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THE SOUTHERN WORLD, JUNE 1,1882,
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Milk Culture aa an Industry*
Hawkinsville, Oa.
Editor Southern World—With pleasure
I will say a few words about the rearing and
management of silk worms; at the same
time 1 will answer many questions asked
me by the happy children of the Southern
World.
In Georgia’s coloni&l days, more silk than
cotton was raised and annually exported
by her people. As time wore on cotton be
came king and silk culture was “numbered
among the things that were.” Whatever
may be the general opinion, as to the feasi
bility'or profits of silk culture in this coun
try, the desire for information with a pro
pensity to engage in the pursuits as evinced
by many correspondents, prove conclusively
that there will be no difficulty in getting
our people to turn their attention once
more to silk culture. The Southern States
are pre-eminently adapted to silk rearing,
and will yield an abundant feed for eight
or nine months in the year, if the trees are
properly planted and properly cared for.
American grown silk is said to be of supe
rior quality to that raised in most other
countries. Yet no less than twenty-three
million dollars are annually paid to foreign
countries for silk. Much of this might be
kept at home if proper encouragement was
given to silk culture in the United States.
If reliable commissioners would agree to
handle the silks in such quantities as might
be produced by every thrifty family
throughout the Union, an impetus would
be given to this industry and our manufac
tories would soon have sufficient raw mate
rial at home and need no importation from
other countries. I was badly treated by my
commissioner last year, so cannot recom
mend them, but I will ascertain where the
best prices can be obtained for cocoons and
report before ’tis time to make shipments.
Now for some plain instructions—You
will find the eggs adhering to a piece of stiff
paper, just as they were deposited by the
silk moths. Place a table or shelf in an out
of the way corner of some room, and cover
with newspapers. Now place your card of
eggs near one end of your table and lay
gently on the eggs small pieces of tender
mulberry leaves. If the room is warm and
well lighted they will begin to hatch in a
few days. The eggs, nor the worms, should
never be exposed to the direct rays of the
sun, and the wind must not be allowed to
blow upon them. Move all leaves that have
worms on them to the far end of your table
and cover with fresh leaves. Keep each
day’s hatching separate and you will have
but little trouble. The worms should be
fed often, but feeding through the night
is unnecessary. Always lay on fresh leaves
the fint thing in the morning and the last
tiling at night. Never feed when the dew
is on the leaves, nor when the leaves are wet
from rains. If the weather is bad, gather
leaves and dry them in the house Never
let your worms get hungry; feed tender
leaves at first, but as they grow larger,
tougher leaves are best for them. Every
second morning, after the worms have
crawled upon the fresh leaves, take out the
old leaves, sweep away the litter and make
things neat, for they will not thrive under
neglect. As the wormsgrow, you must give
them more room—add more tables to your
cocoonery if necessary. .
Worms hatched from the same batch of
eggs will vary in color, from black to a dark
gray. The time from the hutching to the
spinning of cocoons will vary, from thirty
to forty days, owing to the quantity of food,
mode of feeding, temperature, etc. The
worms go through five ages or moltings.
To prepare for each molt requires several
days fasting, during which time the worm
attaches itself firmly to the leaves, by the
abdominal forelegs and holds up the fore
part of the body; when the molting is over
the worm casts aside its old integuments and
after a little rest becomes active and eats
most ravenously.
When the worms are fully grown and
ready to commence spinniug, they stop
eating and begin to crawl about in a restless
manner, frequently raising their heads up
wards. When this is observed, lay small
branches full of little twigs on the table,
and upon them they will climb and spin
their cocoons, though many times they will
spin upon the leaves. When the cocoons
are finished, select as many as you may de
sire to keep for seed. The remainder should
be stilled, by placing them in the hot sun
for a few days. In about two weeks from
those which are not stifled, the silk moth
will begin to emerge, and very soon you will
be supplied with a new crop of eggs. These
you must leave for a several days to dry,
then put away in a cool, dark, dry place and
keep tor next years use; or if the season is
not too far advanced, you can raise another
crop.' I can raise three crops in this lati
tude.
