1836.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



559 



Tl»at Mr. Whitmasli well knew the state of ihe 

 public mind with re.?|)ect to the Morus JMuIticau- 

 lis, and also tiiat the names Moms Multicanlis 

 and Chinese Mulberry were considered perfecily 

 synoniinous, it would be absurd to doubt. That 

 lie did procure, or that somebody in his name did 

 procure, youny; trees, of some kind, and sell ihem 

 in a state so dry and decayed that tew if any 

 have lived to declare their species — that seeds oT 

 some kind were thus procured and sold in his 

 name to a vast amount at about -9160 per |)ound, 

 knowinij that the pun;!. users considerecl them the 

 true Morus iMulficaulis, and bought them as such, 

 are also llicts not to be doubled. 



Now, it is possible that Mr. W. may Iiavc been 

 imposed upon in his purchtise of seecis and trees, 

 and had no intention to deceive the public: at 

 least we wish it may appear so. But at any rate 

 the public has been most eijregiotisly deceived. 



It is in vain that the Northampton prints an- 

 nounce to the public, when the transaction is all 

 over, that there is no deception ; thaPthey were 

 the Chinese Mulberry — not the Morus Multicau- 

 lis, but a better kmd. With similar ffrace, the 

 honest Jew pedler sells a cold vatch, well kno'wini>' 

 that he is understood lo mean a ijold watch. 

 The reputation of" the Chiucse Mulberry stands 

 too high to be injured by speculation. j 



We impute no dishonest intentions to Mr. | 

 Whitmarsh, or to any one else in particular. We 

 have only stated facts, which show that there 

 has been deception somewhere. — Eo. S. W. 



From the Genssee Farraor. 

 LEAVES OF TREES FODDER FOR CATTLE. 



A remarkable feature in the agriculture o( 

 France, and in most w;irm countries, is the use of 

 leaves of trees as food for cattle. Not only are 

 mulberry, olive, popla-, vine and other leaves 

 gathered in autumn, when they begin to change 

 color, and acquire a sweetness of taste ; but spray 

 is cut green in July, dried in the sun or in the shade 

 of trees in woods, fligoted and stacked for win- 

 ter use. Dm-in^ that season thiy are given to 

 sheep and cattle like hay; and sometimes boiled 

 with grain or bran, to cows. Tlie aslfingejicy of 

 Bome leaves, as the oak, is eMeeraed medicalj es- 

 pecially for eheep. 



From tlTe Wegtera Farmer. 

 ON TRANSPLAWTIPTG-. 



There is no operation more impoTtant to the ag- 

 riculturist than that of planting out fruit trees ; be- 

 cause, if properly performed, the benefits of the 

 operation are lor himself and for his pos'teritj^. 

 Hence the damage of introducing improper prac- 

 tices, founded upon unsound principles in plant- 

 ing. 



Having observed in your November number of 

 the Western Farmer, some "Notes on Trans- 

 planting," copied from the New York Farmer, 

 recommending the planting out of trees without 

 lopping off any part of the top or branches — and 

 apprehending that the rea;3oning in favor of that 

 practice is incorrect, and might mislead, to their 

 injury, the confiding and inexperienced, I beg 

 leave to oSer a lew observations on the subject. 



The author of these " Notes," it appears to me, 

 reasons badly, when he draws an argument in fa- 

 vor of his new theory, fi'oin the fiict of the greater 

 success jn planting a young tree " with its limbs 

 and roots entire," than "the larger one with 

 the iiystem of decapitation practised upon it." 

 He inters that the ditl'erence arises li-om the ampu- 

 tation of the branches— whereas it proceeds liom 

 the greatei' loss of the roots, in digging up the 

 larger, than the young tree. In removang a young 

 plant it is quite practicable to retain a much larger 

 proportion of the extremitios of the small fibrous 

 roots, adapted to the introsusception of the plant, 

 than of alartre tree. There c;m be no doubt that 

 the roots are more essentially the lile-suslaining 

 members of plants than the branches — therefore, 

 when a tree (small or great) is removed, tha 

 chiimre of ils living depends more upon retaining 

 a diie proportion of its most essential members. 



The soundness of theories may sometimes be 

 tested by pushing the principles on which ihey 

 restto their extremes. Let us see whether the 

 theory here controverted can stand this test. — 

 Pklnt a young tree with its branches and roots en- 

 tire — it will live. Cut off a branch, it will live — 

 cut off several, it will still live — nay, cut olf the 

 whole, leavinij only the stem, and it will not only 

 survive, as a thousand instances have proveil, but 

 being sustained' by the roots, it will put new 

 branches and will flourish. 



Plant anotiier tree with its branches and roots 

 entire — try the same process of amputation on 

 the roots — and ere you reach the last root, the 

 branches will wither, and thte tree will decline and 

 die. 



An argument in favor of tte new theory is at- 

 tempted to be founded on a supposed analogy be- 

 tween vegetable and animal life. "But (says 

 its author,) would any person in his senses think 

 of cuttini; off a child's arm, because it had the 

 misfortune to lose its foot 7" Certainly the author 

 of the notes, in this question, loses sight entirely 

 of t.he sufiposed analogy. The food of an animal 

 is not constituted an organ to receive through its 

 pores nourishment fur the sustenance of the body, 

 as the roots are of a irec^. The stomach of an 

 animal is this org-an. Now let as suppose the 

 stomach to ha wounded or impaired, so as not to 

 be able to perform adequately the functions of re- 

 ceiving, preparing, and furnishing the body a due 

 portion of food. What is the consequence? 

 Why, by an invariable law of nature, the bulk of 

 substance to be supj)orfed must be reduced, the 

 body and limbs li-ill ulvvay, and dwindle sometimes 

 almost to a skeleton. But when the stomach re- 

 covers its tone, and performs properly its fiinctions, 

 then the body and limbs begin to recover, and 

 finally assume their wonted size and fulness. So 

 when the roots of a tree have been reduced or im- 

 paired, to a degr.-2e which leaves them incapable 

 of supplying adequate nourishment for the whole 

 tree, body and limbs, the same law of nature or- 

 dains, that a portion of the substance to be sup- 

 ported, must be reduced — the limbs wither, dry, 

 and decay: and who ever yet saw a dry dead 

 twig, restorod so as to vegetate 1 



As then, in the cases supposed, art is incapable 

 of reducing the bulk of the animal, but nature is 

 competent both to reduce and restore — as art is 

 capable of reducing the bulk of the tree, leaving 

 only as much as can be supported by the appen- 



