1836.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



463 



ma}'- he obviated, if the Morus Multicaulis be se- 

 lertcil for I he orohiird. All the calcula'ions in our 

 J/rt/um/ nre brised upon the su|)|Osi'ion that the 

 niulb'rry trees ?iioulil he four years old helbretliey 

 nre. picked — and in all candor we must confess that 

 we are still ot the opinion, that ihey ouirht to 

 '^raw that lonij b-Mbre they are dofjrived ol' their 

 ibliaire ; lor we conceit, that, defolialiun at an ear- 

 lier period would tend to shorten the lile of the 

 jilant. Cut those who are desirous of reapinfj all 

 themselves, and leavini; nothing for |)osterity, 

 may, if i hey please, reap the fruits oftheir labor in 

 tiie mulberry culture even from the first year up- 

 wards — and now let us see what the product of an 

 acre of ground planted in Morus Multicaulis trees 

 one year old, equal in quality with those of friend 

 Sinclair, would yield. 



lie fixes the quantity of leaves at 10,080 lbs. 

 and as 1,000 lbs. will feed 20,000 silk worms du- 

 ring their working season, so will 10,0S0 lbs. feed 

 201,600 worms; and as 3,000 worms will make a 

 po.ind of silk, so will the aii;ixrei>".ite number make 

 67 1-5 Ihs. of silk, which at §4 per pound, will 

 bring S2S3 40 — the expense ot attending an acre 

 in the silk culture, according to our computation, 

 is -8154 20; this being taken ii'om the gross 

 amount leaves S12D 20 as the profic on an acre 

 the first year; — and we fain would ask — what 

 can be put in an acre that will yield so handsome 

 a profit I 



The estimated expense of attending an acre in 

 the mulbery and silk culture, as assumed by us, 

 we have always considered large, and think so 

 still ; but we pur[)osely made it so, in order that 

 we might, in its excess, cover all possible contin- 

 gencies. From some little experience of the last 

 year, we sincerely believe that the expense of ga- 

 thering leaves and fe(>dirig the worms might be 

 lessened at least 33^ per cent, by judicious man- 

 agement, and we are certain that in proportion to 

 the extent of an establishment would the expense 

 be reduced. 



From the Cliicago (Illinois) American. 

 THE WESTERN " BARRKKTS." 



Barrens are a species of country of a mixed 

 character, uniting lorett and prairie. They are 

 covereti with scattering oaks, rough and stunted 

 in their appearance, interspersed with patches of 

 hazel, brushwood, and tough grass. They ap- 

 pear to be the result of the contest which the fire 

 is periodically continuing with the timber. The 

 appearance of ihis description of country led the 

 early settlers of the state to suppose that the scan- 

 tiness of timber was owing to the poverty of the 

 soil ; and hence the tide, thus ignorantly given, 

 and calculated to convey erroneous notions to our 

 eastern liirmers, became ot universal a|)plication 

 to this extensive tract ot country. It is ascertain- 

 ed, however, that these barrens embrace as pro- 

 ductive a soil as can be found in the state — 

 healthy — more rolling than the prairies, and 

 abounding with that important requisite to desira- 

 ble farms, good springs. The fire visits these bar- 

 rens in the fall, hut owing to the insufficiency of 

 the fuel, is not able to destroy, entirely, the tim- 

 ber. The farmer may settle, without hesitation 

 or fear, in any part of this species of land, where 

 he can find timber sufficient for his present purpo- 

 ses and wants, for the eoil is supposed to be better 



adapted lo all the interests of agriculture, and the 

 vicisitudes of the season, than the deeper and rich- 

 er mould of bottom and prairie land. Wliere the 

 fire is prevented from the ravages, (as it easily 

 can be by the occupant of the soil,) heavy timber 

 springs up vviiK a rapidity which would he incred- 

 ible to the northern emigrant. Hii<h insn ated 

 bluffs, of a conical form, and exliit)iiiiig the ap- 

 pearance of connected ridges, rise up fiom the bot- 

 toms along the rivers which meander and lertili/,e 

 them ; they are fiom one to three hundred leet in 

 height. Knobs of land, stony, and often rocky, at 

 their sununiis, are found along the rivers, in some 

 sections of the state, separated by deep ravines. 

 The prairies are often intersected by ravines lead- 

 ing down to the streams. Deep sink holes, which 

 serve to drain off the wafers, are found in some 

 t:arts, and prove that the substance is secondary 

 limestone, abounding in siibteraneous cavities. 

 Very little that is denominated in the eastern 

 sta*es sfony (iroiind is f()nnd in this state. There 

 are (]uarries of' stone in the blufis, in the. banks of 

 the streams, and in tlu; ravines. In the vii-imty 

 of Juliet, and m my other [jromisinir villages, an 

 abundance of stone can be procured, admirably 

 adapted to the purposes of building, uniting tinra- 

 bility with great beauty and warmth. Timber, 

 were it equally distributed in this state, wouki be 

 adequate to the necessities of the settlers. Its ap- 

 parent scarcity, where the prairie prevails, is not 

 to be so great an obstacle to settlement as bas 

 been ixenerally imagined. Substitutes have been 

 Ibund l()r many of the purposes to which timber is 

 generally applied : and the rapiditj' with which 

 prairie, under the hand of care and cultivation, be- 

 comes converted into forest of timber, alibrds a 

 sure (juaranty for the future. 



The kinds of timber most abundant in the state 

 are oaks of the various species, black and white 

 walnut, ash of the several varieties, elm, sugar 

 maple, honey locust, ha.ckberry, linden, hickoiy, 

 cotton- wood, pecan, mulberry, buck-eye, sycamore, 

 cherry ,hox, elder, sassafi-as, and persimmon. In 

 the southern and easiern |;arts of the state, yellow 

 poplar and beech may be found. Near the Ohio 

 are cypress trees, and in several counties clunqis 

 of yellow pine and cedar. On tlie Calumet, near 

 the south end of Lake Michigan, is a forest of 

 small pine. The underwood growth consists prin- 

 cipally ol redbud, pawpaw, sumach, plum, crab- 

 apple, grape-vine, dog-wood, spice bush, green- 

 brier, hazel, etc. The trees in this slate are very 

 luxuriant in their growth, and are fi'equently found 

 of a stupeniluous size, pariicularly the cotton- 

 wood and sycamore, on the alluvial soil of the ri- 

 vers. 



Extract frnm tlio Farmer's Magazine, of September, 1836. 



AXECOOTE OF A XOTED POINTER. A POINT- 

 ER SOW. 



A sportsman ought never to lend a pointer, 

 since a dog, wliatever his good (jualities may be, 

 will not serve a stranger either so willingly or so 

 well, as his master, and returns iiome all tlic 

 worse for the indiscreet ex[;eriment. However, a 

 friend being very importunate, the owner of the 

 p.oiiilers whose portraits acconjptmy the present 

 number, alter some hesitation, agreed to acconuno- 

 date him with Bob [a pointer] who was well ad- 



