404 



FARMERS REGISTER. 



or any other pursuit without a copious sweating of 

 the brow. 



I ihink that it would be well to use eortjf? nnore 

 liberally; they are ilie srcd of the silk crop, and 

 should be sowed liberally, so ihat ail backward 

 and underling worms miizht be thrown away ; and 

 as mistakes and miscalculations are lireqiiently 

 made as to the quantity our house will hold, we 

 should never have too lew to till if. After a liiiN' 

 experience, however, this will be better managed; 

 but to all persons it will happen, if they aim just 

 to hatch as many as they think will fill the house, 

 that they will ofiener have too lew than too many. 

 JHalch out cnou<rh ; throwing away is easily done. 

 1 wolild also suggest that it will be best to hatch 

 out what you intend to fill your house at lour dif- 

 ferent times, at intervals of about a week. 



When we have completed (>ur labors for the 

 season, if any thing worthy to be communicated 

 shall turn up between now and then, I will send it 

 to you. We saved egg? from lour bushels of co- 

 f-oone of the two-crop worms, which have been 

 hII sold belbre they were laid, at $5 the ounce. 

 With great respect, yours, &c.. 



E. B. Hicks. 



[The foregoing report is highly gratifying, and 

 especially as it relates to the labors of the ladies. 

 The lew cocoons which were sent as speciiriens 

 with the communication are very good. We hope 

 that the subsequent operations of the persons now 

 reported o(j and all others in Brunswick who have 

 made careful and accurately observed experiments 

 of rearing this season, will be reported by the ex- 

 perimenters, for publication in the Farmers' Re- 

 gister. — Ed.} 



within bounds, except where nature has placed 

 the seal of poverty. Fairfax. 



EXPLANATIONS. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Register, 



June 25ih, 1840. 



The cold, cloudy, wet weather arrested the 

 growth of my corn, and prevented me from -'lay- 

 ing it by," until 23d of June. It is gooti, hut not 

 such as [ vvished, or expected; but lor public use 1 

 put it directly upon the great north and south road, 

 that all might see and bear me witness I hat i 

 speak in truth of the resurrective power of dead 

 land. 



My wheat, that far outstripped every thing I had 

 tver owned or seen in this country, is a total fail- 

 ure, not making upon 100 acres 10 bushels. I 

 leave it to the knowing to account Ibr this lailure; 

 but I impute it to the long conliimed rain which 

 aided the lime in preparing more /bod than the 

 growing plant could dispose of it, consequently 

 ruptured the stalks of vvlieat from top to bottom, 

 and caused what is called rust. I do not think 

 that one stem escaped in 100 acres. My oats ami 

 grass are all I could wish or want. I have been 

 lor eight days in bilious fever, and taken so much 

 calomel, that I have nothing in me to spin you a 

 longer thread. My very bad health may make this 

 my last communication: let me, therefore, shake 

 you cordially by the hand. Grass and lime must 

 and will restore our beloved Virginia to full dou- 

 ble her virgin production. Fear uothing, Ibr I am 



SPINSIXG PEBFORATEO COCOONS. 



From tlifi Journal of the American Silk Society- 



The following letter is li-oin a resj)eciable lady, 

 from whom we some time since received a samplf^ 

 of silk stocking yarn of a very superior quality, 

 made by her from perlijrated cocoons, and to whom 

 we applied Ibr a detail of the operations by which 

 it was produced. We are sure the letter will be 

 very accefjtable to our readers. We shall add but 

 a single remark, and that only to call ihe reader's 

 attention to the writer's estimate of the labor re- 

 quired to produce silk stocking yarn, compared 

 with that of flax: 



York, June Ulh, 1840. 



GiiiEON B. Smith : — Thy letter of the 4th 

 was received, and 1 Icll some difficulty in giving a 

 very correct account of the manner the cocoons 

 were prepared for spinning, as they were consi- 

 dered of little or no value, and altogetherso care- 

 lessly attended to, that we were much surprised 

 that the yarn produced from them was considered 

 worthy of any particular notice ; and 1 would not 

 have thought of sending or showing it to any one; 

 but Joel Fisher, a friend of ours, called on his way 

 to Baltimore, and asked Ibr a skein to take to G. 

 B. S. as he thought it superior to that thee had 

 when in York. 



Our having silk worms at all was merely acci- 

 dental, sent to us by a friend ; we knew nothing 

 of their nature ; had not even seen one before. 

 But when we had them, depending on us lor 

 food, we found it both necessary and pleasant to 

 make ourselves better acquainied with tlieir habits 

 and worth, and collected and read many works 

 on the subject, and soon found ourselves greatly 

 inierested in ihem. 



When the cocoons were formed they were 

 taken by a gentleman, an acquaintance of ours, 

 who was much interested in raising silk ; but as 

 no reel was to be had in York at that time, he let 

 the worms cut through Ibr the purpose of procuring 

 eggs, lu the autumn the cocoons were returned 

 to US, but as we considered pierced cocoons of no 

 value, they were thrown aside. Some time belbre 

 Christmas they were re-collected, and divided into 

 two parcels, and each put into a bag and boiled. 



To sixteen pounds ol' cocoons, weighed imme- 

 diately after spinninsr. I took five quarts of soft 

 soap and as much soil water as was sufficient to 

 cover the bags, and boiled well perhaps four hoursj 

 when cool they were hung up to dry, or rather to 

 drain, as I thought wringing or pressing the water 

 out Would mat the silk and produce lumps. The 

 next day they were put into water again, with the 

 same quantity of soft soap, which 1 ihink is better 

 than hard soap, and boiled again perhaps an hour, 

 when they were well rinsed in clean water and 

 hung up to dry. 



When quite dry they were spun on a common 

 flax-wheel, by holding the cocoon in the hand and 

 beginning at the pierced end ; the silk conies 

 entirely off, leaving the shell bare. 



We took some pains to ascertain whether there 

 were stocking weavers in Baltimore, who would 

 manufacture :he yarn for us ; but not being able 



