)00 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



Nashville, and it will afford me pleasure to show 

 il to any fcenlleman, and convince by actual ex- 

 periment how ibnd stock are of it. 



A. J. Davie. 



CORN SOWN FOR TORAGK. 



From the Agriculturist. 



I made a visit to Maury county a ievv days since, 

 and whilst the driver was changinpr horses at 

 Sprin<? Hill, I examined Mr. Moore's patch of 

 corn sown broad cast, and think it will yield more 

 succulent food than any piece of ground of the 

 same size that 1 have ever seen. It is certainly 

 very light ; entirely unfit for work animals, but I 

 am strongly inclined to believe that it vv^ill serve a 

 most excellent purpose for milch cows, sows and 

 pigs, and such stock as we are too much in the 

 halsit of neiilecling during the summer and fall. 

 I am now ploughinsr in my rye-stubble, and alter 

 it is well broken up, I shall harrow it witti an iron 

 tooth harrow, sow from two to two and a half 

 bushels ofcorn to the acre and then harrow it again, 

 for the purpose of fieeding all my stock from the first 

 of September uiAtil just before frost. Whatever 

 is then remaining, 1 intend to cut and cure for 

 winter food. J- S., Ed. 



CAUTIONS FOR PURCHASERS OF SILK REELS. 

 SILK CULTURE OF THIS YEAR. 



To tlie Editor of tlie Farmers' Register. 



Silk reels, bearing the name " Piedmontese," 

 are for sale, at some places in the United States, 

 that are not more than a semblance of the gemiine 

 Piedmontese reels. It therelbre behoves persons 

 intending to purchase reels to be on their guard. 



The frame of the Piedmontese reel is 4| by 3 

 inches thick; the pretended Piedmontese reels 

 have frames made of timber about half that thick- 

 ness, and the axle and reel, or arms, arc propor- 

 tionably light and trifiing. The importance of 

 having a strong reel is pointed out in the June 

 number of the Farmers' Register, page 350. 



My rearings of «ilk-vvorms up to this time (4ih 

 of August) have been successful. About 650 

 pounds of cocoons have been produced, at a cost 

 of 20 cents per pound, including cultivation of 

 trees, and interest on that portion of the value of 

 the cocoonery which was ujed. If a sufficient 

 supply of mammoth sulphur and pea-nut egce had 

 been on hand, the cost of the cocoons would have 

 been reduced to 16^ cents per pound. This I con- 

 sider a lair beginning, when it is recollected that 

 the operations were carried on principally with 

 negro boys. We operate entirely with hired labor, 

 and of course are not left to conjectural estimates. 



I intend to continue my rearings until the 1st of 

 October. Layton Y. Atkins. 



Stafford County, Va. jlugust 4, 1840. 



marling in north CAROLINA. 



To the Editor of tlie Fanners' Register. 



N. E. Branch of Cape Fear, July, 1840. 

 Having been enlightened on the use and appli- 

 cation of marlj by your publications on calcareous 



manures. I feel disposed to make known to yea 

 some of the beneficial results of n)y experience. 



In the winter of 1838-9, I marled, at the rate of 

 (say) .300 bushels to tlie acre, eight acres of land 

 cleared prior to the revolution ; a part of it low, 

 wet and unproductive ; soil sandy, and based on 

 clay. Planted wiih corn, had an inqiroved crop, 

 thou<rh not equal to my expectation, owing, as I 

 supposed, to the dry summer. Sowed said land 

 with oats in February, and harvested, 1 believe, 

 at least one hundred per cent, more than I should 

 have done without the marl; having had a crop 

 of oats a few years since on the same piece of 

 land that was scarcely worth harvesting. 



In the winter of 1837-8, marled about 15 acres at 

 the rate of 150 to 200 bushels per acre ; planted 

 said land in corn in the spring of '39 ; had an im- 

 proved crop, especially where the land was flat and 

 rather wet. Some sour places yielded from ^"'0 to 

 100 per cent, more than ordinarily. This field is 

 now abounding in a fine growth of fennel and 

 weeds, evincing its improved condition. 



In the winter of 1838 9, marled, I judge, at the 

 rate of 150 to 200 bushels, ten or twelve acres of 

 land abounding in cray-fish, low, wet and sour, 

 yieldins when at rest a growth of sour grass. I 

 did not think my crop, owing to dry weather, equal 

 to what I expected. This land now at rest, 

 abounding, where marled, in a growth of (ermel, 

 which I consider as a guaranty to a I'utui'e crop. 

 On similar land, marled at ihe same time, and at 

 rest in 1839, I have corn growing, which, 1 think, 

 from its present appearance, will yield from 50 to 

 100 per cent, more than land adjacent and not 

 marled. 



For some years past I have been in the habit of 

 marling swamp land recently cleared, soil sand, 

 and vegetable deposite ; where the pine and bay 

 trees grew in many places, there was scarcely any 

 yield, either from an excess of vegetable matter of 

 acidity. By the application of marl, this was at 

 once corrected; and I find marl not only to fertilize, 

 but to protect against excessive wet. 



The rock used is the same in appearance that 

 you recently saw and analyzed at Dr. McRee's 

 plantation. Rocky Point. I reside 4 to 5 miles 

 Irom Rocky Point, on the opposite side of the 

 river, and on the margin of the great Holly Shel- 

 ter bay or pocoson. Lands wet and swampy. 



The Bishop of Worcester said, that he who 

 made two blades of grass to grow where but one 

 grew before, might be considered a benefactor of 

 mankind. How justly and eminently this remark 

 applies to one who has written and labored so 

 long lor the benefit of agriculture, as Ihe editor of 

 the Farmers' Register, is but too manliest. 



Samuel Black. 



We are gratified to learn, from the foregoing 

 communication, of more exceptions to the general 

 rule of neglect of marling, in the interesting re- 

 gion in which the writerresides. Let the writer but 

 persevere, and be judicious as well as energetic in 

 his marling labors, and he will not only be amply 

 rewarded individually, but the example afforded 

 by himself^ and a few others, will render service of 

 incalculable value to the state of North Carolina, 

 in which so little has yet been done, and so mucii 



