II 



THE STRANGE HISTORY OF THE 

 MULBERRIES 



WHEN the history of American agriculture shall be 

 written, the record of the many attempts to raise 

 silk -worms and to establish a great silk -growing 

 industry will form an important and suggestive 

 chapter. Sketches of these attempts have been made 

 from time to time, but there still lacks any full 

 collation of the subject with collateral events. The 

 literature of American silk-growing from the manu- 

 facturer's side, however, is as extensive and satis- 

 factory as that of any other agricultural -manufacturing 

 industry. It is not my purpose to explore these 

 interesting fields, but rather to present a rapid view 

 of the rise and extent of mulberry -planting, more 

 especially in the earlier days, and then to make 

 observations on the subsequent evolution of the mul- 

 berry fruits, a subject which, strangely enough, 

 has escaped the attention both of botanists and of 

 writers. 



Summary Sketch of the Early Silk Industry 



We have seen (page 10), when reviewing the 



early attempts at grape culture, that "silke worme 



seed" was sent to Virginia in 1621 by the London 



Company, along with grape vines. If we were to 



(127) 



