106 



THE NEW GENESEE FARMER, 



Vol. 2 



Asparagns. 



An observant neighbor proposed to tie, the other 

 day, to recommend pluming aeparagiis in n single row, 

 each plant two feet opart. In beds, the plants crowd 

 each other; and c3 if surrounded by weeds, send up 

 more slender stems. These remarks agreed entirely 

 with our own obaervations; for though we have been 

 at the eipcnse of making deep beds of the best mate- 

 rials, our finest asparagus grows in common soil 

 where the seed was accidentally dropped. In beds it 

 is difllcult to remove such seedlings as spring up, 

 without injuring the roots of the older plants; hut 

 from a row this may be easily done; and all plants 

 that intrude on them should be treated as weeds. 



To raise the plants: Separate the seeds from the 

 berries, and sow them in a bed Inte in the fall (not in 

 the spring) covering them with fine earth half an inch 

 deep. If put in rows, .so that the hoe can pass be- 

 tween them the next season, they may be kept clear 

 of weeds more conveniently; and when one year old, 

 if they have had plenty of room, they may he trans- 

 planted. One long row may he the best. And be 

 careful that not more than one plant is set in a place. 



The cropping that asparagus endures, is very se- 

 vere; and it seems reasonable that the plants should 

 be strengthened by the gro%vth of three years before 

 t hey are mole.'stcd. To cover the stools in the fall 

 with stable manure, and to rake off the coarser parts 

 in the spring, is an old and excellent practice: It pro- 

 tects them from the frost of winter and manures them 

 nt the same time. Strewing salt over them liberally 

 in the spring, also adds to their vigor. 



In a few years, an asparagus plant, neither crowded 

 on by others nor over-cropped, will form a stool from 

 tiTelve to eighteen inches across. t 



Disease of Silk Worms. 



The subject of Silk culture is assuming a degree of 

 importance, which, in our opinion, justifies us in de- 

 voting Jto it considerable space. The passage of the 

 law giving a bounty on Silk and Cocoons in this State, 

 will induce many to engage in the business who have 

 not done so heretofore ; and we shall endeavor to im- 

 part as much information on the subject as appears to 

 us important and is consistent witli justice to the ma- 

 jority of our readers. 



The following article is from the April No. of the 

 Journal of the American Silk Society, a monthly pub. 

 lication by Gideon B. Smith, Baltimore, which ought 

 to he taken by every person engaged in the Silk husi- 

 ress. Price, ifiS per year. 



IMPORTANT TO SILK CROWEItS THE MCSCARDINE IN 



AMERICA. 



Probably the most important information it has ever 

 fulleii to the lot of the editor of the Silk Journal to 

 communicate to tho public, on the subject of Silk cul- 

 ture in this country, will be found in the present 

 article. 



It has long been known to every reader of publica- 

 tions on silk culture, that by thn Ravages of a disease 

 called muscardhte in Europe, the average loss oi 

 w irms, taking one year with another, amounted to 45 

 to r>(l per cent, of all that were hatched, and this too, 

 after the greater portion of the expense of rearing hod 

 been incurred. This evil has been continued fronj 

 time beyond the reach of history, till within a year or 

 two past. In tho United Slates all of us have hereto- 

 fore considered our worms exempt from this fatal dis- 

 ease; as it 1ms generally been supposed that it did not 

 exist here at all. This was a fatal delusion. We 

 have just received from France ai;opy of tho "Anna- 

 Ics dc la Societe Sericicole, fondee en 1836, pour I'a- 

 melioration ei la propagation de I'industree do la Sole 

 en France," for ISiW, 18?>S and ISiit), in one of the 

 ToJumes of which we find a moste.xcellent plate rcjjre. 

 swUing silk worms in the various stages of the nuis- 

 leardine, the first glance at which showed us ilmt it 

 was the identical disease of which a great portion of 

 tho silk worms in this country have perished. All 

 jvljo saw tUo diecc-e last year and have oeca this plate. 



identify iLe disease instantly. We shall endeavor to 

 have tn!i;alation8 made for our next number, descrip- 

 tive of the disease, and it possible — if we can get the 

 menns — pubhsh the plate also. In the meantime, 

 however, we have thought it advisable to take this 

 hasty notice of the fact, that all silk growers may be 

 enabled to apply the remedy. Happily the remedy 

 will do no harm, whether the worms are ali'ectcd with 

 the ranscardine or not ; nor will it injure the worms 

 even if they are perfectly healthy, or if they have oth- 

 er iliseaees. Tho rem., ly is the free application of 

 air-slncked lime to the worms, and also over the floors 

 of thecocoonerj', and white ivashing all the wood-work 

 of the fixtures. The lime should be sifted through a 

 fine sieve on the worms two or three times a week if 

 healthy, and once a day if diseased, in the morning 

 before the first feeding, and always after cleaning the 

 hurdles. The qtiantity of lime to be sifted on the 

 worms may be just eulticicnt to whiten the worms and 

 leaves well. This remedy has during the two past 

 years enabled those persons in France who have used 

 it, to save and obtain cocoons from 97 per cent, of all 

 the worms hatched. 



