Farmers' gazette, and Cheraw advertiser. (Cheraw, S.C.) 1839-1843, May 26, 1841, Image 1
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* VOLUME VI.
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T?*?:?Published weekly at fArec dollars a
,1"' ?1 ?:a ?:.l:_
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From the Journal of the American Silk
Society.
REELING SILK IN TENNESSEE,
flf the following letters from the Rev.
Mr. Ross, do not convince every reader
of the practicability of the silk culture in
this country, we know not what will.?
Those who doubt a9 to the reeling process
may find a good lesson here.]
Kinospobt, (E. T.) Feb. 22, 1841.
Gideon B. Smith, Esq:
^ Dear Sir,?I never felt so sanguine of
the silk culture as at this moment. There
is nothing now in the way of its immedi.
ate advance in East Tennessee, unless it
may be that slowness which seems inherent
in the motion of a farming people
to change their habits. I say there is
nothing note in the way?because, since I
recommenced reeling on the first day of
this month, my success is such, that 1 in.
tend to advertise to buy from 1 to 2,000
bushels of cocoons.
The great bugbear has been the reeling.
That question as to quality, I considered
settled by my experiments last
summer, although at a costly trial. Since
I have recommenced reeling, I deem the
question of quantity disposed of forever.
Presuming 1 should not be able to obtain
cocoons for more than two reels, until the
summer, I began with that number on
the first day of February. My cocoons
were very indilferent, with few exceptions,
some not yielding more than 8 oz. to the
bushel?none exceeding 14 oz. Part of
the time the weather has been very se- j
ere, filling my room with condensed
steam; nevertheless, I reeled, and two
hours after dark. Thus showing, what
was not believed, that reeling can be done i
alter night. Under these circumstances
my average has been between 9 and 10
oz. for each reel per day. This reeling
is better than the best average I saw oft
the books of the Model Filature in Philadelphia
last summer. The best average
I saw there, in three weeks work, was 10
1-2 oz. in long summer days too, and having
some, if not many, first rate cocoons,
?none of which I have. And I saw no
cocoons there, so bad as many of mine.
I think I will show one lb per day to each
^ reel, even with such cocoons as I have,
before the 1st of March. I have reached
14 1-2 oz. Now, my dear sir, do you not
say I have some reason to be pleased.
Many thanks to you for your encourage,
ment to perseverance. The cost of my
reeling is 2 shillings per day to each spinncr,
who finds herself. The flossing and
? turning the reel may be, together, 1 shilling
more, if hired, or nothing, if little
servants are employed. Before the 1st of
March, I will show, that without counting
interest on fixture, <5&c., which will be
a thing of nothing, I can exhibit beautifully
reeled silk, which cost me 2 shillings
?u?r lh. for reeling.
t*~ ? """
In a short time I think I shall have a
very convenient filature, and silk reels
enough, if I am sure of cocoons, to turn
off sufficient silk to redeem the hold promise
I made you last spring. Iam making
improvements in the saving of time, <fcc.
every day. The double strainer to each
pan I find works well.
Very respectfully,
Frederick A. Ross.
[We must apologise to our friend, Mr.
Ross, for the publication of both the preceding
and following letter. They were
not intended for publication, but they will
do more public good than private harm.]
Rotherwood, April 6,1841.
Gideon B. Smith, Esq:
Dear Sir,?Your esteemed favor of the
"21st of March, is to hand. Mr. Lynn, I
presume called on you, returning from
Philadelphia. We think exactly alike on
the subject of our national Independence.
?And I have always, before there was
any personal interest, been a tariff man;
my silk enthusiasm has hardly abated at
any time in six years. It is now higher
than ever. I delivered a lecture the other
day twenty miles frorr home in a courthouse,
and exhibited the model of a feeding
and spinning frame, which I carried
in my saddle-bags. I enclose you an advertisement
which I am spreading through
this county, and you will see from it that
the business is no child's play with me.
. It is no longer experiment. I want
nothing but the certainty of sufficient cocoons
to secure the fact of immediately
converting multicaulis leaves into Gold.
