VOL. XIV. NO. 3. 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER. 



21 



and set them apart forseeJ ? Instead of tliis, we 

 reserve for reeling such as are best for that opera- 

 tion, whicii will yield their silk the most readily ; 

 but thiise which wecali dupions or double cocoona, 

 and which are incapable for the most part of being 

 reeled, wo devote to propagation, and tind no per- 

 cciviible inferiority in the product. 'J'he sMk, after 

 the escape of the buttcrtly, is used to good profit 

 by being cleansed of its irnni by boiling in soap and 

 water, and then spun like Ha.x on the little spinning 

 wheel, yielding; an ariicle for hosiery of excellent 

 quality. Tlie c<-gs deposited on cloth or paper, 

 are preserved during winter from too much frost 

 and the de|)redations of mice, and will be ready in 

 spring to be put to their proper use. 



Whether the above sketch can be applied to any 

 useful purpose in aiding the silk culture, I leave 

 entirely to you, confiding in your judgment as to 

 the best means- of diffusing knowledge among those 

 who look to yon for instruction in what pertains to 

 agricultural pursuits. 



With high esteem, your servant, 



JOSKPH FIELD. 



Boston, Jan. 24, 183i>. 



Letler 11 



CharUmont, ^ipril, 1840. 

 Rf.v. Mr Colman — My Dear Sir — My last let- 

 ter enclosed samples of four varieties of mulberry 

 leaves, White, Multicanlis, Canton and Broussa — 

 all produced la.«t season on the same patch of ground 

 — by inspecting which I think one would come to 

 the conclusion, that the more modern fashionable 

 leaves, after all, have little or no pre-eminence to 

 the white, being little larger in size, and as to com- 

 pactness and firmness of texture, manifestly inferi- 

 or. I have formed no judgment, from my own ex- 

 perience, whether there would be economy in sub- 

 stituting other kinds for the Italian white mulberry ; 

 for I have not had sufficient opportunity for a test. 

 There is one consideration not to be overlooked. 

 According to the proposed modern plan of silk pro- 

 duction, viz : by taking up the trees in the autumn 

 and housing them, and resetting them in the spring, 

 their foliage will be later, and require that the lat- 

 ter rather than the former part of .'-ummer be the 

 season for rearing the worm. Now experience has 

 established us in the opinion that the earlier months 

 are incomparably preferable to the later for rearing 

 healthy worms, and, consequently, for producing 

 good cocoons. Trees which will not endure the 

 winter, must be waited on for their harvest, until 

 those of a more hardy race have matured their crop 

 and given it into the hand of the gatherer. If the 

 importance of early feeding be not a prejudice, ev- 

 ery one must see that trees which stand the winter 

 must, other things being equal, be entitled to the 

 preference. When acdinuttion shall remove the 

 objection which lies against the larger leafed spe- 

 cies, they may command respect, and even pre-emi- 

 nence ; but to continue their triumph by acclama- 

 tion, is not to he expected. If the leaves I forward- 

 ed to you are minutely examined, it will be judged, 

 I believe, that the cultivators of the mulberry tree 

 have good encouragement, even if their preferen- 

 ces cling to the Multicanlis, still to regard the 

 white with favor, so much as to allow it generous 

 fare ; not to be turned of}" with a seat at the second 

 or third table ; or still worse, to be denied every 

 indulgence and kindness. A rich soil is alone able 

 to clothe the mulberry with a rich foliage, and, for 

 a liberal allowance of sustenance, even the com- 



mon sort, so degraded and scorned of late, will 

 yield a noble and satisfactory return. 

 Most sincerely yours, 



JOSKPH I'IKLD. 



INJURIOUS EFFECTS OF WEEDS. 



The question has been .■i.':kc<l, how it was possi- 

 ble for China and Japan, with the ordinary products 

 of agriculture, to furnish bread for a population, 

 equaling, according to the latest census, about 300 

 persons to a square mile. The answer is to be 

 found in the care with which every foot of ground 

 is cultivated ; in the fact that few animals are kept 

 either for labor or food ; and more perhaps than 

 any thing else, in the entire freedom of the crops 

 from every thing that can reduce their quantity or 

 quality. Not a weed of any kind is to be found in 

 the fields, and the most positive enactments and 

 most assiduous attentions are directed to keeping 

 the country free from them. 



Few are aware how miicli weeds, or grasses, 

 growing in a grain crop, detract from its value, by 

 lessening the product. A vigorous root of char- 

 lock or thistle will draw from the earth the nutri- 

 ment that would have given fullness to half a dozen 

 ears of wheat; and where these, or any other for- 

 eign substance is permitted in a growing crop, that 

 is sure to suffer in proportion to the quantity of the 

 foul material present. Weeds injure a crop in two 

 ways — by the room they occupy, to the exclusion 

 of the valuable plants, and by the nutriment of 

 which they rob the growing crop. We have seen 

 fields in whicli the wheat maintained a dubious 

 struggle with the red root, charlock or thistle ; and 

 where the stem and the ear both showed how much 

 they needed to be relieved from such crowding and 

 unwelcome neighbors. On the best cultivated 

 farms of England or Belgium, not a plant or weed 

 of any description can be found in a growing crop ; 

 and in some years the Earl of Leicester has offered 

 a reward, but without success, for the smallest or 

 any weed that could be found in hundreds of acres 

 of his turnips or his wheat. 



