Vol. C— No. 42. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



practised in England. The old mode of ramming 

 lias, you know, been suppTseded of late, by the 

 use of loose sand poured over the powder ; but 

 whatever may be the case with the softer dnscrip- 

 tion of rocks, I have always failed in this way, 

 here, except in onf instance ; probably owing to 

 the excessive stren^rt: ami hardness of the granite 

 and primitive greenstone, on which the experiment 

 lias been tried at least a dozen times, and in holes 

 nearly a foot ileeper than is stated to be necessa- 

 ry in the "Supplement to the Encyclopedia and 

 Philosophical Magazine," where the method with 

 sand is described. The following is the result of 

 the Assamese plan : — A hole was bored about 

 twenty-six inches deep, and one and a half inch 

 diameter in a lar^e block of greenstone. It was 

 tried to blast this rock with powder and loose sand, 

 and the latter was blown out. The same quantity 

 of powder was again put in, and the mouth of the 

 hole closed with a wooden plug, about five inches 

 Jong, with a bole bored through it, and driven in- 

 to the aperture with a mallet. Between the pow-j 

 <ler and the lower part of the plug an interval of 

 of several inches was left, and the communication 

 was perfected by means of a tin tube filled with 

 powder, and passed through the centre of the 

 plug. On firing it, the rock was rent in every di- 

 rection, to the distance of four feet — and several 

 large pieces were detached, one of them weigh- 

 ing fully-a ton. The advantages are, that the 

 plug is as safe and more efficacious than the sand, 

 and that wiih it, the charge, if it goes out may he 

 easily replaced; whf-reas, with sand it becomes 

 necessary to have recourse to the tedious opera- 

 tion of again scooping out the hole. The great ' 

 effect produced, is, f conceive, chiefly owing to 

 the interval left between the charge of powder 

 and the ping, as it is well known to sportsmen, 

 that a gun will burst, if the ball or charge is not 

 properly rammed down. — Edinburgh Journal of 

 Science. 



From tlie Delaware A<lverliser. 

 SILK WORMS. 

 It certainly constitutes a source of lively inter 

 est to every trnc patriot and philanthropist, when 

 we reflect upon the prosperous condition of this 

 highly favored country, enjoying as it does nuni 

 crous advantages and various blessings, among 

 wliich is independence. We also possess an im- 

 mense territory, and our population is rapidly in- 

 creasing. With the spread of knowledge in the 

 various arts and sciences, we find it necessary to 

 pay attention to agricultural improvement. The 

 silk-worm, and manufacture of silk, would no 

 doubt be one of the most sublime improvements 

 in this vast and well adapted country, and would 

 be a lasting benefit to every citizen, whatever may 

 be his age or condition — to the emigrant — rich 

 or poor, and finally, would be an inexhaustible 

 source of wealth to our government. 



But we should not commence this great work 

 without mature deliberatiou, or we shall never at- 

 tain to any thing of consequence. We may in- 

 duce many to turn their attention to the growing 

 of mulberry trees, and the raising of silk-worms 

 by offering premiums, or trying every imaginary 

 sxperiment hy the aid of books written by emi- 

 nent authors either in Europe, or this country ; — 

 but the disappointment will appear in the practical 

 way. That proceeding will be entirely vain to ob- 

 tain the desirable object of a mercantile silk. A 

 preparation for the culture of that article cannot 



be made in less than four years — when we shall 

 be ready to commence. During the four years 

 which it will he necessary to allow the mulberry 

 to come to perfection, the ground so occupied may 

 be tilled in the ordinary way, and produce annual 

 crops of corn, tobacco, cotton, &c. but less time 

 than this, will not answer to ensure permanent 

 success. 



My experience in the science of agriculture has 

 been derived from a devotion of many years of my 

 life to its pursuit in Europe, where I obtained the 

 best practical information — especially that branch 

 adapted to the raising of silk worms. 1 had not 

 only a large establishment of my own, but super- 

 intended those of several other persons with suc- 

 cess — and have also acquired a practical knowl 

 edge of manufacturing silk. In 1820, I memor- 

 ialized the honorable Congress upon this subject, 

 j but a press of other business prevented a timely 

 ; attention to it. If a simple description, or trea- 

 I tise, on the silk-worm, would in any way benefit 

 jthe country, I should, before this time, have taken 

 up the subject ; but this has already been done in 

 Europe, by several eminent writers. 



I have understood tli t the Legislature of Dela- 

 ware have passed an act for the em-ouragemenl 

 of the growth of silk-worms, and the manufacture 

 of silk, and that some enterprisinsr citizens of this 

 State desire to turn their attention to the subject; 

 this has induced me to submit my views to the 

 public. The proper mode for carryins this object 

 into effect, would be to form an ag iculture in 

 practice, on an eligible spot in this State. Or I 

 would suggest some practical plan which would 

 meet with general approbation. I could attend in 

 many other States in the Union at the same time, 

 which would be more likely to promote the suc- 

 cess of the undertaking. 