The victory is won. The people have
nothing to do but to secure it. Cocoons
can he made in this country for $1,25, and,
when labor is not hired, thousands will
say, as a roan said to my inquiry, 'what it
* %'<*
111v ?
qh^:
'I
| cost to make the five bushels he sold me.'
Tost?' said he. 'Yes,' said I, 'what did
the production of these cocoons cost you?'
'Oh I'saidL he, with surprise at my question,
'they cost nothing sir, my little
brothers and sisters made them, and their
1 labor would have been nothing otherwise.'
Tf 20 dollars bad fallen from the
clouds into that man's hand, he would not
i have had a clearer gain to his income
without additional expense. Thousands
will answer in-this spirit, ere long, I be>t
lieve.
My two reels are steadily at work.?
The silk reeled since 1st February
amounts to about 70 lbs. Some of it is
as good as they can reel in Piedmont, to
save their lives, (as the boys say,) and
the worst, many times better than any I
have seen from Smyrna, or Bombay.?
Up to last Saturday, two girls in 52 days,
all sorts of weather and cocoons, had
reeled 62 lbs of silk, without their being
pushed at all, and idling some of course.
They are singing half their time. I hear
them now. . And are delighted with their
work. The profit I am making at present,
is greater than I expected it to be.
I could make more money at reeling silk,
than any cotton plantation, or sugar, or
gold mine in *the United S atcs. The
girls in 52 days have reeled 62 lbs. of
silk. The cocoons cost me $186 00
The 2 girls wages, at 2 shillings each per
day, 36 33 1-3
Two reelers, at 1 shilling for the two per
day, m
(two children who tarn the afcpel,) 8 66 2-3
Flossing cocoons, at 12 1-2 cts, to the 1
J lb. of silk, 7 75
i 238 75
Price of 62 lbs. of silk, at $5,50, 341 00
Profit, 102 25
From which must be deducted interest
on fixtures expense of coal, water,
&c. After all of which is taken off*,
some of which would be onlv nominal,
* J
there is left a greater profit than I could
expect or desire on a large business.?
In my advertisement, you perceive I offer,
conditionally, 20 per cent, more than the
price now given, which, with the deduction
on the cotton yarn (to the farmers
as money) from the retail price, will overgo
$4, on a bushel, making a pound of
silk. It may he less on the inferior cocoons
per ounce. I shall probably pay
the equivalent to $4, per 16 oz., without
regard to my condition, since I have read
your letter.
I am fitting up my cocoonery to feed
with the branches, on the principle of Mr.
Morris, of Burlington, modified. I dispense
with his spinning frame as he has
it horizontal aoove each feeding frame,
and have it perpendicular between the
two shelves which form one row. I have
no apron or shelf to catch the litter, that
mav riddle through to the ground.
We talked about this, and you thought
there was no need of any thing to catch
the litter. The whole affair is very
cheap, and I intend to give it a fair trial;
my first crop will be 500,000. I kill
tbe chrysalis (which I forgot to tell you,)
in a house, such as is used for drying
fruit. It costs but a trifle, and in one
night the work is done, and well done,
j I want nothing else, neither for speed,
cheapness, or perfect work.
I have scribbled this in a great hurry.
But being on my hobby, I have kept
him going. Oh ! the best reeler in Philadelphia,
wrote to me last mail, she would
come to Tennessee if I said so, I will say
nay, I will not insult my Hawkins courtty
girls by an instructress, who knows no
more than they do, after they have learnt
i themselves, with mv instruction, second,
hand from yon. Mr. M. of B. says he
stopped for the cold weather. I reeled
when the thermometer was nearly at zero;
and two hours after night besides,
every night until 1st March. But I must
dismount. Very respectfully,
Frederick A. Ross.
P. S. I forgot to say, I reeled my
pound to the reel in the day as I promised
you, and I wish I could send you one
of the hanks- The cocoons wero fine,
and the silk is beautiful, like threads of
silver, and as rven and smooth as glass.
