vot.. xn. no. ao. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



157 



but of national consequence to have them exten- 

 sively introduced. 



It is said we import annually a greater amount 

 of silks, than we export bread-stuffs. Our govern- 

 ment should look to this as it only wants a very 

 little encouragement at the commencement, after 

 which it will need no protection to insure its con- 

 tinuance. 



Much has heen said, and very justly, respecting 

 our neglect of Ornamental Husbandry. Strangers 

 notice that our streets, and pleasure grounds are 

 not set with trees for this purpose as they should 

 be. " There is a time for all things." Our busi- 

 ness has been to clear our lands of the forest trees 

 Which were found upon it, and to render the fields 

 productive. This to a good extent has been ac- 

 complished ; and the lime has now arrived, when 

 those who came into this then wilderness are pre- 

 pared to commence embellishments, and more 

 particularly so when they can be made profitable. 

 Few trees are more ornamental when grown than 

 the Mulberry, and few during the season of their 

 fruit do more towards inviting the feathered song- 

 sters about our dwellings, which do much to- 

 wards enlivening the scene, by disputing proprie- 

 torship to the fruit with the little urchins of the 

 neighborhood. 



It does not at present appear necessary that a 

 farmer in order to make a few hundred dollars 

 worth of silk annually, should devote any of his 

 choice wheat lands to the raising of Mulberry 

 trees, but on the contrary he may make cheap 

 hedges about his fields, which while they protect 

 his crops promise to compensate by their leaves 

 any costs that he may be at in rearing them. By 

 lining the roads and filling up a few broken pieces 

 of ground, each farmer may have trees sufficient 

 to employ all the spare labor of his family to ad- 

 vantage. 



It has been a matter of frequent conversation 

 among farmers of late years, that since the intro- 

 duction of manufacturing establishments, that the 

 female part of families were not as profitably em- 

 ployed as formerly. We are ready to grant the 

 position, and as the custom of our country does 

 not countenance the practice of females laboring 

 in the field, the raising and manufacturing of silk 

 is admirably calculated to give, not only a pleasant 

 but lucrative employment to this part of society. 



We are aware that it has been the policy of 

 other nations to endeavor to prevent our com- 

 mencing the manufacture of silk, and this they 

 have successfully done by filling our heads with 

 false ideas respecting the extreme intricacy of the 

 operation. Let there be once an excitement pro- 

 duced respecting this business sufficient to call the 

 ingenuity of our Yankees to it, and they will at 

 once divest it of all the mystification of the Euro- 

 peans, and render it as simple as digging potatoes, 

 and will introduce such labor saving machines as 

 will defy all foreign competition. 



The first step should be to commence sowing 

 the seed and raising the trees, and be assured as 

 soon as the trees are ready there will be enough 

 ready to do all the remainder of the process. 



We have the promise from Mr. Stanley of a full 

 description of his success with his worms, &c. 

 the past season, and hope to be able to give it in 

 our next. 



Ruta Baga. Mr. Cobbett says, "A Hog of a 

 good sort may be sufficiently fatted with this root 

 when steamboiled." 



APPLE BUTTER. 



The following has been furnished to us, by a 

 correspondent, us a correct account of the best 

 way of making Apple Butter, so little known in 

 the southern states, and so much valued in the 

 northern : 



" First, boil down the best flavored cider, of se- 

 lected fruit, (and sweet is the best to keep) to two 

 thirds of the quantity put in. To every barrel of 

 cider, put in six bushels of apples, of best quality, 

 pared, quartered, and cleaned of the cores, and 

 free from rots and bruises. 



" As soon as boiled down one-third, as above, 

 feed in the quartered apples as fast as they boil 

 away, which must be done in brass or copper. It 

 is best to have two kettles, in order to supply the 

 finisher from the other, which keeps it from boil- 

 ing the apples too much. It will require from 12 

 to 18 hours constant and moderate boiling, when 

 it must be stirred at the bottom to prevents its 

 burning, by a long handle, with a piece of wood 

 three or four inches wide attached to the other 

 end. 



" To know when it is done, cool and try some 

 of it on a plate, till the liquid ceases to run from 

 it. Towards the close of it, some put iu cinna- 

 mon, cloves, and alspice. 



" If only one kettle is used, each parcel of raw 

 apples must not be boiled or brought down too 

 much before another supply is added. If it 

 scorches in the operation, it is ruined. As soon 

 as done, it must be taken out immediately from 

 the kettle into wooden vessels to cool, and after- 

 wards into crocks, or stone ware, or wood ; but 

 in order to keep it best in summer, crocks of stone 

 ware are to be preferred." — Gen. Farmer. 



From the Maine Farmer. 

 sOll.S FOR WHEAT. 



