1839] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



better fabrics ; that on the Chinese {M. multicau- 

 lis) still finer and more delicate fabrics. And we 

 think, (for we have not the letter at hand,) that 

 Gen. Talimadge says the white mulberry (31. 

 alba) is almost exclusively employed in France. 

 JLoudon says, "the M. alba is commonly cultiva- 

 ted in F'rance and other countries, for its leaves, 

 to feed silk-worms, though in some parts of Spain 

 and Persia they are said to prefer the black mul- 

 berry." Eiic. Plants, 782. The Alpine, 'we pre- 

 sume is a variety of the M. alba, and is probably 

 the one alluded to by Loudon, where he says 

 — "the most valuable variety of the M. alba is 

 one grown in Italy, and especially in Lombardy, 

 with vigorous shoots, and much larger leaves 

 than the other." This may also be the Dandolo 

 of Loudon, and the Italian of Sweet, and possibly 

 the Brussa ot Asia, from whence it may have 

 been brought to Italy. 



Dr. Stebbins advertises the .public, that the un- 

 dernamed (and many not named) descriptions of 

 the mulberry, may be had of him in Northampton, 

 viz. the Manilla multicaulis, the Canlon, the ^^ 

 pine, the jisiatic, the Smyrna, the Brussa and 

 Dandolo. Now we protest against this fabrica- 

 tion of new names, for old things, whether it be 

 from ignorance, for novelty, or to subserve the in- 

 terests of the trade. Those printed in italics ap- 

 pear to us to be absolutely of new coinage. This 

 unnecessary multiplication of names tends to mys- 

 tify the business, to deceive the public and to re- 

 tard a useful branch of national industr}'. We 

 believe that all which are named in the Doctor's 

 advertisement are merely varieties of the white 

 mulberry, differing somewhat in the size of their 

 foliage, and in their hardihood, but very little in 

 their properties for silk. 



We have no sort of objection that Doctor S. 

 should puff his own wares, or his own kind of 

 trees — but we do object to his doing it to the pre- 

 judice of others, and of truth — wliich he indireclly 

 does when he remarks — "The Brussa and Dan- 

 dolo appear to be selected white mulberry — leaf 

 not large — tree hardy, and there are some other 

 varieties, zohich nmy be used for change of food!''' 

 Now if the Doctor has seen the cocoons and silk 

 produced exclusively i'tom the Brussa, he must 

 know that the insinuation here made, that it is unfit 

 lor the entire subsistence of the silk- worm, and the 

 production of excellent silk, is neither ingenuous 

 nor true ; and if he has not this personal know- 

 ledge, he has no right, as an honerable man, to 

 give the intimation imputed to him. 



The general impression is, that the M. multi- 

 caulis will produce iew or no seeds. This is pro- 

 bably owing to its rapid and continued growth of 

 wood — and the tree will probably I'ruit freely when 

 it has attained to maturity of growth. We have 

 yet none but young trees among us, comparatively; 

 and it is particularly remarked of the mulberry, 

 that young trees are shy in bearing, and that the 

 quantity and size of the fruit increases as the tree 

 advances to maturity. 



In the East Indies, according to Loudon, the 

 plants are raised fi-om cuttings, eight or ten ol which 

 are planted together in one pit, and the pits are 

 distributed over the field at the distance of two or 

 three fijet every way. These cuttings being made 

 firm at the lower ends, soon form stools about the 

 size of a raspberry bush, and fi-om these the leaves 

 are gathered. The stools are cut over once a year 



to encourage the production of vigorous shoots from 

 the roots. 



From the Genesee Farmer. 

 TREATMENT OF THE HORSE — FOOD. 



The horse is one of the most useful animalg 

 that has been subjected to the dominion of man, 

 but his treatment in the matter of food is fre- 

 quently such that his powers are but imperfectly 

 developed, and his value nearly destroyed. With 

 too many his position is that of the slave ; devoted 

 to all mannerof drudgery, and left to gather a pre- 

 carious subsistence as best he may. To care for 

 a horse seems, by many, to be considered beneath 

 the dignity of the master, when the horse, per- 

 haps, in every respect, is the worthier animal of 

 the two. 



There is scarcely any thing that can be used 

 as food upon which the horse will not subsist. 

 Though not precisely carnivorous, and from his 

 structure evidently intended not to subsist on flesh, 

 there are numerous instances in which the horse 

 has attained a relish for meat, and in the language 

 of one of Walter Scott's heroes, "taken his meals 

 like a christiain." Nearly every one has seen the 

 horse lick blood, but this is owing most probably to a 

 liking lor the salt it contains. In Bracy Clark's 

 work on the horse, and in the 'V^eterinarian,' are 

 several cases of horses eating flesh. One, a colt, 

 was in the habbit ot putting his head into a pantry 

 window, and stealing all the cooked beef, mutton, or 

 veal that he could reach ; pork, however he re- 

 jected. In India, horses are taught to subsist on 

 meat by boiling it to rags and making it into balls 

 with grain and butter, which at first, are forced 

 down his throat. During the long marches of the 

 Pindaree robbers, their horses will make a meal 

 on the boiled sheep's heads, that have been slaugh- 

 tered for the men. Mr. Melling, in England, 

 had a horse that would eat beef or bacon, in pre- 

 ference to oats or corn, when put into the manger at 

 the same time; and a leg of roasted mutton was 

 his liivorite dish. The author of that amusing 

 work 'A trip to the Pictured Rocks of Lake Su- 

 perior,' gives an account of a horse at the rap- 

 ids of the St. Mary, which would at any time de- 

 vour raw fish, and duiing the winter, subsisted on 

 salted and barrelled while fish from the Superior ; 

 and the practice of leeding horses on fish, accord- 

 ing to 'Bullock's Travels,' is common in Nor- 

 way. 



Hay and grain are however, the kinds of food 

 on which those who keep horses must mainly rely 

 lor their subsistance ; and the kinds of these best 

 adapted to the horse, and the quantity required to 

 keep him in good condition, and enable him to per- 

 Ibrm labor, are inquiries of much interest. 



In this country, our hay is principally made from 

 clover and timothy, with a mixture of June grass 

 and red lop ; the quantity of the two last mainly 

 depending on the soil of" the meadow, and the 

 time it has been laid down to grass. Where 

 the system of rotation in cropping is adopted, clo- 

 ver forms a large proportion of the hay, as this 

 grass cuts the largest weight in the shortest time, 

 makes good hay, and is proved to be the best 

 renovator of ftjrtility in soil. Stewart in his 'Stable 

 Economy,' says: — 



"In England, clover hay stands in high repute 



