Vol. v.— No. i; 



NEW ENGLAND 1 AUMEU. 



lai 



sary. Tliose who ciiiiiiot labor on tlio farm are 

 ' employed as may be needed, in liglit business about 

 )e bouse — the cbildren hcinjf sent to scliool vvlieii- 

 ;vrr there is one in the District in which the tnrin 



situated. Wool is raised upon the farm, and the 

 uiitiing of this into stockings, &.c. furnishes work 

 "or the females who cannot otherwise be more 

 profitably employed. The articles thus wrou;);lit 

 ire exchanged at the stores for wliatever it nui\ 

 111 3e necessary to purchase for the use of tlie family. 

 The benefits which have resulted from the 

 )peration of this system, are various ami important. 

 X has diminished the number of those wlio depend 

 )n the town for support — many individuals and 

 amilies choosing ratner to mi.ke exertions to sup- 

 lort themselves, greater than th.-y would do if they 

 ■ould receive aid from the town elsewhere than 

 t tlie poor-house. We are informed by the Chair- 

 nan of the Overseers of the Poor, (Mr Corbett) 

 hat formerly, the average number of the poor was 

 iiuoh greater than at present ; and that, at the 

 iresont time, were it not for this establishment, 

 lie number would probably be double what it now j 

 3. The expense, also, of supporting the same 

 lumber is much less than it was on the old system 



especially that arising from the employment of 

 i pliysioian. Formerly the sick were often in dif- 

 erent and remote parts of the town — now they are 

 ill at the same place. From all these causes the 

 innual tax for the support of the poor of this town, 

 las been diminished from .*2000, to ¥700.* At the 

 same time, tiie poor are in fact much better pro- 

 dded for than they were formerly — are better con- 

 lented, and contribute more by their labor, and 

 nore cheerfully, towards their own support." 



THE SILK WORM. 



[The following letter from the Rev. Samuel 

 (iVood, D.D. of Boscawen, to John Farmer, Esq. of 

 Doncord (N. H.) in answer to enquiries respecting 

 Jie Silk worm, is published with the view of bene- 

 Bting the public with the result of thirty years' 

 uccessful cultivation, by a highly respectable 

 citizen, and to invite similar communications from 

 others.] 



Boscawen, Sept. 26, 1826. 



Dear Sir, — In answer to your request, respec- 

 ing the Silk Worm, and the raising of Sifk, I can 

 five but little information except what I have op- 

 tained by experience. 



About thirty years since, I brought a young shoot 

 of the white mulberry from the State of Connecti- 

 cut. It grew rapidly, and in a few years it began 

 ito shade my gnrden, so that I cut down about 

 half of what had grown'from that one root. About 

 twenty years since, I brought from tlie State of 

 Connecticut some eggs of the silk worm; and from 

 that time to the present, I have raised silk from 

 that one tree. I have raised a rich supply for the 

 use of ray family, and some years, more than we 

 found use for. The quantity has increased as the 

 tree has grown larger, and we made use of the 

 leaves. I judge that the last year we lia.l about a 

 pound of silk, after fitted for use ; this present 

 year, I judge that we have about two pounds of 

 raw silk, although we did not use all tlie Ijaves 

 which the tree produced. I should suppose we fed 

 between three and four thousand worm?. 



I shall now make a few observations from ray 

 own experience and conjecture, on this subject. 



*This sum, however, is in addition to the interest 

 of the original cost of the establishment. 



[. According to my observations on the growth 

 of this tree, Ibeliuve that such soil as is suitable 

 for the apple tree, will produce the mulberry tree. 



2. I think that the best method of propagating 

 the mulberry tree, is by tlie seed, which it produces 

 in great plenty : the berries ^should be gathered 

 when ripe, and kept till the next spring, then plan- 

 ted. 



;?. I find that the tree is so constituted, that the 

 leaves may all be gMthered in June and July, and 

 not essentially injure its growth. For about 20 

 ye:irs I have gatliercd the most of the leaves from 

 the tree yearly ; after which, it would flourish 

 with a new set of leaves ; and for about thirty 

 years, it has not been injured by the v.inter, ex- 

 cept some twigs of tlie latter growth. I think, 

 however, that the climate here will not admit the 

 gnthering of the leaves a second time. Yet, if the 

 business were to be carried on largely, the eggs 

 might be hatched some earlier and some later. 



4. It appears to me, from what I have observed 

 respecting the properties of the tree, and the la- 

 bor in gathering of the leaves, that, if I were to 

 lay out for the making of silk, I should set the 

 trees very thick, leaving only room to pass between 

 them ; then I would gather the young shoots to 

 prevent their growing high. In this way, females 

 and children might gather the leaves. 



5. The silk worms, for the twenty years that 1 

 have cultivated tl.cm, have not degenerated. I 

 have tiiken care to select tlie best balls for preserv- 

 ing seed. I think that the balls are larger and the 

 silk better, than when I first had them. When Ihe 

 millers have hatclied, or come out of the balls.they 

 soon deposit their eggs on paper. I then roll the 

 paper up, to keep the eggs from the air, and lay 

 the paper in a safe place till spring. When the 

 weather grows warm, I carry them into the cellar, 

 where it is cool, lest they should hatch before the 

 leaves open. 



