1839] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



Ill 



Here, Mr. Editor, is a fountain of manure, 

 which, in its general diffusion through our state, 

 and in its practical good effects, as demonstrated 

 above, bids fiir to rival the boasted marl-beds of 

 lower V^irginia; and that which has been regard- 

 ed as an indication of poverty and decay in our 

 lands, may be made the instrument of their resto- 

 ration and recovery. 



Your obedient servant, 



T. Carrington. 



ANSWER TO STRICTURES ON THE PROPAGA- 

 TION OF SILK-WORMS. 



To the Editor of the Fanners' Register. 



I have read the strictures of Mr. Layton Y. At- 

 kins, in the January No. of the Farmers' Register, 

 (page 26,) on a paragraph in the second number 

 of my essay on the culture of silk. 1 readily ad- 

 mit the uncourteousness of the language used by 

 me in tiie paragraph he refers to, and I can only 

 plead the haste in which that essay was com- 

 posed, in extenuation. 1 had no time to revise the 

 article; it was written ''off-hand," and went be- 

 yond my control before an opportunity was afford- 

 ed, by reflection, to correct the phraseology. But I 

 cannot go any further than this. The " theory," 

 (I presume he means ^/tc/;radice, as I did not give 

 the theory,) I cannot admit to be either " errone- 

 ous" or "calculated to do harm." And from a 

 remark in the latter part of his article, I suspect 

 Mr. Atkins has altogether mistaken the mean- 

 ing of the j-aragraph he criticizes ; for he says, 

 "The energy of" the males is far from beinij ex- 

 hausted when the females are satiftjied, and if not 

 taken aw;\y," &c. This remark leads me to sup- 

 pose that Mr. Atkins would allow the moths to re- 

 main coupled until the females were "satisfied ;" 

 and if so, how does he ascertain that result, if not 

 from the fact of the couple having voluntarily se- 

 parated? The Chinese writings which Mr. A. 

 quotes, say not a word about separating the cou- 

 pled moths ; it merely recommends, " as I under- 

 stand it," that the males that have become de- 

 tached from the females be removed. The quo- 

 tation from D'Homergue's essay is entirely irre- 

 levant; and even if ever so much to the point 

 against me, would be no authority with me. 

 My opinion of his essay has lon<i been known, and 

 I need scarcely now repeat it. I will only remark, 

 in passing, that D'H. labored hard to prove that 

 we could never learn to reel silkioiihoKt two years' 

 instruction in his filature, for establishini; which, 

 and teaching sixty young men to reel silkjie ask- 

 ed ,^60,000 of the government of the U. Stairs. 

 His essay is, in liict, nothing more than a compn- 

 lation from French and Italian works. Will Mr. 

 Atkins do me the fiivor to say whether he can fol- 

 low D'H's. direction to separate the male and fe- 

 male cocoons, so that they shall be laid on separate 

 tables, "the males on one table, and the females on 

 another?" But I will now give the theory on 

 which my practice is founded, and shall be much 

 obliged if Mr. Atkins will point out wherein it is 

 "erroneous and calculated to do harm." 



The silk-worm moth lays from 350 to 400 e<jfrs. 

 Each c^cT is fecundated separately ; consequently, 

 il the moths are separated before they separate ol 

 themselves, more or less of the eggs will be unfc- 



cundated. There is no precise time required ; 

 from six to twelve hours is usually occupied ; but 

 I have often known them to remain cou|)led eigh- 

 teen hours, and very seldom found them to separate 

 voluntarily in six hours. I have separated them 

 after being together one hour, and but about a do- 

 zen eggs were fecundated ; those separated at the 

 end of two hours I found laid only about fifty fe- 

 cundated eggs; and so on in pretty regular propor- 

 tion to the time occupied, were the e^rgs fecunda- 

 ted. Those that I separated at the'^end of six 

 hours were generally about two-thirds fecundated, 

 and very setdom more ; while all that I left together 

 till they separated of their own accord, were uni- 

 formly all fecundated ! 



Now, in the case of the silk-moths, the French 

 direct that, after they have remained coupled six 

 hours, they must be separated, by taking them by 

 the wings, one between the thumb and finger of 

 each hand, and pulling them apart, and takin'ij the 

 males away. I pray you, Mr. Editor, to look at 

 this direction with a little of your usual common 

 sense, and say whether I have been unpardonably 

 " uncourteous" in calling this " foolery? " I leave 

 out the national allusion in courtesy to Mr. Atkins. 

 Is there any other instance in the breeding of ani- 

 mals in w4iich this act is thus interfered with? Is 

 there a single reason that can be given for such 

 interference? 



I do not object to removing the males from the 

 females, after they have voluntarily separated ; on 

 the contrary, I have my fixtures so contrived, that 

 the released males generally fiill ofi' upon the floor 

 and are swept out of the room. 



The " viscid humor," spoken of by D'lloraer- 

 gue, is nothing moj-e than the remains of the con- 

 tents of the ovarium after the ego-s have been 

 formed ; it is often entirely absen"and I never 

 knew it to do any other harm than to soil the pa- 

 pers on which the eggs were laid. 



GiDEOK B. Smith. 



[The views on both sides of this matter have 

 now, we presume, been sufficiently expressed, 

 and we beg leave to close the discussion. It would 

 be a ridiculous degree ofsqueamishness to exclude 

 such subjects from an agricultural journal, which 

 must necessarily treat of many particulars of the ge- 

 neration and propagation, of domestic animals. But 

 it is nevertheless desii aide that the language used, 

 on such anatomical and physiological branches of 

 general agricultural science, shall be as much 

 guarded in manner, and limited in extent, as utility 

 may admit, and propriety require.— Ed. F. R. 



From tiic Southern Agriculturist. 

 LARGE AMOUNT OF SOAP PRODUCED FROM 

 MYRTLE WAX. 



Mr. Editor,— Mnny of your readers may not 

 he aware of the great quantity of soap which can 

 be produced Irom a small quantity of myrtle wax. 

 I have repeatedly made the experiment ia my 

 own family; and in hopes of being uselijl, 1 send 

 you the follow in-r account, taken n«any years 

 since, and which has been found correct up to the 

 luesent time. 



