The Secretary of State, by the direction of the house, has laid before the legislature the amount paid in the form of bounties, since the act of 11th April, 1836. The returns embrace the names and residence of the claimants; the number of pounds of cocoons raised; the number of pounds of silk reeled; the number of pounds thrown; and the amount of bounty granted in each instance. The highest quantity of cocoons raised is 615 lbs., and of silk reeled is 52 lbs. 8 oz. We will give the names of a few of the principal growers of silk. Cocoons raised. Silk reeled and John Perry, Wales, do 182 97 8 19 76 8 16 4 8 Cyrus Smith, South Hadley, 70 69 tatoes for the last five years. At the usual time for digging potatoes, the old ones were to be removed to give place to the new. This is a plan of the house: dig a square pit in the ground about four feet deep, about the size you wish your house to be; log it upon the inside until the logs are about four or five feet above the surface of the earth; ram the dirt well around the log frame in the earth. On the outside of the first frame, build another frame of logs, leaving a space of one foot between the two; fill the space between the frames with sand or dry earth; upon the top of the frames lay a plank floor, and the upper part of the floor to be covered with earth about 4 inches deep, then a roof with the gable end open to the south, and closed at the north. Have a door in the log frame about two feet square, to the south. After the potatoes are dug they must be protected from the sides and bottom by dry pine leaves. The door must be kept open in warm dry days, and closed in cold damp weather, and always at night. P. S. Also a floor to the potatoe-house of poles. A SUBSCRIBER. From the Farmer and Gardener. SUGAR BEET FOR MILCH COWS. An intelligent gentleman from the eastward, assured us a few days ago, that by giving his cows a peck of sugar-beet twice a day, cut up with their hay, he was enabled to get just as rich milk and butter during the winter, as in summer, when the pasture was at its best. Now as an acre of ground well manured, planted, in this root well at And several others, whose names may be ascer-tended, would yield beets enough to keep ten cows tained by a reference to the secretary's report. We subjoin the aggregate for the four years : Aggregate. from the 1st of November till the 1st of May, should not every farmer make his arrangements for planting beets next spring? From our own experience, we have no doubt, that this addition of Year when the war- Pounds Pounds Pounds Total amount beets to the ordinary feed of the cows, would 525.10 296.14 $1021 22 Secretary's Office, March 14, 1839. This great interest is just in its infancy. have always believed and said, it is destined to be one of the great interests of the country; but we must wait patiently until the mulberry speculation has ceased, or at least abated, before much progress can be made in the raising of silk. Of the decline of the disease there is at present little pect. A sale of mulberry trees the last week, has gone far beyond any which have been made before. We shall venture no predictions, but calmly wait the event. pros A SUCCESSFUL MODE OF KEEPING SWEET POTATOES. To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. I see in the last number of the Register, an article from a correspondent, in which he speaks of the difficulty of keeping sweet potatoes. I can give him the plan of a house, which has kept po make a weekly difference of 2 lbs. each in their product of butter. From the 1st of November to the 1st of May, there are 26 weeks. This number of weeks at 2lbs. additional butter, would give us 52 lbs. for each cow during the period named, or 520 lbs. for the 10 cows, and if we set down the butter as being worth 25 cents per lb., it will give us 130 dolls. as the value of additional yield brought about by the feeding with the product of an acre in beets. But this is not all,the proprietor of the cows, in the spring, would have the gratification to know that he had treated his animals well, and the satisfaction of seeing them in good condition. From the Southern Agriculturist. OF CERTIFICATE THE PRODUCE OF ONE ACRE OF CORN; WITH OBSERVATIONS, BY AGRICOLA. The undersigned, a committee of the Agricultural Society of Liberty County, Georgia, do hereby certify, that on the 15th of September last, they measured carefully, by a sealed measure, the product of corn raised by Doctor Wm. P. McConnell, from one acre of manured ground, which yielded eighty-three bushels, three pecks, and three quarts-for which, being the success- } Committee. Messrs. Editors,-I send you the above certificate, signed by a committee of the Agricultural Society of Liberty County, from which you will perceive that we have turned our attention to the cultivation of corn, an article too long