fifth age, 7950'

Count Dondolo thinks that twenty-one pounds of
leaves will make one pound of cocoons,
vv- Congress published a manual in 1838, respecting
the quantity of food required each day of the silk-
worm's existence. I shall jjive a few extracts, though
I have not the least faith in such systematic rules.
The number of worms is 180,000.
" 1 st day. — Three pounds and three quarters of chop-
ped leaves, six hours between each of four meals,
the smallest quantity at first, and increasing the quan-
tum.

" 2d day. — On this day, about six pounds will be
needed, chopped very small. This will sufiice for
the four regular meals, the first of which should be
the least, increasing them as they proceed, as was
done in the meals of the first day.

*^3d day. — This day twelve pounds of soft leaves,
chopped very small, will be required for the four
meals. The worms will now feed with avidity.

l56 THE SILK WOttM.

'* 4th day. — Six pounds twelve ounces of chopped
leaves should be given. For the quantity should be
diminished as the appetite increases. The first meal
should be of about two pounds four ounces, and the
other meals should decrease in proportion as the
quantity of leaves given before, appears not to have
been thoroughly eaten.

" 5th day. — This day, one pound and a half of
young leaves, chopped small, will be about sufficient.
They should be scattered very lightly several times
in the day, on the sheets of paper, where there ap-
pears still to be worms feeding. Should the worms
have left off feeding, it would be unnecessary to
distribute any further quantity. Towards the end
of the day, the wo^ms are torpid ; a few begin to re-
vive.

" 6th day. — For this day will be needed nine
pounds of tender shoots, and nine pounds of ten-
der leaves of the Mulberry, well picked and chopped
small.

"7th day. — Thirty pounds of chopped leaves will
be required to-day. This quantity divided into four
portions, should be given at intervals of six hours,
the two first meals less plentiful than the two remain-
ing.

" 8th day. — Thirty-three pounds of fine chopped
leaves, well picked, will be necessary, and this time
the two first meals should be the largest.

" 9th day. — This day only nine pounds of picked

THE SItK WORM. 16^

leaves, chopped small, will be required. The worms
sink into torpor, and the next day they will have cast
their skins.

'^ 10th day. — This day fifteen pounds of the small
shoots will be necessary, and equally as much of
the picked leaves, chopped rather less than hith-
erto.

"11th day. — This day ninety pounds of leaves,
chopped, will be needed. The two first meals, the
least copious, because towards the close of the day,
the worms grow voraciously hungry,

" 12th day. — This day there should be given nine-
ty-seven pounds of picked leaves, chopped and divid-
ed into four meals — the three first meals most plenti-
ful. Towards evening the hunger of the worm
decreases ; consequently the last should be the least
meal.

'« 13th day. — This day, about fifty-two pounds and
a half chopped leaves, will be sufficient. The de-
crease of food is in consequence of the diminution of
appetite. They should have four meals, the largest
first ; and the last the least meal. Those only that
seem to require it should be fed.

" 14th day. — Twenty-seven pounds of picked
leaves will be required ; if not enough, more may be
added ; if too much, less given.

'< 15th day. — The worms begin to rouse, and thus

accomplish the third age. The general view of this

age presents the following result. In six days the
14

158 THE SILK WORM.

worm goes through its third age. In this age, those
worms proceeding from five ounces of eggs, hare
consumed nearly three hundred pounds of leaves and
young shoots.

" 16th day. — On this day, thirty-seven and a half
pounds of leaves and young shoots will be needed,
coarsely chopped with a large blade.

*« 17th day. — For this day will be wanted one
hundred and sixty-five pounds of sorted leaves, a
little cut. The two first meals ought to be the light-
est.

"18th day. — For this day will be needed two
hundred and twenty-five pounds of sorted leaves, a
little cut. The two first meals the most plentiful ;
the last to be about seventy-five pounds.

"19th day. — This day the distribution of the cut
leaves should be two hundred and fifty-five pounds ;
the three first meals of about seventy-five pounds
each — the fourth of forty-five pounds only.

" 2Qth day. — No more than one hundred and
twenty-eight pounds of picked leaves will be need-
ed this day ; because the hunger of the worm dimin-
ishes much. The first meal should be most consid-
erable.

"21st day. — Thirty-five pounds of picked leaves,
are enough for this day. It is easy to find out when,
and in what quantities, the worms need most their
food.

" 22d day, — The worms rouse on this day, and ac-

THE SILK WORM. 169

K

complish their fourth age." In about seven days tliey
have accomplished their fourth moulting, and cast
their skins. They have consumed in that period,
two hundred and seven pounds of leaves for each
ounce of eggs, or 40,000 worms.

"2Sd day. — Since the preceding day, almost all the
worms must have accomplished their fourth moulting,
and be already roused. The worms proceeding from
one ounce of eggs, in the fifth age, consume about
one thousand and ninety-eight pounds of sorted, pick-
ed leaves, which makes the quantity of leaves requi-
site for the five ounces, to be five thousand four hun-
dred and ninety pounds weight.

" 24th day. — For this day will be wanted two hun-
dred and seventy pounds of sorted leaves, divided in-
to four meals ; the first of which should be the least,
of about fifty-two pounds ; and the last most plenti-
ful, of ninety-seven pounds.

" 25th day. — This day the worms will require
about four hundred and twenty pounds of sorted
leaves. The first feed of seventy-seven pounds; the
last should be the largest, and of about one hundred
and twenty pounds. .

'^ 26th day. — This day the worms will want five
hundred and forty pounds of sorted leaves. The first
feed should be of one hundred and twenty pounds, and
the last of one hundred and fifty.

"27th day. — The worms will require this day
eight hundred and ten pounds of sorted leaves. The

160 THE SILK WORM«

first feed of one hundred and fifty pounds, and the last
of two hundred and ten pounds.

" 28th day. — This day the worms should have
nine hundred and seventy-five pounds of picked
leaves, divided into five feeds, the last the largest.

"29th day. — The worms will require this day,
nine hundred pounds of well sorted leaves. The
first meal should be the largest, and those following
should diminish. Should there be any intermediate
meals wanted, they must be given as before.

" SOth day. — The \vorms this day must have six
hundred and sixty pfounds of well sorted leaves.
The proportion of leaves must diminish, as the ap-
petite of the worms decreases much. The food
must, as usual, be divided into four messes. The
largest meal given first, and gradually diminishing.
The first meal should be two hundred and ten
^jp^ounds.

^* 31st day. — The worms this day need four hun-
dred and ninety-five pounds of leaves, which must
be distributed as it may be wanted.

" 32d day. — This last day they attain perfection,
which may be ascertained by the following direc-
tions : —

"1st. When on putting some leaves on the wick-
ers, the insects get upon the leaves without eating
them, and rear their heads as if in search of some*
thing else.

" 2d. When, on looking at them horizontally, the

THE SILK WORM. 161

light shines through them, and they appear of a whi-
tish yellow transparent color.

" 3d. When numbers of the worms, which were
fastened to the inside of the edges of the wickers,
and straightened, now get upon the edges, and move
slowly along, instinct urging them to seek change of
place.

" 4th. When numbers of worms leave the centre
of the wickers and try to reach the edges, and crawl
up upon them.

" 5th. When their rings draw in, and their green-
ish white color changes to a deep golden hue.

*' 6th. When their skins become wrinkled about
the neck, and their bodies have more softness to the
touch than heretofore, and feel like soft dough.

" 7th. When, in taking a worm in the hand and
looking through it, the whole body has assumed the
transparency of a ripe yellow plum. When these
signs appear in any of the worms, every thing
should be prepared for their rising, so that those
worms which are ready to rise may not lose their
strength and silk in seeking for the support they re-
quire."

The above are the rules of European cultivators,
but I do not believe in the theory ; for however well
it may succeed in feeding worms on this plan in Eu-
rope, it cannot be observed in America. I have rais-
ed as large worms as were ever produced in Europe

or America, some of them being from three inches
14*

THE SILK WORM.

and a half to three and three quarters in length;
they were not the mammoth worm. I am in favor of
chopping the leaves, as the worms invariably fix up-
on the edge \ but I do not see any need of sorting, ex-
cept it be in the first, and perhaps the second age.
In the fourth and fifth ages, when the worms are
large and vigorous, there is no necessity even for
chopping the leaves, as the worms will readily devour
them.

ASCENSION OF THE WORM.

Branches of hickory or oak should be procured,
and the leaves withered in the sun, that they may be
ready when the worms cease to eat, and prepare to
ascend. These branches should either be suspended
over them, or placed on the back part of the shelves,
in such a manner that the worms may crawl upon
them without difficulty. When the blanches aie pla-
ced on the shelves green, the leaves contract while the
worms are spinning, and interfere with their labors.
Some worms will wander about, wasting their silk;
these should be placed upon the branches. In three
or four days after the last worms have ascended,
the cocoons may be gathered from the bushes.