I give eggs to the children who enclose 4
three cent stamps to defray expenses, but
sell them at $1.25 per thousand and prepay
shipments to any part of the United States.
Hoping I have informed your readers un-
derstandingly, and wishing success to all, I
remain an interested friend,
Mrs. J. B. Mitchell.
Industrial Notes.
Bowling Green, Ky., has an ice factory.
Temple, Texas, is to have a $40,000 cotton
seed oil mill.
McMinnville, Tenn., has a spoke and
handle factory.
The ice factory at Jackson, Miss., turns
out 6,000 pounds of ice per day.
A cotton seed oil mill will be in operation
at Bailey's Mills, Florida, by October.
The Norton Iron Works at Ashland, Ken
tucky, turn out4,700 kegs of nails per week.
A shingle machine at New Iberia, Louisi
ana, is turning out 60,000 cypress shingles
daily.
The manufacture of electrical machines
and telephones, has increased the demand
for copper.
An exhaustless deposit of excellent sand
for glass making awaits development at
Fort Pickering, Tenn.
The cotton factory at High Point, North
Carolina, has 3,000 spindles, making $1,200
to $1,500 per day in yams.
At Marysville, East Tennessee, there is a
factory which manufactures buttons of mus
cle shells gathered from the various rivers.
The saw-mills of Lake City, Florida, are
cutting immense quantities of timber, which
is shipped from Jacksonville to the markets
of the world.
It is proposed to form a motive power com
pany in Baltimore, with a capital of $50,000
to furnish steam to small manufacturers of
limited means.
The machine shops of the Atlanta and
Charlotte Air-Line railroad at Atlanta, em
ploy 75 men and are building 25 flat cars of
32,000 pounds capacity.
The oil spring, nine miles from Ashland,
Ky., flows 180gallonB per day, one-tenth of
which is refined petroleum. About 12 feet
from it a seam of coal crops out.
The Nashville American says that the
Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company
is making a ton of iron and putting it on
the cars for less money than, it costs to buy
the ore to make a ton of iron at Pittsburg.
A factory has just been established in
Chattanooga, Tennessee, for making axe,
pick, auger, machinists, house-carpenters’
and coal miners’ handles. The building
will be 40 by 120 feet, and turn out 300 dozen
handles a day.
The Eagle and Phoenix Manufacturing
Company of Ga., are preparing to build a
granite-rock dam across the Chattahooclie
river at their mills. When complete it will
be the largest structure of the kind in the
South. The entire dam is to be of granite-
rock, and will be about one thousand feet
long and an average of eighteen feet in
height, or the same level with the one now
in use. The dam will extend from one
shore of the river to the other, and will be
built just below the old dam.
East Tennessee con tains some of the finest
timber lands in the United States. Large
bodies of black walnut can be found on the
mountains, and the time is not far distant
when this valuable timber will be brought
to market, although much of it is inaccessi
ble at present, it being impossible to trans
port to the railroads. A man recently re
ported having seen, on the line between this
State and North Carolina, a cherry tree 5
feet in diameter and 70 feet to the first limb.
Also an oak that measured 27 feet in circum
ference. What an opening for manufac
tories.—[Chattanooga Weekly Commercial.
A dispatch from North Carolina Bays:
"Senator Don Cameron and Wm. Mahone
have decided to invest in real estate and
water power at Weldon, in this State, for
the purpose of erecting works for the build
ing of railroad cars of every description,
and for spinning cotton. It is stated that
the property of the Roanoke Navigation
Company, which years ago built a canal
from Weldon to Gaston, is said to be sold
soon, by order of the Supreme Court, to the
highest bidder. It was sold a few weeks
ago, and the sale was set aside and a resale
ordered. It is understood that Senators Cam-
roh and Mahone have decided to buy that
property, and that extensive car works
will be immediately put up and a large
cotton factory be also erected at Weldon.
The canal will be cleaned out and a dam
thrown across the river at Gaston, high
enough to turn the whole river into the
canal. Water privileges from We.don to
Gaston will be purchasable, so that the canal
may be lined with mills and factories.”
