FARMERS' REGISTER. 



373 



ment made by himself, the last summer, found I 

 tluii it. requiieii 240 lbs. leaves and tvvi<rs of the 

 Alf)ine and while mulberry to 1 ih. of silif. lie 

 adds, that had all the leaves been free from siem 

 and rust, prohahlj 200 lbs. would have been an 

 ariipje supply (or a pound of silk. These are the 

 sialemenis of a <reniieman of perlecl credibility, 

 and the result of exact experiment. They are to 

 be disproved only by more full, more exact, and 

 repealed trials. 



To his account Mr. McLean adds : " last year 

 I produced at the rate ololO lbs. of cocoons (o the 

 acre ; this year I produced at the rale of 520 lbs. ; 

 and my deliberaie opniion is, that more will I'all 

 •below this standard than will exceed it; and in 

 one case, where a less quantity of leavec will give 

 the above quantity of silk, two cases will occur 

 that will require a jrreater." The exactness, cau- 

 tion, and frankness of this gentleman are worthy 

 of all praise. 



Varieties of the worm. — Of the worms used 

 for the production of silk, there are several va- 

 rieties ; some distinnuished by a shorter or lonnj- 

 er time in which they perlonn their work and 

 pass the period of their existence ; and others lor 

 the quality of the silk made Irom them. The sul- 

 phur cocoon makes a coarser thread than some 

 other varieties. The six weeks' worm will yield 

 the most silk. The three weeks' worm can be 

 made to produce two crops, if ihey are carefully 

 managed ; if not particularly attended to they will 

 require four weeks in which to complete their wind- 

 ing. The mammoth while require four weeks ; 

 and make two-thirds as much each time as the six 

 weeks' worm. A new and beautilijl variety, Ibrm- 

 ing, from its being depressed in the middle, what 

 is called the peanut cocoon, has been much ap- 

 proved, both from the beauty of the silk produced 

 iirom it, as well as from the liitle vvasle to which il 

 is liable in winding, it running ofi' in reeling almost 

 without leaving any thing. 



Quantity of cocoons for one pound of silk. — 

 Of ilie number of cocoons required to weigh a 

 pound, or the number required to produce a pound 

 ol'silk, very difi'erent sialemenis have been made. 

 Cocoons are measured in Mansfi Id, Conn., by the 

 bushel. The measures are evened, or as some- 

 limes termed, struck, and Iburquaris additional are 

 allowed to e.ich bushel thus measured. The 

 weight ofa bushel of cocoons will vary from seven 

 to nine pounds. The qjjantity ol' silk lo be ob- 

 tained from a bushel ol cocoons will depend on the 

 quality of the cocoons. The weight of cocoons 

 will be atiected by the lime which has elapsed al- 

 ter the stifling ol'ihe moth or chrysalis. 



With Mr. Sunih, of Amherst, one bushel of 

 peanut, cocoons gave one and a half pound o( 

 reeled silk. Of the sulphur cocoons, one bushel 

 produced one pound of reeled silk. This shows 

 an extraordinary difference. Mr. Haskell, of 

 Harvard, requires ten to twelve pounds of cocoons 

 to make one pound of silk. With Mr. M<'Lean 

 it required 10 lbs. 10 uz. of cocoons without flo.-sing 

 or soriing, and 10 lbs. 5 oz. after ihey were flossed 

 or sorted, lo produce a pound of reeleil silk. He 

 found likewise, that it required 19 to 20 lbs. of 

 leaves to make 1 lb. of cocoons. With Mr. Slie- 

 pard 13 bushels of cocoons produced 9 lbs. of silk. 

 In Mansfield it is considered a liiir task lur a girl 

 lo pick 60 lbs. of leaves per day ; this, it is under- 

 Btood, !8 from standard trees. From trees in a 



hedge row, or accessible from the ground a very 

 much iarser amount can be gathered. 



Natural and artificial management. — We may 

 yet expect great im|)rovements in the culture 

 of silk. The method of culture to which I have 

 relerred is denominated the natural method. In 

 MansHeld the fixtures are of the most simple cha- 

 racter. A rough shed or barn is used lor a cocoon- 

 ery ; and no provision is made lor ariificial heat 

 beyond the closing of the window shutters in dainp 

 weather. It has been said that eleclriciiy will 

 sometimes destroy the worms. Mr. McLean in- 

 Ibrmed me that a heavy thunder siorm occurred 

 during his feeding, and the lightning struck in the 

 immediate neighborhood of his cocoonery, but hia 

 worms experienced no injury. In Mansfield the 

 worms are ordinarily cleaned three times in the 

 course of feeding, and are led three times a day. 

 The Mansfieldans are of opinion that a cold is 

 more favorable lo liie production of silk than a 

 warm season. 



By what is called the artificial process, pursued 

 with extraordinary success at the experimental 

 larm in France, under the direction olM. Camille 

 de Beau vais and wiih the patronage of the govern- 

 ment, the whole operation is much abridged in 

 respect to time, and the quantity of silk produced 

 from the same number of worms is considerably 

 increased. The plan is to keep up an even tem- 

 perature in the cocoonery as high as 15° Fahren- 

 heit, and to feed the worms day and night to the 

 lull extent which they can be made to consume. 

 1 shall subjoin to this report a table most ingeni- 

 ously drawn up, in which every step in the pro- 

 cess is minutely and clearly detailed. This, in 

 my opinion, will be almost invaluable to the culti- 

 vator of silk, as condensing, in a small compass, 

 tlie most important and useful inlbrmation. 



The Messrs. Cheney, of Burlingion, New Jer- 

 sey, have experimented upon this artificial pro- 

 cess, the last year, with success. The worms 

 completed their winding in twenty-four days ; and 

 they have sirong hopes to reduce the time required 

 to twenty-two days. Ii is staled that, in propor- 

 lion to the shoriness ofthe time occupied in con- 

 ducting the worm to maturity through the various 

 stages, by incessant care, and the most liberal 

 feeding, the quantity ol' silk is increased and its 

 quahiy improved. 



Ill ihe German pamphlet to which I have refer- 

 red, it is Slated thai "by this mode of manage- 

 ment, M. Beauvais has obtained fi-om every half 

 ounce of eggs, sixty-eight pounds of cocoons, 

 whilst, in the south ol France, they commonly ob- 

 tained only twenty-five pounds, and in the norlh 

 ol'Germany, with proper care, from forty to forty- 

 five pounds." By this method, they can bring 

 lour generations ofsilk worms to spin in one year, 

 and so have lour silk harvests. 



Tliese are certainly great points to be attained. 

 Such refinements in the cultivation, and so much 

 pains-taking, may, by some, be regarded as dis- 

 couragiuij; liui they involve no mystery, and the 

 extraordinary advantages to be obtained promise 

 an ample compensation lor much expense and 

 labor. How fur they may be suited to what may 

 be strictly called household arrangements, or 

 where the silk culture is pursued altogether as an 

 incidental or subsidiary branch of husbandry, 

 13 a matter of easy calculation, and which any 

 one mav determine (or himself. 