The only thing to be observed in gathering the co*
coons is, not to press them too tightly in the hand,
but to give them a gentle rolling motion, by which,
they will be easily and cleanly detached from the
leaves. When they are all gathered, they should not

THE SILK WORM. 163

be suffered to remain in the basket, but should be im-
mediately baked in shallow baskets in an oven, stir-
ring them and taking care that they are not scorched.
They should then be spread upon tables or shelves in
an airy situation, and turned over every day. Every
thing depends upon curing the cocoons well ; for if
they are suffered to lie in piles they mould, and a^ mois-
ture is thrown out which gives them a bad odor, and
they are not worth reeling. A great quantity of co-
coons has been ruined by not attending to this neces-
sary and indispensable part of the business. When
improperly cured, the cocoons reel with great diffi-
culty.

With respect to stifling the worm, various modes
are in use. vSome recommend their being placed in
the sun two or three hot days ; but it appears to me,
this is an uncertain method. The next method is the
oven, which I have mentioned, and which I think is
the best. Mr. Cobb says — *'I have used the first
method with success. The oven being moderately
heated, the cocoons were spread out in oblong bas-
kets, eight inches deep, in box covers, pans, &c. and
permitted to remain in the oven half an hour."

Some recommend the steam of boiling water, and
others the vapor of hot spirits of wine or alcohol.
Many other modes are recommended, but I prefer ba-
king them in an oven.

164 THE SILK WORM.

SEED.

. Always choose the largest and firmest cocoons for
seed. The floss should be taken off, and the cocoons
spread upon a table covered with newspapers. The
room should be darkened and cool. In from twelve
to fifteen days, according to the warmth of the wea-
ther, the flies will come forth. The males and fe-
males will commence copulating, and should not be
disturbed. The male moth is known from the female
by being much smaller ; and from the constant mo-
tion of its wings, as it sweeps with an airy circle
round the female. The female will lay from two to
five hundred eggs ; and one hundred female moths it
is computed, will produce an ounce of eggs, or forty
thousand worms. The eggs adhere to the paper, and
should be rolled up and put in some place secure
from mice and other creatures which are fond of
them. It is a mistaken notion that they must be kept
where they will not freeze. I have known eggs to
remain all winter on a window pane, where they were
laid, without the least injury. In the spring, they
may be placed in a cellar or ice-house until the Mul- .
berry puts forth its leaves ; but generally this is not
necessary, as the same warmth that hatches the eggs,
will bring forth the leaves, Nature is seldom remiss
in her duty, timing all things with beautiful regulari-
ty.

THE SILK WORM. 165

OTHER KINDS OF FOOD.

Though it is universally acknowledged that the
Mulberry is the food designed by Nature for the
worm, attempts have been nnade to substitute some
other kind, which might be produced with more fa-
cility than the Mulberry. There are many kinds of
leaves upon which the silk-worm will live, among
which are lettuce, and the leaves of the hop, hemp,
dandelion, rose and fig, and some say the blackberry.
The leaves of the currant are also spoken of. But I
do not believe these leaves will answer any other pur-
pose than to keep the worms alive until the proper
food can be obtained, for there is a resinous matter
in the leaf of the Mulberry, which forms the silk.
In the Cabinet Cyclopedia will be found a letter
from a lady, who says — " In the summer of 1785, 1
subsisted several thousand worms entirely on lettuce
leaves during three weeks, and for the remaining
short period of their lives I afforded them their na-
tural food. At the end of a month from their hatch-
ing they began to spin, and eleven ounces of silk
were procured from four thousand cocoons." This
lady believed that they could not be fed longer on
lettuce than three weeks, for on trial she found that
but very few spun at all.

The same lady informs us, that she fed worms on
blackberry leaves, and that they ate the leaves of the
elm with great avidity. She also found that they ate

166 THE SILK WORM.

the leaves and flowers of the primrose and cowslip.
She afterwards gave them the Mulberry leaves, which
as soon as they had tasted, they refused all others.
She declares that the worm will not touch any flow-
er of a red color. Mademoiselle Coge tells us, that
she fed worms on the viper grass, and that the
silk was equal to any produced from the natural
food.

I consider lettuce the best substitute for the Mul-
berry, but I do not believe that worms can be reared
on it to any profit. Indeed it is useless to look for a
substitute so long as the Mulberry is so easily culti-
vated.

REPEATED CROPS.

Culturists are fully of the opinion, that two, and
even more crops of silk may be raised in a season,
and experience seems to go to prove it. In some
parts of Italy, two crops are raised from the white
worm, called the two crop worm. This worm w^ill
finish its cocoon, come forth, lay its eggs, and then
those eggs will hatch, thus producing two crops.

There is no doubt but that the two crop system is
profitable, and a very good plan would be this : If
you wish to raise two hundred thousand in a season,
bring up from the cellar fifty thousand, and hatch
them. The week after, bring up fifty thousand more ;
and the next week fifty thousand more, until all are
batched. Now when the last parcel is hatched, the

THE SILK WORM. 167

first will begin to spin ; and when the last are a week
old, the second lot of worms will ascend; so that
there would not be that trouble which would attend
cultivating the whole number hatched atone time, be-
cause many of them would be small, and the number
would be continually decreasing, as they ascended to
spin. By having the eggs in an ice-house, they can
be kept back at pleasure.

It has been a notion with some culturists, that the
silk-worm will degenerate, as Buffon has said of the
American people. I am one of those who entertain
the belief, that by choosing bad cocoons for seed, and
by bad management, the worms will become deterio-
rated ; and, on the contrary, when good seed are cho-
sen, and the worms well attended, the breed may be
improved vastly.

I have now treated of the cultivation of the Mul-
berry, and the rearing of worms ; I shall next pro-
ceed to treat of the art of reeling silk for the manu-
facturer. Much of the profit of the silk culture de-
pends upon reeling well ; and, therefore, the reeler
should apply him or herself to acquiring the art
thoroughly. Some persons have an idea that it is an
extremely difficult art to learn, but attention and per-
severance will soon overcome all obstacles. Practice
is all that is requisite. In a few trials the author of
this learned to reel, and made some sewing silk which
was as even and beautiful as any from the reels of It-
aly. There could be no more beautiful employment

1C8 siiiK.

for bur ladies than this, and the day is not far distant
when we shall not point to an isolated lady as a good
reeler, but when there will be hundreds, and perhaps
thousands, who will reap a rich subsistence from
it.

SILK.

ART OF REELING SILK.

The first thing to be done towards reeling silk, is
to obtain a good reel, and there are a number in use
besides the Piedmontese, among which are those of
Mr. Smith of Baltimore, Mr. Gay of Lisbon, and
Mr. Cobb of Dedham. I have myself used Mr.
Cobb's reel, and found it answered the purpose very
well. It is made in the following manner : A frame
of pine three feet six inches in length, and two feet
in width, the height of which is three feet. There
is a bar at the front end which traverses with a later-
al motion of five inches, and on this bar, which is two
feet five inches in length, the eyes are fixed through
which the threads pass, and by the transversing of
which the silk is scattered on the reel. On the back
end of the frame is placed the reel, with a wheel on
each end of the axle. On the right side of the front
end of the frame, is a large wheel eleven inches in di-

SILK. 169

ameter, which is used to set the reel in motion by
means of a band, which passes from it round the
smaller wheel on one end of the axle. On the other
front side of the reel is a horizontal wheel, with a
band which passes from it to the wheel on the other
end of the axle of the reel. There is a moveable
wire attached to the horizontal wheel, and also to the
transversing bar, which causes it to traverse every
time the wheel turns round.

I have attempted to describe the reel merely for
the gratification of the reader, as it will always be
cheaper to buy the reel than to make it. They can
be had at almost any of the variety stores, or stores
where Mulberry seed and cocoons are bought and
sold.

Having obtained a good reel, the next thing to be
done is to sort the cocoons. Some culturists divide
them into five different qualities, though I never found
it necessary to make more than two or three parcels,
choosing the most firm and fine cocoons to make the
best silk. The qualities are as follows: First^ the
fine cocoons, are those which have a very smooth,
close and fine grain. Second^ the chiques or skins, are
soft and easily compressed under the fingers. Third,
the demi fine^ which have a large, flimsy grain.
'Fourth J the double cocoons^ are those which are uni-
ted ; or those in which two or more worms have spun
together. These can seldom pr never be reeled.
Fifth, the satin cocoons, which ^are the worst of all.

n

no SILK.

The next process is to pick the cocoons, or take
off the floss, which is sometimes done by children.
Other reelers run the floss off" after the cocoons are
placed in the water. The water in the basin or pot
should be soft, such as rain water, and heated to
about 180 degrees Fahrenheit. Experience, howev-
er, is necessary to ascertain the temperature required,
as different qualities of cocoons require different de-
grees of heat in the water. Generally, the water
should be nearly to boiling heat, and kept so by means
of a furnace under the pot or basin. If the water is
too cold, the thread will not run freely ; but will catch
and draw up to the reel ; and if too hot, the silk will
come off* in flakes, which will ruin the even texture
of the fabric or sewing silk. A brisker fire or a lit- -
tie cold water will remedy defects.

