742 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No, 12 



and capital. We beg the reader's attention to the 

 great diH'erence in the results o( the two experi- 

 ments. In the natural system, 40,000 worms con- 

 sumed 2,576 pounds of leaves; in the aruficial 

 system 1,985 lbs. These worms produced 130 

 pounds ol" cocoons in the natural system, and 178 

 lbs. in the aruficial. The cocoons weighed at the 

 rate of 300 to the pound in the natural system, and 

 225 to the pound in the artificial. It required 

 10 lb. 5 oz of" cocoons produced by the natural 

 system to make the pound of silk ; and 9 pounds 

 of those by the artificial. The 40,000 worms led 

 on the natural system made 12 pounds of raw 

 silk ; the same number li;d on the artificial system 

 made 19f lbs. The natural system required an 

 average of lijlly one week more one time to pro- 

 duce the cocoons than the artificial system occu- 

 pied. 



We have drawn these comparisons merely for 

 the purpose of showing the difference of results 

 produced by the two systems. We are fully persua- 

 ded the people generally will adopt the natural 

 system ; but it is proper, that they should be in- 

 Ibrnied how much more they can make by careful 

 management, than they can hope to accomplish 

 by ordinary means. It will be seen by examin- 

 ing Mr. McLean's paper, that the first year the 

 trees are planted at least, and under all circum- 

 stances, f 108 can be made fiom an acre of ground, 

 alter paying lor the hired labor of producing the 

 silk. Ii also will be seen that the silk can be made 

 ready for market, at $2.45 a pound ; and that, even 

 if sold at only $4.50 per pound, a clear profit of 

 100 per cent, results to (he cultivator. . What bet 

 ter business can any man pursue 7 G. JB. S. 



GREATEST KNOWN YIELD OF CORN. 



From the Romney Intelligencer. 

 We are informed that George C. Harness. Esq., 

 of Hardy county, raised the past season, from 

 one acre of grounil, one hundred and seventy eight 

 bushels of corn. Mr. H. cultivated the same with 

 ■a view of premium at the approaching agricul- 

 tural exibition of Hardy county, and ihe husking 

 and measuring of the corn was attended lo by a 

 ■disinterested, intelligent, and highly respectable 

 citizen of Moorefield. This is the most extraor- 

 dinary yield, from one acre of ground, that we have 

 ever heard of. Truly, may ihe South Branch 

 Bottoms be termed the " garden spots" of the 

 union. 



GREEN CROPS FOR MANURE. 



To tlie Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



Ewing, N. J., November 5, 1839. 

 I am pleased with your epsay on green manu- 

 ring contained in the September number of the 

 Farmers' Register. I top-dressed young clover 

 wi:h yard manure last spring, mowed ihe first 

 crop the last week in June, ploughed in the sod in 

 August, sowed corn the last week in August, 

 ploughed in the corn the last week in September, 

 sowed whent the first week in October. The ex- 

 periment will not be a fair one for various reasons, 

 let, the clover was killed (with the exception of 

 patches) by the excessive drought of'laei summer; 



2nd, the first ploughing and corn sowing was too 

 late, and in order to let the corn get top, the last 

 ploughing was too late. I intended lo have 

 ploughed as soon as tne clover was mown, and 

 then sowed my corn ; but the men who promised 

 to mow for me disappointed me, and I was obliged 

 to deler my ploughing until haying was over. If 

 I live, I intend to try it again next season, and be 

 in better season if possible. I sowed my oats last 

 spring with clover; much of it has been smothered 

 by the large crop of straw. 



I have been thinking that your section of coun- 

 try is more liivoraMe lor this kind of experiment 

 than this place. With you, clover mi<^ht be top- 

 dressed in the spring, mowed the last week in 

 May, or the first in June, plough up immediately, 

 sow corn, one and a half bushels to the acre, and 

 about the first of August ploush in ihe corn and 

 sow millet, and about the middle of September 

 plough in the millet, harrow the land, and let it re- 

 main until seed time (which I suppose to be about 

 the middle of October with you). Here seed 

 time is the last week in September and first in Oc- 

 tober. I propose millet on account of its being a 

 succulent plant of quick growth, partaking much 

 the nature of corn, and a native of a warm cli- 

 mate. I think the more succulent the plant, the 

 more valuable for green manure. Winter crops 

 should be sown on a stale furrow, i. e. the land 

 should become compact or close before sowing; 

 for summer crops, loose and mellow. 



I think if this system was pursued a few years 

 in succession, the chinch-bug and Hessian fly 

 would not destroy our wheat. Barley is said to 

 be a belter crop to seed down with grass ihan oats. 

 I commenced ploughinir mv corn ground for the 

 next season on the 15ih October; did intend to 

 sow rye, and plough in the rye next spring, the 

 last week in April ; but it is so late I shall give it 

 up, because the rye cannot get up enough to do 

 much good. I am aware that none of thi- will 

 avail any thinsr, if the land is destitute ol' lime, 

 but was not aware of" it until I read your ' Essay 

 on Calcareous Manures.' I find lime eradicates 

 sorrel. 



In my opinion if we wish to improve land we 

 must return more to it than we take from it. So 

 long as we take more from it than we return to it, 

 we are exhausting it, and so long as we return 

 more to it than we take from it we are improvint;. 

 A constant exhaustion will in time impoverish 

 any soil. 



It is amusing to hear farmers give their opinion 

 on ploughing in green crops. Some say that a 

 crop cannot benefit the land by ploughing it in, un- 

 less it first comes to perfection or maturity ; others, 

 that corn-stalks (referring to my corn) give but 

 little manure, and that of poor quality ; others say 

 it is too expensive. The expense is the seed and 

 sowing. Fifteen bushels of"corn will sow 10 acres, 

 and one man will sow it in one day. It reminds me 

 of your observation in the 'Essay' where you say, 

 "let anything new be proposed, and everyone 

 goes to counting the expense; while, in regard to 

 old established practices, the expense is not even 

 thought of." One thing that is practised here is 

 too expensive, and that is, carting out the yard 

 manure and lying it in heaps until fall, and then 

 misapplying it, i. e., to the wrong crop, the wheat; 

 it is a loss of labor and manure. 



E. S. Hunt. 



