VOt. XV. KO. 5. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL 



S5 



wheat to lie twenty bushels | cr acre, wliicli must, 

 taking the whole, be considered liberal, and a pro- 

 fit often dollars per acre, wheat at one dollar per 

 bushel, which tiiay he considered the average 

 price, will be the result. It would be ejisy to 

 inake a list of the items of expense and profit, but 

 there ran be no necessity for it here, as every 

 wheat grower can make the estimate for himself, 

 if Ue needs to be convinced that the above estimate 

 is not far from the truth. If the <Mop to he com- 

 pared is one of corn, estimates made with great 

 care by Judge Biiel, Clark, and others show that 

 in ordinary cases the expense of a crop, including 

 labor,sec(l, use of land, &c. is at least fifleeu dol- 

 lars per acre. The | rofits of a com crop are more 

 variable in our latitude than most others, some- 

 times running very high, and at others being liter- 

 ally nothing; and we believe the average estimate 

 of protit (in an acre of corn if [lut in the .san)e as 

 \vlie;it, it is as high as the experience of the farm- 

 ing community will justify. 



If the above calculations are correct — and if 

 they are not we should he happy to have the er- 

 rors pointeil out, by any one practically acquaint- 

 ed with the subject — then the difTerence in profit 

 per acre between the dairyman and the wheat 

 grower, is not so much in favor of the latter as 

 has been generally supposed. It may however 

 be said, that the practice of disposing of the cows, 

 by the diaryman after the season is closed, would 

 in the end be suicidal to the business if generally 

 adopted, and hence as a general rule the cows 

 must beliept over the winter, making it necessary 

 to deduct from the profits the expense of keeping 

 through the winter. This may be u<lmitted, and 

 the result would then be as follows: A cow will 

 cat a ton and a half of hay in the winter, which at 

 the average price of eight dollars a ton, would be 

 twelve dollars for keeping ; rather exceedmg, if 

 there is any difference, the neat profit on each 

 cow the first season. It must be remembered, 

 however, that if the produce of a good cow will 

 pay for herself and her winter's keeping the first 

 season, then the dairyman enters the field on the 

 second year with an unencumbered capital ; the 

 cows are paid for, and the entire amount of their 

 produce with the trifling deductions above stated, 

 are to be counted as profit. Let our dairy coun- 

 ties look ut this matter carefully — it is well worth 

 their attention. — Gen. Far. 



with both kinds, we think it less durab'e without 

 repairs than the other, as winds acting on the 

 boards and posts, rare'y fail in a short time to 

 loosen them, by throw ing down or displacing the 

 stones intended to confine them. There are but 

 comparatively few farms on which good fiat stones 

 can be found, either loose on the surface or by 

 quarrying, sufficient for ;he purpose of fencing, 

 consequently small round ones are obliged to be 

 worked to a good extent, rendering such walls 

 more liable to be thrown ilown by frost or acci- 

 dent than they otherwise would be. Where such 

 flat stones can be found, and in the limestone dis- 

 tricts they principally abound, whole w-dls thor- 

 oughly cons rncte<l, wil in the end bo found far 

 the cheapest fences that can be devised. Expe- 

 rience has shown that where walls are bui!t of 

 such stone as render thetii liable to injury from 

 fiosts, that those which are constructed north and 

 south stand longer than those built east and west. 

 The reason of this is plain. If the whole wall is 

 equally lifted by the frost of the winter, that, side 

 which is thawed first will sett!e first, and the bal- 

 ance of the wall will thus be destroyed. The ear- 

 liest thawing will of course take place on the 

 south side, and walls exposed to this action ofsmi 

 and frost most generally fail. Those walls built 

 north and south are ex| oscd to an action more 

 eqiuti in its effects, and nsua'ly are more durable, 

 i o guard against the action of frost as nmcli as 

 possible, walls in all cases should have a furrow 

 run by their side, and turned against the wall, 

 that tlie water niay, as far as practicable, be kept 

 from standing under it, and thus unequally soften- 

 ing the ground. In building walls, adndlting the 

 possibility of an occasional failure, the farmer has 

 one great consolation : the materials do not rot — 

 when once on the spot they remain where they 

 are wanted, aiul if they sometimes tumble down, 

 they can be built up again. — lb. 



(From Fessenden's Silk Manual ) 

 T. G. Fessf.n'den. 



Respected Friend — In a late communication 

 from the State of Ohio, there was forwarded to 

 me the inclosed certificate, which I wish to have 

 inserted in your Silk Manual, together with this 

 notice that I received a d( ubie premium of one 

 dollar a pound frotn the State of Massachusetts 

 for rreling and throwing silk from the cocoons by 

 one operation. I now make machines with reels 

 fitted to them, so that if silk is wanted to be reeled 

 oidy, without twisting, for in^e or sale, it may bo 

 done to advantage, or spun into warp or filling for 

 weaving, sewing .silk or twist, as may he wished 

 f<M-, imnic<liately from the cocoons, with great 

 desi;atch. Also make machines calculated to be 

 used by water or steam power, with any number 

 of spiiMjlcs re<iucslcd; and also machines for spin- 

 ning sticks of twist. .Any [latronage will be 

 gratefully received. \\ ith respect, 



Adam Brooks. 

