24 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
either with or without an accompanying crop. Broadcast, and a very 
thin crop of winter rye, is most generally preferred in the United 
States; though drills, by enabling the cultivatorto keep out grasses 
and weeds, promises the greatest permanency to the crop. A gentle¬ 
man who has sown in drills, three feet apart, and cultivated alternate 
rows of mangel wurzel with the lucerne, speaks in high commendation 
of the practice. Arthur Young recommends drilling at nine inches. 
The quantity of seed, when the broadcast method is adopted, is from 
fifteen to twenty pounds; in the United States, sixteen pounds is the 
usual quantity,—and when drilled, eight to twelve pounds suffices. 
The ground should be perfectly pulverized, the seed put in with a fine 
harrow, and the operation of sowing finished with the roller. 
The after culture of lucerne, sown broadcast, consists in harrowing, 
in the spring, to destroy grass and weeds; rolling, after harrowing, to 
smooth the soil for the scythe, and such occasional top-dressing of 
gypsum, ashes, or rotted manure, as the plants may require, or the 
conveniencec of the farm best afford. The harrowing may commence 
the second year, and the weeds collected should always be carefully 
removed. In succeeding years two harrowings may be applied, one 
in spring and the other in the latter part of summer. If in drills, the 
crop must be kept clean by the hoe, drill-harrow, &c. Liquid manure 
from the cattle yard, is an excellent manure for this crop. 
The taking of lucerne, by mowing for soiling, or hay, or by teeth- 
ering, hurdling or pasturing, may be considered the same as for clo¬ 
ver. Lucerne frequently attains a sufficient growth for the scythe 
from the 10th to the 20th May; and in soils that are favorable for its 
culture, it will be in a state of readiness for cutting in the course of a 
month or five weeks longer, being capable of undergoing the same 
operation, at nearly similar intervals of time, during the whole of the 
summer season. In the United States, in a good soil, it maybe cut, 
for soiling, four, and sometimes five times, in the season. 
The application of lucerne, is with us generally for the purpose of 
soiling, with the exception sometimes of the last cutting. It is ad¬ 
vantageously fed in its green state to horses, cattle and hogs; but as 
a dry fodder, it is also capable of affording much assistance, and as an 
early food for ewes and lambs, may be of great value in particular 
cases. All agree in extolling it as food for cows, whether in a green 
or dried state; and it is said to be much superior to clover, both in in¬ 
creasing the milk and butter, and in improving its flavor. In its green 
state, care is necessary not to feed too much at a time, especially 
when moist, as cattle may become hoven or blown with it. It is a 
good precaution to cut it the day before it is used, and to let it. wilt in 
the swath. When made into hay, lucerne should never be spread 
from the swath, but managed as directed for clover. It may be hous¬ 
ed before it is perfectly dry, if it is alternated on the mow, with lay¬ 
ers] of straw, which imbibe the superabundant juices, and thereby 
become grateful and nutricious to the farm stock, when fed with the 
lucerne. 
Soiling is a term applied to the practice of cutting herbage crops 
green, for feeding or fattening live stock. On all farms, under cor¬ 
rect management, a part of this crop is cut green for the working 
horses, often for milch cows, even when at pasture, and, in some in¬ 
stances, both for growing and fattening cattle. On small farms, this 
crop is of immense advantage, as affording a ready substitute for pas¬ 
ture. 
The produce of lucerne, cut three times in a season, has been stated 
from three to five, and even eight tons per acre. In the first volume 
of the Memoirs of the Society for the promotion of Agriculture, Arts 
and Manufactures, in New-York, is the detail of various experiments 
made by the late Chancellor Livingston, with lucerne; and, one of the 
results gives twenty-five tons of hay, at five cuttings in a season, from 
an acre. In soiling, one acre is sufficient for five or six cows during 
the soiling season. One of our farmers has kept eight cattle, two ox¬ 
en and six cows, upon an acre of lucerne, during the season, with a 
range of three or four acres of pasture. Say, however, that the pro¬ 
duce is equal to a full crop of red clover, in value, then, if continued 
yearly for nine or ten years, (its ordinary duration in a productive 
state) at an annual expense of harrowing and rolling, and a triennial 
expense of top-dressing, it will be of sufficient value to induce farm¬ 
ers, who have suitable soils and climates, to lay down a few acres of 
this crop near their homesteads. 
To save seed, the lucerne may be treated precisely as red clover, i. e. 
obtained from the second cutting, or even the third, the crop being 
left to ripen its seed. It is easily threshed, the grains being contained 
in small pods, which readily separate under the flail, threshing ma¬ 
chine or clover mill. 
THE SILK BUSINESS.— {Concluded from page 5.) 
Having planted our trees, and got them under good way, and provid¬ 
ed a cocoonery, let us now look for our 
Eggs. —These are received densely clustered upon paper, where the 
parent moth has deposited them. It is well to remark here, that the 
product of these eggs, is a small caterpillar, which, after undergoing 
several metamorphoses, becomes again a moth, or sort of butterfly. 