neglected, or deemed only a secondary interest by many of our planting friends on the seaboard, from the circumstance no doubt of their efforts being mainly directed to the culture of cotton. This policy, however, we find has proven illusive, an ignis fatuus that has led many of our respectable planters (to say the least) into a most unpleasant dilemma, especially during the two past years, when corn could scarcely be procured at any price. There were fifteen gentlemen enrolled as competitors for the prize, several of them having made from fifty to seventy-three bushels to the acre. So far as I know, eighty-three bushels of corn has never been made before from the acre of ground in the lower parts either of Georgia or South-Carolina. Dr. McConnell's plantation lies on tide-water, and he selected for the experiment a piece of high-land, cleared perhaps before the revolution, and of course much worn, but for the last five or six years had been planted in cotton, and highly manured. The corn (yellow gourd-seed) was planted the 10th of March, on beds about fourteen inches in width, seven feet from the middle of one bed to that of the other, two rows on each bed a foot apart, the stalks also a foot apart on the rows, and set in a zigzag form. This left a clear alley of six feet, and gave 12,600 stalks to the acre. corn was ploughed twice and kept clean with a The hoe. I will remark, that about the middle of June, the beds were entirely covered with oak leaves, to obviate effects of a drought should it happen, but the rains the latter part of that month, and first week in July made the corn. our first effort, next year I hope we may be able This is to make a better report still of our success. ters generally, in the lower countries, I trust, wil! Plansoon see their real interest in this matter, and learn practically to depend upon themselves for the staff of life. In conclusion, I would mention that the society awarded to Mr. Wm. Dunham the premium of seventy-five dollars as the most successful competitor (out of fifteen) for having raised forty-six bushels and a half of corn on an acre of ground in its natural state. AGRICOLA. From the Genesee Farmer. HAY-RACKS. Hay-racks for feeding animals are best when placed in a vertical position, instead of inclining outwards, as in the former case, there is less liability of the hay being wasted, the heads of the animals will not become filled with hay-seed, and their breath will not ascend and render the hay of fensive. From the Southern Agriculturist. POULTRY. Mr. Editor,-It is much to be regretted that our market during the spring and summer months is so badly supplied with meats. Every where else these seasons are the best for the markets; but in Charleston, one can hardly get any thing palatable to eat. This arises from our farmers not paying proper attention to their poultry. What is sent to market is so inferior as seldom to be fit to eat. numbers of ducks, chickens, and turkeys might What be raised for our market is beyond calculation. I have conversed with many of my neighbors, and they make complaints of the difficulty of raising these-but it appears to me that they mismanage in some way or other. Ducks, 1 scarcely ever fail to raise. The great secret in attending them, is to give them little water when young. These birds being aquatic in their natures, many persons will wonder at this. But such treatment invariably gives them colds; their wings soon begin to droop, and they die off in fits. My treatrent of them I will here repeat to you, as given some years since. to fever, from their pinion wings coming out too Ducks, when just hatched, are always inclined soon. This acts upon them as teething does on children. The young ducks should, consequently, be kept from every thing which may have a tendency to create cold in them. To prevent this, therefore, I always allow my young ducks as litthe water as possible. In fact, they should only have enough to allay their thirst, and should, on no account, be permitted to play in the water. If the person lives near the city, liver and lights should be procured; and these should be boiled and chopped up fine, and given to the young ducks. Or, if fish, crabs, oysters, or clams, can be procured, these should be given. In case be boiled before feeding. Boiled potatoes mixed none of these can be got, all the victua's should with hominy are also excellent. ducks which are lost, are, because raw food is Half of the given them. To sum up all in a word-if you wish to raise almost every duck that is hatched, which is not boiled. By observing this plan, I give them little water, and feed them on no food two and three hundred ducks every year. raise for market, and for my own table, between | most persons. The following treatment will be Turkeys are also found difficult to raise with found excellent: When