^ OI.. XVII. M). 2 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL, 



n 



msnt to encourage, none should be pre-eminent to 

 those of agriculture, which, indeed, have been too 

 long neglected, both by government and people. 

 " Politioiuns," in the eloquent language of Mr Al- 

 len's New York report, "may speculate upon the 

 influence which free institutions or a partisan ad- 

 ministration may have upon the prosperity of a 

 country ; commercial men may extol the advan- 

 tages of an extended foreign commerce ; manufac- 

 tures may claim pre-eminence in conferring inde- 

 pendence upon their country ; and literature may 

 arrogate the exclusive credit of rendering a com- 

 munitj' enlightened and polished ; yet, after all, 

 agriculture constitutes the broad base upon which 

 the whole superstructure of society depend.? for 

 support. If that languishes, either for want of the 

 protection or patronage of the constituted autliori- 

 ties, or from tlie inattention and lack of intelli- 

 gence in its rural population, the government be- 

 comes embarrassed, commerce crippled, and manu- 

 factures paralyzed." But agriculturists are arous- 

 ing from their long slumber, and awakening to the 

 true interests of tliemselves and their country ; 

 science and enterpri.se are pushing tliem to select 

 whatever is best adapted to peculiar soils and cli- 

 mates, and will most benefit tlie cultivator and ele- 

 vate his character and standing ; and it is believed 

 that tlie time is not distant when agriculture will 

 take the first rank in character, as it is now in 

 usefulness, and when young men of talents and 

 education instead of engaging in some too-crowded 

 profession, will devote their mental as well as 

 physical energies to the cultivation of the soil, and 

 find in that occupation the road to wealth, to honor, 

 and to happiness. 



Amongst the objects that may require the fo.^ter- 

 ing care of government, the committee are of 

 opinion that none are more de.;erving attention than 

 those now under consideration. Many important 

 advantages would arise from the extensive cultiva- 

 tion of the mulberry and sugar-beet in this coun- 

 try. It would introduce to the farmer new and 

 valuable, and, as your committee believe, profitable 

 productions ; which, in rotation with other crops, 

 would have a doubly beneficial effect on our agri- 

 cultural interests. It would improve our lands, in- 

 crease the amount of productive industry, and con- 

 dense, improve, and enrich our population. It 

 would be adding other branches to the home, the 

 fire-side business of every family, and thus in- 

 crease tlie pleasure as well as the prosperity of the 

 domestic circle. Your committee cannot forbeir 

 to notice with approbation, on this occasion, the 

 fact that Mr Lindsey, of Washington city, has fre- 

 quently conferred with them on this subject, im- 

 parting his valuable information, enforced by the 

 practical argument of his weaving a coinplete suit 

 of domeslic silk, cultivated and manufactured on his 

 own premises. There is in this, as in every coun- 

 try, a large class of individuals, who, so far fi'om 

 adding any thing to the industry and wealth of the 

 nation, are unable to support themselves, for want 

 of suitible employment ; such are indigent females 

 and children, the aged and infirm, to whom may be 

 added the long list of paupers in our poor-houses 

 and asylums, and of prisoners in our work-houses 

 and st-jte penitentiaries. To this class, the culti- 

 vation of silk presents a most suitable and advan- 

 tageous employment 



The manufacture of sugar from the beet, and of 

 course the cultivation of the beet itself, for thit 

 purpose, i^ of but recent origin. It was first in- 

 troduced into France in 1811, under the patronage 



of the imperial government ; but was, for many 

 years considered of but little account: lately, how- 

 ever, the attention of the French has been called 

 to the subject, and the production has greitly in- 

 creased ; so that last year it is stated to have 

 amounted to 90,000,000 lbs. of sugar — being about 

 one-half the quantity, consumed in the kingdom. 

 In this country, but little beet-sugar has as yet 

 been produced ; owing, as we believe, to a very 

 great deficiency of definite practical intelligence 

 on the subject, iilcssrs Ronaldson, Vaughan, and 

 Snider, of Philadelphia, in connection with tlie 

 Beet-sugar Society of Penn.5ylvania, havp taken 

 the load in introducing into this country the culti- 

 vation of the sugar-beet, and have shown a most 

 commendable zeal in obtaining and dissemin-.iting 

 information on the subject. For this purpose they 

 have been at the expense of sending to France 

 Mr .Tames Pedder, their agent, who, on his return, 

 made a most able and intere.sting report to the so- 

 ciety, which was published in August, 18.36. Mr 

 Edward Church, of Northampton, Maasachusetts, 

 has also placed his country under a heavy debt of 

 gratitude, by translating from the works of Du- 

 brunfaut, De Domballe, hud others, and the prepa- 

 ration of a Manual on the cultivation and. mauu- 

 facture of beet-sugar, which he modestly styles a 

 " JYotice on the Bcet-siisrar." This manual was ])ub- 

 lished in 18:57, at Northampton, by J. II. Butler, 

 Esq., and derives great value, not only from the re- 

 search manifested by its author, but from his prac- 

 tical information on the subject, acquired by a 

 residence of several years in the vicinity of Paris. 

