120 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



way of success than at any former period. I 

 haveboughi between ^1500 and iij2000 worth ol 

 cocoons the last year, and have reeled between 

 300 and 400 pounds of silk, which 1 have sent to 

 Phiiadflpiiia, and am now waituig ihe result ol 

 sales of a large part recemly sent. The leeding 

 of worms the last season in East Tennessee was 

 highly encouraging, although there were some 

 liiilures. i have now no doubt of its being a 

 branch of agriculture with us of no small ultimate 

 importance, i was not so successful in leeding 

 as some of my neighbors, owing 1 think princi- 

 pally to the dampness of the dirt tloor to my shed. 

 I have tried JMr. Morris' |)lan. There is nothing 

 essentially new in it, and I do nut like it. 1 

 have no idea of its general adoption. 1 have 

 tried many ways of leeding and am not yet de- 

 cided which is the best of several. I am rather 

 in liivor of the Turkish mode, viz : to Itjed with 

 the branches piled on, the higher the better, 

 never clean at all, and permit the worms to spin 

 in the branches. This I believe the cheapest 

 way. The cocoons are equally good and tiie fix- 

 tures of trifling cost. Indeed the floor miiy do 

 Jbr the first shell" i ought to say, however, that 

 the most successful leeding last season was on 

 B*lid shelves and wiih the plucked leaf. 1 do not 

 deem the question settled between these modes ; 

 because the Turkish plan has not been as fiirly 

 tested as the other. You can obtain peanut eggs 

 of the best variety next spring by writing to me. 

 Price i suppose about $;5. Yours, respectfully, 

 Fredkrick a. Ross. 



AN ESSAY ON GRASS CULTURE. 



For ttie Farmers' Register. 



The cultivation of the grasses has but recent- 

 ly received much attention, in what is usually 

 called eastern or lower Virginia. In this section 

 of country, almost the sole dependence lor pro- 

 vender has been on the otiai of corn. Indeed 

 the general opinion, until within a lew years 

 past, has been, that the grasses would not succeed 

 well among us. How this opinion became so 

 general, and why it was so long continued, I am 

 at a loss to conjecture; for it is a fact, that in this 

 portion of country there are vast quantities of 

 land admirably adapted to this crop, whilst at 

 the same time Ihey will produce no other. Such 

 lands have therefore hitherto been useless and 

 worse than useless ; for instead of adding to the 

 value of our farms, they have only marred 

 their beauty, and furnished so many eye-sores on 

 the same. Of this kind were all the spring 

 branches, and other streams, and marshes and 

 low sunken places, which were permitted to re- 

 main in a state of nature, and to luxuriate in 

 all the varieties of their own spontaneous pro- 

 ductions, it seems never to have occurred to 

 our worthy ancestors that, siPn|)ly by ditchinfr 

 these places, the superfluous waters might be 

 drawn ofl" and in this manner rendered the most 

 beaulilul and valuable portions of their farms: 

 but the son received the estate, just as it was 

 transmitted to him by his .father, and he in his 

 turn, left it to his son in all its natural deformity. 



But I am happy to say, that a spirit of im- 

 provement begins now to manifest irself among 



UB. Whether it is that the high lands are so 

 exhausted, that they will no longer furnish a 

 support, or that an unwonted impulse has been 

 given to this matter by means of agricultural 

 societies and agricultural publications, the liict is 

 that a great change has taken place lor the bet- 

 ter. People now begin to feel and to appreciate 

 the value of grass crops; and they will admit 

 that they never knew what it was to live in plenty 

 and comfort, till they had an abundance of hay 

 for their slock. Instead therefore of long lines 

 of unreclaimed land on both sides of streams, 

 instead of large bodies of sunken land covered 

 with stagnant waters, sending forth pestilence 

 and death every liill, these unsichtly places are 

 reduced to beauty and order. The water which 

 was formerly permitted to spread abroad, the ha- 

 bitation of filth and disease, is now restrained 

 in narrow ditches ; and the lands which once pro- 

 duced nothing but bulrushes and other pests are 

 now covered with rich crops ol nutritious grasses. 

 This beautiful slate of things, I am sorry lo saj'-, 

 is as yet just in its embryo among us. Much, 

 very much, remains yet to be done. A few en- 

 terprising individuals, scattered here and there, 

 in our widely extended waste, have showed this 

 noble example. A mere beginning however has 

 as yet been effected, whilst thousands and tens 

 of thousands of acres are still in all their natural 

 deformity. It is with the view of correcting this 

 great and sore evil, that I write this essaj' ; and 

 if by means of it one single ditch is dug, or a 

 single acre is reclaimed and brought into success- 

 ful cultivation, I shall feel myself amply compen- 

 sated lor my trouble. 



VViih these introductory remarks, I proceed 

 to consider, 



1st. Which of the various grasses it is most 

 expedient to cultivate; and, 



2d. The peculiar cultivation which experience 

 shows is best adapted to success in this crop. 



Of grasses there are a great many varieties, 

 amounting to some hundreds and perhaps thou- 

 sands. It is not my object to ascertain their 

 precise number ; nor is it my intention to present 

 the few that I shall notice under their various 

 botanic names. In fact, I intend this as a sim- 

 ple plain treatise, which, by the use of common 

 names and the most common language, will be 

 perfectly intelligible to every one. 



It will be conceded on all hands, that of the 

 very great variety of grasses, comparatively very 

 few are of any special value. The great majority 

 of them, however important to cover the land, 

 and to furnish food in their tender state, are of 

 no value whatever as a crop. Indeed most of 

 them can be regarded in no other light than 

 as mere pests, and therefore are to be ranked 

 among thorns, briers and thistles, with which the 

 earth was cursed, in punishment for the sins of 

 mankind. These are so well known, that I con- 

 sider it wholly unnecessary to point them out. 

 But among the numerous family of grasses there 

 are a lew which, upon trial, are found to be of 

 very great value. Of these, the common red 

 clover deservedly claims the first rank. This 

 grass is especially valuable on several accounts. 

 When properly managed (of which more here- 

 after) it certainly makes a most nutritious hay, 

 of which stock of every kind are very fond, and 

 on which they thrive remarkably well. In addi- 



