166 



SILK MANUAL, AND 



Chi.nf.sf. Mulberry, Morus IVf ulticaulis. — 

 Tho itDiiiense (iiianlities of this tree, now dissem- 

 iiuUcil tliroui,^! every part of tlie Union, from the 

 different nnrseries, will undoubtedly serve to te.-)t 

 thoroughly its good or bad qualities. Its hardi- 

 hood will also be fairly proved by the present win- 

 ter, which so far at least, may be considered a 

 season of the ordinary severity. For ourselvef-, 

 we have no doubt that tlie Morns Multicaulis will 

 become perfectly naturali/.ed in every part of the 

 Union south of 20° latitude, and that the facility 

 of silk-rearing will be wonderfully increased by 

 it. The leaves being of very large size, the trou- 

 ble of gathering a given weight is greatly dimin- 

 ished, and there is every reason to believe that 

 two crops of silk may be reared upon them in a 

 single season. The French silk growers now 

 plant the Morus multicaulis entirely in rows or 

 hedges, to be kept dv/arf by cutting them down 

 to within one, two or three feet of the ground an- 

 nually. The advantages of this metiiod are — ])er- 

 fect hardihood of the plants — facility in gather- 

 ing" — and enormous weight of foliage from a small 

 surface. In addition to tiiis, a crop of silk-worms 

 may be fed on the leaves from the cuttings of the 

 Chinese midberry of a single season's growth, in- 

 stead, as in the case of the old Italian vanity, of 

 waiting until the tree attained considerable size 

 before plucking the foliage. — Boston J\Iag. 



barley stubble which bad also tired of clover, .• ii 

 succeeded in obtaining a good plant U] on each. 



His mode of culture is — first, to use a large 

 harrow to raise a mouldy then to level it with 

 small harrows twice over, and finish with a hea- 

 vy two-horse roller, as the land cannot be made 

 too solid. 



Trifolium TjfCARNATUiM. — The fine variety o*^ 

 Clover appears to be attracting much deserved at- 

 tention in England, and many ex[)eriments are 

 being made with respect to the proper mode of 

 cultivating it. The plan pursued there by many 

 persons of setting it on ploughed land, seems to 

 be giving way to a more certain and j)racticable 

 mode of culture. A writer in the Farmer's Mag- 

 azine, who signs himself "A Constant Reader," 

 gives the result of a series of experiments which 

 he had made, that, so far as they go, would es- 

 tablish the fact that, to ensure success to a crop of 

 this luxuriant and nutritious grass it is necessary 

 it should either be sown stubble or grass-sward. 

 He remarks that in Se[)tcmber, 1834, he sowed 

 three small pieces of light land ; one of which he 

 mowed green for horses, and never had the same 

 quantity per acre of either tares or lucerne ; that 

 all kinds of stock are fond of it, and thriye aston- 

 ishingly upon it: another j)iece was mown for 

 stock and made the best of hay — the third piece 

 stood for seed, and produced about 12 bushels per 

 acre. 



In September, 1835, he sowed two pieces of 

 wheat stubble, where tlie clover layer had entire- 

 ly failed before the wheat crop, and a [)iece of 

 The Montreal Courier estimates that during the 

 year 1836, 500,000 bushels of Wheat were sent 

 rom Canada to the U. S. 



Forty-fold Potato. — This fine variety which 

 we have frequently noticed, and which has been 

 cultivated to a considerable extent, the past sea- 

 sou, and is likely to be more so the coming one, 

 is an enormous producer, and we have been in- 

 formed by several gentlemen, who have grown it, 

 that the quantity of potatoes generally found in a 

 hill, is three times the number of any other sort. 

 Owing to this large number, the potatoes are con- 

 sequently, not so large in size as they would be 

 were there not so many in a hill; a gentleman 

 who raised uiiwards of fifty bushels year before 

 last, observed this, and the past season ordered but 

 one potato to be planted in a hill ; but when the 

 crop was dug, the number of potatoes was found 

 to be nearly as great as the year before. The 

 coming season he informs us, that he shall cut 

 them up into sets, and in this manner one potato 

 will plant three or four hills: what the result will 

 be, remains to be seen ; but we have no dnubt 

 that the potatoes wiil be less in nimd)er, and of a 

 much larger size. The same gentleman has sta- 

 ted to us that he thinks it is the best variety he 

 has ever eaten. — Am. Card. Mag. 



Butter. — Instead of setting the pans of new 

 strained milk in u warm cellar for the creain to 

 rise, set them in a cool buttery, where the tuilk 

 will gradually freeze; and as soon as it is frozen 

 solid, the cream will all be at the top, and ready 

 to be taken off; which can be more easily done 

 by a little instru!iient made of iron, in the form of 

 a common hoe. More cream is obtained from a 

 given quantity of milk, by freezing it up, than can 

 be obtained in the old way, of letting it rise itself 

 without freezing. 



When a sufficient quantity of cream is obtained 

 for a churning, place it in an iron kettle, orer a 

 clear fire, and scald it, but not let it boil ; stir it 

 often, and skim off the froth as long as it contin- 

 ues to rise. The process of scalding, stirring and 

 skimming, cleanses the cream of its impuiilies, 

 and saves about three-fourths of the labor of ciiu ru- 

 ing, and prodiices good flavored butter, entirely 

 free from that bitterish taste uniformly found in 

 winter-made butter, in the 'old way.' VVhea the 

 skimming process has been completed, take the 

 kettle from the fire, and when the cream is cooled 

 down a shade below the temperature of milk, new 

 from the cow, it is fit to put into the churn. — 

 Yankee Far. 



