THE CULTIVATOR. 
gases 
142 
the lake, between Chicago and Michigan city.— 
About $20,000 worth of lots were sold at the first 
sale, at prices higher than they now are worth.— 
Yet I find from the assessment roll of 1838, now on 
file in my office, that the average assessed value of 
my lots, is $55 each. The Buffalo and Mississippi 
rail-road, and a branch from the Lake Erie and Mi¬ 
chigan canal to the Illinois canal, have been sur¬ 
veyed through the place, so that property is more 
likely to rise than fall. However, such as it is, I 
freely give, and if worthily won, I hope it may rise 
in value as fast as similar property has done all over 
the great west. 
So, then, to the offer. I appreciate your remarks 
in the Cultivator, No. 6, on the great want of 
“ Agricultural School Books.” Now to induce 
some one to begin a series of such elementary works, 
that will have a tendency to learn American youth 
such things as are the most important of all things 
for them to learn, that is, how to support themselves 
and families by the labor of their own hands, I offer, 
as a premium, five of the above mentioned lots, 
to any person or persons who will publish a series of 
five numbers of an “ Agricultural School Library,” 
to be submitted to, and approved by you, or any 
other gentlemen that you may associate with you for 
that purpose. 
And I will also give two of said lots, to any per¬ 
son that will publish another work, to be called, and 
to be what it is called, “The Farmers’ Manual,” 
to be also submitted to, and approved by you, and 
to contain such maxims and advice as will be use¬ 
ful to new beginners in agriculture, whether old or 
young; rules that will be useful to the wife as well 
as husband of such as are driven by necessity or 
choice from the employment in which they may 
have always been engaged, to take up the, to them, 
new employment of cultivation. 
Thousands are deterred from attempting to earn 
their own living, because they don’t knoiu how to 
begin. Such would rejoice to have it in their power 
to procure such a book, as much as a navigator 
upon a strange coast would rejoice in procuring a 
new chart. 
And in addition to the premium, I will subscribe 
for ten copies of each work, and take the agency of 
selling them without commission. Will some one, 
more able than I am, add to the premium. 
And I will also give further premiums, to other ob¬ 
jects that you will point out as worthy, which will 
tend towards the same object. That is, the promo¬ 
tion of agricultural education ; for I am convinced 
that the great object in view must be accomplished 
upon the rising generation. 
A thought strikes me of another work worthy of 
“ a premium lot,”—an Agricultural Dictionary ; to 
be used not only as a necessary accompaniament to 
the series of school-books, but as an invaluable 
work in the hands of every cultivator. I venture to 
say, that there are not one half of the readers of the 
Cultivator, (and no paper uses less unintelligable 
phrases,) who are not often puzzled to give the pro¬ 
per signification to necessarily common words.— 
And to youth, the common names of soils, earths, 
and parts of plants, &c. are all Greek. To prove 
it, select fifty words that are found in every agri¬ 
cultural work, such as argillaceous, silicious, phos¬ 
phate, sulphate, hydrate, carbonaceous, stamens, 
stolens, etcetera, (including the “ et cetera,”) and 
ask fifty of the first persons that you meet, to give 
you an intelligible definition of them, and see whe¬ 
ther the answers do not demonstrate a very great 
necessity for our agricultural dictionary. If the 
publication of one cannot be induced, let me ask 
whether a page of your paper might not be profita¬ 
bly devoted to that purpose. It is a great fault in 
all education, that we teach words without convey¬ 
ing any definite idea of their meaning. 
One of the great benefits which I hope to live to 
see grow out of the formation of “ the American So¬ 
ciety for Agriculture,” is an improved system of 
education throughout the whole country. I com¬ 
mend to your particular notice an article in No. 51, 
of the Franklin Farmer, upon “Agricultural Edu- 
cation ^ 
What think you of a universal petition from all 
the friends of agricultural improvement and educa¬ 
tion in the U. S. to the nextcongress, for the esta¬ 
blishment of a national agricultural school ? Are 
we so much more of a warlike than an agricultural 
nation, that we endow.a “ military school,” to the 
entire neglect of an agricultural one. . Here, cer¬ 
tainly is something wrong. “ Something must be 
done,”—who will say, “something shah be 
done,” and make the first step towards it by print¬ 
ing and sending a petition over the country for that 
purpose ? The little that can be, will continue to 
be done, by your friend, 
SOLON ROBINSON. 
KEMAKKS OF THE CONIHieTOR. 
