THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



299 



Ihe five busliels he. sold mc' ' Cost V said he. 

 ' Yes,' said I, ' wtiat did (lie produclion ol'ilieso 

 cocoons cost yonV 'O'.'said lie, wiih surprise 

 ai my question, ' ihey cost notking, sir, my li'ile 

 brothers and eisiers made them, and their labor 

 would have been nothing otherwise.' If ^20 

 had I'allen liom the clouds into that man's hand, 

 he would not have had. a clearer gain lo his in- 

 come without ailditioiial expense. Thousands 

 will answer in ihis spirii, ere long, I believe. 



J\ly two reels are steadily at woilc. The silk 

 reeled since 1st February amounts lo about 70 

 lbs. Some ol' it is as good as they can reel in 

 Piedmont, to save their lives, (as the boys say,) 

 and the worst, many limes better ihan any 1 

 have seen from Smyrna, or Bombay. Up to 

 last Saturday, two girls in 52 days, all sons ol 

 weather and cocoons, had reeled 62 lbs. of silk, 

 without their being pushed at all, and idling some 

 of course. They are singing half their time — I 

 hear liiem now — and are delighted with their 

 work. The profit I am making at present, is 

 greater than I expected it to be. I could make 

 more money at reeling silk, than any coiton plan- 

 tation, or sugar, or gold mine in the United 

 Slates. The girls in 52 days have reeled 62 lbs. 



of silk. The cocoons cost me S 186 00 



The 2 girls wages, at 2 shillings each 



per day, ----- 36 33| 

 I'wo reelers, at 1 shilling for the two 



per day, (two children who turn the 



aspel,) - ... - 8 66| 



Flossing cocoons, at 12.| cts. to the 



1 lb. of silk, - - - . 'j' 75 



I have scribbled this in a great hurry. But be- 

 ing on my bobby, I have kept him going. O! 

 ilie best reeler in Philade'phia, wrote (o me last 

 mail !-lie would come to Tennessee, if I said so. 

 I will say nay, 1 will not insult my IJawkiria 

 couniy irirle by an instructress, who knows no 

 more than they do, after they have learned them- 

 selves, with my instruction, second-hand li-oni 

 you. Mr. M. of' B. says he stopfied (or the cold 

 weather, I reeled when the thermometer was 

 nearly at zero; and two hours after night besides, 

 i every night until lit March. But I must dis- 

 j niount. Frederick A. Ross. 



! P. S. I forgot to say, I reeled my pound to the, 

 I reel in the day as I promisei] you, and I wish I 

 'could send you one of the hanks. The cocoons 

 I were line, and the silk is beautiful, like threads of 

 s-ilver, and as even and smooth as glass. That 

 I best day's work as to quantity, is not surpassed 

 j by any other in quality. And that day's work 

 can be done any time with such cocoons, and more 

 ! than that, althoush the average is nothing like 

 ! it in Quantity. The cocoons are indiiferent. 

 ! ^ F. A. R. 



I [We must remind the reader that the girls who 

 'reeled the silk for Mr. Ross, had never seen a 

 cocoon or a reel, till last (all; that they learned 

 I to reel under Mr. Ross' direction, from instruc- 

 I tions given in the Silk Journal ; and to this day 

 I have never seen a foreign reeler or a thread of 

 breigti reeled silk. — En. S. J.] 



Price of 62 lbs. of silk, at $5,50, 

 Profit, 



238 75 

 341 00 



102 25 



From which must be deducted interest on 

 fixtures, expense of coal, water, &c. Alter all 

 ot' which is taken off, some of which would be 

 only nominal, there is left a greater profit than 

 I could ex|-ect or desire on a large business. In 

 my advertisement, you perceive I offer, condi- 

 tionally, 20 per cent, more than the price now 

 given, which, with the deduction on the cotton 

 yarn (to the farmers as money) from the retail 

 price, will overgo $4, on a bushel, making a 

 pound o( silk. It may be less on the inlerior 

 cocoons per ounce. I shall probably pay the 

 equivalent to S4, per 16 oz., without regard to 

 my condition, smce 1 have read your letter. 



I am fitting up my cocoonery to teed with the 

 branches, on the principle of Mr. Morris, of Bur- 

 lington, modified. I dispense with his spinning 

 frame as he has it horizontal above each leeding 

 (rame, and have it perpendicular between the 

 two shelves, which (brni one row. I have no 

 apron or shelf to catch the litter, that may riddle 

 through lo the ground. 



We talked about this, and you thouaht there 

 was no need of any thing to catch ilie liner. 

 The whole affair ia very cheap, and I inttMid to 

 give it a (iiir trial ; my first crop will be 500.000. 

 I kill the chrysalis (which [ forgot to lell you) in a 

 house, such as is used for drying fruit. It costs 

 but a trifle, and in one night the work is done, and 

 well done. I want nothing else, neither lor speed, 

 cheapness, or perlect work. 



ADMISSIONS IN FAVOR OP THE NEW FOUR- 

 FIET.D SYSTEM. TEMPORARY WINTER 



FARM-PENS. RYE A SUBSTITUTE FOR 



CLOVER IN OHIO. 



For tlie Farmers' Register, 



It is much to be regretted that the desire lo 

 appear consistent so olten prevents even ingenu- 

 ous persons from retracting wrong opinions. In 

 making ihe (bllowing adraissioijs in favor of the 

 new four-field system, which trives ihree grain 

 crops in four years, I shall endeavor, as far as 

 I can, to divest myself of all such leeling ; having 

 been, as you know, a warm opposer of this sys- 

 tem, in tome of the early numbers of the Farm- 

 ers' Register, and having (bund on trial that ma- 

 ny of the objections these urged against it, by 

 myself and others, are entitled to much less 

 weight than 1 then supposed. At that time it did. 

 appear to me that the draught on the land, in 

 producing three successive grain crops in four 

 years, was much too heavy to admit of much im- 

 provement, unless on land of uncommon fertility ; 

 though 1 was much staggered in this opinion 

 by I he great success of several of the most skilful 

 cultivators of the soil on .Tames River, who high- 

 ly recommended this sysicm after a trial of some 

 years, and after having greatly increased their 

 crops, and evidently haviuix effected a great de- 

 gree of improvement on their fine estates, though 

 practising this system all the lime. You will un- 

 derstand me as reli^rring particularly to my wor- 

 thy friends of Sliirley and Westover, whose va- 

 luable communications lo your paper have been 

 so inslruclive and interesting to many of your 

 readers, myself among the number. 



After a full and fair trial of tl!is system, but on 