the eggs hatch out, let the hen and chicks be confined in a garden, or any other place where the young ones can sun themselves. Let them be fed with hominy for two or three days; then carry them to a rail-pen, in a rye, oats, or buck-wheat patch; confine the hen, and feed at least three times a day with hominy or small grain. The young ones will soon run about catching insects, and will come to the hen's call. The hen should be thus confined until the turkeys are about half-grown; they will range er's call. By this plan, we do away with the neabout, but never without the sound of the mothcessity of having a turkey-minder. The young ones are not so liable to injury from hawks or vermin as when they follow the hen in her rambles over the plantation, nor are they compelled, in keeping up with the hen, to fatigue themselves more than is good for health. Great care must be taken to keep water out of the pen; it should be ditched all around, so as to keep it dry; its foundation should be made higher, with dry sand, than the level around, and the top should be well covered; the ditches nigh the pen should be covered with boards, to keep the young ones from falling in. You may rely on this plan, Mr. Editor. I have seen out of eighty-seven turkeys, eighty-six raised,—one having been mashed by a horse. From the Southern Agriculturist. CULTIVATION OF WATER-MELONS. This delicious melon may be cultivated for an early market in the following manner: Select a high and dry soil for the purpose. Plough it up well, and harrow it. Check off the spot thus treated at distances of ten feet each way. Dig out each check with a hoe or spade, and into the same place five or six quarts of cotton seed; or if this cannot be procured, fill the same with stable manure, partly decomposed. Haul over this the earth before dug from the hole, and mix it well with the manure. If you have used cotton seed, in the spring, it will have sprouted a week or two after being put into the hole; and must now be killed by chopping up the same well, and mixing it with the soil. This being done, you may now haul up the manure and earth as before directed, into hills; on the top of which you must place about a peck of sand taken from some street or well travelled road. Your hills will be now ready for planting. I should however, state that the hills must, instead of being made high, be made flat and broad. Soak your seed overnight in milk warm water, and plant out the same the next morning, placing from five to six seed to each hill. The seed must not be covered more than one inch or two under ground. Water the hills for a few days until the seed has sprouted, and then leave the plants to run. As soon as the plant has got six leaves, take off the centre plant with a sharp penknife, and when the lateral shoots are six inches or a foot long, take off all but three. When the shoots, thus left, begin to run to the ground between the hills, stake them down with a small cross stick. As the vines begin to branch, at every three or four feet, where the vine branches, put a shovel full of rich earth over the same, and press it down lightly with the foot. Wet weather should be selected for this operation, and by so doing the vines will never fail to take where they have been set. The spaces between the hills should be kept free of grass--and by following the above directions, large and fine melons will be produced. From a quarter acre of land thus treated, more melons will be made than from four times the amount as usually cultivated. From the Journal of the American Silk Society. MEMORANDA FOR YOUNG SILK CULTURISTS. Let silk cultivators bear in mind, that the careful and attentive manager of silk-worms, will make his worms spin cocoons in four weeks; eight pounds of his cocoons will make a pound of raw silk, and a pound and a quarter of his raw silk will make a pound of finished sewing or other silk. The careless manager will require at least six weeks before his worms spin their cocoons, ten pounds at least of his cocoons will be required to make a pound of raw silk; and at least a pound and six ounces of his raw silk will be required to make a pound of finished sewing silk. Let the rules of arithmetic be applied to find how well the silk business will pay for care and attention! G. B. S. From Loudon's Gardener's Magazine. ON THE CULTIVATION OF MADIA SATIVA, AS AN OIL PLANT. By W. Hertz, Nurseryman and Seedsman, Stuttgard. M. Bosch, superintendent of the gardens of the king of Wirtemburg, has made numerous experiments for many years on acclimatising exotic plants, during the course of which one plant, Madia sativa, attracted peculiar attention, as he found from the reports of travellers in Chile, that it is cultivated in that country as an oleiferous plant, and an excellent oil is extracted from it. During the last few years, M. Bosch