The ardorand zealdispbyed by our esteemed correspondent, 
in his several communications, published in the Cultivator— 
directed, as they are, to the substantial improvement of the 
mind and the soil, are worthy of all praise. And he has given 
above unquestionable evidence of his sincerity, in the liberal 
offer he makes to subserve these noble ends. The mind must 
be enlightened before the soil can be improved. To second 
this generous proposal, we promise to add $20 to each of the 
six awards proposed in the above communication. How 
much will you add, philanthropic reader ? 
Grape Culture. 
Brooklyn, September 10, 1838. 
Dear Sir —In one of the late numbers of the 
Cultivator, Col. Spooner, of Hempstead, L. I. has 
furnished your readers with a detailed statement of 
the culture of the Isabella'grape ; and its conversion 
to wine. He justly remarks, that much is to be 
learned concerning the culture of the vine ; to which 
I add, that its culture has proved, and will conti¬ 
nue to be a most efficient aid to the temperance 
cause. Such considerations, therefore, must com¬ 
mend it to the attention of every philanthropist, and 
induce his aid in extending its culture. 
The great enemy of the grape is the rose-bug, 
which appears when the vine is in blossom. The 
Colonel remarks, “in a few days after their first 
appearance, thousands are seen carrying destruc¬ 
tion through the vineyard.” The best remedy he 
could devise, he adds, “is to go among the vines 
early in the morning, before the sun has warmed 
them into activity, and they are then easily destroy¬ 
ed. A few mornings spent in this way, will clear 
the vineyard, as they are a short lived enemy.”— 
The Colonel is fortunate, if his destructive visitors 
leave him in a few mornings; with us, in Kings 
county, they protract their visit for weeks. 
Rose-bugs, in my neighborhood, have, in some 
places, entirely destroyed the crop, both this and 
the last season; while my grapes, which were near¬ 
ly surrounded with rose bushes, escaped their rava¬ 
ges. It has been the practice of many, to remove 
rose bushes to a distance from the grape vine, but 
without success. The cause is evident, they attract 
the bugs, but they serve also as a trap to secure 
them. The Colonel’s plan is doubtless the best, 
when practicable. He would find it difficult to catch 
bugs on vines trained to a great height, as they ge¬ 
nerally are in villages, besides, as they can only be 
caught when the morning dew is upon them, their 
extermination would require many mornings’ labor, 
and in the mean time the blossom would suffer from 
their voracity. Col. Spooner’s communication will, 
however, prove extremely valuable in villages and 
cities, by furnishing the mode of trimming- the vine 
to thousands, who never would consult a regular 
treatise upon the subject, but would suffer the im¬ 
positions of gardeners, who, by making a great mys¬ 
tery of the manner of trimming, contrive to extort 
large sums for a very trifling labor. And, en pas¬ 
sant, I may add, that article alone is worth double 
the yearly subscription price of the Cultivator. The 
Colonel requests of your correspondents, informa¬ 
tion in relation to the culture of the vine, and in¬ 
quires whether manuring is desirable ? What 
kinds ? and to what extent ? &c. &c. His valuable 
article entitles him to any information on the sub¬ 
ject your correspondents can afford; and I trust it 
will receive the attention it merits. 
My experience has been too limited to afford full 
answers to his queries. With regard to manuring, 
however, there can be no doubt that ground cannot 
be too rich for the vine. What kind of manure is 
best adapted to the vine, requires the test of expe¬ 
rience. I experimented upon three vines, a short 
distance from each other in like situations, and up¬ 
on same soil—a rich sandy loam. To one I applied 
liberally, unleached wood ashes, three or four times 
a season; to another, animal manure ; and to the 
third vine, I applied liberally, long unfermented 
barn-yard manure. 
The animal manure produced a luxuriant growth 
in the vine, and enlargement of the grapes, which 
exceeded any thing I ever witnessed in the Isabella 
vine, notwithstanding the severe drought this sea¬ 
son. The vine “ ashed,” was also luxuriant, though 
not equal to the first vine, but more thrifty than the 
vine manured with barn-yard dung. I do not be¬ 
lieve that ashes are congenial to the vine in all soils, 
but in a sandy soil it certainly is. Animal manure, 
however, will answer in any soil, and I believe for 
any crop. To other vines I caused soap suds, See. 
to be applied, which I have found of great service. 
Few cultivators consider, that the roots of the 
vine extend along the surface of the ground as far 
as the vine extends above the surface, and conse¬ 
quently the vine receives its nourishment from a 
considerable extent of ground. I was requested, a 
few days since, to examine a vine, which appeared 
sickly, and upon which the grapes were withering, 
although not half grown. I was told that the vine 
had been “ well manured.” On examining I found 
that within two or three feet of the vine the ground 
had been made rich, but beyond that distance, the 
top soil had been removed, in levelling the ground, 
and of course the steril subsoil alone left to nourish 
the vine. I need only add, that the owner under¬ 
stood the culture of flowers better than the vine. 
