414 



F A \l M S: US' K !•: G I ST E R. 



[No. 7 



out, ami no suhjects lelt eillicrfor slaiitlcr iirui de- 

 tamaiion, or I'lilsonie niiil (ieizmdiiiix fululitiion, 

 ami iiK^rccMiary stavilily. No ori« iliirik-^ for a mo- 

 ment tlial lli(! materials for, or (he iniorost in, the 

 exciting and popular sul)j«clsol' sectarian contro- 

 versy, or political warfare, can popsit.ly he dimin- 

 ished—and on one or both of tlie?e subjects all 

 read, who rea<l any iliirii;-. Cut on agriculture, by 

 whicli all live, in the improvement of which all 

 are interested, (and the pra lical operations ol 

 which are perhaps the sole profitable occupation 

 of most ol^ the persons'^vho sustain such obliisca- 

 ting publications as are above referred to^,) com- 

 mands no abiding interest, and the subject is sup- 

 posed to be soon exhausted. It never can be ex- 

 hausted ; and it is one on which so much light is 

 needed, and so much can be furnished, that the 

 more it is treated of, the more of new matter will 

 be presented for consideration and profitable in- 

 .struciion. 



The editor has devoted his labor and his time 

 for nearly seven years to the support of this work 

 and its great objects, to the exclusion and ne^ essa- 

 ry neglect of other things in which his private gain 

 was more deeply concerned, and by attending to 

 which, his interest would have been better served. 

 He has recently abandoned all personal and direct 

 participation in other business, and will continue 

 10 devote his energies exclusively to sustaining 

 this publ cation, heavy as the burden has been and 

 will be, when so little aided by the labors and the 

 encouragement of others. 'I'hereforc, should the 

 public support be eventually withdrawn, itnd the 

 work sink for want of pecuniary as well as literary 

 support, that resait would prove a most serious 

 blow to the private interest now so emireiy vested 

 in the property. Nevertheless, the consideration 

 of this contingency, which may be hastened and 

 made more sure by predicting its possible occur- 

 rence, shall not prevent it being stated in the stionu- 

 est manner to those who sustain this work by their 

 subscription money, that they must also give it thw 

 better aid of their pens, an.l maintain the interest 

 thus to be produced, or that the publication must 

 become of comparatively litile worth, and sink. 



During the last six or eight months i lie Farm- 

 ers' Reo-ister has been very copious, and the con- 

 tents very inierestingand instructive, upon one sub- 

 ject of all-absorbing recent interest in this country 

 — that of silk and mulberry culture. So large a 

 proportion, indeed, of its pages has been devoted 

 to this subject, that, as the editor was sensible, 

 it was out of all proportion to the remaining and 

 more important subjects of agriculture in general. 

 But whose fduli was this, but of the individuals 

 who -could, and ought to have written on other 

 subjects, and who did not? Conununicalions on 



cropping, on grass, on cattle, on (he improvement 

 of soil, would have been far more prized, if only 

 lor their rarity : but very \'e\v such have been tiir- 

 iiished recently by correspondents; and if the 

 Farmerf-' Reirister had not been po much devoted 

 !o furilu'riiiir silk-culture latterly, it could have 

 oH'ered' but lf!w original pieces of value on other 

 subjects. It is admitted that the editor's investi- 

 gations anil writings have been principally devoted 

 during iliis lime to silk-culture ; and if it is in him 

 an error to enter zealousy and heartily in support 

 of every subject which he deems of giu^at inter- 

 est, it is one which he will always be disposed to 

 liill into. He tried at various times during the last 

 six years to impress ujion his readers the in)por- 

 tance of silk-culture to Virginia; but until recently 

 there were no materials to operate upon, and his 

 words were unheeded, if not unnoticed. Rut the 

 iron, which he before struck upon cold and unyield- 

 ing, is iwio at a red heat, and he has deemed it 

 proper to strike continually while the blows nv\y 

 possibly be eflective. He trusts that his and other 

 perhaps more efficient elforts in this cause, have 

 already done much good, and that there is now no 

 doubt of silk-culture being established in this coun- 

 try, and particularly in Virginia, speedily, perma- 

 nently, and profitably. That alone will be a result 

 of more uiiliiy and value to the public than a thou- 

 sand-fold the cost of this [)ublica!ion. But still the 

 editor has no iniention or wish that tiie publication 

 shoulil be principally devoted to silk-cultuie, or to 

 any one of the many important branches of agri- 

 culture in general ; nor can any one justly coin- 

 plain of the preponderance of articles, recent- 

 Jy, on silk-culture, unless communications ou 

 other subjects had been off'eied, and received with 

 a less degree of welcome and attention— which 

 certainly has not been liie case. 



I'ROMISCUOUe. 



For tlie Farmtrs' Register. 



I make it a rule never to be idle, and whereas 

 I am at this lime very nearly in that situation, I 

 write lor the Register; and if this shall answer 

 any good purpose, I may at odd times continue 

 the |Tractii-e. 1 dislike any thing fcuperfluous, 

 iherelbre request, that jou now take your (lencil in 

 hand, and erase any letter, word, or sentence, ot 

 such description, lest when I come to read, 1 may 

 be tormented wiih my own work, as olieu as I 

 have been wiih that oTothers. 



Suckers on Indian cor/t.— Lands which are rich 

 to a great depth, if not planted thick, will sucker 

 profusely; and in such case tiie suckers will not 

 damage, but be serviceable, by extracting the le- 

 pletion, which would otherwise create disease. 

 But if such grounds be planted thick, either in 

 drills, in clusters, no suckers will appear, especial- 

 ly on a deep IdWow. So likewise will corn suck- 



