VOL. XIV. KO. G. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL 



45 



not iciniiin Iflngcr than fifteen days on salt water, 

 lest they sIiouUl become nionldy. (in river water 

 and particularly by stcuni boats, tliero is not the 

 same diuigcr. Tlie boxes in every case should b<! 

 covered with a tarpaulin or good oiled cloth, that 

 tliry may in no case sufl'er from damiiness or 

 rain. 



The price of good cocoons in Franco is from 

 tweutyfi^e to thirtyflvo cents per pound of sixteen 

 ounces — I mean of perfect cocoons. Perforated 

 cocoons, from which the moth has escaped, those 

 which are spotted, aud the imperfect ones, called 

 chiqucs, mentioned in the essay No. V. command 

 no price, and are generally given away by the silk 

 culturists. There are but few of them, because, 

 those who raise silk worms being experienced in 

 the business, produce hardly any but good cocoons. 

 When these are sold, the bad ones are tJirowu in- 

 to the bargain. 



The price of cocoons in this counti-y cannot 

 yet be settled ; but it will be the interest of the 

 silk culturist to sell them in the beginning as cheap 

 as possible, to encourage the silk manufacturers, 

 which alone can procure them regular purchasers, 

 and without which their produce must lie upon 

 their hands. .f. D'Homerg0e. 



PKOPITS OP THE MUI/BERRY. 



Though it would seem probable that almo.stany 

 farmer who has 100 acres or more, if he under- 

 stood the subject, and was duly informed as to 

 the profits of cultivating silk, would appropriate 

 at least three acres to it, I will confine my calcu- 

 lation on the profits of a single acre, which the far- 

 mer can always extend or contract to suit his own 

 views. 



• A number of calculations have been given to 

 the public, by different persons, all founded on 

 e-tperience, and probably all true. But as they 

 have been made on difl^ereut soils, and no doubt 

 with different management aud different degrees 

 of skill and care, it is naturally to be ex- 

 pected they all differ. Probably the mean between 

 them may be relied on as a fair average result. 



Andrew Palraalier, Esq. of New York, has 

 given a statement from two acres, which divided 

 will give the following for one acre : 



One acre of ground, fenced by mulberry hedges 

 and set out with trees, $250 



Interest and additional expense during 

 five years, lg7,50 



The acre will then produce : $437,50 



From 5 to 10 years, 10 per cent. 



■ " 10 to 15 " 47 " 



" 15 to 20 « 112 " 



which will average nearly 45 per cent, for the first 

 twenty years, and continue at 112 per cent after- 

 wards. 



Mr Fitch, who is cited as authority by the sec- 

 retary of the treasury, calculates 40 pounds of silk 

 to an acre, and Mr Storrs 60 pounds. 



According to the calculation of Mr Palmatier, an 

 acre will pay on an average of 20 years $205,62, 

 and $490 a year, afterwards. 



Mr Fitch's statement, allowing the silk to be 

 worth 4 dollars per pound, would yield a gross 

 amount of $160, and that of Mr "Storr's ^240. 

 Mr Storrs has had much experience, and probably 

 his estimate may be relied on as the average ; 

 though in a better soil, some one may have gone far 

 beyond it. — Silkworm. 



ON PREVENTING THE ATTACKS OP INSECTS. 



' Se.nex on preventing the attacks of insects, mil- 

 dew, &.C. observes, " The best, cheapest, and 

 easiest produced liquid lor defending and cleansing 

 fruit trees from insects is conmion .-Joap sups from 

 the laundry. I have always used this waste water 

 for all kinds of trees, whether on walls or stand- 

 ards, employing the force of the garden engine. 

 The bitter of the alkaline principle, and the clog- 

 ging effect of the greasy matter on the move- 

 ments of minute insectSj if not fatal is certainly 

 oflensive to all kinds inhabiting walls or trees. 

 Besides, the cleansing efti^ct of such a liquid 

 thrown on with force gets rid not only of insects 

 but many other impurities, and the trees always 

 appear to be refreshed and invigorated by it. And 

 it may easily be conceived, that stems and branch- 

 es coated with the white curdlings of the soap, 

 and the opening scales of the buds repeatedly 

 filled by the same, must make the bark of the one 

 and the interior of the other very disagreeable 

 retreats, whether for board or lodging. The only 

 time in the season when such an application is un- 

 suitable will be during six weeks before the fruit 

 begins to rijien, as certamly no taint of the soap 

 should remain on the fruit. 



" This application is available and useful, and 

 even necessary on another account. It is a mortal 

 enemy to the parasite fungus, called mildew ; and 

 not only prevents the attack if timely applied, but 

 kills the fungus, and recovers the wounded bark 

 in a very short time. Some gardeners add a little 

 of the flour of brimstone in the remedy for the 

 cure of mildew — an usefid addition, as it is equal- 

 ly destructive of this pernicious fungus. 



