THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



307 



actual observation, and I am as certain that it has 

 often caused death in those cities, when the medi- 

 cal attendants viewed it as some anoma^ous tbrm 

 of disease, not suspectinjj the means by which 

 poison had been conveyed among them. Phy- 

 sicians of the latter city, having been questioned 

 particularly on this subject, have mentioned to me 

 a singular and often fatal disease which appeared 

 in certain families, the cases occurring simulta- 

 neously, and all traces of it disappearing sudde.ily, 

 and which I cannot doubt were the result of poi- 

 soned butter or cheese." 



SILK-WORBI RKARING IN ARKANSAS. II\trOR- 

 TANCE OF CALCAREOUS SOir. TO GRAPE 

 VINES. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



Washington, Ark., March 5, 1841. 



Believing that every new experiment in silk- 

 growing, on however small a scale, that has 

 proved successful in a first attempt, deserves a 

 passing notice, I have to contribute my mite, in 

 the hope that it may not be unacceptable. 



I received, on the first of March last, from G. 

 B. Smith, esq. of Baltimore, a package of silk- 

 worm eggs, which began hatching on the 4th — 

 haying no doubt been heated in the mail-bags to 

 the hatching temperature. They were left ex- 

 posed in a cool room, to all the vicissitudes of heat 

 and cold, no fire being ever lighted in the room, 

 with.ja view of testing the natural method, 

 strictl^v-The worms were kept supplied with 

 young multicaulis leaves, of which there were 

 plenty, and each day's hatching kept separate. 

 They continued to hatch, 20, 30, 50, to 100 a day, 

 for the space of more than six weeks — the ther- 

 mometer frequently falling as low as the freezmg 

 point, and sometimes ranging thirty degrees 

 in twenty-four hours. The worms all matured, 

 without the loss of one that was discovered. And 

 of the same parcel of eggs, on the same sheet of 

 paper, those first hatched commenced spinning 

 before the last were hatched. The supply of 

 eggs being small, I was desirous of not losing 

 any; and they were therefore fed, watched, and 

 cleaned with the utmost care. No perceptible 

 diilerence in the size or healthiness of the worms, 

 from the first hatching to the last, and not a bad 

 or imperfect cocoon among them. Those hatch- 

 ed on the 4th of March spun on the 22d of April, 

 and those hatched on the 24th of April spun on 

 the 22d of May. During the last age the worms 

 were fed with leaves on the branches, the limbs 

 at each feeding crossing the limbs laid on before; 

 and the pile of brush thus formed made a very 

 convenient place for spinning, with which the 

 worms appeared content ; and the cocoons thus 

 made \vere equal to any formed in the other va- 

 rious conveniences recommended by writers on 

 the subject, in which I had arranged different 

 portions of the worms. The kind I reared was 

 the Italian Gray, sulphur colored. The 1000 se- 

 lected for seed weighed 5 lbs. 6 oz. avoirdupois. 

 We succeeded in reeling the remaining cocoons, 

 without diflUculty, on the cotton reel, to which I 

 had adapted fixtures for running two threads at 

 a time, wrapped round fuch other, as in the reel 

 of Piedmont, but without the traversing bar. 

 This silk has since been manufactured into sew- 

 ings of good quality, on the common wheel. 



I cannot expect my method of hatching will 

 be generallv adopted, but 1 am not sure but it may 

 be the best for ensuring a hardy breed of worms. 

 At least I am encouraged to repeal the experi- 

 ment this season. 1 am preparing to feed u mil- 

 lion of worms this season, being plentifully sup- 

 l)lied with multicaulis and white mulberry. This 

 latter I find very convenient for alternating with 

 tiie first, in feeding the leaves on the limbs, from 

 the slender stems forming such a neat pile for the 

 ibrmation of cocoons. 



I have satisfactorily tested your-theory of cal- 

 careous soils being best adapted to grape vines. 

 My crop of grapes of 1839 was bountiful, indeed, 

 — i'ully ripened, full bunches, and without the sign 

 of spot or mildew to be seen, on that part of the 

 vineyard that had been marled. But a few vines, 

 of equal thriftiness, and pruned and cultivated in 

 all respects similarly, except not being marled, 

 spotted and mildewed three-fourths of their 

 grapes as usual. During that season, however, 

 we were favored with abundance of rain, nearly 

 12 inches having fallen in the month of July. I 

 deem this a matter of consequence in our climate, 

 and will render it important to be prepared with 

 the means for irrigation, should a drought render 

 it necessary, during the perfecting of the fruit. 

 The summer of 1840 was very different. Until 

 the first of June my vines were as thrifty, as fully 

 set with fruit, as clear of mildew, and every way 

 as promising as they were the previous year ; but 

 during the month of June there fell but three- 

 fourths of an inch of rain, in July but 2.3 inches, 

 and in August but 1 inch. The leaves on the 

 vines ripened and shed off, leaving the green 

 bunches of fruit exposed naked to the sun. They 

 wilted, dried, and fell, without ripening. It must 

 be remarked, that the culture of the vine was a 

 new thing with me, that I had never seen any but 

 my own, and that these vines were but five years 

 from the slips. It may be, that as the vines get 

 older, and only the same extent of limbs being 

 allowed to older roots, they may become better 

 able to sustain a drought. But the benefit of irri- 

 gation to any growing crop, in a dry season, to 

 which our climate is peculiarly liable, must be im- 

 portant. N. D. Smith. 



For the Farmers' Register. 

 RANGE OF THE THERMOMETER, ANIJ STATE 

 OF THE WEATHER, AT WASHINGTON, ARK., 

 THROUGH 1840. NOTED BY N. D, SMITH. 



