398 



THE GENESEE FARMER 



December 17, 1831;' 



I am not so sanguine as some, who sup- 

 pose that we shall at once enter upon the bu- 

 siness of making wine : this may follow. — 

 But I regard the grape as a most valuable 

 acquisition to our table fruits. It is as easy 

 of cultivation as the currant, with a little 

 additional care in trimming, pruning, and 

 laying down the vines, all of which opera- 

 tions will not occupy time enough to be taken 

 into the account. Of tlie numerous varie- 

 ties of native and foreign grapes, in bearing 

 in the county, all have uniformly remained 

 unaffected by blight or mildew, which prove 

 so destructive to most of the foreign varie- 

 ties, in many parts o' the country. This we 

 probably owe to some peculiarity in our soil, 

 or climate, hitherto unexplained.* 



On land recently cleared, the stumps form 

 a serious obstacle to cultivation. They occu- 

 py a considerable portion of the ground, and 

 are exceedingly unsightly. The common 

 hard wood stumps, forming the mass of our 

 forests, decay and disappear in a few years, 

 but the pine and hemlock, with their roots 

 spread wide upon the surface, remain for a- 

 ges a great annoyance to the ploughman : 

 their removal, therefore, is worthy of serious 

 consideration. Pratt's Stump Extractor, 

 provides the means of getting rid of them at 

 comparatively little expense, and by con- 

 verting them into fences, where they will 

 answer a useful purpose for years, they are 

 made themselves to repay the expense of re- 

 moval. 



I estimate that two hundred and forty such 

 stumps, prevent the plough from taking ef- 

 fect upon an acre of ground. With the a- 

 bove machine, they may be taken entirely 

 Out of the earth, with all their roots, at twelve 

 and a half cents each ; and they may be re- 

 moved to the borders of the field, and formed 

 i nto a fence for as much more. Placed up- 

 on their sides contiguous to each other, they 

 at once form a barrier against horses and 

 cattle, and by trimming in the straggling 

 foots, they may readily be made good against 

 sheep and swine. Two stumps will make a 

 rod, and the fence is better looking, and oc- 

 cupies less ground than the common rail 

 fence. Thus then, if this estimate be true, 

 which I have reason to believe to be so, from| 

 recent inquiry in the county of Washington, I 



*The adaptation of our soil and climate to the 

 production of the grape is now placed beyond a 

 doubt, by the uniform success which has attended 

 the culture of numerous native and foreign vane 

 ties, in almost every kind of soil and expositi n, in 

 all parts of the count}- ; as well of the foreign vari- 

 eties, introduced from the nurseries at Albany and 

 New York, as of those imported directly from 

 France by Mr Le Ray de Cliauniont and distribu- 

 ted gratuitously among the members ol the society. 

 Of these last, a vine, the meunier, in Major 

 Brown's garden in Brownville, a cutting four years 

 ago, produced two hundred fine clusters last year, 

 and more than three hundred this season. General 

 Lawrence of Brownville presented to Mr. Le 

 Ray, thirty nine beautiful clusters from a vine in 

 his garden of those distributed and planted last yeai - 

 Among the great variety exhibited upon the day of 

 the Fair, all of which were perfectly ripe and of 

 delicious flavor, were several clusters of the white 

 sweet water, weighing more than a pound each, 

 from vines in Judge Ten Evck's garden at Water- 

 town, planted but two years ago. Clusters of while, 

 black, and purple grapes were exhibited from the 

 garden at Le Kaysvillc ; some the produe of a 

 vine planted three years ago, which gave several 

 clusters the very first year, more the second, -mil 

 on Wise than fifty six this season. in Europe, vines 

 rarely bear the first year, hut when they do they 

 fail the second year. None of these vines are 

 trained against walls. Doctor Guthrie of SaeketS 

 jBarhoi one of the most successful cultivators of 

 the grape in the county, contemplates goiug cx,ten- 

 3tYeI}> into the vineyard culture of the vine. 



where this machine is in full operation, and 

 where the stumps form one of the most com- 

 mon kinds of fence ; for sixty dollars, an a- 

 creof land may be brought into use in our 

 best fields, and a hundred and twenty rods of 

 good fence constructed, to say nothing of the 

 great embellishment the farm will receive by 

 the operation. 



A great benefit derived from our institu- 

 tions, and one best calculated to perpetuate 

 them, is a general diffusion of intelligence 

 among the laboring classes througl) the press. 

 By this means, all the operations ol govern- 

 ment are made to pass in review before us. — 

 Within a few years, several papers have 

 been established, in different parts of the 

 country, devoted exclusively to the interests 

 of our vocation, marking distinctly, a new 

 era in the agriculture of the country. It is 

 no longer considered a pursuit adapted to the 

 meanest capacity, to be embraced by those 

 only, who cannot obtain a livelihood by any 

 other means. Men of capital and education, 

 are devoting themselves I it, and having be- 

 come familiar with its details, they, through 

 this channel, shed the lights of science upon 

 our path, and place our profession upon its 

 true elevation. 



