34 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



Aagnst 15, 1833. 



highly esteetntnl by the Sicilians. That called 

 Tyro was at a much earlier period brought 

 from Tyre. 



A box containing a few plants vn\\ also accom- 

 pany the vines. Mr Eynaud has promised to put 

 in one of the tubs a few roots of the black cur- 

 rants of Zante. 



I am, very respectfully, your most obt. serv't, 

 M. C. Perhy. 



The grape vines and plants have arrived in ex- 

 cellent order, owing to the particular care which 

 Capt. Th.\ver, the commander of the brig Conway, 

 took of them, during the voyage from Malta to this 

 port, and for which we are under the greatest 

 obligations. They are now placed at the dispo- 

 sition of tiie society. As the grapevines are rep- 

 resented to be of a very superior kind, it is rec- 

 ommended that some of each be placed under the 

 care of gentlemen who have graperies, and who 

 from their skill, taste and experience, in the man- 

 agement of those delicate varieties of fruits, will 

 be disposed to cultivate them successfully, and in- 

 sure their dissemination. 



I have placed upon the table of exhibition, a 

 pair of silk hose, which were sent me by Mrs Sea- 

 ton of the city of Washington, who states tliat the' 

 silk worms were reared, the cocoons reeled, the 

 silk twisted, and the stockings knit by her sister, 

 in North Carolina, during the last year; and that 

 the silk worms were fed entirely with the leaves 

 of the native black mulberry. For fineness of 

 texture, delicacy and beauty of manufacture, the 

 stockings rival those imported from Europe. 



This example of female industry, and taste for 

 horticulture, is worthy of all praise and is not only 

 meritorious for the commendable precedent, but 

 an honorable instance of that laudable spirit of en- 

 terprise and patriotism for which the ladies of this 

 Republic have ever been conspicuous. 



It is not only a most remarkable and interest- 

 in" fact, but one glorious to the character of our 

 countrywomen, that the culture of silk has been 

 prevented from total abandonment by the females. 

 It began in the southern states, but there expired 

 with the revolutionary war ; but it was however, 

 prosecuted in Connecticut, and almost exclusively, 

 until within a few years, when it rapidly expanded 

 all over the United States. Like the fire in the 

 sacred temples of antiquity, this rich culture has 

 been maintained by the hands of females ; and by 



Boston, July 31st, 1832. 

 Hon. II. A. S. Dearbork, President oftbe Mass. Hort. See. , 



Dear Sir — A gentleman of Maine, whose 

 efforts are unwearied to promote whatever may 

 extend the arts, or increase the means of comfort 

 and happiness amongst us, has requested my in- 

 tervention as a friend, (choosing himself to be un- 

 named,) in the distribution of sundry roots of the 

 Meadow Saffron (or Colchicum autumnale.) 



These I received by the Hull, from London, in 

 good order. 



Agreeably to his wish, I now have the honor to 

 present to the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, 

 six roots, three double and three single ])lants. 



The object expressed to me is, that the wine 

 and the vinegar may be obtained from it for use 

 in this country in the most satisfactory manner, 

 since if made here it is usually from dried, instead 

 of fresh roots. 



In medicine, it is by many thought important in 

 cases of gout, rheum.itism and other maladies. 



Coming from the eastern part of the Mediterra- 

 nean territories, both insular and continental, it 

 must thrive in some parts of this country ; as it 

 can hear some cold, whilst it profits by heat. 



It is cultivated like the tulip, and is to be taken 

 forthwith out of the box in which it is imported, 

 and put into moist and warm ground. It will 

 come up, as its name indicates, in the autumn. 



By the dissemination proposed for it, I think 

 that we shall have this article more fully establish- 

 ed in this country. It is not mean as a flower : 

 and many liave had occasion to be grateful for its 

 service as a medicine. For its further distribu- 

 tion as proposed, the best means in my power 

 have been already taken. 



With much respeH for tie useful labors of the 

 Society over which you preside, I have the honor 

 to be, Sir, yours truly, John Welles. 



Respectfully submitted by 



H. A. S. Dearborn, 



Pres. 31iU9. Hort. Societj'. 



Boston, August 11, 1832. 



The following resolutions were adopted. 



Resolved, That the thanks of the Society be 

 presented to Capt. M. C. Perry, Commander of 

 the U. S. Ship Concord, for a valuable collection 

 of grape vines and plants which he kindly trans- 

 milted from Sicil}-. 



Risohcd, That the President be requested lo 

 express to Mrs Seaton the thanks of the Sociely, 

 for the donation of silk hose which she has be(!ii 



them has it been chiefly prosecuted, until it can pleased to present, and to desire her to niak 

 be now confidently asserted, that the period is not | known to her sister, the high estimation m whic 

 distant when it will become as important to our 

 manufactures, and as an article of export, as is 



the present great staple of cotton, in the southern 

 and soulh western states; for instead of being like 

 that, confined to any one section oftbe Union, silk 

 can be produced from Florida to Maine, and from 

 the shores of the Atlantic to the vale of the Missis- 

 sippi. 



