NO. 2. 



THE farmers' cabinet. 



29 



A orcntlcman havinfj occasion to manure a 

 certain portion of land lately, the cart bearing 

 the manure passed through a field that ap- 

 peared one entire bed of common thi^tlcs. It 

 was observed that wherever ti)0 cart went 

 the thistles were entirely destrojed. He then 

 rolled the entire field over with a cast iron 

 rollt-r in the lattrr end of Mmv, and twice in 

 the br-ginninj^ of June. Tliiis field has hern 

 perfectly free from thistles ever since, 'i'he 

 expense was only tliree shillings per acre. 

 Fern and closefout have been exterminated in 

 the same way with most complete success. — 

 HcollisJi paper. 



Hoeing Com. 



The object of hoeing- and working the 

 soil about corn, are, first, to destroy all 

 weeds ; and secondly, to loosen the soil at 

 the surface, that it may the more readily ab- 

 sorb dews and rain which fall upon it, and 

 prevent the evaporation of moisture, which 

 takes place much sooner where the soil is 

 hard, than where it is kept loose and mel- 

 low. The practice so prevalent, of deep cul- 

 tivation by the plough^ bet ween rows of corn 

 is not to be rccoriiinendcd. If the ground has 

 been properly prepared before planting, when 

 not too wet, it will not need this additional 

 loosening. After the corn has arrived at the 

 usual size for hoeing, the soil should only be 

 disturbed at the surface. For as the plants 

 increase in size, they send out long fibrous 

 thread-like roots in all directions, which 

 branch every way, and run all over the 

 ground ; and it is through these that they re- 

 ceive a large portion of their nourishment. 

 To break or injure these would therefore ma- 

 terially retard the growth of the plants by 

 cutting off their accustomed supply of food'. 

 And yet, surprising as it may seem, a notion 

 IS prevalent, that it is serviceable to break the 

 roots of corn. But what should we think of 

 such reasoning as this, were it applied to 

 animals. What should we think if it were 

 declared to be serviceable to cattle to deprive 

 them of their supply of food 1 Or as a writer 

 Bomewhere asks, What would be thought of 

 the reason of a man, who should declare itas 

 his opinion, and practically enforce it, that 

 the best way to fatten a bullock, is to wound 

 his tongue, break his teeth, and batter his 

 jaws, whenever he reached forward his head 

 for food ? Why then treat plants, whieh, as 

 much as animals, require their proper nour- 

 ishment, in the same way 1 



Hilling corn we would always disapprove, 

 although it is very commonly practised. 

 Not iinfrequently in perfortning this opera- 

 tion, all the loose mellow earth is scraped 

 away from between the rows and heaped up 

 round the plants, forming a sort of reof about 



|thfm, throwingoft the rain, which runsdoun 

 inio the hard soil thus laid bare at the bottom 

 of the furrows, which the first dry weather 

 bakes to the last degree of hardness, so that 

 the roots can receive no moisture here, aid 

 little within these artificial pyramitis. A 

 reason is assigned in fiivor tf hiiliiig, — that 

 it iiiiikes the corn stand firriieraiul nmre erect 

 and is less liable to be broken down by ihe 

 wind. This may be the case when the plants 

 are small and do not need any such help: 

 but when they attain a height of several feet 

 and are loaded with haves and ears, it 

 must be evident that a little loo^e earth piled 

 about the roots is totally insufficient lor such 

 a pur[iose. It is the strong bir.cing roots 

 which radiate from the stock which are to 

 support it there ; and to bury those roots deep 

 under the surface while they are growing, 

 and thus shut out fiom them both heat and 

 air, and render them weak and tender would 

 only help to bring out the very thing uc wish 

 to prevent. 



It is important to farmers that this subject 

 be well understood ; for a little knowledge 

 may save n.any vcary steps, and be the 

 means of an abundant crop in the bargain. 

 But if any farmers doubt the accuracy of 

 our reasoning, we would request thern to test 

 it by experiment; by ploughing and hilling 

 high one part of their corn, and using the 

 cultivator and applying the same amount of 

 labor in trellowing the flat surface of the 

 other, and then nneasure the results. 



W. L. 



Tlie §iik Busitaoifs. 



France is considered a silk growing 

 country, yet she does not grow sufficient fur 

 her own manufaclure, and it is said annually 

 imports raw silk to the amount of $6,000,000. 



England, owing to the humidity of her 

 climate, cannot raise the worms to advantage, 

 and for her numerous manufactures is obli- 

 ged annually to import the raw material from 

 other countries to the amount of $17,000,000. 

 It is stated that we import annually of raw 

 silk to the amount of about $10,000,000, 

 and of the manufactured over sixteen mil- 

 lions. 



Unless the United Slates push the culture 

 of the mulberry and raising of cocoons be- 

 yond any thing now in operation, n.any 

 long years must intervene before we can sup- 

 ply the demand of our own markets. In- 

 habiting as we do one of the best climates in 

 the world for manufacturing silk of the best 

 quality, instead of paying ten millions of 

 dollars annually to other nations for the raw 

 material, we ought to export two or three 

 times that amount. 



It is said our imports of silk stuffs exceed 

 our exports of bread stuffs — why is this I 



