130 CULTIVATION OP 



care for several years, and from the first year, should 

 be annually pruned. Mr. Goodrich, President of the 

 Hartford County Silk Society, writing upon this sub- 

 ject, says 



" I would begin to prune the trees the first year, 

 observing to cut off all sprouts which grow near the 

 ground ; no leaves ought to be suffered to grow near- 

 er than two or three feet to the ground. The earlier 

 you begin to prune, the easier it will be to form good 

 trees, and the more rapidly they will grow. 



u The second year I w r ould begin to make silk of 

 the twigs which are trimmed off. If the trees have 

 been properly cultivated from the beginning, I think 

 you may make silk enough the second year to pay 

 all the expense of making the silk, and of cultivating 

 the trees that year. The principal object, however, 

 ought to be, not to make silk the second year, but to 

 cultivate the trees in the most judicious manner." 



The same author recommends heading down trees, 

 from year to year, to avoid the necessity of climbing 

 large trees, as at Mansfield, Connecticut, some of 

 which are from thirty to forty feet high. He says 



" I propose to save this labor in a great measure, 

 by trimming and heading down the trees from year to 

 year, so that they shall not grow more than six or 

 eight feet high, and in such a manner that the leaves 

 may always be gathered by a person standing on the 

 ground . In this manner mulberry leaves are gathered 

 in Persia, and in the vicinity of Constantinople." 



