1839] 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



213 



Great caro must be taken to keep water out of 



the pen ; it slioukl be dilched all around, so as to 

 keep it dry ; iis Ibundaiion should be made hi<rlier, 

 wiiii dry sand, than the level around, and the top 

 should be well covered; the ditches ni;L,fh the pen 

 should be covered with boards, to keep the youn^ 

 ones Trom liillin<T in. You may rely on this plan, 

 Mr. Editor. I have seen out oreiirhty-seven tur- 

 keys, eighty-six raised, — one having been mash- 

 ed by a liorse. 



From tlie Soutliein Agriculturist. 

 CULTIVATIOIV OF W ATIiR-MELONS. 



This delicious melon may be cultivated for an 

 early market in the following manner: 



Select a high and dry soil ibr the purpose. 

 Plough it up well, and harrow it. Check off the 

 ppot thus treated at distances ol' ten feet each way. 

 Dig out each check with a hoe or spade, and into 

 the same place fi\e or six quarts of cotton seed ; 

 or iCthis cannot be procured, fill the same with sta- 

 ble manure, parily decomposed. Haul over this 

 the earth belbre dug from the hole, and mix it well 

 with the manure. Ilyou have used cotton seed, 

 in the spring, it will have sprouted a week or two 

 afier bemg put into the hole ; and must now be 

 killed by chopping up the same well, and mix- 

 ing it with the soil. This being done, you may 

 now haul up the manure and earth as before di- 

 recteii, into liills; on the top of wliich you must 

 place about a peck of sand taken from some 

 street or well travelled road. Your hills will be 

 now ready Ibr planting. I should however, state 

 that (he hills must, instead of being made high, 

 be made liat and Itroad. 



Soak your seed overnight in milk warm water, 

 and plant out the same the next morning, placing 

 from five to six seed to eacli hill. The seed must not 

 be covered more than one inch or two under 

 ground. Water the hills lor a few days until the 

 seed has sprouted, and then leave the plants to run. 



As soon as the plant has got six leaves, take 

 oft' the centre plant with a sharp penknife, and 

 when the lateral shoots are six inches or a loot 

 long, take off all but three. When the shoots, 

 thus left, begin to run to the ground between the 

 hills, stake them down with a small cross stick. 



As the vines begin to branch, at every three or 

 four feet, where the vine l)ranches, put a shovel 

 full of rich earth over the same, and press ii down 

 lightly wiih the foot. Wet weather should be se- 

 lected Ibr this operation, and by so doing the vines 

 will never fail to take wliere they have been set. 

 The spaces between the hills should be kept liee 

 of grass--and by following the above directions, 

 larire and fine melons will be produced. 



From a quarter acre of land thus treated, more 

 n>eIons will be made than from lour times the 

 aiivjunt as usually cultivated. 



From tlie Journal of tlie American Silli Society. 

 aiKMOHAXDA FOR YOUNG SILK CULTUIUSTS. 



Let silk cultivators bear in mind, that the care- 

 ful and attentive manager of silk-worms, will 

 make his worms spin cocoons in four weeks ; eight 

 pounds of his cocoons will make a pound of raw 



silk, and a pound and a (piartcr of his raw silk 

 will make a [iound of finished sewiiifr or other 

 silk. The careless manager will require at least 

 six weeks before his wormsspin theircocoons, ten 

 pounds at least of his cocoons will be required to 

 make a pound of raw silk ; and at least a pound 

 and six ounces of his raw silk will be reijuired to 

 make a pound oi' finished sewing silk. Let the 

 rules ol ariibmetic Ite applied to find how well the 

 silk business will pav for care and attention 1 



G. R. S. 



From Loudon's Gardener's Magazine. 

 ON THE CULTIVATION OF BIADIA SATIVA, AS 

 AN OIL PLANT. 



By IV. Hertz, Nurseryman and Seedsman, StuU- 

 gard. 



M. Bof^ch, superintendent of the gardens of the 

 kmg of Wirlemburg, has made numerous experi- 

 ments for many years on acclimatising exotic 

 [)lants, during the course of which one plant, iMa- 

 dia satica, attracted peculiar attention, as he iound 

 from the reports of travellers in Chile, that it is 

 cultivated in that country as an oleilerous plant, 

 and an excellent oil is extracted from it. During 

 the last lew years, M. Bosch has given this plant 

 a fair trial on a large scale, at considerable ex- 

 pense ; and the results of this trial have surpassed 

 his most sanguine expectations. 



The plant is an annual belonging to the natural 

 order compositce, attaining the heigth of fi^om 1^ 

 ft. to 2 Ii. ; it agrees with every rotation of crops, 

 and succeeds in all soils, provided ihey are neiiher 

 too humid nor loo stitl'and binding ; but, in a rich 

 soil, if the necessary space be given to the plant 

 to spread out its branches, it attains Ihe highest 

 perfection. The properseason fijr sowing is either 

 in October, or the spring, and the necessary quan- 

 liiy of seeds required for an acre depends upon 

 the condition of the soil, and varies from 4 lb. to 

 6 lb. ; but it is, of course, advisable to sow a little 

 more than is actually wanted, to provide against 

 any unforeseen accidents which may happen to 

 the seeds before germination. Tlie young plants 

 are not damaged by spring frosts; nor are they 

 liable to be attacked by animals or insects. If 

 spring sowing be preferred, the ground must be 

 well prepared in the autumn, in order to sow 

 the seeds as early in the spring as possible; 

 after which they must be pressed down by 

 rolling, and will need no other culture than to 

 be kept Iree from weeds. When the seeds begin 

 to ripen, wliich may be easily known by the change 

 of their color from green to black, the j)lants are 

 either cut oti'near the ground, or pulled up by the 

 routs, and laid on the ground Ibr drying; after 

 wliu-h they are treated like rape. The seeds how- 

 ever, nmst not remain long belbre they are thrashed 

 out; because the glutinous stalks, when heaped 

 up, soon begin to It'rment, and will do the greatest 

 damage to the seeds. 



The f)roduce of one Wirleml)urg acre, contain- 

 ing 38,400 square leet. amounts, according to the 

 nature of the soil and the condition of the plants, 

 to from 4 to 6^ schefiel (bushels) of seed. One 

 schelfel weighs liom 194 lb. to 208 lb.; and li-om 

 that quantity Irom 681b. to 701b. of oil have been 

 obtained, according to the trials that were made in 

 several mills of difi'ercnt constructions. 