That best day's work as to quantity, is
not surpassed by any other in quality.?
And that day's work can be done any
time with such cocoons, and more than
that, although the average is nothing like
it in quantity. The cocoons are indifferent.
F. A. R.
[We must remind the reader that the
trirls who reeled the silk for Mr. Ross,
CP
had never seen a cocoon or a reel, till last
fall; that they learned to reel under Mr.
Ross' direction, from instructions given
in the Silk Journal; and to this day have
never seen a foreign reeler or a thread of
?
foreign reeled silk.?Ed.]
From the Western Farmer & Gardener.
silk.
Mt. Pleasant, March 10,1S41.
To Mb. : Dear Sir.?Mr. Gill
has just handed me yours of the 10th, and
I feel unspeakable pleasure in answering
you. I am always willing and ready to
give that information necessary to the ad
* *
jjHf$
Mm tem
RAW. SOUTH-OAKOLINi
ft
?????????????
vancement and final prosperity of th? silk
business in this country. After being engaged
in the silk business for the last 40
years, in London, Economy, Pa., and Mt.
Pleasant, in all its various branches, standings
and bearings, I flatter myself my remarks
may be taken as facts, founded on
a long and chequered experience. After
the pertinent and judicious remarks made
by G. W. Gill upon silk raising, and published
in th* Western Farmer and Gardener,
I should betray weakness were I to
add any thing relative to that department.
Still, as a pioneer in the silk business, I
have many opponents to combat with,
and much prejudice to remove, that stand
as barriers to its more extended opera*
tions. Many good but mistaken gentle,
men hav&said to me, "What is the use of
raising kirn in this country? we can never
get rt wove as in France and England."
I would invite those gentlemen to come
to Mt. Pleasant and see six looms in opei.
ation on plain silks, flowered silks, silk vel?
vet, dec., dec. From this place I would
entreat them totake a trip to George Rapp's
establishment, Economy, Pa , where my
son superintends, and behold what an
eminence they have arrived at. Neither
France nor England can surpass their
machinery or silk fabrics. About four
years back I put in action for them 2
looms, silk velvet and hat plush; now they
have 6; and 18 months back there was
not a loom in Mt. Pleasant, and now 6.
Surely this must convince the most perverse
and obstinate mind, of the practicability
of weaving up our own raising.
What has been done here and at Economy,
can be done almost anywhere in the
Union. We have lately purchased a considerable
quantity of reeled silk from G.
G. Stockly, Esq., of Cleveland, Ohio; his
production speaks volumes of praise upon
his exertions. We have purchased considerable
quantities from various parts,
but his exceeds all. For 30 years in
England, I have had puss through my
hands from 200 to 250 lbs. of silk weekly,
(I appeal for the truth of this to Wm.
Orange, Esq. of Cincinnati!,) from a
Bengal single, to a Piedmont; and I do
not hesitate in giving the preference to
the Cleveland produce. Upon the whole,
from what we have raised ourselves and
bought of others, I am constrained to give
the decided preference to the American
silk; and when the worms are fed upon
the Italian or Multicaulis mulberries, the
silk excels all I have seen from France,
China, Italy or Piedmont, in scent and
brilliancy. I am aware the loss of scent
or fragrance in England, may beaccouuted
for by the length of voyage and the
silk oftentimes exposed to the saline air;
but the brilliancy I believe is peculiar to
America alone. This ought to be a great
encouragement to those who have commenced,
to persevere, and an inducement
to others to begin, knowing ultimately it
will be a source of wealth to this country;
and if our State Legislatures will give the
silk raisers their smiles and encouragement,
and Congress will afford its paren
* ? Li i. P
tal protection, we nave nnugiu 10 iear
from any foreign competitor, or competitors.
Let them try their worst, or do
their best, they never can compete with
us. I am happy to find you are about
commencing this season; I wish you, sir,
success and prosperity, and have no douht
of it; for success is sure, if conducted in
a proper manner.
