THE CULTIVATOR 
167 
£9% 
mm STARR’S WOBMH BOAR,—[Fig. 82 . 
Messrs. Editors —Agreeably to my promise, I send yon a cut 
of the Woburn Boar in my possession, which took the first prize 
at the last fair of the American Institute in New-York. This 
animal was imported from Woburn, in England, and is con¬ 
sidered by many judges of stock, to be the finest specimen 
of swine in the United States. Two members of the commit¬ 
tee, to award prizes on stock at the last Fair of the Ameri¬ 
can Institute, informed me since that they considered him a 
perfect animal, and could not point out a fault. By the way, 
these two gentlemen are not interested in any particular breed 
of swine. His measurement at twenty-two months old, was 7 
feet and S inches long, 6 feet 2 inches in girth, and 2 feet 3 1-2 
inches high; and he was supposed to weigh nearly seven hun¬ 
dred pounds. From the great difficulty of obtaining swine of 
this breed in England, few have been imported, and they are not 
extensively known in this country. . 
The Complete Grazier, (a work on live stock, published m 
London) says of the Woburn breed, “ This is a new variety, in¬ 
troduced by the late Duke of Bedford; its size is large,_ and 
color various. These swine are well_ formed, hardy, kindly 
disposed to fatten, attaining nearly twice the size and weight 
of other hogs, in a given period of time.” 
Rees’ Cyclopaedia describes them as “a hardy, well formed, 
prolific sort, rising quickly to a large weight.” 
An importation of Woburn swine was made several years 
since to Long Island, and they were nearly all destroyed by the 
burning of the barn in which they were kept. 
A gentleman in Connecticut had obtained some of that stock, 
and not knowing the name of the breed, called them Norfolk 
thin rind; they have been crossed with native stock, and are 
very celebrated in that section of the country. One was 
slaughtered last fall, fourteen months old, which weighed, 
when dressed, four hundred and eighty pounds. The steward 
of the Duke of Bedford, last spring informed Captain Morgan, 
of the London line of packets, that the Woburn hogs became 
so fat as to be objectionable on that account. In this coun¬ 
try, where Indian corn is used for making pork fat and solid, 
instead of barley and buckwheat, the objection of the Duke’s 
steward does not hold good, and if any farmer does not pre¬ 
fer fat hogs, he is welcome to propagate the Landpike and 
Alligator sort. 
If any of the readers of your paper, wish to obtain any pigs 
of the pure Woburn breed, they can be supplied by application 
to me. 
A considerable number of this stock have been forwarded to 
some of the Southern States, and have given great satisfaction. 
CHARLES STARR, Jr. 
Mendham, N. J., August, 1841. 
Silk Business in Ohio. 
Messrs. -Gaylord & Tucker —I am advised by our friend 
Judge Lane, of this place, and others who have witnessed our 
operations of late in feeding worms, and manufacturing sewing 
silk, to communicate to you for publication, a plain statement 
of facts, from our commencement in this business, until the 
present time. The improvement that we have made is con¬ 
sidered of great importance to our country. The article ac¬ 
companying this, with the certificates, were first intended for 
the Cultivator, but owing to the anxiety of a number of individ¬ 
uals in this place, it was published for the first time yesterday, 
in one of our newspapers. I forward you a copy, wishing it to 
be published in your next number. 
Norwalk, Ohio, Aug. 25, 1841. J. B. TILLINGHAST. 
This may certify, that four years have passed since I first 
commenced feeding the silk wotui, and have annually increased 
my stock of trees to half a million. Notwithstanding my suc¬ 
cess the three past seasons exceeded my expectation in this 
new branch of business, until the present season, I found some 
trouble and difficulty and much anxiety in the last stage of the 
worm before winding, which has led me to adopt a new mode 
of feeding. 
