THE CULTIVATOR. 
119 
are manufactured by women and children; they pass through 
several hands in the lubrication, and are yet sold at about 6d. per 
doz. It is stated that the number of women employed, during the 
season of this fruit, 'in marketing it in the metropolis, is not less 
than 2,000. __ 
fee ted by the peach worm, although his other trees have been se¬ 
riously injured by them. He sows early peas in his peach orchard, 
which his pigs consume upon the ground—keeps three feet ot sur¬ 
face about his trees loose and clean with a hoe, and puts a shovel 
full of leached ashes about each in the spring. 
Mangel Wurzel .—John Schmoldt has published, in the Far¬ 
mer and Gardener, some facts in regard to this crop, which pos¬ 
sess interest to those who cultivate and use it as cattle food. He 
states— 
1. That plucking the leaves, as has been often recommended, 
for cattle food, before the crop has attained maturity, is always 
prejudicial to the growth of the roots. Here experiments have 
confirmed what reason would dictate, that nature furnishes no 
more leaves than what are necessary for the plant. A square rod, 
where the leaves had been plucked, gave 1174 lbs roots ; and an 
adjoining square rod, on which the leaves had been left, gave 
157 lbs. Other experiments gave similar results. 
2. That a greater product is afforded when the plants are two 
feet apart than when they are one foot. 
That at 1 foot each way a square rod gave,.. 192 lbs. 
That at 14 feet each way a square rod gave,........... 235 lbs. 
That at 2 feet each way a square rod gave,... 305 lbs. 
This is owing to the roots growing larger at the greater distance. 
Here Chaptal’s remark occurs to us, that small beetroots contain 
double the per cent of sugar, and consequently of nutritious mat¬ 
ter, that very large roots do. And this reminds us too of a very 
dissimilar fact in regard to rata baga, viz., that the larger the 
roots of these the more they abound in nutriment. 
3. That it is difficult to preserve the roots during the winter. A 
little frost destroys them, and if in large masses, or in a damp or 
warm situation, they are subject to grow, or to spoil. 
4. That 45 lbs. mangel wurzel roots is equivalent, in nourish¬ 
ing properties, to 10 lbs. hay, and that consequently it is necessary 
to give daily 100 to 150 lbs. to fatten a bullock. The ruta baga, 
mangel wurzel and potato yield about the like nutriment to cat¬ 
tle. We have fed oxen two bushels a day, of the former, each 
for three months, with a little hay, and had them fatten well ; and 
some Scotch feeders have gone as high as four bushels a day to a 
fattening ox. 
5. That the mangel wurzel is liable to produce a surfeit, and to 
impair the digestive organs, if given in too great quantities, or 
continued for a long time. Hence hay, or straw, or other roots 
should be given with them. 
The foregoing facts are not given to discourage the culture, but 
to remove error. 
On a recent visit to a friend in Hartford, Conn, we had ocular 
demonstration of the influence of the stock upon fruit. Our friend 
had in his garden a pear tree bearing large summer fruit, which 
ere it was ripe became rotten at the core. The fruit being conse¬ 
quently worthless, he engrafted the St. Germain pear upon several 
of the side shoots, and the Vergalue upon the top. The effect has 
been, to enlarge the fruits last grafted, and to accelerate their ri¬ 
pening at least a month. The St. Germain, of which we took 
several, are of double the size of those grown on the tree from 
which the grafts were taken ; the Vergalue is somewhat increased 
in size, though deteriorated in quality, and one of the fruits which 
we ate showed a partial rottenness at the core. The effect of 
growing butter, or melting pears, on the quince, a practice ge¬ 
neral in France, is to impart more solidity to the flesh. These 
facts may become important, as they seem to suggest a new means 
of crossing fruits, by which the maturity of those that ripen too 
late for a northern climate may be accelerated ; and those which 
ripen too early for winter use, may be retarded in their maturity. 
