104 



SILK MANUAL, AND 



want of moisture ; for unless the particles of earth 

 &c. come in contact, capillary attraction ceases 

 and the turned sod draws no moisture from ihe 

 subsoil. Hence our crops, in a dry season, suffers 

 more on green sward than on old ground. 



There is no danger of laying the green sward 

 furrow loo flat; if turned as it always should be, 

 when the grass is green, that and the roots soon 

 begin to decay, and in our summer months your 

 horses will break through the sad as he passes 

 and demonstrate to you that the furrow does not 

 lie close enough. 



The advantages arising from this mode are, we 

 cover up and set to fermenting the whole mass 

 of vegetable matter that covered the soil — we 

 destroy all the noxious weeds — we render the 

 surface smooth and much more easy to manage, 

 and we avoid making loose and broken sods in 

 seeding down to grass — for the furrow thus laid 

 flat should never be disturbed till a new breaking 

 U|) after a course of grass crops. II seeOert doww 

 to grass in this state it will not lie so heavy and will 

 not want to be disturbed again so soon as if it had 

 been completely pulverized before seeding. Ploughs 

 for our plains should, therefore, be made long — 

 they run more steady and cut the furrows more true : 

 and it is not green sward only that should be turned 

 flat — stubble land, weedy lands, cornhills, should 

 be ploughed flat, and that only once till the matter 

 turned underneath is deeornposed. In preparing 

 corn land for spring sowing, therefore, a heavy 

 harrow should be first used. Make the surface as 

 level as possible with this, then let the plough turn 

 the soil once over and no more before sowing. 

 This furrow may be as fine as you choose, but 

 when once you have turned this mass of stalks, 

 and weeds, and grass underneath, it is absurd to 

 disturb it during the same week or month — we 

 do much injury by ploughing too often — we un- 

 do our own work. 



The Ploughs in common use are quite too short 



in the waist. For thirty years past we have made 



no improvement in this instrument excepting in 



the regularity and smoothness of the mould board. 



Yom-s, 



Wm. Bdckminister. 



It has been remarked that Rats frequently re- 

 pair to fields of grain for the purpose of procuring 

 their food easily, and that on the approach of win- 

 ter they return, with increased numbers, to their 

 more comfortable domiciis in the barn, the stable, 

 or the cellar. This circumstance might be turned 

 to advantage, if proper pains were taken to destroy 

 the vermin before they leave the fields, and with 

 a good terrier this might be effectually done. A 

 dog of this species belonging to the Coll. of H. 

 M. Customs here, killed sixtyfive rats in a field 

 here at three sets to. When it is recollected what 



injury rats do to the foundation of buildings, and 

 what waste they create of })roven(ler and of all 

 kinds of vegetables, any mode which could be 

 adopted to extirpate them should be made gener- 

 ally known.— St. Andrews JV. B. Standard. 



The?pfed of Stkamers.— Thave myself | roved 

 l)y experiment on canals, that when the s!)eed of 

 the boat is increased beyond a certain limit, its 

 draught of water is rapidly diininrshing, and in 

 the case of a large steam raft constructeii on the 

 river Hudson, it was found that when the speed 

 was raised to twenty miles an hour, the draught of 

 water was diminished by seven inches. 1 have, 

 therefore, no doubt that the increased speed of 

 steamers is attended with a like effect ; that, in 

 fact, they rise out of the water, so tliat although 

 the resistance is incr'iased by reason of their in- 

 creased speed, it is diminished in a still greater 

 proportion by reason of their diniinisiied immer- 

 sion. — Lardner on the Steam Kngine. 



Silk. — The National Gazette of the 18th ult. 

 has an ably written editorial article on the subject 

 ot British and American finance, in which we find 

 the following bold though just assertion : 



Thirty years will make the Silk oi tlie Uniter 

 States a prodigious article of [roduction, a stiip 

 second only to cotton. — Bait. Far. 



Silk Manufactdre. — At Paris large pb'^- 

 tions of the mulberry tree have been commeccf'r 

 with a view of trying whether tlie climate i' 'he 

 neighborhood of the city be not well adap-^d to 

 the production of raw silk, which is now itnport- 

 ed in great quantities from Italy. 



Mr Westbrook, of Miiskirgnm Co. Ohio, has 

 found that the Chinese Mulbr^rry grows!' with the 

 greatest luxuriance in thai soil and has this sea- 

 son raised to crops of worms, arid two of cocoons 

 in succession. 



Gas Lighting. — A new mode of tninsport- 

 iiig iras is al>oui to be a(!opte<l iii rmJo. The 

 i riumplial Arch de i'Etoii, the Prefecture of the 

 police, and the Mint, will shortly use what is 

 called "the portative gap, comprpssed," by which 

 the laying of subterranean gas pipes is entirely 

 avoided. This has already been used v\ith suc- 

 cess in the city ofRheims. The disrovery of 

 the uncompressed gas is due to M Huozean Nuivon 

 n distinguished Chemist cf Paris. 



Fatal Accident. — A lad named Joseph Hage 

 was killed in the paper mill at Dover on lYonday 

 week. He accidenlly became entangled in the 

 machinery, anti was so sadly injured that he ex- 

 pired the next day. 