In the first place, in the old way of feeding a large crop of 
worms, directly after the fourth moulting, so much food is ne¬ 
cessary, that much hurry and confusion is unavoidable. And 
in the second place, much labor is required in frequent chang¬ 
ing, in order to keep them clean and healthy. And, thirdly, the 
difficulty of preparing, in proper season, suitable fixtures for 
making their cocoons agreeable to the natural instinct of their 
species. In taking all these difficulties into consideration, I 
finally came to this forcible conclusion;—unless some material 
change should take place in the management of the worm, in 
the manner of feeding, &c., this important branch of in¬ 
dustry could not well be carried on to much advantage in this 
country; therefore I ventured the following experiment: 
I feed my worms as formerly in onr nursery room, as we call it, 
about 20 by 40 feet, upon thin board shelves, two and a half feet 
by four, until they revive from their fourth moulting; at which 
time they are removed upon those shelves into the cocoon 
room with the litter that has accumulated since the third 
moulting. The said cocoon room is constructed long and nar¬ 
row, 140 feet long and 18 wide, and as low as will admit of con¬ 
venience. The frame of this building consists only of hewed 
posts and rafters, set six feet apart. The posts are well set in 
the ground and the common earth constitutes the floor. The 
feeding frame is four feet wide, to admit the feeding shelf the 
longest way, and extends the whole length of the room, except 
intermediate spaces for storage of foliage. This room is in¬ 
tended to feed, by cutting whole trees, from one to six feet in 
length, by laying them upon the worms with their foliage. The 
feeding frame is suspended from the rafters about three feet 
from the ground, and one tier of frames on each side, two feet 
from the wall, which leaves six feet alley through the middle, 
sufficient for a hand-cart to pass with foliage. Two tier of side 
boards, hung with leather hinges the whole length of both sides 
constitute both doors and windows, and admit of both light and 
air; the lower one is hung close to the ground and opened for 
the passage of the litter, which is very soon removed with a 
hoe or rake. The feeding frame is made of sawed stuff, one 
and a half inches by three, and moveable slats of about one inch 
square, placed at suitable distances to support the trees and 
worms as they rise from the shelf below, which is supported by 
buttons: as soon as the worms leave the shelf, it is let down 
to the ground with the litter. The worms are left with a free 
circulation of air, and their excrement falls away from them to 
the ground. The trees are crossed when laid on, which makes 
a most suitable place for their winding, and remarkable for 
their being formed single, and less floss than any other fixture 
I ever saw. 
Actual experience has demonstrated the present season, that 
two hundred worms can be well fed upon every square foot of 
this frame, and if the whole should be filled at once we should 
have 200,000 to finish their work every two weeks, and the 
whole feeding and attendance may be conveniently done with¬ 
out hurry or any difficulty with the help of two me* and two 
boys, ten years old, to pick leaves, gather cocoons, &c. 
I believe it to be a safe and prudent calculation, from what 
we have done and are now doing, with the help we now have, 
that in three months’ time 1,000,000 of worms may be well car¬ 
ried through. As we have had worms hatching about every day 
since we commenced the present season, and consequently 
some winding continually, we are quite certain of success with 
every brood we hatch, if we know our eggs to be from a healthy 
stock and in good condition. This is all important to every 
silk grower. We are daily witnessing the great contrast. Eggs 
from selected cocoons of our own raising have done remark¬ 
ably well through the season, from hatching and winding, and 
those we obtained, that were not selected, more or less died in 
their periods of moulting, and some would die just before 
winding. 
We have good reason to believe that the principal cause of 
many failures may be attributed to the care of selecting or 
manner of preserving. We are now selecting our best cocoons 
for our own stock of eggs for the next season, and contemplate 
to feed 2,000,000 from five acres of trees. 
From the commencement, I have calculated to reel our own 
cocoons as soon as practicable for the manufactories. 
In visiting reeling establishments, where water is heated by 
steam, I thought I observed the difficulty attending it, by heat¬ 
ing with charcoal in furnaces. I concluded to try another ope¬ 
ration, by making a wooden box of 2 inch plank, perfectly 
tight, by making use of sheet iron for the bottom. Said box is 
4 feet long, 2 feet wide, and 1 foot deep. This constitutes the 
boiler, set on a brick arch, with a flue connected with the flue 
of the chimney. My small filature consists of three of the Pied¬ 
montese Reels and one spinning machine of three spindles, 
which, with the boiler and apparatus for heating water in the 
reeling pans, are all situated in a common dwelling room of 16 
feet square. I have a wooden trough, made of 2 inch plank, 9 
feet long, 16 inches wide, and-10 inches deep, raised 2 feet from 
the floor, tin pans with partitions fitted to the inside of the 
trough, of convenient length for each reeler. A two inch tin pipe 
is started from the top of the boiler through the plank and is 
carried over the top to the bottom of the trough, running four 
times the length, under the pans, and out at the bottom through 
the ceiling outside : also, another pipe for letting off the water 
from the trough. 