In this country, but few experiments have been 

 made to show the difference of product between 

 clean and foul fields, but several are recorded in 

 Sinclair's Code of Agriculture, some of which we 

 shall give, to call the attentiim of fanners to this 

 point, and show that the labor expended in clearing 

 fields or crops from weeds, is far from being lost, 

 as many would seem, from their negligence in the 

 matter, to suppose. 



" 1. Wheat. Seven acres of liglit gravelly land 

 were fallov.'ed and sown broad cast; one acre was 

 measured off, and not a weed was pulled out of it ; 

 the other six were carefully weeded. The un- 

 -weeded acre produced 18 bushels; the six weeded 

 acres 136 bushels, or 22 1-3 bushels per acre ; which 

 is 4 1-2 bushels, or one-fourth of the whole, in fa- 

 vor of weeding. 



"2. Barley. A six acre field was sown with 

 barley, in fine tilth, and well manured. The weed- 

 ing, owing to a great abundance of charlock, cost 

 ]9s. per acre. The produce of an unweeded acre, 

 was only 13 bu'shels ; of the weeded, 28. Differ- 

 once in favor of the weeding, 15 bushels per acre, 

 besides the land being so much cleaner for sue- 

 ceeding crops. 



" 3. Oats. Six acres were sown with oats ; one 

 acre ploughed but once and unmanured, produced 

 only 17 bushels. Another six acres ploughed three 

 times, manured, and weeded, produced 37 bushels 



per acre. This experiment proves that oats re- 

 quire good management, and will pay for it, as 

 well as other crops Ten bushels of the increased 

 produce may be fairly attributed to the weeding, 

 and the other ton to the maniiie." 



It i.s admitted that the labor and expense of weed- 

 ing a crop is considerable; but if the difference be 

 such as is liere stated, ai,d there is no reason to 

 doubt it, as it is abundantly corroborated by other 

 experiments, then it should be more generally and 

 promptly attended to than it is. If our farmers 

 could raise 4 1-2 bushels of wheat, 1.5 of barley, or 

 10 of oats, additional to their usual crop per acre, 

 tlie ett'ect would at once be felt in every depart- 

 ment of labor in our country. No one can travel 

 tlirongh our country before harvest time, without 

 being convinced that millions of acres might have 

 their products increased in as great a ratio as the 

 above, by entire freedom from weeds. ' Fanners 

 would be gratified could they have their lands tax 

 free; but experience shows ihst to have them weed 

 free, would be of far greater importance to them. — 

 Qlbany CuUivntor. 



Massarhuselts Premiums. — The Agricultural So- 

 ciety of the Old Bay State does not grow weary in 

 well doing, as its list of premiums for the year 1840 

 fully shows. Tliey are certainly magnificent, and 

 sliould induce extensive competition among the far- 

 mers of that State. We are pleased to learn that 

 the condition of the society is prosperous: that its 

 funds are ample, the list of premiums demonstrate. 



We learn from the N. E. Parmer with some sur- 

 prise, that censure in some quarters has been cast 

 on this noble society for having not done more for 

 the promotion of agriculture. The censure is clear- 

 ly undeserved ; for if all that could be wished has 

 not been accomplished, all that could reasonably 

 be expected from the well directed eflTorts of such 

 a body, has been performed. Massachusetts has 

 been peculiarly fortunate in the individuals select- 

 ed to manage her agricultural affairs; and under 

 their enlightened guidance and supervision, the 

 most cheering results for the future may be safely 

 anticipated. — Ibid. 



The Borer. — This worm 'makes less .show vf 

 business than the canker worm or the caterpillar, 

 but he does his business effectually where he un- 

 dertakes. Deacon Leland, of Sherburne, says he 

 finds the borer in his nursery, in those places only 

 where he has neglected to destroy the sward. Mr 

 Oliver Barrel, of Bolton, tells us that he found no 

 borers in his quince trees until he had placed chip- 

 dung about their roots ; and ascribes their intro- 

 duction to this cause. We think this probable. 

 For many years we have avoided putting chip-dung 

 about the roots of our trees It is often full of 

 worms, and should be thrown into the hog-pen be- 

 fore it is put in to any field. — Farmer's Companion. 



Grape Jelly — We have e.xamined a specimen of 

 this exquisite article. It is made from the Isabel- 

 la ripe grape, raised at Croton vineyards: the ob- 

 ject has been to preserve the flavor and virtues of 

 the ripe fruit. In this the preparation has met with 

 the most perfect success. We recommend the jel- 

 ly as delicious to the taste, and an excellent beve- 

 rage to the sick. — A**. Y. Express. 



Plant a vine, and in a few years the fruit thereof 

 will cause thee to bless the day when thou didst it. 



