WARREN’S HORSE POWER AND THRESHING MACHINE—(Fig. 50.) 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
WARREN’S HORSE POWER, &c. 
Messes. Editors —In consequence of the absence 
fi-om the city of the former “ exclusive agent” for “ War¬ 
ren’s Patent Improved Horse Power and Threshing Ma¬ 
chines,” the notice respecting them by your correspon¬ 
dent in the January No. of your valuable paper, (W. R. 
P., Bowling Green, Wood co., O.,) did not come under 
his observation until his retuim last month; since which 
time a drawing of each machine has been made, for the 
purpose of enabling any one to understand a description. 
The above drawing represents a T wo Hoi-se Power 
(fig. 1,) and Threshing Machine, (fig. 2,) and it will be 
observed that either one or two horses can be used. 
These machines are so constructed and adapted for each 
other by their gearing, that greater motion for the 
Thresher is obtained with less power than any we have 
ever known. The cylinder of the Thresher has wrought 
iron beaters, instead of spikes, placed into it secure and 
stationary; the concave is formed with wrought iron 
bars. The pulley (F.) of the Thresher is only 4 inches, 
and that of the Horse Power is 30 inches in diameter. 
The revolutions of the Thresher are about 1500 per 
minute; allowing the horse to walk his circle at the rate 
of three times per minute, which is not much more than 
two miles per hour. 
The power necessary to thresh thoroughly is greatly 
diminished inasmuch as the straw passes through with 
so great velocity and principally unbroken, that when 
property fed, the speed of the Thresher is not materially 
affected, as spike machines must necessarily be in the act 
of breaking the straw. 
It was a misfortune the last season, for lack of expe¬ 
rience, to have made and sold several Horse Powers 
from patterns not sufficiently heavy, and consequently 
disappointment was caused in some cases; probably your 
correspondent from Virginia was one, mentioned by you 
in the April uiui-ivator; but whenever we have been 
duly apprised of such misfortune, it has been our plea¬ 
sure to repair the injury. 
Having therefore learned by experience, ive caused 
new patterns to be made in the soonest possible time, 
and the machines made from them have given universal 
satisfaction; so that now no apprehension of difficulty 
need be felt, even if four horses should be attached to 
the lever, as might be required for purposes other than 
threshing. 
In the lastNo. of the Cultivator, we observe your men¬ 
tion of a correspondent, (E. B. Princeton, Ill.) in refe¬ 
rence to using “ Warren’s Horse Power” with “ Hus¬ 
sey’s Corn and Cob Crusher,”—and you are undoubtedly 
correct in saying they can be worked together. In the 
January No. of the Cultivator, a drawing and description 
of Hussey’s machine may be seen. To give the required 
velocity, it is only necessary to alter the dimensions of 
the pulley of our Horse Power, which can be easily done 
whenever required. 
The following statement, recently made by a gentle¬ 
man in Pennsylvania, in a letter to his friend, is in strict 
accordance with numerous attestations which come to us 
by written communication as well as verbal, from those 
who speak from experience; and to be fully convinced 
of the correctness thereof, it would only be necessary for 
any one to see the machines in operation a few moments. 
He writes, “ He has the two in use,” &c. and speak¬ 
ing of their advantages, &c. he says among them are, 
"‘leaving the straw in a great measure unbroken, and 
throwing the largest and heaviest grain farthest from the 
Thresher, thereby enabling the farmer to gather his seed 
grain without any extra labor or trouble,” &c. He con¬ 
tinues :—“ When the operator once hecomes familiar with 
the proper mode of using the Thresher, as much grain can 
be threshed in a day with the labor of two horses, a man 
and a boy, as is usually threshed by the ordinary ma¬ 
chines, with four horses and six or eight hands.” At the 
close, he recommends them as being “ well adapted to 
the wants of farmers who do not have much assistance.” 
A letter from a gentleman in Virginia, just received, 
says—“Your machine got here entirely too late to be of 
any use to me this spring, consequently I was disappoint¬ 
ed ; for I had got out my oats, and had none remaining 
to try the machine with. However, as soon as I could 
get a band, I put it in successful operation, using rye, 
and it far exceeded my expectations in its performance; 
and if it will only get out wheat as well and as fast as it 
did rye, and that an inferior article, it will give univer¬ 
sal satisfaction. The draft is easier than any machine I 
have ever seen.” (See advertisement.) 
