VOL. XIII. NO. Bl. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL, 



405 



level. Business called 11:0 home during part of 

 the summer, I neglected looking after my small 

 deposit ; but, on tlie 21st January, 1804, nearly 11 

 months after covering them, I had the curiosity 

 to examine them, when to my astonishment, I 

 found them, (two or three excepted, which were 

 perforated by the ground worm, though firm,) all 

 perfectly soimd, without having in the least vege- 

 tated in any respect, fit for the purpose of sets 

 and the use of the table, as I have boiled a few, 

 and found them similar in taste and flavor to new 

 potatoes. I further pledge myself that they were 

 perfectly firm. I have still some of them by nic 

 for the insiicction of my friends, who all agree 

 that they are so." 



In another letter, dated 18th of May, 1804, M. 

 De Lancey says : '' I avail myself of the oppor- 

 tunity of a friend going to London, to send three 

 of the potatoes, as a confirmation of their being 

 fit for sets, as they are actually sprouting. The 

 potatoes I send, I pledge myself are of the growth 

 of 1802." Then follows the certification of the 

 Secretary to the Society of Arts : " The above 

 potatoes were exarinned before a committee of the 

 Society on the 30th of July, 1804, and found to 

 be in a state fit for vegetation." 



From the above experiment, it is evident that 

 vaults or deep trenches, out of the reach of at- 

 mospheric influence, would efl^ectually retard the 

 growth or sprouting of potatoes during the period 

 of about twentyone mouths ; that is, from the 

 time of taking up in October, till the 30th July of 

 the second year, or say at least eighteen months, 

 and we have here a period of time three 

 times longer than would be sufficient to fill np 

 the interval betwixt the old and the new crop of 

 potatoes. 



It is probable, that potatoes for deferred use, say 

 from .April to October, would be more safely de- 

 posited in January or February than at an earlier 

 period ; for it cannot bo doubted that, when just 

 taken from the field, they possess a succidence 

 and moisture rather inimical to sound storing in 

 large quantities, besides which the examination 

 and removal of damaged sets would contribute 

 much to the security of deposited heaps. If we 

 can preserve ice from melting, we can surely keep 

 potatoes from sprouting ; and the latter is un- 

 doubtedly of much greater importance than the 

 former. Trenches or vaults would probably re- 

 quire three or four feet of covering of tnould, 

 besides all the advantages that can bo gained by 

 selection of a situation not exposed to the sun ; 

 and if the potatoes deposited were formed into 

 breaks or divisions of five, ten or fifteen bolls, 

 according to circutnstances, with intervening par- 

 titions to prevent the access of air, there is little 

 doubt, that by well contrived, anil well construct- 

 ed vaults or trenches, potatoes may be kept in 

 excellent condition, from the beginning of April 

 till the end of October for domestic pm-poses, as 

 well as for the use of horses and cattle. — Edin- 

 burgh Quar. Jour. 



[From tlie \r\v York P'armer.) 

 ON THE MANAGEMEiVT OF OX TEAMS. 



Mr Editor — It may apjjear to you that I am 

 trespassing on your patience, but I am inclined to 

 make a few more remarks: you are however, 

 under no oblisation to attend to them. In regard 

 to cattle and ox-teaming, although there may be 

 some advantage in obtaining particular breei!s 

 from England, I am inclined to the oi)inion that 



there is more in good or proper keeping, and man- 

 agement, than in selecting ]iarticulnr breeds. A 

 selection from our own native cattle would be 

 equally as advantageous, I have no doubt, as to 

 select from a foreign country. It has proved so 

 at least according to my experience. 



But of all points in the farming business, there 

 appears to be none in which the generality of far- 

 mers seem to be more in error than the manage- 

 ment of ox-teams. When I was a boy, 50 years 

 ago, my father's custom was, in the spring, when 

 he began to plough, to get up as soon as it was 

 light and feed his oxen, and before 7 o'clock take 

 them out and go to ploughing until 12 o'clock, and 

 then to let thetn eat hay as long as they would, 

 perhaps 1^ hours; but the moment they began to 

 chew the cud, to take to the work .igain till near 

 sun-down. When they first began they would 

 plough more than an acre a day, but in the course 

 of 2 or 3 weeks it was hard to go half an acre, 

 and this with much difficulty. This surely, I 

 thought, was a hard task, and when I came to be 

 manager myself I took a different tnethod, and 

 that was not to feed atrtil about sunrise, which 

 gave them a little time in the morning to 

 chew the cud, and at noon gave them time to lay 

 down half an hour for the same purpose, and 

 then t3 go until one hour before sunset. With this 

 method I found my team would plough as much 

 in a day at the end of p'oughing as at the begin- 

 ning in the spring, with the same feed as given in 

 the other method, 



Another method I found customary among far- 

 mers when I came into this country, still worse 

 than the former, and that is to take up the team 

 before sunrise, and before it had time to chew 

 the cud, or eat any at all, in order to plough in the 

 cool of the day, and at 9 or 10 o'clock pretend to 

 feed them. But the fact is, by that time they be- 

 come so exhausted and feverish that they cannot 

 eat at all, but must be taken out again to work 

 towards the cool of the day ; and thus they soon 

 get their team to lie down in the furrow, notwith- 

 standing they may have asufliciency to feed them. 

