103 



THE NEW GENESEE FARMER, 



apwrtJBPiwft M^MM M 



Vol 



Asparagus. 



An observant neighbor proposed to ua, the othef 

 do}', to recommend planting nsparngus in a single row, 

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

 each other; and as if surrounded by weeds, send np 

 more slender stems. These remarks agreed entirclj' 

 with our own observations; for though we have been 

 at the expense of makin^deep beds oi the best mate- 

 rials, our finest asparagi'a grows in common soil 

 ■where the seed was accidentally dropped. In bedsit 

 is difBcult to remove such seedlings as spring up, 

 without injuring the roots of the older plants; but 

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

 that intrude on tbem should be treated as weeds. 



To raise the plants: Separate the seeds from the 

 berries, and sow them in a bed late in Ike 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 bo kept clear 

 of weeds more conveniently; and when one year old, 

 if they have had plenty.^of room, they njay be trans- 

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

 careftd 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 growth of three years before 

 they are molested. 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 l;om the frost of winter and manures them 

 at the same time. Strewing salt over them liberally 

 in the spring, nlso adds to their > igor. 

 ^In a few years, an asparagus plant, neither crowded 

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

 twelve 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 'to it considerable space. The passage of the 

 law giving a bounty on Silk and Cocoonsin this State, 

 will induce many to engage in the business who have 

 rot done po heretofore ; and we shall endeavor to im- 

 part as much information on the subject as oppears to 

 us important and is consistent with justice to the ma- 

 jority of our renders. 



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 be taken by every person engaged in the Siik busi- 

 ness. Price, $2 per year. 



IMPORTANT TO SILK GROWERS — THE MUSCARDINE IN 

 AMERICA. 



Probably the most important information it has ever 

 fallen to the lot of the editor of the Silk Jcurnol to 

 communicate to the public, on the suhjeet of Silk cul- 

 ture in this country, will be found in the present 

 ai'tiole. 



(E; It has long been known to every reader of publica- 

 tions on silk culture, that by the ravages of a disease 

 called muscardinc in Europe, the average loss 

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

 to 30 per cent, of oil that nere hatched, and ihis too, 

 alter the greater portion of the expense of rearing had 

 been incurred. This evil has been continued from 

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

 two past. In the United States all of us have hereto- 

 ioro considered our worms exempt from this fatal dis- 

 ease; as it has generally been supposed that it did not 

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

 have just leceivcd from France a copy of the '-Anna- 

 lee de la Societe Sericicole, fondee en 183G, pour I'a- 

 melioration ei la propagation de I'industree de la Soie 

 en France," for 1837, 1338 and 1830, in one of the 

 volumes of which we find a most e.xcellent plate rcpre. 

 senling silk worms in the various stages of the mils, 

 cardme, the lirst glance at which showed us that it 

 was the identical disease of which a great portion of 

 t.]e silk worms in this country have perished. All 

 who saw the disea^a last year and have seen this plate, 



identify the disease instantly. Wc shall endeavor (o 

 have trniiBlations raadu for our next number, descrip- 

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

 means — ^publish the plate also. In the meantime, 

 however, wc hove 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 ofiected with 

 the muscaraine or not ; nor will it inivre the worms 

 even if they are perfectly heaitb/, n: S they hove oth- 

 er diseases. The remedy is the free application of 

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

 of the cocoonery, and white (vashing all the wood-work 

 of the fixtures. The limcshou.ld bo sifted through a 

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

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

 before the first feeding, and always after cleoning the 

 hurdles. The quantity of lime to be sifted on the 

 worms may be just sufficient to whiten the worms and 

 leaves well. This remedy has during the two past 

 years enabled those persons in Frsnce 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 ua so 

 much injury, and alpo know the remedy, the latter 

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

 who yet know the disease by sight, we would most 

 earnestly recomniend that the remedy be apphed in 

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

 PREVENTIVE, for it is cvcn more effectual as a pre- 

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

 do no harm to either healthy worms or those ofiected 

 with other diseoses. It must be borne in mind thot 

 this is a contagions disease, and if but a single worm I 

 be affected by it, the disease speedily spreads amoifio 

 the others, until all or a large portion of them a;.e de"^ 

 btroyed. The French hove diecovcicd thcV tlie dis- 

 ease consists oi & fungus gron'th, somel'^iuo like mil- 

 dew, or mould on cheese, scarcely disceninble to the 

 naked eye, but perfectly developed by the microscope. 

 The fungus is propagoteu with great rapidity— so 

 much so that from the f nudl speck on a single worm 

 it will spread over a whole cocooneiy in a very few 

 days. It generally oilacka 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, effectually prevents the disease, 

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

 too great on impression. 



We have olready been asked how this discovery cor- 

 responds with 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 iiu-ulcclcd by the 