Now that we know the disease that has done uo so 

 much injury, and also know the remedy, the latter 

 should be applied ; and as there are very few, if any, 

 v.ho yet know tho disea?': by sight, we would most 

 earnestly recommend that the remedy be applied in 

 ALL CASES, whether the worms be sickly or not, as a 

 PKEVE.NTivE, for it is cvcii more efl'ectual as a pre- 

 ventive, than as a remedy, and, as before stated, will 

 do no harm to cither healthy worms or those affected 

 with other diseases. It must be boinc in mind that 

 this is a contagious disease, and if but a single worm 

 be affected by it, the disease speedily spreads among 

 the others, until all or a large portion of them are de- 

 stroyed. The French have discovered that the dis- 

 ease consists o{a finigvs groicth, something like mil- 

 dew, or mould on cheese, scarcely dipcernable to the 

 naked eye, hut perfectly developed by tlie microscope. 

 The fungus is propagated with great rapidity — so 

 much so that from the small speck on a single worm 

 it will spread over a whole cocooneiy in a very few 

 days. It generally attacks the worms after a fourth 

 moulting, and when not arrested, carries off the great- 

 er portion of them. Sprinkling the worms with sla- 

 ked lime, however, efTcctUHlly prevents tho disease, 

 and will cure all the worms in which it has not made 

 too great an impression. 



We have already been asked hcv. lliis discovery cor- 

 responds v.'ith our New Theory, in relation to retard- 

 ing the hatching of the eggs, and anticipate further 

 questioning on that point. In our opinion, it is per- 

 fectly consistent with the principles inculcated by the 

 New Theory. Retarding the hatching of the eggs 

 beyond the natural period, the New Theory says, v.'cak- 

 ens the constitution of the young worms, and predis- 

 poses them to disease. Tlie present discovery points 

 out the particular disease thus induced, or at least, 

 one of them, and that the most formidable. Let the 

 eggs be hatched at the nalurul period, that is about 

 the time in It! 11 that their parents were hatched in 

 1840, and then the conslitntionsof the worms willnot 

 be debilitated or vitiated by the unnatural process of 

 retarding. By this means we shall usher the young 

 ones into the world with good sound constitutions, 

 subject to no other disease than those they may con- 

 tract from contagion or bad treatment. By this dis- 

 covery, therefore, we have only found out the name 

 and nature, and means of prevention and cure of a 

 disease we have all along bad amongst us. It must 

 not be considered in the light of a new calamity that 

 threatens us ; but rather as the discovery of Ibe means 

 of averting one that already afHicts us. It is fortunate 

 that this invaluable information has reached us at this 

 particular moment — just in time to be of immense ser- 

 vice to us in this our day of ordeal. 



It must not be supposed that the above remedy is 

 alone to be dcpendetl upon, or that the application of 

 lime as above directed, luid for the purpose specified, 

 will authorize the omission of the usual precautions 

 and attention to cleanliness, ventilation, &c. On the 

 contrary, the strictest attention to cleaning the hur- 

 dles, removing rubbish, purifying the air by ventila- 

 tion, itc. must be observed atall times. Every worm 

 found on the hurdles in a sickly condition or dead, 

 shotdd be immediately removed. AVe haveneverseen 

 any valuable result from a sickly worm, and would 

 therefore recommend that all such be removed to a 

 distance and destroyed. Some of the French silk 

 growcre have liotiiilals for the reception of such iiirn- 

 liila as ailord any hope of recovery ; but we think it is 

 better economy to get rid of them at once. 



