b. 



ANDGARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



!! 



It is doiibtl'iil however, if these causes are sufficient 

 t jiroilnce such effects. 1. The coherence and tena- 

 . y of clnys may be reduced by mixing coarse sand 

 ' iliout any such increase of fertility. 2. The beet 

 Its of our garden abound with vegetable matter, 

 lich of course cannot be inert and useless, 3. The 

 antity of coal in earth burnt to a brick-red is scarcely 

 rceptible. 



3ir H. Davy afterwards however, says, " If the ox- 



of iron in soils is not saturated with oxygen, tor- 



iction tends to produce its further union with this 



nciple; and hence in burning, the color of clays 



inge to red. The oxiitc of iron containing its full 



] 'portion of oxygen furs less aitractionfor acids than 



other oxide, and is consequently less likely to be 



loived by any fluid acid in the soil; and it appears 



ibis state to act in the same manner as the earths." 



, 3r. John Davy suggests that a " thin layer of clay 



,1 y prevent rainwater from penetrating deeply and 



^ irating the sub-soil which would be corrected by 



I ing and burning." It is known that all clayey soils 



I I glazed after a heavy shower of rain; and conse- 

 < jntly their absorbed power is checked or prevented 

 .( n acting. Where the burnt earth has been applied 

 t lie surface, we have obseryed that in time of drouglii 

 t soil was inoietcr than in other places. This obser- 

 y on will not disagree with G. Stafford's remark in 

 t (English) Horticultural Register, that burnt clay 

 ' .'ems to be possessed of the medium of holding just 

 I ifKcient quantity of moisture and no more." 



[e suggests oiher causes however, that may con- 

 to render this manure so valuable: " The burning 

 rely destroys every species of insect and pemi- 

 8 weed; and on whole quarters where the process 

 performed many years ago, 1 have scarcely obser- 

 either slug or snail." 



e also thinks that " calcareous matters" in the 



1 may be converted into lime by the burning. — 



r our subsoils effervesce with acide: and it would 



seem unreasonable to suppose that the soil con- 



I lime in some of its combinations which may be 



ged to a more fertilizing form by the heat; but be 



in as it may, in England some of the finest effects of 



■N ig and burning have been observed on challcy 



k IS. Sir J. Sinclair says it is " peculiarly applica- 



jI such lands." He adds, "Mr. Boys of Kent, has 



^10 detailed account of experiments tried on 267 



ic I, principally consisting of such downs, and when 



h cason proved favorable, with uniform success. — 



\. iigle crop thus raised, was often equal to the value 



)f le land in its original state." 



. Stafford (already referred to) considers it much 

 k nrr and letter to burn the earth where a garden 

 IS 'een laid out on a heavy soil, than to cart in sand, 

 IS 3 and other materials. He throws out a trench 

 ■\ I feet wide and three feet deep, fills it with wood, 

 ir C'lvcra it like a coal-kiln, throwing on earth as 

 h K-at increases. He says after twenty-two years' 

 J ijcnce, " I have been of opinion that I could add 

 mass until it reached the height often feet." 

 < ral instances are mentioned of the complete 

 n 1 -^g of this method: "A work was completed in 

 I V days that never could have been done, other- 

 ■V , in his whole life time — that is, he rendered the 

 r nd prolific; and I have never witnessed better 

 HI CS8 in crops, than I have done of every crop that 

 « luen planted in this composition." 



-rnin, he says: "When I first came to this place, 

 i ,'orden was for the most part, a strong clay. No 

 y her appeared to have a good effect upon it. At 

 ottime it was covered by water; and at another time 

 iB3netrabIe by being too dry. I then commenced 

 b'ling, and in a icw days proditced a composition 

 ke feet deep, equal if not superior, to any soil in this 



125 



country. The clay is rendered aa pliable as burnt 

 chalk. Every thing appears to thrive in it. I calcu- 

 late that the ground so heated, will require no ma- 

 nure for at least four or five years, as every vegetable 

 grew too strong for the first two years." 



He thinks the clay there of a superior kind on ac- 

 count of the "calcareous matter" itcontains; but we 

 presume not superior to the clays of Western New 

 York. t 



Silk busine!!s in Rochester and its vicinity. 



We called yesterday at the house of Mr. Joseph 

 Alleyn, of this city, and were shown about 2 lbs. of 

 sewing silk manufactured by Mr. John Adams and 

 his family, of Adams Basin, in this county, and co- 

 lored by Mr. Alleyn at his carpet factory. It is of 

 various and beautiful colors, very smooth and glossy 

 and stronger than any imported silk we have ever 

 seen. 



Mr. Alleyn has just procured one of Dennis's Silk 

 Spinning and Twisting Machines, which is now in 

 operation in his family, and afforded us much pleasure. 

 Mr. A. has already engaged about 50 bushels of co- 

 coons to manufacture on shaies. Ho informs us that 

 he also intends to connect the business of silk wearing 

 with his carpet factory, and has made arrangements 

 for obtaining machinery and a workman from Eng- 

 land, 



Those who still have doubts respecting the practi- 

 cability or success of the silk business in this country, 

 will soon have demonstration which must convince 

 the most skeptical. Many families in this and adja- 

 cent counties are now engaged in the business, and 

 the results of their labors, when known, will be a 

 matter of astonishment to many. 



