VOL. VVII. ■.O. 



AND GA DENE R'S JOURNAL 



99 



We speak not from self experienced knowledge 

 in this matter : but from the dictates of common 

 sense, from what we have read upon the subject. 

 We believe tliat a metliod, which might be turned 

 to much good, is hardly thought of among our ag- 

 riculturists. Irrigation is much employed in many 

 countries in Europe, and with great advantage. In 

 Italy there is scarcely a field or garden which is 

 not furnished with t!ie means of artificial watering. 

 The Milanese territory e.xhibits the greatest e,\- 

 pense of irrigation known in Europe. In that coun- 

 try are to be seen noble canals, running in every 

 direction for this purpose. They are under the au- 

 thority and protection of the government, which lets 

 out the water to the various occupiers of meadows, 

 at a fixed rate, according to the quantity supplied. 

 Sometimes these canals are farmed out, by putting 

 up the several sluices at auction ; in other instan- 

 ces the canals go with the lands. 



We contemplate nothing in this way on a public 

 or so extensive a scale ; but believe that much might 

 be done in cheap way by individual enterprise. 

 These few thoughts upon this subject are tlie sug- 

 gestion of a. dry time ; and we believe that there is as 

 much reason and utility in them as in most of the 

 political essays and paragraphs, which meet us on 

 every side. — Salem Obseri^er. 



SWINE. 



The following observations respecting this ugly, 

 uncouth, but useful animal, are mostly condensed 

 from a number of autliors on both sides of the At- 

 lantic : — - 



It is best to begin to fatten hogs the latter part 

 of August or the beginning of September, so that 

 tliey may be fit for the butcher before the weather 

 becomes very cold, as it is very difficult to put 

 flesh on them in cold weather. 



When you commence fatting swine, care should 

 be used not to give them more than they will eat 

 with appetite. If they become cloyed, their thriv- 

 ing is retarded, and there is danger from staggers 

 and other diseases. Their troughs should be re- 

 plenished witli a small quantity of food at a time, 

 and kept always clean and well seasoned with salt. 



An English farmer fattened eight pigs in the fol- 

 lowing manner, which may be recommended in 

 cases where a constant and regular attention can- 

 not be given to feeding the animals. He placed 

 two troughs in the stye ; one he filled with raw- 

 potatoes, the other with peas, and gave no water. 

 When the pigs were thirsty they ate the potatoes. 

 In this way it is probable that the animal would 

 not only thrive without water, but need no antimo- 

 ny, brimstone, nor other medical substances ; for 

 raw potatoes being cooling and loosing, might 

 serve at once for food and physic. Instead of 

 peas, perhaps dry Indian corn, or what would be 

 better, Indian meal might be substituted. This 

 mode of management with swine, was first recom- 

 mended in the New England Farmer of Aug. 16, 

 1824, and we are glad to see that it has been 

 adopted by a writer for the Northern Farmer. 



Cunningham, in his Two Years in New South 

 Wales, relates—' I had often heard it said among 

 sailors, that pigs would fatten on coals, and al- 

 though I had observed them very fond of mushing 

 up the coals and cinders that came in their way, 

 still I conceived that they might relish them more 

 as a condiment or medicine than as food, till I was 

 assured by a worthy friend of mine, long in com- 

 mand of a iNip, that he once knew of a pig's being 



lost for several weeks in a vessel he commanded, 

 and it was at last found tumbled into the coal hole, 

 and there lived all that period without a morsel of 

 any th ng to feed on but coals: on being dragged 

 out, it was found as plump and fat as if it had been 

 feasting on the most nutritious food. Another 

 friend told me of a similar case which came under 

 his observation, and although these may be solitary 

 instances, yet they serve at least to show the won- 

 derful facility which the stomachs of certain ani- 

 mals possess of adapting their digestive powers to 

 such an extraordinary species of food, and e.xtract- 

 ing wholesome nourishment therefrom. When we 

 consider coal, however, to be a vegetable produc- 

 tion, containing the constituent principles of fat, 

 carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, our surprise ceases. 



I always cause as many peas as I want for 

 feeding my hogs, which are not a few in a year, to 

 be regularly malted in the same manner, nearly, as 

 my barley ; this management has succeeded very 

 well with me. Young pigs require warm meat to 

 make them grow. Corn and cold water will make 

 them sleek and healthy ; but warm beverage is 

 considered requisite to a quick growth. 



Every Stye should have a Rubbing-Post. 

