36 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
to six inches of the extremities of the branches of the 
Brussa dead, but the main stems and branches other¬ 
wise perfectly sound and uninjured. The Canton 
have suffered somewhat more, about half the last 
year’s growth being- lulled—though their position for 
ripening the wood, was not so good as that of the 
Brussa. The Brussa seedlings are killed down a 
third to a half of their growth. These were in luxu¬ 
riant growth, and consequently tender, when the 
frosts of autumn came upon them. From this expe¬ 
riment, we are led to infer, that both these species of 
the mulberry may be planted in this latitude with to¬ 
lerable prospects of success. We think them both 
more hardy than the white mulberry, and much more 
hardy than the multicaulis. 
Of several new kinds of the mulberry, of recent in¬ 
troduction, as those denominated the Alpine, Moret 
ta, Expansa, &c., we know nothing from personal ob¬ 
servation. The leaves of the native red mulberry, 
which grows in our woods, certainly produce good 
silb, and the tree is perfectly hardy ; and it may yet 
become the favorite in our borean climate. 
Our remarks are intended to apply to the north.— 
The multicaulis will unquestionably be the favorite 
species for the middle and southern states, on account 
of the facility of its rapid propagation, if for no other 
reason. And we were not a little surprised, on being 
told, a day or two ago, that numerous small green¬ 
houses had been erected in East Vermont, expressly 
to carry on the winter propagation of this valuable 
exotic. Large quantities have been sent on from 
Florida, to supply our market. Some trees have 
brought four dollars each. Judge Comstock has ad¬ 
vertised, that he has had a large quantity in a course 
of growth, during the winter, in the island of Cuba, 
which he soon expects to have on hand for sale. 
Butter Making. 
A nice process of butter making, as practised by 
John M. Weeks, of Salisbury, Vt. is given in the 
Yankee Farmer. Mr W. makes three qualities of 
butter; one, he says, worth 38 cents, being the pure 
butterycious matter, of exquisite flavor; the second, 
worth 19 cents; and the last 9 or 10 cents, a gluey 
substance, and insipid in taste. Mr. W. heats his 
milk, after the animal heat has passed from it, but to 
what temperature he does not say, and then sets his 
pans in cool running water; and when cold, they are 
raised, and the milk skimmed in 6 to 18 hours. We 
guess, for the srentleman has not told us, that the first 
skimming is made before the milk is put into the run¬ 
ning water, or perhaps before it is heated, and the 
last, at the end of the 18 hours. The butter is salt¬ 
ed and worked when it comes from the churn, worked 
again the next day, without cold-water in any of the 
processes, and then packed tight in tubs, lined with 
bags, previously saturated with bees-wax, and cover¬ 
ed on the top with a clean pickle. The great requi¬ 
sites in making and preserving good butter, are : 
1. That every thing should be cleanly in the whole 
process. 
2. That the milk should be kept at a proper tem¬ 
perature, say from 45 to 55°, while the cream is sepa¬ 
rating. 
3. That the cream should be taken off and churned, 
before its quality is impaired. 
4. That its temperature should be from 55 to 65° 
when put into the churn, and the churning should be 
moderate and uniform. 
5. That salt, of the best quality, in sufficient quan¬ 
tity to suit the palate, should be blended with it at 
the first working, and the buttermilk completely got 
out by the butter ladle. 
6. That the working of the butter should be repeat¬ 
ed at the end of 24 hours, when the salt has become 
completely dissolved, and all the liquid extracted— 
and, 
7. That it should be packed, without more salt, to 
make it weigh, in stone jars, in wooden firkins or tubs, 
such as will not impart to it any taint or bad flavor— 
and in such manner as will totally exclude the atmos¬ 
phere. 
Butter made in this way, will be of fine flavor; and 
if put down and kept in this way, the flavor will be 
preserved for an almost indefinite period, if kept in a 
temperature below 70°. Water, mixed either with 
the milk, the cream, or the butter, and especially soft 
water, adds nothing to, but materially abstracts from 
richness of flavor. We have no doubt of the position 
assumed by Mr. Weeks being correct, that milk skim¬ 
med at three several times, will give three qualities of 
butter—that being taken off first being the richest 
and most valuable. 
The common remark of our good butter-women, is, 
that “my butter is good enough”—and many think 
so, whose butter is very inferior. But as the princi¬ 
pal object of the dairy-woman is gain, and as butter 
will sell according to its intrinsic value, every one 
should seek to improve, if not to please themselves, to 
please their customers, and not for the sake of “filthy 
lucre.” 
