VoI.VIII.— No 42. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



333 



tions anil bandages of the most skilful vetcriiiu- 

 rian. It is the renovating process of nature, where 

 the art of man fails. 



The spring grass is the best physic that can ))0S- 

 sibly be administered to the horse. To a degree 

 which no artificial aperient or diuretic can attain, 

 it carries oft"every humor which may be lurking 

 about the animal ; it fines down the roundness of 

 the legs ; and, except there be some bony enlarge- 

 ment, restores thein almost to their original fiirm 

 and strength. When, however, the summer has 

 thoroughly set in, the grass ceases to be succulent, 

 aperient, or medicinal ; the ground is no longer 

 cool and moist, at least during the day ; and a 

 host of tormentors, in the shape of flies, are from 

 sunrise to sunset, persecuting the poor animal. 

 Running and stamping to rid himself of his 

 plagues, his feet are battered by the hard ground, 

 and he newly, and perhaps more severely, injures 

 his legs. Kept in a cons'ant state of irritation and 

 fever, he rapidly I'ises his condition, and some- 

 times comes up in August little better than a skel- 

 eton. 



Let the horse be turned out as soon as possible 

 after the hunting season is over. Let him have 

 the whole of May, and the greater part, or pos.-si- 

 bly the whole of June ; but when the grass fails, 

 and the ground gets hard, and the flies torment, 

 let iiim be taken up. All the benefits of turning 

 out, and that which a loose box and artificial phy- 

 sic can never give, will have been obtained with- 

 out the inconvenience and injury which attend 

 an injudiciously protracted run at grass, and which, 

 arguing against the use of a thing from the abuse 

 of it, have been improperly urged against turning 

 out at all. 



The Steeple Hunt is a relic of ancient foolhard- 

 iness and cruelty. It was the form under which 

 the horse race, at its first establishment, was fre- 

 quently decided. It is a race across the country, 

 of two or four, or even a greater number of miles 

 — and it is generally contrived that there shall be 

 some deep lane, or wild brook, and many a stiff 

 and dangerous fence between. It is ridilcn at the 

 evident haznrd of the life of the sportsman ; and 

 it likewise p :ts to hazard the life or enjoyment of 

 the horse, li is getting into gradual disuse, and 

 no man whose good opinion is worth having 

 would d:nni such an exhibition creditable to the 

 head or heart of him who was engaged in it. 



To the Furjtiers of Essex County. 



The following premiums (among others) are 

 'offered the present year by the Essex Agricultural 

 Society : — 



For the best cultivated Farm $30 



For the second best 27 



For the third best 24 



Fur the fourth best 21 



For the fifth best 18 



For the sixth best 15 



For the seventh best 12 



Persons claiming these premiums, will be re- 

 quired to state in writing, an accurate descrip- 

 tion of their farm, specifying the quantity and 

 quality of different kinds of soil, and the means 

 |that have been used to bring the same into their 

 present condition ; — the ]>rnportions suitable for 

 tillage, mowing and pasturing ; — the number of 

 acres planted the present year, with corn, grain or 

 vegetables, specifying the kinds of each, and their 

 respective i)roducts, the quantity and kind of ma- 

 nure used for each crop, and the times and man- 



ner of applying it ; the number of acres mowed 

 the present year, and the kind of grass ami qualify 

 of hay thereon ; — the number of apple trees on 

 the farm, the proportion grafted, the qu.iiitily of 

 fruit, treatment of the trees, and the manner of 

 making and preserving cider; — the mnnber and 

 description of stock kept on the farm through the 

 year, and the quantity of butler and cheese nnide, 

 and the methods practised in making the same ; — 

 the quantity of pork raised ; — the labor employed 

 in carrying on the farm. 



And it is expected that the claimants will state 

 the kind of crop, if not able to state the quantity 

 raised on the several parcels of tillage, mowing 

 and pasture land deSscribeil in their statements, for 

 two years next preceding the present. 



These statements nuist be forwarded to the 

 Secretary of the Society on or before the last day 

 of November, the presetit year. 



Persons intending to claim these premiums must 

 give notice thereof to the Secretary, on or before 

 the first day of June next. 



The committee appointed to examine the 

 Farms and to award these premiums, are Jes.se 

 Pu'riam of Danvers, Henry Column of Salem, Jo- 

 seph Kiitridge of Andover, Moses Newell of West 

 Newbury, Jeremiah Colman of Newburyport, 

 William B. Breed of Lynn, William I'. Endicott 

 of Salem, and John W. Proctor of Dnnvers. 



Attest, J. W. PROCTOR, Sechj. 



Dayivtrs, Jlpril, 1830. 



PHILADELPHIA SILK. 



An extract of a letter from a gentleman of Ly- 

 ons, in France, contains the proceedings of the 

 Chamber of Commerce, in relation to American 

 silk, &c. 



