• •» 



186 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



DECEMBER 31, 18 iC. 



nclive and ninral population, which would be de- 

 voted to peace, and to the roiintry, because it 

 would belong to this new and meliorated soil. And 

 this great result would be owing simplAto apply- 

 ing calcareous manures to the extent or the soils 

 of France which require them ! 



4G. Upon our extent of 54,00();000 of hectares, 



v. our i)opulation increased to 44,000,000, would have 

 foi; (jacli, one hectare and a quarter, and would he 

 lifSR.cpufined than the 24,000,000 of inhabitants of 

 the English soil, who have only one hectare to 

 the head ; and yet our soil is at least as good, and 

 it is more favored by climate. And then our neigh- 



1 bors consume in their food at least a fourth or 

 fifth of meat, while only one-fifteenth of the food 

 of our population consists of meat ; and as there 

 > is required twelve or fifteen times the space to pro- 

 's ducc meat as bread, it follows that twice the ex- 

 tent of soil is necessary to support an Englishman 

 as a Frenchman. Hence it results, that with an 

 increase of one-third, our population would still 

 f have a large surplus product which would not ex- 

 ist in England, with an equal increase of popula- 



I tion, and equal increase of products of agrcul- 



ture. 



BjTlpIs prosperity of the country, (yet far dis- 

 tant, but towards which, however, we vvill be ad- 

 vanced daily,) would be still much less than in the 

 depart ment of the North, where a hectare nearly 

 su[iportS' two inhabitants. And yet they have 

 more than a sixth of their soil in woods, marshes, 

 or unprodtlclive lands : they have, besides, anoth- 

 er sixth, and of their best ground, in crops of com- 

 merce, which consume a great part of tlieir ma- 

 ^ nure, and which are exported almost entirely. 

 This prodigious result is, without doubt, owing in 

 part to a greater extent of good soil than is found 

 elsewhere ; but it is principally owing tliere, as 

 well as in England, to the regular use of calcare- 

 ous manures. As we have seen, ttiore than two- 

 thirds of this country [the North] belongs to the 

 class of soils not calcareous, to the argilo-silicious 

 plateaux, and makes use of lime, marl, or ashes of 

 all kinds. 



47. After this great result of increased produc- 

 tiveness, that upon health, although applied to the 

 least extents of surface, would be most precious. 

 Upon one-sixth of our country, the population is 

 sickly, subject to intermittent and often fatal fe- 

 vers, and the deaths exceed in number ths births. 

 Well! upon this soil without marshes, calcareous 

 manures wonld bring a growing population, more 

 numerous than that of our now healthy pans of 

 the country — and as labor would offer itself from 

 every side, these regions, made healthy, would 

 soon be those where the people would he most 

 happy, the richest, and the most rapidly increas- 

 ing in numbers. 



48. If we are not under an illusion, the calca- 

 reous principle and its properties upon the soil, 

 form the great compensation accorded by tl e Su- 

 preme Author to man, in condeimiing him to till 

 the earth. Three-fourths of our soil, seem not to 

 produce, except by force of pain and labor, the 

 vegetables absolutely necessary for man. On all 

 sides, and often beneath this surface so little fa- 

 vored, is found placed the substance necessary to 

 the soil to render it as fertile as the best ground, 

 to enable the cultivator to use for his profit, the 

 vegetable mould which it contains and has been 

 accumulating for ages — and to cause the entire 

 soil to be covered by a population, active, moral, 

 anil well employed. And this precious condi- 1 



nient, this active |)rinciple of vegetation, is only 

 needed to be applied in sinall proportions, to ob. 

 tain products of which the first harvest often com- 

 pensates for all the labor and exi)ense. And to 

 complete the benefit, insalubrity, which afflicts the 

 imfertile soil, disappears ; the new population finds 

 there at the same time, strength, riches and health. 

 There, without doubt, is one of the most hapi)y 

 harmonies of the creation, one of the greatest bles- 

 sings with which the Suiircme Author has endow- 

 ed the laborious man who is devoted to the culti- 

 tion of the earth. 



Maxims tor F-ikmers. — 1. The farmer ought 

 to rise early, to see that others do so, and that 

 both his example is followed and his orders obey- 

 ed. 2. The whole farm should be regularly in- 

 spected, and not only every field examined, but 

 every beast seen, at least once a day. 3. In a 

 considerable farm, it is of the utmost consequence 

 to have hands especially approjiriated for each of 

 the most important tlepartments of labor, for there 

 is often a great loss of time where persons are 

 frequently changing their employment, and the 

 work is not executed so well. 4. Every means 

 should he thought of to diminish labour, or to m- 

 crease its power : for instance, by proper arrange- 

 ment five hands may do as much labor as six per- 

 sons, according to the usual mode of employing 

 them. 5. A farmer ought not to engage in a 

 work, whether of ordinary practice, or internal 

 improvement, except after the most careful inquj- 

 ries ; but when begun, he ought to proceed in it 

 with much attention and perseverance, until ho 

 has given it a fair trial. 6. It is a main object in 

 management not to attempt too much, and never 

 to begin a work without a probability of being 

 able to finish it in due season. 7. Every farmer 

 should have a book for inserting all these useful 

 hints which are so fn-quently occurring in conver- 

 sation, in books, and gathered in the course of his 

 reading, or in a practical management of his farm. 



