394 



iNEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



July 4, 1828. 



lieties, doubtless, remain yet to be discovered — 

 ought certainly to be more generally known, and 

 more evtensively applied to their legitimate uses. 

 In conuRction with this subject, every one will see 

 that a State deposite of minerals, must be of ex- 

 tensive utility and of very easy accomplishment. 

 It would furnish not only to members of the legis- 

 lature, but to citizens generally, on their visit to 

 the metropolis, a convenient 0|)portunity of an 

 acquauitance with their mineral productions and 

 resources. Aud numerous individuals in various 

 sections of th<j State, already possess interest and 

 knowledge enough upon the subject to lend their 

 aid to forward if. Through the medium of legis- 

 latois, a collection from their several towns might 

 very soon be made, and with great ease. And it 

 is hoped and belie ved that the legislature would 

 cheerfully appropriate a room in the State-house 

 for the collection, ami funds sufficient to defray 

 the expense of transpoiting, &c. 



Several States in the Union have already pro- 

 cured collections of the kiiid proposed; and if a 

 deposite should be made in t!ie capital of each 

 State, an exchange might bo in.stitutetl, wliich 

 would be nuitiuilly and exteiifividy heiielicial to 

 the whole community. FRANKLIN. 



We entirely concur with the vvii(';i 'if the above 

 article respecting the importance oi' u deposite of 

 minerals of the kind above descril' J. Mineralo- 

 gy is a science of great practical utiiir- , and inti- 

 mately connected with agriculture ; and i;f course 

 with the i)ios])erity of the countiyJ Man would 

 be a savage, without minerals; deprive h'.ai of 

 iron and you destroy more than thiee fomt! •= of 

 his physical powers. Mineral substances wl.- ' 

 are valuable for manures, for buildings, for paiiiis, 

 pottery, medicine, and other pav;><ja<i6j.embraoiiiij; 

 almost the whole circle of tlie useful arts may lurk 

 undiscovered for ages, in accessible situations, but 

 of no s.ivif c t-o mankind, merely for the want of 

 a little skill in tnineralo^j', a knowledge of those 

 apptaroiK-os, soils, strata or layers of earth, which 

 are iiilcdlible indices of the pres'^nce of minerals. 

 We liave no doubt but that there are thousands of 

 acres of barren land, in the United States, which 

 contain ten times as much value, at present 

 undiscovered, and beneath the earth's surface, 

 as the same number of acres of fertile land would 

 produce on their surface with the best cultivation. 

 A knowledge of mineralogy gives a key to unlock 

 these subterranean hordes, and enables us to open 

 the strong box, in which Nature has deposited her 

 treasures. 



An acquaintance with mineralogy is useful, not 

 only by giving us information of what may be found 

 i)Ut of what may not be found in any particular 

 soil or location. No saline, fossil or metalliferous 

 bodies ought to be sought after, by any ex!)ensive 

 and laborious excavations, unless the laborer is 

 guided by the Kghts of science. Great expenses 

 urn incurred by imskilful efforts to dig coal, salt, 

 lead, and perhaps silver or gold, in situations 

 vvliere nothing of the kind ever existed. This 

 might be avoided by a knowledge of mineralogy ; 

 and that knowledge can hardly be acquired with- 

 out specimens — Editor. 



FOR TUB NEW KNGL.\ND FABlMBn. 



FELLING TIMBER. 



Mr. Fesse.'^de.n', — In vol. •2d of the New Eng- 

 land Farmer, were j)ubUslied a few facts respect- 

 ing the most proper time for felling timber, that 



we intend to have the most durable, and yet have ' But by comparing the four last with white oak. 



it exposed to the weather.* At the time of writ- 

 ing those statements, I had one experiment going 

 on, which had not come to a result. In Septem- 

 ber 10, 1822 I bought a maple log, and felled it 

 for timber to work into a mill. After working 

 what I wanted at that time, the remainder was 

 left exposed to the weather. In June 1823, I had 

 another fallen, and left part of it exposed to the 

 weather by the side of the other. In October, 

 1825, I examined both pieces, and found the one 

 that was felled in June was affected with wliite 

 rot, all through the timber ; but on examining 

 that which was cut in September, I found the out- 

 side colored in about one fourth of an inch ; the 

 remainder white, and as good for timber as it 

 ever had been. 



In 1827, in August, I was making an enghie to 

 a paper mill, and had timber to work, which was 

 felled in June, about the 10th. The bark was left 

 on until v/e worked it, when to our surprise, the 

 white sap-wood, in some places had been rotten. 

 This was the Qucrcus alba, white oak. From a 

 consideration of the approaching scarcity of tim- 

 ber, in this part of the country, I have been led 

 to communicate these remarks, not with a view of 

 contradicting any person, for I think that a few 

 degrees of latitude may make some considerable 

 difference in the time when trees cease to extend 

 their branches, and form their leaf and fruit buds 

 for the next year, which is an indication that the 

 sap is undergoing a change, aud ceases to de- 

 scend ; a doctrine, which I shall attempt to dem- 

 onstrate by some experiments I have made, which 

 are conclusive to my mind. But tliis I must omit 

 till another opportunity. 