Any communication upon the subject, directed 

 to me, by letter, post paid, and left with the editor 

 of the Delaware Advertiser, Wilminjrton, shall be 

 promptly attended to. A personal interview would 

 be more desirable. AGRICOLA. 



Medicines prepared in distiUed spirits — Dr Rush 

 in his Observations on the Dnties of a Physician, 

 has the followinff remarks: "Give as few medi- 

 cines as possible in tinctures made with distilled 

 spirits. Perhaps there are few cases in which it 

 is safe to exhibit raedirines prepared in spirits, in 

 any other form than in Krops. Many people have 

 been innocently seduced into a lovo of strong 

 drink, from taking large or frequent doses of bit- 

 ters, infused in spirits." 



J^ew Bee Hive. — A box to be made of inch 

 plank, say two feet three inches by twelve inches 

 in width. The upper part of the box is to he divi- 

 ded off, allowing a space just suflficient^to admit a 

 drawer, say about 8 by 10 inches in front. The 

 drawer is to slide upon a partition made to fit the 

 inside of the box exactly, and through the middle 

 of this partition, a hole is to be made, and a cor- 

 responding one in the bottom of the drawer, (a- 

 bout one and a fourth inch diameter) so as to al- 

 low the bees to pass from the lower part of the 

 bo.t into the drawer, a pane of glass is to be fitted 

 in the outer side of the drawer, say 8 by If), a sli- 

 ding shutter is to be made so as to secure the 

 glass and exclude the light. When the honey is 

 wanted for use, fi'st ascertain through the pane of 

 glass, that the drawer is filled, then introduce a 

 little smoke into the top of the drawer, in the usual 



33.^ 



way, by ineana of a common tobacco pipe ; and 

 when the bees have all descended into the lower 

 part of the hive separate the bottom of the draw- 

 er and the partition with a case knife, remove the 

 drawer, and empty the honey, and return the draw., 

 er toils place, when the beus will commence work- 

 ing. On this plan the honey will always be ob- 

 tained pure, without bee bread, or dead bees, and 

 not a single bee will be destroyed.— .,l/a«». Spy. 



Tall Meadow Oals Gra.is. — It seems that the 

 tall meadow oats grass, (Jivena elaiorj lately in- 

 troduced on the recomuiendatiou of our corres- 

 pondent, Justin f]ly, Esq. has been long known in 

 England, and is a natural grass there. 



In the Bath papers for the year 1799, it is thus 

 dose ibed : '■^Avaia elatuir, or tall oats grass — 

 this grass is very luxuriant, it is father coirse, 

 but makes tolerable good hay. It is common in 

 all meailows." 



In Willich's Domestic Encyclopedia, it is thus 

 described : "The avena clnlior, tall oata grass, or 

 oat, thrives on wet damp soils, in meadows, pas- 

 tures, and hollow ways. It flowers in June and 

 July. Xhis grass vegetates with great luxurian- 

 cy, andlhoujih somewhat coarse, makes tolerable 

 good hay. It is eaten by cows, goats, and sheep, 

 but is frequently troublesome in arable land, as its 

 roots spread like couch grass, and are very diffi- 

 cult to be eradicated." 



In a note to Davy's Agricultural Chemistry it is 

 thus noticed : "^tiena tlatior, or tall oats grass ; 

 this is a very productive ^rnss. frequent in mea- 

 dows and pastures, but is disliked by cattle, par- 

 ticularly by horses. This perfectly agrees with 

 the small portion of nutritive matter which it af- 

 fords. It thrives best on stiff clayey soils." 



On analysis it appeared to yiel i less nutritive 

 matter from the same weight than most other 

 grasses, but its whole weight per acre is much 

 greater than almost any other 



We are induced to publish the foregoing, lest it 

 should be supposed that we meant to recommend 

 its adoption generally. 



From what we have seen of it. we think it will 

 never take the place of the meadow fox-tail and 

 some other grasses, though it may prevail against 

 timothy or herds-grass. It will have two advan- 

 tages over the latter, it is a very early grass, and 

 produces a great after-crop. 



It is however a coarse grass, and it would seem, 

 is not very nutritive. The crentlemen farmers may 

 rely that this new grass, called the tall oats grass, 

 is the same as those above described- by British 

 authors. It has been accurately compared by bo- 

 tanists here, and it is certainly the same. — Mass^ 

 Jlari. Journal. 



BUTTER. 



The dairy house should he kept neat, should 

 never front the south, soutlu^nst or southwest. It 

 should be situated near a good spring or current 

 of water. The proper receptacles for milk are 

 earthen pans not lined or glazed with lead, or 

 wooden trays. In warm weathf.T milk should re- 

 main in the pail till nearly cool before it is strain- 

 ed, but in frosty weather it should be strained im- 

 mediately, and a small quantity of boiling water 

 may be mixed with it, which will cause it to pro- 

 duce cream in great abundance, and the more so 

 if the pans or vats have a large surface. 



In hot weather the cream should be skimmed 

 from the milk at or before sunrise, before the 

 dairy gets warm, cor ahould the milk, in hot weath- 



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