May, 1842. 



THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



73 



ot corn, that there be no delay, (for sonietinios a 

 ievv kernels may be dropped on the gi-oiind in 

 planting) in putting round the outside of it stakes 

 about the size of connnon bean poles, say six 

 feet liigh, once in six or eight rods: then run 

 twine made of coarse cotton warp, doubled to a 

 suitable size and twisted from one stake to the 

 next all around the field ; but do not draw the 

 twine tight: leave it slack enough to have the 

 line wave with the wind. It will likewise do 

 good to fiisten a strip or two of white cloth to the 

 line between the slakes. It is well to examine 

 the line every day or two. If once broken the 

 crows will soon know it and begin there to take 

 up your corn first, just before it makes its appear- 

 ance above ground, and afterwards till large 

 enough to weed. You may also shoot a charge 

 of powder into the ground by holding the muz- 

 zle of your gun about a foot from the ground in 

 different parts of the field. It will leave the 

 scent of the powder in the ground, and the crow 

 is not so fond of the smell of powder as be is of 

 the taslc of corn. I have practised this plan for 

 years with good success, seldom losing a hill of 

 corn by the crows. 



A VERMONTER. 

 May 12th, 1842. 



The Silk Business.— The Editor of the Con- 

 cord Freeman, in an interesting article on this 

 subject, says: — 



" In reading tlie autobiography of Col. Trum- 

 bull, the painter, a most interesting volume re- 

 cently published, we marked a passage in relation 

 to the silk culture in Connecticut in old times, 

 the subject of which in this connection may not 

 be uninteresting or unprofitable. As earlj', lie 

 states, as 1793, a large portion of the sandy, un- 

 productive .soil of that state had been planted 

 with mulberry trees, and not only was the quan- 

 tity of silk produced very considerable, but suc- 

 cessfid attempts had been made to manufacture 

 it — .so that an agent in that year went from Hart- 

 ford to Philadeljihia with a quantity of silk goods, 

 resembling a coarse black satin. He there ibiind 

 Gen. Washington, who, with other friends of 

 domestic industry, became purchasers. Colonel 

 Trumbull wa.< attached to Mr. Jay's mission, and 

 was about sailing for Europe. He liought a pat- 

 tern for a vest and small clothes, which were 

 made up, and which he subsequently carried with 

 him 10 London, where he became acciuainted 

 with a IMr. Titlbrd, a silk manufacturer in Spital- 

 fields. This gentleman pronounced the quality 

 of the silk excellent, and remarked that if the 

 peo|)le of Connecticut would raise such silk and 

 ship it to London in its raw state, they might rely 

 Iqion receiving the highest market price, as none 

 of a superior qiralilii was received either from France 

 or Italy. The business, however, then beginning 

 to engage public attention to a very cosideiable 

 degree, soon received a check from which it has 

 but lately began to recover. About that time 

 immense wealth was suddenly acquired at the 

 South by the culture of cotton, which gave its 

 retiu-n in one season, and silk and mulberry trees, 

 of slower though not less certain production, be- 

 came eclipsed in the eyes of Northerners, anil 

 were neglected, and the business declined, until 

 at this time but little silk is produced in Con- 

 necticut, except at Mansfield — whose wiser in- 

 habitants now obtain an annual income of about 

 .$'50,000 from labor performed principally by their 

 children f^ 



The Largest Tree iu New Knglaud. 



A giant of the forest, for many years the fre- 

 quent subject of admiration to the curious visitor, 

 has at length fallen, and we are enabled to give 

 a more definite and certain description of it, than 

 has been given of any of the large standing trees 

 in our country. 



The Tree to which we refer is an interval Red 

 or SiJGAR Maple, which has been standing 

 the farm and near the residence of Joseph Hob 

 Esq., of Ossipee, in this State. The circumf 

 eiice of the tree at the ground was 28 feet, and 

 continued of about the same size 17 feet, per- 

 fectly straiglu and .smooth as common blistered 

 bar "steel. At this height it parted into twc 

 branches. 



The first grand branch extended 34 feet, mea- 

 suring at .^l feet from the ground 4 feet ii 

 diamiMcr, or rather more than 12 feet in circum- 



ference: this branch then divided into 5 branch 

 es, which after running 15 feet were on an aver- 

 age 3i feet in circumference. 