The same water may be used several days without changing; 
and in about one hour from the time the fire is started under 
the boiler, the water is heated by steam the right temperature 
for common reeling, and continues to keep its temperature with 
very little tending. It answers the purpose intended admirably. 
In five weeks from the time the eggs are hatched, the silk is 
converted into sewing, not much inferior to the best Italian. 
We expect the foregoing improvements will soon be patented. 
We are very much gratified with the token of approbation re¬ 
ceived from our numerous visitors, and yet would be pleased 
to wait on all as far as our time will allow, and spare no pains 
to impart information in this business, as far as we find our¬ 
selves in possession. 
Norwalk , Aug. 16,1841. J. B. TILLINGHAST. 
All communications by mail, for information, must be post 
paid. _ 
Farmers, cut your Fodder. 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker— As the great mass of farmers m 
this vicinity appear to he ignorant of the advantages of making 
use of cut feed for their stock, I will give you the outline of my 
experiment this season, hoping that it will be the means of in¬ 
ducing many others to make a trial. It was sometime in Febru¬ 
ary last, that I procured an improved Straw Cutter, (Gibson’s 
Patent) and having a quantity of rye straw, and knowing I 
should be short of hay, I concluded by making the best use I 
could with my straw, I could with little labor make a saving 
equal to a ton of hay, worth $15; and thus save more than one 
half the expense of the machine this season. But the result is 
much more favorable, for in addition to my rye straw, I had 
about three tons of coarse fodder, consisting of different pro¬ 
portions of swamp hay, rye, wheat, buckwheat, and pea straw, 
to this mixed mass I added as I cut it, about one-fourth part 
good hay. I fed this to my cattle, (15 in number,) just as it 
came from the machine; they fed on it with a good relish, ap¬ 
peared satisfied, and rather improved in condition. Instead, 
therefore, of saving only half the expense of my machine, I 
have saved more than the first cost, ($20,) and had I obtain¬ 
ed one last fall, it would have saved more than $50. 
I verily believe that one-third more stock might be kept on 
farms generally by our would be economical farmers turning to 
good account all their coarse fodder. By obtaining a good ma¬ 
chine, I have saved three tons of good fodder which otherwise 
would scarcely have been worth three hundred of good hay. 
To my team horses, one span, I give 20 quarts ground oats 
with as much cut straw as they will eat; they prefer this feed 
to clear oats, and are in first rate working order. The length I 
cut my straw, See. is three-fourths of an inch, although I see no 
objections to cutting it longer for cattle. Brother farmers, are 
not these things worthy your attention? Will you try the expe¬ 
riment? Purchase some good machine; every farmer ought to 
have one. RICHARD FISK. 
Bennington, Vt. May 15, 1S41. 
Hydraulics for Farmers. 
In the 47th vol. and 7th page of this paper, I made a communi¬ 
cation, setting forth the great “Importance of water in cattle 
yards,” and gave a description for a simple apparatus for con¬ 
veying water from a small stream, lying 50 feet below and 40 
rods distant from my house. Further experience only convinces 
me of its great benefit and importance; and the object of this 
communication is to introduce a new and very superior double 
action forcing pump, manufactured and erected for me, by 
Messrs. Tucker & Richmond, of Troy, N. Y. who I most wil¬ 
lingly recommend to those persons who feel desirous of procuring 
a good and substantial article for raising water, either by wa¬ 
ter, wind, animal or manual power. 
They are also about manufacturing a new lift pump for wells, 
which, from the specimen shown me, in course of completion, ap¬ 
pears to be a very efficient, and from the manner of its construc¬ 
tion I should think, durable one. The working part is of metal, 
and placed in the well below frost. 
The forcing pump I first put in operation was cheap and sim¬ 
ple ; yes, too cheap, and so simple it was rather troublesome 
to repair when deranged. One difficulty was the connexion of 
the pump with the discharge pipe, which was effected by means 
of a leathern hose secured by winding a cord tight around it, 
instead of being coupled with screws. The simplicity of wind¬ 
ing and unwinding the cord when it is necessary to take it 
up and put it down again is tedious and troublesome, and 
the hose laying constantly in the water requires to be repaired 
from three to four times in the course of the year. 
Before engaging my present pump, I made a visit to Winthrop 
Phelps, Esq. in Chatham, who has in successful operation, a 
very superior apparatus, which is also figured and described 
in the 11th number of the 7th vol. of this paper. This appa¬ 
ratus was furnished by D. L. Farnam, Esq. of New.York, the 
inventor of the pump, but was erected by Mr. Richmond, one 
of the above firm, who was then in the employ of Mr. Farnam. 
