1838] 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



401 



dry leaves wore consiilcred indisponpalile ; ;incl pe- 

 veral yenrrf' practice, with good iimi ws/Zy instruc- 

 lioi), and an expensive reel, in order to prepare 

 llie silk lor sale in a raw stale. Now, sitk worms 

 are kept in harns or sheds, williont any artificial 

 heat, and tliey snfler no more froin cold tlian they 

 do li-om heat. So much nicety as has been prac- 

 tised in regard to their feed is not necessary. — 

 Yankee Farmer. 



MILK FU03I COWS FED ON DISTILLKUY SWILL. 



[An animated discussion is now going on in the 

 'Journal of Commerce' of New York, as to the quali- 

 fy of the milk which forms the principal part of the 

 supply of tliat city. We copy below one of the arti- 

 cles of the assailants. The "Committee of Milkmen" 

 who have answered at great length to previous pieces, 

 jiresent but a very unsatisfactory defence, and a very 

 poor recommendation of the commodity in which they 

 deal.— Ed. Far. Reg.] 



From tlic Journal of Coinnierce. 

 MILK. 



The Journal cannot confer a greater blessing on 

 this conmmnily than by producing a thorough re- 

 Ibrmation in the milk department. It is a subject 

 in which the health and lives of thousands are in- 

 volved. I have given some, attention to it Irom 

 the circumstance of having the constitution of a 

 fine boy, the delicacy of whose mother compelled 

 her to nurse from the bottle, entirely undermined, 

 and scarred with blotches to this day; while my 

 other children, nursed at the breast, enjoy perlect 

 health. Uncertain of the cause ofmy boy's pining 

 and drooping, it at length occurred to me to ana- 

 lyze the milk, which I found to be the mere dregs 

 of a distillery; scarce one particle of nutriment to 

 a pint. 1 found a pint of warm water, a teaspoon 

 full of flour, and 2 grains of magnesia, to contain 

 more nutriment than a pint of swill, called milk. 

 On discovering this great secret in the milk trade, 

 I immediately sent to Orange county and provided 

 a young, healthy, and country-fiid cow, which I 

 have had for four years, fiirnishing abundance oi' 

 good and wholesome milk. 



It has often occurred to me as surprising, that 

 while we have municipal laws to regulate the 

 quality of bread stuff, the corporation should be 

 perfectly reckless of what we administer to the 

 delicate stomachs of our children. There is not a 

 more sure and certain poison than this swill milk. 

 Besides its deleterious properties, a pint does not 

 contain sufficient nutriment to support a child. 

 Did you ever make an estimate of the profits of 

 the milkmen'? If not, I will do it for you; having 

 had occasion to investigate the matter. It is 

 based upon feeding the cows on swill merely, from 

 the distillery, which barely keeps the cows alive. 

 The swill is given them warm, and passes through 

 them with the same rapidity as through the stills. 

 and is all converted into what is called milk. 

 They are milked three times each day, and fur- 

 nish at each milking from 8 to 10 quarts. 



One barrel of swill costs 6^- cents, and will keep 

 two cows a day, which will yield on the average 

 24 quarts of milk. This, at 6(/. per quart, '"is 



Vol. VI.-51 



1 50cts. Every cow fed on swill yields a net pro- 

 fit to the milkman, over expenses of delivery, &c., 

 of $1 25 per head per day. There is no branch 

 of business so profitable, and none so baneful to a 

 community of children. For mysellj I would 

 sooner pay 2s. a quart for milk from grass-fed 

 cows, than take the swill at any rate. 



Yours, V. 



A gentleman who was formerly a distiller men- 

 tioned to us yesterday, that it was then his custom 

 to feed cows on the slops, and that the quantity of 

 milk, when he put them on that feed, was imme- 

 diately just about doubled, but the quality ruined. 

 He says such milk will not make butter at all. 

 Churning only wrought it into froth. — Eds. Jour. 

 Commerce. 



From the American Silk Grower. 

 SILK CULTURK. 



From information coming to us from various 

 sources, we arc inclined to believe that a disposi- 

 tion to try the experiment of the cultivation of silk 

 has received a new impetus, and is prevailing in 

 various parts of the country, with a power from 

 which great results may be expected. The de- 

 mand for the morus multicaulis, and other valua- 

 ble kinds of the mulberry, has been unprecedented. 

 The importarice of the inlcrest begins strongly to 

 arrest the attention ; and the actual importance, in 

 our firm persuasion, is not likely to be over-rated. 



The great cause of discouragement has been 

 the destruction of the mulberry trees, by the se- 

 verity of the winter. Not only has the morus 

 multicaulis suffered greatly, but likewise the com- 

 mon white mulberry ; so that bj- the unprecedent- 

 ed severity of the two last winters many of the 

 standard trees in Mansfield. Conn, of many years' 

 growth, have perished. 



An experiment, however, has been made, 

 which, by an improved mode, (for so it must be 

 called,) of managing the plants, avoids the dan- 

 ger of the winter, and obtains an early return. 



The land is laid out in furrows four feet apart. 

 In these the plants, the morus multicaulis, are laid, 

 the roots three feet apart, the roots tieing covered, 

 and the branches fiistened down and covered 

 slichtly with mould until they start. After this 

 the covering is to be increased ; and throwing up 

 shoots from every bud, they form a hedge, the 

 leaves of which may be used as soon as grown, 

 for the feedincj of the worms. In the autumn the 

 shoots, which will then have foriTied trees, are to 

 be separated by a spade or some sharp instrument, 

 and taken up and deposited securely fi-oni the frost. 

 The main roots, after all the shoots are cut from 

 them, are to remain in the ground ; and to be co- 

 vered by turning a furrow upon them each way. 

 These remain ii)r a permanent plantation. The 

 small plants which are taken up, and the shoots 

 which are cut from the main root, may be used 

 lor forming a new plantation the ensuing season, 

 and so on year after year. As to the trouble of 

 taking up the plants annually and resetting them 

 in the spring, it is not to be complained of com- 

 pared with the advantages which such manage- 

 ment promises; and is, in a great measure, com- 

 pensated by the facility with which the foliage is 



