416 



F A R M E R S ' REGISTER, 



[No. t 



ly over every part of our county, and on Foinn 

 lew furnis (lestroyiii<r ovcry ll)in<f before it, nnil I 

 am iilhiid, it iti destineil ai no very disiaiit lime, to 

 he one ol' the greatest calamitie>! that ever belel 

 this country. ' Many farmers (and indeed very 

 reas()nal)ly so,) are very n\iicli ahirmed at ihe vi- 

 sitation of this 2reat destroyer, not only of the 

 (iirmers hopes, but in titct of man's principal and 

 main snpport of existence. We are now harvesl- 

 inix our wheat crop, in which they got rather too 

 lat'e to destroy it entirely, but on many fitrms liave 

 seriously injured it, many places in the fields being 

 quite destroyed. On Ibllowmg after the scythes, 

 you may see millions of the bugs, of all sizes and 

 colors, red, blade and gray, runninn; in the great- 

 est consternation in every possible direction, scek- 

 inir shelter under the sheaves of wheat, and 

 bunches of grass, which may happen to be near. 

 But all those on the borders of the field, and in- 

 deed on every part of it, very soon quit the dry 

 and hard stubble for the more tender and juicy 

 corn or oats, whichsoever may be nearest at hand; 

 and now commences their havoc and dr(?adtul de- 

 vastation. We see the healthy, dark-green, luxuri- 

 ant oat, which a lew days before looked so beautiful 

 and rich, turn pale, wither and die, almost at their 

 very touch. It would seem exaggeration and al- 

 most incredible to slate iiow very prolific this de- 

 vouring insect is, their increase being so prodi- 

 giously great, as to appear to be the work of ma- 

 gic. 



In one day and niirlit they have been known to 

 advance fifteen or twenty yards deep in a field, 

 destroying as they proceed. Unless some kind 

 dispensation of providence delivers us from thi:« 

 ruthless enemy to the farming interest, it is im- 

 possible to say to what extent their ravages will, 

 and may extend, in the course of a year or two. 

 To us farmers, who are dependent on the produc- 

 tions of the earth, for our every thing, it is truly 

 awful. And if their increase in future is commensu- 

 rate with the past, it must be but a short time be- 

 fore this section of country will be laid waste by 

 this dreadful depredator, and its inhabitants, re- 

 duced to want and misery. Every attempt hither- 

 to made to arrest their progress, or destroy them, 

 has proved abortive. Some have attempted to 

 drive them from their corn by pouring boiling wa- 

 ter over them; a remedy, for the cirn, as bad as 

 the disease. Others try to stop their ingress to the 

 corn fields by digging ditches around the fields; 

 but witli no avail, as they are fiirnislicd wi'h 

 wings, in a short time alter they are hatched, and 

 of course can easily fly over the ditches. Would 

 it not be advisable always to sow clover, or some 

 other tender grass, with all small grain, to induce 

 the bug to remain in the field after ihe yrain is 

 taken away long enough, to enable the corn crop 

 to ixet size and age, so as not to he seriously injur- 

 ed by them. I have observed that llie older the 

 plant, the much less liable it is to be either injured 

 or attacked. The wheat crop, where it is not in- 

 jured by the buir, is as proniisino;, and bids liiir to 

 yield as plentiful a harvest, as I have ever seen. 

 In fact, this crop is gradually increasing, more 

 having been sown last fall, than for several years 

 past; this desirable change, may perhaps be at- 

 tributed partly to the use of marl. The growth 

 of the corn crop is very fine; oats likewise; cotton 

 but little, and that very indifiereut. 



As Olo Subscuibek. 



C03IPARIT1VE VALUK OF IVIOIUS BIULTICAU- 

 LIS, MOKUS AI.BA, AM) THIJ CA.NTON, AI.- 

 I'lKi:, FLORli^M'INK AND CHliVESK SEKD- 

 LIN(J MULBERRY TREES. 



For tin: Fanners' Register. 



To the citizens of Virginia, who design making 

 permanent plantations of the mulberry, lor liie 

 purpose of embiukinir in the culture of silk, Ihe 

 adoption in the heu;inning, of such varieties ol tfie 

 mulberry as are best suited to our soils and cli- 

 mate, is of the hiuht'sl impor'ance. Enjoying aa 

 [ do at present the opportunity of comparing the. 

 above-named varieties, so as to form a tolerably 

 correct jiidirmerit, as to their value lor the prose- 

 cution of silk-culture in flrgiiiia,l will, endea- 

 vor to state, with plainness, brevity and candor, the 

 conclusions to which I have been led by a careful 

 examination. 



Of all the above-named varieties the "morus 

 muliicaulis," justly claims the pre-eminence. 

 Its Growth is rapid, and as large as it should be 

 for a permanent plantation, on light sandy soila 

 that are capable of producing 15 or 20 bushels of 

 corn to the acre. Indeed, it should not be planted 

 on more lertile snils, because at the age of four or 

 five years, after having been headed down, the 

 stalks are liable to be broken down by violent 

 winds. On this point, I sneak from very recent ex- 

 perience. It is capable of enduring our hardest 

 winters. In proof of this, the following iitcts are 

 stated: In the fall of '37 and '33, i dropped in the 

 field a small tree of "morus miilticaulis," which 

 remained exposed root and branch all the winter. 

 It was found, and planted in March, Ibllowins, 

 and is now healthy, and growing very rapidly. In 

 '3S and '39 other plants were exposed in the 

 same way, which aie yet livinir. and doing very 

 well. From those facts some may imagine tliat 

 the winters in this part of Vir«j!;inia are very mild; 

 but it is far otherwise. In this region the sassa- 

 fras and wild pimento, (laurns henzoin,) both of 

 which are found in hiijh northern latitudes, have 

 occasionally been killed, and the ground freezes to 

 the depth of fifteen iticfies. This occurred in the 

 winter of '36 and '37 when we had standing out 

 900 small plants of "muliicaulis" raised from cut- 

 tinixs planted the preceding May, and not niore 

 than three or fixir were lost. I thawed the ground 

 by building a fire, in order that I might get accu- 

 rate information. 



The "iirorus multicaulis''' makes silk of the 

 finest (jualit}-, equal, if not superior to the silk from 

 n -Tus alba, and nmch softer and more lustrous 

 than that produced fi'orn morus rubra. I have 

 made veiy carelid experiments on this point, and 

 I confidently assert that the published statement 

 of some northern men, that the silk of "morua 

 muliicaulis" is as coarse as that from "morus ru- 

 bra," or "morns nigra," is without foundation in 

 fact, ami evinces either ignorance or want of can- 

 cTor. 



Next to the "morus mnliicaidis," I place a mul- 

 berry which I shtdl call the "Chinese seedling." 

 This is a scarce plant, and cannot lor several years 

 at least, come into competition, for purposes of 

 speculation, with the other varieties. I therefore 

 hope I shall escape the suspicion of a tree selling 

 communication. It was raised by Mr. C. H. 

 Hunt, of FredericksburiT, from seetl wtiich were 

 purchased fur muliicaulis seed. 1 have thifc vari- 