 Please di 

 illas.s. 



cct to Adam Brooks, South Sciluate, 



To KKEP OFF FLIES. — At a meeting of the Brit- 

 ish Entomological Society on the 4th of April, a 

 paper was read, developing a [ilan for keeping fliLS 

 out of houses. 1 he means adopted are a net of 

 colored thread, the meshes three quarters of an 

 inch square which is hung before the window. 

 Tlie flies, it seen.s, from the magnifying p»wer of 

 their vison are stupid enough to suppose that this 

 net presents an absolute bar to their entrance and 

 therefore do not make the attempt lb. 



STONE -WALLS. 



One of the most significant marks of farming 

 improvement which greet the eye in most parts of 

 our country, is the raiiidity with which the half 

 rotted basswood worm fences are giving way to 

 stone walls. The zeal shown in this matter may 



be regarded as a token of good in two ways : 



first, by substituting durable fences for those that 

 are perishable, and thus enhancing the positive 

 value of farms ; and secondly, by clearing fields 

 from the loose stones that encumbered them and 

 thus rendering them much easier to till, and more 

 productive. The general custom we perceive is, 

 to lay the stones into what is called half wall, or 

 two and a half, or three feet high, then place a 

 long pole of some durable timber, such as cliesnut 

 or black ash, properly supjjorted on the wall, then 

 stake, and a single rail completes the fence. Some 

 set posts in such a wall, and put on boards above 

 the stones to a suflicient height. This makes a 



Potato Cheese. — The Prusians appear to ex- 

 cel the Irish in their fondness for potatoes, as well 

 as in various iDodes of pre|!aring them for use. A 

 recent traveller states that he has frequently on 

 one occasion seen them served in six different 

 folms, tlie bread made from them, the soup thick- 

 ened with them, fried potatoes, potato salab, and 

 potato dumplings ; and, lastly, potato cheese, which 

 besides being extremely palatable, will keep some 

 years. — Otd Colony. 



The ccrlificafe referred to above, is as follows: 



Mr Thomas White. 



Dear Sir — Having been informed that you 

 arc rdmut to obtain an interest in Brooks' Silk 

 Rcrling ami Spinning Machine, I think it due to 

 yoti and the community at large, to state that, al- 

 though I came to this country with my mind 

 soiiieyvhat [irejudiced in favor of European ma- 

 chinery, yet, since I have seen the operation of 

 RrouUs' machine, and wove your silk last winter, 

 whi.-h v/as pre|,arcd for the loom on that machine, 

 I am comiielled to give it the preference over alJ 

 others that 1 have ever seen, either in this country 

 or in Europe. I wish you to encourage it in pre- 

 ference ti> any other, for I presume you will not 

 be able to get a better. Silk prepared on that ma- 

 chine IS worth at least one dollar per pound more 

 than tb t prepared on any other kind of machinery 

 that I have ever seen. At a single operation the 

 thi owing and tramming is performed, thus saving 

 a consiilerahle amount of time and expense. 



I have been engaged in the silk business for 17 

 years, and have had an opportunity of seeing most 

 if not all the machinery used in this country and 

 in Europe, and think the Reel, &c., of Mr Brooks 

 of Massachusetts, decidedly preferable to all others. 

 Yours, respectfully, 



Robert Fox. 



Stciibenvtile, Ohio, May 13, 1836. 



Two Birds with one Stone. — Dr Stebbins 

 remarked to us, that he intends to cultivate the 

 Sugar Beet and .Mulberry on the same ground — 

 sowing rows of beets between rows of Mulberry 

 trees. They will undoubtedly grow in this man- 

 ner without detriment to eacii other. The idea 



strikes us as a good one, and it is, therefore, thus 



.„„, ,. , .^ ' ,. , . I early thrown out to the attention of cultivators. — 



handsome fence, but from some little experience | Hampshire Gazette. 



France is considered a silk growing country, 

 yet she does not grow suflicient for her own man- 

 ufactures, and it is said, annually imports raw silk 

 to the amount of .fG,OC 0,000. 



Ens;land, owing to the humidity of her climate, 

 cannot raise the worms to advantage, and for her 

 numerous manufactures is obliged annually to im- 

 port the raw material from other countries, to the 

 amount of about ,^17,(!00,000. It is stated that 

 we import annually of raw silk to the amount of 

 about )§! 10,000,000, and of the manufactured over 

 $16,000,000. 



Unless the I'lnted States push the culture of the 

 mulberry and raising of cocoons beyond anything 

 now in operation, m.tny long years must intervene 

 before we can supply the demand of our own mar- 

 kets. Instead of paying $10,000,000 annually to 

 other nations for the raw material, we ought to 

 export two or three times that amount. 