Tbe following letter from the Hon. John Welles, 

 with the bulbs therein named, I have the pleasure 

 of presenting to the Society. That gentleman has 

 long been distinguished for bis devotion to the va- 

 rious rural cidtures of our climate, aad the coun- 

 try is much indebted to him for his numerous ex- 

 periments and interesting communications, on all 

 the branches of tillage, which have enriched 

 the Agricultural Journal, and the New England 

 Farmer. 



her laudable attention to the culture and her sue 

 cessful manufacture of silk, are held by this insti 

 tution. 



Resolved, That the thanks of the Society be 

 presented to tbe Hon. John Welles, for his liberal 

 donation of bulbs of the Colchicum autumnale. 



David Porter, Esq. Charge des Affairs of the 

 United States at the Ottoman Porte, was admitted 

 corresponding member. 



From Buckinglmm's New England Magazine. 



SHEEP AND SHEPHERDS IN FRANCE. 



Sanfoin and trefoil, among the grasses, give the 

 bright tinge of their blossoms to extensive fields. 

 There are neither fences nor hedges to secure 

 the growing crops from the cattle. They are 

 not, therefore, permitted to range tbe roads at 

 large, as is common in the United States. No 



fences, indeed, are even used to divide the meadow 

 lanils, pastures, and fields of grain, of neighbor- 

 ing farmers ; but the crops of all sorts are grow- 

 ing as it were sociably together, without a ditch 

 or embankment to divide them. It must be ob- 

 vious, that under such circumstances it would not 

 answer to turn out cows, sheep or horses, into a 

 pasture, to lange uncontrolled, as is done by New 

 Eugland farmers on their well-fenced lands. A 

 string tied to a peg at one end, and to the 

 leg of a horse or the horn of a cow at the 

 otlier, usually limits the range of their graz- 

 razing excursions. The extent of the rope serves 

 as the radius of the circle, about which they vi- 

 brate from side to side, to crop the grass. 



For w'ant of suitable fencing materials, shep- 

 herds and shepherdesses are still to be found in 

 the fields of France, as a substitute for rail fen- 

 ces and stone walls. Their services are not ne- 

 cessary to protect their flocks from the depreda- 

 tions of wolves, but foi^a very different purpose ; 

 to protect the growing crops, which border the 

 pastures, from the depredations of the sheep. To 

 relieve themselves of the laborious duty of run- 

 ning back and forth constantly, between the 

 verge of the fields of grain and the sheep pasture, 

 the shc]iherds have resorted to the sagacity of 

 dogs. 



They ajqiear to be an indolent race, lying down 

 upon tnc grass at their case, whilst their ever ac- 

 tive dogs lake upon themselves the whole man- 

 ageiut^nt of the flock. These dogs, as if con- 

 scious of their elevated station, and of the impor- 

 tance of the command entrusted to them, over 

 the herd of subordinate animals, stride gravely 

 along the edges of the pastures, like trusty senti- 

 nels, displaying, in their very step and mein, what 

 might almost be deemed an air of magisterial dig- 

 nity. Where the range of the pasture is exten- 

 sive, two or more dogs are necessary. They pace 

 back and forth, meeting each other with (he reg- 

 ularity of sentinels, half way on their allotted 

 round, and wheeling about them to retrace their 

 line of march. 



A French gentleman stated to me, that so great 

 are the docility and sagacity of well-trained shep- 

 herds' dogs, that their masters have only to take 

 them around the limits of the grounds allotted for 

 tbe range of the flock, and to designate properly 

 tbe bounds or lines for them to traverse, when 

 tbey seem to comprehend the end of their. task, 

 and will suft'er no errant sheep to transgress them. 

 When a nose is seen projected over this line, to 

 croi> the herbage beyond it, the dog hastens si- 

 lently to the spot. I noticed one of them, attend- 

 ing a flock near Lille, to give a sudden and loud 

 bark at the very car of the trespassing sheep, who, 

 in his agitation at the unexpected rebuke, wheel- 

 ed completely round, as if stunned. Thus it ap- 

 pears to be the business of the shepherds' dogs, aS 

 well as of the shepherds, to watch, not so much 

 for the safety of the flocks, as for that of the ad- 

 jacent, unfenced fields of grain. 



The .shepherd-dogs sell for one or two hun- 

 dred francs each, according to tbe excellence of 

 ibeir education, as the postilion expressed himself 

 in reply to my inquiries. The shepherds them- 

 selves frequently take up their abode in 'the field 

 during the summer, sleeping at night in the little 

 portable houses or sheds mounted on wheels, which 

 they move about at pleasure on changing their 

 pastures, I have seen them travelling along the 

 roads between the sheep pastures and the houses 



