2839] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



21 



We think not. The price of the trees is based 

 upon the fact, that there is not yet, in the country, 

 counting every tree ol" anj'^ size, a sufficient quan- 

 tity to manufacture five hundred thousand dollars' 

 worth of silk, only one-fortieth of the consumption 

 of the country in 1836. Supposing, therefore, 

 that the manufacture of silk can be carried on 

 at a great profit, as has been satisfactorily tes- 

 ted, it will be some time before there will be 

 trees enough in the country, notwithstanding their 

 unbounded increase, to feed worms sufficient to 

 manufacture one half the annual consumption of 

 silk. Taking this view of the subject, the trees, 

 at double the prices they are now held, would not 

 be more than their intrinsic worth 



Professedly foreign from our province as the 

 growth of the mulberry tree and the manufiicture 

 of silk is, we cannot help expressing our senti- 

 ments upon the subject. Whether the morus 

 multicaulis will be the tree best adapted to the 

 climate of New England, remains to be tested; 

 but that it is the variety which will afibrd the best 

 and most profitable food for the worms in the mid- 

 dle and southern states, there is no doubt. Perhaps 

 the Alpine, the JBrussa, or the Canton will do bet- 

 ter in the severe climate of New England, where 

 large plantations are to be made; at any rate, each 

 and all of these should have a fair trial, and if" 

 from their hardiness, they surpass the Chinese, 

 let them take its place. We shall watch the pro- 

 gress of the cultivation of the mulberry with some 

 attention hereafter, and note down the results. — 

 £d. Hort. Mag. 



From the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 GEORGE HENUY WALKER. 



[The following extract is a part of a more ex- 

 tended notice, which was read before the Phila- 

 delphia Agricultural Society. Mr. Walker was 

 a highly valued contributor to the pages of the 

 Farmers' Register. If his death had then been 

 known, his name would certainly not have been 

 omitted in our last month's brief allusions to the 

 termination of the lives of several other persons, 

 whose aid was much valued, and of which the 

 cessation will be much regretted.— Ed. Far 

 Reg.] 



The name of this gentlmen, by whose sudden 

 death (which took place at his residence, Lon^- 

 ford, in Philadelphia Co., on the 7th of Sept last 

 sn the 50th year of his age) the cause of aoricul- 

 tural improvement has lost a valuable and effi- 

 cient friend, deserves honorable mention; and the 

 following bricfnotice has been suggested as a sli<rlit 

 tribute to memory of an enlightened farmer and 

 most worthy man. 



The pupil of some of the most celebrated aori- 

 culturists of the old country, Mr. Walker came 

 Hither and settled amongst us about twenty years 

 ago, bringing with him no ordinary deo-ree of in- 

 telligence and information concernino' his favorite 

 profession. He purchased a farm of about a hun- 

 dred acres in Philadelphia County, where notwith- 

 eianding the discouragements which always ob- 

 i„iy*'V5^uP''°°i:^'^ of agricultural reform, he il- 

 lustrated the value of those improvements which 



his extensive knowledge and excellent Judgment 

 showed him to be desirable and necessary. He 

 was the first to call attention to the relations ex- 

 isting belvveen the laws of subsistence, occupation, 

 and production, and to a|;ply them as a principle to 

 the improvement of agriculture. He was mainly in- 

 strumental in introducing a judicious system of 

 root-culture. He demonstrated the importance of 

 the green-crop system, of a better method of pre- 

 paring and applying manures, and of an altera- 

 tion in the rotation of crops. The utility of his 

 improvements was shown by their results, and it 

 may truly be said of him, that he made more than 

 two ears of corn grow where only one grew 

 before. He occasionally had under his charge 

 young men of intelligence and character, who en- 

 joyed the advantages of his rich agricultural wis- 

 dom and experience, imbibed his ardor, and who, 

 upon farms of their own, are now carrying out his 

 excellent principles of culture, and promlsino- fair 

 to perpetuate and extend the influence of his 

 system. 



From the Cattle Keeper's Guide. 

 METHOD OF ASCERTAINING THE WEIGHT OF 

 CATTLE WHILE LIVING. 



This is ofthe utmost utility for all those who are 

 not experienced judges by the eye; and by the fol- 

 lowing directions the weight can be accertained 

 within a mere trifle. Take a siring, put it round 

 the beast, standing square, just behind the shoulder 

 blade ; measure on a foot-rule the feet and inches 

 the animal is in circumference ; this is called the 

 girth: then with the string measure from the bone 

 of the tail which plumbs the line with the hinder 

 part of the buttock ; direct the line along the back 

 to the forepart of the shoulder blade; talie the di- 

 mensions on the foot-rule as before, Avhich is the 

 length, and work the figure in (he fiJIIowing man- 

 ner : girth of the bullock. 6 ft. 4 in. ; lenfith 5 ft. 3 

 in. ; \vhich multipled together, maks 34 square su- 

 perficial feet ; that again multiplied by 23 (the 

 number of pounds allowed to each superficial foot 

 of all cattle measuring less than seven and more 

 than five feet in girth,) makes 713 lbs. and allow- 

 ing 14 pounds to the stone, is 50 stone, 13 lbs. 

 Where the animal measure's less than nine, and' 

 more than seven feet in thegirth, 31 is the num- 

 ber of pounds to each superficial foot. Again, sup- 

 pose a pig or any small beast should measure two 

 feet in girth and two feet along the back, which 

 multiplied together, makes four square feet ; that 

 multiplied by eleven, the number of pounds al- 

 lowed for each square foot of cattle measurino- less 

 than three in girth makes 44 lbs, which divided by 

 by 14 to bring it to stones, is three stones two 

 pounds. Again, suppose a calf, sheep, &c., should 

 measure four feet six inches in girth, and nine in- 

 ches in length, which multiplied together makes 

 sixteen and a half square fijet ; that multiplied by 

 sixteen, the number of pounds allowed to all cat- 

 tle measuring less than five feet, and more than 

 three in girth, makes 26 pounds; which divided 

 by fourteen, to bring it into stones, is IS si. 12 lbs. 

 The dimensions of the girth and length of black 

 cattle, sheep, calves, or hogs, will be as exact, taken 

 this way, as is at all necessary for any computa- 

 tion or valuation of stock, and will answerexactlv 

 to the four quarters, sink the offal, and which every 



