Vol. X.-No. 34. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



207 



III the older parts oftlie state, where tlie i|iiuii- 

 tity ofwoodlaiKi is rodiiceil to the desiral)le limits, 

 this wood may he advantageously sul)stituted for 

 other kinds, hy introihicing it among the sprouts, 

 on woodland recently cut off, in which way, five 

 and twenty trees on an acre, and in a soil adapted 

 o their growth, would, at the expiration of as ma- 

 ny years, when the wood was again suhjected to 

 the axe, take the place of the other tiniUer, ifoare 

 were taken to destroy or retard the growth of the 

 sprouts. 



For fence posts, the locust is invaluable, it being 

 durable beyond any other kind of wood. How 

 long it will last, Used in this way, is perhaps some- 

 what uncertain ; but it does not admit of a doubt, 

 tliat an originally sound post, of five inches in dia- 

 meter, will be good at the expiration of fitly years. 



For sills, posts, and those parts of the frame of 

 a building that are subjected to dampness, or ex- 

 posure to the weather, it is perhaps as durable as 

 iron similarly exposed ; and if it should ever be- 

 come so plentiful, as to admit of being used for the 

 outside covering of buildings, as well as for frames, 

 stone itself would have but few advantages over it. 



In ship-building, its value is well known, for 

 certain parts of the frame, and for trunnels, it be- 

 ing incomparably of more value than any other 

 kind of wood used. 



For fuel, it is of equal value in all respects, with 

 waltmt, or the best white oak. 



In a kindly soil, there are but few kinds of wood 

 that grow more rapidly than the locust. The wal- 

 nut, oak, elm, and other kinds of hard wood, are 

 decidedly inferior to it in that respect ; but the 

 chestnut and tulip tree, (the common wliite wood,) 

 particularly the last, will overtop it. Great care, 

 consequently, is required when it is young, and 

 growing among sprouts of this last description, to 

 prevent them from destroying it. In good soils, 

 in twenty years from the seed, and fifteen years 

 from good roots, it will attain a liberal size for 

 fencing uses. 



The money value of the locust depends, like all 

 other productions of the soil, upon its proximity to 

 a market. On this island, a post five inches in di- 

 ameter, and six and a half or seven feet long, which 

 divided, will make two five-rail fence posts, is 

 worth at least fifty cents : ten and twelve feet long, 

 for yard posts, seventyfive cents. Trees from 

 twelve to eighteen inches in diameter, are worth 

 from fifty to seventyfive cents per cubic foot ; and 

 it is no unusual circumstance for the standing wood 

 on an acre of fair growth, to sell for two hundred 

 and fifty and three hundred dollars. 



The leaf of the locust possesses an eminently 

 enriching quality, as is evinced by the improved 

 state of the pasture on w-orn out soils, where this 

 tree is planted. Wlien planted out at regular dis- 

 tances, like a fruit orchard, the grass under and 

 around them on the most indifferent soils, is im- 

 proved rapidly, and converted into a beautifully 

 green turf, a favorite walk with cattle. 



Among the various subjects which address 

 themselves to the attention of our enterprising 

 countrymen, but few are more deserving the inte- 

 rest of farmers and capitalists, than the cultivation 

 of the locust. What better method of invesling 

 money, than placing fifty dollars where, in fifty 

 years, it would be worth five hundred dnihrs ? 

 What better inheritance could a farmer providii for 

 his children, than a property of this description ? 

 Stick a tree in the ground now and then, wpsthe 

 advice of an old Scotch Laird in one of tlic tVa- 



verly novels, lor, said he, " it will grow while ye 

 are asleep." R. W. M. 



Queen's Co. Jan. .30, 1832. 



From the Tn 



■ipl. 



SUPERIOR QUALITIES OP THE BLOOD 

 HORSE. 



Mr Editor — Permit me to call the attention of 

 breeders of horses, to a subject in which they are 

 directly interested. I allude to the superiority of 

 the Blood Horse over all otliers. Very few per- 

 sons in New England possess any knowledge of 

 the power and ability of the blood, or race horse, 

 to perform a given service ; and, consequently, 

 conclude that race horses produce race horses, and 

 not workers. Nothing is more remote from the 

 truth, nor more easily disproyed. 



The strength of the race horse and his ability 

 to carry high weights, arise from the solidity of 

 his bones, the close texture of his fibres, the bulk 

 and substance of his tendons, and from his whole 

 peculiar conformation. His superior speed and 

 endurance originate from his obliquely placed 

 shoulders, depth in the girth, deep oval quarters, 

 broad fillets, pliable sinews, and from the superior 

 ductility and elasticity of his muscular appendages. 

 It is also from the blood horse that we acquire 

 fineness of skin and hair, symmetry and regulaiity 

 of proportions, elegance and grandeur.' As a proof 

 of the latter qualities, the highest dressed horses of 

 the ancient emperors, were invariably of the high- 

 est cast of Arabian or southern blood. 