"Soap-suds is equally efficacious in banishing 

 the little acarus commonly called the red spider, 

 so detrimental to fruit trees and many other jilants 

 grown in a high temperature. In forcing-frames 

 and houses they are a great pest, and are also met 

 with on wall trees in summer. They thrive and 

 increase wonderfully in a dry atmosjihere, and are 

 greatly annoyed by moisture of any kind ; and 

 in some cases, when water or steam would be hurt- 

 ful to certain plants, the acarus can only be ban- 

 ished by fumes of sulphur evolved from a strong- 

 ly heated flue or chafing dish ; but wherever 

 water can be copiously and forcibly applied this 

 little insect cannot thrive to be seriously hurtful." 

 — Paxton's Hort. Register. 



FRUIT TREES CASTING THEIR PUIT. 



It is well known that although some trees both 

 of peach, apricot, plum, apple, &c., are well fur- 

 nished with blossom buds, the blossoms often fail 

 in their impregnation, and fall off; and when 

 they are impregnated and set forth, they fall off at 

 the stoning. Frequently, although they survive 

 the stoning, they become prematurely ripe and fall 

 off, ami very few, if any, of the fruit {.ciain ma- 

 turity, while those which do ripen becdme vapid 

 and have no flavor. These failures have been 

 proved to arise from unwholesome food, a rem- 

 edy for which may he found in the following meth- 

 od : Having selected a tree that is in good con- 

 dition, and well furnished with blossom buds, just 

 as the blossoms are beginning to expand, take a 

 potato fork, and with it make holes all over the 

 surface of the space occupied by tlie roots, 

 (which extends as far from the stem as the branch- 

 es) at about eighteen inches apart, forcing in the 

 fork to the full depth of the tines, and giving it a 

 gentle heave, by pressing on the end of the han- 



dle ; then having dissolved some nitre in water, 

 in the proportion of an ounce to throe gallons of 

 water, (ill the holes with the solution. No ma- 

 nure must b(^ given ; but if, after the stoning of 

 the fruit, the tree should appear unable to sustain 

 its crop of fruit, the following prejiaration may 

 be given, in the same manner as the nitre: To 

 one gallon of blood add one gallon of water, and 

 one ounce of potash; stir the mixture well, and 

 let it stand for a week or ten days ; then pour oft" 

 the solution from the clot, and mixing one gallon 

 of this liquid with four gallons of water, give it 

 to the trees as .-ibove. The remaining clot may 

 be dissolved by adding to it one quart of slack 

 lime, and one gallon of water to one gallon of 

 clot, but this solution must not be given to fruit 

 trees, as it will produce the effect which the nitre 

 is intended to remedy. It will, however, prove a 



good manure for the cabbage tribe, celery, &c 



Gardener's Magazine: 



Silk Worms — The Silk Culturist inquires how 

 to prevent the black ant from destroying the silk 

 worm. A correspondent says, " Let the frames 

 on which the worms are fed be placed some dis- 

 tance from the walls of the room, and nail strips 

 of new tin (two or three inches wide) about tlic 

 bottom of the standard posts sujiporting the feed- 

 ing frames, and the ants cannot climb over the tin. 

 A similar rim of tin j)laced about the Chinese 

 plant when set out will prevent the cut worm 

 from reaching the plant." — Northampton Cour. 



One would be naturally surprised on being told 

 that it is proposed, and is perfectly practicable, to 

 shorten the voyage between New York and Liv- 

 erpool at least one third by means of railroads. 

 The mode of effecting it is clearly laid down by a 

 correspondent of the Portland Advertiser. An 

 English |iaper states that a railroad is contemplat- 

 ed from Dublin to Valentia, a port on the extreme 

 western coast of Ireland, with a view to shifting 

 the iiort for the English packets from Falmouth 

 to Valentia, a ])ort further projected hito the At- 

 lantic Ocean than any other in Europe. Oppo- 

 site to this on our continent it is proposed to fix a 

 harbor at or near Cape Canso in Nova Scotia. 

 Thence a steamboat might run between the main 

 land and Prince's Edward's Island to the bay of 

 Verte. From this point by the river St. John's, 

 Bangor, in Maine, might be easily reached, either 

 by steamboat or railroad. By this route the length 

 of the sea voyage between Europe and America 

 would be reduced to a fortnight. — Bait. Amer. 



CocooNS. — On Wednesday last we saw some 

 cocoons more remarkable for weight than any we 

 ever saw before. They weighed at the rate of 

 158 to 160 to the pound ; while the usual allow- 

 ance is 250 to the pound. They were made by 

 worms belonging to Mr Amos Benjamin, of Bris- 

 tol, in this county, and the worms were fed with 

 the leaves of the white mulberry. Mr B. has 

 heretofore lived in Seipio, in Cayuga co. where 

 he paid some attenion to this subject, and he has 

 also seen a good deal of the management of silk 

 worms and their produce, in Connecticut, his native 

 state, but he thinks the leaf of the mulberry, as it 

 grows in Bristol valley, yields more pabulum for 

 the worm and more material for silk-, than he has 

 elsewhere known. Mr B. intends to reel his own 

 cocoons and make them into sewing thread. We 

 arc glad to sec the rapid spread of attention to this 

 important species of production. 



