Vol 1.— No. 42. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



33J 



From the LowpI! Journal 



We ask attention to the fol owing comma 

 nication, it being the first of a series on the ! 

 •Silk Manufacture, furnished us by an intel- j 

 ligeut gentleman of this vicinity, who has 

 devoted much time to the subject, ,ind is pie- 

 paring to go largely into the cultivation of, 

 the mulberry tree.' It iv hoped that the far- j 

 triers in this region will follow his example, 

 and capitalists will afford the means for the ! 

 establishment of the silk manufacture in this 

 town. There, can be no doubt, we apprehend, 

 that it would be a profitable kind of manu- 

 facture. 



SILK MANUFACTURE. 



NO. 1. 



Mr. Knowlton— If you think it will be 

 useful or amusing to our readers, please to 

 publish the following letter; and 1 will com 

 municate other extracts from the writings 

 of the same gentleman, with occasional re- 

 marks. Mr. D'Homergue is now in Phila- 

 delphia, but will return to France next 

 Spring, unlesss the government, or individu- 

 als, shall give him a reasonable compensa- 

 tion for the valuable information he possess- 

 es lelative to the culture and manufacture of 

 silk. He is the only person, at present in 

 the United States, who is acquainted with 

 every branch of the business, not only in the 

 manufacture of the silk, but in the cultiva- 

 tion of mulberry trees, raising silk worms, 

 and producing cocoons. If we omit this op- 

 portunity of obtaining the requisite informa- 

 tion, it may be many years before we shall 

 bring into market this new and valuable 

 production, which must at some future time, 

 become agrentstaple of this country. 



Washington, February 23, 1831. 

 Sir : — The ' bill for promoting the growth 

 and manufacture of silk' having been report- 

 ed by the Committee on Agriculture, several 

 members of the Congress have, in conse- 

 quence, asked of me some information as to 

 the productiveness and relative value of this 

 branch of industry. I take the liberty, Sir, 

 to submit to you the following facts in reply, 

 which I respectfully pray you to communi- 

 cate to the honorable House over which you 

 preside. 



In one acre of land there are -13,560 square 

 feet, on which may be planted 3000 mulber- 

 ry trees. These will yield at the age of 

 seven years, 90.000 pounds of leaves, produ- 

 cing 7,500 pounds of cocoons. At twenty- 

 five cents per pound, these cocoons would 

 sell for #1.875. 



These facts, Sir, are deemed sufficient to 

 prove the superior profits to be derived from 

 the culture of silk. 1 may be allowed to 

 add, that, in the space of seven years, from 

 1821 to 1829, France and England impoit 

 ed raw silk to the amount of §340,000,000. 

 In proof of this enormous importation, the 

 documents are now in the Library of Ccn- 

 gress. 



I have the honor to be, with great res- 

 pect, Sir, 



Your very humble and obe't. serv't. 

 J. D HOMERGUE. 

 To the Hon. Andrew Stevenson, 

 Speaker oj the House of Representatives. 



We are gratified to learn, from a gentle- 

 man who has recently consulted Mr. D'Ho- 

 mergue, that he is willing to come to Lowell 

 and erect all the necessary machinery for 

 reeling the silk from the cocoons, and pre- 

 paring it for the room, whenever the quanti- 

 ty produced will justify the expense. When 



sufficient encouragement shall be offered, 

 by either government or individuals, he will 

 open a school for the instruction of such 

 persons as may wish for the information in 

 the art and mystery of ail branches of this 

 profitable business. Several gentlemen in 

 this vicinity are planting extensive nurseries 

 of mulberry trees, and we have reason to be- 

 lieve, that sufficient quantities of cocoons 

 will be pioduced, in two years, to justify the 

 erection of a filature at this place. 



The process of raising mulberry trees is 

 extremely simple, and instead of injuring 

 them by transplanting, they are improved 

 and will grow more rapidly than such as are 

 left in the seed bed The dwarf or bush 

 mulberry, which is very productive and profi- 

 table, will grow upon a light sandy soil, that 

 is not suitable for the cultivation of other 

 plants. On such land the seed should be 

 sown in April, or early in May, and if the 

 ground could have a dressing of muck from 

 swamps or meadows, before the seed is 

 plained, it will yield more bountifully. One! 

 ounce of seed on five square rods of land 

 will be as much as can conveniently be culti- 

 vated ; and if they are intended to be trans- 

 planted, when one year old. the rows may 

 be eighteen inches apart; but if they are in- 

 tended to remain in the seed rows, they 

 should be three feet apart. Nothing should 

 be planted between the rows, for it will be 

 profitable to pass a light plough, or small har- 

 row between them, for tlie purpose of remo- 

 ving ihe weeds, and keeping the ground in 

 good order. In two years from the time the 

 seed is planted, the leaves will be fit for use. 

 Several gentlemen in this vicinity will have 

 thirty or forty thousand young trees to sell 

 next spring, at a very moderate price, to a- 

 ny persons, who are disposed to try experi- 

 ments. V. 