The value of the racing blood, when crossed 

 upon the common cart breed, is also apparent in 

 making hiin su])erior in the plough and wagon ; 

 arising from quicker action and better wind, par- 

 ticularly in the long hot days of summer. There 

 is the same dift'erence of motion between the racer 

 and the common bred horse, as between a coach 

 and a cart. It is, moreover, a fact, although not 

 generally known, that no other horses are capable 

 of carrying with cxjiedition such heavy weights ; 

 and were " a thirty stone plate (420 lbs.) to be 

 given, and the distance made fifty miles, it would 

 be everlastingly won by the thorough bred horse. 

 There is but one way in which a bred horse would 

 he beat at high weights ; it would be, (to use a 

 queer phrase,) to make it a stand-still race. In 

 that case, I would back a cart horse ; I think he 

 would beat a racer by hours." 



Is not a cross of the blood horse on the common 

 stock, indispensalile to produce light footed and 

 quick moving saddle horses ? 



In former times in England their hunters were 

 only half bred horses; but iater observation and 

 experience have fully convinced them that only 

 those that are thorough bred (notwithstanding the 

 popular clamor of their deficiency in bone,) are 

 adequate in speed, strength and durability, to long 

 and severe chases with fleet hounds, particularly 

 over a deep country, and that they will always 

 break down any horses of an o])posite description 

 that may be brought into the field. 



There can be no better test of ability to perform 

 hard service, than the racecourse and chase. Al- 

 most all the fast trotters that have and still figure 

 in the country, are high bred horses. As road- 

 sters, tlicy are decidedly superior, for reasons 

 already stated ; and when we remember the sym- 

 metry of their proportions, and the elegance of 

 their movements, their irrepressible spirits and 

 perfect docility, we wonder that any one can be 



so lilindlo his intrn'sl,or so obstinately determined 

 ii] pursuing old customs, and adhering to exploded 

 o|ii]iiniis, as to prefer the degenerate stock oftlie 

 iiiniiHon hack, to the noble blood of the high bred 

 courser. GODOLPHIN. 



CULTU51E OF SILK. 



The following statement appears in the last 

 number of the American (Philad.) Quarterly'Re- 

 view, and conveys information which we presume 

 will be new to most of our readers. The subject 

 of the culture of silk, is one which heretofore at- 

 traet('d the attention of Congress and will proba- 

 bly again come up this session, when the facts 

 stated in the American Quarterly, will be of value 

 to its advocates. This periodical says : — Thtrsilk 

 of the United States has been judged by experien- 

 ced manufacturers in England, to be equal in qual- 

 ity .to that of Bengal. In France it has been 

 found equal to some of their best silks. We have 

 seen samples of gros de Naples, manufactured this 

 year at Manchester, in England, out of raw silk 

 sent from the filature in Philadelphia. It yields 

 to none in beauty and. lustre. The great charac- 

 teristics oftlie American silk, like that of Bengal, 

 are nerve and strength, in consequence of which 

 it produces less waste in reeling and throwing, and 

 the stuffs made of it will exceed all others in du- 

 rability. 



The National Intelligencer of Blonday remarks : 

 — A measure of great consequence in our national 

 economy, stands for consideration in the House of 

 Re|)resentativcs today ; we allude to the bill for 

 |)romotiug the growth and preparation of silk in ' 

 the United States. England imports fiom abroad, 

 annually, five millions of pounds of raw and 

 thrown silk for the use of her factories ; and one 

 third of the \ast amount annually used up in the 

 factories of France, she also obtains from other 

 countries. With a climate so well adapted to the 

 cultivation of silk, as that oftlie United States, we 

 might hi a few years eupiily a great portion oftlie 

 immense consumption of the French and English 

 looms. A vkst field, therefore, of domestic indus- 

 try and wealth, opens itself to our country, if we 

 improve the opportunity. Shall we embface it, 

 or neglect it ? 



A bill has been reported in the Pennsylvania 

 Legislature, to promote the culture of silk. 



The committee on agriculture, of tire Blassa- 

 chusetts Legislature, have been directed to consider 

 the expediency of exempting from ta.xation, lands 

 hereafter made nurseries of forest trees. 



Curing of Hams. — In Spain and Portugal and 

 France, where the hams are remarkably fine fla- 

 vored, a large quantity of sugar is used along with 

 the saltpetre in curing them. Ft assists materially 

 in the conservation of the flesh, and renders it pe- 

 culiarly mellow. Sugar is there also very gener- 

 ally jnit into the watei* in which they are boiled, 

 and is found to render them tender. Though not 

 quite relevant to the subject of curing, it may also 

 be remark'-d that hams are much improved in the 

 dressing, by being only first lialf boiled and then 

 baked. 



The BaltimCre Patriot, of Wednesday, says — 

 "three hundred cars for the transportation of goodf, 

 wares and merchandise, &c, are now engaged on 

 the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. At the opening 

 of the spring trade the uuuiber will be much 

 increased. 