The water being of the proper temperature, a dou-
ble hand full of cocoons are thrown into the pot or ba-
sin and stirred with a stick split at the ends, or with
a broom corn wisp, which will catch the floating
fibres ; and if the cocoons have been picked before,
these fibres may be immediately attached to the reel
as fast as found. If the floss has not been previously
taken off", it may be run off* after catching up the end.
When the silk begins to run smoothly and evenly, it
may be broken off*; the one end fastened to the reel,
and the other, which is floss, may be laid aside among
the refuse silk. When a sufficient number of the
fibres are obtained, they should be united, and passed

SILK. 171

through the guides and fastened to an arm of the reel.
The ingenious machinest of Lisbon, Connecticut,
Mr. Gay, who is now disseminating information on
the silk culture through the Middle States, has in-
vented a machine, which takes the silk from the co-
coon, and immediately winds it on spools, thus saving
the trouble and time of reeling, and then taking the
silk from the reel to the spools. His machine has a
fly wheel to it, which fans and dries the silk before it
reaches the spool.

On Mr. Cobb's reel, two skeins can be reeled at the
same time. At the first the reel should be turned
with a slow and regular motion, until it is found that
the silk runs well, when the reel may be turned ra-
pidly. As fast as the cocoons run off, or the thread
breaks, new ones must be attached, which is done
simply by placing the fibre smoothly along, side of
the others, and giving it a gentle twist with the wet
fingers. Some recommend crossing the threads, but
according to my experience this is not a good plan.
The cocoons after being wound off in part, and the
chrysalis of those that are entirely unwound should
be taken out of the water ; otherwise there is a like-
lihood of the silk being stained. So soon as there is
discovered the least tinge in the water, it should be
changed.

It would be useless to go any further into a detail,
of th« art of reeling silk. I might write a dozen fo-
lios on the subject^ and still practice would be neces*

172 SILK.

sary to give the reeler an adequate id«a of the pro^
cess. A few hours speiat in reeling will teach more
thaa volumes, which only describe it. Let not the
person despair, for the art may be acquired in a few
days, and even in a few hours.

Silk, when taken from the reel, is called raw silk,
because it is not manufactured. There are three
qualities, enumerated in proportion to fineness, or by
the fibres taken from a certain number of cocoons.
This is the reeler's business.

It is not only necessary to be particular in reeling
silk, but also in every thing appertaining to the busi-
ness. Care is necessary in disbanding silk from the
reel, as its fibres are subject to different degrees of
tension. Hence the necessity of sorting the cocoons
well. They should all be of one kind; that is, all
that are reeled in one lot. If part are of the
fine or demi fiyie^ all of them should be. There are
other causes, however, to which the different degrees
of tension is owing. Some of the cocoons are long-
er in the water than others, and the slender last ends
of some are united with the strong first ends of other
cocoons. It is, therefore, certain that some of the
fibres will stretch much more readily than others.

The skein of silk should in all cases remain on the
reel several hours, or even a day when convenient;
by which it will become thoroughly dry. I have no
doubt but that Mr. Gay's machine is best calculated
to take silk from the cocoon, to say nothing of the

SILK. 17S

saving in time and trouble. As was observed before,
it takes the silk immediately from the cocoon to the
spools ; the fibre is dried before it reaches the spool,
and consequently cannot stick to those upon which it
is laid. The unequal contractioR of the fibres cannot
take place on the small circumference of the spool, as
is the case on the reel. /

When the skein is perfectly dry on the reel, it
should be gathered up in a mass with the fingers,
loosened from the bars, and after being taken ofi, it
should be tied w^ith shreds of refuse silk in all those
places where it rested on the bars of the reel. It
should be tied, however, before it is taken from the
reel. Double it then and tie it near each end. A
piece of folded paper should be fastened to the end of
the thread to prevent it from being lost in the skein,
which sometimes happens, and gives considerable
trouble to find it.

DIFFERENT KINDS OF SILK.

There are different kinds of silk, of which I shall
give a description in the language of Mr. D'Homer-
gue, an experienced culturist and reeler. He ob-
serves, " In winding off the silk from the cocoons,
whether perfect or imperfect, the finest and best
threads are not those which are first spun ; on the
contrary the first threads which come oflf the cocoons
are coarse, uneven, and unfit for use in the silk manu-
factories, either of the stuffs, twist or sewing silk.
15*

174 silk:;

This loose, furzy substance, which is about one-tenth
part of the whole silk on the cocoon, is called in
French fleuret, and in English JlosSy from the Latin
flosy flower y a name which reminds us of kicas a
non lucendo. As soon as the threads of the silk in
the process of reeling come out fine and regular, this
floss is seperated from them and put aside for use, as
will be presently mentioned. To it are added all the
threads which, either from some defectin the cocoons,
or from the awkwardness of the women employed in
the differcKt operations of reeling, winding, and
doubling, either break off" so as not to be easily uni-
ted to the other threads, or come out uneven, or oth-
erwise unfit for use; these are called the waste silk^
and added to the Jioss^ assume with it the same name.
This mass, boiled in soap and water, afterwards
carded and spun on the spinning wheel, takes the name
in French of hourre de soi or filoselle. Boyer, in his
dictionary, translates the word filoselle into English
by ferret silk or flurt silk. This last name is evi-
dently a corruption, or an English pronunciation of
the French word fieuret, floss silk.

'• This floss, ferret, or flurt silk, by whatever
name it may be called, is employed in making silk
stockings, mittens, gloves, suspenders, night caps, and
in general, all kinds of silk hosiery. 1 have heard
that the women of Connecticut knit silk stockings
and naittens out of the silk which they extract from
tlie cocoons.

SfLK. 175

"Thus nothing is Ibst of the precious material
produced by the silk-worm. I mean by those who
understand the art of employing it. Otherwise, all
experiments by those who are unskilled in the bu-
siness, cannot but be attended with consi derable
loss.

" There are then, &ix different kinds of silk, ex-
tracted from the cocoons by processes of various
kinds, or which vary more or less from each other in
the manner of using them, and all which require not
only skill and dexterity, but knowledge acquired by
long practice. I shall recapitulate them in their or-
der, according to their degrees of fineness.

1. Silk of the first quality, or singles.

2. Silk of the second quality, or organzine.

3. Sil^ of the third quality, or tram silk.

4. Sewing silk of the first and second quality.

5. Cordonnet, or twist of ditto.

6. Filoselle, or floss silk.'*

The utmost economy must be practised in reeling
silk, if the culturist would reap the full profit of the
business. No particle of silk, however small, should
be thrown away, but on the contrary all should be
saved, and added to the mass of refuse silk. As the
culturist who does not reel his silk, but sells the co-
coons loses a great part of the profits, so he who
reels and does not save all the particles of waste
silk, loses in like manner much of the profits^.

176 SILK.

PREPARING SILK.

Preparatory to being dyed, silk should be cleans^
ed. As spun by the worm, silk contains several
substances. First, colouring matter; second, gum;
third, wax; and fourth, an oil resembling in its nature
the essential oils of vegetables. The gum is of a
Iriable texture, and appears of a reddish yellow co-
lor. Silk, when analyzed, is found to contain 23 to
25 per cent, of gum — it is soluble in water. The
wax is of a harder texture and very brittle, but is
never found in a proportion of more than one per
cent ; oftentimes less. The proportion of coloring
matter is very small.

While these substances are in the silk, it is stiff and
unpliable, and the process of extracting them is call-
ed preparing or cleansing silk. Whenever it is in-
tended to be dyed, the silk is boiled and afterward
gummed, the gum having an affinity for the dye. But
when the silk is to remain white, it is simply boiled
and the gumming omitted.

To ungum silk, many skeins should be united to-
gether, so that they may not tangle in the process.
These are put into strong suds. From fifteen to
twenty pounds of soap (some use thirty) are required
for every hundred pounds of silk. The soap should
be thoroughly dissolved in water, over a gentle fire,
and the temperature raised nearly to boiling heat,
but should never boil, as it would injure, if not ruin,

SILK. 177

the silk. The silk is now put into the suds, there to
remain until the gum is discharged, which may be
known by its flexibility and softness to the touch.
The silk also becomes very white. When this
is the case, the skeins should be wrung, and washed
clean.

There is a second process, called " trtg-ging ;^'
but I have never found it necessary, and I believe it
has seldom or never been used in this country.

When it is intended that silk shall be dyed, it
should be alumned. Dissolve fifty pounds of alum in
hot water, and pour it into a vessel containing fifty
gallons or more of cold water, and stir it well, other-
wise chrystalization will take place. The washed
silk is immersed in this solution during eight or ten
hours. Then take it out, wash and wring it, and af-
ter rinsing it, beetle it if necessary. Great care
should be taken not to put the silk in while the wa-
ter is hot, as the least warmth will injure the lustre
of the silk. The alum should be good. Some
alum is combined with iron, and this should always be
avoided, as it is good for nothing, and if used would
ruin the whole lot of silk.

When it is desired to give silk brilliancy, and ren-
der it of a pure azure white, it is subjected to a pro-
cess called " swZp/iwnng" ;" or, in other words, it is fu-
migated with brimstone. The silk is hung up on
poles in a close room, the poles being suspended
above by cojpds, about seven feet from the floor. If

«6 ^ 9IWC.

there is a hundred pounds of silk to be sulphured, two
pounds of brimstone should be put into a dish and set
on fire. All windows and doors noust be shut, and
the silk left exposed to the funoes for fifteen or six-
teen hours. The doors and windows should then be
opened and the room well ventilated, before any per-
son attempts to enter, when the silk may be taken
down If it should not be white enough for the pur-
pose intended, it may be subjected to repeated fumi-
gations.

