; ol.VIlI.— Nn.l. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



3 



;,| Id form a subgenus, wliicli might be named, 



I, their form. Teres. 

 non" about thirty American Bcprestes in 

 abin'ct I cannot, with certainty, identify the 

 , a of Fabricius, and have not the Americana 

 Ballimorensis-, Ilerbst, ritfipe.s, qucrcata, and 

 \aia, F. punctulata Schonherr, Trachys ? 



•i %ta Olivier, nor tlie Fabrician American spe- 



iji Df the same genus except the tesscllata. Any 

 I lese would be acceptable, or other insects 



d bo given in excliange. 



HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



stated meeting was held on the 6th of July, 

 ng the numerous plants exhibited, the follow- 

 lescrve particular notice : 

 1 Mr R. Carr, from Bartrani's Garden — H(E- 

 hus jiitniccus, spot-stalked blood-flower, in full 

 1 — a native of the Cape of Good Hope ; a 

 plant, and it is believed the first that has 

 red in Pennsylvania, if not in the United 



s. 



jm coccinea, scarlet Ixora, from India. 



oxinia speciosa, purple Gloxinia, flom South 



rica. 



r Mr Hibbert, Thirteenth street, near Lom- 



— Clematis Florida, and Clematis Flamula, 



tiful creeping plants, with pretty white flovv- 



lardy, and very suitable for arbors. 



Crispa, a native of South Carolina, with 

 lie purple flowei-s. 



U'ple Tea Rose. Plumhago Capensis, from 

 >pe of Good Hope. Crnssula Versicula. — 

 nis Chalcedonica. Aster Muscata, or Argoph- 

 Campanida Urticifolia, double blue, and 



»' le white, hardy, and very beautiful. 



Mr A. Parker, Moyamensiug Garden — Mal- 

 Iba. Dahlia superjlua. Datura metel, with 

 large white flowers. Yucca recurvifolia. A 



«. and superb Ailhxa rosea. Papavcr somnife- 

 and P. rheas. 

 16 chairman, Dr Mease, exhibited a stalk of 



lai [^ucca filimcntosa, commonly called Adam's 



ii id, or the palmetto plant. It was sent to him 



» [rs Hopkins, of Iladdonfield. The stalk was 

 een nine and ten feet high, and for five feet 



ii covered with its beautiful tulip shaped white 

 ;rs, and numerous pods not yet blown. This 

 es of Yucca is common in gardens, but it is 

 that a flt)wer stem of such a size, and with 

 irs so large and fine, is seen. It excited the 

 ration of all the members present: the most 

 ised horticulturist might be proud in showing 

 a specimen of his success, 

 r Edward H. Bonsall, of Germantown, sent a 



jl 3 of wine made from red currants, in the year 

 , of an excellent quality, which gave great 

 action. It was not sweeter than was agree- 

 and very mild and rich. It came very near 

 e taste and flavor of fine Frontignac. Not- 

 standing the partiality in favor of foreign 



,;j s, that of Mr Bonsall's cannot fail of finding 



iiasers, among those who drink wine " for 



stomach's sake" only. " It had no distilled 



s of any kind added to it." 



letter to the chairman from Dr Norton,' of 



moud, Virginia, was read, on the origin of the 



known grape called the " Bland grape," 



h has beeit supposed by many to be a native. 



ton gave satisfactory reasons for our be- 



ig that it was introduced by Mr Mazzei, who 



town to have come to Virginia before the 



ricnn revolution, with the express object of 



cultivating the vine on a large scale, and who 

 mentions his successful experiments in his work 

 entitled " Recherches sur Ics Etats Unis : Colle, 

 1788." 



The grape in question was the only one of the 

 many kinds which he brought over that re.sistcd 

 the clinjate, the effects of neglect or rude cidtiva- 

 tion, or that attracted the attention of the natives. 

 Col Bland brought a number of the cuttings of 

 tliis vine to Philadelphia, in the year 1778, and 

 distributed them among his friends, and it has 

 since been established in Pennsylvania. It is 

 known to be a great bearer ; that the grapes keep 

 well, when properly preserved in jars, until May, 

 and will even bang on the vines until near Janu- 

 ary. They, however, do not ripen until the first 

 week in October ; but this circumstance is in its 

 favor as a wine grape. — Philadelphia Gazette. 



From ihe'Nalional Gazette. 



AMERICAN SILK. 



The subscriber having received a part of bis 

 early education in an extensive manufactory of 

 Silks, at Nismes, in France, and by that means, 

 having become familiar with all the processes of 

 that kind of manufacture, from the raising of the 

 silk worm, and reeling oflf the silk from the co- 

 coons, to the fdbrication'of the most delicate stuffs, 

 has thought that it would not be unacceptable to 

 the American public to lay before them the results 

 of sotrie experiments that he has made upon the 

 produce of the American Silk Worm, in the short 

 space of less than two months that he has been in 

 this country. These results are truly surprising, as 

 they show a superiority in the silk produced by the 

 American worm, (at least in Pennsylvania) over 

 that of any other country that he has ever seen, 

 which he was far from expecting, when he began 

 his experiments, and which, he believes, no one 

 had yet suspected or imagined. They promise an 

 immense source of riches to the United States. 