“ The colour of the worm, for the first eight or ten days after hatching, 
is an obscure black. It casts its skin at stated periods, until it has at¬ 
tained its largest size, when it becomes yellow. It is about three 
inches long when full grown, covered with scattering hairs, and has a 
small fleshy tubercle on the upper end of .the last ring. After con¬ 
structing its cocoon, which is usually about the size of a pigeon’s egg, 
and similar in shape, it is transformed into a chrysalis, and subse¬ 
quently to a moth. After remaining in the cocoon about twenty days, 
it forces its way out, and dies immediately after depositing its eggs, 
to the number of five hundred or more, which are attached together 
I by a gummy substance. The several ages of the worm amount to 
thirty-two days, but have been known to extend to sixty.” 
“ It is time to hatch the egg when the mulberry leaves are about the 
bigness of the thumb,”—so says the maxim, and so says reason—for 
nature has fitted the young worms to subsist on the young leaves. 
Bring your eggs from the cellar, or wherever they have been deposit¬ 
ed for safe keeping; and expose them to the action of the air of the 
sitting-room. In a day or two, the worms will begin to appear, and 
must be immediately fed with the young leaves of the mulberry, which 
may be laid upon them, after being chopped fine. It is best to place 
each day’s hatching by themselves upon the shelves. They should be 
fed thrice a day with fresh, but dry leaves—neither wet nor wilted. 
To provide for wet days, pick the leaves when it is fair, and secure a 
supply in a glazed or other vessel in the cellar. Spread the leaves 
1 thin, and do not feed too much at a time. Particular attention must 
be paid to cleanliness, and the hurdles or shelves must be cleared at 
least after the four first moulti'ngs. 
| The silk-worm undergoes four changes, or moultings, at somewhat 
j irregular periods; and in feeding them, exercise the same judgment 
S that you would employ in feeding pigs or neat cattle—give them 
enough, but no more than what they seem to relish and will eat up 
j clean. We nevertheless subjoin a brief abstract of the rules which 
have been laid down for regulating the quantity per day, and every 
day. The estimate is calculated for the product of five ounces of eggs, 
175 to 200,000. 
1st day. 3| lbs. leaves, chopped, in four meals, at intervals of six 
hours, the smallest quantity first, and increasing. 
2d. 6 lbs. chopped, in four meals. 
3d. 12 lbs. do. do. 
4 th. 6£ lbs.—on the alleged ground, that as the appetite increases, 
the food should be diminished. 
5th. 1| lbs. chopped. The worms are torpid, and some begin to re¬ 
vive. This generally completes the first age. 
6th. 9 lbs. tender shoots, and 9 lbs. leaves. 
7th. 30 lbs. leaves, four meals, the two first the smallest. 
8th. 33 lbs. leaves, two first the largest. 
9th. 9 lbs. leaves. The worms sink into a torpor, being about to 
cast their skins. This completes the second age. 
10 th. 15 lbs. of shoots, and 15 lbs. of leaves. 
11th. 90 lbs. leaves, two first meals the smallest. 
12 th. 97 lbs. do. three first meals most plentiful. 
13Wi. 52£ lbs. do. the largest meal first. 
14 th. 27 lbs. do. and more if necessary. 
15 th. On this day, the worms arouse from their torpor, and accom¬ 
plish their third age. 
16th. 37s lbs. of shoots, and 60 lbs. of leaves. 
17th. 165 lbs. of leaves; two first meals the lightest. 
18th. 225 lbs. do. two first the lightest. 
19th. 255 lbs. do. the three first 75 each ; the last 45. 
20 th. 123 lbs. do. the first the most liberal. 
21st. 35 lbs. do. 
2 2d. The worms rouse this day, and accomplish their fourth age. 
23 d. We find, in our books, no quantity stated for the 15th or 23d 
days. 
2Ath. 270 lbs ; the first meal 52, and the last 97 lbs. 
25 th. 420 lbs; first meal 77, the last 120 lbs. 
2 6th. 540 lbs; first 120; last 150. 
27 th. 810 lbs; first 150; last 210. 
28th. 975 lbs; the last meal the most plentiful. 
29 th. 900 lbs ; the first the largest. 
30 th. 660 lbs; the largest meal first, 210 pounds, and gradually di¬ 
minishing. 
31st. 395 lbs; to be distributed as wanted. 
32 d. 240 lbs; to be given as wanted. This day the worms attain 
perfection, and prepare to wind. Some days previous to this, branch¬ 
es of chesnut, oak or hickory should be brought to the cocoonery, 
which should now be laid upon the shelves, and the worms will crawl 
upon them and form their cocoons. 
The reason for the inequality in the daily supply of food, is owing to 
the moulting, when the worms become dormant, and lose their appe- 