MANUFACTURE OF SEWING SILK.

The great consumption of sewing silk in this coun-
try, will ever render the manufacture of it profitable ;
pot only in large factories, but in the cottages of our
country. For many years the manufacture of sew-
ing silk has been carried on in Connecticut, and the
industrious wives and daughters of that State have
rendered themselves profitable to their husbands and
fathers. They did this too, with the spinning wheel,
having none of the machinery now used, to facilitate
the process. The Italians seldom use the best silk in
making sewings or twist, whereas in the above State
it is always used. So far, however, our people have
never rivalled the sewing silk of Italy, for their raw
silk commands a higher price than our majoufactured
article. They u§e the Piedmontese reel, and all their
silk is reeled upon it. There are reckoned three
ways of manufacturing silk iato sewings and twist

SILK. 179

First, by means of the common reel and spinning
wheel. Second, in families, by the aid of Brooks'
Spinning Machine. Third, in factories with many
complicated machines. The process in factories is
as follolvs : The silk is first reeled on one of the
reels in use, and afterwards wound off on bobbins,
by, a machine called a winding frame. It is useless
to describe the machine, as no one can have an ade-
quate idea of it without seeing it. The silk, howev-
er, runs from swifts over rods made of glass, and is
run upon bobbins by a transverse motion. The ine-
qualities are taken from the silk by a machine of such
a structure as to admit the silk through holes in
plates of iron, and from them it passes over a rod of
glass to other bobbins. Then the silk is spun on a
spinning frame, the spindles of which are said to turn
eighteen hundred times every minute. This machine
can give any number of twists to the inch.

After this, the doubling of the silk commences;
sometimes called tramming. There is a machine in
use on which the thread may be doubled any nunsber
of times, according to the size of the thread intend-
ed. The next process is twisting, or technically
called throwsted. A machine is used for twisting,
and the twist is afterwards set by means of steam.
It is steamed as it comes from the twisting machine.
After it is steamed it is boiled in soap suds, and is
now ready to be dyed.

As the manufacture of silk does not properly be-
long to an essay on the culture of rilk, I &hall say

1«0 SILK.

nothing of the process of dyeing the various colors,
inasmuch as recipes may be found in all works on
the subject.

In speaking of the manufacture of sewing silk in
families in Connecticut, Mr. Cobb says—" After it is
reeled from the cocoon, it is immersed for a few mo-
ments in boiling water, taken out, put on swifts, and
spun or twisted on a common woollen wheel, begin-
ning at the large end of the piece, that is the end
which was reeled first ; and when it becomes small,
which is the case when one-half or two-thirds is run
oflF, the small end of another piece is added to it, and
thus they are twisted together. It is then spooled di-
rectly off the spindle ; a sufficient number of spools
is put into a small spool frame to make a thread of
proper size^ which is twisted again while it is moist.
It is reeled again, and cleansed by boiling in strong
suds for three hours, then dried and colored. Under-
going this process it shrinks about one-half in weight ;
after this for sewing silk, it is doubled, twisted and
reeled on a reel two yards long, and is divided into
skeins of twenty threads each, as the statute of the
State requires. If it be calculated for twist, it is
made three threaded, twisted and done up into sticks
with a small hand machine, and is then ready for mar-
ket."

Brooka' Silk Spinning Machine is highly spoken
of, as suitable for families engaged in the art of ma-
king sewing silk. This machine takes the silk from

StLK. 181

the cocoon, twists, doubles and brings forth the per-
fect sewing silk. The thread is remarkable for its
even texture, for its brilliance and strength. It is con-
sidered superior to that which is made in the usual
way by reeling. The machine is calculated for a
double or single thread, and prepares it for the loom
or sewing silk. There is one great advantage in using
Brooks' Silk Spinner; which is, that it takes the
fibres from the cocoons in a wet gummy state, and
unites them in that condition. The consequence is,
the thread is united in one solid mass before it has
time to dry; and, consequently, must be much strong-
er and more even. A premium and several medals
have been awarded to Mr. Brooks for his invention.
In a letter, published in one of the papers devoted to
the silk culture, he says — "I do not reel it at all be*
fore it is twisted into warp or filling, or doubled and
twisted into sewing silk, or for other uses, of any size
or twist that may be wanted — perfectly even, firm,
smooth, and strong, as any that can be produced from
any part of the world."

The period is rapidly hastening on, when our man-
ufactories will rival, and perhaps surpass, in their
products the boasted fabrics of Europe. Mr. Gay,
from Connecticut, brought into the middle States some
samples of silks woven in his native State, which
were as beautiful as any I ever saw from the far famed
looms of France and Italy*

16

182 SILK.

LABOR, PROFIT AND aUANTITY.

The labor required to attend to a given number of
worms is not easily computed, as many circumstances
must be taken into the account. If the large leaves
of the Chinese Mulberry are used, instead of the
small leaves of the White Mulberry, the labor will
be vastly lessened. Then the size of the trees, and
their distance from the cocoonery must be consider-
ed ; also the industry of the persons engaged.

To attend to 500,000 worms, one person will an-
swer for the first week ; two persons for the second ;
four for the third ; and for the last ten or twelve days,
about eight or ten persons will be required. These
persons may be women and boys.

As it respects the profit arising from the culture of
silk, many estimates have been made ; some of w^hich
have been entirely too high. It has been reduced to
certainty, that one hundred and fifty dollars nett profit
may be realized from an acre of full grown trees. A
certain writer estimates the product of one million of
worms at 500 pounds of silk. I should say 400 lbs.
would come nearer to the truth. Five hundred
pounds, at three dollars per pound, (after deducting
the price of reeling,) would amount to $1600. The
expense of labor would be about $300, which would
leave $1200 nett profit.

Various estimates have been made with respect to
the quantity of silk produced by a given number of

SILK. 183

worms. The second year that I cultivated the worm,
only a hundred and ninety cocoons of the large speck*
led Lombardy worm were required to the pound.
M, Bonafous says, that two hundred and fifty will
make a pound; while Mr. D'Homergue makes three
hundred and thirty weigh a pound. From 8000 co-
coons Mr. Cobb reeled three pounds of silk. Count
de Hazzi informs us, that from eight or ten pounds of
cocoons, a pound of reeled silk may be obtained.
Eight pounds of cocoons, or about 8000, make a bush-
el ; from which, two to three pounds of reeled silk
may be expected. The difference in these calcula-
tions is owing to the different kinds of worms, and
the manner of feeding. The cocoons of worms of
the large species, are three times as large as those of
the small species.

In conclusion I must observe, that putting the pro-
fits of the silk culture at the lowest estimate, the bu-
siness is still profitable; and I recommend all who
are properly situated to embark in it. I have had
the honor of introducing the culture of the Mulberry,
and the rearing of worms into a part of the state of
Delaware, with fine prospects of success. May they
reap the reward, as I have no doubt they will, of
their enterprize.

CULTURE OF THE BEET.

That the beet may be cultivated to advantage for
the making of sugar, is now reduced to a certainty.
The French have carried the cultivation of the beet
and the manufacture of sugar to considerable extent.
So early as 1812, according to a Paris newspaper,
214 licenses were taken out for the manufacture of
sugar. Messrs. Ronaldson and Vaughn, with others,
have done much to introduce the culture of the sugar
beet into the United States, and richly deserve the
thanks of the community as public benefactors.
Much interest is excited in England on this subject.

In this essay I shall endeavor to give a concise ac-
count of the mode of raising the beet, and of the
manner in which sugar is made from it. Sugar is
one of the constituents of the beet root, and care
should be taken in procuring the sugar, to destroy
as little as possible. It is an undeniable fact, that in
the present state of the manufacture, much is lost
through improper management.

In cultivating the beet and manufacturing sugar, I
would recommend the manufacturer to make only the
raw sugar, as the process of refining is very difficult
and complex, requiring an intimate knowledge, gained

THE BELT. 185

by long experience. Refining commences after the
raw sugar is made, and the process lasts six or eight
months, making the time long before he can dispose
of his product.

The beet is a biennial plant, which bears seed the
second year. The height to which the stalk grows,
is from two to four or five feet. The beet will grow
in any soil where the potato flourishes; but a sandy
soil impregnated with vegetable matter, is the best.
A very sandy soil, however, should not be chosen. It
is said that small beets give a larger proportion of su-
gar than large ones. Calcareous soils are not adapt-
ed to the culture of the beet, neither is a very clay-
ey soil; but marl and clay improve a sandy soil.

The ground to be prepared should be ploughed
three times ; twice in the winter and once in the
spring. Some culturists, however, only plough twice.
If the soil is sandy, it should not be ploughed deep ;
but in a clayey soil the matter is reversed. It is, I
believe, agreed that the best manure is that in which
putrefaction has just begun, as it by the division of the
soil gives the roots room to strike freely into the
earth. The ground is harrowed twice, and rolled
between each harrowing after the last time it is
ploughed, in the spring. By all means the soil should
be well pulverized. The soil should be damp at the
time of planting the seed.