Bostwick & Plant, 58 Water st. 
New-York, May 15, 1843. 
THE SILK BUSINESS. 
The following communication is from the gentleman 
who exhibited the beautiful specimens of cocoons and 
reeled and manufactured silk, at the State Fair held in 
this city last autumn, and to whom was awarded most of 
the Society’s prizes on those articles; 
On Silk Worm Eggs. —The large Nankin colored 
peanut, from a healthy stock, there is no doubt on my 
mind, are worth for feeding much more than any other 
variet}’’ at pi’esent in this country. 
I have fed them for two years in succession, and shall 
hereafter use no other kind, unless I greatly change my 
mind. The silk I believe to be equally good, and the 
cocoons reel quite as readily and well as the common 
peanut; there is less trouble in gathering the cocoons, 
handling, &c. I have been surprised that this variety 
has obtained no greater notoriety. They will most as¬ 
suredly supersede all others when their true value shall 
come to be estimated. 
Two years since, was the first of my feeding this kind 
for the purpose of ascertaining their value. I counted 
out 900 of such cocoons as had been laid aside for seed, 
which the millers did not perforate, being dead of course, 
the cocoons could not therefore have been of the best 
quality, yet they reeled 5 ounces of excellent silk. The 
same number of common peanut cocoons, selected fi'Om 
a good parcel, reeled 4 ounces; the same number of sul¬ 
phur, selected, yielded the same, and the Italian white, 
same number selected, reeled very nearly the same 
amount. 
According to this experiment, the Nankin colored silk 
worm produces one-fifth more silk than the other varie¬ 
ties, and what I have since had occasion to observe, fully 
confirms the truth of their superiority. The silk growers 
might therefore better purchase this description of eggs 
at five or even ten dollars per ounce, for profitable feed¬ 
ing, than receive most kinds that are being used as a gift. 
I know it is said that a bushel of common peanut co¬ 
coons will yield more reeled silk, and weigh more per 
bushel, than any other kind. Admit it; and good reason 
why. There are about 4,000 cocoons to the bushel; 
whereas the Nankin colored requires only about 2300 or 
2400 to fill the bushel, and can be raised, picked and 
flossed, with little more than half the trouble andexpense; 
4,000 of the Nankin will yield over one-fif(h more silk 
certainly: 4,000 sulphur worms will produde just about 
as much silk as the common peanut. 4,000 of the Nan¬ 
kin colored peanut will weigh more than any other kind 
I ever saw. The sulphur will weigh more than the com¬ 
mon peanut, and is probably more healthy withal. 
Shelves and Feeding. —The following directions 
for making shelves and feeding and managing silk worms, 
is believed, by an individual who has had several years 
of practical experience, to be of much importance to the 
silk grower. It has at least simplicity, cheapness and 
convenience to the operator, if not the health and pro¬ 
ductiveness of the insect for its recommendation. 
The frames of the shelves should be six feet long, and 
from three to four broad; they may be made of common 
pine boards sawed into strips about 2^ inches wide; set 
the pieces of which the frames are to be made, up edge¬ 
wise, halving the stuff at the ends which are to be joined 
together, and a nail driven into each piece will hold 
them sufficiently firm; mason’s common lath should then 
I be nailed across the bottom of the frame, from 2J to 3 
inches apart, and the shelf is ready for use. A common 
pine plank sawed through the middle both ways, will 
make four upright pieces, which should be placed in a 
row six feet apart, to suit the length of the building; one 
end of the uprights to be nailed firmly to the floor, and 
the other to a cross piece over head. Nail the cleets up¬ 
on which the frames ai-e to rest to the uprights, the first 
two feet from the floor, the others, sufficient in number 
for four or five tier of shelves, one above the other, from 
15 to 18 inches apart; the latter distance is much to be 
preferred where there is sufficient room. 