 This little work, together with Mr Pedder's report, 

 imbodying as they do nearly all the information we 

 have on the subject, cannot be too highly commend- 

 ed to the attention of the American people. 



The culture of silk was inti'oduced into Europe 

 as early as the sixth century, by two missionares, 

 who clandestinely conveyed from China, in a hol- 

 low cane, a sufficient quantity of the silk-worm 

 eggs to commence the business in the vicinity of 

 Constantinople ; from whence it has spread through 

 every part of Europe whose climate is adapted to 

 the culture. England has been at great pains and 

 expense to introduce the production of silk into the 

 kingdom ; but, finding the climate too moist, she 

 now confines her eflurts to the extensive manufac- 

 ture of the raw- silk hnported from more congenial 

 climes. Considerable efforts were made at an 

 early period to introduce into this country so val- 

 uable an article of industry. Connecticut, New 

 Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Georgia, and per- 

 haps some other states, had made considerable pro- 

 gress prior to the revolution ; but the trying scenes 

 of that eventful period, so un])ropitioiis to the suc- 

 cess of any new enterprise, effectually prostrated 

 this for many years ; indeed, for a long time after 

 the termination of that glorious contest, our coun- 

 try was so peculiarly situated with Regard to the 

 rest of the world — being not only the carriers, but 

 the producers of grain and other articles of neces- 

 sity for the belligerent powers of Europe — that 

 few men felt inclined to abandon the production of 

 what found a ready market and a high price lor the 

 purpose of testing any untried experiment ia ag- 

 riculture. There were, perhaps, some other rea- 

 sons which induced the people of this country to 

 neglect this subject for so long a period. The 

 white Italian mulberry, till within a few years, was 

 the only variety cultivated as food for the silk- 

 worm, and this was unfit for use for several years ; 

 so tliat the cultivator was compelled to lose the Uoe 



of his capital and labor for some years, before he 

 had any prospect of remuneration: add to this the 

 extreme difliculty which, till very recently, attend- 

 ed the process of reeling, and the want of a mar- 

 ket for cocoons, or even raw silk, and we have 

 causes sufficient to satisfy any reasonable mind 

 that the culture of silk was never abandoned in 

 this country on account of the soil or climate, or 

 any other supijosnd natural obstacle. The com- 

 mittee have the satisfaction to believe that these 

 difficulties no longer exist: the world is at peace ; 

 each nation raises its own articles of necessity ; 

 the fanners of this country, so far from having a 

 great market abroad for their grain and other pro- 

 duce, have really a competition at home ; the cul- 

 tivation of the white mulberry has been substitut- 

 ed by the Moms nuilticauiis and other varieties, 

 which may be stripped of their foliage the same 

 year that they are planted ; and the dull, tedious 

 method of reeling by hand, which required a regu 

 lar apprenticeship to learn, and years to acquire 

 iiicility in the use of, has given way to the new pa 

 tent reel, by which a person (even a child) may 

 learn in a few hours to reel, with great ease and 

 expedition, a much more even thread than by the 

 old process. It may also be added, that many silk 

 weavers have established themselves in the coun- 

 try, and opened a good imd permanent market for 

 all the cocoons and raw silk that can be raised ; 

 they being now under the necessity of importing 

 large quantities to keep their factories in opera- 

 tion. — (To be continued.) 



CnLTURE OF Wheat in the Tropics. — It 

 is well know that the cultivation of wheat within 

 the tropics has been deemed impracticable, unless 

 at an elevation of from five to nine thousand feet; 

 niid that as a consequence the inhabitants of the 

 West India Islands, and the adjacent main, are 

 mostly dependent on the United States for their 

 supply of wheat flour, while the great mass live on 

 corn, ' Zea mayz.' From some late experiments, 

 however, it would seem that by selecting a proper 

 variety of wheat, and a proper season for sowing, 

 the difliculties attending the production of wheat 

 on those islands is not insurmountable, and several 

 cases have occurred within the last two years in 

 which wheat sown at but a few feet abov" the level 

 of the sea, has perfected a beautiful grain. 



The wheat in these instances was sown in Jan- 

 uary, and was cut in April, having grown and ri- 

 l)uned in the .short space of ninety days. In the 

 Journal of the Bamalia Society for the Diffusion of 

 Knowledge, is the following paragraph, giving no- 

 tice of an example of productiveness which can be 

 rarely paralleled in the history of the wheat jdant. 



" On tlie twelflh of March, Mr Lees stated, that 

 he had been informed by Mr Storr, that each grain 

 of the Victoria wheat which he had planted would 

 be likely to produce 100 ears ; counting only the 

 very modetate number of 50 grains to each ear, 

 this ivould be an increase of 5000 per cent, or five 

 thousand bushels for one ! Mr Storr intends, in 

 the coming season, planting a quantity of this 

 wheat, from which no doubt abundance of seed 

 will be obtained.'' 



Anecuote. — 'Does the previous que.'=/!ion cut 

 off every thing?' inquired a member of '.lie House 

 of Reprseentatives the other day — • ^ t does ' was 

 the reply. Then,' said he, 'I sh'.ill, the first 

 chance, move it upon Mr Petrikin's .pieuc' — Alex- 

 andria Gii:. 



