Vol. X.— No. 24. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



1S7 



jiositiii/i, tlieie vveio two and a l;alf l)ifslicls of 

 iiiiie, the like qiianlity of [ilaster, and iweiityfive 

 bushels of aslios for the whole five acres. 



The com was lioeil l)ut twice, althoii;jli a thinl 

 hoiino; is usually coiLsideied indi^|)ensaljle among 

 goo<l fanners in this part of the country, yet iu 

 this case it was iniuecessnry and im|irai"iicabli', so 

 rapid aud hi.xuriaut was the growth. Iu or<lina- 

 ry seasons, I should have expected a good crop ; 

 the land, thouirh rather light, having heen well 

 prepared, according lo my views and experience 

 in agriculture. But the crop was enormous and 

 unheard-of in this section of the county, and it is 

 liclievcd seldom eipialled in any other. From 

 one acre, heing no more than a fair averege with 

 the rest, I gathered 153 1-2 hasUels of good 

 Bound ears of corn. A few baskets have been 

 threshed, which yielded 22 1-2 quarts to the bask- 

 et making in the whole, from one acre, hut a frac- 

 tion less than 108 bushels of good clean mer- 

 chantal)le corn. 



' Now, 540 bushels of corn from five acres is 

 quite a corn story indeed, hut there 's no mistake ; 

 it is literally true, and can lie verified by a cloud 

 of witnesses. As I have before remarked, the 

 acre taken as the basis of my calcidation, was 

 only a fair average with the other four ; and the 

 result shows the unprecedented yield of one hun- 

 dred and eight bushels of corn to the acre. And 

 this, let it be retneniliered, was upon an old farm 

 out east, a section of country better fitted, as the 

 passing traveller might suppose, for white beans 

 than Indian Corn. 



Now I challenge any farmer in old Hampshire 

 to give a better account of the works of his own 

 hands, the past season, than I have done. And 

 even JVilliam Cobbett himself may enter the list, 

 if he so please, provided he^appoints an agent 

 fterc also, to see that there is fair play. 

 * Charles Bdgbee. 



Palmer, Dec. 3, 1831. 



Flora Ihe New York Advocate. 



Mansfieli), Conn. Nov. 24. 

 Dear Sir — The history of any useful art is, 

 probably, as importain in the records of a nation, 

 ns battles and bloodshed ; it certainly is more en- 

 dearing to the pliiliinlhropist. The progress in 

 the art of making silk in this country has been 

 tardy in the extreme. It is now above 70 years 

 since Doctor Aspinwall, a native of this town, 

 urged on by patriotism, used bis best exertions to 

 introduce the culture of silk. He succeeded in 

 making .smill coumienceriients at New Haven, 

 on Long Island, and at Philadelphia, by causing 

 orchards of mullierry trees to be planted. He had 

 a warm and useful coadjutor in the Rev. Doctor 

 Stiles, of New Haven. One half of an ounce of 

 mulberry seed was sent to every parish in the state 

 of Connecticut, with such directions as their 

 knowledge ofthe business enabled them to imparl. 

 Through their exerticiu the legislature in 1783 

 was induced to ■rfaut a bounty on nmllierry trees 

 and raw silk. From some cause, which does not 

 appear, the legishilure in a few years withdrew 

 the bounty. In 1793 there were raised in this 

 town 2(55 lbs. of raw silk. It being the residence 

 of Dr .Aspinwall, it is presumable, from his well 

 known zeal in the cause, that this result was ow- 

 ing, in some measure, to his superintendence and 

 direction. Let that be as it may, there has been 

 a regular, hut slow, progression here ever since. 



A shcirt time since a few enterprising imlivid'i- 

 als United, anil have eslalilished a suihU silk facto- 

 ry under the direction of Mr Fdward Gol.ling, a 

 regular bred Knglish manufacturer of silk. — They 

 have 32 swifis, for winding hard silk ; 32 spindles 

 lor doubling ; 7 dozen of spindle.i fur throwing ; 

 7 dozen of spindles for spinning ; 32 spindles for 

 soli silk vvimling and 2 broad and 1 fringe silk 

 looms. There is machinery enough prepared 

 sufficient to keep 30 broad silk looms in operation. 

 'I'liey have only 11 hands employed at present, 

 hut 50 could be employed to ndvant.-ifje. The 

 cocoons are worth three d(dlar.s a bushel, ami the 

 companv have on hand between four aud five Imn- 

 dred bushels. 



Tiie iTiost perfect of the cocoons are selected 

 for breeding. Th(y will hatch out, usually, in a 

 week, oftentimes iu 24 hmus. They are exceed- 

 ingly prolific ; a single unller will frequently lay 

 500 eggs. The eggs when first laid are of a glut- 

 inous substance, ami adhere to whatever they are 

 deposited on. The usual mode is on sheets of 

 paper. These are preserved in cool dry places, 

 as nmch out of the air as possible, till the mulber- 

 ry leaves are sufficiently large for subsistence. 

 As soon as that is the case, they are exposed to a 

 current of warm air, when they soon hatch, and 

 immediately take the leaves. From this time till 

 the cocoon is completed, does Hot exceed six 

 weeks. As soon as the worms have eaten th*ir 

 fill, small bushes are prepared for them to com- 

 mence the formation of the cocoon. The com- 

 mencement is not milike the first movements of 

 the spider in weaving his web. When the co- 

 coons are completed, all that are not selected for 

 breeiliug, are either baked or steamed till the worm 

 is dead. All moisture must be extracted from 

 them before they are laid away. 



