Vol. VI.— No. 50. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



39^ 



lant article in the catalogue of our exports, it I of any other American plant. In the nurseries 

 ought not to excite our womler. | licroin referred to, they generally measure eight 



if in 1816, any friend of the American system j inches in length, and when fully e.\])anded, sixteen 

 had predicted, that witliin twelve years from that inches in diameter, givinga circumference ot near- 

 tiine, $30,000,000 of coarse cottons, would be ly four feet. It is composed of but six petals, 

 .spun, bv yuiiliee machinery, in a single year, and white, or slightly inclined to a cream color. The 

 that our exports of domestic goods to other conn- three iuncn- ones, marked near the ball, with a 

 tries would amnially exceed 6,000,000 dollars, he purple si)ot of about an inch square — forming a 

 would have been pronounced little better than in- remarkable contrast with (this excepted) its un- 

 sane — but facts now show that he would have sullied purity. 



predicted nothing beyond reality. Women, chil- Let the reader figure to himself, a tree of the 

 dren, and inlirni persons may do nearly all that is ^ize here named, with clusters of immense leaves, 

 required tor growing this article. Let John Bull hanging pendant, or horizontally, and waving in 

 gainsay ever so often, and strong, we have prov- the air like vast two-colored wings — the extrenii- 

 ed tliat W'C can spin, and weave, and bleach, and ty of each branch, crowned with a flower of the 

 dye. Messrs. Burrit & Clayton's commercial list size to be indwiduaUy conspicuous at a distance 

 iin"onns us, that 470 packages of cotton goods of two or three lumdred yards, and he has but a 

 Avere shipped from this city to foreign ports last faint idea of the tree attenqited to be described, 

 month. This information is obtained from our The contracted locahties in which this tree is 

 custom-house books. Every yard made by yan- found growing indigenously has been remarked 

 kce industry, and to take the place of British and by all the botanists who have traversed our con- 

 East India goods. tinent. Mr. Nuttall says he first observed it near 



But not to wander from the subject with which the banks of C'umberland river, in Tennessee, but 

 we commenced — we cannot but rejoice at the ii small size. Michaux observes in his North 

 growing interest which is awakened in rela- American Sylva, 3d. half vol. p. 26, "in the month 

 tion to the culture of silk. The quantitiy pur- of June, 1789, in the first journey made by my 

 chased of foreign countries, is enormous. In 1825 ather from Charleston to the mountains of North 

 it amounted to $10,271,527. What a quantity Carolina, I accompanied him and discovered this 

 of flour at five dollars jier barrel it will take to i tree, which he immediately judged to be a new 

 pay for the [iroportion which we consume of this species of magnolia. The spot on which we 



nnmense nnport 'i We are pleased that this sub- 

 ject has attracted the attention of the American 

 Institute of this city. At the last meeting of this 

 association Dr. Pascalis read an interesting me- 

 moir, prepared by himself, on the mulberry. To 

 avoid the tedious delay of many years which is 



bund this magnificent vegetable, is in North Car 

 oliua, ten miles south of Lincolnton, and two hun- 

 dred and fifty miles from Charleston. Our exten- 

 sive researches hi quest of it in the upper part of 

 the southern States, and those subsequently made 

 by several Engli.sh botanists, east of the AUegha 



required for the mulberry to grow to perfection, nies, which were alike unsuccessful, sufficiently 

 the eastern people plant the seeds in rows, and I prove that it is extremely rare between the moun- 

 tliereby are enabled in a short time, to obtain an tains and the sea. West of the range in Tennes- 



abuudance of leaves \vhich sei'ves as food for 

 the silk worms. This time-saving expedient has 

 greatly increased the production of silk in some of 

 our sister States — and gives another illustration, 

 that American ingenuity can eflect in a few days 

 what in Europe is thought the labor of an age. 



Fiom I'oulsou's American Daily Advertiser. 



see, it is more connnon ; but even here, only a 

 few trees are found together at intervals of forty 

 or fifty miles, as I had an opportunity of observ- 

 ing during my journey in the western States in 

 1803." It is now many years since it was added 

 to the collection of the Messrs. Landreth, and is 

 found perfectly hardy, the youngest plants eudm- 

 ing the severest frost iminjtu'ed — easily cultivat- 

 ed, and tliriving readily in most situations. It is, 

 MAGNOLIA 5IACROPHYLLA. ' therefore, much to be regretted that it yet remains 



The magnoha raacrophylla, one of the most , to be generally introduced, 

 magnificent of our native trees, is now in full bloom j The changes wrought on many vegetables by 

 at the nurseries of D. & C. Landreth, near Phila- j careful cultivation and attention is too generally 

 delphia, and is so truly worthy of notice that I known to be necessary to repeat, and the present 

 cannot refrain from attempting a description of it case is an instance of it worthy of remark. Mi- 

 for insertion in your columns. The specimen to ; chaux states, that in its native soil, "it does not 

 which I more particularly refer (for their nurse- 1 exceed thirty-five feet in height, and four or five 

 ries contain several of considerable size,) is es'i- inches in diameter." The estimate of the height 

 mated at upwards of thirty feet in height, and. of the specimen here spoken of is believed to be 

 measures, three feet above the ground, about eight ; pretty accurate, and should no accident interfere, 

 inches in diameter. The leaves when fiilly growa, i it will certainly attain a much larger size, the 

 at which state they do not arrive before July, are j shoots of each year being strong and vigorous. — 

 generally, foot stalk included, from twenty-four to , The diameter of the tree is from actual measure- 

 thirty inches in length and eight or ten in breadth, ment. The flowers he also states "when fully 