16«

J86 CtTLTURB- or

The choice of seed is a rery great matter, as or
the color of the root depends the color of the sugar,
and, consequently, its value. The method of choos-
ing proper seed, is to sow some of them in a pot of
vegetable mould, and expose it to a heat of 30 de-
grees Centigrade, or 86 degrees of Fahrenheit's
thermometer, watering the earth in the pot from time
to time during the process. Two small leaves will
shoot up from each seed in about twelve days, which
when fully blown out, should be rubbed gently be-
tween two fingers. Should the sap, thus obtained
from the leaves by the rubbing, colour an object red^
the seed are not good, and should by no means be
used. The reason of this is, that sugar made from,
white roots is not of so high a color as that which
comes from the red beet, and is not so troublesome to
refine. No seed should be used but those of the Si-
lesian white beet, if they can be had. No other rule
to discover good seed, is so certain as the abovo*

The French people practice four modes of sowing
the seed. The Jirst^ is to sow them in beds, in nur-
sery style. The second^ broadcast, in the manner of
sowing wheat. The third^ in drills. The fourth^
by a machine for the purpose. A very small space
is required for sowing the seed in beds, for so soon as
they grow thick, they are transplanted. This i^s
done about a month or six weeks after germination.

THE BEET. 187

The labor in this mode is great, and is not all the in-
eonvenience ; for the beets are injured by being ex-
posed, and the small fibres are torn asunder.

The second mode, also, has some objections. It is
very easy to scatter the seed, as in sowing wheat ;.
but the worst of the matter is, that this mode requires
a great deal of seed. In some countries the seed sell
at an enormous price. Seven pounds are required
for an acre when sown broadcast. There is one very
great advantage in this mode of sowing, which is,
that the cultivator can cull out the worst, and leave
the best plants growing, by which he will be certain
of an excellent crop.

The third mode of sowing is very good. When
the seed are sown in drills, a harrow is used with very
fine teeth. Women in France sow the seed, by put-
ting them singly into the furrow, about twelve inches
apart. A cross harrow is then used, which is finer.
An acre may be sowed in this way, by four women,
which is a very great saving.

The machine, for sowing the seed,, is considered
the most simple and economical of all the modes
enumerated. I will endeavor to describe it. The
machine is composed of a hopper, to receive the
seed ; the bottom is shaped like a cylinder of wood,
with cavities in the surface to receive the seed, the
cavities being sixteen inches asunder. Two wheels
support the machine, and in those wheels are teeth^
which give motion to the cylinder. The cylinder as^

188 CITLTURE OF

it turns, causes the seed to fall in its cavities,
and then drops them into the furrow, at the regular
distance of sixteen inches. The furrows are formed
by shares, fixed in front of the machine. There are
three of them, and they plough but half an inch deep.
For the purpose of covering up the seed, there are
three rollers fixed behind. This machine, drawn by
one horse, will sovr several acres in a day, attended
by a man or boy, whose only care is to keep the hop-
per supplied with seed, and the holes open.

The sower should be particular not to put the seed
more than half an inch deep in the ground, as when
too deep they do not receive the influence of the air,
moisture and warmth, which are absolutely necessary
to germination. The seed should always, when prac-
ticable, be put down immediately after the ground
has been broken up.

Cultivators are at variance as to the proper time
for sowing the beet seed, but it has been found to be
a fact, that they can scarcely be sown too soon in
season, for the simple reason, that the sooner they are
sown the sooner they arrive at maturity, and the soon-
er the manufacturer may begin with the process of
making sugar. It is declared to be a fact, that sugar
made in September is more easily extracted, and is of
a lighter and more beautiful texture, than when the
process is delayed. It is also declared, that the quan-
tity obtained from the roots will be considerably
greater, if sown in March, than if sown in May.

THE BBET. 189

The time for sowing, however, ranges from March
until May, and even June.

CARE IN CULTIVATION.

Great care should be taken to remove all grass and
noxious weeds, which may obstruct the growth and
materially diminish the product. Every cleanli-
ness must be observed, during the whole process of
growing the beet. They should be stirred with the
hoe three times. The first time when they have
three or four leaves ; the second, a month after ; and
the third a month after the second. It is no matter
yvhether there are weeds or not, the hoe should be
used to loosen the surface of the soil, and give air to
the fine fibres which rise towards the surface. Never
use the hoe after a rain, but do the matter judicious-
ly, and a heavy crop is inevitable. One thing should
be particularly observed ; whenever any of the
plants become unhealthy, they should be taken up,
and should any show a tendency to go to seed, cut
the stalks ofi*. Never tear off any of the leaves of
the healthy beet, for every leaf taken away is a cer-
tain quantity of sugar lost. The above should be re-
ligiously observed by the cultivator. %

TAKING UP THE BEET.

The proper; tiine, for taking up beets, may be known
by the changing of the leaves from a bright green and
i;ed colour, to a brownish yellow, and when they

190 CULTURE OF

droop and wither. When this is seen, they should
immediately be taken up, as the sugar every hour they
are suffered to remain in the ground is being lost, and
saltpetre replaced instead. A spade is generally
the instrument with which the beet is taken up, and
the manner of doing it, is to make a deep cut in front
of each plant ; then to bury the hand under the same
and force it from the earth, being careful not to bruise
the roots by knocking one against another. The
beets are all laid on the ground in one direction, that
is their roots, and then with a spade the stalks are
seperated from the roots. This must absolutely be
done, or the plant will continue to grow, and a great
loss of sugar be the consequence. But the plan of
cutting off the roots with a spade is condemned by
many culturists, and they contend that it should be
done with the hand. The danger in bruising them is
this ; fermentation ensues, and, of course, whenever
and wherever this takes place, the sugar is lost.
Beets should always be dug in dry weather, as they
often heat, as it is called, in wet weather, and fer-
mentation ensues.

The next thing in order, is to preserve the beets.
Some place them in a cellar, but it is said that a pit is
better. The size of the pit of course must be ac-
cording to the quantity of beets. It is said that the
best form and size is twelve feet long, three feet wide
at bottom, and thirty-one inches deep. In this pit
may be stowed from two to three thousand pounds

THE BEET. 191

of beets. In forming this reservoir, the dirt should
be thrown out on both sides, so that when the beets
are placed therein the earth may easily be heaped
over them. A coat of dirt three inches thick, is suf-
ficient. Be particular that this pit or reservoir be lo-
cated where the springs cannot rise. Occasionally
the beets should be examined, for one rotten one may
ruin a large quantity. Some cover the beets with
straw, but this practice is condemned, as the roots are
more apt to ferment or rot.

When first taken up, be careful not to suffer the
beets to lie long exposed on the ground to moisture
and air. They are equally injured by both extremes
of heat and cold, and even when subjected to a tem-
perature, if damp, of 5Q degrees of Fahrenheit, the
vinous fermentation will ensue, and a loss of sugar
be the consequence. So, on the contrary, the beet
freezes very easily, so much so that large quantities
have been known to freeze when the thermometer
was only tw^o or three degrees below the freezing
point. When once frozen, it is entirely useless to
attempt to thaw them for the purpose of making su-
gar, for they are then found to be but a black and rot-
ten mass. So hard are they when frozen, that the
instrument is blunted wnth which it is attempted to
cut them.

PRODUCTION OP SEED.

The seed of the beet are only produced the second
year, being, as was observed before, a biennial plant.

IQ2 CULTURE OF

When beets are gathered, those should be selected
which are intended for the production of seed the
next year. The following are the appearances by
which good beets for seed are chosen :

1st. Choose those which are perfectly healthy.

2d. Of middle size, thickness and length.

Sd. Be particular that they are not forked.

4th. They should be perfectly white.

A portion of the stalk and the leaves of the beets
you have chosen for seed, should be cut off; but care
must be exercised not to cut down to the neck, as
that might injure, if not destroy, the germinating pow-
er. The next process is to pack them down in sand,
and place them in a cellar, or some other proper place.
In the beginning of spring, say about the first of
March or April, they should be set out^ or planted up
to the neck, and about two feet six inches apart
Give them room and nourishment, and they will put
forth luxuriantly, growing four or five feet high,
and will need propping. About the fifteenth or twen*
tieth of September the seed will ripen, when the
stalks should be cut off, several of them tied togeth*
er, and hung up where the air will circulate freely
through them. When they are perfectly dry, you
should strip them, which is done with the hand. The
seed should now be spread upon a board and dried by
a fire, or in the sun. After this process, the chaff
should be extracted, and the clean seed put away in
bags, where no mice or insects can injure them. Each

THE *BEB¥.'^ 193

beet, it has been computed, will give from three to
six ounces of the best seed. No cultivator should
ever sow seed that are more than five years old, as
they become shrivelled and rotten, and lose their
vegetative power. It is well known that the seed
of the white beet will often produce the red or yel-
low, and it is said that this may be corrected by
changing the soil from clay to sand, and vice versa.

Note. — Beets should never be cultivated on land
newly cleared, nor even on land that has been covered
with timber within several years; for it has been
proven by actual experiment, that such land is entire-
ly unsuited to such cultivation. Neither should beets
be grown for any number of years successively,
though the land should be ever so well suited to the
production. " Many farmers in France pursue the
following rotation: the first year wheat, the second
beets, the third clover, and so on, wheat, beets and
clover in succession. When beets are to follow
wheat, the ground should have two deep ploughings,
as it must be so hard as to require it. Some plant po-
tatoes the first year, beets the second, oats or wheat
the third, and clover the fourth. There is, however,
a sugar maker at Arras, who has grown beets on the
same ground for fifteen successive years, taking care
only every year to change the manure or dressing ;
this, however, is not a practice to be followed — cer-
tain growers have been ruined by it.'^

17

194 BEET ROOT SUGAR.

ON MAKING BEET ROOT SUGAR.

