1839] 



i^^ARMERS' REGISTER. 



431 



(hat the agency it has in Ihe production of mould is 

 very limited, il" indeed it is sensibly felt nt all. 



We imagine the opinions of practical farmers 

 and gardeners in matters ihat belong purely to 

 observation and lact, are enliiled to great rep|)ect, 

 houever unable they may be to give reasons or 

 philosopliize on such facts. Now we have never 

 known a larmer or gardener that did not consider 

 the earth worm a nuisance; and scarcely one that 

 did not think that ihey were exhausters of the 

 nutritive qualities ofthe soil in which they abound. 

 That they bring earth to the surface cannot be 

 denied, but that such earth is rendered more valu- 

 able by being divested of its nutritive qualities (or 

 'serviceable portion' of Mr. D.) in its passaire 

 througlithe worm, may well be questioned. No- 

 thing, it seems, is added to the earth; the matter 

 on which the worm subsists is taken from il ; and 

 $'rom the circumstances in which the worm is found, 

 and propagates in the greatest numbers, it seems 

 plain, that the parts of the soil the most essential 

 to plants, are precisely those on which the worm 

 exists. We have no evidence that the worm 

 is injurious by attacking or feeding on the roots of 

 plants; the injury is efl'ecled bj' diverting from them 

 the nourishment they would otherwise receive. 

 Different kinds of vitality cannot well exist in the 

 vicinity of each other; it is a law of nature, that 

 the weaker an<] less perfectly organized, must 

 give way to that which is higher in the scale, and 

 lience the roots of plants are illy fitted to contend 

 with the more voracious lumbricus. 



We are eijually skeptical, as to the alleged flict 

 of our being indebted to the earth worm for the 

 mould with which the face ofthe earth is covered. 

 We think such is not the case, because no where 

 is the richest mould more plentiful than in places 

 where an earth worm was never known to exist. 

 New countries are notoriously destitute of earth 

 worms. Every one who remembers the original 

 soil of this country when the forest Avere first re- 

 moved, will recollect the abundance of mould, and 

 the total aijsence, except in some few places, of 

 the earth worm. We loved to fish in those boy- 

 ish days, (we have not entirely lost the relish yet,) 

 and well remember the dillicullies we were com- 

 pelled to encounter in procuring; worms for bait. 

 They then existed only in little miry spring spots 

 near the lakes, and old, black looking, anledilu- 

 vian fellows they were. They first began to make 

 their appearance some ten years after the settle- 

 ment of the country, around barns, and in yards 

 where manure and animal matter kept theearth 

 rich and moist, and they have now in some places 

 taken possession in millions of our lowlands, gar- 

 dens, &c. Places heavily manured are the most 

 infested by them, as the young worms, or the ova, 

 are brought with the manureapplied. Instances 

 are recorded in this journal, in which these worms 

 have so accumulated around houses and in wells, 

 as to render the water unfit for use. Their pre- 

 sence in wells is to be accounted for from the ha- 

 bits of the animal. When there has been a sum- 

 mer shower towards evening, as soon as it is dusk 

 the worms issue from their burrows, throwing up 

 numerous casts in clearing their holes iVom'the 

 washings of the rain, and creep in every direction 

 over the surface. Penetrating every openinir 

 where moisture exists, the well serves as a trap 

 tor them, and in such openiuirs they accumulate 

 till necessity compela the owner to'clear out iiis 



well, and thus free Iiimself for a lime from Ihe nui- 

 sance. Where they appear in such numbers, close 

 curbing and banking is required to shut them out. 

 Quick lime would undoubtedly destroy ifiem, 

 could it be applied to them in that state ; but en- 

 sconsed in their burrows, lime spread on the sur- 

 face does not reach them. Perhaps applying it 

 prelty liberally along the walks of a garden, or 

 between the rows of plants, alter a shower, and 

 while the worms were on the surface, might kill 

 some of them ; but probably the most efi'ectual 

 remedy will be ploughing so late that the ground 

 will freeze hard imme(hately after the work is done; 

 and using no manure that has not been piled and 

 heated by fermentation to such a degree as to de- 

 stroy what worms and eggs may be existing in the 

 mass. 



STLK CULTURE COMMENCED IN UPPER CAN- 

 ADA, BY A LADY. 



By the tollowing letter it will be perceived that 

 the silk culture has reached Canada, and has found, 

 at least, ohp. active and efficient practical advocate. 

 We wish there were many such, — and from the 

 zeal manifested by the lady writer, Ave have no 

 doubt that we shall, ere long, be gratified witli the 

 intelligence, that otiiers, are following the example 

 of" our fair pioneer, in this laudable enterprise. 

 Should theCanadas become a silk growing country, 

 (and we see no reason why they may not,) this 

 lady will have the proud satisfiiclion of being Ihe 

 prime mover, and patroness of this elegant and 

 useful production, and her fellow citizens must 

 unanimously pronounce, that she "has deserved 

 well of her adopted country." — jEd. S. C. 



St. Thomas, U. C. 3 fay 6th, 1839. 



F. G. CoMSTocK, Esq. — »SVr :— From ihe 

 interest you feel in the culture of silk, and the pains 

 you take to diffuse knovvledge in every branch of 

 It throughout the United States, I presume you 

 will not be entirely indifferent to a solitary exper- 

 iment in Upper Canada. Frigidity seems to be 

 associated with the very name of Canada' — even 

 Canadians themselves imagine that the climate 

 north ofthe lakes is not consenial to the mulberry 

 tree, except the black, of which there are fine trees 

 in the forest, which are transplanted for the fruit. 

 Five years since, I sowed the first seed, (1 sup- 

 pose,) that was ever deposited in Canadian soil, in 

 full faith, lhat it would do well. I offered seed to 

 others, and assured them, that where Indian corn 

 would grow, that the mulberry would, (and more 

 plentifijl crops I have never seen in any part of the 

 United States I have been in, than are here pro- 

 duced,) and that if the cuhure of silk could be 

 made a profitable business in V'ermont and Maine, 

 it certainly could here ; but one person only, has 

 been induced to sow the seed, and he has a fine 

 nursery of fourteen or fifteen thotieand trees, from 

 seed planned two years ago. The profit was no 

 object with me, my premises being too circumscri- 

 bed to realize any thing in that way. Last sum- 

 mer, I had the satisfaction of demonstrating that 

 both Ihe climate and soil of Ufiper Canada are 

 congenial 1o the culture of silk, and the plea- 

 sure of exhibiting to all who had Ihe curiosity 

 to call, the first silk-worms reared and the first 

 silk made, from the first mulberry trees culii- 

 vafed in either of the provinces ; and feel my- 

 self amply paid for time and cost, in having been 