It will be recollected that in a late number we 

 published the answer of the editor of the Genesee 

 Farmer, Mr. Goodsell, to our inquiry respecting 

 the geological nature of the soil of Wheatland in 

 New- York. The land which (with grief we say 

 it) gives us bread, and receives our earnings in 

 payment. The answer was a scientific descrip- 

 tion of the geological formation of that territory, 

 and presented it so clearly that one acquainted 

 with that science could see it in his mind's eye as 

 he read. 



Now, although our rock formations are very 

 different from theirs, we have substantially in 

 many parts of our State, soils which come very 

 near to that of western New York. We have in 

 this very town lime rock — calciferous slate, and 

 pyriferous or pyritous rock, that is to say, in com- 

 mon talc, copperas rock. Our lime rock is primi- 

 tive, or contains no organic remains, such as 

 shells, tadpoles and toadstools. — Theirs is sec- 

 ondary, and contains the remains of what was 

 once organized and living animals; probably from 

 this circumstance it is more easily decomposed. 

 We have, strictly speaking, no bituminous shale ; 

 but sand, gravel, and alumiue or clay are plenty. 

 Our lime rock is not sufficiently pure for profita- 

 ble use as cement in building, but sufficiently so 

 for agricultural purposes. On the farm of E. 

 Wood, Esq., about two miles out of this village, 

 there is plenty of this kind of lime rock, and also 

 in the land adjoining thereto. It would be an ob- 

 ject to burn this lime for the purposes of manure ; 

 and it is not improbable that a vein of pure lime 

 will hereafter be discovered in this vicinity, from 



which may be obtained good lime for mortar. 

 This formation extends north-easterly we know 

 not how far. Sometimes the lime predominates, 

 sometimes the gneiss and mica slate predominates, 

 and sometimes pure roofing Blate or argillite pre- 

 dominates. Hence we infer, that at some future 

 day Marl of a good quality may be found among 

 us, which will in our humble estimation be much 

 more productive of good to the community than 

 the richest mine of gold. 



From Goodsell's Farmer. 

 SUGAR FROM BEETS. 



We are often inquired of as to the method of 

 making Sugar from Beets, quantity produced, &c. 



France is the only country where the manufac- 

 ture of Sugar from Beets is practised to any great 

 extent, and we are not sufficiently informed as to 

 the profit which at present attends it, to enable us 

 to say whether, or not, it could be introduced into 

 this country to advantage. 



For the purpose ot manufacturing, the roots are 

 first washed with a brush and made perfectly clean ; 

 in some instances the skin is removed by scraping. 

 They are next grated to a pulp, by machinery. — 

 For this purpose different machines are used ac- 

 cording to the caprice of the manufacturer. The 

 roots are put endwise against the revolving grater, 

 whether it is a flat, or cylindric revolving grater. 

 These graters are formed upon the same principle 

 as our grater Cider Mills, with a vat beneath for 

 receiving the pulp. With this pulp a small por- 

 tion of quick lime is added to neutralize a peculiar 

 acid contained in the beet. The pulp is next 

 boiled, and the juice is afterwards separated by 

 pressure, then boiled again and the matter rising 

 to the top is removed by skimming. After the 

 juice has been sufficiently concentrated it is put 

 into vessels to cool, when the sugar crystallizes 

 and falls to the bottom. The fluid part is de- 

 canted and again boiled and cooled as before. The 

 sugar thus produced is a coarse brown article 

 which is re-dissolved and refined by the common 

 process. 



The quantity of sugar produced from different 

 varieties of beets is variable. The bright yellow 

 is said to produce the most from a given quantity 

 of roots, and the white the least. One hundred 

 pounds of roots are allowed to produce about 

 seven pounds of refined sugar. 



After the juice has been extracted from the pulp 

 the remaining part is fed to both cattle and pigs. 



A HOG 



— Is now exhibiting in Albany, which was raised 

 in Warren county, Ohio, and is believed to be the 

 largest in the United States. He is nine feet in 

 length, four feet eleven inches in height, measures 

 eight feet three inches round the body, and his 

 weight is fourteen hundred pounds ! He is of the 

 Russian breed, and is three years and four months 

 old. — Litchfield Enq. 



Chance has led to the discovery of a method of 

 preserving potatoes, which is both simple and at- 

 tended with little or no expense. A house-keeper 

 had placed in his cellar a quantity of charcoal. 

 Ha\ing removed it in autumn, without sweeping 

 the dust which covered the ground, he caused a 

 large quantity of potatoes to be laid on it. To- 

 wards the spring, those roots were preserved, had 

 thrown out no shoots, and were as fresh and well 

 flavored as ever. 