has given this plant a fair trial on a large scale, at considerable expense; and the results of this trial have surpassed his most sanguine expectations. The plant is an annual belonging to the natural order composite, attaining the heigth of from 1 ft. to 2 ft.; it agrees with every rotation of crops, and succeeds in all soils, provided they are neither too humid nor too stiff and binding; but, in a rich soil, if the necessary space be given to the plant to spread out its branches, it attains the highest perfection. The proper season for sowing is either in October, or the spring, and the necessary quantity of seeds required for an acre depends upon the condition of the soil, and varies from 4 lb. to 6 lb. ; but it is, of course, advisable to sow a little more than is actually wanted, to provide against any unforeseen accidents which may happen to the seeds before germination. The young plants are not damaged by spring frosts; nor are they liable to be attacked by animals or insects. If spring sowing be preferred, the ground must be well prepared in the autumn, in order to sow the seeds as early in the spring as possible; after which they must be pressed down by rolling, and will need no other culture than to be kept free from weeds. When the seeds begin to ripen, which may be easily known by the change of their color from green to black, the plants are either cut off near the ground, or pulled up by the roots, and laid on the ground for drying; after which they are treated like rape. The seeds however, must not remain long before they are thrashed out; because the glutinous stalks, when heaped up, soon begin to ferment, and will do the greatest damage to the seeds. The produce of one Wirtemburg acre, containing 38,400 square feet, amounts, according to the nature of the soil and the condition of the plants, to from 4 to 6 scheffel (bushels) of seed. One scheffel weighs from 194 lb. to 208 lb.; and from that quantity from 68 lb. to 70 lb. of oil have been obtained, according to the trials that were made in several mills of different constructions. According to a chemical analysis, 100 parts of the Madia oil consist of 45 parts of oleine (or fluid part of the oil), 40 of stearine (the mucilage, or fatty part), and 15 of glycerine (or sweet solid part, a honey-like and glutinous substance). This oil does not congeal at below 19° Reaumur, but only becomes a little less fluid, which makes it an incomparable substance for keeping all sorts of machines in order; and there can likewise be a solid and well lathering soap made of it. That it may be advantageously used in cloth manufactories has been proved by experiments already made, by which it was found preferable to the olive oil, which had been previously used. The produce of this annual oil-plant, if compared with that of the rape and the poppy, leads to the following conclusions: The rape, which attains its perfection only in the second year, produces from 4 to 5 scheffel of seed per acre, and but seldom succeeds well. One scheffel of rape-seed gives 96 lb. of oil; therefore, one acre, in the space of two years, produces 480 lb. of oil, which makes for one year 240 lb. One acre sown with poppies gives from 2 to 3 scheffel of seed; from one of which are obtained 88 lb. of oil, which gives a produce of 264 lb. per acre yearly. One acre cultivated with Madia sativa, which ripens generally towards the end of July, produces from 4 to 6 cheffol of seed. One scheffel gives 68 lb. of oil, therefore 6 scheffel make a produce of 442 lb. of oil. and the fish sold, at so much a thousand, to the merchants, who send them, by the Allier, Loire, canal of Briare, and Seine, to Paris. On one estate, I saw eight ponds, that paid 800 liv. ; on another, four paid 800 liv. ; and, on a farm of about 400 acres, four ponds paid 1000 liv. Water deceives one so much in guessing the superficies, that I may be erroneous (for nothing is measured in this province); but I should guess, that land under water paid 20 liv. an acre at least, instead of 3 liv. which is the more common net produce of the country; and, at the same time that the proprietor receives this superior benefit, his table is, by the terms of the contract with the merchant, who stocks the ponds himself; allowed to be amply supplied. Bresse.-The ponds of this little province and Dombes, cover 66 leagues square of country, and are found terrible to population, from the effect they have on_the_climate.* In 1764, ponds in France generally let at 5 liv. to 7 liv. per arpent.