The second grand branch, after extending 39 

 feet from the main trunk measured 11 feet 6 

 iiclies in circumference ; it then divided into two 

 (ranches, each of which at 19 feet (or 73 feet 

 from the ground) measured 3 ft. 9 in. in circum- 

 ference. 



The length to the top was 96 feet. 

 Mr. Hobbs informs us, that he has made forty 

 r>ounds of sugar in a year from this tree. It was 

 iijured by tapping, had partially decayed near 

 the roots, but was sound after a few feet above 

 the ground. In a severe gale of wind it was 

 rostrated to the ground, and although much dif- 

 ficulty attended its preparation for the saw-mill, 

 mastered, and its product has just been 

 ascertained to be 3300 feet of inch boards, and 

 nine cords of wood for fuel. 



The tree was perfect in its symmetry, larger in 

 ircmnference than any tree in New England, 

 nd probably as great in bulk as any tree in the 

 United States. A gentleman who has seen the 

 Ossipee Maple and"the Ohio Sycamore (which is 

 very low tree) pronomices the Ossipee as de- 

 cidedly of the greatest bulk. 



With its owner, we sincerely regret the depar- 

 ture of this noble specimen of the bandy-work 

 of nature. But the revolutions of the globe will 

 go on, and the march of decay follows closely in 

 the train :■ — 



"The cloud-clapt 

 The solemn tempi 



Yea, all which it iniients, snail dissolve, 

 And like the baseless fabric of a vision, 

 Leave not a wreck behind." 

 We give below a list of all the large trees i 

 the United States which we have seen reporte- 

 ith their circumference. 



Names. Place. Ft 

 Sycamore, Ohio, 60 Cedar, Canada, 21 



N. V 

 Penn 

 S. C. 



Ossipee, N 



Penn. 



N.J. 



Elm, 



White Oak, 

 Live Oak, 

 Oak 



Charter Oak, Conn. 

 Chestnut. Ponn. 



Portsmouth Journal. 



N.C. 



SGlHickorj 



SHAsh, 



32jApple, 



Roxb"v.Ms.25 

 Bostoii, 22 

 Nthmpton, 22 

 Springfield, 2.5 

 K.I. ■ 2.1. 



Ctmn. 24 



Ken. 17 



do. n 



RoxbT, Ms. 12 



From the Northern Light. 

 The Woodland. 



BY W. BACON. 



In a climate like ours, where wintry wind; 

 hold such imlimited control over the .=easons ; 

 where, in the intensity of cold, the mercury 

 sleeps so many nights below zero ; in a country 

 like ours, where cities are springing up on every 

 hand, and populous villages, dressed in the fresh- 

 ness of yesterday, greet the eye at almost every 

 corner; in our ciwn country, where enterprise, 

 smiling at the mockery of restraint, throws its 

 curling smoke from every mountain and valley, 

 rill and secluded dell ; iu such a country and in 

 such an age, where every thing moves by steam, 

 economy in fuel, and the protection of wood- 

 lands isa subject of universal interest, and may 

 well call furtli the attention of the philanthropist 

 and the economist in its behalf. 



In remarking upon this subject, we shall pre- 

 se;it the results of our own observation, and if 

 they are wrong, we hope some one more skilled 

 in these matters will have the goodness to cor 

 rect them. 



First, then, too much indifference toward 

 woodlands is manifested by the general praclici 

 of allowing them to lie iu common wiih high 

 ways or pasture land.s, where cattle without rr 

 straint range over them, destroying all yOmn 

 shoots which are .starting up to supply a nev 

 gener.ilion of trees, when the present crop shall 

 have been removed. If this practice 

 versal, fifty years hence, and we believe n much 

 less period."would find our country as destit 

 of trees as the .leserts of Africa. Where then 

 would the siqiply for fuel and for building be 

 found .' Our coal mines might, in some mea- 

 sure, remedy the evil ; but it would be in a very 

 slight degree. The quarry luight furnish mate- 

 rials for fe ------ 



d for buildi 



but tl 



innumerable purposes to which even the trea 

 sures of the quarry cannot apply. There is, in 

 fact, no substitute for wood, no getting along 

 without it, unless an individual would go through 

 the world by a mere get along impulse. How, 

 then, can the present course of wastefulness, 

 which so generally exists, be tolerated, even by 

 owners of lands kept in this sad predicament of 

 commonalty ? Surely, it cannot be because the 

 l)rofits will not pay the expense of fencing, for 

 no lands yield a greater profit in proportion to 

 expenditure than forest lands. The present 

 prices of fuel and timber warrant this assertion. 