My mite of information on this subject, is fur¬ 
nished with the hope that it may call forth the ne¬ 
cessary information in relation to the culture of the 
vine. _ BROOKLYN. 
N. B. Since writing the above, I have examined 
the vine to which I applied animal manure, and find 
that it has several small bunches of grapes just 
formed, being a second crop. This, I presume, is 
owing to the extreme richness of the earth. 
Culture of the Mulberry. 
J. Buel—S ir—Considering your manifest anx¬ 
iety for the progress and improvement of agricul¬ 
ture, and your known patriotism for American en¬ 
terprise and independence, I am encouraged to ven¬ 
ture a communication for your paper on the mul¬ 
berry cultivation and the growing of silk, for the in¬ 
formation and encouragement of those of your rea¬ 
ders who have and are on the eve of commencing in 
the silk growing enterprise. 
There is no necessity for saying, at this late hour, 
that the cultivation of the mulberry and the growing 
of silk, will soon become an important branch of 
useful industry, and a source of wealth to the Unit¬ 
ed States, for it is already acknowledged by uni¬ 
versal consent, that American climate and soil is as 
congenial to silk growing, and the sons of America 
as well calculated for agricultural and manufactur¬ 
ing operations, as any nation in the world. 
You are no stranger to Yankee enterprise, and 
Connecticut perseverance, and you are therefore 
aware that they have done wonders in that state in 
silk growing operations for some years past, having 
realized a profit with no better food for the silk 
worm than the common white mulberry; but re¬ 
cently, however, the morus multicaulis was offered 
them, and they commenced testing its qualities and 
estimating its real worth, and their long experience 
in the use of the mulberry, had qualified them to de¬ 
cide correctly; and when they become thus satisfi¬ 
ed with its superior quality and worth, and found, 
by experience, that the roots will endure our win¬ 
ters standing in the earth, and send forth an increas¬ 
ed number of stalks every year they adopt its use, 
and push forward its cultivation with all their ener¬ 
gy and skill, are now multiplying and vending it by 
thousands and tens of thousands, and, l am inform¬ 
ed, many have commenced cutting down their white 
mulberry, and throwing them away, as no longer of 
use. 
And, sir, I am prepared to say, without fear of 
contradiction, that the deliberate conclusion and 
doings of those so immediately and deeply interest¬ 
ed, will speak volumes that nothing can prevent 
from being heard and felt in every part of this re¬ 
public. 
You are aware, I conclude sir, that a special com¬ 
mittee of congress, in a late report, have informed 
us of more individuals and companies already en¬ 
gaged in this enterprise than is generally known, 
and in some states are companies extensively en¬ 
gaged in raising the mulberry, feeding the silk 
worm, and manufacturing silk goods of a superior 
quality, and with an encouraging prospect. And 
this same committee, in their report, speak deci¬ 
dedly in favor of this cultivation, and urge the pro¬ 
priety of increasing this business in every state, not 
only as a profit to those engaged in it, but as a 
source of wealth to the United States, which will 
add another link to the chain of. our independence. 
Very little is known in this region about the cul¬ 
tivation of the mulberry, or rearing the silk worm. 
Something has been attempted, a few years since, 
with the morus alba, (common mulberry,) but with 
little or no profit, the cultivators having no faith in 
the durability of the morus multicaulis, or Chinese 
mulberry. 
There has been a prevailing opinion not only here 
but elsewhere, that the morus multicaulis is too ten¬ 
der a tree to endure our northern winters, yet there 
has been some honorable exceptions to the opinion ; 
and as its history informs us it was introduced into 
the United States from two different places, we are 
therefore induced to believe that one kind is hardier 
than the other, from the fact that the kind we have, 
endured well the two last winters. 
We commenced the cultivation of this mulberry in 
the spring of 1836,with 250 small trees,and 1,500 cut¬ 
tings, all morus multicaulis. The first winter we left 
20 trees standing in the open field, and unprotected 
from the weather,and cut down to the ground 34 trees, 
covered the stumps with a trifle of straw manure. 
They all lived and did well. Those we cut down to 
the ground sent out from their roots, the next spring, 
an increased number of shoots, some of which, in 
that season, growed about seven feet high, the fall 
after which was last fall, we cut all our trees down 
