1839] 



J^" A R JNl E R S • REGISTER 



151 



this year, all the laboratories were affectptl, and 

 at each mouhing tiie evil increased, and this dij=- 

 temper reigned througlioul. it must be, iis I said 

 belbre. tluit the cause must be conmion to the 

 whoie country. I find such a cause in the tem- 

 perature which we have experienced, and of which 

 I am about to submit some details. 



The winter of 1S33 '4 was warmer than any 

 has been for many years, as is established b}' me- 

 teorological observations kept by my fin her from 

 1802, and since continued by myself. The ther- 

 mometer rarely sunk as low as the freezing point,* 

 [zero of cent, or 32 Fahr.] ; and two mornings 

 only, February 1st. and 2nd., the thermometer 

 was at 5 below zero, [23 Fahr.] It rose many 

 times as high as 14 and 15 degrees [28 and 29 

 Fahr.] in December, January, and February. 

 We have had delightflil and very hot days for 

 days of winter. 

 The mean tempera- 

 ture of I his season, =r -f 9°. 98 cent. [50 Fahr.J 

 The mean tempeia- 



ture of December, = + 9°. 85 [50 F. nearly.] 

 " .Januarv, — + 8°. 75 [48 Fahr.] 



" February, = + 8°. SO [48 Fahr.] 



" March, = + lO'^. 60 [51 Fahr.] 



ft has frozen three times in January, five linies 

 in February, three times in March, liut slightly. 

 The first freeze took place on January 21st. 

 The lowest point ol the thermometer in open air 

 was -f 3^, [374 Fahr.] The thickest ice ihat I 

 observed in the Hehis, February 1st, was only 10 

 miliiineires [about half a line, or one 25th part of 

 an inch,] in thickness. 



Rains tell but five limes in January and once in 

 February; which produced but 71 nnllimetres of 

 water, [27 hundredths of an inch.] In average 

 years, there fidls four times as much in winter. 



There has fallen no snow on the plains ; and the 

 snow which covered Aigonal and Lozerethis win- 

 ter, and served to increase the coldness of the 

 winds which pass over these mountains, remained 

 on them lor a shorter time than in common years. 



The field labors, and vegetation, were advanced 

 more than ordinarily. Some culturists, seeing the 

 buds of the mulberry trees about to open, put the 

 eggs to hatch fifteen days earlier than other years. 

 Some worms had been hatched when, from the 

 16th to 23rd of March, severe white frosts killed 

 the leaves in many cantons. It was necessary to 

 throw away the worms, and to procure new eggs, 

 which were very dear. The end of March and 

 begining of April, were very fine and hot weather. 

 Some persons hatl sought to retard the con)ing 

 forth of the worms by putting the eggs in cool 

 places; but others continued the process of hatch- 

 ing. The temperature was sufficient to produce 

 the change of color and make the egi^s hatch. 



Cold again, from the 17th to 19th of April, ar- 

 rested the hatching of the worms, destroyed the 

 leaves which the first frosts had spared, and the 

 buds of the trees which had [not] perished the 

 month before. 



But ftiw leaves are wanting in the first age ol 

 the worms, even for a considerable stock for- rais- 

 ing. Some few culturtsts saved their worms by 



* In the original the degrees of temperature art* mark- 

 ed according to the centigrade thermometer, which are 

 here accompanied by the equivalents according lo Fah- 

 renheit. — Ed. F. R. 



means of some sheltered trees. The greater num- 

 ber threw away part of their stock, thinking, and 

 rightly, that if there were Itnver cocoons, their 

 price would be higher, and that, towards tne close 

 of the feeding, the leaves would he very scarce 

 and dear. There were some proprietors who gave 

 up this gathering entirely, lo take care of their 

 mulberry trees; and proceeded to prune them 

 forthwith. These trees have well ripened, and 

 are at this time very fine. 



The diminution of the leaves was supposed to 

 be fijiiy a fourth, and yet there remained many 

 upon the trees. In general, the crop of cocoons 

 did not pay the expense of the leaves ihey con- 

 sumed, although the cocoons sold lor more by 

 nearly halfj than in average years. 



All the culturists had observed that the eggs 

 changed color Irom the second or third day, whilst, 

 in common years, eight days are necessary. The 

 winter, warmer than temperate, had prepared the 

 eggs, and the first exposure to heat was enough to 

 make them begin to hatch ; but arrested at that 

 lime by cold, reanimaled and benumbed anew, 

 this alternation of life and death, if I may so ex- 

 press myselfj was necessarily very prejudicial to 

 the insects. The seed of a plant which should be 

 moistened and dried many times, would perish fi- 

 nally ; as would the eggs of a hen if set upon one 

 day, suH'ered to cool the next, and so on by turns, 

 heated and cooled. We may postpone the hatch- 

 inij of all eggs, and consequently of those of the 

 silk-worm; but once commenced, it is necessary 

 to keep up the warmlh proper lor hatching them. 



In other years, we have been accustomed to 

 take accounts of the laboratories which succeeded 

 badly; but this year it was those which did not 

 lail, which were remarked and cited. The most 

 successful culturists were those whose eggs were 

 winleved most carefullj^, who knew how to guard 

 them ll-om the early heats, used precaution in 

 hatching them, in moving them and giving them 

 air the most frequently; and t?Iose whose mulberry 

 trees being less damaged by the frosts, could avoid 

 protracting the feeditig season. 



Ch. d'Hambrer-Fiuimas, 

 Mayor of St. Hyppolyte-de- Caton, Member of the 



Jjlgricaltural Society of Gard, 8,-c. 



From the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 GRAFTING AND INOCULATING. 



Grafting is a mode of propagating varieties of 

 fruit of esteemed quality. Grafts maybe cut at 

 any time airier the fiall of the leaf in autumn, and 

 belbre the buds begin to swell in the spring. 

 They should be of the preceding year's growth, 

 and are best from bearing trees and exterior limbs. 

 They may be preserved by imbedding their larger 

 ends in clay, a potato, or in moist earth, in a cel- 

 lar in winter, or in the open ground, partially or 

 wholly covered, in the spring. Grafts are fre- 

 quently sent across the Atlantic. The great care 

 should be, that they are not kept too warm or too 

 moist, so that the buds swell before they are want- 

 ed for use. The rationale of grafling will suggest 

 ihe time and the manner in which it should be 

 done. The scion and graft are to be so adjusted 

 that the sap-wood of the stock, by which the sap 

 ascends from the roots, comes in contact with the 