 The second consideration we ofler in regard 

 to economy in timber land, is the time of felling. 

 Here public opinion is at variance. So far as 

 durability in the timber taken off is concerned, 

 some suppose that winter is the best season, as 

 in common iihrase the sap is down ; others pre- 

 fer midsummer. As regards the two seasons 

 tor the operation, we do not imagine that any 

 material diflference can exist .where favorable 

 circumstances are brought to bear upon the ob- 

 ject. There must be a circulation of sap in 

 winter, else how can the buds retain their vital- 

 ity ? Indeed, we know there is, unless it is im- 

 peded by frost, for we see it exude from the 

 tiillen tree. And in evergreens, which are cut 

 down in December, the leaves usually dry and 

 fall from the branches before spring. That sap 

 flows more freely in spring and autumn we do 

 not doubt, for every observer knows it does. But 

 we consider the argument vain, and contrary to 

 nature, that supposes that the vital fluid of trees 

 does not, like that of animals, flow through llie 

 system at all times, unless impeded by counter- 

 acting causes. Yet, as the flow of sap is most 

 abundant in spring, when the freezing and thaw- 

 ing of the earth are the consequence of day and 

 night; and in autumn, when like causes are in 

 operation, we should give it as our unscrupu- 

 lous opinion that these are the two worst sea- 

 sons ol' the year for felling timber, either to in- 

 sure its durability or a new crop from the roots 

 of the trees fallen. 



Timber fallen in midsummer is rendered very 

 firm and durable by immediately divesting it of 

 the bark ; or if it is designed for fuel, splitting 

 is immediately necessary, in order that the liquid 

 matter it contains may pass oflf. Unless the.-;i> 

 processes are performed, as every farmer may 

 well know, decay soon sets itself to work. Two 

 chcsnut rails, taken fiom the same tree, will 

 give an example : the one, if of a proper size, 

 with the bark immediately stripped, will last 

 thirty, forty, perhaps fifty years; while one, with 

 the bark on, will do well if it lasts a dozen year.«. 

 Thus we see, that durability iu timber depends 

 somewhat on precautionary measures to make 

 it so. 



For fire wood, if only the present profit is to 

 be consulted, September is undoubledly the best 

 month lor cliop[)ing, as by this tlie growth of 

 the present year may be gained, and yet the 

 wood, if profierly prepared, have suCicicnt time 

 for seasoning before winter, and will in:ike a 

 livelier, better fire than that pre pared a year pre- 

 vious. Yet this is only a teiii|ioi-,u'y advantage, 

 one for the present few days, while the many 

 fiiture ones have a claim upon operations.— 

 Where timber is cut at this season, the land is 

 slow to produce a new growth. Tlie roots, ex- 

 hausted by the labors of summer, send up feeble 

 shoots, if "they send up any; and these, for the 

 most part, sicken and die before reaching ma- 

 turii)-. 



On the whole, all things considered, we think 

 the weight of evidence goes strongly in favor 

 of winter chopping. It is the season of leisure 

 from other employ inenis to the farmer: hence 

 the appropriate one for this; and timber cut at 

 this season jiosse-sses every desirable quality, if 

 means to esfiblish those qualities arc employed, 

 for the wood cut now mii?t be split and housed 

 in order to make it excellent ; and the timber, 

 whether for fences, buildings, or any other jiur- 

 pose, must pass through a seasoning process, 

 (unless employed under water) with the hark 

 ofi^ <^bich m,iy be divested in spring, in order 

 to substantiate' its full value: and where repro- 

 duction is desired, it is, of all " times tuid sea- 

 sons," decidedly the best. 



When it is exfiected that a new growth will 

 ensue, particular attention must be paid to the 

 manner of felling the trees. Ecnnniuy requires 



