308 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 5 



who obtained the seed at Havana; which, for 

 flavor was as fine as nine-tenths of" the cigars im- 

 ported direct from Havana. We say this without 

 reserve, considering ourself a competent judge of 

 the article. 



Ffom the New York Star. 



THE NATIVE AMERICAN SILKWORM. NEW 

 PLAN FOR THE WORMS TO WIND THE CO- 

 COONS. 



Mr. Editor — Since the receipt of your paper 

 yesterday, I received the Nantuc!<et Inquirer of 

 15lh inst., in Vv^liich Mr. Jenlvs asl<s for furtiier in- 

 telligence in relation to the articles on the silk 

 worm, puhlished in the Siar of the 3tl inst. As 

 the words, "six diHerent plants iijr the worm to 

 wind the cocoon," were published verbatim as I 

 expressed them in conversation with you, the call 

 eeems to require some explanation on my part. I 

 will give it briefly thus: "It is so many contri- 

 vances (o accomodate the insect in its preparation 

 lor '• winding up," or so many difltirent contrivan- 

 ces on which (not round which) the larva^/ may 

 suspend and wind the cocoon. One of the plans 

 maybe described thus: nine laths \ inch thick, 1^^ 

 inch wide and 40 inches long, placed on ecige, 

 horizontal, parallel to each other, and 1 inch apart 

 in the clear; these are connected by a laih, 11^ 

 inches long, liisfened across the ends; the whole 

 forming a grate of 9 bars \\\ by 40 niches. Five 

 of these grates, placed parallel to and above each 

 other, ^ inch afiart in the clear, connecled by a 

 single nail at each corner, with a lath 9^ inches 

 long, standing vertically on end, fijrins one plan, 

 which is prabably the best of the six, atid in the 

 operation of some good judges is superior to all 

 other plans (not excepting the European plan of 

 bushes and branches of trees) for economy, both 

 in the space \yhich it occupies to accomodate an 

 f!qual number of worms, and the expense of con- 

 struction. The -16 laths required lijr its construc- 

 tion are worth 6 cenis, and can be made with the 

 labor of one hour, worth 12 cents — making in all 

 IS cents. The worm winds the cocoon between the 

 bars and between the grates, when by removing 

 the 4 vertical laths at the corners the cocoon can 

 be cleared out in a few nfmutes, certainly in less 

 time, and, in better condition, than the same num- 

 ber can be retnoved fiom among bushes and leaves. 

 The native American silk worm ft^eds on elder, 

 which is its principal f()od, and from it spins a co- 

 coon of good silk, strong, soft and lustrious, though 

 coarser than that of the Asiatic worm; the small- 

 est cocoon in my possession, from the native Ame- 

 rican worm, is 70 per cent, heavier than the hea- 

 viest of the Asiatic. A liiir average of the native 

 cocoons are nearly 300 per cent, heavier than most 

 of the Asiatic. I weighed to-day a liiir average 

 of the native American cocoons with 4 different 

 kinds of Asiatic, from my own raising this year — 

 the weights show the (]uantity of silk, without the 

 chrysalis, as follows. 



Native American cocoon, 

 Asiatic large white cocoon, 



" bright white cocoon, 



" Monti di Brianza, a pale 

 yellow, 



•' Golden yellow, 



The ova of the two last named, were imj)orted 



by Mr. Tinelli the present year; they are much 

 cultivated in Italy and Spain, and produce the fi- 

 nest silks in Europe. The Monti di Brianza is 

 particularly tiimed for receiving and retaining the 

 most beautiful dye. By the above you will per- 

 ceive that the native American furnishes 850 per 

 cent, more silk than the golden yellow Asiatic. 



A description of the native American silk worm 

 may enable Mr. Jenks to recognise an old and lii- 

 miliar acquaintance, wliich he has often li-ighted 

 from its resting place with the exclamation " Oh! 

 what a beautiful butterfly," pronounced in a tone 

 too loud and too harsh fbrsuch sensitive antenntt\ 



It ranks in Linne's System of Nature in the An- 

 mal Kingdom, Class 5, Insects order HI. Lepi- 

 doptera, Genus, Phalaena. I'he moth, or perfect 

 insect, is without |)roboscis, and therefore cannot 

 eat ; it has antennae 2 pectinate and black, head 

 white, eyes 2 black, thorax red, abdon:en entirely 

 surrounded with alternate red and white, bands, 

 wings 4 brownish gray, lighter in the niale, inte- 

 rior of 2 upper wings red, with one large ocellate 

 spot near each exterior, and 2 smaller and the dis- 

 tinct in the margin; fi-om the anterior to the pos- 

 terior is a band of 2 distinct while and red lines; 

 between this band and the interior is a large 

 white, lunate macula are the same in lower wings; 

 across the exterior and margin is a band of 4 dis- 

 titict lines, ashy gray, black, cream, and ashy 

 graj' ; lower wings the same. The larvte is 

 greenish, without hair except a ^ew on 2 protu- 

 berances, and fiieds mostly on elder. The ova is 

 cream color clouded with reddish gum, with which 

 they are liistened to the lea or bark. The pupa 

 or chrysalis is dark brown enclosed in a cocoon of 

 stronff, soft and lustrious silk. It is a native of 

 the North American states, and is found in no 

 other country. 1 have eleven of the cocoons in 

 my possession, four of which I friund on Manhat- 

 tan Island, near Harlem, New York, and seven in 

 the forest of Bergen county, N. J. 



I intend this summer to tnanufiicturc some sew- 

 ing silk fi'om the native American cocoons, and 

 hereby promise to send Mr. Jenks one skein of it 

 provided he will "contrive" some better name 

 than '■^contrivance''^ for the plan of lath described 

 in this communication. Yours, &c. 



C. F. DURANT. 



Jersey city^ July 21, 1837. 



[We have for three years made attempts to investi- 

 gate tlje habits of the insect described above, though 

 with less success than Mr. Durant has met with. 

 From the cocoons, found during winter on many kinds 

 of bushes, it is easy to obtain the living moths — which 

 came out (when kept in a cool house,) early in May, 

 in this region. But, from the small number that we 

 had, and the irregularity of their issuing forth, or some 

 other cause, no impregnated eggs were obtained from 

 the moths so confined. Once only, a female moth 

 was caught that was already impregnated, and had com- 

 menced laying while at liberty. Her eggs soon hatch- 

 ed ; but though the leaves of sundry trees were tried 

 as food (the mulberry included) the young worms 

 would eat none of them, and all perished. Mr. Du- 

 rant has gotten over this difficulty, and may be able to 

 rear enough worms to continue the race, and to furnish 

 sutlicient samples of their silk. As a mere curiosity 