In this latitude, and to one degree north — and 

 marly one to the south — the leaf and fruit l)uds 

 are mostly formed in Augiist, with here and tliere 

 an exception ; we find some formed in July, and 

 some not until September. These last are not 

 timber trees ; and I think that in the latitude of 



provided they were all felled in Sejjtember, they 

 will stand nearly thus : 



Oak, 10.0 Maple, 5..5 

 Walnut, 6.2 

 Elm, 4.5 

 Ash, 5.6 



PHINEAS STEVENS. 

 Andover, June 29, 1828. 



rOR THE NEW ENGLAND FARMEP.. 



GRAFTING. 



Mr. Fessenden, — Through the medium of the 

 New England Farmer, I wish some of your cor- 

 respondents would describe the best mode of man- 

 agement on grafted trees — say apple trees, that 

 have this spring been headed and grafted — whose 

 trunks are from ten to twenty-tive inches in dia- 

 meter, and have from twenty-five to one hundred 

 stocks on a tree. Whether it is best to keep the 

 young sprouts or suckers clear from the trees, or 

 suffer them to remain to receive part of the sap ? 

 And if taken off, at what time it is best ? And 

 whether to take all at once, or ])art ? This infor- 

 mation would be gratefully received by one inter- 

 ested ill the advancement of good fruit. 

 Yours, with respect, 



A SUBSCRIBER. 



IVeston, June 28, 1828. 



N. B. I have had upwards of 4000 scions set 

 this spring, of which I think not fifty have failed 

 of taking. Among which are pears growing in 

 the bcust stocks and the forest hazle ; apricots, 

 peaches, and mulberry scions growing in plum 

 tree stocks. Most of my scions are apple — the 

 largest tree has one hundred and fifteen stocks. 



From the New York Stalesman. 



CULTURE OF SILK. 



The following important article on this subject 

 Philadelphia, timber trees standing on a southern j is from a southern paper : '-By a letter published 

 declivity tuiiy be as mature in the last of June, as ; m a recent number of the American Farmer, it 

 here m September; and what Mr. Cooper has ' appears that the silk worm and its proper aliments 

 said,t may be as correct there for June as what I are of spontaneous growth, in the .State of Missis- 

 we have sai;i for September here. But the fact sippi. The writer (a Mr. Benton of Vicksburgh), 

 that timber 1 ''es do cease to extend their branch- 1 states that the cocoons are about as large as a 

 es in June, and form their buds on the banks of hen's egg, and that they differ from all others, in 

 the Delaware would be gratifjnng for me to learn. I having a bulb on the outside, in all respects sim- 

 One other fact would be useful to ascertain — that • ilar to that which encloses the worm. They are 

 is, whether there is the same acid in timber trees ; found sometimes upon the lime, and sometunes 

 in June that there is in September. In this lati- i upon the cane ; when on the latter they are small 

 tude, timber that is felled in September will not i — when on the former, larger than upon the mul- 

 sufler from red rot; nor will the powder-post j beriy. The country abounds with mulberry trees 

 worm ever touch it. Take a yoimg walnut, say — mostly black and red, though there are nuuiy 

 one large enough for barrel hoojjs, and give it of the white." 



any exposure you please (not jilacing it in the I The success attending the culture of silk in sc- 

 fire) and it will not lose its force in two years; veral parts of the United States, and particularly 



nor will the [lowder-post be found upon it, where 

 as take it in June, and it will perish- the first 

 season. 



I have subjoined a table, showing the compar- 

 tive value of timber felled at the two seasons of 

 the year above mentioned, in which 1 am correct 

 or nearly so. 



Oak, Sept. 10.0 

 Ma])le, Sept. 10.0 

 Walnut, Sept. 10.0 

 Elm, Sept. 10.0 

 Ash, Sept. 10.0 



June 4.5 

 June 2.4 

 June 2.5 

 June 1.6 

 June 3.2 



See likewise, page 366 of (lie current volume of llic Nev 

 England Farmer, t Ibid. 



in the State of Connecticut, has awakened public 

 attention to the subject. From the foregoing ex- 

 tract, it would seem that the United States is more 

 favored than any other jiart of the world ; inas- 

 much as the silk worm with all the varieties of 

 the mulberry (the leaves of which have been sup- 

 [)0seil to be its only ap))ropriate food) are native 

 productions of our soil and cUmate. By the ex- 

 tract referred to, it seems the lune tree also affords 

 sustenance calculated to nourish and sustain these 

 animals in great perfection. Should the United 

 States, with the advantages she possesses, in a 

 very few years produce her own supplies of silk ; 

 and moreover, should it hereafter form an impor- 



