346 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



NAT 4, 1$4«. 



It is cheering to know lint tlio results of the 

 Bumiiicr'd operations have been fjeni'rtiUy dctiiledly 

 encoiirayiM;,' ; tlml the ag;;r'"gato of the silk crop 

 in Massachuaclls, nhows nearly a three /olJ aiivn^cc 

 upon any preceding year; that this is probably 

 abo'.it the ratio of increase in the other Slates of 

 New Rngland nnil tlirouuhoiit the country; that 

 public confidence, after the Into revulsion, isic- 

 lurninj to the business, and that the silk culture is 

 extending ilseU" as rapidly as correct itit'orinntion 

 rrspeciinj it is diffused— thus jriving promise that 

 it will soon become fully established. 



'I'd secure this important object, all that is want- 

 ed by our intelligent and enterprising men, xsfnds, 

 facts — well-atlestedyad*. The results of feeding 

 in IH4l,coiild they now be all collected and em- 

 bodied so as to give u Inbiitnr view of the whole 

 matter, would, it is fully believed, at once satisfy 

 any business man, in regard to the entire J'tnsibilitij 

 of Ihe silk cn;--prtsc, and that its profits, when 

 rightly conducted, are greater than in other bran- 

 ches fif ordinary farming. Let us then be prepared 

 to give the public the.^e facts, next autumn, in such 

 a form as to command the confidence of business 

 men. Do we not owe this smill service to our- 

 selves, to our country, and to the unborn millions 

 that are in future times to be clothed and f''d and 

 educated from the fruits of this interesting form of 

 agricultural industry ? 



Fur this purpose it is only nec'essiry for each 

 one engaged in the 'business, whether he does much 

 or little, to keep such records as will enable him to 

 ansiver the following <|ueslions : 



1. Mow many seasons have you fed worms? 



2. What quantity of land have you fed from the 

 past season ? 



3. How old are your trees ? (If they are of dif- 

 ferent ages, give the average.) 



4. How many pounds of cocoons hare you made, 

 wei^'hed as they are gathered .' 



.'5. What has been the expense' of making the 

 cocoons here reported .' 



These questions con all be answered in figures. 

 For a rule of estimating expenses, see below. In 

 addition to these queslions, there are a few others 

 which we suggest : 



1. What kind of trees do you use ? 



2: Have your trees been essentially injured bv 

 standing out winters? 



3. Do you head down your trees in the spring ? 



4. In gathering foliage, do you cut up the bushes? 



5. What kind of buildings do you feed in? and 

 how well ventilated ? 



0. Do you give your worms any artificial heat ? 



7. Have you c-.'cr fed in an o/)f;i place, like a 

 shed or corn barn, v liere^ the worms had a perfectly 

 pure air ? If bo, stale tlic results very particularly. 



8. Do you use nir-slncked lime upon your worms? 



9. Have you failed in any ))art of your opera- 

 tions the past season ? If so, state the cause and 

 circumstances. 



These points will be all that is essential to the 

 purpo.ses designed, though we shall be thankful for 

 any remarks or facts bearing on the general sub- 

 ject. To give expenses by some uniform rule, we 

 sug^rest the lollowing simple method. Make a 

 little book, in which, at the close of each day, to 

 enter the number of hours employed by men, wo- 

 men and children. 'I hen consider the labor of 

 able-bodied men at 10 cents per hour; women at 

 (i cents; boys and girls between I.') and 17, at r> 

 cents; between I'i and 1,'i, at 3 cents ; and under 

 I'i, at 'i cents. 



The expen'^c of planting, trees, we wish to be 

 given by iVsfJ/V as that is not an annual expense. 

 Give us also the fair, rent of the buildings used, 

 and we have all that is wanted. 



That we may have time to prepare the contem- 

 plated table in season for the convention, we wish 

 to have the returns all sent in by the 15th of Sep- 

 tember. To every pcr-!on furnishing a return, free 

 of expense, a copy of the table will be sent. Di- 

 rect to I. R. Itarbour, Oxford. Mass., post ;)ni,'/. 

 I. R. BARBOUR, 

 1'. BROWNF.[>L. 

 ARTKMAS RORBINS, 

 CAIA'IN MESSINGFR, 

 LUTHKR SFVKRANCE, 



DAVID bi:np:dict, 



March ^A, 1842. Committee.. 



P. S- The committee design to send this circu- 

 lar to every silk grower in New England. But 

 many of course will be overlooked, because un- 

 known to them. Will you, therefore, show this to 

 all in your neighborhood, and get as many returns 

 as possible. In Massachusetts there cannot be 

 less than 500 cocooneries of some sort. In New 

 England probably not les« than 2000. From all 

 these establishments we would hope for full re- 

 turns, in due time, and free of expense. All silk 

 growers are equally interested in the object aimed 

 at, and the committee, as such, have no funds. 



'FARMERS, MAGNIFY YOUR CALLING. 



