362 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



MAY 35, 1830, 



Oils, the lios|iitablp, the chivalric State of South 

 Carolina? We wait not for an answer; but we 

 bid or rather |ira_v you to turn your eyes towards 

 Italy to the Coinpania di Romana ; to the former 

 mistress of the world, herself, and there, the an- 

 swer is most solemnly written in most distinct 

 characters. That country, once the jrarden and 

 pride of the world — the dwelling place of its mas- 

 ters — where is all its glory ? — Gone, gone for ever. 

 The palaces and gardens of the Cfesars, and of all 

 the great names which are yet the ])ride of history, 

 are all replaced by infectious marshes, where noth- 

 ing but desolation, misery and death can abide. 

 Say not, gentlemen, that we exaggerate the pros- 

 pect before us, that, at all events, such a condition 

 is far from ns. We hope it is very distant, and pray 

 that the similitude may never be realized. But 

 where are now the elegant abodes of hospitality, 

 those palaces that, not many years since adorned 

 the avenues to the good city of Charleston for 

 many miles? There is scarcf^ly anything left of 

 them except the magnificent line of oaks that led 

 to them. These now act as the ignis fahius, and 

 entice the stranger in the ho|)es of finding the 

 hospitality which seems promised at their ter- 

 mination, when he finds a void, if not a danger- 

 ous morass. The great cause of the calamitous 

 change which has taken place in Italy is the 

 neglect of Agriculture, by which the fair fields of 

 productiveness become noxious and dismal mo- 

 rasses, yielding' the deadly malaria, instead of the 

 rich harvests of corn and luxurious gardens. You 

 will say : ' but the Goths and Vandals came and 

 ravaged that country, and began what sloth and 

 luxury finished.' True, they did come ; but are 

 we not also threatened with the Goths and Van- 

 dals ? Shall we, like the Romaas, suft'er sloth 

 and liixm-y to cause our ruin ? 



The efforts of the Southern States should be 

 directoil to the encouragement of a middle class 

 of ijopulation, and let every avenue be opened for 

 this class to take rank with the firet. For this 

 purpose. Education shoiild he promoted by every 

 possible means, and no reasonable expense spared 

 to attain this most valuable object; for it is the 

 moral power of a state, as Agriculture is its phy- 

 sical one. For this reason, the advancement of 

 learning and the most durable amelioration of the 

 soil, should be the great objects pf our unremitted 

 efforts. By these means only can we ever be 

 powerful, and retain our present property, nay, 

 our independence. This, we are satisfied, cannot 

 be done without the fulleet co-opei'atioti of our 

 richer and more intelligent class of citizens. — 

 Even though the immediate and direct improve- 

 ment of this class should not follow such efforts, 

 yet the trial should be made. .'\dvanre rural 

 science, and every inhabitant wiM be benefitted ; 

 for there is really only one prominent interest in 

 this State, and that is Agriculttire. The others 

 are all dependent upon it. It appears to us, gen- 

 tlemen, that the administration, or rather the 

 constitmion of our State Government is defective 

 in its arrangements; and we throw out the hint, 

 that it may be duly considered. It seems to ns 

 that every department of our interest should have 

 a competent officer at its head. In our financial 

 department, we haveaConiplrollcrand aTrrasurcr. 

 Why should wc not have a Minister of Instruetiori 

 and one of Agriculture 1 These two most essen- 

 tial officers, if W(dl chosen, would undoubtedly 

 superintend their respective departments to the 

 Treat advantage of the State. 



(To be continued.) 



Income of the Third Year. — Some farmers de- 

 cline cultivating the mulberry on account of the 

 time that must necessarily elapse between sowing 

 the seed and gathering the foliage in sufficient 

 quantities to make a profitable crop of silk. That 

 investments which yield a speedy return of profit 

 are to he preferred to those which are longer 

 luiproduclive is apparent to all ; hut a shrewd 

 financier always takes into consideration the per- 

 centage his capital will give him, as well as the 

 time it is employed. Hence if he is balancing 

 between an investment which will give him six 

 per cent, annually, commencing at the end of the 

 first year and one that will give him thirty per 

 cent, at the end of three years, and afterwards in 

 a double, or quadru[)le proportion, he will ulti- 

 mately decide in favor of the latter, and for the 

 best of all reasons — it. is the most advantageous. 



That farmers cannot realize as speedy profit 

 from mulberry trees as from crops that arrive at 

 maturity the first year, is manifest ; but whether 

 taking a series of years together, they cannot 

 ensure a much larger per centage on their capital 

 invested, is a question for experience to decide. 

 We are aware the old method of cultivating the 

 tree, and receiving no profit from it for ten or 

 fifteen years, was a discouraging business ; but 

 according to the plan of modern cidturists, it 

 requires no extraordinary degree of patience to 

 await the growth of the tree. It is believed by 

 the most judicious cultivators of the mulberry, 

 that silk can be made on the third year's growth 

 of the tree in sufficient quantities to pay the ex- 

 pense of cultivation and a fair per centage an the 

 capital invested. 



