1839] 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



271 



showers, with intervals of bright sunshine, are 

 eminently calculated to elicii the perfumes of ve- 

 getables, a continuance of wet and gloomy weath- 

 er, is very unlavorable to them. Sun-light ap- 

 pears to be necessar}' for the production of the 

 odors of flowers, as well as their colors. 



Agreeable as vegetable odors usually are, there 

 are some remarkable exceptions. Many stape- 

 lias, and the arum dracunculiis, have an odor so 

 completely like that of putrid meat, that flies actu- 

 ally deposife their eggs in them by mistake. The 

 leaves of the fish geranium (pelargonium zonale) 

 when rubbed between the fingers, give out an 

 odor very much resembling that of saiied-fish, 

 and hence its common name. Even the most 

 agreeable kinds of fragrance, when much concen- 

 trated, generally become disagreeable. The odo- 

 riferous matter exhaled by flowers, frequently pro- 

 duces very unpleasant effects upon persons of weak 

 nerves. Violets, the last flower tn be suspec'ed, 

 have in some instances, proved deleterious. De 

 Candolle states, that he has known ladies to faint, 

 from carrying too many of them on their persons, 

 or from having them placed too near them when 

 asleep. The elder and the walnut when in bloom, 

 often bring on head-ache, in persons who sleep in 

 their shade ; and the manchineel tree, of tropical 

 countries, is said to have proved fatal to travellerts 

 ■who have thoughtlessly lain down to rest beneath 

 its shade. 



The act of producing blossoms, is called flow- 

 ering. Respecting the flowering of plants, some 

 facts have been collected which are worthy of no- 

 lice. Flowers are always produced in the centre 

 of the bud, and are embosomed among the leaves 

 for a considerable time before they expand. In 

 general they are formed so rapidly, that a iew 

 months are sufTicient to perfect therti ; but in cer- 

 tain palms several years are required. It is said, 

 that in these plants the rudiments of flowers may 

 be discovered in the central bud, in some instances 

 as much as seven years beibre the perfect flovver 

 expands. Plants difiier much from each other in 

 the season at which they produce their flowers, 

 yet the season for each particular species, is gene- 

 rally fixed and invariable. Annuals flower a Cew 

 weeks after their seed are sown, biennials require 

 two seasons, perennials more than two, and trees 

 several years. Some again, blossom in the win- 

 ter, as the Christmas rose; others in the earliest 

 spring, as the snow-drop and crocus; whilst others 

 cannot by any known means be made to blossom, 

 until late in autumn. The same is true of the 

 hours at which they open their blossoms. One ex- 

 pands at dawn of day, another a ihw hours later, 

 another at mid-day, others early in the evening, 

 and a few only at night. By noting the time at 

 which difierent plants open their blossoms, what 

 are termed "watches of Flora," have been con- 

 structed. The following notice of the time at 

 which several flowers open their blossoms, is taken 

 fi-om such a watch, constructed by De Candolle, 

 for the latitude of Paris. 



Convolvulus nil (common morning 



glory) - - - - 3 to 4 A. M. 



Papaver nudicaule (naked-stem- 

 med poppy) - - - 4 to 5 " 



Convolvulus tricolor (three colored 

 morning glory) - - 5 to 6 " 



Solanum (nightshade,or nettle) > c. 7 r 



Hieracium (hawk-weed) ^ o to / 



Laciucasativa (garden lettuce) 7 to 8 A. M. 



Anagallis arvensis (field chick- 

 weed) - - - - 8 to 9 " 



Arenaria (sand-wort) - - 9 to 10 " 



Portulacca sativa (purslane) - 10 to 11 " 



Mirabilis jalapa (yellow four 



o'clock) - - - - 6 to 7 P. M. 



Pelargonium triste (mourning ge- 

 ranium) - - - - 7 to 8 " 



Anothera suaveola (night flower- 

 ing primrose) - - - 8 to 9 '' 

 (To be continued.) 



CULTURE OF SILK IN ITALY. 



From Young's Notes on the Agriculture of Lombardy. 



Nice. — Eight roups of cocoons, or 84 lb. make 

 24 lb. of silk (Hi oz.), which sells at 10 Uv. 5s. 

 the lb, ; a roup of leaves sells at 20s. and 250 

 roup are necessary for 8 oz. of grain (eggs). 



Coni. — The whole country, after ascending the 

 Alps, is planted with mulberries, around every 

 field, and if large, in lines across. I remarked 

 great numbers from ten to fifteen years old. 



To Chentale, 1 oz. of grain requires 360 roup of 

 leaves ; each roup 25 lb. and yields 4 or 5 roups of 

 bozzoli or cacata (cocoons), and 1 roup of cocoons 

 makes 3 lb. of silk. The price of organzine 20 

 Uv. to 24 Uv. per lb. ; the offal pays the spinning. 

 Gathering the leaves costs 2s. to 3s. the roup. 



Cheniale. — The seed of the mulberry is sown 

 in nurseries, and the trees commonly planted out 

 at four years old. The first, second and third 

 year, they are pruned, for giving the branch- 

 es the right form; the fourth, they begin to 

 gather the leaves. Some which were shown me 

 by the Count de Bonaventa, of eighteen years old, 

 give 6, 7, and to 8 rubbii of leaves each. One 

 old tree, a very extraordinary one, has given 53 

 roups. A large tree, of fifty or sixty years, com- , 

 monly yields 25 rubbii. They never dig around 

 them, nor wash the stems as inDauphine; but 

 they have a practice, not of equal merit, which 

 is to twist straw-bands around the stems, to de- 

 fend them against the sun. For one ounce of 

 grain 65 to 30 rubbii of leaves are necessary, 

 which gives 2| riiftiii of cocoons and sometimes 

 so fiir as four. One rubbio of cocoons yields 20 to 

 21 oz. of silk organize, of the price of 18 Uv. per 

 lb. For gathering the leaves, fron Is 8'dcn. to 2s, 

 the rubbio is given. The offal (moresca and clioc- 

 ata) pays the winding and spinning. They nev- 

 er hatched the worms by artificial heat ; using 

 only that of the sun, or of the human body. The 

 common method of carrying on the business is^ 

 to provide as in France, grain and mulberries, 

 and to receive half the cocoons. The cultivation 

 is so profitable, that there are many lands to which 

 mulberries add a value of 200 Viv. or 300 Uv. more 

 than they would sell for if they contained none ; 

 and it is farther thought, that they are but little in- 

 jurious tQ corn, the shade not being so prejudicial 

 n= that of the walnut and of some other trees. 

 T'iie common estimation of profit is, that trees of 

 all ages yield from the time of beginning to bear, 

 from^ 30s. to 4 Uv, each nett to the landlord for 

 his half produce. 



Turin. — One ounce of grain gives 2 to 4 rub- 

 bii of cocoons, and dem.ands 120 rubbii of leaves ; 

 1 rubbio of cocoons will give 22 oz. of comnionlv 