Wo hear otcasionally of tixtuies being contrived for 

 rcftria^ the worase upon, that save the trouble of clean 





ing the hurdles. We have ourselves years ago pur 

 sued such a plan, and with success too. But there 

 danger in all such, which must not be overlooked, 

 disease occur among the worms, the sick are apt to bi 

 concealed by the accumulating rubbish and branches 

 and dying in their concealment, the first notice we shal 

 have of the existence of disease to any considerable ex 

 tent, will be the oflensive odour evolved by the deat 1 

 worms; and very probably a rapid spread of contasio) ^^ 

 among the healthy worms. In feeding with branch J^ 

 es, therefore, we should clear the hurdles just as often 'j 

 and as necessarily, as when feeding with picked leaves '" 



That no one may be misled by the remarks in thi 

 article on the muscardine and its preventive, by th [ih 

 use of lime, it seems necessary to eay, that several oth 

 er diseases affect silk worms, and many worms wer iti 

 destroyed last summer by other diseases. It must not ujlli 

 therefore, be taken for granted that the api)liealion o k 

 lime is to prevent and cure erery disease, though w 

 believe it will act as a preventive of most of them 

 when accompanied by other necessary and prope 

 treatment. If from any cause the worms have a debil [»« 

 itated and sickly constitution, they will be liable to va imi 

 rious diseases, and the proper preventives will be thi 

 above, viz : cleanliness, thorough ventilation, the usi 

 of lime, &c. We most truly believe that the mos jd^ 

 proUfic source of all the diseases of silk worms las 

 summer, was the retarding of the hatching of the eggs 'gg, 

 The worms were weakly in consequence of it, an 

 thence more liable to be affected by the various exci 

 ting causes of disease, than they would have been hai 

 they possessed robust constitutions. We believe tha 

 the muscardine may be, and probably is, genera 

 generated by this very process in this country. Th 

 French say it is caused by a fungus growth, which fun 

 gus is a vegetable of an inferior order, and produced b 

 its own seals. The inference then is that it cannot b 

 produced in the absence of its seed. But we knot 

 that the mould of bread, cheese, &c. is also of the sam 

 order of vegetable growth, and that it is produced 

 any time when the temperature of the weather is favoi 

 able to it ; and hence we infer, not that it is a sponte 

 neons production, but that its seeds nliciiyn pervadea 

 substances in which the growth is found, and are onl 

 prevented from growing by the non-concurrence of th 

 circumstances necessary to their growth. Time, hig 

 temperature and moisture, are the circumstances thi 

 are generally required to concur in the production i 

 mould, mildew, &c. Take away either, and neithc 

 mould nor mildew will be produced. 



One remark more seems appropriate here. Oi 

 climate is unquestionably more favorable for sil 

 worms than that of any part of Europe ; and it is pa; 

 ticularly so in regard to the muscardine. The extren 

 dryness of our atmosphere, compared with that ol an 

 part of Europe, is notorious; and it was this fact thi 

 induced the universal belief that the muscardine di 

 not prevail here. But although our atmosphere 1 

 comparatively dry, the air in our cellars and ice-hoi 

 ses and cocooneries is not always bo. The keeping < 

 eggs in damp cellars and ice-houses, wherein the 

 have become mouldy or mildewed, and especially whe 

 kept there for a long time and beyond the natural tire 

 for hatching, may very well be considered capable i 

 developing the fungus growth constituting the diseaf 

 called muscardine; and unless we take care to avo. 

 such, it will be in vain to expect our climate to prote 

 us against the consequences. c. B. s. 



Hiving Bees. 



I have practiced two methods of securing ne" 

 swarms of bees when they leave the old hive, both t 

 which I think preferable to the old fashioned way i 

 rattlingalltheold tin pans and sleighbcllsinthencigl «ii 

 borhood, until the swarm settles, and then brush thei 

 topsyturvy into the hive. My first method is this:- 

 as the season for swarming approaches, I cut an eve 

 green, such as fir or spruce, about six or eight fe' 

 high, and trim off all the branches on one side cloi 

 to the tree so that it may be laid flat on the grouni 

 the lower end, or butt, is sharpened like a slake ai 

 set in a hole made by an iron bar in the ground aboi 

 ten or fifteen feet in front of the hives. Swarms wi 

 very seldom seek any other nsting place, when abus 

 like the above is at hand. When a swatm leaves tl 

 hive I say nothing, but stand and look on, until tht 

 become still and quiet on the bush. I then careful 

 raise the bush from the hole, and lay it Hat on tl 

 gromul, and place the hive over, them. If the !im 

 on the upper side interfere, I pi ess the hive down aifj 

 lay a stone or some heavy substance on to keep it 

 its proper place, till the swarm takes possessioij 

 which is generally in ten or fifteen rniiuites. In th' 

 way l.hava never loet a ewarm, aad have frequent'l 



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