We purchase cocoons to any amount,
provided the chrysalis is killed by suffocation,
either by camphor, carbonated gas
from charcoal, or sulphur; the latter I prefer,
as sulphur is congenial to silk, and it
is done much quicker and cheaper,?great
injury has been done to good cocoons by
baking them and steaming; the former
draws out the staple from the silk?the
latter causes it to flake off when reeling.
This ought to be universally known.?
Cocoons perforated by the miller, doubled
and indented, are useless tc us,?reeled
silk we also buy; but the article we want
for satins, velvet, dec., must not exceed
from 8 to 10 fibres. All our own
silk we reel, we never suffer more than 6
to 8, for one thread: for this kind of silk
we give the Phila. price?from #5. 50 to
$6. 000 per lb, 16 oz. Cocoons, as before
named, $4. 00 per bushel; if flossed,
the measure struck off; if not, piled up in
the form of a cone. We have not yet
concluded as respects having an agent in
Cincinnatti, but as we think of increasing
the number of looms shortly, we shall establish
something of the kind you name.
But this need not be any hindrance, as we
are constantly receiving from all parts,
cocoons packed in flour barrels, directed,
to John Bayne, Esq., Portland, near Warren,
Jefferson Co., 0., for G. W. Gill.
Portland is on the river bank, 7 miles
from Mt. Pleasant. Mr. Gill's wagons
go to that place every day, and bring home
what's there. When you first start,
probably vou may not be able to reel so
fine as I have described. Should the silk
be fuller, we will purchase it, say 84. 50,
to 85. 50, as the silk may turn out,?we
have no eggs to spare, as we intend this
season to raise 2 million of worms?the
single crop worm, will only produce 1
crop, but the 2 crop worms, 2 crops, probably
3; but the latter crop is not of much
account.?I strongly recomment Dennis's
Silk Manual to your notice; it is the most
concise and judicious treatise I have seen:
the price is 25 cts. We expect some on
for sale shortly. The spaco for worms is
entirely discretional, as some worms are
w m\rm
+ i
*.'^00^ ,* *. .%
- t
fc, WEDNESDAY, MAY I
ssg= . '" '"' "
much larger than others; hut there is
nothing lost by giving plenty of foom:
keep them clean, well ventilated, and never
touch them with the hand If possible.
I recommend the Burlington feeding
frame above all others. Thus, sif, I have
endeavored to answer your inquiries; any
further information you need* dent be
backward to write. I have upon the average
8 letters to answer every week,
from Nashville to Maryland. Every state
almost, seems alive to the silk business.
Any remarks you may see calculated to
encourage and stimulate, or the whole if
you please, is at your disposal to publish
in the Western Farmer; my respects to
those gentlemen the editors. Yours.
JOHN FOX.
**
Ventral Hernia in the Horse.
BY JOHN TOMBS, E8Q., V. 8., LATE BENGAL
ARTILLERY.
On perusing M The Veterinarian" for
December last. I observed a case of Hern*
ia, unsuccessfully operated upon by Mir.
Rush. I deeply regret that the operation
was a complete failure, as it was undoubtedly
performed in a surgeon like and
scientific manner : but the impression on
my mind is, that this method of reducing
ventral or umbilical hernia is attended
with imminent danger. Those deep sutares
unquestionably cause a great degree
of inflammation in the surrounding parts,
and the peritoneal liming of the abdomen
must sometimes necessarily become involved
in the inflammatory action caused
by them, which invariably terminates in
death. If the peritoneum escapes, the
muscular parts and integuments may frequently
become gangrenous, the result of
which is well known: and lastly, extensive
sloughing may take place, so as to admit
a protrusion of the intestines, which
equally endangers the life of the patient.
I am not aware of any case doing well
after this kind of operation has been performed,
with the exception of the M old
black mare," so cautiously and skillfully
operated upon by Mr. Simonds, which redounds
greatly to his well-earned fame in
the veterinary world, and that of Mr.
Hickman.
