312 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



2. ProiKKjaiion. — The mulberry grows from cuttiugs, and is easily prop- 

 agated by them. They may l)e set out in a uursery, and trausplauted. 

 If iutcuded for tree-growtli the distauee apart depeuds ou situation aud 

 closeness of pruning. Ten feet is one of the distances in India. But 

 in the article of the San Francisco Alta, to which we have alluded, it 

 is said of j\Ir. Lrannan's plantation at Calistoga, which covers 100 

 acres, and is one of the best in the State, that " the trees are set twenty- 

 four feet apart each wa^' — an excellent distance." If the plants are to 

 be grown in the bush form they are planted in rows ; and these must be 

 wide enough to allow good cultivation, and the leaves to be well sunned. 



3. Soil and cxjwsurc. — The soil should be deep, rather dry, and not too 

 rich. To make a healthy food and good silk, the leaves must not be 

 too succulent, for in such the sap has not been properly elaborated, 

 either from the soil being too wet, or the plants too much shaded. 

 " Some plantations," says the Alta, " near the Sacramento are in a 

 marshy soil, and the trees arc too close together." These were not 

 doing well. The exposure must depend a good deal on the peculiarities 

 of each locality. If it is dry and warm, the exposure should not be so 

 much to the south, but southeast, southwest, or east, or west. 



4. Cultivation. — The ground should bo kept mellow and free from grass 

 or weeds. Where heavy spring-rains settle the soil too closely the plow 

 should be used first, aftei-ward a light cultivator. These are more efli- 

 cient and speedy than the German hoe. All summer-plowing, by re- 

 solving the vegetable matter into gases, is " hard " on the soil. This 

 and the large demand ujion the i^lants for leaves require that the 

 ground should be occasionally enriched. 



5. Gathering the leaves. — When the plants are two years old the gath- 

 ering of the leaves may be commenced. In India this was done much 

 sooner, and as often as six times in the feeding season. But this prac- 

 tice was a leading cause of failures there, for the plants were dwarfed 

 and the leaves were immature, causing diseased worms. Four different 

 hatchings have been fed in California, but not upon leaves taken from 

 the same plants. Two crops is the limit beyond which the feeder should 

 not go. And this limit would be remunerating. An acre' of plants 

 will yield from five to six thousand pounds of leaves, and this amount 

 would feed 50,000 worms, yielding from fifty to sixty-five j)Ounds of silk, 

 worth, in cocoons, say So a pound. This would give from $150 to $195 

 to the acre. Much larger estimates have been made, but we prefer 

 stating the lower rather than the higher. If two hatchings are reared, 

 this product would be doubled. The leaves should not be fed when 

 wet, either from rains or dews, nor when wilted. Hence, for the morn- 

 ing feeding the leaves should be gathered the previous evening, and the 

 night feeding from leaves gathered during the day. If gathered when 

 wet there is danger of fermentation also, which is very dangerous to 

 the health of the worms. 



THE SILK- WORMS. 



1. Kinds. — There are three kinds of silk- worms, annual, bivoltins, and 

 trivoltins. The first i^roduces but one brood in the year ; the second, 

 two ; the third, three. The annuals are preferred, and of these there 

 are three varieties in California — two Japanese, white and green, so 

 named iTom the colors of their cocoons, and the Chinese white. 



2. Eggs. — The eggs are kept in tin cases in a dry, cool place, not ex- 

 ceeding 40O temperature, and although they will bear a greater degree 

 of cold, this is the best for keeping. They may be kept a twelve- 