 New Theory. Retarding the hatching of the eggs 

 beyond the natural period, the New Theory says, weak- 

 ens the constitution of ilir young worms, and predis- 

 poses them to disease. Tbe present discovery points 

 out the particular disease thus induced, or at least, 

 oiieof them, and that the most for ' ' ' ' 



ing the hurdles. We have ourselves years ago 

 tued such a plon, and with bhcccss too. But tiie 

 danger in all such, which must not be ovciioo!:ed 

 diseate occur among the worms, the sick are apt ■ 

 concealed by the occumulating rubbish and brum 

 and dymg in their concealment, the first notice wc 

 have of the existence of disease to any considerabh 

 tent, will be the offensive odour evolved by the 

 w^orms ; and very probably a rapid spread of cop.tilitiio 

 among the healthy worms. In feeding with brai ' ' 

 es, therefore, we should clear the hurdles just as o „ 

 and as necessarily, as when feeding with picked lei 

 That no one may be misled by the remarks in 

 article on the muscordine audits preventive, by 

 use of lime, it seems necessary to say, that several 

 er diseases offect silk worms, and many worms ■ 

 destroyed last summer by other diseases, li must 

 therefore, be token for grouted th?t the appiicoiio 

 lime is to prevent and cure crcry disease, though 

 believe it will act as a preventive of most of°d 

 when accompanied by other necessary r^d pr 

 treatment. If from any cause the wor';,ig have ad 

 itated and sickly constitution, they will be liable tt 

 rious diseases, and the proper 'preventives will be 

 above, viz: cleanliness, tho.:„„„i, ventilation, the 

 oflinie, &c. We most Vuly believe that the i 

 r-olmc source of all '.ne ditcases of silk worms 

 Slimmer, was the rotording of the holchingof thee 

 Ihe worms Wf;e weakly in consequence of it, 

 thence more liable to be affected by the various e 

 tnig couFtfBi of disease, than they would have been 

 they 'possessed robust constitutions. AVe believe 

 the, muscardine may be, ond probably is, gene] 

 generated by this very process in this country. ' 

 French say it is caused by a fungus growth, which 

 gusisa vegetable of an inferior order, ond produce 

 its own seeds. The inference then is that it conno 

 produced in the absence of its seed. But we ki 

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

 order of vegetable growth, and that it is producet 

 any time when the temperature of the weather is fo' 

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

 neous production, but that its seeds always per^'.-id. 

 substances in which the growth is found, and arc c 

 prevented from growing by the non-concurrence of 

 circumstances necessary to their growth. Time, h 

 tempcroture ond moisture, are the circumstances I 

 are generally required to concur in the productioi 

 mould, mildew, &c. Take away either, and neit 1 

 mould nor mildew will be produced. 



One remark more seems appropriate here. ( 

 climate is unquestionably more favorable fiir i 

 worms than that of ony part of Europe ; and it is p 

 ticniarly m in regard to the inuscardii.e. The extic 

 dryness of our amiosphcre, compared with that of a 

 part of Europe, is notorious; and it wosthis fact t 

 'nduced the universol belief that the muscardine i 

 not prevail here. But ahhough our atmosphere 

 comparatively dry, the air in our cellars ond ice-hc 



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eggi be hatched at the natural period, that is about ^'"^ " . oconc'-'es is not always so. The keeping 

 the time in 1S41 that their parents were ha'chcd in f"^ '" """P cellars and ice-houses, wherein tl 

 1840, a«l then the conslitutioneof the woims will not , ^^ become mouldy or mildewed, and especially wi 

 be debilitated or vitiated by the unnatural process of i"'" '''^ ""' " '""S "™« ""d heyond the natural ti 

 retarding. By this means we shall usher the vouna , hatching, may very well be considered capable 



developing the fungus growth constituting the disei 

 called muscaidine; and unless we take care to ovr 

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

 us against the consequences. g. b. s. 



_ . _j young 



ones into the world with good sound constitutions, 

 subject to no other disease than those they may con- 

 tract from contagion or hod treatment. By this dis- 

 covery, therefore, we have only found out the name 

 nnd nature, and means of prevention and cure of a 

 disease we have all along hod amongst us. It must 

 not be considered in the light of a new calamity that 

 threotcns tis; but rather a= the discovery of the means 

 of overling one thot olready nfllictsus. It is fortunate 

 that this invaluoble 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 net be supposed that the above remedy is 

 alone to be depended upon, or that the application of 

 lime as above directed, and for the purpose specified, 

 will authorize the omission of the usuol precouiions 

 and attention to cleanliness, vem.Iation, ivc. On the 

 contrary, the strictest attention to cleaning the hur- 

 dles, removing rubbish, purifying the air by ventila- 

 tion, &c. must beobservcd at oil times. Every worm 

 found on the hurdles in a sickly condition or dead, 

 should be immediately removed. We have neverseen 

 any valuable result fiom a sickly worm, and would 

 therefore recommend that nil such be removed to a 

 distance and dcslroyed. Some of the French silk 

 prowere have hospitals for the reception of such inra- 

 lids as afl'ord ony hope of recovery ; but we think it is 

 better economy to get rid of ihom at once. 



We hear occasionally of fixtures being contrived for 

 rearing the worms upon, that save the trouble of clean- 



It!>iiig Bees. 

 I hove practiced two methods of securine; nc 

 swarms of bees when they leave the old hive, both 

 which I think preferable to the old fosbioned way 

 rottlingall the old tin pans and sleigh bells in the neig 

 borhood, until the sworm settles, and then brush the 

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

 as the season lor swarming approaches, I cut an eve 

 green, such as fir or spruce, about six or eight fc 

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

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

 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. Swarmn wi, 

 very seldom seek any other resting place, when abus 

 like the above is at bond. When a swarm leaves lb 

 hive I say nothing, but stand find look on, until the 

 become still and quiet on the bush. I then corefull 

 raise the bush from the hole, ond lay it fiat en lb 

 ground, ond place the hive over them. If the liml 

 on the ujiper side interfere, I press the hive down an 

 lay a stone or seme heavy substance on to keep it i 

 its proper place, till the swarm takes possession 

 which is generally in ten or fifteen minutes. In thi 

 woy I^^have never lost a swarni,|and have frequentl 