Wine* and Minerals.
An iron ore mine has been opened near
Clifton, Va., of very rich ore.
A considerable deposit of specular iron ore
has been discovered near Acworth, Georgia.
It is strongly magnetic and free from phos
phorus and suiphnr.
The Mining Review publishes a list of divi
dend paying mines. Among the list are
Con. Gold Mining Company of Ga., 250,000
shares at $10; $2,500,000 capital Btock; divi
dends paid to date $48,000. Findley Gold
Mine, Georgia, 200,000 shares at $1; capital
stock $200,000; dividends paid to date $450,-
000. Copper Knob Mining Company, North
Carolina, 500,000 shares at $2 per share; cap
ital stock $1,000,000. dividends paid to date
$15,000. Ore Knob Copper Mine, North Car
olina, 150,000 shares at $1; capital stock $1,-
500,000; dividends paid to date $210,000.
Maj. Edward 8. Hunter, has just closed a
contract with the Crozer Steel and Iron
Company for supplying it with 600,000 tons
of ore. The ore contracted for is red hema
tite or specular ore and by analysis shows:
metalic iron, 57.14; phosphorus .078, The
ore being so low in phosphorus, brings it
within the limit for use in making Bessemer
steel. E. S. Hunter has been appointed su
perintendent of mines and mining by the
Crozer company.
EAST TENNESSEE FARMERS’ CON-
VENTION.
The East Tennessee Farmers’ Convention
assembled in Staub’s Opera House, Knox
ville, Tennessee, on May 9th, and was calle d
to order by Hon. J. B. Stokely, President.
Five hundred delegates were enrolled. The
Convention was welcomed by J. W. Cald
well, of Knoxville, and the response made
by lion. J. A. Turley, of McMinn. Both
were pointed and elegant addresses. Vice-
President J. K. P. Wallace was recognized
as correspondent of the Southern World,
and assigned a desk.
The annual address by the President re
viewed the progress and condition of the
country since the last meeting. It was an
able address and created a profound impres
sion. After discussion, C. W. Charlton, J.
M. Meek, J. H. Crozier, R. P. Loyd and J.
K. P. Wallace, were appointed a committee
to consider the propriety of calling a State
Agricultural Convention to meet in Nash
ville.
After discussion, Capt. C. E. Dunn, Judge
O. P. Temple, Hon. D. W. C. Sen ter, W. F.
Morris and R. P. Loyd, were appointed a
committee to memorialise the legislature to
enact a law creating a State Railroad Com
mission.
Prof. J. M. McBryde, Professor of Agricul
ture in the University of Tennessee, read an
instructive paper on “the Purity and Vital
ity of Farm Seed." Ho showed how far
mers were imposed upon in buying seeds
and how they could test them.
Vice-President Wallace presented a paper
on "What the Farmer ought to Know and
the best method of Learning it,” which in
duced a discussion lasting half an hour.
Prof. S. B. Lockett, of the University of
Tennessee, read a paper on "Improvement
of Public Roads.” After discussion, a reso
lution was adopted endorsing the present
public road law as the beginning of a system
that will eventually give the country greatly
improved roads.
The subject of "How to make the greatest
amount of Corn per acre,” was discussed by
11. B. Russell, of Monroe county, and Capt.
C. E. Dunn, of Jefferson county. Captain
Dunn had succeed in producing 110 bushels
of corn per acre. He said:
"My experience is that thorough and reg
ular cultivation will accomplish more than
anything else in this direction, and is the
only safeguard or remedy for drought—such
as we experienced the past season. Break
your land from 7 to 10 inches deep and well
harrow, and if good land, lay off the rows
3 feet 8 inches wide, and drill in the corn
between the 15th of April and 10th of May.
