1839 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



441 



"two-crop;" 378 cocoons oflhese mammoih white 

 weighed a poutuL The silk is of glossy white- 

 'ness, ami reels remarkably well, and alihoiigli 

 thi\v have no pretcni=ioiis lo ihe character olrnam- 

 7n<)ih, ihe Messrs. Kings iliink very highly of the 

 variety. The sanne gentlemen iiiiend ieedinrr an- 

 other crop this season. On the 14!h and loih of 

 May, i haicliod what were purchased as ^ oz. of 

 mammoth white, and which are evidently the 

 same variety as those of the Messrs. Kinirs. 

 They commenced s[iiniiing the 16th of June, 

 which was Saturda}'. Sunday night was very 

 cold, and on Monday morning thej' were very tor- 

 pid, and I lost a large portion ol the crop. Larger 

 cords had been put to the ladders, and the num- 

 ber ol' ladders increased, and on Satunlay and 

 Sunday they mounted very well ; but alter that 

 lime bushes and broom corn were placed on their 

 hurdles. They seemed to give the preference to 

 the broom corn tor spinninir, and even for mount- 

 ing, as some ascended by it and spun in the laths. \ 

 The eirgs of this crop were kept in a cellar lintil 

 the 29: h of April, wlien a few worms were disco- 

 vered on examining them, and the eggs transfer- 

 red to the ice-house and kept tiiere until the 15th 

 of May, when they were taken out, and began to 

 hatch in a few hours after they were removed. 

 Whether the sickliness of this crop arose from 

 the treatment of (he eirgs or Irom Ihe cold of San- 

 day night is doubtful. I shall be able to deter- 

 nnne this point, however, as I have a crop now 

 (feeding from the same stock of egys, which were 

 kepi in the ice-house until the 25ih ol'May, I 

 feared the vitality of the eggs would be destroyed 

 tir their health injured by removing them to my 

 ice-liouse in thai slate, but could not leed as large 

 a number so early in the season, and was obliged 

 to hazard the experin)ent. Another crop in the 

 neighl>orhood, tlie eggs of which were kept with 

 mine and hatched the same time, shared the same 

 fiite. Several other crofis have been teil in ihe 

 neighborhood, and all except the two mentioned 

 have been remiirkably healthy. 



I intend feeding another crop of about 30,000 

 from the eggs of my first crop, some of which coiii- 

 menced hatching the 24lh of this month. This is 

 tuv ibiirth crop this season. The first hatched the 

 29ih of April; second, the 14i!i of May; the third, the 

 25ih of May; the fourth, from eggt; raised this 

 season, on the 24th of June. Ten days is a suffi- 

 cient interval between the hatchings to prevent 

 the crops from interli^ring with each other. 1 

 would sell a quantity of the eggs of the two-crop 

 worm raised this season, which are now ready 

 fur hatching. 



Yours respectfully, 



Silas T. Big low. 



ON THEORY 



AND FACTS. 

 WORMS. 



TWO-CROP silk- 



To tlio Dlditoior tlie Farmers' Register. 



A distinguished wiiter, on the science of che- 

 mistry, has said, "imagination which is ever wan- 

 dering beyond the bounds of" truth, joined to self- 

 love, and that self-confidence we are so apt to in- 

 dulirc, prompts us to draw conclusions which are 

 not immediately derived lloni facts; so that we 

 become, in some measure, interested in deceiving 

 Vol. Vll— 56 



ourselves. Hence, it is by no means surprising, 

 that in the science of physics in general, men have 

 so often formed suf)positions, instead of drawing 

 conclusions. These suppositions handed down 

 from one age to anoMier, acquire additional weight, 

 from the authorities by which they arc supported, 

 till at last they are received even by men of ge- 

 nius as fundiihiCiital truths.'^ 



'I'he process of reasoning described in the above 

 quotation, has been a fruitful source of error, and 

 lor centuries has ojiposed lormidabie obstacles to 

 the proirress of the arts and sciences ; and it may 

 with truth be alRrmed, tliat no ait has been so 

 much im[)eded by such dilTiculiies, in its progress 

 10 a high state ol" improvement, as lliat of v.tin- 

 cullure. It is no uncommon occurrence, fijr men, 

 having no practical knowledge of agriciillure, id 

 assume the chair of the lecturer, and to dehver 

 their lectures to the agricultural commimily: and 

 if they liiil lo pursuade the steady, intelligent and 

 industrious fai-mer, to fiill in with their theories, 

 he is charged with either obstinacy or ignorariCa. 

 Those who vvrile lor agricullural journals should 

 carefully distinguish between theory and Jhcf. 

 They are both u^elijl when each is kept within 

 its appropriate sphere. The propounding of theo- 

 ries, leads to exprriinenis, and liy these conducted 

 carefully, liicis are ascertained, and error may be 

 rejected, and truth retained atul reduced to prac- 

 tice. 



I have on hand, a large supply of theory on ag- 

 ricultural sul)je<-ts, and if I were allowed !o pour it 

 Ibrth in an uninlerriiptod stream, yourself and your 

 worthv correspondents would have to give [)lace^ 

 and allow me full and quite possession of your 

 columns, till about Ihe 1st of January nnxt. But 

 if I should unlbrtiinalely get the scribbling mania 

 lo this alarming degree, I hope you will u*e the 

 editor'-s prerogative; and apply tlie .proper correc- 

 tion. 



It is evident (iom several passages in the Chi- 

 nese work on th<' culture of silk, recently jiublish- 

 ed by Mr. Force, that the Chinese are in the ha- 

 bit of" eating the chrysalides of silk-worms. For 

 aught I know, they may make a wholesome and 

 palatable dish, e(jual lo the best fried oysters; btrt 

 I have a sensitive and very rebellious stomach, 

 and a^ yei have not plucked up sufficient couraiie 

 to give the chrysalides, either t'ried, stewed or boil- 

 ed, a lair trial. It is therefore certain, that I shall 

 be in want of corn and potatoes, i)igs and poultry, 

 and I hope that you, and some of your expe- 

 rienced ccN'rcspondenls, will continue your kind ef- 

 forts to teach ihe art of raising these useful coin- 

 modiiies. That ihey are wholesome and palata- 

 ble, are facts well esiablisl'.ed; birl the art of pro- 

 ducing them has not reached perfection. 



I will now proceed to my main sulject which 

 should have been dune sooner. 



In your a-rticle on "mammoth silk-worm eg<rsj^'' 

 you say "the repctilton of t-tatcliing whic};, hag 

 become a fixed quality, in ihe "Ivvo-crop white" 

 silk-worm, and in other kinds kiiown in tropical 

 climates, is doubtless caused iiy the long conti- 

 nued action ol" warmth. In BenguJ, it is said 

 lliere are v/orms |)roduciii<i:1cn or mot^e successive 

 geni'.ralions iti a year; and it s(^ems liom Dr. Per- 

 rine'd inlbrmation, that a similar result has alrea- 

 dy been produced in (ailia." (p. 377 vol. vii.) 



hi the ii'enera! views expressed in your article, 

 I concur, T)ut I ol'ject to the theory laid down m 