G. As to the method of treating the silk worm — 

 I hatch the eggs by exposing them to the air, in 

 a warm room. Eight days are required to hatch 

 them. My object is to hatch them as soon as the 

 leaves unfold — some years sooner than others. — 

 As soon as they begin to hatch, I apply to them 

 the mulberry leaves, and when they have eaten 

 and extracted the moisture of those leaves, I add 

 fresli leaves, without removing the former; and so 

 continue to do, till the old leaves become so thick 

 as to cause a heat. Then I take off the top laying 

 with .the worms, and remove the others. This 

 will be needful to be done five or six times williin 

 the three first weeks. Then it will become need- 

 ful to spread them on shelves. Within six weeks 

 they will begin to wind their balls. To provide 

 for tliem, I before hand, six or eight days, cut off 

 some leafy bows or twigs of the beech or chesnut, 

 that they may have time to dry, otherwise they 

 will c.Tuse heat, so injure the worms in winding — 

 These bushes I spread over a part of the worms at 

 first, about two inches from the shelf; leaving the 

 other part till they shall chiefly have done eating 

 — then spread over the whole. I then let them 

 rest, about four days, after the noise of their wind- 

 ing has generally ceased. I then take the balls 

 from the bushes — strip off the loose tow — and 

 within 7iine days the balls must be reeled, or the 

 millers will hatch, and spoil the silk. 



7. I reel the eilk by putting the balls into hot 

 water. I let the water just begin to boil ; then 

 gi.ther the ends, as many as I want to make a 

 thread — then reel it. 



8. 'J'iie worms, from the time ul hatching till 

 they have finished their work, must be carefully 

 kept from vermin, and especially from ants, mice, 

 cats and fowls,which will feed on worms. I find 

 tliat a warm air suits them best, especially while 

 young ; and taking pains to have tliem in a room 

 that is warm, when the air abroad is chilly and rav,', 



tliey grow much larger, and nrikc better silk. 



For while tliey are suiall,and benumbed with cold, 

 they will eat but little, and grow but little, yet the 

 time of age is running on. I make it a point to 

 forward their growth as fast as I can. It v/ill bo 

 profitable to give them as much as they will eit 

 without wasting ; and they will waste but little, if 

 properly fed, aiYcr tliey are throe weeks old. The 

 last week they will cat very greedily, and they 

 should have as much as they will eat. The worms 

 shed their skin or part of it three limes in the 

 course of their growth. Previous to this, for one 

 day, they will appear to sleep. When they awake 

 from that state, they seem to grow one half in 

 length ; eat ravenously ; and grow as fast. 



Dear Sir, I have given you a brief account of 

 my experience and views of the silk worm ; you 

 will m.ake such use of it as occasion may require. 



I ara yours, with respect, 



SAMUEL WOOD. 

 John Farmer, Esq. Concord. 



IMPORTAiNT TO CARPENTERS. 

 A machine has recently been invented, and 

 patents obtained for it, which at once performs all 

 the various operations for converting rough sawn 

 boards into completely finished flooring. It re- 

 duces the boJird to an uniform breadth, planes it, 

 cuts the groove on one side, and works the feather 

 or tongue on the other; it also removes the super- 

 fluous thickness from a sufiicient portion of that 

 part of the board which is destined to become the 

 under side of the floor, and even takes off a mi- 

 nute portion of the aris, that the joints may enter 

 with more facility in lapping it down ; the whole 

 being executed in a superior manner, as may bfe 

 readily imagined, and with much more accuracy 

 than if performed by the most skilful workman. — 

 This ingenious machine is the invention of Mr 

 Malcom Muir, of the Glasgow Veneer Saw Mills, 

 who has had it in operation for some time. The 

 peculiar value of the invention is its executing to 

 perfection the most slavish part of the work. In 

 future, carpenters will be relieved from the la- 

 borious task of working flooring boards, at least 

 in the vicinity of those admirable machines, 



[New-Haven paper.] 



FAT OXEN. 



March, 1789, a pair of fat oxen were drove to 

 Boston Market from Northborough, Worcester 

 County, one weighing 17,50, and the other 1800 lbs. 

 and it was said " they were the largest and fat- 

 test p\er seen in the thirteen States." This year, 

 at Brighton, there were two oxen exhibited by a 

 per.-on from the some county. New Braintree, we 

 believe, one of which weighed 2450 and the other 

 2400 lbs. 



Tv, others also, from the Boylston farm at 



Princeton, were said to weigh 2200 lbs each, and 



by him presented to the city, for the poor. This is 



one instance of improvement among our farmers. 



[Boston Gaz.] 



Out of 175,000 inhabitants in the city of New- 

 York, there are but 16 colored persons entitled to 

 vote. 



