FxYRMERS' RECilSTER— LIVE FENCES— SILK CULTURE IN FRANCE. 537 



wood and timber for fuel and building, and the vast 

 accession to arable, by renderiii<rless woodland ne- 

 cessary, as acquisitions arising li-oni live lences; 



In the ''Memoirs of the Agricultural Society of 

 Philadelpiiia," several mod*;s of raising Jive 

 hedges, suitable Jbr diHerent soils and climates, are 

 elated and explained. Two volumes of these 

 memoirs have been published, containing more 

 valuable intbrmation upon the subject of a<|riculture, 

 than any native book 1 have seen; and if we have 

 no relish lor the wit, learning and experience, with 

 which they aboundj but little good can be expected 

 Irom these ofhemeral essays. To say nmch upon 

 a subject, copiously handled in a book which every 

 fanner ouglit to have, would msinuate the exis- 

 tence of a general apathy towards the eminent 

 talenis wlncli have presided over, and greatly con- 

 tributed to its composition; to say nothing, would 

 be a ne'^lect of asubjectot" the utmost importance. 



Several plants are mentioned in these memoirs 

 as proper for making livelenees, but I shall conhne 

 my observations to one, because my knowledge ex- 

 perimentally, does not extend to the others. The ce- 

 dar is peculiarly lilted lor the purpose, throughout 

 a great district of the United States. It throws 

 out boughs near the ground, pliant and caj/able ol 

 being easily woven into any Ibrm. They gradual- 

 ly however become slitl". Clip|)ing will make ce- 

 dar hedges extremely thick. No animal will in- 

 jure them by browsing. IManured and cultivated, 

 they come rapidly to perleciion. The jdants are 

 Irequently to be tbund in great abundance wilhout 

 the troable ol' raising them. As an ever-green 

 they are preferable to deciduous plants; and they 

 live better than any young trees 1 have ever tried, 

 planted as Ibllows: 



From December to the middle of March, the 

 smallest |)lants are to be taken up in sod of a 

 square conlbrmable to the size of the spade used, as 

 deep as possible, which sod is to be deposited un- 

 broken in a hole as deep made by a sinnlar spade; 

 the earth coming out of it being used to fill uj) the 

 crevices between the sod and the hole for its recep- 

 tion. I plant these cedars on the out and inside of 

 a straight fence, on the ridge of a ditch, the plants 

 in each row being two ieet apart both in the direc- 

 tion of and across this ridge; but so that the plants 

 on one side of the fence will be opposite to the 

 centre of the vacancies between those on the oth- 

 er. Each row will be one foot from the fence, so 

 that the top of the ndge will be about eiglit inches 

 higher than the position of the plants. They 

 should be to|)t at a loot high, and not suffered to 

 gain above three or four inches yearly in height, 

 such boughs excepted as can be worked into" the 

 fence at the ground. Of these great use may be 

 made towards thickening the hedge, by bending 

 them to the ground, and covermg them well with 

 earth in the middle, leaving them growing to the 

 Btem, and their extremities exposed. Thus they 

 invariably take root and fill up gaps. If these 

 hedges are cultivated ]n-oj)erly, and the land is 

 strong, they will Ibrm an elegant live ever-green 

 fence, in a shorter time than is necessary to raise 

 a thorn fence in England, according to the books. 



Hut will they keep out hogs? I am told by 

 travellers that few or none of the hedges in England 

 will do so. Yet hedges are both the chief agricul- 

 tural ornament, and most valuable improvement 

 of that well cultivated country. But hogs are not 

 there turned loose by law to assail them, I do 



Vol, 1 1, —40 



however think that a cedar hedge is far more ca- 

 pable of Ibrming a fence against hogs than the 

 thorn, because one, as a tree, will acquire more 

 strength or stubbornness than the other, a shrub, 

 can ever reach; and because the cedar is capable 

 of being worked info a closer texture than the 

 thorn; 



Yet the wedge-like snout of the hog, the hard- 

 iness of his nature, and the toughness of his hide, 

 certainly exhibit him as a dangerous foe to liv6 

 fences; and tlie resources of" ringing and yoking 

 to control his powers and his disposition, ought to 

 be adverted to, for the sake of an improvement so 

 momentous. — These will not shock our prejudices 

 nor violate our habits, and are supported by a con- 

 sideration of weight, tiu' inlerior to the imjiortance 

 of hedging; and yet light as it is, of weight suffi- 

 cient to justify the recommendation. If hedges 

 are not protected against hogs, at least four rows 

 of plants, and a double width" of ridge or bank will 

 be necessiuy; there must be a double sized ditch 

 to furnish this earth; a double portion of land will 

 be occupied by the hedge and ditch; and moic 

 than double labor, owing to the inconvenience aris- 

 ing fi'om great breadth, will be always required to 

 keep the hedge in order. Something less than 

 moieties in all these cases will suffice for hedges 

 capable of fencing out every other animal, if the 

 legal rights of hogs are only modified^ and besides 

 the narrow hedges will be iar more beautiful. 



PROFITS OF SII.K CULTURE IN FRANCE. 



Sixth letter of jlf. J^lmans Carrier to M. Bona- 

 fous, Director of the Royal Gardan, <f Turin, 

 upon the culture of mulberry-trees in ths de- 

 partment of j^veyrvn. 



Translated for the Fanners' Register, from tlie Jlnnalcs de V^g- 

 ricuUure yranausc. 



Jiodsz, February 15, 1834. 



Sir — Having sold the silk of my last ci'op at 

 Lyons, I can now tulfil the proniises of my letter 

 of the 15th of last July, by giviVig you the defini- 

 tive result of" my management of 1833, and by 

 showing you the improvements introduced in the 

 filature (or winding) of our cocoons. 



A circumstance fortunate f<jr the country has 

 brought near us M. Marchetti, an Italian (politi- 

 cal refugee) and skilful filuteur of silk. This 

 young stranger has given me excellent counsels 

 — all of which I am anxious to make use of when- 

 ever it is convenient. It is to him (and I give 

 him many thanks) that I owe a part of the good 

 |)rocedure, which I have adopted this year, and 

 which has been very much appreciated by the 

 connoisseurs of Italy and Lyons. 



He has also had the goodness to preseM me 

 with a complete model, (and on a large scale) of 

 a stove to wind the silk, accompanied with the; 

 parts and additions indispensable for tlie opera- 

 tion. This beautilid work, which would deserve 

 to be placed in a public exposition, has been made 

 entirely by his own hands, and from his memory. 

 Although this apparatus presents the advantages 

 of economizing half a\' the hand work and two- 

 thirds of the luel, I have not been able to try it 

 yet, inasmuch as none of the winders \vhoni I 

 have under my direction, have had the courage to 

 undertake alike labor. Without doubt we witlmako 

 the trial come time hence. 