I have met with many cases of punctured
wounds of the abdomen, where the
intestine has protruded. After replacing |
the pqrtion of gut, I brought the lips of the |
wound in contact by means of superficial
sutures, never introducing the needle deeper
than the first layer of muscular fibres.
Peritonitis and gangrene took place in
some; but by far the greater number recovered.
' A fter condemning one method of operating,
it becomes me to point out a saf?
?:? r - . . u..?
er. a more ocieniiui; unu i cauuui, uut
I think I can a less dangerous one, and
that is an object of great consideration to
the practitioner who has reputation at
stake, and to the owner of the animal
likewise. The operation I allude to is, I
believe, attended with invariable success.
It was practised hy the farriers of old, and
is so to the present day by many skillful
veterinary surgeons, and very many sow- ]
gelders. My late lamented father and
uncle, and Mr. Rawlins, the well-known
cattle practioner of Milton, in Oxfordshire,
also my brother, and myself have operated
upon vast numbers of colts annually ;
and I unhesitatingly assert, that nineteen
out of twenty do well after it. I only
knojv'one case of tetanus occasioned by the
operation, which I am about to describe.
The animal seldom undergoes any preparation,
being only fed sparingly for a
day or two previous. He is cast on his
back ; the operator returns the bowel, and
gathers in his hand all the loose integument
over and for a considerable distance {
round the hernia. He then pushes three
or four iron skewers, about six inches
long, transversely through the skin, and
one or two longitudinally, over the
hernia, and a strong cobbler's end is tied
under the skewers, and drawn very tight.
The skewers are next twisted round with a
pair of pincers, otherwise the points
would penetrate the skin #f the adjacent
parts of the abdomen when the animal lies
down. The patient is then liberated, and
kept short of food and w?||er for a few
days.
Active inflammation is set up in the
parts, and the aperture is very soon filled
in milk nra nnln tinn In aknnf ton rlnVQ
up mm giuuuiaiiwui tu auvui ?v?
or a fortuight the integument, skewers,
and ligature all slough off together, a formation
of new skin takes place over the
granulated surface, and the animal has
then unrestrained freedom.
In the autumn of 1839 I operated upon
a filly, by Safeguard, out of a half bred
mare, three and a half years old. It was
an unusually large umbilical hernia, the
length of which was five inches, breadth
in the middle two inches, and at each end
oue inch. The portion of protruded gut
would have filled a half pint cup. She
was kept on brans and slops for a week.
Very little swelling ensued. She was
neither bled, physicked, nor lotioned.
Sloughing took place in ten days, and
she was turned out in a fortnight after the |
operation, cured.
The Worcestershire fox-hounds threw
off in the beginning of last December at
Lord Coventry's seat, Seven Bank, and
found a fox in a piece of gorse near the
far-famed Perton Pool. They had a tremendous
burst for about three miles. I
was with them, and had the gratification
of seeking this same filly, ridden by Mr.
Williams, jun., trainer, who was up at the
#
St
26, 1341.
1 = "" t111 . .
Check, during which time he rode over
three or four stiff round cut hedges, and
she cleared them in good style* She was
recognised by several old sportsmen, who
were deterred from buying her when she
had heftiia, thinking she would be useless *
to hunt or breed Irom. They congratub fi
atedmeodmy success in reducing the
hernia, at the same time stating they had P
thought that it Was morally impossible to 'a
do so. No person can now see thai she 11
has ever had hernia* Her owner was 1
offered fifteen pounds for hef previous to w
the hernia being reduced, and since that ci
time he has been offered forty.five guine* ti
as. I think in another year she will t<
prove an out 'and-outer, or, in other n
words, a star of the first magnitude in the p
chase. ?
I omitted to mention before, that the ^
rupture was observed when she was six ^
weeks old. .. ^
I must now bring this rambling letter
to a conclusion thinking that I have written
sufficient to Convince any incredulous ?
. . . i t* a! L!.L f II
person that tne mode ot operation wmcii 1
advocate is preferable to that of Messrs.
8imondsand Rash, inasmuch as it is attended
with less danges : nevertheless, I
shall be most happy to bear of success at
all times attending the modes of operating
pursued by them or by others.
