2S 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



Jl'LT a9. I 4 



From the Albany CuUivalor. 



MR COLMAN'S THIRD REPORT. 



We have had the pleasure of examining the re- 

 port of the Agricultural (^oimtiissioner for the past 

 year; and are hap)iy to bearoiir trstiuiony to the 

 ability and zeal with which his arduous duties are 

 perl'ormed, and the beneficial efiects his labors are 

 calculated to produce. Mr Colman's first report 

 related to the ajrriculturo of some i f the eastern 

 counties of Massachusetts ; tlie second report was 

 devoted to the survey of the county of Berkshire ; 

 and the present is occupied with the groat subjects 

 of wheat and silk. 



The lesjislature of Massachusetts in 1838, offer- 

 ed a bounty on the cultivation of wheat, and the 

 present report illustrates the effect of that law, by 

 showing the number of claimants, the acres sown, 

 and the amount of wheat produced. The number 

 of claimants for the bounty was 3,(i4'2 : acres sown, 

 nearly 7,000; bushels produced, ]08,.'')70; and the 

 average not far from 15 bushels per acre. We ac- 

 knowledge this result is rather unexpected to us, 

 having heard so much of the incapacity of the New 

 England States to grow wheat : for we much ques- 

 tion wliether the sprws; whtnt crop of any conside- 

 rable part of New York will average more than the 

 one stated. 



The returns from the several towns are very full, 

 and embrace much valuable matter, which has 

 been skilfully condensed in the report. From an 

 examination of the returns, it appears that much 

 injury was done by the grain insect or worm ; that 

 there was much smut ; some blight from causes 

 unknown ; and much suffering of the crop from 

 drought. " It appears also from the returns, tliat 

 there is scarcely an instance named in whicli lime 

 or plaster has given any decisive and well-authen- 

 ticated favorable results. Wood ashes have been 

 frequently used, and large crops have followed.'"— 

 Ashes, however, sometimes failed. 



Mr (^olman enters into an extended argument to 

 show that Massachusetts would find her account in 

 producing lier bread from her own soil ; and his 

 reasonings are in our opinion conclusive. No p^-o- 

 ple can permanently prosper who depend on others 

 for their bread. Every other kind of business must 

 fluctuate ; and while some individuals or states 

 grow speedily rich from maiuifactures or commerce, 

 the tiller of the soil, be who grows his own bread, 

 is alone independent. Mr Colman has most truly 

 said, that "agriculture, in the view of every sound 

 political economist, is tiie foundation of national 

 wealth." All other means are only accessories. 



The report enters largely upon the cultivation of 

 wheat; its diseases, varieties, methods of improve- 

 mejit, and the best mode of culture. The causes 

 of failure he arranges undor the heiid of rust, smut, 

 mildew, and insects. On all these topics his ob- 

 servations are worthy of being studied by every 

 wheat grower, as embracing umch condensed infor- 

 mation, which will be every where useful. The 

 grain worm is doubtless the most formidable ene- 

 my the eastern wheat grower has to encounter, and 

 on this subject Mr Cohnan recommends most stren- 

 uously the use of newly slaked lime, dusted thor- 

 oughly over the grain just as it is coming into flow- 

 er. A single application has proved successful, 

 while in others repetition was necessary. Mr C. 

 announced this preventive some years since, in the 

 N. Y. Farmer, but the results of some experiments 

 made by farmers in the valley of the Hudson, did 



nut seem to justify the opinions entertained of its : 

 efficacy ; the difficulty might, however, lie in the 

 lime, or the period of its application ; and it is well 

 worthy of trial wherever the u orm makes its ap- 

 pearance in the wheat crop. There are two kinds 

 of worms which feed on wl)eat in the ear; one, 

 which has been known for a long time in western 

 New York, and has sometimes produced some inju- 

 ry, though little, when compared with the ravages 

 of the other species in other parts of the country. 

 The otiier is the worm of New England and the 

 Hudson valley, which, there is reason to hope, has 

 passed the period of itfs greatest ravages, as it has 

 been less numerous and destructive to the wheat 

 crops for the last two years, than for several years 

 previous. 



On the subject of ploughing in clover for wheat, 

 Mr Cohiian has the following remarks: "I have al- 

 ways been inclined to the belief, which generally 

 prevails, and which Mr Phinney maintains, that the 

 higher the state of luxuriance in which vegetable 

 matter was turned in by the plough, the more the 

 land will be enriched by it. But the experience of 

 one of the best farmers in the State has satisfied 

 me, especially as it has been confirmed by anollier 

 equally intelligent farmer, and wliolly unbiassed 

 by tlie judgment of any other person, that the land 

 is more benefited by the turning in of the clover 

 crop after it is dried, than when in a state of green- 

 ness and full of sa|). The opinion is, that if green, 

 it creates an acidity in the soil, prejudicial to the 

 succeeding crop." 



In support of the opinion here expressed by Mr 

 Colman, we may adduce that of one of the most 

 successful wheat growers in the western counties, 

 whose crop is usually from 1000 to 1500 bushels. 

