THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



125 



one so high. Those which produce the least are the 

 Landes, Lozure, Hautes and Basses Alpes, and 

 especially Corsica. The average may be about 10s. 

 per acre. The rest of France varies between these two 

 extremes. 



The gross production of England per acre is reckoned 

 at just double that of France : but while our animal and 

 vegetable produce are about equal in value, in France 

 the animal produce is only one-third. 



I shall close my landom notes by a curious instance 

 of an improvement in breeding a kind of live stock 

 which is a novelty to the Enijlish farmer. The French 

 raise .^GOOjOOO worth of raw silk every year, and the 

 breed of silk- worms (Bombyx mori) is a matter of 

 importance, and there is a central'society of Sericulture 

 in France to watch over the silk production. The 

 main object is to obtain cocoons of a large size, com- 

 posed a long, strong, very fine, even, and lustrous 

 thread. There are three main varieties of silk-worms, 

 the " Sina," the Syrie," and the " Novi." The Sina 

 is noted for the pure whitenees of its silk, the thread 

 of which is fine but weak, and lustrous. The Syrie 

 variety is of a larger size, produces a cocoon abundant 

 in silk, but the thread is rather coarse, and inclines to 

 a greenish tint. The Novi race is small, but the cocoons 

 are firm and well made, and the silk has a yellowish 

 tint. Thus there are good qualities and defects in all, 



and it takes the best points of three silk-worms to form 

 a perfect one. Can the principles of breeding be ap- 

 plied to these singular insects ? Well, at our Great 

 Exhibition of 1851, Count de Bronski, of St. Selves, 

 near Bordeaux, showed some specimens of a new breed, 

 the cocoons remarkable for their large size and regu- 

 larity of form, and the silk for the unusual length of 

 the thread, its natural pure white colour, its fineness 

 and lustre : just the three prime merits of the different 

 breeds united together. How were the cocoons ob- 

 tained ? In 1836, Major Bronski reared separately the 

 eggs of the three fundamental varieties. In 1837, he 

 set apart cocoons of Syrie and Novi ; and on the ex- 

 clusion of the imago, or perfect insect, he associated the 

 males of the Novi with the females of the Syrie : the 

 hybrid ova being hatched in 1838. The operation was 

 repeated in 1838 and 1839. In 1B40, he associated the 

 males excluded from the large cocoons of the black 

 worms, with the females excluded from those of the 

 white worms. In 184.1, he associated the Sina males 

 with the hybrid females obtained from the above cross- 

 ings of the Novi and Syrie breeds. He at length 

 succeeded in obtaining a race of silk-worms not subject 

 to disease, producing large and equal-sized cocoons of 

 a pure white colour, the silk of which is equal in all its 

 length, strong and lustrous, and presenting an average 

 length of thread of 1,057 metres, or 1,156 yards. 



A RETROSPECT OF THE LEADING FEATURES OF THE IMPLE 

 MENT DEPARTMENT OFTHE WARWICK SHOW, 1859. 



No. III. 



In noticing the novelties in the department now under 

 consideration, namely, the cuUuial implements, we com. 

 mence by i^iving a brief description of the patent plough of 

 Messrs. Hornsby aad Son, of Grantham, This plough, from 

 the excellence of its construction, and the work performed 

 by it, created quite a bensation amongst agriculturists pre- 

 sent at the trial; and proved that a new plough was intro- 

 duced which was likely to compete with every chance of 

 success with the eslablishod implements of Howard or of 

 Kansoraes. The " beam frame" or " body," and the " stilts" 

 or "handles," are all of solid wrought iron. The "share'' 

 and the " mould board" are carried by the " sole" or 

 " slade," instead of being attached to the "frame," as in 

 ordinary ploughs. The sole is thus the foundation of the 

 plough. The front part of the sole is made hollow and of a 

 spherical shape ; this receives the hinder end of a lever- 

 The lever passes through a conical opening, so that it is 

 capable of aUjustment. To the back part of the framing an 

 adjusting stud is bolted ; to this the back end of the lever 

 is attached by a bolt and nut, by adjusting which the Itver 

 can be moved laterally from left to right or vice versa. This 

 adjusting stud carrying the lever is itself capable of verticHj 

 adjustment in a curved slot made in the framing. The lever 

 causing the share is thus capable of two adjustments — one 

 vertical, elevating or depressing the point of the share; and 

 the other lateral, in a horizontal plane. This last gives an 

 adjubtment towards the laud side of the jjlough, without 

 raising the share above or below the level of front of mould- 

 beard. The coulters arc fastened to the beams by simple 

 wrought-iron clips ; and the wheels are so adjusted as to run 

 nearly opposite each other. Tlic lines of the mould-board 

 are beautifully laid down. 



3Ir. Law, of Shettleston, near Glasgow, exhibited "Delta's" 



patent ploughs, " swing," "wheel," and " drill." In these the 

 body is of cast-iron, of an I section. Mr. Snowden, of 

 Longford, near Gloucester, exhibited Woofe's patent paring 

 plough. This implement is gradually working its way into 

 liigh repute from the precision with which it pares and cuts 

 off the sod. The turf is cut longitudinally by means of a 

 thin or knife-edged disc or wheel, the axle of which revolves 

 horizontally in the front part cf the framing. To this axle 

 across-cutting knife is attached, revolving in a direction at 

 right-angles to the length of strip of turf. As the strip is 

 cut by the revolving disc, and raised up by the " share" of 

 the plough, the cross-cutter at each revolution cuts the strip 

 transversely at distances of 24 inches, while the mould- 

 board lays over and reverses the strip of turf or sod at the 

 side of the plough as it progresses. A continuous strip is 

 thus laid over, cut into lengths ; the " cut," however, is 

 not quite through the turf, so that it can be lifted up for 

 removal in any desired length. The face of the mould- 

 board is kept clean from all adhering soil, by means of a 

 "scraper," the point of which passes through an apeiture 

 in the face of the mould-board. The scraper has a recipro- 

 cating or backward and forward motion given to it by means 

 of a small crank and connecting rod, deriving motion from 

 the axis of hind wheel of plough. 



Mr. Powell, of Ticehnrst, Sussex, the agent of " Sigma" 

 (whose " seed dibbling" apparatus is doubtless well-known to 

 our readers), exhibited " Sigma's'' cultivating implement, the 

 «' Multum in parvo." A variety of appliances are attached 

 to the main frame, so that no fewer than six different im- 

 plements can be obtained at pleasure — first, a drill-grubber 

 of five tines ; second, a sub-soil plough ; third, a horse-hoe ; 

 fourth, a scufHer and horse-hoe ; fifth, a double mould- 

 board plough ; and sixth, a broadshare or paring plough. 



Considering the discussions of late years respecting tws 