MANUFACTURE OP SILK IN CHINA. 



Mr Atwill, — In your last number was a de- 

 scription of silk-growing in China, preparatory to 

 the manufacture, into a great variety of beautifid 

 fabrics which are so extensively used and worn in 

 this and other countries. It is presumed that 

 some description, detailing the mode of manufac- 

 ture, and hotv they do the thing in China, would be 

 acceptable to those who take an interest in the 

 subject of silk culture. It is known that the Chi- 

 nese exercise the most patient and laborious in- 

 dustry, with the most simpleand rude instruments, 

 to prepare the soil, cultivate the mulberry, feed- 

 ing the worms and reeling the silk, wholly by 

 hand labor ; and yet they manufacture the most 

 elegant and delicate fabrics, in a way equally sim- 

 ple, clumsy, and inapplicable, — and is thus de- 

 scribed in the excellent and valuable " Practical 

 Treatise on the Culture of Silk, by T. G. Corn- 

 stock, Esq., Hartford, editor of the Silk Cultn- 

 rist," who, on the manufacture of silk, says, — 

 "In India the weaver weaves his web in the open 

 air. He first selects a station for his operation, 

 generally under a tree, that its foliage may pro- 

 tect him from the scorching rays of the sun. He 

 then extends the threads, which compose the warp 

 of his intended fabric, lengthwise, between two 

 bamboo rollers, which are fastened to the ground 

 by means of wooden pins. He then digs a hole 

 in the earth large and deep enough to contain bis 



legs in a sitting posture. He next attaches to a 

 limb of the tree the cords by which his harness 

 is to be operated, and the lower shafts of the har- 

 ness, cords with loops of sufficient size to admit 

 the insertion of his great toes. With his web thus 

 arranged he is prepared to commence weaving. 

 This he does by putting his toe into the looji of 

 the cord attached to that |iart of the harness wliich 

 he wishes to tread down, and then with the shut- 

 tle introduces the woof and beats up by striking 

 the threads of the woof with the shuttle instead 

 of a batlese. The shuttle is in the form of a net- 

 ting needle and longer than the breadth of the 

 web. With this rude apparatus he manufactures 

 a fabric, of which an Italian silk-weaver would 

 be proud. 



If the silk manufacture in China is so simple 

 and so easily performed, can it not be successfully 

 and profitably prosecuted in a country already 

 abounding in machinists, with ingenuity to invent 

 and skill to execute, the most perfect machinery 

 in the world ? — JVorihmnplon Courier. 



GATHER UP THE FRAGMENTS. 



It is surprising how much may be saved in fam- 

 ilies by the exercise of a judicious economy, and 

 how much may be wasted by the want of it. 

 " Gather up the fragments which remain, that 

 nothing be lost," should be written in large let- 

 ters and in a conspicuous place, in every house 

 and especially in every kitchen. Servants will 

 rarely give themselves the trouble to save, unless 

 they know that the eyes of their employers are 

 up^i them ; and even when watched as closely 

 as possible, they will waste much. 



These remarks have been suggested by observ- 

 ing, as we often do, barrels of coal ashes standing 

 U(ion the side walk, in which we have observed a 

 good deal of coal that might have been saved by 

 taking the trouble to sift the ashes. An obser- 

 vant old gentleman speaking of this waste of fuel, 

 said he believed that thirty-three jier cent, of the 

 coal purchased in this city was thrown away. It 

 is estimated that the amount of coal consumed 

 and w.asted in this city, is 300,000 tons per an- 

 num, which at §6 per ton, would cost $1,800,000. 

 Now, if even 12 1-2 per cent, of this is thrown 

 away, it is evident that there is a loss to the con- 

 sumer of 8225,000, which it is believed is amply 

 sufficient to supply all the poor of the City and 

 Liberties with fuel. 



The wealthy may say, where is the use of our 

 economising, we are able to lose all our servants 

 waste. True, but it must be recollected that by 

 thus wasting or not economising, you enhance the 

 price of coal, by creating a greater demand for it, 

 and thereby injure those who are less able than 

 yourselves to bear the high prices which all have 

 now to ])ay for the fuel. — If therefore a regard 

 for your own interests will not induce you to pre- 

 vent waste, a regard for the general good, ought 

 to influence you to do it. — Philadelphia Herald. 



American Mechanics. — As a proof of the 

 high estimation in which the mechanical genius 

 of our country is held in the opinions of the Pa- 

 cha of Egpyt, an advertisement is now in course 

 of publication by several of the New York |)a- 

 pers, requiring millwrights and engineers, " to fit 

 up and manage a steam rice mill in Egypt ; also 

 a cotton seed oil mill." The advertisement adds 

 'none but active Americans of good character, 

 '&c." will be engaged. 