I. wish I could see in all our fanners a disposi- 

 tion to magnify their calling; but I have been 

 grieved in many a farm-house, to listen to lamenta- 

 tions over what they term their " hard lot." I 

 have heard the residents upon a noble farm, all 

 paid for, talk about drudgery, and never having 

 their work done, and few or no opportunities for 

 the children ; and I have especially been sorry to 

 hear the females lament over the hard fate of some 

 promising youth of seventeen or eighteen, who was 

 admirably filling up his duties, and training him- 

 self for extensive usefulness and influence. They 

 have made comparison between his situation, coarse- 

 ly clad and working hard, and coming in fatigued, 

 with some cousin at college, or young man who 

 clerked it in a city store, till at loni;th the boy has 

 become dissatisfied, and begged off from his irue 

 interests and happiness. I am conversant with no 

 truer scenes of enjoyment than I have witnessed 

 in American farin-hou.ses, and even log cabins, 

 where the father, undiT the influence of enlighion 

 ed Christianity and sound views of life, has gone 

 with his family, os the world have termed it, inlo 

 the woods. The land is his own, and he has every 

 inducement to improve it ; he finds a healthy em- 

 ployment for himself and family, and is never at a 

 loss for materials to occupy his mind. I do. not 

 think the physician has more occasion for research 

 than the farmer; the proper food of vegetables and 

 animals will alone constitute n wide and lasting 

 field of investigation. T'le daily journal of a liir- 

 mer is a source of much interest to himself and 

 others. 'J'lie record of his labors, the exprossicm 

 of his hopes, the nature of his fears, the opinions 

 of his neighbors, the results of his experiments, Ihe 

 entire sum total of his operations, will prove a deep 

 source of pleasure to any tliinking man. If the 

 cstoblishment of agriciilturni societies, and the 

 cattle nhowg of our country should have the cfTcct 

 of stimulating one farmer in every town to manage 

 his land ond stock upon the bast principles of hus- 



bandry, there would be a wonderful and speedy . 

 tcrntion in the products of the earth, because coij 

 parison would force itself upon his friends t| 

 neighbors ; and his example would be certaiii 

 beneficial, for prejudice itself will give way 

 profit. — Chowlta' Oration be/ore the American 

 alilute. 



I'. 



FRUIT TREES— THEIR DISEASES AN! 

 INSECT ENE.MIES. 



We extract tl'.e following from the "Trani 

 tions of the New York Stale Agrieultiiral Societ 

 comiiiunicaled by David Thomas, Esq.: 



The Pear Tree. — '■ Neither the borer nor thi 

 caterpillar attack the Pear tree ; but someliinei 

 flics, wasps, and hornets are busy among the leavi 

 showing that all is not right, and that honey di 

 emitted by plant lice, attracts them. But this li 

 is subject to a more serious injury, to ivit: the 

 blight, which occurs early in summer, the lea< 

 from the extremity of the branches for two or mi 

 feet, appearing as if they were scorched. 

 think, hnw(jre.', that two distinct causes occatii 

 ally operate to produce similar effects, namely: iflL, 

 sects, and a starting of thi bark in winter. 



The late Professor Peck, on cxsiiiinin 

 branch of a pear tree which had died with 

 blight, said the damage was caused by an insel 

 (Seob/lus pyri,) and that to cut off the limbs a foot 

 or mure below the dead part, and immediately bun 

 them, would be the proper remedy. We ban 

 faitlil'ully followed this advice; and though thl 

 fire blight Ins been several times in the fruit gar 

 den, its ravages have always been arrested ot cnc« 

 so that wc have not lost a tree from this cause it 

 twenty years. Wc have believed that the na« 

 colonies went with us when wo carried off and it- 

 stroyed the branches. 



The starting of the bark in winter, appears l< 

 be caused by au unliiuety flowing of the sap, fol 

 lowed by intense cold, which expands it into ie« 

 and separates the bark from the wood. We hat4 

 observed such effects once or twice, succeeded o| 

 some of the smaller branches, by a blighting oftb| 

 leaves, but we believe it seldom occurs in this di*' 

 trict (Cayuga county.) 



The Plum Tive. — " The Plum tree is sometimt^ 

 though rarely, attacked by the peach teorm in WM> 

 tern New York. Its most formidable enemy how. 

 ever, is the insect that causes the "black gum,' 

 similar in its cffectH to the insect that destroys dil 

 iiiorcllo, if they arc not identical. He this a* I 

 I may, it is rajiidly increasing; and unless, our ftf 

 mers shall turn over a new leaf, the plum will gooi 

 become very rare nmnngst us. In every direcliol 

 that we travel, branches are loaded willi these e«- 

 cresences ; and if there is one man within fiftj 

 miles of us who has done his duty, we should b< 

 pleased to hear it. 



Tu guard against this insect, the trees should b« 

 well pruned, though not enough to check thtii 

 vigor, so that the iiiiic/if.i may be readily discovw- 

 cd. Unless this precaution be taken, it would tl 

 very difficult to find all of them, without speDdtafl 

 more lime than people in general have to epilE' 

 Let there be no delay in cutting off and bumif^^ 

 them when they ore found." 



Agriculture, like the leader of Israel, atrikettlli >! 

 rock — the waters flow, and the famished peopRI 

 ore satisfied — she tupplies, she feeds, she quicfc 

 all. 