BY MB. JOB* KENT, V. S., BRISTOL.
Having read Mr. Rush's report qf the
fatal results of operating for hernia, and
having, in the course of my practice, treated
a considerable number of cases with
uniform success, I am induced to report
my plan of treatment.
Prior to my become pupil at the Veterinary
College, I had seen hernia cured
by passing a strong pin through a portion
of skin over the part, and tying a string
round it so tight as tocause it to slough,
inferring from this that the hernia was
reduced by the pressure produced, and the
lesion healed by the adhesive inflammation
excited. When I commenced practice
on my own account, I applied a blister
over the part, and when the inflammation
produced by the blister was sufficiently
subsided, I put on a pich piaidter,
and over that a slight bandage, and have
ever since adopted the same plan. Colts
at grass I have let remain out during the
whole time; but with horses in the stable,
I first purge the animal, and keep it on
com alone.
I have recently had a case of hernia
in the linea alba, about an inch from the
prepuce, and in length about four inches.
The animal left my stable in December
last, and is now well. j
In cases where the opening a as small,
I have succeeded by repeated blisters, ,
without further treatment, a lew years ,
ago another practitioner was applied to (
in a case of scrotal hernia in a sucking
colt; but, he expressing fear of medling
with it, I was sent for by the owner to
castrate it. On my arrival, I found that
the testicles were not descended into the <
scrotum, which was very much distended. <
I directed the colt to be weaned and kept i
badly, in order to make it pot-bellied, j
with the view that the centre of the belly
should be lower than the opening leading
to the scrotum, and blistered the scrotum ]
with tinct. lytf? once a fortnight. With. {
out any other treatment it got well.
The Veterinarian.
New Tomato.?The botanists of the '
exploring expedition have discovered a
new species of Tomato at the Figit '
which is said to be much superior to the >
kinds formerly known, in flavor, and luxuriousness
of growth. We should like i
to have some of the seed, as we esteem |
this one of the finest vegetables of the <
garden.?Ag. ,
Hard to beat.?Mr. Christopher |
Brooks, of Nashville, owns a cow which
brought forth a fine healthy calf on the
5th of March, 1841, and on the 17th of
the same month another equally vigorous. 1
Both these calves, dropped bv the same (
cow in twelve days of each other, at the i
last account, were healthy and thriving <
well. If any body's cow can excel this i
in bringing calves in quick succession we
would be pleased to know it.?75.
To cure gapes iw Chickens.?Maj. 1
Chandler, of Davidson, who is one of the
most successful chicken growers of all
the country, and who is a gentleman of
very superior acquirements on most sub*
jects, says the gapes can bo prevented in
young chickens by the following simple
precaution:?Keep iron standing in vine*
gar, and put a little of the liquid in the
food every few days. From the confidcnce
we have in the Major's experience
we are free to recommend the remedy.?
lb.
Orchard Grass.?Z. Cone says, in
the New Genesee Farmer, that a moist
rich loam is the best for this grass ; that
.the best time for sowing the seed is the
middlo of July to first of August. He
succeeds in sowing it in the spring with
oats not sown thick. He obtains 13 or
20 bu8hcl8of this grass seed from an acre,
cradling the grass the same as wheat.
The editor of the Maine Cultivator has
received,a pair of M Large hens," from
Russia- siad to be prolific layers,and ex*
cellent poultry.?Chanticleer can stand '
by the side of a flour barrel and eat corn
with ease from the top. I'
. S
^ w
f ' *
*ft*
' * _
"1 't *
NUMBER 3B
From the Baltimore Cultivate*
Pies.
Franklin, April S3d, 1881.