Those experiments were made at the farm or 

 place of Messrs Ten Hoeven, a Dutch family, 

 who have a small, but thriving establishment for 

 the raising of silk worms, in the vicinity of Phila- 

 delphia. 



The first thing that struck the subscriber in the 

 operations he made, was the extreme and he may 

 say, the dazzling whiteness of the silk obtained 

 from the American worm. It is well known, that 

 the raw silks of Italy and France, are in general 

 of a yellowish color ; a comparatively small quan- 

 tity of white silk is produced, and that is in very 

 great demand, in consequence of its ca])acity to 

 receive the most delicate dyes. Here, on the con- 

 trary, the general quality of the silk is a beautiful 

 white, and but little of the yellow is found on the 

 cocoons. This will make the American raw silk 

 sought for, in preference to any other. 



This, however, is not the onl^ advantage which 

 American Silk possesses over that of the other 

 countries : the following experiments will show 

 what a mine of riches is opened to the industry of 

 this country. 



EXPERIMENT I. 



Weight of the cocoons. — One cocoon, without 

 chrysalis, was found to weigh six grains, avoirdu- 

 pois. Three cocoons, also without chrysalis, 

 weighed together, weighed eighteen grains. The 

 cocoons were not selected, and were taken at haz- 

 ard. This weight is sui)erior by near one half, to 

 that of the cocoons of Europe, and this experi- 



ment shows that the .American cocoons are nearly 

 equal in weight ; whereas in Europe, there is a 

 pretty considerable inequality. 



EXPERIMENT II. 



Produce of the cocoons. — Eight ounces of co- 

 coons with their chrysalis, not selected or picked, 

 produced two ounces of raw silk of the first quali- 

 ty ; it would require more than one pound of Eu- 

 ropean cocoons to produce the same result. 



EXPERIMENT III. 



Proof of Experiment T. — Seventy-five cocoons, 

 without chrysalis, weighed together 450 grains, 

 which gives exactly six grains for each cocoon. — 

 These, however, were in some degree selected, 

 though not with any great care. These seventy- 

 five cocoons produced 419 grains of raw silk, su- 

 perior to those of France and Italy. This may 

 appear extraordinary, but it may be attested by 

 several persons of respectability who were pres- 

 ent. 



EXPERIMENT IV. 



Produce of bad cocoons. — Thirteen bad co- 

 coons, with their chrysalides, (by bad cocoons is 

 meant those of which the worms have suff'ered 

 from want of care and proper feeding,) have pro- 

 duced 47 grains of superb silk. 



The subscriber will content himself at this time 

 with laying the foregoing experiments before the 

 public. He may, perhaps, at a future day, presenf 

 them with some of the results of his experience in 

 this branch of business, which he thiidcs may not 

 be useless if it should be thought advisable to in- 

 troduce it effectually in this country. 



J. D'HOMERGUE, 



At Mrs Fillette Fleming's, No. 159 South 2d st, 

 Philadelphia, 13tli July, l'829. 



A French jiaper before us states, that numerous 

 plants aflford true and convenient hints concern- 

 ing the weather, which it may be agreeable to 

 some to be informed of Chickweed is said al- 

 ways to close its blossoms some time before a rain ; 

 so that when they are observed open, one may 

 calculate on dry weather for at least several hours. 

 As long as they continue to unfohl and dis))lay 

 themselves, the whole day may be depended upon. 

 If on the contrary the flowers withdraw them- 

 selves into their green envelo])e, the pedestrian 

 need wish no better hint to take his umbrella on 

 his walk. All kinds of clover, we are further in- 

 formed, close up their leaves at the approach of a 

 storm, and this is so marked a characteristic of 

 that family of plants, that they are often denom- 

 inated " the farmers' barometer." The same prac- 

 tice is observed in tulips, and the greater part of 

 flowers with yellow blossoms, in prcjiaration for 

 rain. AVild sorrel does the same in France ; and 

 in other countries the mountain ebony, the acca- 

 cia, and sensitive plants generally do the same. 



A lady who was unhurthening her conscience 

 at confession, admitted that she used rouge. — 

 " What for ? " " To make myself handsomer, 

 Holy Father." " Well, do you succeed ?" " I 

 think .so." "Come out and let me look." His 

 reverence putting on his si)ectacles, very gravely 

 said, " You may use rouge, for you are ugly enough 

 even with it." 



Great qnantiti.es of Wheat appear to have been 

 raised in Georgia and South Carolina this year. 

 The harvest commenced about a fortnight since. 