 Having occasion to shift two hogs out of a stye 

 without one, into anotlier with a post, accidentally 

 put up to support the roof, I had a full opportunity 

 of observing its use. The animals when they went 

 in were dirty, with broken ragged coats, and with 

 dull heavy countenances. In a few days they 

 cleared away their coats, cleaned tlieir skins, and 

 became sleekly haired ; the enjoyment of the post 

 was discernable even in their looks ; in their live- 

 liness and apparent contentment 



Prom experience, I have found tliat swine prefer 

 lucerne to clover, A small quantity of corn, peas, 

 or beans, is certainly necessary to be given to 

 them. Potatoes, either whole or mushed in the 

 water in which they are boiled, or mixed in the 

 trough with barley meal scalded, is very good feed 

 for swine. When rearing, a small quantity of food 

 given once or twice a day, with lucerne, clover, 

 grass and offals, is sufficient. When fattening, a 

 constant supply is essentially necessary, so as not 

 to leave the troughs encumbered with stale food, 

 which should be cleaned out and given to store 

 swine. An iron kettle is best to boil potatoes 

 in, as copper, brass, and lead, are extremely 

 dangerous and generate poison, if allowed to be 

 left with any water in them, therefore it is neces- 

 sary they should be immediately emptied and 

 cleaned out. Swine while fattening should be 

 kept as clean as possible and well supplied with 

 dry litter. Two or three times in a week add 

 about three table spoonfuls of salt to each bushel 

 of their food, which assists digestion and promotes 

 appetite, — Essex Gazette. 



SILK FACTORY. 



J\torthampton, July 27 th, 1838. 

 Yesterday I visited Mr. VVhitmarsh's establish- 

 ment, and although I had heard much of his facto- 

 ry, I was most agreeably disappointed. Few men in 

 this country deserve more credit for enterprise and 

 industry. But a few years since he was a successful 

 merchant in Broadway. He retired to this place, 

 since which, he has visited various parts of Eu- 

 rope, to obtain information relating to the Mulber- 

 ry, the worm, and the manufacture of silk ; and, 

 unlike nearly all his travelling countrymen, he has 

 brought his knowledge into practical usefulness. 

 He purchased a neglected spot, which he has im- 



proved to such a degree, that it now presents one 

 of the most tasteful country seats that adorn our 

 country, and has erected a fine cottage, after the 

 Corinthian order, not unlike in appearance the Ilall 

 of Record, in the Park. The grounds are laid out 

 with a taste that would do credit to an English no- 

 bleman. The great objects of attraction, however, 

 are his nmlbcrry grounds, his cocoonery, and his 

 factory. In the first are fields of the i)lant : they 

 are placed in hedges, about four feet high and 

 about eight feet apart, and men are constantly em- 

 ployed in hoeing them and keeping the ground 

 perfectly clear of weeds and grass. He has every 

 variety of plant, and is making valuable experi- 

 ments as to which species will best suit the cli- 

 mate, and yield the finest and best silk. Many of 

 these plants he brought from the villas of Italy. 

 His cocoonery is a building of two stories, about 

 thirty feet wide and a hundred and fifty feet long ; 

 here are different shelves or tables, on which are 

 myriads of worms in all their diflferent stages, from 

 that of hatching from the egg, to that of winding 

 up their balls. The whole labor of feeding and 

 attending to these myriads of ' manvfacturers ' is 

 done by a few females, and is neither arduous nor 

 unpleasant. There are two manufactories, and a 

 third now building. The smallest is the one I 

 examined. It is beyond my power to detail the 

 progress of the manufacture. Every thing ap- 

 peared neat, and the girls cheerful and happy. 

 The silk, from the raw to the manufactured state, 

 is here perfected, and sells much higher than the 

 imported. — JW Y. Express. 



Town House, Hartford, Sep. 2G, 1838. 

 Mr Boswell : Sir — We present you with three 

 stalks of corn, the product of one kernel ; the main 

 stalk measures from the root to the top 13 feet 8 

 inches, the longest sucker 12 feet 10 inches, and 

 the shortest one 11 feet 11 inches — total 38 feet 5 

 laches — having three full ears of corn. The cir- 

 cumference of the largest ear is 11 inches; the 

 sJECumference of the three stalks in the thickest 

 part is 13 1-4 inches: it grew in tlie midst of a 

 field of broom corn, 80 full-grown stalks of which 

 growing within an inch of four feet from it. Now 

 we do not exhibit this stalk of corn for the purpose 

 of shewing our superior skill in farming, but hav- 

 ing noticed in your paper that several exhibitions 

 of the kind have been made the present season, it 

 is to show that we have something that goes a lit- 

 tle beyond any thing of the kind yet produced ; 

 but most of all it is that you may see that kind 

 Providence in rewarding the rich with an abund- 

 ant harvest, has not been unmindful of the poor. — 

 Con. Courant. V. Cornish. 



Wool.— The vast quantities of this article which 

 have been transported from this wool-growing sec- 

 tion to Boston and other markets, during the few 

 past weeks are astonishing. Almost daily, eight- 

 horse teams pass through our village, groaning be- 

 neath their loads of this conmiodity. We under- 

 stand from a gentleman who is acquainted with the 

 matter, that but little remains unsold in this vicini- 

 ty. This circumstance, together with the over- 

 whelming amount of e\'ery article of production, 

 which our agriculturists are gathering to their 

 garners, wiih joyful hearts, — must of necessity, 

 cause business to revive, and bring our farmers that 

 ample return, which should ever be the just meed 

 of honest industry and the " sweat of the brow." 

 — A'eioport, .\". H. Argus. 



