VOb. XVI. NO. 39. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL, 



309 



lent, all which would be effected hy looseniiii; 'U 

 ioine flieinical action conducive to and connected 

 villi vegetation would take place ; and great lien- 

 fits result from it. In Great Britain the opera- 

 Ion of the subsoil plough has been stated to have 

 loubled the crops. 



Forlhe N. E. Farmer. 



DEPTH OF WHEAT ROOTS. 

 "A (ew years ago, Mr Baddack, ii very sensible 

 nd vary considerable farmer at Pyadon, in Ox- 

 jrdshire, having occasion to dig for the founda- 

 on of a building, in a fielil at that time under a 

 rop of wheat, was much surprised by observing that 

 le small filpres of the roots of the wheat had pen- 

 trated much deeper in the eaiihthan be had any 

 lea they did. He endeavored to ascertain how 

 eep they could be traced through the different 

 rata of the earth. For this purpose, he had the 

 round opened close to the plant of wheat, and 

 ug perpendiiMilarly down to the depth of si.\ feet ; 

 ad having fixed a narrow board close against it, 

 roceeded in the same manner on another plant; 

 nd so on till he had secured the earth to that 

 epth lietvveen the four boards firmly lashed to- 

 sther. He llien had it placed upon an inclined 

 lane, and, carefully removing the boards, with 

 •eat c.aition and perseverance washed away all 

 le earth adhering to the root and its very small 

 ares, and was very much surprised at their ex- 

 nt. He repeated the trial on several other plants 

 ' wlieat, anil traced their average depth to be- 

 veen five and six feet." — TransarJions of the So- 

 dy of Alls, Vol. 48. 



SILK CULTURE IN MASSACHUSETTS. 

 The total amount of silk raised in Massachn- 

 Its and offered for premium the last year is as 

 i learn from the returns at the office of the Sec- 

 tary of Slate as follows : 



Ihs. oz. 

 hole amount of Cocoons, 1390 5 



ieled Silk, 33 4 



3eled and thrown, 115 9 



The total amount of Bounty due from the State 

 1837 is S271 19. 



Subjoined are the names of some of the largest 

 liinants for the bounty. 



lbs. oz. 



nory Holman, Bolton, Worcester Co. 39 12 

 niuel llealy, Rehoboth, Bristol « 20 00 



seph Royce, Wales, Hampden " 17 00 



)am Brooks, Scituate, Plymouth " , 9 00 

 ilvin Haskell, 9 04 



We are surprised not to'see the name of Timo- 

 ^ Smith, of Amhert, in Hampshire Co. The 

 sport of his establishment is given in to-day's 

 per; from which it will appear that he has 

 ide almost 20 lbs. of silk of a superior quality, 

 i gives it as his opinion that an acre of laud well 

 with mulberry will produce an income of 500 

 liars ; and that one hundred dollars will defray 

 the expenses of the operation ; including the 

 iring and feeding the worms and the reeling 

 X throwing the eilk. This would be a great 

 )fit ; and we have no doubt a [iretty sure jirofit. 

 Having had the pleasure both of personal and 

 itten communication with Mr Smith we shall 

 )jcin some of his replies to queries pro[)osed to 

 n. 

 He says of the Multicaulis that he has not left 



his out through the winter. Some in his vicinity 

 have survived the winter ; though he considers 

 them tender and very liable to suffer. 



The white mulberry likewise suffered but not 

 to the same dugree as the miillicaiilis. This let- 

 ter is dated Jan. 15, 1838, and therefore refers to 

 the winter of 1836 7, — a winter remarkable for its 

 severity. 



He is of opinion that trees raised from seeds 

 will become acclimated, and found capable of en- 

 during our winters. This remains to be tested. 

 The trees from seed imported by Dr Stebbins 

 through the instrumentality of the Missionaries in 

 China in 1834 and called the Canton, he considers 

 superior to any other mulberry for use. On what 

 he grounds his opinion of the comparative merits 

 of the different kinds of trees we are not inform- 

 ed ; but shall treat this subject more fully on some 

 future occasion. 



He fed last year as he supposes about 75,000 

 worms and made about 20 lbs. of silk. He had 

 foliage for more if he had had the worms. He 

 is of opinion that one acre of while mulberry set 

 in hedge rows, will yield foliage fer 50 lbs. of silk ; 

 and is confident that one acre of the Multicaulis 

 would yield double the quantity of silk to an acre 

 of white mulberry. 



In regard to the expense of making silk he con- 

 siders that his reeled silk cost him about two dol- 

 lars per pound ; not over that sum, although it 

 was a year of experiments ; and he is strong in 

 the conclusion that by using the best kinds of 

 iiiiillierry and better economy, that raw silk can 

 be made fiir $L50 per pound. 