Among the most efficient agents in this 

 good work, are the New England Farmer, 

 published at Boston, the Genesee Farmer, 

 at Rochester, and the New-York Farmer, at 

 New-York. These papers are filled with 

 valuable information upon all the details of 

 husbandry and domestic economy, and form 

 a cheap mode of conveying instruction up- 

 on the operations, from which we draw our 

 subsistenc . Experiments upon various 

 modes of culture are detailed with accuracy 

 which enables us to embrace improvements 

 with confidence; while we are warned a- 

 gainst failures. They contain also ample 

 directions for the management of fruit trees ; 

 a subject upon which we are singularly defi- 

 cient. 



Three bushels of wheat will pay the year- 

 ly subscription to either of these papers, and 

 would form a judicious exchange for the 

 farmer, for 1 think that no one can habitual- 

 ly read one of them, without deriving in- 

 struction from it to ten times the value of its 

 | cost. 



Prudence, perhaps, admonishes me not to 

 approach a subject, which has been hereto- 

 fore repeatedly urged upon your notice from 

 this place, without awakening that interest 

 which its importance demands. But, when 

 ] I recollect to what slight circumstances, we 

 owe the introduction of some of the most 

 I valuable staples of the country, I am encour- 

 laged to make a few remarks upon the silk 

 I worm ; a culture which bids fair, at no dis- 

 tant day, to afford employment to a numer- 

 ous class of our population. 



The thrifty appearance of several young 

 nurseries of the white mulberry, which fur- 

 nishes the food of the silk worm, shows that 

 the tree may be cultivated among us, without 

 difficult; ; and a successful experiment this 

 season, by the President of the society, in 

 rearing the worm, removes the only doubt 

 that the business may be made a source of 

 profit to every man, who has room for a few 

 mulberry trees. The cocoons produced in 

 the United States, have been pronounced su- 

 perior to those of Europe, and those produ- 

 ced by Mr. Le Ray de Chaumont are be- 

 lieved to be equal to any in the country. 



The management of the silk worm is per 

 fectly simple, occupying but a few weeks in 



the spring, and all the labor may be perform- 

 ed by females, by the. aged, and by children. 

 It is asserted by one of our distinguished 

 countrymen, now in the Mediterranean, and 

 who is preparing a digest of a "very simple 

 mode of cultivating the silk worm, and pre- 

 paring the silk, adapted in the most simple 

 form to the use of families, that its cultiva- 

 tion is not as troublesome as the cultivation 

 of flax, and infinitely more certain and pro- 

 fitable."* He remarks, you will be surprised 

 at the simplicity of all the means of obtain- 

 ing silk, and of the little trouble attending it. 

 But facts make a stronger appeal to the 

 understanding than arguments. It is stated 

 in the New England Farmer, that the town 

 of Mansfield in Connecticut alone, has pro- 

 duced this season, five tons of silk, worth in 

 market, eighty -five thousand dollars. The 

 rich source of wealth is within our reach, 

 with little other effort, than to plant the mul- 

 berry tree ; which is as easy of cultivation as 

 the apple tree. 



This culture recommends itself to our no- 

 tice in a peculiar manner. In older parts of 

 the country, especially in some of the New 

 England States, it has already become a 

 question of public discussion, how the daugh- 

 ters of a numerous class of farmers, are to 

 ji find employment, which shall prevent their 

 j| growing up in idleness, a burden to their pa- 

 jj rents, on the one hand ; or going out to ser- 

 vice in the families of their more wealthy 

 i| neighbors, on the other. The spinning 

 wheel and the loom, have until lately afford- 

 ed occupation for that class ; but the im- 

 provements in machinery, by which the 

 woolen manufacture is at present prosecu- 

 ted, and the extensive substitution of cotton 

 stuffs for woolen, in household use, throw fe- 

 male labor out of competition. The cul- 

 ture of silk seems to afford the desideratum 

 required ; for the whole operation may be 

 performed by female labor, and that too with 

 such facility, that a single female may, in a 

 few weeks, without extraordinary exertion, 

 produce silk to the amount of a hundred dol- 

 lars. 



The appropriate education and employ- 

 ment of females, in all tanks of life, is a 

 concern of the highest importance ; for pre- 

 cisely upon these two circumstances, does 

 her usefulness depend. Among barbarous 

 nations, woman is reduced to the level of the 

 beasts of burden ; and among some of the 

 people of the old world, she is denied the 

 common attribute of humanity ; with both, 

 she derives from man merely that degree of 

 consideration and protection, which he ex 

 t mis to his other property. It is only under 

 the christian dispensation, that she rises to 

 the full enjoyment of her just rank, and 

 participation in the concerns of life. The 

 customs of society, having a just regard <o 

 that refinement and delicacy, which attach 

 to the female character, and constitute its 

 greatest charm, have excluded her from oc- 

 cupations deemed peculiarly masculine : 

 from participation in the business of legis- 

 lation and government; from exercising the 

 function of public teachers of our holy re- 

 ligion ; and from the labors of our field. — 

 But in the domestic circle she shines pie-em- 

 inent. There she erects her throne, and 

 from it silently influences the affairs of men. 

 Encouraged by her smiles, we are stimula- 

 ted to the performance of oni best actions. 

 Much of the prosperity enjoyed by one soci- 

 ety, may be ascribed to the zeal with which 

 "Com. P. ieitQis. 