Mulberry trees, to make good silk, should be 

 planied iu a rich soil. The larger and more vigor- 

 o\is the tree, the belter the silk. It is a common 

 error in supposing that slight aud thin leaves will 

 make good silk. The best way to plant an orch- 

 ard of mulberry trees, is, after selecting a good 

 soil, to j)hint them 25 feet apart, or about 100 

 trees the square acre. The larger the tree, the 

 belter the silk. When the trees are planted 25 

 feut apart, there is room for cultivating the land 

 — iind such cultivation is esteemed in Mansfield 

 an advantage to'the growth ofthe trees. — 40 lbs. of 

 raw silk is considered a fair production from an acre 



does extensive aud saf- business, and becomes 

 wealthy accordingly, ^if I, e has the necessary re- 

 quisites for a trader.) Now, the merchant 8cll« 

 extensively to the trader an I he prospers; but 

 when the trailer sold to the liuuherineii and fisher- 

 men, those that can remember forty years back 

 know it was f.cr otherwise. I myself can re- 

 member when retailing goods was the most dan. 

 gerous business n man could bo employed in. 

 But the |)r.ictice of law aud pliysic was equally 

 enibarra.ssed, and few did or c(mld jive bv these 

 professions compared with the number noW sup. 

 ported among ns, even with ike jnesent state of 

 agriculture, owing, as I believe, to the improvo- 

 nn'ut of agriculture, allhough it is far from being 

 what it might be, and what it should be. Me- 

 chanics are idike benefited with the classes be- 

 fore mentioned. I might compare the hearers and 

 the preachers of the everlasting gospel with and 

 without a flourishing farming interest; but the 

 above hints go very far in my opinion, to prove 

 that all classes are deeply interested in the pros- 

 perity of agriculture among us, for we are a state 

 whose capital is land, and it must be of vital 

 importance, that the best use be made of it. I 

 do lliink that it has been maile to appear that ou r 

 climate is belter calculated for farming purposes 

 than one far to the smith. Where is there a 

 flourishing nation ou carih, without a flourishing 

 agricultural interest in ihe nation ? Wherever 

 there is a flourishing agricultural people there are 

 effective agricultural societies, and wiihuut such 

 societies agriculture has never, and piohahly will 

 never flourish ; labor will becoine, as here, disrep. 

 ulable, and agriculture fall in a good measure into 

 disrepute. Youth becomes idle. The profes- 

 siiiiis crowded, and the physical strength of the 

 couiiny seek a living in oiher purls of the world. 

 Could I make uiy voice to be heard from York to 

 Washiiiglon, I would say, Maine, , tee to rjuur farm- 

 ing interest as the foundation of all others. 



A FARMER. 



From the Kennebec Journal. 



A healthy and prosperous Jjgricultural community 

 necessary to the prosperity of other classes in 

 the community. 



I propose to consider a few of the more pro- 

 minent classes of society and their relation to ag- 

 riculture, and shall begin with the trader. With- 

 out the prosperity of agriculture, traders may sell 

 to a few wandering fishermen and lumbermen : 

 the one promises to pay when he makes a good 

 fare, otherwise it is lost forever — the other, when 

 he sells his lumber ; but experience has shown, that 

 before there was considerable farming here lum- 

 bering was carried on to so little advantage (being 

 dependent on other Slates for provisions, &c,) that 

 ihe sales would but sehlom pay the expense ; hence 

 the proverb — that lumbering men would lose 

 more than they would make. But let there be a 

 prosperous agricultural community, and the sales 

 are made to eubstantial and safe men, aud the trader 



On the proper Cidlivation of the Gooseberry. 



When the pbinis are two years old take them up 

 fiom Ihe nursery i-.nd trim rdf all the suckers, and 

 lower branches, leaving only one stem with a few 

 branches at the top. I'iaiit them iu a rich light 

 soil iu rt moist situation, and where tliey will be 

 partially shaded by branches of trees. In the 

 aiilumn, cover the ground around them with m&. 

 uure from the C(jw yard. The latter end of Feb- 

 ruary tiiit; out the branches very much, cutting 

 them off close to the .stem, taking out all such as 

 cross each other, but be sure not to shorten the 

 branches, for that causes them to throw out a 

 great deal of wood and very litlle fiuit. In the 

 spring a quantity of young suckers will come up 

 round the stem, all these must be cut ofl" when 

 green, us also any others that grow in the middle 

 of the bush, which must be kept open so as to 

 admit ihe air freely. It is also a great support to 

 the bush to drive a slake into the ground close to 

 the stem, as keeping it steady causes the fruit to 

 be larger. This treatment is to be continued an- 

 nually, and the fruit insieail of depreciating as i8 

 usual, will rather improve in size, as has been 

 proveil by some planteil 15 or 20 years ago. ThB 

 ground must be spadeil in the spring and kept 

 perfectly clear of weeds. — .American Farmer. 



$1300 were subscribed in Salem, iu two days, 

 to provide fuel for the poor. 