 He assured us several years since, that he had done 

 turning in clover when in full vigor for wheat, as 

 from his experience he knew that it "soured the 

 soil," and that it would not recover from such a 

 dressing under three or four years. Still clover 

 was the main stay of his wheat husbandry ; but in- 

 stead of turning it in, he fed or trampled it down 

 upon the land, by cattle or sheep, he preferring the 

 latter, and keeping some three or four hundred for 

 that purpose. His lands are broken up in the fore 

 part of summer, before a great growtli of clover is 

 attained ; whijat is sown in the fall, and clover seed 

 in the spring. The wheat is plastered and also 

 the clover in tli,e next year ; his course embrueing 

 four years. Large quantities of clover decay on 

 the ground, and this, mixed with the manure of the 

 animals, and the mass of clover roots at t!ie time 

 of fallowing, gives a progressive improvement to 

 his soil and his crops, which certainly speaks well 

 in favor of the system. 



It ap[>ears from that part of the rejjort relating 

 to manures for wheat, that lime has been of little 

 or no value when used, and that crops of wlieat of 

 about 30 bushels per acre, have been grown on soils 

 in which not a trace of carbonate of lime existed. 

 There was a small quantity of phosphate of lime, 

 however, present, one and a half per cent., and this 

 could not have been without its influence. It i.s 

 surprising to witness the discrepancy between the 

 results f'rom the use of lime in Massachusetts, as 

 given in the report, and those produced by the 

 same article in some of the middle States. The 

 reason of this want of efficiency in the northern 

 soils, does not appear to be satisfactorily ascertain- 

 ed ; but the subject is one of such consequence, as 

 to demand the most rigid investigation. Wo are 

 inclined to the opinion, tliat where the other mat- 



ters in the soil are right, a very small quantity of 

 lime is sufficient for all the purposes of vegetation ; 

 but as lime appears to be an essential part of the 

 wheat and clover plants, it seems clear, that more 

 or less of it is indispensable to their growth, and 

 the perfection of their seeds. The Berkshire marls 

 have not produced the effect expected from them 

 by some ; but, if made into compost in mixture 

 with peat, vegetable mould, or animal rnantires, we 

 doubt not the value of all would be greatly enhanc- 

 ed. Mr Colman's remarks on cleanness of cultiva- 

 tion, and recent agricultural improvements, are 

 very just; but we have room here only to refer to 

 them, and must pass to the Bec(md part of the re- 

 port — that which relates to silk. 



The report of Mr Colman on this subject, one 

 which we consider of vast importance to the na- 

 tion, is without question, the most valuable docu- 

 ment yet given to the .American public on this top- 

 ic, and should be in the liands of every one who , 

 proposes to enter on the production of silk. His 

 opinions and facts are advanced with fearlessness 

 and discrimination, and the amount of information 

 he has collected and condensed in the report, is 

 truly great. On the subject of the mulberry, the 

 kind of worm, the different methods of feeding, the 

 cost of production, the demand, and the profits of 

 production and manufacture, are all well treated, 

 as well as many other incidental topics connected 

 with these. The report is not intended as a manu- 

 al for the producer or the manufacturer, but as a 

 general guide to the inquirer ; and in this respect 

 will be found unrivalled. 



In determining the question of the capability of 

 this country to produce silk, Mr Colman very justly 

 distinguishes between the mulberry speculation 

 and the growth of trees for silk only. To whr.t- 

 ever cause we may attribute the mulberry fever of 

 1838 and 1839, whether, with Mr C. to a conspira- 

 cy among a few individuals to defraud the public 

 in this way, or to an ignorance of the results cer- 

 tain to ensue from excessive multiplication, or 

 whether we consider it as only one of the many 

 modes in which the mania whicli infected the v.hole 

 nation in those years developed itself, it now mat- 

 ters not ; the bubble has burst, and thousands of 

 the mulberry speculators, as well as those in west- 

 ern lands, corner lots, and lithographic cities, have 

 been ruined. 



The conclusion to which i\ir Colman arrives, af- 

 ter a survey of the wlnde ground, and we think it 

 is a correct one, is, that wo can, and should, make 

 our own silks. After disrejarding all the extrava- 

 gant calculations that have been made, after rigo- 

 rously making every necessary deduction for the 

 expenses of production, it appears that the silk cul- 

 ture offers as handsome a remuneration for labor, 

 as any of the agricultural pursuits of this country, 

 and in its pro.-iecution embraces the labor of indi- 

 viduals that could bo of little service in other pur- 

 suits. The production of silk by companies has 

 proved a failure in this country, so far; and it ap. 

 pears very certain that the business, if it succeeds, 

 must be prosecuted as a branch of domestic indus- 

 try. The manufacture of the material when imce 

 produced, is another matter. The production of 

 the raw material, introduced as a collateral branch 

 of industry, not as a jirincipal one, must prove a 

 source of eminent comfort and wealth. There is 

 clearly nothing mysterious in the business ; all is 

 simple and easily understood and practiced, by any 

 one that chooses to bring to it the necessary atten- 

 tion and skill. We fully concur in the opinions 