 The fact is, as I find it, animals that work as a 

 team must have a proper time to eat, and to chew 

 the cud, aiul to rest, or they will soon fail in per- 

 forming : and if they have this, they will not only 

 perform a good spring's work, but will work the 

 year round through heat and cold, except in some 

 hot days, when it is even too hot for a man to 

 work in the sun. Yours truly, L. 



SILK. 



Lisbon, May 5th, 1835 

 To tlifi r.ilitor ol the >^ilk Culturist. 



Sir — I am much pleased, on perusing the first 

 two numbers of your valuable little " Man'Ual ;" 

 with the manner in which you have stated the 

 probable advantages of the culture of silk to the 

 farmers of America; and I wish to add a few 

 words in confirmation of your statements. 



I have manufactured silk, at Spitalfields, in 

 London, twenty years ; and am perfectly acquain- 

 ted with the winding, warping, and weaving of 

 plain silks, such as Sarcenets, Satins, Gros-de- 

 Naples, Florentines, Plushes, and Velvets ; or fig- 

 ured silks, such as Florets, Tobines, Tissues, and 

 Damasks ; all of which works require very differ- 

 ent kinds of silk. In the last six months, I have 

 woven many pounds of silk, of American groivih, 

 into silk stocks for Mr Samcs Bottom ; and I assure 



you. Sir, that I have seen many samples of Amer- 

 ican silk, far su|)erior to the Bengal, China, and 

 French silks, and nearly equal to the best Italian. 



I am surprised that the farmers of America 

 have 80 long neglected the culture of silk ; it being 

 so very profitable, and the climate being so well 

 adapted to it. I have known Italian silk to be 

 sold for a dollar an ounce, in England before it 

 was manufactured ; and the average price is about 

 seven dollars a pound. At the present time, the 

 most inferior kinds of manufaetm-ed silk, imporf- 

 ed from England, France, and China, are being 

 sold, in this country, for sixteen dollars a pound: 

 and as the cost and fair profit of manufacturing 

 cannot exceed seven dollars, it leaves the enor- 

 mous price of nine dollars a pound for the raw 

 silk, which price, the people of America are now 

 paying to the people of Italy and France. 



By reference to the statement of M. Carrier, in 

 the first number of the "Colturist," I find that 

 nearly all his silk, sold for nearly 6 dollars a 

 pound ; and, that on an acre of land, he realized 

 two hundred and ninety dollars in a year. Now 

 when wo take into consideration the disadvanta- 

 geous nature of the climate of France, compared 

 to that of America, it appears to our view a mine 

 of wealth for the fiirmers of this country. 



In this letter, I have endeavored to show the 

 advantages of the silk trade in an individual point 

 of view ; should you deem this worth insertion, I 

 will, in my next letter, point out the advantages 

 of the silk trade, to the community at large. 



Yours, &c. Wii-i.iAM Carpenter. 



White Mdleerrt. — Our white mulberries 

 some of which were set out last spring, and some 

 the spring before, varying from two to four years 

 old, have been killed more than we have ever 

 known this kind of tree to be by any winter. The 

 trees are upon a thin gravelly loam, and were not 

 l^otected in anyway whatever. 



Chinese JVIui-BERRy. — In order to test the har- 

 diness of this species, we set out, last spring, six of 

 them. They were one year old, from layers, and 

 about two feet high. We set them in a cold clay- 

 ey loam, where we knew the frost would heave 

 very much, and without manure. They grew but 

 little last summer. In the fall we wound some 

 matting around one of them. One of them being 

 broken down accidentally, we threw some dirt over 

 it, the others we left as they were, to live or die. 

 The result is the following. One of them we gave 

 away to a friend quite early in the spring, without 

 knowing whether it was dead or alive, and have 

 not heard whether it is living or not. Two of the 

 others were throwu almost entirely out of the 

 ground, of course iheupper roots were frozen, but 

 the lower roBts are alive yet, and may or may not 

 come. Another one is starting about four inches 

 above the ground, the one covered by a mat is 

 killed down to the ground, and the one that was 

 broken and covered by earth is putting out leaves 

 from the eyes next to the earth that is over them, 

 and which has not been removed. We think 

 on the whole, from this experiment, they are as 

 hardy and have done as well as the white 

 mulberrj' would have done in the same circum- 

 stances. 



A dandolo (Italian) mulberry, without protec- 

 tion one year old, was killed down to the 

 ground and has not yet started. — Maine Far- 

 mer. 