The second part of the subject treats of making
the sugar from the beets, the manner of cultivating
which has been shown. The object here is to show
how the greatest quantity and the best quality can be
produced.

It has been a custom with those in France who
make their own raw sugar to refine it ; but experi-
ence proves that this is a very bad plan, as it requires
a long acquaintance with the art, and a considerable
knowledge of chymistry. But this is not all: the
great length of time required should be a sufficient
barrier, for with the production of the raw sugar and
the process of refining, fifteen months at least must
elapse, before he can realize the reward of his
labor.

Sugar, I need not say, for it is well known, is one
of the constituents of the beet; and the great art in
extracting it from the root, is to choose some process
by which the largest quantity can be obtained and the
least portion destroyed ; for it is conceded on all
hands, that a portion is lost in the present imperfect
state of the art. The time, however, is rapidly ap-
proaching,, when like that of silk, knowledge will be
disseminated on the culture of the beet, and not only
the culture, but the manufacture of sugar. When
the cultivation and manufacture of silk and sugar

BEET ROOT SUGAR. 195

shall have been brought lo perfection, millions of mo-
ney will be saved to the country, and employment
given to thousands who are now entirely unproduc-
tive. I shall proceed to describe the manufacture in
the order in which the manufacturer proceeds. And
first,

TO CLEAN THE BEETS.

This work is done by women and children. The
beets should be either washed or scraped. The in-
strument used for scraping, is a knife with a wide
blade and nine or ten inches long. The women and
children now seat themselves around the pile of beets,
and each one taking a single beet in the hand, scrapes
every particle of earth and other matter off. The
very large beets are cut into two or four pieces, after
being scraped, to render them of a proper size to en-
ter the rasp. The incision, however, should always
be longitudinally or lengthways. The process of
cleaning is very necessary, and should be done neat-
ly. Manufacturers are at variance with respect to
the necessity of washing the beets; some contend
that it is absolutely necessary, while others declare
that a rough brush, after the knife, is sufficient. But
it is my opinion drawn from correct premises, that
water is necessary to a thorough cleaning, though the
quantity necessary for a manufactory is not so great
as some imagine. In fact the quantity required is but
small, and. can readily be obtained in any manufacto-
ry.

196 BEET ROOT SUGAR.

The process of cleaning should always be carried
on in the vicinity of the press and rasping apparatus,
and the enclosure where it is carried on, should be
sufficient to contain a supply for the establishment for
five days. The clean beets should be placed in bas-
kets and conveyed to the rasp, where they are left,
and empty baskets taken back. It is said that four
women skilled in the business, will clean and carry
six or seven tons in twelve hours. The next pro-
cess is

THE OPERATION OF RASPIN&.

There have been many mills invented in France,
for the purpose of rasping the beet ; but universal
consent, I believe, has declared in favor of the one
invented by Moiard. The following is a description
of the machine. A cast iron cylinder is set round
with rough blades like saws, zigzag and jagged.
These tooth-like processes saw,^ tear and squeeze tlie
juice from the beet. An author, whose name I do
not recollect, says that Molard's mill will operate on
three or four tons of beets in an hour, with the labor
of two men.

The beet is of a very firm and solid consistence,
so much so that the juice cannot well be extracted by
pressure alone, on account of its being contained in
a great many little cells, and hence it is necessary
that the rasp should break these in order to obtain
the juice. The process of rasping requires niore ex-

BEET ROOl? SUGAR. 197

peditioni than any other in the manufacture of sugar
from the beet. The quantity rasped at any one time
should never exceed that which is required for imme-
diate use, as the pulp is powerfully operated on by
the atmospheric air, so much so, that in half an hour
a great change is effected. The rasp and the press
should go together in their operation, the one but a
little in advance of the other. There is another
thing which should be particularly mentioned. In all
cases the rasp should be kept perfectly clean, as any
particles of pulp left sticking to it will ferment, and
injury must ensue.

It is expensive to work the rasp mill by human
power, and, therefore, oxen are better suited than
even horses, because they are kept with less cost than
horses, and will eat the pulp, which horses will not.
Some manufacturers in France, prefer wind power to
either that of water or steam, on account that water
cannot always be obtained in level countries, and the
expensiveness of steam, when not located in a coal
region. But there is one great objection to wind
power, which is, that it is very uncertain and irregu-
lar.

TO EXTRACT THE SUGARi.

Sugar is extracted from the pulp only by pressure.
The greater the pressure the greater the quantity ob-
tained from ai certain quantum of pulp, yet it is im-
possible with the greatest knawa pressure that the hy-

198 BEET ROOT 8UGAB.

draulic press can produce, to obtain ^11, for the p«lp
will renjain nooist. It is a question, whether the last
portions of juice are worth the trouble of obtaining
them. The first juice runs from the bags without
pressure^ the second with a light pressure, the third
with a heavy pressure ;. and it remains to be proven,
whether the juice obtained by a very heavy pressure^
is worth the cost of the labor. The last juice ob-
tained cannot be more than eight or ten percent.
This would, of course, in a great measure depend
upon the power used ; for steam, wind, water, horse,
or ox power, are all cheaper than the labor of msin,
though it is so frequently used. A hydraulic press,
of the power of ten tons,^wiU extract seventy per
cent, of juice at first; but when the power is
doubled, eight per cent, is about the portion extract-
ed, which will not certainly pay for the labor.

The quantity of syrup to be obtained from a given
weight of beets, depends njore upon the rasp than
the press. The finer they are rasped the more juice
i§ obtained, but all beets do not give the same pro-
portion; for it has been found by actual experi-
ment, that those beets which contain the most sugar^
yield the smallest portion of juice. It is the quanti-
ty of water which makes up the superabundance of
juice, and so exactly is this pointed out by the areom-
eter, that manufacturers can ascertain how much su«»
gar can be obtained from a given quantity of roots.
Thq operation of pressing should be carrietj on ^
rapidly as possiblCt

BEET ROOT SUGAR. 19S

A great many presses have been used for the pur-
pose of obtaining the juice from the beet, as the
wedge, the lever, the screw, cylinder and the hydrau-
lic press. Universal consent appears to give the
preference to the hydraulic, as it is more powerful^
and, consequently, more expeditious; for it extracts
all the juice that is worth the labor to obtain, at one
operation. There are certain articles which belong
to the press. These are

1st. The bags which are to hold the pulp.

2d. A wide reservoir in which the bags are pre-
pared.

3d. Hurdle, made of osier or hemp.

4th. A cistern to hold juice, provided with a pump
and pipes.

The pulp bags should be of very strong material,
such as canvas, or stout Irish linen. The canvas
should be of such a fabric as to suffer the juice to
run through it freely, and yet retain the pulp. The
bags, when in use, should be changed in about every
ten or twelve hours, and then washed in hot water.
The size of the bags is governed entirely by the
power of the press, and the number is regulated by
the number of presses in operation. Twenty-five
bags is called in France, v/a jeu de $acs^ or a set ;
which set is sometimea used with one press. Twa
sets will be sufficient for a press that is kept in ope-,
ration through the day, and three sets if the press is.
k;ept in operatioa day and night.

SOO BBfif Rd(yr ^uaAR.

The reservoir in which the bags are prepared,
should be of the following dimensions, admitting
that the hurdles are 2 feet wide, and 2| in length.
The width should be 2^ feet, the length 61, and the
depth 1 foot. The reservoir should be made of
strong wood, and lined with metal, such as copper.
It should be stationed between the rasp and the press,
and the end near the cistern to receive the pulp.
A cock should be fixed in one corner of it, and rails
should be fixed round it to hang the bags on. The
reservoir must be raised a few inchjes from the floor,
for the sake of convenience.

The hurdles are made of very strong osier, and
serve to support the bags under the press. The size
of them is regulated by the face of the press. The
hurdle, in its structure, resembles the hamper, and is
easily made by a basket maker. There should be
the same number of hurdles that there are of bags,
with the exception of ^ne. They should be washed
with lime water every twelve hours, in the reservoir
mentioned above. There should be more sets than
one, that they may be renewed or changed every ten
or twelve hours.

The cistern, like the reservoir, should be made of
strong wood, and lined with copper. The cistern is
intended to contain the juice as it runs forth from the.
press, from whence it is carried to the clarifying
copper. Pipes should lead from the press to the cis^
tern, and a pump is necessary to throw up thejuic^

BEET ROOT SUGAR. 001

into the clarifying copper. The cistern must of
course be situated lower down than the press, so that
the juice by a common law of gravitation, shall flow
from the press into it. It should always be kept per-
fectly clean. The shape of the cistern is of no mo-
ment at all, and the size depends upon the mode of
working. If there is one defacation in twelve hours,
the cistern should be about half the size of the defa-
cating copper ; but if there are two or three defaca-
tions in the same time, the cistern should be of the
same capacity.

DEFACATION.