The frames may now be placeil in their proper posi¬ 
tion between the uprights, resting upon the cleets, and a 
sufficient quantity of clean, straight straw, placed upon 
them to prevent the worms from falling through. Each 
of these frames will afford sufficient space for about 1,500 
worms. 
Mr. E. Morris, editor of the Silk Record, Burling¬ 
ton, N. T., an individual entitled to much credit for his 
praiseworthy efforts for the advancement of silk culture, 
was, I believe, the first in this country who recommend¬ 
ed feeding upon open shelves, of his own invention, of 
which the above may perhaps be considered a modifica¬ 
tion. He directed the worms to be fed on papers placed 
on tables, boards, &c., until their last moulting, and then 
to be placed upon the straw shelves, where they were to 
be fed until they spun their cocoons. This I consider a 
great error. I would reccommend as a matter of great 
importance, that the papers holding the young worms be 
transferred to the shelves within a day or two from the 
time they are hatched, so that the air from below may 
have a chance to dry the litter and prevent it from be¬ 
coming sour and moldy. This may be considered of 
vast importance to the health of the young worm, which 
if once deranged, there is little reason to believe will 
ever be restored. 
The worms should be fed on papers placed upon the 
straw, until their last moulting; after which, the papers, 
together with the litter, should be cleared away, and the 
worms spi’ead equally over the whole surface of the shelf. 
Removing the litter twice from worms fed according to 
the above directions, would be equivalent to removing it 
four if not six times in the ordinary way. 
After the worms are prepared for spinning their co¬ 
coons, which would be readily observed by an experi¬ 
enced feeder, five bundles of straw, about 20 inches in 
length and 4 inches in diameter, tightly bound with twine 
near one end, may be placed on each shelf, the end near¬ 
est the band on the shelf below, while the other is widely 
spread against the bottom of the shelf above. These five 
sheaves will receive and accommodate all of the worms 
that may be disposed to spin for the first two or three 
days, and will not litter the shelves so as to prevent the 
free circulation of aii’, or interfere with the convenience 
of feeding the residue of the vvorms not yet disposed for 
winding. After about one-half of the worms have mount¬ 
ed, for the accommodation of the remainder, oak branch¬ 
es and other green bushes may be used to fill up the in¬ 
termediate spaces between the bundles of straw, which 
will afford ample room for all to wind. About four days 
from the time the last have wound their cocoons, the 
whole may be gathered, the shelves removed, and the 
old straw cleared away, the cocoonery well swept, and 
the shelve^s replaced, ready for another crop. 
It is a matter of some importance in preparing the 
shelves, to have the bottom shelf four feet wide, and the 
succeeding ones above, made narrower, so that worms 
falling from the shelf above, may lodge on the one be¬ 
low, a distance not likely to in jui'e them. The top shelf 
should be about three feet in width. 
David Palmer. 
White Plains, Westchester co., JV. Y. 
REARING CALVES, &c. 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker —I maintain that the 
way nature points out for animals, is the most proper for 
them. At any rate, if a calf sucks from a cow half that 
she gives, it benefits him more than though the same be 
fed to him. Of this I am positive. We generally take 
a cow that gives a good mess, and let two calves suck 
her,.and they frequently get quite fat with this chance, 
seem to wean better, winter better, anf|kmake thriftier 
cattle than those we never let suck. Around the bars of 
the calf pusture, you can easily make a pen with four or 
five boards and a few stakes; stick the stakes one or two 
inches apart; put a pin through them for the board to 
rest on, so high that the calves can run under them. Let 
me use this pen, and you may use your stool, and I will 
feed ten calves my way, quicker and better than you 
would two the old way, by milking and feeding in a pail; 
and I think my cows would give the most milk too. A 
couple of calves striving to get more milk every time, I 
think would have a tendency to increase the quanfifjr, or 
else nature has not provided for this emergency as she 
has for other ones. 
The Swivel principle, on the end of a flail staff, works 
well when fixed in a workmanlike manner. Let the 
bolt go well into the staff, with one horse nail just below 
the ferule, and another near the end, crossing this at right 
angles; bolt and head lai-ge; wire large also, and smooth, 
so as to have the string last well, with but little play 