Sub-soil Ploughing, 
Seems to be coming into great vogue in England, 
and is noticed and commended at most of the agricul¬ 
tural shows. It produces a great increase of crop ; 
though it is not likely to supersede furrow-draining, 
but after the latter, especially upon stiff clays, its ef¬ 
fects are capital. A communication was made to one 
of the local societies by Mr. Harrison, stating the ex¬ 
pense of draining and sub-soil ploughing nine acres, 
very heavy clay, the furrow drains cut at 15, 20, 30, 
and 40 yards, in parallel lines across the field, before 
the sub-soil plough was introduced. The expense 
was £7 6s.—($32 40,) the acre. The sub-soil 
plough was propelled by 8 horses, and attended by 
three men and two boys. The draining was £5 10s. 
and the sub-soil ploughing j 61 16s. The sub-soil 
plough for light lands weighs 200 or 250 lbs—for stiff 
clays 400 lbs. Price from £5 10s. to £8. 
American Mulberry. 
A gentleman in Kentucky has been for some years 
engaged in feeding silk worms on the leaves of our 
indigenous mulberry. He sells sewmg silk annually 
to the amount $900, besides clothing his family. Pie 
has been offered the multicaulis, Brussa and other 
kinds, but he has declined them all, and sticks to the 
native. We have this information from a gentle¬ 
man Irom Kentucky, who is his neighbor, and who 
adds, that he, the silk culturist, lately married a daugh¬ 
ter, who was clothed in silk from his domestic esta¬ 
blishment. Our informant calls the mulberry black, 
but we rather think it is the red (M. rubra ) of bota¬ 
nists, as the former is not known to be indigenous; 
and as the berries of the red are black when ripe. 
Drill Husbandry, 
We have no doubt will ultimately come into vogue 
among us—we mean in the culture of wheat and 
other grains—though for a long time its progress will 
be slow. At the late Preston agricultural meeting in 
England, the question proposed for discussion was— 
“ the comparative advantages of the drill and broad¬ 
cast systems of husbandry.” Mr. Binns ably advocat¬ 
ed the drill system, and set forth its advantages under 
the following heads. 
1. The seed is delivered with regularity. 
2. It is deposited at proper depth. 
3. The weeds, during the growth of plants, are de¬ 
stroyed with great facility. 
4. The plants cultivated receive the undivided be¬ 
nefit of the soil and manure, and have not to main¬ 
tain a constant struggle with weeds. 
5. The land by the process of hoeing, is under¬ 
going preparations for another crop. 
6. The necessity of summer fallowing is avoided. 
7. By admission of the sun and air between the 
rows, a stronger and healthier plant is produced, and 
of course a heavier crop. 
8. By stirring the soil it is more susceptible of be¬ 
nefit from the atmosphere, imbibing more oxygen, 
and being both warmed and enriched by the sun. 
9. The roots shoot freely in pulverized soil. 
10. By drilling, the farmer is enabled to have hea¬ 
vier crops of beans and wheat on light land. 
11. Clover and grass seeds answer incomparably 
better in the pulverization produced by hoeing, inde- 
pendendent r f the clearness from weeds. 
12. The drills give facility for depositing smaller 
portions of manure with greater effect. 
These advantages are all self-evident to a good far¬ 
mer ; and it might have been added, as a thirteenth 
advantage, that drilling economizes seed, though Mr. 
Binns rejects it, on the ground, that if the plants are 
thin, they throw out side shoots, which produce im¬ 
perfect grain, and ripen unequally. In drill husband¬ 
ry, Mr. B. affirms, fifty-six bushels of wheat have been 
raised on the light soils of Norfolk. 
The drills employed in sowing wheat, &c. are 
drawn by a horse, and sow six or eight rows at a time 
at a required distance, dropping and covering the 
seed. The machine for clearing between the rows, 
is also drawn by one horse, and consists of a frame 
with six hoes fixed to it, which occupies the same 
space as the drill. The rate of drilling is an acre 
per hour. Wheat is drilled at nine inches between 
the rows, and barley at seven. The horse hoe is 
used once, and the hand hoe twice. The expense 
of weeding, in England, is stated at two shillings (for¬ 
ty-four cents) per acre. 
There was, some years ago, an excellent drill pre¬ 
sented for examination, to the Albany County Agri¬ 
cultural Society, by a gentleman living in the west 
part of Oneida county; but as then drill husbandry 
was little understood, and its advantages less appre¬ 
ciated, the machine attracted but little attention, and 
has gone, we believe, to the tomb of the Capulets, to 
spring up again, we hope, phoenix like, in a better 
and more popular form.__ 
Agricultural Education. 
The public attention in Europe is awakened on this 
subject, as well as in America; and not only are 
schools specially devoted to this study continually ris¬ 
ing up, but ample provisions are being made to intro¬ 
duce elementary books upon agriculture into the com¬ 
mon or primary schools 
It appears from the French Annals of Agriculture, 
that there were three prizes of one thousand francs 
each, awarded last year in France, to three authors 
of elementary works upon agriculture, prepared for 
the use of schools; and also two gold medals, and 
one silver one, to the authors of three other like es¬ 
says. And in the list of prizes offered for the current 
year, we find one of 1000 francs, for the composition 
of elementary books upon agriculture, for children in 
schools. 