*o the Editor ff thr Cultivator :
Sir; in your paper of the 18th of April
read an account of a lot of remarkably
ne pigs raised in Wattertown, which
ut me in mind of my pigs which I raised
ust season. I had a sow which (bought
ie eight pigs the sixth day of March 1840*
'he sow was my common breed crossed
ith the Berkshire which made wilt #0
ailed half breed Berkshire pigs. By the
me they were six months it was repor*
;d by one and another that I hod got the
andsomest litter of pigs that could be
rfidudfed in the county of Norfolk^ A
reat many persons from various pdrte of
be country called to see them in the
Lutumffr partly t rapppeu* ceoujU-of C.
be breed as they had been' lately intro.
uced into the vicinity. They ail agreed
n one point that they were the finest
itter of pigs they ever saw* and some of?
ered tobetJthat there could not be produced
crmany handsome pigs in one pen in the
ounty of Norfolk* I killed seven of them
rhen they were nine months and one day
>ld, and the average weight was 392 lbs*
kept the remaining one till it was elevn
months and two days old, aud it
veighed 3301be. We thought the one Ure
cept was a little heavier than the other
vould average, hut &9 near as we could
:alcula*e it gained about 11.21b per day
ifter we killed the others. My mother -
11 ways tofd me when I used to raise pouL
ry, not to reckon chickens before they
vere hatched; you may say I have forgdt*
on that precept, but 1 have something fd
nake my colculations from, and I shall
ihow you that my pigs on a very modetif
ite calculation, if I had killed a tittle less
:han a year old, would have far outstripped
;he famous Wartertown pigs as to Wtiight)
ind as to beauty it was thought by good
udge9 they equalled any that could he
produced. Now at nine months old
they weighed 232 and if they had gained
but one pound a day, and not a pound
and a half as the other did they would
b&ve wighed at less than a year old 319
or 15 lbs. apiece but supposing I had
kept them all and they had gained equal
Lo the one I did keep, they would have
weighed 350 or 60 pounds apiece at lesa
than a year old.
The Wartertown pig* averaged about
309 pounds and probably they were a selected
lot and not all of one litter.
You will percieve that part of rayeom*
munication is stated on facts and part on
supposition,and you can publish a pallor
the whole, or throw it under the table.
Yours respectfully,
WHITING METCALF.
P. S. I have a sow which brought me
" 4* .1 It 1 I * M.I
sight pigs three tourtns nerKsnire tne^otn
3f Feb., I think as handsome as time
we re last year, and it is possible you may
tiear more about them next winter.
? W. M.
Legislators sometimes lay bills "on the
table" and some ought to go under the
table, but such bills as the above should
never be treated in that manner.
We find many hogs at a year and a
half old weighing less than four hundred
weight, and a . pig of nine month* old
weighing 2321bs.. must have been well
tended and of a good stock.
We have long thought it a vicious practice
to depend on droves from the country
for shoats. If we would raise our own,
we could improve the breed and save our
cash. We have never made so much
money by fattening purchased shoats as
we have by raising shoats for sale or for
breeders.
'j
There are various opinions respecting
the Berkshire breed of hogs?but there
can be but little doubt that they may be
improved by judicious crossing. We shall
sxpect to hear from Mr. Metcalf again
when his handsome young pigs are grown*
Soap.
I have always taken pleasure in superintending
some of the chemical operations
of the kitchen : by this means I
I _ J _ J J!ii
nave acquired some pracucai, in addition
to my theoretical knowledge of the art of
making soap. I shall give below, the
result of my experience in making this
ietergeot article.
The bottom of the hopper of barrel in.
tended for the ashes, should be covered
with hay or straw: the ashes are then
to be thrown in, and pressed down, as the
hopper is filled. Leave room at the top
for a bucket full of water. If quick
lime can conveniently be had, put in a
gallon or more with the ashes; it is not
important where, whether at the bottom,
in the middle, or at the top of the barrel;
h whether intermixed throughout the
ishes. v
Boiling water is now to be ponred en
the ashes until the lye pass, out at the
bottom. Cold water may then be usod*
Rain water in both cases is preferable te
hard water. Four buckets full of strong
ley may be thus procured from o barrel
of ashes. This quantity of ley, with the
requisite proportion of tat wiH
a barrel of pnroq soap..
.? \ v *
A,