FARMERS' REGISTER 



40^ 



to hear of an)'-, (though no doubt there are,) I 

 ppun the yarn coarse, (or the leHious process of 

 knitting;, f could easily spin 180 cuts from one 

 pound, and a person accustomed to spinning flax, 

 (which I am not,) a good spinner, would produce 

 200 cuts wiih the same ease thai 48 are spun from 

 fiiix; and I tiiink the amount of lal)or in raising 

 silk is ahout nne-lburih of" that o( flax. The pro- 

 cess of kniiling being tedious, we have no stock- 

 ings 10 sj)are, but if yarn sufficient to make a pair 

 will be accepted, thee is entirely welcome to it; 

 and the first conveyance we hear of, we will send 

 it by. We have given to some of our friends, who 

 advocate the silk cause and were willing to accept 

 it, but would rather not sell any. 



I (eel liilly my incapacity for instructing the 

 public in raising or manufacturing silk, and would 

 much rather not have my name in the Silk Journal. 

 Respectfully, . 



HAYING. EARLY GATHERING. 



From the Boston Cultivator. 



Hay that is carted as early as three o'clock, P. 

 M., is kept much sweeter than that which is cart- 

 ed at sunset — the first will become more dry as the 

 heat is retained in it, — we have been surprised 

 at the diflerence between two loads of wheat, the 

 one carted at three and the other at sunset, — bo'h 

 were equally well cured in the field, but on pitch- 

 ing it over lor thrashing, the first was perl(?ctly dry 

 while the straw of the latter was damp and mus- 

 ty. Neither hay nor grain should be carted after 

 the dew has fallen copiously. It is safer to pack 

 them both and take another day. 



We have uniformly (bund it best, after the ex- 

 perience of more than forty years, to dry our hay 

 in the sun. We are extremely sorry to be obliged to 

 differ liom such hish authorities as we have seen on 

 this point ; but when occasion calls, we think it a 

 duly to publish boldly our own convictions whe- 

 ther they agree or not with the fancies of others. 

 We are always mortified when we see in any of 

 our farming papers fanciful modes of farming re- 

 commended, because they impede the-progress of 

 improvement, — they serve to create a general pre- 

 judice against looking into a paper for any thinir 

 valuable on the subject of farming — and we must 

 honestly ackowledge that the strong prejudice in 

 the minds of many of our yeomanry against what 

 they have denominated " book farming," is not 

 without foundation. 



If any farmer wishes to try the new mode of 

 drying hay we hope he will try it on a small scale 

 at first, and for the m.ain body of his hay let him en- 

 dure the old fashion for one year more of curing it 

 in the sun. Those who dry it in heaps, we would 

 inform him, generally pitch about half a hun- 

 dred together in the fore part of the same day 

 on which it is mowed — this is turned over towards 

 evening — then again next day once or twice and — 

 when the weather is fair — the book says let it re- 

 main out lour or five days. When the weather is 

 not likely to prove fair son)e make large heaps of 

 the small ones — some let the small one>- stand and 

 take their chance until fair weather comes again. 



Our mode of maJcing hay. 



We have seen various modes tried, but we 



have never found any that are better than the fol- 

 lowing: Mow the grass in the forenoon or to- 

 wards evening— let it be well spread to the sun — 

 rake it together in the afternoon and put it in cocks 

 if the weather is not promising — or when the har- 

 vest is great and the hay is not drv enough to be 

 raked it should be turned green side up before the 

 dew has copiously fiillen — on the next day this 

 should all be spread out on the sun, and two days 

 of good weather will generally fit the hay for the 

 barn. When the burthen is quite heavy or when 

 the grass is very green we give it more than two 

 davs' sunning — but frequent stirring makes a vast 

 difference m the time necessary to cure hay — the 

 ofiener it is moved the sooner it will become dry. 



An experienced hand will judge intuitively, al- 

 most, when hay is fit (or the ecaflbid — some wring 

 a handful to see if any moisture is left in it — but 

 as a general rule English hay must have two days' 

 sunning, unless we cut it so late that it has become 

 half dry while standing. If we suspect our hay 

 is not quite dry enough, but do not wish to risk h 

 out longer, we may often save it by throwing it on a 

 scaffold or a bay, and not suffer it to be trodden 

 down (or a few days — and one peck of salt on a 

 ton often saves us the labor of another day's open- 

 ing and tending. 



If we have but little ha}', and wish it cured in 

 the nicest manner, we are careful to put it in cocks 

 while warm and before the dew falls— on the next 

 day we find it has been drying since we packed it 

 up, and, on opening, it presents a fine appearance 

 — but when we have large quantities on hand, 

 we cannot always be so particular — we suffer it 

 to lie in winrow when the weather is good, and 

 thus save the labor of packing and of opening 

 again. 



THE CHINCH BUG. 



From the Carolina Planter. 



Mr. Editor: — Having suffered seriously by the 

 ravages of the chinch bug for the last three years, 

 I have observed its habits, its mode of attack upon 

 corn and small grain, and will endeavor to give 

 you the result of my experience, lor the benefit 

 of those planters whose farms are but recently visit- 

 ed by this most destructive msrct. 



Generally, the bug does little injury in the early 

 part of the spring, being engaged in the business 

 of propagation. They deposite their eggs in large 

 numbers, most frequently under the bottom blade of 

 the corn, and sometimes under the second and third 

 blade. The young insect is very small, and is 

 known by its red color. In a short time after liie 

 egg is deposited, the young may be seen by pulling 

 the blade downward, lodged in a compact circle 

 around the stalk — they are very delicate at this 

 stage of their existence, and I was satisfied by an 

 experiment made last summer, that millions of 

 them were killed by stripping the blade off?", and ex- 

 posing them to the sun— a process which is attend- 

 ed by no perceptible injury to the growth ol' the 

 corn, inasmuch as the bottom blades, being ge- 

 nerally more or less injured by the plough, and from 

 their proximity to the roots are of comparatively 

 little use in receiving nourishment from the atmo- 

 sphere. The most certain mode of destroying the 

 young insects is by the hand — a ."tingle gripe, ac- 

 companied by a horizontal motion of ll)e hand 