Frnm thft New York Farmer. 



THE COUNTRY FARMER— NO. IV. 

 Mr. Fleet — As 1 recollect my former 

 Nos., none of which have yet come back to 

 me, one was a kind of Introductory, and two 

 have been devoted to a summary review of 

 the business of the Household of Husband- 

 ry, the actual business of the Family of a 

 Country Farmer. To say, that any other 

 than minds of a good share of understand- 

 ing, can direct all those operations, and suc- 

 cessfully, is to deny the distinctions between 

 sense and nonsense, wisdom and folly. The 

 Farm, sir, is a little Commonwealth, a Pa- 

 triarchate, and the mind that plans and di- 

 rects all its various operations, is not only a 

 busy, active mind, but absolutely, and neces- 

 sarily, a mind of no mean powers of thought, 

 understanding, and combination. My bu- 

 siness, however, is not to eulogize, but to 

 vindicate, by a just and fair presentation of 

 the facts. The flippancy of youth, and the 

 pedantry of school learning, make multi- 

 tudes of would-be teachers of Agriculture, 

 who know nothing of the practice ; — mere 

 boys, in knowledge and in years, who accuse 

 us of ' dullness,' 'stupidity,' 'plodding on 

 in the old way,' 'content to do as our fath- 

 ers have done,' till it has become necessary 

 to speak for ourselves. Learning, with 

 common sense, we esteem an excellent thing : 

 without it, a mere soap bubble, a ship all sail, 

 and no ballast. Such, we are aware, are the 

 most of those scribblers for the Journals de- 

 voted to Agriculture and Horticulture, who 

 can see nothing but stupidity, in the Cultiva- 

 tors of the Soil j — they are spoiled children, 



reading long lessons to grave seniors! It is 

 high time for Farmers to speak of Farming, 

 Gardeners of Gardening, and to speak 

 through the agency of the press. 



Before proceeding to an examination of 

 the s bject of Education — the Education 

 proper for the Sous and Daughters of the 

 Families of Farmers, — let me ask of every 

 Reader of your Paper lo turn his own 

 thoughts Upon this subject, and let us come 

 to it after the reflections of a whole week. 

 This, then, should be a short Number, partly 

 because, as I recollect, III was a very lone 

 one. In suggesting a few ideas, as food for 

 the thoughts and reflections of the passing 

 week, waiting for the next No. of the 'Far- 

 mer,' we may as well take a passing hint 

 from the ruminating animals of the Farm. — 

 Though the Cow should eat up the whole 

 hay-stack, yet she would not give us one 

 drop of milk, till, by rumination, the chew- 

 '"g of her own cud, its nntrimentitious mat- 

 ter had been assimilated to herself, becomi 

 hers, a part of herself, and thus elaborated 

 into milk. So it is with us. Ideas are not 

 thought, nor reflection, but only food for the 

 operations of the mind, on which to rumi- 

 ate, and thus make them our own. 



The chief object of Education, at the 

 present day, seems to us Farmers to be, 

 learning, book learning, head learning, much 

 stuffing of the head, and little attention to 

 the heart : as if, in reality, the business of 

 education was only to cram the memory, and 

 hardly to think of the heart, or the under- 

 standing. 



We, on the contrary, seek to enrich the 

 head, by means of the heart, the understan- 

 ding, by the affections, and with this as a 

 ground-work, learning becomes easy, and is 

 useful. Of this, however, in another place, 

 just remarking, here, thai we consider the 

 forming of suitable habits, as a prime essen- 

 tial of education. Popular opinion, as far 

 as we can judge, seems to regard education 

 as a means, and a principal, of advancing 

 the interest of every one, by helping them to 

 ' rise in the world,' as it is called, — not as Far- 

 mers, let it be observed, but as every thing 

 else, except, perhaps, as Mechanics. If 

 such be the case, the way ' to rise in the 

 world,' is by overstepping us, as well as eve- 

 ry thing connected with :he arts and trades ! 

 If I err in slating the c;;se, let my error be 

 corrected, for the object is truth, for the sake 

 of information, and to open the way to my 

 next number. 



September 2, 1831. 



Grape Butter. — In place of adding 

 fruits of various kinds to the boiling must, 

 some only add a certain portion of must 

 that has been evaporated and concentra- 

 ted to thickness, the whole boiled to the 

 consistence of jelly, is a very agreeable 

 and healthy addition to the table in f II 

 and winter. This preserve is poured in- 

 to pots, with cinnamon and cloves, and 

 put in the bread oven to bake, before it is 

 considered sufficiently prepared for keep- 

 ing. Before serving it on the table it is 

 slightly warmed and is eaten with butter- 

 ed toast. — Vine Dresser's JWamia'. 



Vegetables.— Watering gives vegetables 

 long exposed a more attractive appearance ; 

 but repeated waterings are highly pern'r 

 cious, as they neutralize the natural juices 

 of some, render others bitter, and make al] 

 vapid or disagreeable.— Scotsman. 