† The management of ponds is vastly better understood in France than it is in England, both as to stocking, adapting the sort of fish to the soil, clearing the ponds, emptying, fishing, &c. &. In all catholic countries, fish is of more importance than in protestant ones, and this occasions more attention being paid to them. From Notes on the Agriculture of Lombardy. STITUTED FOR THE BORROWING SYSTEM For all these reasons, it is to be hoped that the Madia sativa will soon take that place in our agriculture, to which, by its usefulness, it is justly entitled; and which, also, our sovereign (the king of Witemburg) has already acknowledged, by In an age in which the sovereigns of Europe rewarding with a gold medal the merit of M. are incumbered, and some of them ruined, by Bosch, in introducing a plant into field-culture debts, a contrary conduct deserves considerable which promises to become uncommonly useful, attention. The Duke of Modena, for ten years not only to our agriculture, but to our manufac- past, has practised a very wise economy: he is tures and trades. To make this important article supposed, on good authority, to have saved about as general as possible, I have a quantity of its a million of zecchins, (475,0001.) and he continues seed for sale; and, for the convenience of the En-to save in the same proportion. This is a very glish agriculturist, I have made an offer to Mr. Charlwood to undertake the sale of it in England. Stuttgard, Dec. 30, 1838. From Young's Agricultural Travels in France. Sologne. This province abounds very much with ponds of all sizes, which let at from 5 liv. to 12 liv. the arpent. singular circumstance, and the effect of it is observable; for I was assured at Modena, that this treasure was much greater than the whole circulating currency of the duchy; and they spoke of it as a very mischievous thing, to withdraw from circulation and use, so considerable a sum, occasioning prices generally to rise, and every thing to be dear. By repeated inquiries, I found this dearness was nothing more than what is found in the states around, which have all experienced, more or less, a considerable rise of prices in ten years. Bourbonnois.-Moulins.-Through every part But how could withdrawing money from circulaof this province, which I saw in crossing it in tion raise prices? It ought, on the contrary, in a two directions, the number of fish-ponds is very country that has no paper-money, to lower them. considerable. The country, though in extensive That this effect did not follow, we may easily conviews flat to the eye, is, on a nearer examination, clude, from these complaints. But the very perfound to swell into a variety of gentle inequalities, sons who complained of this treasure could not aswhich form valleys, with small brooks, springs, or sert that money was more wanted in the duchy streams, in them, as eligible for a residence, and than before it was begun to be saved. They agreeable to the eye, as it would be beneficial even gave a proof to the contrary, by affirming to cultivation, if they knew how to apply them. the rate of interest to be at present 4 per cent. Mounds are made across these little vales, to form only. Upon the whole, the effect is evidently ponds; and there are mills at their heads, when harmless; and it is a most curious fact in politics, the streams are considerable enough. These ponds are from two or three to ten, twenty, and thirty acres, and some a great deal more. They are ail fished regularly every second or third year, nille, p. 270. t Chanvalon Manuel des Champs. 12mo. P. 363 that a government can gradually draw from circulation a sum that in ten years exceeded the current coin of the state, without causing an apparent deficiency in the currency, or any inconveniency whatever. Conclusions of infinite importance are to be drawn from such a fact; it seems to prove, that the general modern policy of contracting public debts, is absurd and ruinous in the extreme; as saving, in the time of peace, is clearly without any of those inconveniences which were once supposed to attend it; and by means of forming a treasure, a nation doubles her nominal wealth, that sort of wealth, which is real or imaginary, according to the use that is made of it. The reputation, preventing attacks, is perhaps the greatest of all. How contrary to the funding system, which carries in its nature, such a probability of present weakness, and such a certainty of future ruin! From Young's Agricultural Tour in Spain. IRRIGATION IN SPAIN. The prospects down the vale of Aran beautiful; it is without fallows, fine hemp instead of them. Look down on the town of Esteredano, around which, culture rises pretty high up the mountains. All the corn cut, is reaped, and bound in sheaves -walnuts. Descend into the vale-figs. Watered meadows. Ray-grass predominates; much common clover, white clover, trefoil, vetches, &c. A causeway for irrigation across the vale; the meadows are uncut, and have two and a half tons per acre, on an average; the corn all through, three-quarters an acre. Pass a rich flat common; part of this vale fed by horses, mules, hogs, asses, and a few oxen. Advancing-what meadows there