The grape affords a good subject for experiment; and the Isabella, 
Catawba and Blands, may thus be brought to ripen their crops 
with more certainty, and in greater perfection among us. 
i The statistics of the Coal Trade in Great Britain will astonish 
those who do not appreciate its extent. The annual consumption 
of coal is stated at 12,000,000 chaldrons. Of this quantity three 
and a half millions of chaldrons are used in manufactories, chiefly 
to propel machinery, as a substitute for water power,—an expense 
we are likely to avoid from the extent of our hydraulic power. 
1,400 ships and 15,000 seaman are employed in the transportation, 
and 21,000 at the mines, upon the rivers Tyne and Wear alone. 
The coal fields of Durham and Northumberland are estimated at 
837 square miles. Of these only 79 miles have been excavated. 
The residue is estimated to furnish 6,046,320,000 tons a year for 
1727 years. But for her coal mines, the expense of fuel would 
form a serious drawback upon the profits of British industry. 
These facts should admonish the west, the far icest, to be provi¬ 
dent of its fuel. 
The Silk business .—Since the commencement of two or three 
periodicals specially devoted to the silk business, we have avoided 
publishing much on this subject, from a wish not to conflict with 
the interests of the proprietors of those papers. But the inquiries 
jand requests on this subject have so multiplied, that we propose 
to give, before the opening of another season, concise directions 
for the management of the whole business, from the planting of 
the seed of the mulberry to the completion of the cocoon. 
The importance of canals and good roads, and the value of ma¬ 
nures to agricultural prosperity, are strikingly illustrated in the 
following incident related by Chaptal. 
“ During a tour which I made with Bonaparte in Belgium,” says 
he, “ I heard him express to one of the council of a department, 
his surprise at the vast extent of waste land over which he had 
just travelled : he was answered thus : £ Give us a canal to trans¬ 
port our manures, aud to convey away our produce, and in five 
years this sterile country will be covered with crops.’ The canal 
was constructed and the promise realized in less than the required 
time.” 
Rheumatism .—A highly respectable correspondent in Massa¬ 
chusetts has requested us, from motives of philanthrophy, to pub¬ 
lish the following recipe for curing the rheumatism, the efficacy 
of which he has witnessed. We can only repeat to the afflicted 
his words—“ Try it ”—we do not think it can do harm, and it 
may do good. 
‘‘Take one gill of alcohol and one gill of spirits of turpentine 
—mix them in a bottle and add one ounce of camphor. Apply 
this compound by rubbing thoroughly with a piece of flannel the 
part affected, three nights in succession—then omit three—and so 
on till a cure is effected. It is a powerful medicine, and if it 
should affect the stomach, take a small quantity of brandy, gin¬ 
ger tea, or something of a like exciting nature.” 
The complete Farmer , and Rural Economist. —Mr. Fessenden, 
the compiler, has presented us witli a copy of the second edition 
of this work, which has been revised, improved and enlarged. 
This is rather a compilation than an original work ; but it is a 
compilation peculiarly adapted to the wants of the American far¬ 
mer—containing* the pith and marrow of what is most important 
to success in his business. We do not think a greater quantity of 
valuable instruction to the practical farmer, can be found com¬ 
bined in so small a space, or purchased at so low a price, as is 
offered in this volume. It is a duodecimo volume, of 370 pages, 
from the press of Russel, Odiorne & Co. Boston—price one dollar. 
We commend it to our patrons. 
The Peach .—A new method of propagating, and of preserving 
from the worm, this valuable tree, is published in the last Farmer 
and Gardener , by an Alabama correspondent. He makes 12 inch 
cuttings of the water sprouts, and inserts them 9 inches in well 
dug mould, between the middle of Nov. and 1st Feb. They 
mostly live and do well; and after four years trial, he declares, 
that not one of the many trees propagated in this way has been af- 
PARKER’S FARM GATE. 
We are induced to give a cut and description of this gate, and 
to commend it to the public, from a conviction, that if not the 
best, it is one of the best that we have ever seen. AVe saw it first 
figured and described in the American Farmer, and about six¬ 
teen years ago had a dozen of them made. They have been in 
use to this day, save one, some of the tenons of which have rot- 