The proceedings were originally published in 

 the Precursor, a paper published at Lyons, Jan. 3, 

 1830. 



Chamber of Commerce. — The chamber had re- 

 quested one of its mend)ers to cause to be a.ssayed 

 at Lyons, the silk that has lately been prej)ared at 

 Philadelphia. 



The assay took place recently upon a sample 

 prepared by Mr d'Homergue, of Nismes, son of 

 Louis d'Homergue, late proprietor of a splendid 

 filature of silk, in the said town. 



It residts from that essay, publicly executed at 

 Lyons, by Pierre Mazel, licensed assayer of silks, 

 that the raw silk obtained in Philadelphia is of an 

 extraordinary quality, and is admirably adapted 

 to al! the uses of fabrication. Its degfee of fine- 

 ness is 16 dwts. so that it would produce singles 

 ofSOdwts.; or organzine of 32, and tram or woof 

 silk of 30, a quality of silk extremely rare in our 

 country. American silk is fine, nervous, good, 

 regular, clean, of a fine color; in a word, it unites 

 all the qualities than can be wished for. Its mar- 

 ket price in the state of raw silk, well reeled, ac- 

 cording to its diflferent qualities, well prepared 

 would be 26 francs a pound, anil the sale of it at 

 Lyons, would be very easy, particularly if there 

 were a constant supply of bales weighing from 

 100 to 1.50 lbs. 



The Chamber of Commerce loses no time in 

 publishing information so satisfactory. They 

 ought more than ever to excite the Americans to 

 plant mulberry trees and raise silk, a kind of in- 

 dustry that will afford great advantage to both 

 countries, and may in future give birth to estab- 

 lishments of various kinds, and be a new source of 

 wealth to the United States. 



ENGLISH SILK. 

 A curious fact is mcmioned as connected with 

 the real superiority which the silk manufactures 

 of this country have attained, which is that for 

 some time |iast large shipmenl.s have been mak- 

 ing of English silks for French i)i)rts. A greater 

 triumph than this for the skill and industry of our 

 countrymen, and for ihe principles of free trade 

 could scarcely be adduced. — Eng. pa. 



THE MILITIA SYSTEM. 



We doubt whether our militia system, as by 

 the late law established, is fitted to eftect any ben- 

 ficial purpose whatever, of sufficient magnitude to 

 be discoverable by the researches of any honest 

 inquirer of ordinary intelligence. It is nothing 

 hilt an empty pageant, a mere name and show, 

 without use or power. While the burthens it 

 imposes are palpable, vast, and universal, ihere is 

 not an individual in the community who is not 

 interested in overthrowing it, except the few to 

 whom it is a source of income. Its impositions 

 are numerous and onerous, v>liilst its benefits are 

 few and doubtful. A .system which puts in motion 

 such cumbrous machinery to effect such insigiiifi 

 cant objects, must be radically and essentially vic- 

 ious. However much we may respect some of 

 the agents of its operations, we cannot but laugh, 

 wonder, and blush, by turn.s, at the weakness of 

 its general conception, and the monstrosity of its 

 dispro|K)rtioned organization. 



But perhaps ridicule is not the proper weapon 

 to combat such intolerable abuses — perhaps we 

 ought not to speak otherwise thim seriously of 

 the serious interests of the whole community. 



The militia system costs near as much as the 

 support of the clergy, our common schools, and 

 our apparatus for preventing and extinguishing 

 fires, all |)ut together. Let every man compare 

 its benefits with those resulting from these three 

 great departments of public expenditure, and 

 shoulder his musket or pay his fine contentedly if 

 human nature will let him. 



It absorbs energies which ought to be employ- 

 ed in urging society forward in the course of im- 

 provement. It makes many officers bankrupts, it 

 makes many privates drunkards. It is the bane 

 of industry, frugality, and morality. 



It is unequal and unjust in its operation, inas- 

 much as most of those who can afford to pay are 

 by law exempted, while those who can least afford ' 

 their money or time, must pay or train. 



Finally, it is utterly unnecessary as a means of 

 defence — but if necessary, it is notoriously incom- 

 petent to the purpose. 



It is for these reasons, we suppose, that it has 

 become what it tiow is, a by-word among us, ha- 

 led by the laboring jiortion of the comnninity, who 

 suffer under its operation, and despised by the 

 privileged classes who are not exposed to its bur- 

 thens. 



Such and so great, being the evils of this sys- 

 tem of evils, and such being, as wo believe, the 

 estimation in which the community hold it, surely 

 no sane man will denannd of us that we shall re- 

 frain from condemning them because individuals 

 of respectability, against whom we have no cause 

 of complaint, are bound in duty to carry on its 

 grotesque details. The many are of more im- 

 portance in this republic than the few. An evil 

 which all feel must not be passed by in silence be- 

 cause it cannot be exposed without alluding to 

 indivi iuals. If the delicacy of any man's nerves 