The juice, just as it comes from the press, con-
tains all the matter that is soluble in the beet, such as
sugar, water, &c., as will be enumerated hereafter.
Now it is very plain, that if the juice were compo-
sed of nothing but sugar, combined with water, it
would be no trouble whatever to evaporate the water
and leave the sugar behind ; but then there are fo-
reign substances combined with the sugar, which pre-
vent the ready evaporation of the water, and the crys-
talizationof the sugar. From this cause defacation is
necessary, and this is nothing more than mixing with
the juice certain substances which have an affinity for
these foreign substances, and will precipitate them.
These substances or agents, should be of such a na-
ture as not to affect the quality of the sugar, but go
off with the refuse sijibstance|. The suhstance^ nfiio3t

6BET kOOT SUGAR.

geaerally used for this purpose are sulphuric acid
and lime, great care in the use of which is recom-
mended. Heat IS necessary in defacating the juice,
and for this purpose boilers are necessary.

The boilers should be made of copper, and of a
circular shape. Their size should correspond with
that of the establishment, varying from two to five
or six hundred gallons. Some manufacturers prefer
having a greater number of small ones, ranging in
size from 40 to 50 gallons. Every operation, in ma-
king sugar from the beet, should be carried on with
the utmost despatch. The rasping, as observed be-
fore, should go on rapidly, as heat is generated, and,
tjonsequently, fermentation takes place in a propor-
tionate degree, by which a corresponding portion of
sugar is lost. Heat acts powerfully on ail organic
substances held in solution by water. Now the long-
er the time between the rasping and the press, and
between the press and the boilers, the greater the
fermentation, and, ccmsequ^ently, the greater the
loss of sugar. Many times through inattention, 6v
other causes, this is so great that the sugar cannot be
seperated at all. Therefore, it is necessary that thfe
boilers should be filled as rapidly as possible, and k
number of rasps and presses should be kept in oper-
ation, in proportion to the size of the boilers used.
If the boiler holds 600 gallons, and it is desired to fill
it with juice in two hours, four tons of rodts must be ^
rasped and pressed. To perform this in the givea
time, will require three rasping mills and five presses.

BEET ROOT SUGAR. 204

Many are of opinion, that boilers of the middle
size are best suited to the purpose; for instance,
such as will hold from eighty to ninety gallons. It
is believed that two of these would perform the same
as one holding 5 or 600 gallons ; for while the pro-
cess of defacationis being carried on in one, the oth-
er is undergoing the process of precipitation.

AH boilers, intended for the process of defacation,
should be in height equal to its diameter. Room
should be allowed in the boiler for the operation of
boiling, as for instance, if the boiler is to contain
200 gallons of juice, it should be made large enough
to hold 240 gallons. The boiler should be stationed
at such a height, that the syrup may be easily run off
into the boilers for evaporation. The temperature
ought never to rise above 212 degrees Fahrenheit. If
the boiler is 36 inches both in height and in diameter,
the grate should be 23 inches in length, and 1 5 inches in
breadth, and should be made of cast iron, having ten
bars. The necessary apparatus belonging to a defa-
cating boiler, are as follows :

1st. An areometer and a thermometer.

2d. A bin and buckets for lime.

3d. A pair of scales with weights for weighing
lime.

4th. A copper or lead measure for sulphuric acid.

5tb. A spoon plated to examine the juice, and a
saucer for experiment.

6th. A wooden spatula to stir the syrup in the boiler.

204 BEET ROOT SUGAA.

7th. A funnel and a filter,
8th. A skimming ladle.

OF THE THERMOMETER AND AREOMETER.

The areometer of Beaume should in all cases be us-
ed in preference to any other. The thermometer in
defacation, is useful in ascertaining the temperature,
and thus to know when to put in the agents which
produce clarification. It should be frequently put in-
to the liquid while clarification is going on.

The areometer should have a handle of wood, and
a case made of tin. When the syrup is to be weigh-
ed, it is drawn up in the tin case, holding it by the
handle. The syrup should always be at the same tem-
perature when examined, and it should be taken as it
exudes from the press, plunged by the aid of the tin
case in water, to reduce the temperature to 55 de-
grees of Fahrenheit. The specific gravity is dimin-
ished if weighed while it is boiling, and consequently
a difference is found more or less, of 4 degrees. The
specific gravity is diminished by the expansion of the
fluid by heat.

The lime, which is used in the defacation of the sy-
rup, should be unslacked. It should be weighed
while in that stale, slacked , and then water enough ad-
ded to bring it to the consistence of cream. A bin or
cistern is used for this purpose, which is* of a circular
shape, with a cover. The lime should be sifted very
fine, and all the lumps should be taken out. M. Du-

BEET ROOT SUGAR. 205

brunfaut says, the lime should not be slacked until it
is weighed.

The sulphuric acid in its natural state is too strong,
and requires five or six times the quantity of water
before it can be used. The mixture is made in buck-
ets made of wood, with copper hoops. No metallic
vessel save a golden one, and that is too expensive,
can be used ; as the acid would decompose the me-
tal, and form a sulphate of iron, of copper, &c.

An instrument IS necessary to stir the syrup in the
boiler, and this should be a round stick, at the end of
which should be fastened a round boaid one foot in
diameter, which should be full of holes

The next things enumerated, are a plated spoon
and a saucer, which are for the purpose of examining
the syrup. The spoon must always be clean and
bright, as the clarifier can more easily tell when the
process is complete. The saucer should .be white,
as it is used for the purpose of ascertaining when the
syrup has a superabundance of alkali and acid.

The skimmer should be eight inches in diameter.
It is not always necessary to skim the boiling syrup,,
and especially when precipitation is going on, for
then the scum prevents the fluid from cooling too rap-
idly.

The filtre should be made of coarse cloth or can-
vas.

I shall now give M. Houdart's method or process
of defacation, in a quotation from a work on the man-
18

206 BBEf Boot SUGAK.

ufacture of beet sugar. " Suppose," says the atr-
thor, "that 1 14 gallons of juice are to be clarified.
The boiler being charged, and the fire burning, the
thermometer is placed in it, and should be kept there
till it amounts to 60 or 65 degrees (le?"" or US'" of
Fahrenheit.) During this interval, eighty-eight
pounds of lime slacked and sifted, are weighed out;
four or five bags are then similarly prepared, each
bag containing seven pounds of lime. This done,
the eighty-eight pounds of lime are put into a wood-
en vessel, where they are mixed with clear w^ater, till
they become like milk. This mixture is poured into
the boiler when the temperature is above 60 or 65
degrees of Reaumur. The whole is then briskly
stirred for some minutes, in order to incorporate the
lime well with the liquor. Before the lime is added,
a thick scum will rise on the surface. Lime often
destroys this scum, or at any rate, it is suspended in
the liquid by agitating it when the lime is added.
When thoroughly mixed, some minutes should elapse
before the full effect will be produced ; then, with
a bright spoon, take a little of the liquor, and exam-
ine it carefully ; if the quantity of lime be sufficient,
the juice will exhibit a number of clots, or particles
in suspension, which will soon settle to the bottom of
the spoon, leaving the upper part of the liquor per-
fectly clear and transparent, and more or less of an
tmber color. If, instead of this, the lumps are very
much divided, and only swim in the liquor without

BEET ROOT SUGAR.

207

settling to the bottom, even for several seconds, and
<if the juice remains of a thick milky color, it is a
\proof that more lime is wanted.

"One of the little parcels of seven pounds is then
mixed with the water, poured into the boiler, and
-well stirred as before. The juice is then again exam-
ined with a spoon, and if the symptoms are still not
so favorable as they might be, another seven pounds
are added, and so on, seven pounds at each time till
defacation of the whole is complete.

'^Eighty-eight pounds of lime to 114 gallons of
juice, may always be used with safety. It is in fact
the minimum dose which ought to be applied. The
quantity varies with the quality of the beet root, and
•the period of the season when applied. Thus, at the
beginning of the season, when the roots are rich and
full of sugar, the greater will be the proportion of
lime necessary. The object of the lime being to
precipitate certain substances which impede the for-
mation of sugar, it should, of course, be added in
quantities adequate to the amount of these substan-
ces; for, experience seams to show, that as the quan-
tity of sugar increases, so will also these extraneous
matters. Thus, a firm, solid beet root requires more
than a watery root, and vice versa,

*' On the whole the safiest way is to begin with little
enough of lime, for it is very easy to add more
from time to time, as above directed. But it is not
to be inferred from hence, that, on the wholcy a small

208 BEET ROOT SUGAR.

quantity is preferable to a larger. So far as is this
from being the case, that it is considered better to use
too much than too little; for though an excess of this
alkali is prejudical to the sugar, it is always less so
than an insufficient quantity. The observations of
the workmen cannot be too frequently taken during
the process of defacating. A clear liquor and a
perfect precipitation are the main objects to be ac-
complished.

*' The beet juice, when it comes from the press, is
of a milky hue and yet dingy. When heated the
scum and froth rise;- but as soon as the lime is added,
the black dirty color disappears by degrees, and
abundance of flakes are seen in the liquor. These
flakes are usually of a yellowish grey color ; when
the proportion of lime is sufficient, they seperate
from the liquid and sink to the bottom. When arri-
ved at this stage of the defacation, the fire must be
withdrawn, and the boiler left to itself for an hour or
two that the whole may settle properly. The cock
placed just above the bottom of the boiler should be
opened to draw off* the liquor clear. The juice is
then conveyed to the evaporating pans, of which
more hereafter. Care should be taken to watch the
liquor as it runs ofl", lest any part should become thick
and turbid, especially towards the end; so soon as
this is perceived, the cock should be closed and the
lower one opened, that the residuum may pass
through the filtre. When this is all drawn off*, thQ
boiler is ready for a fresh charge.