After it has come up harrow again and thin
to one stalk to every 12 or 15 inches, plow
three or four times with bull-tongue and
double shovel plow, and lay-by the crop on
or before the fint day of July. If it should
be planted in ordinary land 3 feet apart each
way and one stalk to the hill, will produce
more corn than to drill it, and much larger
cultivated. I have produced 110 bushels
upon one acre, and 1,600 bushels from 20
acres with this mode of cultivation, without
fertilizers. As to the practical benefits to be
obtained by the use of fertilizers upon our
corn crops in East Tennessee, I can better
inform you some time in the future, as I am
making some ten or twelve experiments this
year with fertilizers and plaster, stable and
lot manure combined, and separately.
Col. John M. Meek related an experiment
be made in drilling corn last year, which
had proved a failure. He did not think
that on upland there was sufficient to admit
of corn being drilled closer than the ordi
nary method of check-planting.
S. T. Howard, of Loudon, said the first im
portant point was to secure a good stand.
Farmers generally do not use sufficient care
in this respect.
J. J. Burnett, of Cocke county, was in fa
vor of deep plowing, but thought the good
soil should be kept on top the ground where
nature put it. He said soil of a certain qual
ity only produces so much and it should not
be overworked by planting too close. If the
ground is rich, it can stand more.
Mr. Corley, of Blount, urged great care in
planting, so as to secure a good stand. Re
planting would usually not produce as much
to the stalk as first planting.
H. B. Russell, of Monroe, said year before
last he raised 124 bushels of corn on one
acre.
The convention after discussion decided
that plowing land too wet is injurious, and
adopted a resolution that the labor convicts
should be utilized in the making and im
provement of the public roads of the State.
It was decided that the plaster which fell
on top of clover, as well as that which fell
on the ground, was beneficial.
Hon. W. W. Wallace, of Knox county
offered a strong preamble and resolutions
looking to a more thorough union of the
farmers of the country for their own protec
tion, and the appointment of a committee
to obtain information about the aim of the
National Agricultural Alliance which were
adopted, and W. W. Wallace, of Knox; H.
B. Yearwood, of Monroe; F. C. Lindner, of
Polk; C. W. Charlton, of Knox, and P. P.
Loyd, of Sequatchie, appointed said com
mittee.
The subject of "Feeding and Marketing
Beef Cattle” was presented by Charles Leon-
hardt, of Anderson county.
The subject was then discussed at length
by several members of the Convention.
A question wus asked as to the kind of
cattle which would take on the greatest
amount of flesh on the least amount of feed.
S. T. Howard, of Loudon, thought the
short-horns were the best.
N. B. Dunn, of Polk county, said his ex
perience was that the Ayershires were the
best.
"Does Sheep Husbandry Pay,” was the
next subject for discussion.
W. S. Taylor, of Hamblen, was called
upon and gave his first year’s experience in
sheep raising. He bought 75 scrub sheep
for $75 and turned them into his briar fields.
During the year they did not require more
than $5 worth of extra feeding besides what
they could pick in the pastures. At the end
of the year he sold $76 worth of sheep, $50
worth of wool and the sheep lie had left were
worth more than $75. That was seven years
ago. He has been raising sheep ever since
and finds that it pays. The second year he
bought some improved breeds of sheep and
within a month the dogs killed about $100
worth of them. A few days afterwards the
buzzards had their choice of mutton or dog
meat. Since then Mr. Taylor's sheep have
not been troubled by dogs.
Mr. Howard, of Loudon has found sheep
raising profitable. He found it paid to pro
cure bucks of improved breed if the price
paid for them was large. He only kept a
buck one year, as it was ruinous to in-breed.
He advocated a law to protect sheep from
the ravages of dogs. He thought the best
breed of sheep to begin with was the Merino
buck, with common sheep, the first year.
Then procure a Cotswold buck for the second
year, to cross the breed.
Mr. Taylor preferred to cross the South-
down and the Cotswold, as it would produce
a breed more profitable for general use.
At the close of the discussion, the follow
ing resolution was adopted:
Resolved by this convention, that the Pres
ident appoint a committee of three to mem
orialize the Legislature upon the subject of
the passage of a law to protect sheep hus
bandry from the depredations of the dogs.
The President appointed on that com-