1838] 



farmi<:rs' register. 



451 



supply of foliafre, anddifRc.iilt to fjnther, evo.ri then. 



It is geiifM-iiIly r()nsulore.(l that llie niulttcaulis is 

 the most valuable mulberry in the country. In 

 the poutliorn states, and as far north as to New 

 York, and even in some parts of New Knijland, it 

 flourishes with ijreat luxuriance; and the roots, 

 and even brandies for the most part, will with- 

 stand tlie winters without material injury. FJut 

 for the more northern portions of the Dnited States, 

 it is extremely doubtful wliether it can ever l)e 

 cultivated to advantacre. It is certain that in the 

 neighborhoods of Albany and Northampton, its 

 irrowth is stunted ; but local causes exist to render 

 those places colder than any olhers in the same 

 parallel of latitude. The soil ibr a considerable 

 distance round them is so li<rht and sandy, that it 

 parts rapidly with its heat whenever the rays of 

 the sun are withdrawn or excluded. For the 

 northern and eastern states, however, there are 

 other species of the mulberry more hardy than the 

 vmliicaiilis, of a rapid and vigorous prowth, and 

 furnishing leaves of a larije size and in great 

 abundance. Disiiniruished cultivators there have 

 their particular favorites. The Alpine was intro- 

 duced and is patronized by Saml. Whitmarsh, 

 the Canton by Dr. Stebbins, and the Brussa by 

 some gentlemen of Albany.* At Northampton, 

 there is such a confljsion of names, that persons 

 residing at a distance have very little idea of what 

 their mulberries really are. Instead of beinsr de- 

 signated in such a manner as to be readily distin- 

 guished from all others, the specific term ol'muUi- 

 caulis is applied to species entirely distinct, as well 

 from each other as (i-om the multicaulis proper. 

 Thus the Alpine is called the mnrus mult km /.lis 

 Jtlpinense ; and the Canton, the CanfonmuJticaii- 

 lis. Both the Alpine and Canton have sufficient 

 merits of their own to enable them to stand without 

 any extrinsic aid ; and the appropriation of terms to 

 which a definite idea has been long attached, is 

 calculated to mislead and produce a false impres- 

 sion. The Alpine is only known as having been 

 brought from the foot of the Alps, where it was 

 called the Chinese mulberry, and is the same kind 

 lor which, under this cognomen, the <rentleman 

 that introduced it was made the object of so much 

 obloquy a few years aso. The odium that was 

 cast on him then, was, as I am now convinced, 

 very undeserved. The merits of the controversy 

 turned on a name ; and that name appears to have 

 been inadvertently adopted, or rather continued in 

 conformity with the designation of the species in 

 Italy, and not with the intention of passini; itoff as 

 the genuine multicaulis. The effiect, however, 

 has been to impair his usefulness ever since. 



If the silk culture has not advanced with the 

 rapidstrides, in the states where it received its first 

 impulse, which were predicted of it-, yet it has 

 made some propress in other places, where if has 

 been recently introduced. A much larger num- 

 ber of worms has been fed durintj the past sea- 

 son than has ever been fed in one year before; 

 and complete success, as far as I had the oppor- 

 tunity of observing or ascertaining, attended the 

 management of them. In New^.Tersey, Penn- 

 sylvania and Delaware, and on the Eastern Shore 



* Charles Rhind, Esq., formprly minister at Constan- 

 tinople, introduced the Brussa mulberry. See his 

 communication to the Farmers' Register, pasre 55, vol. 

 V.-Ed. ' ° 



of Maryland, much more has been done than in 

 any other parts of the country. A considernbls 

 stiundus has been given to the business, in some 

 of those states, by the liberal bounties u|)on silk 

 produced within their respective limits. A large 

 proportion of the late crop of cocoons was reserv- 

 ed tor eggs for another year; and even now the 

 demand Ibr eirss is almost as preat as that for 

 nmlberries. The experience of this year has sa- 

 tislactorily proved that even from trees, the growth 

 of cuttings and layers planted in the spring, 

 worms may be advantageously fed the ensuing 

 summer. It is only necessary to retard the hatch- 

 in£r of the epgs by placing them in an ice-house, 

 which should be done before the warm weather 

 in the sprin<i comes on. By this means, they have 

 been kept till midsummer. Under any circum- 

 stances, the hatching may very properly be de- 

 layed till the early part of .Tune, which is proba- 

 bly as soon as worms should be brought out even 

 in Virginia. The cold, wet weather of May, 

 which is frequently a disastrous period to the 

 yountj worms, is thereby avoided; and the natu- 

 ral time of hatching is only postponed about three 

 weeks. Whether Ihey can, for a number of 

 years, consistently with the health of the insect, 

 be prevented from hatching until the latter part of 

 July, may be regarded as doubtful. The practice 

 is so contrary to nature, that ic will not be at all 

 surprising if the effect should prove unfavorable. 

 Neither would any necessity exist for it, if the 

 culturist would reserve a small number of stand- 

 ard trees or roots, and make use of the two-crop 

 worm for his second and third crops. 



I have no information which would enable me 

 to state with precision the quantity of silk that 

 may be produced fron> an acre of ground. Dur- 

 ing the past season, one gentleman in New Jer- 

 sey obtained from the sixteenth of an acre, a pro- 

 duct at the rate of 56 pounds per acre, from trees 

 of the first year's growth. Had the trees been a 

 year older, the quantity of silk would no doubt 

 have been fully doubled; and might have been 

 still further increased by successive crops. The 

 cocoons of this year were almost invariably firm 

 and heavy; and I heard of no worms that fed 

 longer than twenty-ei'iht or twenty-nine days; 

 the usual period ol their lives being thirty-five 

 days. This abridgment of the ordinary term of 

 their existence, is to be ascribed to the high tem- 

 perature of the summer; for we know that, under 

 different circumstances, It is sometimes profonged 

 to forty days. Tlie past seasmi, hot and dry as it 

 was, appears to have been very liivorable to the 

 health of the worms. I heard, on respectable au- 

 thority, that a culturist in Delaware had fed 150,- 

 000 with a loss of not more than twenty. Among 

 all that I saw, some of which were a good deat 

 crowded, I observed no symptoms of disease, and 

 heard of none prevailing elsewhere. One or two 

 facts that came within my knowledge, showed 

 that much care is requisite rn the treatment of 

 esrss when the hatchinp is to be postponed. It is 

 acknowledcred by all, that it is important to keep- 

 them dry; and to piiard against the least admis- 

 sion of moisture, some persons put them in bottles 

 and seal them air-tiirht. Whenever the egsa re- 

 mained in this condition for any length of dme, 

 their vitality was entirely destroyed ; while others 

 o!" the same parcels, but treated with less care, 

 hatched without loss. 