BEET ROOT SUGAR. 209

^' It has been shown that it is better to use too
much than too little lime in defacation. Both are
stated to be evils, and, yet of the two evils the for-
mer is the least. After having operated on the extra-
neous matter in the sugar, it then begins to act on the
sugar itself.

" Defacation by lime alone, then, has this grand
inconvenience, that a part of the sugar is destroyed
lo save the other. In this process, in fact when this
syrup is run into moulds, it produces an abundant
crystalization ; and the molasses which comes from
it more rapidly than by any other method, has a very
disagreeable taste and smell : it has but little sweet-
ness ; and if by any known process a second crystal-
ization be attempted, not an atom of sugar can be
obtained from it. Nay, more — the sugar partakes
of the bad taste and smell of the molasses, and is
thereby rendered unsaleable in the market.

*^ It is a pity that the defacation by lime presents
these inconveniences, for it is the mode of all others
the simplest, and best adapted to common farm es-
tablishments. It is, indeed, on this account that many
manufacturers who have adopted it continue still to
use it, notwithstanding the inferiority it presents,
both as to quality and quantity of its results as com-
pared with those of other and more complicated
methods.'^
18*

RECAPITULATION ;

OR SUGGESTIONS AFTER WRITING THE WORK.

There appears to be in the vegetable, as well as in the
animal kingdom, a healing and preservative power, which
repairs all breaches, renovates what is worn out, and strug-
gles against decay. Physicians call this power in the hu-
man system, the vis medicatrix et conserv atrix naturcB^ or
the healing and preservative power of nature. When a
bone is broken, nature immediately begins to repair the
breach by throwing out a secretion of bony nialterj which
gradually hardens and unites the ends of the bones. To
still plainer show her intention, Nature after having unit-
ed the ends of the bone, builds up a strong ridge round
the part which was seperated, as if to guard against any
future violence. This ridge may be felt through the flesh
by any person, particularly a young one, who has had a
bone broken. In grafting a tree, precisely the same ope-
ration is carried on. A secretion of sap is thrown out,
which hardens into wood and thus unites the two parts.
When the human flesh is cut with a knife, nature also se-.
cretes from the blood a fluid, but not bony, which thick-
ens like glue when the wound is kept from the air, and
unites the lips of the wound by the first intention — that is,
without suppuration. But if the air is suflfered to act up^

RECAPITULATION. 211

on the wound by its being uncovered, the oxygen of the
atmosphere unites with the secreted fluid, and renders it
so thin that it cannot unite the lips of the wound, and
hence the necessity of keeping a cut finger or other part
wrapped up in bandages. Now this is precisely the case
with a tree. If a deep cut is made into it, a fluid is se-
creted, which will unite the wound if kept covered ; but if
not, the oxygen of the atmosphere unites with the secret-
ed fluid and renders it too thin to unite the wound. Here
we see a great similitude between the animal and vegeta-
ble, which it is found will correspond throughout.

We find too, when we open the great volume of nature
and pry into, her works, that there is a perfect adaptation
of every thing to its proper place, use or end. We see it
in the golden globes which wheel their courses round the
.great hall of Heaven — we see it in the glorious sun, with-
out whose light and heat all animal and vegetable life
must perish. Without his light the beautiful colors which
deck and adorn this world of flowers were extinct, and
without the atmosphere which surrounds us, the melodi-
ous sounds of music would delight our ears no more ; for
there is no sound in a vacuum. We see this wonderful a-
daptation of Nature in the things which are upon oyr
earth and in what concerns man. In level and temperate
countries, where swiftness is required, the horse is placed.
On the desert we find the camel, an animal capable of en-
during long fatigue and of carrying with it a supply of wa-
ter. It is well known that water is scarce on the great
deserts of Asia and Africa, and on this very account Na-
ture has placed a large hollow hump on the back of the
camel, in which he may carry his supply of water. He

212 RECAPITULATION.

has also the power of eating a large quantity of food, half
chewed, which he can bring up at pleasure and chew as
he passes over the desert. Here we see the wisdom of
the great Disposer of all things. Had the horse been pla-
ced upon the desert as a beast of burthen, instead of the
camel, he would have perished for water and food before
half his journey were performed. In Lapland and other
northern climes, where the earth is covered with eternal
snows, the Reindeer is placed. His legs are slender, but
ihey are supported by the snow. He must travel rapidly,
or his master would perish in a long journey. There is a
«kin which he can draw down over his eye, to protect it
from the frozen flakes of snow, which would inevitably
put his eyes out. In the centre of the skin is a very mi-
«ule hole, through which he can distinctly see his way
without the possibility of injury from the frozen particles.
Here again we see a wise provision and adaptation of na-
ture. Were the eyes of the reindeer unprotected, it would
be impossible for the animal to travel in those regions of
perpetual storm, where the snow flakes are driven before
the wind with immense velocity. And again, were the
reindeer placed upon the burning sands of the desert, or
the camel upon the snow-clad hills of LapUad, how soon
would each perish in the performance of the other's task ;
how ill adapted would they be to those climates. Wonder-
ful are thy works and ways, Oh Lord, God of Heaven !

There is a power in Nature which is ever striving a-
gainst decay. Nature evidently endeavors to renovate
herself. Mark yon field which has been turned out as
good for nothing by the injudicious farmer, who has work-
ed it until it can yield no longer. Nature teaches him how

RECAPITULATION. 213

to act. In the first place she causes a small grass to spring
up and then a white clover, that the soil may be covered
from the burning rays of the sun. The rains and dews
fall and moisten the soil, and are prevented from being sud-
denly evaporated by the covering which is thus provided.
That water enriches gradually the soil, for we find the
farmer tilling that field again in a {evr years. If water a-
lone does not enrich the earth, how is it that all duck pud-
dles, swamps, ditches and marshes become rich .'^ Lookat
the spot round your well which but a few years ago was
a mere sand hill, it is now rich, and yet no manure has
ever been put there. By what means is it rich ? Certain-
ly not from any cause but water.

A plant will not grow in earth alone. Take a portion
of the richest earth that ever was seen, divest it of all wa-
ter, and if you plant a seed in it, it will not grow. But
seed will germinate and grow in water without a particle
of earth. Take an acorn, attach a string to it, and hang it
in a tumbler half full of water, just so as not to touch the
water. Even the vapour which will rise by evaporation
from the water, will cause the acorn to send forth a stalk
and roots, the latter of which will strike into the water
and soon fill the bottom space of the tumbler. Wheat will
also grow in water, and makes a beautiful appearance, as
the process of germination is there visible, and, it certain-
ly is one of the most wonderful processes in nature. Mark
the acorn before it goes into ihe earth ; it has nothing in
its appearance which resembles the oak. A roundish, ob-
iong and pointed surface is all that presents itself to the
eye. The shell bursts and a delicate little stem makes
its appearance. Is it possible that in that acorn lie the

^14 RECAPITULATION.

elements of the future lofty oak, destined to brave the
storms of centuries ? Yes, though that delicate stem may
now be broken with a pin, it may one day become the mon-
arch of the mountain, or the pride of the forest. When
we contemplate such things, well may we exclaim, "mw/-
ium in yarvoP

" An undevout astronomer is mad," says a great author,
and I will add, that he who reads the book of nature and is
not a wiser and a better man, has spent his time to litile
purpose. How many pursuits are calculated, if reflected
on aright, to elevate the soul to that Sublime Being, who
has spread before us the glorious universe for our contem-
plation. In the cultivation of the silkworm the mind may
muse with pleasure and profit. In the life and transmi-
gration of the silkworm, we see an almost perfect picture
of the resurrection of man. It comes into the world a ti-
ny insect, and grows with great rapidity. More wise than
raan, it prepares its own tomb and comes forth a beautiful
butterfly, to work no more but to enjoy. Like man it had
its infancy, like him grew up to labor, like him found a
tomb, and arose from it in a white garb of beauty.

Let the farmer follow nature as his guide; let him ob-
serve every and even the most minute operation in her
grand field, and she will teach him the true and legitimate
mode of procedure. Every vine has a lesson, and every
flower a moral ; yea, every thing is fraught with wisdom,
if man will read it. Believe not ihe skeptic for a moment.
There is a wise God who reared and who rules the universe.
I see Him in the grand system of worlds that roll through
«pace, and I hear Him in the midnight blast. His majesty
and power is pictured ii> ihe stormy ocean, and the beau-

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ty of His loving kindness blossoms in
the tree and blooms in the rose.
Every spire of grass shows forth His
goodness, and every insect in earth
and air hums His praise • "Whether im
seek His nisdom in a planet or a
plant, in a feather or a fly, i»e find
Him still the same grand, glorious and
incomprehensible Being.

Ify last words to the Farmer are,
follow nature, htisband your resources,
and improve your mind as well as soil*

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