Mr. Phelps awards to Mr. R. the credit of arranging and erect¬ 
ing his apparatus; is well satisfied with its operation; does not 
regret the expense, and would not be deprived of it for any con¬ 
sideration whatever—in short, would hardly know how to get 
along without it. It has been in operation nearly two years and 
never been out of order or ceased to work well, until a few 
days before I was there, when he was obliged to put new leath¬ 
ers on the piston, which he said took him from fifteen to twenty 
minutes. 
I was delighted with its operation and surprised to find how 
small a quantity of water, when properly applied, (all of 
which would apparently pass through a two inch tube with but 
little pressure,) it requires to force water 35 feet high and 40S 
feet distant. The waterwheel is 9 feet in diameter, and th« 
buckets 12 inches wide. The pump is worked by means of a 
crank, which is attached to the end of the shaft, and the whole 
so well adjusted, and works so still, that, standing outside of 
the building, one would not mistrust it was in operation. 
The pump I have now in operation is of the same size and 
construction as the one of Mr. Phelps, and is worked by a very 
poor wheel, being only two feet and eight inches in diameter- 
buckets twelve inches long with ahead of only three feet, (all the 
water that runs on to the wheel passes through a round tube 
three inches in diameter,) and throws up about 2000 gallons per 
day into the reservoir, from which my house, stable and poultry- 
yard, as well as my cattle-yard, sheep-yards, and piggery, ara 
abundantly supplied, and the waste water passing off into a lot 
which was heretofore without water. 
It has been suggested that lands favorably situated may b® 
irrigated by means of one of these pumps. 
C. N. BEMENT. 
Three Hills Farm, Sept. 4, 1841. 
Beast's Tails. 
There are several chapters on the subject of sheep, over th*> 
signature of L. A. Morrell, in the June number of the Cultiva 
tor. I am pleased with his theory of “humanity to brutes,’ 
and commend him for his “merciful kindness.” Every opera 
tion necessary I would have performed in the most tender man 
ner. But as to his cutting off' lamb’s tails “as short as possi 
hie,” &c., “ to prevent the trouble of tagging,” I protest against 
it as unnecessary and useless. I keep sheep, and the wool that 
grows on their tails will pay all the expense of tagging for thf 
year. I would ask Mr. Morrell whether it was the same “ Go< 
of nature that provided the animal for our use and benefit,” 
that gave the brute a tail to brush the flies and secure the ten 
der parts from the burning sun and wintry blasts ? If it was, 
for Heaven’s sake, for decency and humanity sake, let the crea 
ture wear its tail. “What looks more ungenteel and absolute 
ly vulgar than a sheep” Avithout a tail? Witness the horse,- 
Avith a long floAving tail provided by a kind Providence to pro 
tect, balance, and form a useful part. Then see him with one- 
half of it cut off, and the other part of it cut half off in several 
places, leaving a trembling stump—for Avhat, except to gratify 
a jockey’s fancy? Then see how it detracts from his comfort, 
beauty and strength. See the handsome curl in the hog’s tail! 
It is the only sure sign he exhibits that he is thriving; but many 
are cut off to gratify a superstitious Avhim. C. BLISS. 
Norwich, Ct., JulySl, 1841. 
Relief of Choked Cattle. 
Messrs. Editors—H aving by accident discovered a Avav to re¬ 
lieve cattle when choked by attempting to sAvalloAv too large 
a piece of ruta baga, or other roots, I thought I Avould commu¬ 
nicate the process of relief to the Cultivator. Some tAvo or three 
years ago, my beef coav got choked Avith a turnep, and having 
tried the usual mode of pouring soft soap down her throat Avith¬ 
out the desired effect, I concluded to butcher her before the tur¬ 
nep had done its work ; she had fallen down before I could get a 
knife ready, so I took hold of the fore leg to turn her in abetter 
position for opening the veins in the neck, when I perceived that 
she was relieved and soon got up. I attributed it to draAving the 
fore leg forAvard and out from the body. 
I have recommended the same process to my neighbors, some 
of Avhom have tried it Avith complete success. I would suggest 
that each fore leg be pulled alternately. 
Yours respectfully, DAVID F. LOTT. 
Newton , N. J. August 16, 1841. 
