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FARMERS' R K (r I S T K R. 



133 



tilt* new plant, proceeds lo pay: '"The ndvanla- 

 <i('>! b(Mii<; alrea(l\ staled, it remained onl}' to ex- 

 aiuiiii' how tar tiie leaves possessed the quahlies 

 nM]uisiie lor the nourisluneiit of silkworms. I 

 iiKiiie therefore, two comparative experiments in 

 the eiliicaiioii of the silkworms, mim!)ers and nil 

 ciivumstances in the two cases beinjz equal. The 

 worms lini constantly with tlie moms ciicitlala 

 [w////yca)///s] consumed rather less in quantity than 

 was consumed hy the worms which were tt*d al- 

 tooetfier with the luuricr blanc, [white nmlberry.] 

 and 1 obtained from each, several thousands of 

 cocoons, which oti'ered no percep.tible difference in 

 regard to streuirih of lil)re, fineness, or vveiiiht." 



M. Bonaiijux found that a journal of hmd of 

 Piedmont, set out in close order, or in prairie, 

 with 5000 cuttino; of morus muUicaiiUs. produced 

 flbout 50 quintals of leaves in the the second year; 

 while it would have required, at least 100,000 

 plants of the white mull)erry, o(" one or two years 

 growth ti'om seed, to produce the same (luantity 

 of food on the same irround. In the third year, 

 the same plants, on that same ground, produced 

 him about 100 qnintals of leaves, and he supposes 

 that in a verj' short period after, the quantity pro- 

 duced on the same journal of land would be in- 

 creased to 200 quintals, and that this miirht be 

 the maximum. 'I'he journal of Piedmont is 100 

 tables, or about a third of a French hectare, or 

 about 8-10 of an English acre. Thus, accord- 

 ing to this calculation, an English acre would 

 soon produce 25,000 lbs. of leaves, enough with 

 the best management and the strictest economy 

 in feeding and reeling, to produce 312 lbs. of silk. 

 Again, the plan he proposes is to raise the plants 

 from cuttings, the first year in close order. And 

 in autumn, or early ni the following sprinir he re- 

 commends to set the plants in rows two or three 

 feet asunder, and a foot and a half distant in the 

 row. And he moreover, particularly directs to 

 set the plants eight or ten inches deep at least, as 

 thus they will throw out new and more abundant 

 and numerous roots on every side. 



These plants are shortened down to near the 

 surface of the ground early in sprintif, to make 

 them throw up new and numerous shoots of the 

 most luxuriant growth, five to seven liiet. The 

 ground during summer to be kept cultivated, and 

 the plants in the spring to be annually pruned 

 down. M. Bonafoux reconiaiends cuttings of 

 five or six inches, each furinshed with three or 

 lour eyes. In this he is right, as cuttings of 

 this length are sure to live. Usually, with us, but 

 two eyes are left to each cutting, from motives of 

 economy; but when an early and severe drouirht 

 occurs, and before the cuttings have time to take 

 root, the danger of a total loss by reason of the 

 short cuttings becomes great, except only in moist 

 grounds. 



After being cultivated in this mode for fifteen or 

 twenty years, he has recommended to take up the 

 plantation, to clear the ground of all roots, and to 

 cultivate with vegetables for one or more years, 

 new plantations being formed in the meantime. 



Among the advantages enumerated by him, 

 which this mode promises to cultivators, and espe- 

 cially when they emp'oy the new mulberry, morns 

 mwZ^('ca»//s, in preference to the white mulberry, 

 are the following: 1. The winds have less power 

 or action on the trees. 2. A less depth of soil is 

 requisite than for standard trees. 3. Women and 



children may collect the leaves without danger, 

 and with much greater fiicility and [iromptitude 

 than fi'om large trees. 4. The vegetation of the 

 mulberries will be earlier in the prairies, and by 

 reason ot this the worm may complete their labors 

 helcjre the greatest heats of summer. 5. 'I"he ab- 

 sence or scarcity of ft-nit will liuiliiale the naiher- 

 intr of the leaves ; which will not be soiled. To the 

 injury of the insects when consi;med, or by caus- 

 ing lermentalinn in the litter. 6. This early vege- 

 tation of the mulberries, and the prom[;titude with 

 which their foliage is renewed, may render it |)os- 

 sible to make two successive crops in a year, 

 without sensibly injuring the vigor of the plant, 

 which will again recover a new crop of leaves be- 

 fore winter. 



In fine, this culture offers at the same time an 

 increase of production ; diminution of expence ; 

 economy of land ; and to all these and other ad- 

 vantages which JNl. Bonafoux has enumerated, I 

 also will add, that the economy in time is another 

 very important consideration, as the [ilantations in 

 this mode are sooner rendered productive, than 

 from trees at an extended distance. Thus the pro- 

 longed and expensive outlay is saved, and the te- 

 dious cultivation of many long years. 



With regard to the white mulberry, I will sucr- 

 gest the opinion that only one crop of leaves can 

 probably be gathered in our climate in a season; 

 its growth being slow, a second crop would too 

 much exhaust the tree, but in warmer climates as 

 in Tuscan}', two crops may be obtained even 

 from that tree in the same season. As to the 

 Osage orange, I have urged last summer, on some, 

 at Philadelphia, that trials should be made of the 

 leaves, by fi?edinfr the silkworms exclusively on 

 them alone, throughout their various mutations. 

 But though I understand that the worms eat them 

 with avidity, they were not fi^d with them exclu- 

 sively^ and I cannot yet learn that the decisive 

 experiment has been liiirly tried. The tree seems 

 perfectlj^ hardy on my hill, where it has stood un- 

 injured and unprotected during eight years. Yet 

 though I believe it to be full as hardy as the mul- 

 berry, I am informed on the best authority, that 

 in the valley of the North River and at Albany, 

 and in the same latitude as with us, that the ma- 

 clura or Osage orange is almost invariably des- 

 troyed down every winter, as are also some other 

 hardy trees; a proof that that climate during win- 

 ter, is very difliirent from ours. That climate, 

 however, must be equally as well suited as ours to 

 the cultivation of our sugar-beet. 



The progress of Italy, as I before stated, is 

 slow in every advancement. Their country is 

 old and their people still wedded to old customs, 

 and badly governed by a combination of tempo- 

 ral and spiritual rulers; their people, harassed and 

 oppressed and discouraged, need only a new and 

 more thorough regeneration. Though the daily 

 wages of labor are far less in Italy than they are 

 in our own country, still it must be admitted that 

 the spirit by which, alone, man is inspired to the 

 most heroic labors, is wanting there. Thus in 

 Piedmont, according to Dr. Lardner, and where 

 the oriixinal throwing machines for silk were first 

 invented in former eenturies, they are still content 

 if the spindles lo their machines do but revolve 

 from 300 to 400 times in a minute. It was the 

 same of late in France. But now those of the 

 British in their throwing machines revolve 1800 



