486 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No. 8 



moths generally die in a day or two ; the males 

 generally die soon after they separate. The 

 moths do not eat. The recommendation of the 

 French, to separate the moths after they have been 

 coupled sir hours, is perfect nonsense, and is one of 

 the ridiculous refinements that refined people have 

 tried to apply to the si!k-culture, without the sha- 

 dow of utility to recommend them, and only re- 

 markable for the great additional labour and per- 

 plexity with which they encumber the business. 

 Like all the other fooleries of the French, 1 tried 

 this, and got for my pains no other result than a 

 loss of about one-third of my eggs, which were 

 not fecundated, as I might have expected. Let 

 the moths remain together till they separate of 

 themselves, and all your eggs will be good. The 

 room where the cocoons and moths are should be 

 kept nearly dark. 



As soon as a sheet is filled with eggs, take it 

 down, roll it up, and put it away in a cellar or an 

 ice-house. They should be put in a tin or other 

 metal box, to prevent mice and other vermin from 

 eating them, and should be kept dry, to prevent 

 mould and mildew. If it be desired to keep eggs 

 to a late season the next summer, for the purpose 

 of raising several cro|)s, it is best to put the box 

 of eggs, immediately alter they are laid, into an 

 ice-huuse, aiid keep them there till wanted. If 

 they are only kept in a cellar till the next spring, 

 and then put into the ice-house, they will hatch in 

 the ice-house very nearly as soon as those exposed 

 (or hatching in a warm room. I once had more 

 than a million hatched in this way, in the largest 

 ice-house in Baltimore, the basket containing them 

 sitting in the midst of the blocks of ice, under the 

 straw. I do not even know that putting them in 

 the ice-house immediately after they are laid, will 

 prevent their hatching, but am informed that this 

 has been the efiect in several instances where it 

 has been tried. For myself, I have no faith in the 

 double or treble crop theory. I do not believe it 

 will ever be profitably pursued. The natural 

 time of hatching the eggs cannot in my opinion 

 be either anticipated or postponed with complete 

 success — at least I never was able to do so. 



To estimate the number of cocoons you will 

 want for a given number of eggs, all you have to 

 do is to divide the number you want by 150— thus, 

 if you want 100,000 eggs next year, or 2^ ounces, 

 divide 100,000 by 150 and you have 667 as the 

 number of cocoons required. It is true, the moths 

 often lay more than 300 eggs, but you must allow 

 for various circumstances that may diminish the 

 number. I need not remark that it requires two 

 cocoons, a male and female, to produce the 300 

 ecrtrs — however, we allow 150 to each. 

 "^This essay may not be considered as lijll and 

 minute in its details as desirable by some ; but I 

 believe I have described every thing necessary to 

 the most profitable carrying on of the business. 

 Many particulars contained in books, especially 

 French books, are not noticed at all, lor the sim- 

 ple reason, that I deem them useless, and do not 

 wish to occupy the reader's time in useless criti- 

 cisms. My next number will treat of the reeling 

 of cocoons, &c., which will complete the series. 



From the Magazine of Horticulture. 

 PKOTECTION AGAIKST HAIL-STORMS. 



By A. J. Downing. 



The paragrele, or hail-rod, appears to be scarce- 

 ly known at present in this country. Hail-storms 

 are undoubtedly much less frequent here than in 

 the niiddle and south of Europe ; but, nevertheless, 

 some districts of the United States seem peculiarly 

 liable to hail-storms in summer, and an account of 

 the means at present in use on the continent of 

 Europe to guard against such evils will be accept- 

 able to many of the readers of this Magizine. 



The paragrele, we believe, was first invented by 

 M. Lapostolle, of Amiens. It has, however, been 

 considerably improved by Professor Trollard, of 

 Tarbes, whom we quote for authorily lor the fol- 

 lowing description fi-om Berneaud's excellent iV/a- 

 nueldu Vigneron. 



"To make the hail-rod, a rope of straw is the 

 first thing necessary ; it must be made of ripe 

 wheat straw, soaked and twisted, plaited with 

 three strand and then with four ply, making 

 twelve strand to the rope. This cable of straw 

 must be twenty-five feet long, and through the 

 centre there must run a strong twine of tow yarn: 

 this cable of straw must be fastened at top and 

 bottom to a stake of the same length, solidly fixed 

 in the ground, and armed at the top with a metal- 

 lic point of tin, (latten,) with no iron. The stake 

 should be a pole of firm wood, entirely cleared of 

 bark, which makes it liable to rot. The cable is fas- 

 tened, at each end, by a wire of tin, or, what is bet- 

 ter, red copper, and must be stretched tight, and tied 

 to the pole, at intervals of every foot and a half, 

 with the same wire. The tin point at the top 

 should be one and a half inch thick and eight 

 inches long, placed in direct contact with the tow 

 yarn. The hail rods should be about six hun- 

 dred feet apart, and fixed upon the most elevated 

 points, such as the tops of hills, roofs of houses, 

 or trunks of stout trees. The cost is about a franc 

 a piece, (twenty cents,) and they last at least fif- 

 teen years." 



These hail-rods, so simple in their construction, 

 and easily obtained in every part of the country, 

 have now, we believe, been in use nearly twenty 

 years in France and Switzerland. Many extensive 

 districts in both these countries, which formerly suf- 

 fered severely from hail-storms, and in which the 

 crops and vineyards were subject almost annually 

 to great destruction, are, since the paragrele has 

 been generally adopted, protected almost entirely 

 against their desolating effects. The Linnsean 

 Society of Paris, some time since, with a commen- 

 dable zeal, made extensive inquiries in all parts of 

 the continent respecting the utility of this instru- 

 ment, and the result, as exhibited by them, proves 

 the paragrele, in all districts liable to hail-storms, 

 to be an invention truly invaluable. Public ex- 

 periments were made in such parts of the country 

 as were most subject to hail-showers, and while 

 those districts where paragreles had been erected 

 were quite protected, neighboring districts not 

 ffuarded by these hail-rods, were, as before, much 

 devastated. The society, drawing their conclu- 

 sions from the facts elicited by the various trials 

 made in France, estimated that the annual saving 

 which would arise from the general adoption of the 



