THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



303 



while you would do justice to the meclianic, you 

 are particularly watchl'ul that the liirnier be not 

 imposed upon, I will very reepectfuily make she 

 Ibllowing proposition to you, hoping it will receive 

 your favorable notice. I propose to send to you, 

 without any expense to you whatever, two reap- 

 ing machines ; one of each kind, to be wholly 

 sul>ject to your control, and direction, so liir as to 

 obtain for them such a lull and lair trial at the 

 next harvest in grain of every description and 

 under all circunistanres as shall be liilly satisfac- 

 tory to yourself and your agricultural liiends. 

 I will hold myself in readiness to attend upon 

 them at any time and place which you may fix 

 upon. As you will not probably interest your- 

 self in this matter unless ii should promise some 

 useful result, 1 have procured lor the considera- 

 tion of yourself, and your readers, the annexed 

 certificates, which reler to machines ol the new 

 plan only; the irdeficiencies were however; reme- 

 died before they left my manufactory. Certifi- 

 cates eqijally full can be procured lor machines on 

 the old plan.* Obed Hussey. 



Mr. Hussey 's proposal and plan of trial of his 

 machines are fair and liberal, and we trust will 

 serve to settle the question as to the degree of their 

 value. As we were desirous of obtaining the 

 best means and subjects for a fLill and accurate 

 trial, and not being so situated as to be able to 

 perform directly the services required of us for this 

 end, some lime has been necessarily lost in mak- 

 ing the satisfactory arrangemenis, which we arc 

 now authorized to announce. Wm. B. Harrison, 

 esq., at our request, has consented to take charge 

 of the trial of the machines, and have it properly 

 made during his harvest, on his estate, Upper 

 Brandon, on James River, Prince George county. 

 There could be no better field selected for a lull 

 and complete trial, than this estate offers, nor one 

 better qualified than its proprietor to observe ac- 

 curately and report correctly the results — which 

 will be done through the Farmers' Register. — 

 Ed. F. R. 



CAUTION TO SILK CULTCRISTS. 



To the Editor of ttie Farmerg' Register. 



Stafford, Va., May 15, 1841. 

 As the season for beginning tlie rearing of silk- 

 worms is near at hand, and as some of your read- 

 ers will commence the business this summer, I 

 hope you will give space in the Register (bra lew 

 brief cautions, that may be useful to the inexpe- 

 rienced. 



1. To all new beginners! say, do not hatch too 

 many worms at first, nor expect to derive much 

 profit from your first experiment. The knowledire 

 derived from experience, which alone can enable 

 you to conduct the business with economy of 

 labor, will amply remunerate in subsequent ope- 

 rations all who will have patience and peise- 

 verance enough to pursue the business a sufficient 

 time to learn how to manage it well. 



2. Beware of expending much for new and 



*The certificates are among the advertispmenf? 

 of this number. — Ed. F. R. 



highly puffed fixtures, uniil you learn from expe- 

 rience that they will accomplish all, or nearly all, 

 that their inventors and advocates claim lor them. 

 An old practice has been sent, forth under a new 

 name, (the " non-cleaning system,") wliich, I 

 lear, will be productive of mischief in several 

 ways. The general impression made on the 

 minds of the inexperienced is, that cleanliness 

 may be dispensed with. JJeware of practising on 

 this opinion. 1 have led with branches* Ibr seve- 

 ral seasons, as late as the 25ih of June, and the 

 plan works well, with proper attention to cleaning, 

 and when the mulberry trees are judiciously 

 pruned. The mulberry trees mu.st not be pruned 

 at the farthest later than the 1st of July, and then 

 the pruning should be conducted with regularity, 

 agd the ground ploughed or hoed, immediately 

 after the operaiion. With a sharp pruning bill 

 take off from 1 to 2 feet of the top, and cut every 

 lateral branch close to the main stem. Trees 

 pruned in this manner, and cultivated immediately, 

 will yield an abundant supply of leaves, the next 

 year, and you will have a well-balanced tree ; but 

 if one or two small branches be left, they will at- 

 tract nearly all the sap, and the shoots from the 

 oiher joints of itie stem will be leeble. But a 

 reckless mowing down of the trees in July and 

 August will soon end in their destruction. This 

 practice has been known to destroy the elder, 

 (sambucus nigra,) that hardy pest of Americari 

 larmers.f 



3. Leaves gathered in the heat of the day must 

 be spread and stirred with a stick before they are 

 given to the silk-worms. If given to them when 

 warm they produce disease. And whenever large 

 quantities ol leaves are brought to the feeding 

 room, to be kept even for one or two hours, care 

 should be taken to spread them in thin layers. If 

 fermented leaves be given to the worms, their de- 

 struction will certainly Ibllow ; although most of 

 them may live until near the period Ibr spinning. 



4. Let the silk-worms have (especially in tlie 

 last age) an abundant supply of (reeh air. The 

 windows should be kept partially open, at least, 

 day and night, and even during thunder stormp. 

 A modern inventor has Ibund out that the ad- 

 mission of the exterior air is not very important. 

 He ventilates the worms, and is not solicitous 

 about keeping up currents of air through the build- 

 itiir. Beware of this crude and neiv-fanglcd notion. 



5. After the worms have formed the cocoons, 

 attend carefully to the directions for killino- the 

 chrysalides, found in the Farmers' Register and 

 the Journal of the American Silk Society. If the 

 use of caiTjphor, as recommended by Miss Rapp, 

 should be practised, strict regard to her directions, 

 as to time and manner, is essential. The co- 

 coons must be carefully assorted, and if kept in 

 the box loo long they may be seriously injured by 

 fermentation. Layton Y. Atkiks. 



* The practice of feeding silk-worms by layins: 

 over them branches of the' mulberry has probably 

 been pursued at Brousa, in Asia Minor, for several 

 centuries. (See an extract from a letter of Miss Par- 

 doe, published in the Farmers' Register, vol. vii. p. 



t Some persons have adopted the notion that (he 

 morus multicaiilis cannot bi? killed. Let such pursue 

 the mowing plan in July and August, lor one or two 

 summers, and they will find themselves in the condi- 

 tion of the man 'who killed "the goose that laid 

 golden eggs," 



