FARMEKS' REGISTER 



213 



when slavery existed there, would he a good plan 

 even at present. 



4ih. As to the expense of such a building, I 

 calculate that it would nut at the utmost exceed 

 $500. At double this, it would, by savuig, pay for 

 itsell' in less ihan four years. We all leel that the 

 two greatest obstacles to improving our lands in 

 this section of Virginia are, the lence laws and 

 I'uel getiiniT. As to the first I despair, now thai 

 our constitution has been amended, ever to see it 

 removed ; but surely we may, by judicious econo- 

 my, rid ourselves in a great measure ol' the latter. 

 The plan I propose, i(" pursued, would enable us 

 to employ our teams and hands during the winter 

 in making and hauling manures, preparing for a 

 crop, &c. Our oxen would be relieved from the 

 four months' purgatory they now annually under- 

 go, and in the spring of the year, instead of being, 

 as now, almost unable to shake their tails, would 

 he sleek and fat, and ready lor any work on '.he 

 farm. The farm itself would no longer be cut up 

 with ruts and roads in all directions, nor have its 

 woods pillaged of all valuable timber. 



Admitting, however, that the expense of appro- 

 priate buildings is too great for many to encounter, 

 the same advantages, though in a less degree, ap- 

 ply to the use of stoves in our common cabins. 

 The saving, even in this case, both of fuel and Ifi- 

 bor, would be immense. There would be no need, 

 where old field pine could be had, of ever cutting 

 a slick of Ibrest tmiher lor fuel. I have Ibund that 

 dried pine is in all respects the best fuel forstoves. 

 One week's work, the winter preceding, would se- 

 cure an ample supply, even for a winter ofas intense 

 cold as the last. The saving of labor by this plan 

 all must see and admit: the saving of fuel will 

 appear to some, who have none to spare, equally 

 beneficial. It is evident to all, that vvithout reform 

 in many particulars, our dear mother state must 

 go on declining. We complain of the tariff, the 

 banks, or the administration, as the principal 

 causes of our present embarrassment and difficul- 

 ties. It is neither the one nor the other; but our 

 own habits of prodigality and expense. If we 

 would curtail these, economize our time, talents, 

 and labor, mind our farms more, and politics less, 

 we should soon cease to feel the pressure of pover- 

 ty and the perplexity of debt. 



Wm. H. Harrisoiv. 



REVIEW. 



MAisoN RUSTiQUE, DV xix^ siECLE. Paris, 

 1836. 



Art. — Education de Vers-a-Soie. 



The "Maison Rustique," a French work in four 

 large volumes, contains the latest European trea- 

 tise on silk culture that we have seen. The writers 

 of the different parts ot' the treatise on the rearing 

 of silk-worms, to which our remarks will be con- 

 fined, are Loiseleur-Deslongchamps, Eonafous, 

 Chapelain, and Deby, whose names are subscribed 

 to their respective portions. We were curious to 

 search in this treatise for the latest opinions and 



practices on this subject. We shall present merely 

 such views as differ from earlier or established 

 authorities, or s'lch passages as may exhibit any 

 thing of novelty, passing over the greater portion 

 of the treatise where there is general agreement 

 between the writers and their most respected pre- 

 decessors. 



The dimensions and plan of a magnaniere, or 

 cocoonery as termed in this country, is given in 

 detail, and with a figure of the horizontal plan, 

 which prevents tl|| possibility of mistake of the 

 author's meaning. The plan shows an apartment 

 of 30 feet long, 16 wide, and 12 feet high, inside 

 measure.* There are 4 rows of shelves, (running 

 across the smaller diameter,) of 5 feet width, and 

 12 feet length. The shelves are in tiers of 2 feet 

 apart, and of course 5 tiers of shelves, or 6 count- 

 ing as the lowest shelf the floor beneath. These 

 shelves, including the same space of floor beneath 

 them, amount to 1440 square feet; and this space 

 the author (Deslongchamps) says is enough to 

 accommodate, in the last age, the worms from 6 

 oz. of eggs, which is 240 square feet for each ounce. 

 He says elsewhere that — 



'•'In almost all the countries where silk-culture 

 is usual, the ounce of eggs does not make but four- 

 fifths of that of Paris, or poids de marc; the Ita- 

 lian ounce is still less, containing but 39,168 eggs, 

 according to Dandolo ; that of the south of France 

 is about 40,000, and that of Paris is very near 

 o0,000."t 



* These measures of length, E.i)d all used incur trans- 

 lated extracts, are French. Tfie French foot is equal to 

 1.07 very nearly, of the American foot. Twelve 

 j inches make the French foot, and 12 lines the inch.-ED. 



t This statement of weights is incorrect. Supposing 

 that Dandolo's quantity of silk-worms' eggs (quoted 

 above by the French author) is correct, that is, 39,168 

 io the Milanese ounce, the following will be the num- 

 bers of eggs to the French ounce, and also to the Eng- 

 lish or American. 

 ."59,168 eggs to the Milanese oUnce (=420,298 English 



grains.) 

 44,033 " " Pari? oz., 16 to pound j5oids(fe marc, 



(:=472.5 Eng. grains.) 

 40,771 " " English or American oz., avoirdu- 

 pois, (=437.5 grains.) 



The value of the Milanese ounce is calculated by 

 the table in the original work of Dandolo (4th Ed.) ; 

 those of the Paris and English weights are taken from 

 the table in Ure's 'Dictionary of Chemistry.' 



The weights of various small parcels of eggs given 

 from our own counting, at page 95 of Farmers' Re- 

 gister, exceeded the above considerably, there being, of 

 most of the kinds, between 37 and 38,000 to the avoir- 

 dupois ounce, whereas, according to Dandolo, there 

 should be 40,771. The difference probably was caused 

 by his samples being of well washed and perfect!}- 

 clean eggs, while ours were merely scraped from the 

 cloth, and retained nearly all the dried glutinous matter. 



