1336.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



703 



hairy on the lower, of an acrid taste, and becom- 

 ing dry less quickly than those of the. mulberry. 

 The male of flowers, forming a lengthened spike 

 [chaimi] presents a calyx of four divisions, witliout 

 carolla, and four stamens. The lernale flowers, 

 borne upon another stem, have a smaller calyx, 

 without carolla, a thread-like style, hairy, and nu- 

 merous ovaries united in a spherical spike. The 

 fruit, is a pulp with many cells, of the size and co- 

 lor of an orange, good to eat, as some say, but not 

 eatable ■according to Michaux, to whom we owe 

 the introduction of this tree. Each cell encloses a 

 com nressed oval seed.* 



The mnclura aurantiaca, on account ol its points 

 of relation to the mulberry, has improperly been 

 called tbe mulberry of the Osages — the name of a 

 tribe of savages who inhabit Louisiana, and who 

 use its branches to make their bows. It thrives 

 well on both fertile and inferior soils, and is repro- 

 duced easily by seeds, by layers, by grafts upon 

 the paper mulberry, (broussonetia papyrifera,) and 

 still better, by slips of its young branches or roots. 

 In this last mode of multiplication, which I be- 

 lieve the most proper, the roots are cut, when they 

 are nearly the size of the finger, into lengths of 7 

 or S inches; the pieces are planted in a cool and 

 sheltered place, and not. leaving but 2 or 3 lines ol 

 each above the ground. The plant succeeds equal- 

 ly well as a standard, in a hedge, in shrubbery, or 

 as an espalier. 



The. utility of the madura aurar.tiaca, consider- 

 ed ms an auxiliary of the mulberry, i:s resistance 

 of late fros:s, the elegance of its form, the facility 

 with which it can be multiplied, the vityor of its 

 growth, and the pliability of its branches, which 

 permits their being applied to various uses — all 

 these qualities assign to it a distinguished rank 

 among the foreign trees, that are the most suitable 

 to enrich our agriculture, and to embellish our 

 country. 



For the Farmers' Register. 



QUERIES AND REMARKS ON LIMING IN DEL- 

 AWARE. 



Kent Counly, (Delaware,) ) 

 February 1st. 1836. $ 



The Editor of the Farmers' Register is request- 

 ed to answer the following queries, in that publi- 

 cation. 



1. What quantity of slacked lime would be safe 

 and profitable to apply to an acre of light lands, 

 very similar to these, described in the Essay on 

 Calcareous Manures, in the tide-water region of 

 Virginia, reduced by hard tillage to about five 

 bushels of corn per acre. 



2. Would farmers in this region, two miles 

 from tide-water (navigable) be remunerated at a 

 cost of twelve and a half cents per bushel, in- 

 cluding all expenses — of purchasing the lime, 

 carting, spreading, &c? — with such other infor- 

 mation <is the editor may please to suggest. The 



*AIl the plants of the madura now existing in the 

 gardens of exotics, on the continent of Europe, have 

 proceeded from five slips sent from Baltimore in 1815, 

 by M. Victor Leroy to M. Andre Michaux. Four of 

 these slips were planted in the nurseries of M. Cels, 

 and the fifth in the Jardin des plantes of Paris. 



farmers in this poor, and almost exhausted coun- 

 ty are just beginning to feel the want of aid from 

 some source or other, to relieve their deplora- 

 ble situation. Several have read the essay men- 

 tioned above, and never seem before to have un- 

 derstood the action of lime as a manure. The al- 

 most total ignorance on the subject, has prevent- 

 ed many from commencing tbe use of lime — and. 

 caused others to abandon it who commenced the 

 business with erroneous views of its effects as 

 an agent to resuscitate our almost exhausted lands. 

 The people are awake to the importance of the 

 subject, and only want a master-spirit to contrive 

 and direct their operations. 



We have frequently stated that our experimental 

 knowledge of quicklime, is almost nothing — and that 

 our opinions as to that substance, are founded on the 

 known effects of mild calcareous manure, and the sup- 

 posed difference of action between the two substances. 

 We therefore would rather rely on the experience of 

 others in this branch of the general subject, which has 

 been presented in various parts of this journal — and 

 particularly would we recommend to notice, the views 

 of M. Puvis, and the French practice of light dress- 

 ings of lime, given in Nos. 6 and 7 of this volume. 

 If a more precise answer is required, and the lime is 

 to be used alone, and not according to the method just 

 ^ferr^d to, we would advise for such poor lands fifty 

 bushels of burnt shells (measured before slaking,) in 

 preference to a larger quantity. As to the second 

 question, there can be no hesitation in answering af- 

 firmatively. 



The few observations of our correspondent form 

 the only notice of the agriculture of Delaware which 

 has been offered to this journal; and they present, in a 

 strong point of view, the deplorable want of knowl- 

 edge on the value of cahareous manures, even in re- 

 gions where they are most required, and would be 

 most profitable — and also, the veiy slow progress that 

 published information on agriculture makes through 

 our country. It has been fifteen or sixteen years 

 since Dr. Samuel Black of Delaware presented, to an 

 agricultural society of that state, a long essay on the 

 improvement of land by liming, which was published, 

 and extensively circulated. It is true, that his facts 

 were very limited, and his speculations visionary, and 

 often erroneous: but there was much (even in his ex- 

 aggerated expectations of profit,) to attract attention 

 to the subject: and even if no other information had 

 been elsewhere offered, it would have been expected, 

 that the practice of liming would, on his recommenda- 

 tion, have been tried sufficiently to be approved and 

 established in Delaware. 



INUNDATION OF A MINE. 



On the 20th of June, 1833, while Mr. Mont- 

 iromerv, hanker, in Irvine, and another gentleman, 

 were engaged in Ashing on the river Gamock, 

 nearly opposite to where they were standing a 

 slight eruption took place, in the current of the ri- 

 ver, which they at first supposed to be occasioned, 

 by the leap of a salmon; but the gurgling motion 

 which succeeded,, led them to suppose that some- 