 The upper surface is smooth, of a liglit green col- blown, are sometimes eight or nine inches in dia- 

 our — the imder glaucous, form a coating of pu- meter ;" and a size but about one half which they 



bescent, and marked with prominent vems, alter- 

 nately proceeding from the mid-Hlj — and are va- 

 riably aiTanged in clusters of four, or more, near 

 the extremity of the branches. 



As respects the flower, it is difficult to give a 

 description calculated to convey an adequate idea 

 of its majesty. Mr. Nuttall, in his " Genera of N. 

 American Plants" states it to be the largest flower 



arrive at in the nurseries herein referred to. 



merous trees are lett to grow around the hedges, 

 and scattered over the fields. These are so nicely 

 trimmed, us to add greatly to the beauty of iho 

 country. Not a weed is suflered to grow. The 

 crops all look well, and are nmch more produc- 

 tive than ours. The cuttle and sheep feed on 

 grass up to their knees, and look, as we should 

 say, fit to kill — the slight enclosures that keep 

 them in their pastures, would be but a poor pro- 

 tection against our lean, half-fed, unruly aniuialf:. 

 Here the cattle have no need to break fences. — 

 They have food sufficient within their own do- 

 mains. I came here under the impression thai 

 the country was bare of trees. On the coiitrary, 

 I find it better stocked in this res[)ect than the 

 thick settlements of our own country. We wan- 

 tonly de.stroy trees as if they were of no value : 

 here they are planted and imrsed with as much 

 care, as though they bore choice fruit. — Extract 

 of a Letter from England. 



WATER CULTIVATION. 



In the fair New England country, many a little 

 stream flows down the hills and glistens among 

 the verdure of the fields lilse a thread of silver on 

 a robe of green, inviting the hand of skill to direct 

 its course so as to spread the rich deposits, wash- 

 ed into its channel by the rain over the fields of 

 the fai-mer. The eflects produced by irrigation, 

 even in seasons when the clouds are liberal of 

 moisture, can be distinctly traced by the eye 

 whence the rivulets are poured on the grasses — 

 eflects not so much derived iVom the moisture as 

 from the fertilizing particles borne on bj' its cur- 

 rent. The viUs whic)] trickle down so copiously 

 from their little fountains, may be made tributary 

 to the purposes of agriculture, to an extent more 

 considerable than is estimated by those, who neg- 

 lect to employ agent^; so valuable and laborers 

 so profitaWejas-.'Vahoia? Mgis. 



ARABIAN llETHOU OF PREPARING COF- 

 FEE. 



It is found thst the only certain mode of re- 

 taining the pure 3avor of the coffee, is to roast, 

 pound and boil it, all in quick succession, the 

 roasted berries sooa losing their flavor if laid by 

 for a day, and the founded coflTee becoming hisip- 

 id, even in a few hours. The Arabs of the des- 

 ert, who ar irom necessity economical in the use 

 of this article, follow the same process, even if 

 they require only two cups of the liquid, roasting 

 a handful of berries on an iron plate, pounding 

 them in the pestle and mortar while warm, and 

 the instant the water boils, which it generally 

 does by the time the other ])reparations are com- 

 pleted, so that no tune is lost, putting the pounded 

 cofl%e into it, and suffering it to boil, stirring it at 

 the same time for a minute or two, when it is 

 poured out to drink. As the beverage is taken 

 without sugar or milk, the .slightest difference in 

 flavor is perceptible ; and long experience havuig 

 shown this to be the best way of preserving it in 

 perfection, it is perhaps worth mentioning in de- 

 tail, particularly as the use of this article has be- 

 come so general even in England Buckingham'' s 



Travels. 



ENGLISH AGRICULTURE. 



The Enghsli carry agriculture to great perfection. 

 Every .spot of ground capable of cultivation is im- 

 proved. Wherever 1 have been, the fields are 

 generally small, enclosed by hedges and made per- 

 fectly smooth, by means of cast iron rollers. Nu- 



Six convicts lately escaped from the Kentucky 

 Penitentiary, supplied themselves witli arms and 

 ammnnition belonging to their vigilant guard, con- 

 tinued in platoon, as banditti, for five days within 

 twenty miles of the prison, then struck off" for 

 the river, stole a flat boat, and embarked as river 

 pirates. 



