AND SILK MANUAL. 



13 



being thoroughly ripened hy free access to the 

 sun and air. These suggestions are Avell worth 

 the consideration of orchardists. We have seen 

 too many apparently young orchards suffering by 

 the scalping and tomahatvking which they have un- 

 dergone. Great care should be taken to make as 

 little wound as possible, while clearing away the su- 

 pernumerary branches. The business of orcharding 

 will undoubtedly hereafter be pursued not only to 

 a greater extent than it has hitherto done, notwith- 

 standing many have very foolishly demolished 

 trees that have been reared with great care, anxie- 

 ty and hope. There seemed to be an idea tpreva- 

 lent that the legitimate use of apples, was for 

 making cider only, and when the call for that sub- 

 sided, many considered them as useless incum- 

 brances, and of course down with them. But the 

 fact that they are more valuable for feeding cattle, 

 sheep and swine, is beginning to be more known 

 and more practised, and we doubt not that the 

 apple tree will again become a favorite with those 

 who have destroyed it. — Maine Farmer. 



Language of Animals. — The acuteness of the 

 sheep's ear suppasses all things in nature that 1 

 know of. A ewe will distinguish her own lamb's 

 bleat, among a thousand, all bleating at the same 

 time, and making a noise a thousand times louder 

 than the singing of psalms at a Cameronian sacra- 

 ment in the tields where thousands are congregated 

 — and that is no joke either. Besides, the distin- 

 guishment ol' voice is perfectly reciprocal between 

 the ewe and lamb, who, amid the deafening aound, 

 run to meet one another. There are few things 

 have ever amused me more than a sheep shearing, 

 and then the sport continues the whole day. We 

 put the flock into the fold, set out all the lambs to 

 the hill, and then send the ewes to them as they are 

 shorn. The moment that a lamb hears its dam's 

 voice, it rushes from the crowd to meet her, but in- 

 s ead of finding the rough well clad, comfortable 

 mamma, which it left an hour or a few hours ago, 

 it meets a poor, naked, shrivelling — a most deplo- 

 rable looking creature. It wheels about, and utter- 

 ing a loud, tremulous bleat of perfect despair, flies 

 from the frightful vision. The mother's voice ar- 

 rests its fiiglit — it returns — flies, and returns again, 

 generally lor ten or a dozen times, before the recon- 

 ciliation is fairly made uj). — James Hogg. 



A Cocoonery. — ^Mr Samuel Whitmarsh has 

 erected an edifice of two hundred feet in length 

 east of his house, on Fort Hill, as a Silk House, 

 and Cocoonei-y. The plan of it is original, and 

 promises the best results. The worms^while 

 feeding, are now laid out upon boards and ben- 



ches, by those who rear them, covered with mul- 

 berry leaves, and when for health and cleanliness 

 they are required to be moved, it all must be 

 done separately. 



Mr Whitmarsh's building is intersected by 

 alleys, and on each side tiers of sliding frames 

 or drawers rise from the floor upward. These 

 frames are covered with lattice work of twine. 

 The top one is laid over with leaves upon which 

 the worms feed. The second frame, about an 

 inch and a half below, is covered with strong 

 paper, or coarse cotton. All the stems of the 

 leaves, or oftal from the worm, fall from the 

 lattice work above upon this draw, and when 

 the usual time for cleaning them comes, instead 

 of lifting each separately, it is only requisite to 

 remove the lower draw, and the cleansing is ac- 

 complished. 



The leaf of the Chinese Mulberry, which Mr 

 W. will use, is so tender that the worm will 

 devour it all. Sometimes they will fall from 

 the lattice work above, upon the paper draw be- 

 low. In that case, when a new supply of 

 leaves is laid on above, the worms at once as- 

 cend, as the distance is not too great between 

 them, to prevent their reaching above. This is 

 a great and important change introduced into 

 the method of feeding and cleanliness, saving 

 time and promoting the health of the worms. 



Another great improvement to be introduced 

 by Mr Whitmarsh, is the aid given the worms 

 in winding tlieir cocoons. Now when the 

 worms have terminated their feeding, easily 

 known by their movements, branches of trees 

 and bushes are laid over or suspended above 

 them, and among which the process of winding 

 is carried on. Consequently they are much en- 

 tangled, lost to sight, a great deal of labor and 

 silk lost in securing themselves, and altogether an 

 awkward method of separating the cocoons for 

 use from the bushes. 



He proposes, when the worms are ready to 

 wind, to transfer them to upright frames, with 

 twine lattice work, standing about an inch and 

 a half apart. 



The worms will reach over from one frame 

 to the other, fasten themselves at each extrem- 

 ity and then in a small compass envelope 

 themselves in their cocoons. Every thing is then 

 clean and compact, and after they have finished 

 winding, the frames in pairs can be put away 

 compactly, and when wanted for use, the cocoons 

 are easily taken ofl". The building is well con- 

 trived for ventillation and the reeling by steam 

 power will be carried on in the same edifice. He 

 intends to feed a million of worms this sum- 

 mer and reel four or five hundred jiounds of silk, 

 — JVorthampton Courier. 



