NO. 23. 



THE farmers' cabinet. 



359 



the (lust. Silk goods we must have; their 



ciieapiicss, durability, beauLy, all conspire to 

 render them one of the necesi^aries now, an 

 they formerly were one of the luxuries of 

 life; and the demand for them is rapidly in- 

 creasing. WoukI It not be good pidicy to re- 

 lain a part or the whole of tiiissum at home ! 

 Experience has shown tiiat the climate of 

 tlie New England and middle states, is ex- 

 cellent for the growth of tlie mulberry and 

 the habits of the worms, a.s well as distin- 

 guished for the fine quality of the silk and 

 size of the cocoons. Two years since, north- 

 ern Italy, with a comparatively trifling popu- 

 lation, sold silk, raw and manufactured, to 

 the amount of live millions of dollars; and 

 New England alone in five years from this 

 time, might produce as much. 



Not one of tiie least promising indications 

 that our country is destined to become a silk 

 growing one to a great extent, is the success 

 which has so far attended the eilbrts of those 

 who have engaged in the business, and indeed 

 tlie whole process is so simple and easily con- 

 ducted, that where mulberry leaves and the 

 eggs of the worm can be procured, it is hard- 

 ly possible to fail. The principle of associa- 

 tion is beginning to be brought to bear on 

 this new source of national wealth, and com- 

 panies for the production and manufacture of 

 silk have been formed in most of the states ; 

 and though scarcely a bushel of cocoons could 

 have been procured in the country previous 

 to the last year, some of these establishments 

 have already turned out from ten to forty 

 thousand dollars worth of goods from our na- 

 tive silk. In Massachusetts there are five or 

 six companies with an aggregate capital of 

 Bome half a million of dollars — vast planta- 

 tions of the mulberry, both Italian and Chi- 

 nese, are growing — and the state, with com- 

 mendable liberality, has granted a present 

 bounty of two dollars per pound on all silks 

 grown, reeled and throwed; or in other 

 words made ready for the manufacturer; a 

 sum, considered by competent judges, nearly 

 sufficient to defray every expense in the 

 whole process of growing and preparing. We 

 hail with pleasure the rise of this new item 

 of national industry and profit, and shall 

 watch its progress with interest; viewing it 

 as we do, not as merely a question of dollars 

 and cents, though even here it is important, 

 but as a new link in the chain of cause and 

 effect, which will bring into action new en- 

 ergies, promote industrious habits, and render 

 us eventually less dependant on foreign na- 

 tions, and of course less at the mercy of their 

 enmities or their friendships. — Gen. Far. 



The wisdom of a wise man will be seen in 

 his seeking most to know the things most im- 

 portant to be known. 



Wheat— Important Discovery. 



The New Vork Eanncr puiilishes a letter 

 from the Rev. JMr. Coleman, announcing an 

 important discovery from the destruction of 

 the grain fly. 



The grain fly or insect, which, for a few 

 years past, has been destiuctive to wheat in 

 many parts of tlie country, lias this year ex- 

 tended its ravages, and excited, wherever he 

 made his appearance, very serious alarm. 

 An eminent farmer in the state of New 

 York wrote to me a year since, that he must 

 give up the cultivation of wheat, as his crops 

 were so much injured that he hardly obtained 

 a return equal to the seed sown. I knew 

 another instance in the same kState, where, 

 though the straw was large, and the appear- 

 ance promising, yet from thirteen bushels 

 sown not more than seven were obtained. 



I have known other cases in which the 

 whole field has been mowed and sold for lit- 

 ter; and in a recent excursion up the valley 

 of the Connecticut 1 have heard complaints 

 every where, and hundreds of acres so de- 

 stroyed that the grain they would yield would 

 hardly pay for reaping. Besides this, the 

 same insect has destroyed many fields of rye 

 in the same manner as the wheat, and had 

 been found this year in the oats: the progress 

 of the insect has been about Ibrty miles a 

 year; and a distinguished gentleman in Ver- 

 mont, a practical and extensive farmer, re- 

 marked that he feared they would on this ac- 

 count be obliged to relinquish the cultivation 

 of small grains. 



The habits of the insect have not yet been 

 accurately observed. I myself have not yet 

 seen the fly, but have seen the worms in the 

 kernel after the grain has been destroyed. 

 He is represented as being a small reddish 

 fly, which is seen hovering over the wheat 

 fields in immense numbers, while just in 

 flower, and has been observed to light upon 

 the kernel or bud, to ascend it, and then de- 

 scending to the inner side, to deposit his egg 

 between the stalk and the kernel. I pur- 

 posely avoid the use of all scientific terms, 

 wishing to be understood by common farm- 

 ers. From this egg the worm is generated 

 which entirely consumes the grain while in 

 the milk, leaving nothing but the husk, in 

 which are found several yellow worms, about 

 an eighth of an inch in length. As the work 

 of destruction is now completed, any farther 

 observations are of no importance, unless we 

 can some way reach so as to destroy the germ 

 of the insect. No preparation of the se( d or 

 ground, has yet been found effectual to this 

 end. 



The continuance of the fly upon the grain 

 is thought not to exceed three or four days, 

 and they are seen in great numbers just at 

 night. Some farmers have found late sow- 