We make the extracts below, from the proceedings 
of British agricultural Societies, at the autumnal 
meetings, to show, that the importance of education 
to those who till the soil—to those who furnish the 
bread and meat to feed the nation, is attracting much 
public attention there. 
“ Mr. Brewsher, [in the Stafford Waldron meeting,] 
observed, that the system of their fore-fathers, however 
good, was to be much improved by the assistance of 
education, and the combination of science, and the ex¬ 
ploration of the mineral and vegetable kingdoms. He 
also impressed upon the meeting the advantage of com¬ 
bining theoretical with practical knowledge.” 
“You never can forget, that England’s greatness is 
based on her agriculture.”— J Gibson. 
“ Agriculture should be regarded in a more scientific 
point of view, [John Greg, in the Northumberland meet¬ 
ing,] and the principles of science applied to it. These 
principles ought to be followed out by men of science, for 
the public benefit. * * * There is a great field to 
be discovered here, but not by the mere practical farm¬ 
er, but by the researches of scientific men. Gentlemen, 
in prosecution of subjects of this kind, agriculture may 
be considered as yet in its infancy ; and I am of opinion, 
that in the next sixty years, a still greater advance will 
be made, than in any similar period which has passed.” 
“ His Lordship, [Lord Braybrook, in the Stafford Wal¬ 
den meeting,] also exhorted agriculturists, to give to 
their children that sort of education, which was unknown 
when the elder agriculturists were young. Next to a 
conscience devoid of reproach, no blessing could be 
greater than that of possessing a well cultivated mind. 
The greater degree of instruction .agriculturists gave to 
their children, the more happy they would make them— 
for the seeds of knowledge, properly sown, would come 
up and produce an hundred fold.” 
“This difficulty [said Mr. Binns, at the Preston meet, 
ing,] arises in a great measure, from the want of the 
same education amongst farmers that other classes en¬ 
joy. The scientific men, who make and recommend ex¬ 
periments, want practice; and the practical men, want 
science and education. For want of a knowledge in sci¬ 
ence, in cause and effect, farmers are notable to commu¬ 
nicate their ideas and facts with the same facilities as 
others, nor properly to reason upon them. The mer¬ 
chants and manufacturers are congregated in towns, and 
have the advantage of libraries, lectures, newspapers, 
and a more ready communication with each other.— 
Even mechanics have great advantages over farmers. 
Let us then shake off the lethargy with which we are 
so justly charged, and be determined, as well as we can, 
to keep pace with the manufacturers. 
“ Other advantages would attend [agricultural] edu¬ 
cation. It would infuse an admiration of nature. This 
would not only refine the mind, and lead it to enjoy intel¬ 
lectual pleasures, before unthought of, but it would add 
to the blessings which surround us, unheeded and unen¬ 
joyed. It would increase the pleasures of social inter¬ 
course—it would teach humanity and kindness to all 
around us, and to the brute creation, and it would also 
increase our comforts in every shape. Is there any rea¬ 
son why the farmer should not take his rank in intellec¬ 
tual society ? The youthful mind ought to be instruct¬ 
ed in the principles of vegetation, the production of fruits 
and flowers, chemical agency, and the study of electri¬ 
city, that mighty and mysterious power, which operates 
through earth and air in a manner very imperfectly un¬ 
derstood. The advantages of science, are beautifully 
expressed by the Rev. Mr. Whewell, at the late meeting 
at New-Castle.—‘The vast scheme of law, and order, 
and beauty, to which science introduces us, only lifts our 
thoughts to that great Being, in whom are the foun¬ 
tains of law and order, and who makes the earth his 
footstool, and the heavens his temple’” 
“ Agriculture was one of the most important, useful, 
and elegant sciences, [Mr. Gray, in the Lancashire 
meeting,], and took cognizance both of our subsistence 
and our comforts. The cause of the slow adoption of 
improvements by farmers, was the want of education 
among them. The manufacturer had opportunities of 
educating his children, which the farmer did not enjoy; 
and some system whereby farmers sons may receive a 
better education, would tend more than any thing else 
to relieve them from this reproach. They would then 
be better able to appreciate works of agricultural infor¬ 
mation, and would attend meetings of this so,rt. 
“ Let practical agriculturists, or their children, be edu¬ 
cated [in the science which benefits their business,] then 
we should see agriculture make rapid strides. Let the 
children of farmers be also taught the elements of me¬ 
chanics, chemistry, the nature of manures, plants and 
vegetation.” 
“It is as important to the country, that agriculture 
should be scientifically understood and studied, as that 
