1837] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



73 



tli« fbixl for the worms they intend to keep, it is 

 hii^hly important tliat tliose who necil inlijrinalion 

 oil ihe suitjeci sliould receive aaeh as will not lead 

 theai astr;iy; and it is hi^-hly to he reirretled liiat 

 tiiere siiouKl he any diversity of opinion amonij 

 those wiio ar6 lool<ed to lor advice. The bnsinet;s 

 of feedin<j; anil manai^-inij silkworms, has been so 

 loni; in practice within tliescopeof our knowiedLre, 

 and is in ilself so simple, that there is but liitle 

 ilan<rer of adventurers beiaif led far astray in it ; 

 erpecialiy, as they will cjenerally commence with 

 a small stock of worms; and if they err the first 

 season, they will miprove by it the next without 

 liiuch loss. Bur this is not the case with respect 

 to the trees which are to liu'nish the food. If a 

 proper selection be not made at first, or the trees 

 are improperly manau^cd, a serious loss of lime and 

 expense will be the inevitable consequence. The 

 first point in this selection is established beyond all 

 doubt, that the leaves of the mulberry tree are the 

 only article known, or which are likely or necessa- 

 iy to be known, to be depended upon as food lor 

 silkworms. Cut the mulberry is a uenus compris- 

 inir many species; and ihe different species also 

 t^xhibit distinct varieties, produced bv artificial and 

 aitcidental means. Amoni>' the different species 

 are the white, the black, tlie red, and the morus 

 mnlticaalis. 



The silk business first found its way into Italy 

 by obtaining the cixi^s secrelly from China, and 

 with them the seed ot" the while mult^erry. This 

 circumstance, no doubt, established the character 

 of the white mulberry in that country as the only 

 species proper for makinij silk; and a firm belief 

 in this point, v/Hether prejudice or hot, came with 

 tlie first attemjjis to introduce the business into 

 th.is country, and has maintained its ground until 

 very lately, flat reci^nt experiments made in dil- 

 ierent pans of the United States, sufticiently exteu- 

 tiive, and sufficiently authenticated to establish the 

 fiict, have shown that several other species of tlie 

 mulberry are as congenial to the taste, growth and 

 health of ilie silkworms as the white, and that the 

 worms fed on them produce as much silk, and fijr 

 all that a common eye can discover, as beautiful 

 and as useful. 



The species called the morus muliicaulis has 

 lately found its was li-om China, by way of the 

 Philiippine Islands, to the United "States. This 

 kind, it appears, was selected by the Chinese emi- 

 grants to those islands fijr their own use. It has 

 no doubt been in use, for the purpose of feeding 

 silkworms in China, fiom time iumieniorial, and 

 there are pretty stroni>- reasons to believe that it is 

 a favorite in that country. The spirit of enterprise 

 which the subject has nt)\v awakened, has also in- 

 troduced several other species or varieties, all of 

 which are, no doubi, good, and among the rest the 

 JBrussa mulberry, brought from Brussa, a city oi 

 Turkey, by Mr. Charles i{hinii,lale United Slates 

 Consul at Odessa, and a gentleman well deserv- 

 ing the respect and gratitude of his country. Mr. 

 Rhind was aware that the silk produced in the 

 neighborhood of Brussa is of the first (lualily, and 

 very naturally sup()osed it derived ils excellence 

 from the kind of mulberry it fed on; and in the true 

 spirit of patriotism, seized upon the opportunity to 

 introduce that kind to hi.-? own country. 



There rtiay Unquesfio'uably be some characteris- 

 tic difierence in the silks proiliiced by the different 

 branches of the mulberry family, which mav enfi- 



Vol. V— 10 



tie them respectively to preference for particular 

 purposes. But they are all valuable, and perluips 

 equally so, each for its respective purpose ; anil it 

 would be a sid)ject of regret, should a partiality for 

 or against any of the difi'erent kimls raise party 

 warfiire, which should in any deeree interrupt or 

 retard the progress of prej)aration lor silk grow- 

 ing. 



The 7norus 7niillicaulif^, on i!s first intrnchiction, 

 was hailed wiih unbounded applause, and supjiosed 

 to be of inestimable value. Some It-ars, however, 

 were soon excited as to its ability to witlisiand our 

 winter. But these fears are now dispelled froiil 

 all who have given it a fiiir trial : and it can now 

 be proved, in spite of any thing to the contrary, to 

 be as hardy as the white mulbeiry, and sutricient- 

 ly so to endure common winters, without protec- 

 tion, ill part of the United States. 



But it would seem that the advocates for the 

 Brussa mulberry are determinijd, as far as their in- 

 fluence will go, to drive it out of the country- The 

 Brussa must of course be a very valuable mulberry, 

 fJir there can be no silks inrtre va'ua!)le than it pro- 

 duces in i's native counlry, even under the most 

 awkward management; and should it be Ibunu 

 ever so inferior to the viulticaulh. it would detract 

 nothint!; from the merit of Air. Rhind in introduc- 

 ing it: for there is no probahiliiy that IMr. R. had 

 any knowledge of the moras viidiicaulis, when he 

 left Brussa. I would £ro any reasona.ble lenu'th to 

 acknowledge the gratitude which the country owes 

 to Mr; Rhind for his pains to introiluce the Brussa 

 mulberry; but the same patriotic feelini)^ which 

 actuated him to do it, actuates me to endeavor to 

 (jive the subject a fair trial, and to give the besl 

 kind the preference. 



The public have now, in the derision of Judge 

 Snencer, the utter condeninaiion of the morus mal- 

 iicaulis, and the unqualified superiority^ of the 

 Brussa mulberry overall others. And certainly 

 Judge Spencer "is an honorable tiian ;" at any 

 rate, I hold him in high estimation as such ; but I 

 cannot sacrifice to that estimation my right to judge 

 from the evidence of" my own senses, or to com- 

 pare the weight of other testimony according to 

 my own vimv of the subject. It is beyond the 

 reach of controversy, that, owing to the ra|)id growth 

 of the Chinese mulberry, the business may be pro- 

 fitably commenced from ils leaves in half the time 

 required by any other kind. It is equally certain 

 that a given weight of leaves will afibrd more 

 i()od (probably one quarter) than those ot others, 

 as the worms leave little or no refuse ; and it is no 

 less certain that the leaves can be gathered with 

 one-third of the expense required to gather those 

 of ttny other kind known in this country. Anoth- 

 er fact rests on the concurrent testimony of numer- 

 ous persons of hiyh respectability, who have giveii 

 the experiment a fair trial, that the worms' gener- 

 ally eat the leaves in prefiirencc to any other; For 

 the evidence of its hardiness, at (east twenty names 

 of high and known respectability can be ijiven, 

 who have cullivateil it extensively since its first 

 introduction, and of numerous piherS who have 

 witnessed it— not that it bids defiance to the frosta 

 of winter, but that with proper Uiunagement there 

 is no more danger of its being killed by fi-ost, than 

 of the while mulberry; that where they have 

 srrown toirether, they have in some instances sur- 

 vived, in safety, frosts whiidi have killed the wliite 

 mulberrv bv the side of them ; and that some of 