We have given Mr Smith's statements in nearly 

 his own words. They are very important fads 

 vvliirh he has here detailed. VVe have much oili- 

 er valuable matter in this case, which we shall 

 presently of^er ; and we shall constantly keep 

 our eye upon this business as destined to be one 



of the very great interests of New England. 



Though as in all cases, where the inexperienced 

 adventure upon untried enterprises, failures imd 

 disappointments are to be iiisome degree exj;ect- 

 ed, this culture ultimately iinder the direction of 

 skill and mature experience, will answer all the 

 reasonable wishes and expectations of those con 

 cerned in it. 



We subjoin some extracts from the city of the 

 Sultan, by Miss Pardoe, giving an account of the 

 mode of feeding the silk worms in the Turkish 

 Empire. The extracts will be read with gre.it in- 

 terest at this time; and whether adapted to our 

 notions and experience of the management of the 

 silk worm or not, cannot fiil to be instructive. 



" Our next object of inquiry was, the mode of 

 feeding the silk worms, which produce in the 

 neighborhood of Broussa an extraordinary quality 

 of silk. We accordingly visited the establishment 

 of a Frenchman, who exports the raw material to 

 Europe. I was struck by the color of the silk, 

 which was a dingy white ; and we learnt that, 

 despite all the efforts of the feeders, they seldom 

 succeed in procuring any other tint, although the 

 worms themselves are of different qualities and 

 colors, varying from a dead wliite to a dark brown 

 and are fed with the leaves of both the white and 

 the red mulf)erry indiscriminately. The most 

 experienced feeders, hovv-ever, give a decided 

 preference to the wild white mulberry, of which 



most of the plantations about Broussa are formed. 

 The silk, when first spun, is of a clear, silveryj 

 brilliant tint ; but submersion in the highly min- 

 eralized waters of the neighborhood robs it of its 

 gleam, and reduces it to the dead, dingy color I 

 have mentioned ; and I was assured that in some 

 hundred pounds weight of silk, not more than two 

 or three could be met of yellow. 



The Asiatic unuliod of rearing the worm is dif- 

 ferent from that of Europe, and, accordinir to the 

 account given to me, much more profitable in its 

 results, as well ,is simple in its process. The in- 

 sect has a natural dislike to being handled, which 

 is inevitable where it is fed day by day, and the 

 withered leaves of the previous morning cleared 

 away ; the discomfort produced by the touch ren- 

 dering the worm lethargic, and retarding its 

 growth. The Asiatics never approach it with the 

 hand ; when it is hatched the floor of the apart- 

 ment is covered with layers of mulberry branches 

 to about three or four inches in depth ; and upon 

 these the insects are laid, and suffered to feed un- 

 disturbed till their first sleep, when they are cov- 

 ered by a fresh supply of boughs similar to the 

 first, through which they eat their way, and upon 

 which they subsist until their next change. This 

 operation is repented four limes, always at the pe- 

 riod when the worm casts its skin ; and on the 

 first appearance of an inclination to spin, boughs 

 of oalt, of about four feet in length, strifiped of 

 their lower leaves and planted, if 1 may so ex- 

 press it, in close ranks in the bed of mulberry 

 boughs, firm a pigmy forest, in which they estab- 

 lish theiMselve.s, and wherein they produce their 

 silk. Elvery crevice of the apartment is carefully 

 stopped to prevent the admission of air, and a fire 

 of charcoal ashes is kept up constantly through 

 the day and wight. 



Whether f3.e mode of feeding operates on the 

 color of silk, I could not ascertain, though it 

 struck me the experiment would be worth trying; 

 but meanwhile it ajipears to be certain that it 

 greatly increases the quantity of all, and diminishes 

 the labor of the feeders. There is scarcely a house 

 in the neighborhood of Broussa which does not 

 contaiti several a|iartmeiits filled with silk worms, 

 whose produce is disposed of to the spinners, of 

 wliom there are a considerable number in the 

 city ; and the far-spreading mulberry woods as- 

 sume in the height of summer the ajipearance of 

 stretches of locust-blighted landscapes, every tree 

 being left n branchless trunk, without a sign of 

 foliage." 



Great CrVjps of Wheat. — Since attention has 

 been paid to the culture of wheat some astonish- 

 ing crops have been raised. 



Mr John B. Smith at the Forks of the Kenne- 

 bec writes us that he raised thirty bushels on three 

 quarters of an acre. 



Hon. Ebenezer Higgins of Exeter, in Penob- 

 scot county informs us that he raised from ten 

 bushels of sowing, two hundred and fifty-three 

 bushels. From one acre he raised forty-eight 

 bushels and two quarts. On this acre he sowed 

 five pecks of seed. VVe should be glad to hear 

 from Mr Higgins in regard to the way and man- 

 ner of managing his land on which this crop was 

 raised. — Maine Far. 



Never hire a man to do a piece of work which 

 you can do yourself. 