For the purpose of settling the question, we 

 would recommend to gentlemen who are engaging 

 in the culture of silk the trial of the following 

 experiment ; which so far as we can discover, 

 promises a favorable result. — Sow the present 

 .season 5 llis. of white mulberry seed. This, 

 according to the quantity ordinarily allotted, will 

 plant one acre in seed beds. Cultivate the plants 

 till they are two years old, and then transplant 

 them to the nursery. Planted at from three to 

 four inches apart in rows two feet spaces, they 

 will cover from four and a half to five acres. 

 The third year prune the trees, and with the 

 branches cut off, feed a family of worms, and 

 make a crop of silk. That the trees can be suc- 

 cessfully cultivated in this manner, no one will 

 doubt ; but the great inquiry will he, what number 

 of worms can be sustained, and what quantity of 

 silk will they make ? In answering these ques- 

 tions we must rely ])artly upon experiments and 

 partly upon estimates. 



That the prunings and other foliage of a white 

 mulberry tree, on its third year's growth, will 

 furnish food suflicient for one worm, was proved 

 by a gentleman of our acquaintance the past 

 season. Taking this fact as the starting point, let 

 us next ascertain what number of trees may be 

 exfiected from five pounds of seed, and what 

 quantity of'silk will the same nrjmber of worms 

 make. There are in a ijoiiiid about 280,000 seeds; 

 but as it cannot be determined what ))roportion of 

 them will germinate, we always consider 100,000 

 trees a fair estimate. This will give 500,000 trees 

 from 5 lbs. seed, and consequently feed as many 

 worms. A pound of silk is estimated to require 

 the labor of from 2.500 to 3000 worms ; but we 

 will allow 4000, which being made the divisor of 

 500,000, will give us a quotient of 125, the num- 



ber of pounds of silk produced. If we call the 

 silk .$4 a pound, which is below its value if well 

 reeled, it will give a gross income of $500, the 

 third year. 



Now deduct one half for labor, and as much 

 more as you please for failures and disappoint- 

 ments incident to a new project, and see if a 

 farmer can devote a portion of his lands, and 

 invest a portion of his surplus money to better 

 advantage. The experiment may be tried on a 

 smaller scale, if found to be more desirable. — 

 Genesee Farmer. 



(From Uie Silk Cujturist.) 



RoxBURv, March 5th, 1836. 



Mr CoMSTocK : — Understanding that commu- 

 nications directed to you, on the culture of silk, 

 will be acceptable, I offer a statement of my short 

 experience in the business, and should it prove 

 that I have done anything to advance the cause, 

 I shall be amply paid for my ])ains. I have 1500 

 trees, from two to six years old, in a healthy con- 

 dition, and have fed a small number of worms for 

 three seasons past ; and, after having constructed 

 a reel expressly for the j.urpose, have overcome, 

 to us, the great difficulty of reeling the silk from 

 the cocoons, and manufacturing it into sewing 

 silk, to our great satisfaction. 



The manner in which we manage is this. We 

 reel from twelve to twenty cocoons at a time, and 

 put five or six skeins on the reel at once, as required 

 tor the size of the thread — from ten to twenty 

 knots to a skein. We then take the reel from the 

 frame and place it in a jack, in order to double it 

 without disturbing the skeins. We then take a 

 common quill-wheel and spool, and secure the 

 ends from five skeins, bringing thetn together into' 

 one. After wetting with suds, we proceed to 

 spool, which, when done, it is ready for spinning, 

 &c. I am satisfied we can make a run of sewing 

 thread from the cocoons with about the same labor 

 as from flax. 



I also constructed a box stove of sheet iron, and 

 another of boards sufficiently large, after putting 

 the iron one into it, to leave a space each side and 

 bottom, of about one inch — I then filled the 

 space with clay mortar — being a non-conductor 

 of heat, one could set by it in the warmest weather 

 without inconvenience. The stove-pipe to ))as3 

 through a window or chimney, as most coiivenient. 

 I have also invented a spinning-jenny, for the 

 purpose of spinning, doubling, and twisting under 

 one operation, eitlier by liand or any other j)ower, 

 which I calculate to put in operation next season. 

 1 am, &c. 



Isaac G. Botsford. 



P. S. The inquiry has been made, wliat shall 

 he done to prevent the silk worm from being 

 destroyed by ants? Suspend the shelves froin 

 above with wires, so that they cannot come in 

 contact with the walls of the building, and a sure 

 remedy may be found. I. G. B. 



Mules are more profitable stock to raise than 

 horses. Their value for labor is getting to be bet- 

 ter understood in this country than it formerly 

 was. They are preferred to horses at the Penn- 

 sylvania Coal Mines, even at the same price. 

 They will live on straw and stubble and hrowse> 

 and are not liable to spasm, ringbone, and the 

 train of diseases which visit hoise flesh. Thef 

 live also twice as long. — Hampshire Gaz. 



