l«:?T] 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



309 



it desprvos attention ; but we are not sanguine as to 

 any profit bein-;; obtained from the new fabric — from 

 wliicii mucii was confidently expected, as a source of 

 national wjailh more than a century ago, in Virginia, 

 as ap|).'ars from the curious old poem inserted in o'lr 

 first vohune (page 7o4) on the " Virginia Siiicworm." 



Tlie moth, or butterfly, which is the last form of 

 tliis insect, is the largest winged insect known in this 

 r'\gion. One of those in our possession last summer 

 measured six and a half inches across from one ex- 

 trjinity to the other of the wings, when laid horizon- 

 tally. The outer coats of the cocoons are very strong, 

 and so large, that some of ours were made by inge- 

 nious ladies into purses, which would hold each as 

 much silver as was convenient to carry in a purse, and 

 more than many of us now own, in this paper age. 



Since the foregoing remarks were in type, we have 

 seen that the publication of Mr. Durant has produced 

 a somewhat angry controversy between him and Mr. 

 Tinelli. The only thing gathered from it, at all ma- 

 terial to other persons, is, that Mr. Tinelli declares the 

 "native American silkworm" to be common in Eu- 

 rope, and that its silk is of no value, compared to that 

 of the silkworms heretofore used. — Ed. Far. Reg. 



From tlie Gerniantown Telegraph. 

 CORK— SUCKERS. 



Some persons without understandinf^ the natu- 

 ral iiisforyof the plant, at the last dressing, pull oli' 

 tlu'- suckers, which is ruin to the crops, as they are 

 alisolutely necessary, not only to filling our the 

 ends of most of the first years, bat to filling 

 nut the late years to some degree. 



The time in which the male blossom on the 

 main stalk remains in vigor is not more than six 

 days, when the season is good : but if the weather 

 is hot and dry, or is very stormy, it is not so long. 

 And this length is only enouii'li to fructily the ear- 

 liest ears in which the female blossom comes out 

 first (i-om the germ of the lowest grains, and pre- 

 sent themselves in circles at the end of the corol- 

 la or husks, and as they come out, are impregna- 

 ted, and thus they are every day and every hour 

 presenting new circles of female blossoms, until 

 the whole are thus impregnated. But if the heat 

 is so excessive as to kill the male blossom belore 

 the whole of the f!?male blossom has come out of 

 the corrolla of husk, then if there are no suckers 

 to supply the deficiency of pollen, there will be a 

 portion ol' the upper end of the ear that will be 

 barren of grain. To supply this deficiency of pol- 

 len, Provid.ence, in organizing the corn plant, has 

 ordered that the three lower joints should produce 

 suckers that should come up in succession, to sup- 

 ply a continual source of the fructifying principle 

 to llie whole succession of ears that may come 

 out lor the space of at least three weeks, after that 

 on the stalk has been exhausted. And on this 

 succession of male blossoms, the greatness of the 

 crop depends. And the land should he so rich as 

 to force out at least two suckers on every stalk, or 

 no very great crop should be expected. But if 

 the land is so rich as to produce these, then in- 

 stead of havintr the usual crop of about 35 bush- 

 els to the acre, the carelul fiirmer may expect 

 from 80 to 120 bushels with very little extraordi- 



nary expense, and this land will be prepared (or 

 other crops. 



You will please to indulire mefliriherto observe 

 on the culture of corn, that to manure poor land 

 in the hill is bad cultivation, althouyh it is true 

 that by this mode, the early iirowth of the corn is 

 promoted ; but the moment the roots of the planla 

 extend beyond the manure, ihe growth of the ciop 

 is checked, at the most critical season, when the 

 suckers and ears are setting, by which it often 

 happens, that the stalk still runs up, and liie male 

 blossom comes out and is spent belbn; the temale 

 blossom appears at all. But if the shovel full of 

 manure that had been jjut in each liill, had been 

 incor|)orated with the soil, the early growth of the 

 crop would not have been so rapid, but then the 

 growth woulil have been equal in all parts of the 

 plantj and a crop would have been received in pro- 

 portion to the goodness of the soil and preparation 

 and attendance given it. 



[The writer of the foregoing piece offers a new 

 reason for the propriety of letting the suckers of corn 

 remain on the stalks, viz: for the purpose of furnish- 

 ing a later supply of fecundating pollen to the silks, 

 or female flowers. But without attaching importance, 

 or giving confidence to this opinion of the writer, we 

 think his remarks worth notice in another respect, 

 viz: that he seems to have no idea that any dhninuiicm 

 of the quantity of grain is to be feared, from leaving 

 the suckers, and does not either reply to, or even name 

 that single objection to the practice, which operates on 

 almost every cultivator in Virginia, and the more 

 southern states. When, (in addition to the testimony 

 of several correspondents of the Farmers Register,) 

 so many northern farmers deny that any advantage is 

 gained by suckering corn, and when it is known that the 

 fields of extensive regions to the north are left without 

 suckering, it ought at least to cause enough doubt to 

 arise, as to induce farmers to test both practices, by 

 fair comparative experiments. The suckering of corn, 

 even if not hurtful, is certainly very troublesome 

 on good land, and unless it is productive of a certain 

 and not inconsiderable increase of crops, to avoid that 

 labor, is a very considerable object. — Ed. Far. Reg.] 



From tlie Inverness Courier. 

 EXPERIMENTS OF DIFFERENT MANURES ON 

 TURNIPS. 



For the information of turnip-growers, and to 

 enable them to regulate their supplies of artificial 

 manure in the ensuing season, we are authorised 

 by Sir F. A. Mackensie to insert tlu; Ibilowing ex- 

 r)erimcnts, made on his Ro.ss-shire !i;irms in 1836. 

 Having appropriated the greater part of his farm- 

 yard manure to the cultivation of newly reclaimed 

 lands. Sir F. laid down one field of sixteen acres 

 Scots, with bones, half drilled, half dust, dibbled 

 in at aboat the rate of about twelve bushels per 

 acre ; the soli, a sandy loam, lone: cultivated, and 

 one half of which had been limed four years pre- 

 viously. The whole produced a most luxuriant 

 crop, but if any difference appeared, it was in fa- 

 vor of the part unlimed. Another field of four- 

 teen acres had in part been reclaimed from heath 

 about four years; the soil gravelly ; the rest was 

 old, light, earthy, cfoft land, in separate patches, 

 the whole limed four years previously, and laid 