are, are well watered; as are French beans, hemp, and a small quantity of lucerne. Leave Poeblar; they have lucerne, but not good; the gardens are all watered; mulberries; prices of silk this year, 18 liv. the pound. Cultivation all around, among the olive trees; but it is corn one year, and fallow another. Cross the river, which is here sixty yards wide. Wheels for raising the water of it into the gardens, ten or twelve feet high; they are of a very simple construction; something like the common water-wheels of a mill, but made very light; the fellies of the wheel are hollow in divisions, taking the water in through holes at equal distances, and as the stream turns the wheel, it delivers the water out of the same holes at the top of its revolution, into a trough, which conducts it where wanted; it is cheap, simple, and effectual. Many peach-trees scattered about the gardens, &c. Mount the hills; pass two large tracts, of above one hundred acres, destroyed by the torrents. Great quantity of pudding-stones. The mountains around are of interesting and bold features. The country in general here has a great mixture of cultivation and waste; it is for some space pleasing enough to the eye, but the produce is, I believe, very low; we saw many oats, and scarcely any that will produce more than a quarter an acre. They have no meadows; and I should observe, that our mules have not found such a thing as hay; straw and barley are their food; in all those spots which would give grass, corn and legumes are sown, as more necessary and more valuable; and this, I am told, is the case over all Spain, lucerne excepted. Near Monte Schia-they have here poor crops of flat barley of water, they know well the value, a spring of any account being carefully conducted into a reservoir, and let out at seven in the morning and at night to water. Advancing-there is some good hemp, watered; and I see enough of the country to find that water is all in all; where that is to be conducted, they get crops that pay well; but where no water, they have not the power or the knowledge to turn the soil, however good it may be, to a profitable account; fallow the only effort, and the success every where miserable. Cross a fine stream with many acres under it, yet no watering; the reason I cannot tell, unless the land is common; if so, it is easily explained. The soil stoney; the large, of the pudding class; but, in the midst of this arid wretched desert, come to a spring, which rises out of the earth into a smali reservoir, and is immediately used for irrigation; maize, hemp, cabbages, beans, and all fine; the contrast shows the astonishing effect of water, and that in this climate, the soil is the least object-the sun and water do the whole. Passing Paous; every thing changes the features; the vale, on comparison with those we have seen, is wide, and also flat, and water plentifully conducted in canals, which pass every quarter, so as to let into the field of every proprietor; having passed above one hundred miles of dreary mountain, this vale, so great was the contrast, had the appearance of enchantment; the care and attention given to irrigation, cannot be exceeded. The land is prepared for it, by levelling with a nicety as curious as for making a bowlinggreen. and this (conducting the water excepted, which is common to every one), is the only expense: this general level is divided into oblong beds, from six to eight feet wide, by little ridges of fine mould, drawn up nicely with a rake every time the ground is sown, in order that the water may not spread over too much at once, in which case, the irrigation would be unequal; there would be too much of a current at the part where the water enters, a circumstance of no great importance in watering grass-land, but which would be mischievous in arable; small trenches take the water from the carrier canals, and passing by the ends of those beds, the farmer opens them at pleasure, to distribute the water where wanted. As soon as the land is sown, it is watered, and periodically, till the plants are up; moderately while they are young; but every day, and sometimes twice a day, when full grown: the effect is surprising, and infinitely exceeds that of the very richest manures that can be spread upon any land. The rapidity of vegetation is so great, that there are but few crops, which demand all the summer for coming to perfection; I believe hemp is the only one; that plant is now five to seven feet in height, and of so thick a luxuriance, that nothing can be imagined finer. The rye stubbles are ploughed and sown with French beans, which are up and watered. After hemp, wheat is the crop. Watered maize here, seven to nine feet high. Every time we see any irrigation, we are struck more and more with the importance of water, even on soils which are apparently mere rock, and on |