Mr. Adams has, at our suggestion, given us a brief 

 statement respecting his experience in feeding silk 

 worms, &c., which we are happy to subjoin. 



Messrs. Editors. — The past season (1839) we fed, 

 as we supposed, 100,000 worms. The leaves of the 

 white mulberry alone are tised by us. During the last 

 age of the worms, as may well be imagined, we had 

 a hard task to supply so many voracious animals with 

 food. In addition to the labor of my own family, I 

 paid six or eight dollars for hired help. We fed the 

 worms 5 or 6 times a day, which I have since learned 

 was not necessary; and this year we have adopted a 

 different plan, and only feed them 3 times a day. We 

 commenced operations this year early in June, with 

 about 80,000 worms. We have fed all these without 

 any other help than our own family, (consisting of my- 

 self and wife and four children, the oldest a lad of 14, 

 the other three, girls,) excepting the assistance of two 

 small boys during two days, when I was preparing 

 bushes for the worms to wind on. On gathering our 

 crop we had 22 bushels of cocoons, which were of a 

 better quality than last year. 



We use "Dennis' contra twist Reel;" my wife 

 has reeled 5J lbs. of silk during the past eight days, 

 besides attending to the usual duties of the family. — 

 With undivided attention she can reel about a pound a 

 day. We think we can calculate on a pound of raw 

 silk from a bushel of cocoons. 



Very respectfidly yours, &c., 



JOHN ADAMS. 



Adams Basin, July ZOth. 



P. S. Any information which I can give on this 

 subject, shall be freely communicated if desired. 



Harvesting Peas. 



The time for harvesting peas being now arrived, 

 we would remind farmers that by far the cheapest and 

 most expeditious way is to pull and collect them atone 

 operation, by means of a horse-rake. " 



For the riiw Genetsc Farmtr. 

 New Kinds of Wheal. 



Messrs. Thomas & Bateham. — In the last num- 

 ber of the Farmer is a communication from W. T. 

 Cuyler, giving an account of the Tuscany Wheat. — 

 He says it stands the winter well, and is considerably 

 earlier than common wheat. In our town, where it 

 was first introduced by Mr. Hauford, the Tuscany 

 wheat has not stood the winters very well, nor has it 

 ripened much if any earlier than the common Flint 

 Wheat. Owing to a part of it being destroyed by the 

 winter, it has usually stood thin on the ground, and to 

 this may in part be attributed its large growth and fine 

 berry. On the ]6ih of September last, I sowed one 

 peck of the Tuscany Wheat on twenty-one rods of 

 ground. It came up well, but at harvest I found it 

 only stood about half as thick as on a piece of land, of 

 the same size adjoining, where I sowed less than sev- 

 en quarts of the White Florence Wheat, direct from 

 France. On the same day, and on the same soil, I 

 sowed a piece of the Virginia May Wheat, which ri- 

 pened about ten days earlier than either of the others. 

 The berry of the Flonence is as large and fine as the 

 Tuscany; but as I was fearful that it would not stand 

 the winter, I sowed it too thickly, and in consequence 

 the straw was rather email and short. Those who 

 have examined it are of opinion that it will prove a 

 valuable acquisition to the wheat growers of Western 

 New York; and so will the Tuscany, if it will endure 

 ur winters without injury. 



Respectfully Yours, 



R. HARMON, Jb. 



Wheatland, July, 1840. 



Remarks. — The difference of results in the expert 

 ments with the Tuscany Wheat, may be owing to 

 several circumstances. It will be remembered that 

 Mr. Cuyler discovered several varieties among his 

 Tuscany Wheat when he received it from Wheatland; 

 some of which stood the winter better than others, 

 and he took pains to separate it. So that the kind he 

 now cultivates may be diflerent from that cultivated by 

 Mr. Harmon, which may be mixed as at first. Or it 

 may be that Mr. Cuyler's land is drier and warmer 

 than Mr. Harmon's, which would cause a difference 

 in the time of ripening, and in the liability to injury by 

 the winter. — Eds. 



Larger Calves. 



Messrs. Editors — You can tell Mr. Benj. Chase 

 that I have a Durham Bull Calf, that on the day he 

 was one year old, weighed 920 lbs., and that he wai 

 never fed grain ; he was fed milk until 4 months 13 

 days old, after that pasture while it was, and then elo. 

 ver hay, with about 6 quarts of bran per day — in the 

 spring the clover hay was done, and I fed him pota- 

 toes in place of bran. But Mr. Wynant Younghans, 

 of Renselaer Co. beats us both : his (by the Albany 

 Evening Journal) weighed the day he was one year 

 old 1026 lbs. ; mine weighed 21 lbs. more than his 

 when 5 months old. Mr. Chase must try again be- 

 fore he has the largest calf. 



Yours, &c. 



JOHN JOHNSTON 



Seneca Co., near Geneva, 4th July, 1840. 



The Cherry Slug. 



In our late excursion we noticed the ravages of this 

 insect in Ontario county; and as the chief part of the 

 trees were small, we could not but regret that there 

 was no kind being to throw a handful of ashes over 

 them. 



We are inclined to think that the numbers of this 

 insect would not be formidable, if a little care was 

 timely extended; and that they increase rather slowly, 

 Last season only a few appeared in our nursery, and 

 these were promptly destroyed. This season we baVg 

 not seen morq than one or two, t 



