FARMERS' REGISTER, 



587 



it possible tliat though far remote at an elevation 

 ofseveral hundred feel above them, this bottomless 

 well may, by some subterranean communication, 

 be connecled with the grand shell marl deposite 

 in the eastern part of the state?" 



EXTRACTS FROM "OBSERVATIONS ON THE 

 CULTURE OF SILK. 



By the late Archibald Stephenson, Esq. of 3Ioii- 

 greenaa, in J/yrshire.^'' 



From tlie Technical Repository. 



Having resided for five years in the provinces of 

 Languedoc and Quercy, in the souih of France, 

 where the utmost attention is paid to the culture 

 of silk ; I embraced that opportunity of observing 

 with care, the manner in which this lucrative 

 branch of manufacture and commerce was carried 

 on : and indeed, ! was led to bestow the more 

 attention upon this important subject, from an idea 

 I entertained that this valuable culture, by proper 

 care, might certainly be introduced into Great 

 Britain, particularly in the southern parts of this 

 island, where there are large tracts of land, which 

 would answer perlectly for the production of ihe 

 mulberry tree, and which, from the nature of the 

 soil, can never be employed to any great advantage 

 in raising of corn. 



It appears proper to befrin, by giving eome little 

 account of the mulberry tree, since, as Ihe society 

 jii- I observes, this is the first object which claims 

 our attention ; because we must first of all make 

 some provision of food for the silk-worms, before 

 any trial at large can be carried into execution 

 with any propriety, or indeed, with any rational 

 hope of success. 



There are two kinds of the black mulberry tree 

 which have been cultivated in France. The first 

 of these bears a fruit well known and frequently 

 presented at table, being the same which is culti- 

 vated in our gardens in the neighborhood oFLon- 

 don. But the leaves of this tree have been found 

 from experience, to be too harsh and too succulent 

 to prove in every respect a proper food for the silk- 

 worm, and the silk it yields turns out to be coarse 

 and of an inferior quality. 



The second kind of the black mulberry free 

 carries a fruit inferior to the other in point of size, 

 and improper for the table ; but the leaf of it has 

 been found to be superior to the first, as food for 

 the silk-worm ; and it is less harsh, less succulent 

 and yields silk of a finer quality than tlie one first 

 mentioned. 



This second sort of the black mulberry is, in 

 all probability, the particular kind, which is said 

 to be at present cultivated in the kingdon of Va- 

 lencia, in Spain, for the use of their silk-worms ; 

 and, indeed, many of their old plantations in 

 France, consist of this sort. But their new plan- 

 tations consist wholly of the white mulberry tree, 

 hereafter to be mentioned, which is the only one 

 they now cultivate in all their nursery grounds, 

 for the use of their silk-worms ; so far at least as 

 I had occasion to see them. 



There is a third sort, known by the name of 

 the white mulberry, the leaf of which is more 

 tender and less succulent than any of the other two. 



and has been found to produce silk of the finest 

 and best quality. 



* « * * » 



For a number of years after the culture of silk 

 was introduced into France, the people were ac- 

 customed to employ the leaves of^ all the different 

 kinds of mulberry trees before mentioned, promis- 

 cuously; and some grafts of the white mulberry 

 from Piedmont, and from Spuin, which carried a 

 larger leaf than the one ihey had got in France, 

 having been obtained from these countries ; these 

 iirafts were put upon French seedling stocks, which 

 had the etiect of increasiuir greatly the size of the 

 leaves, and was regarded as an acquisition as it 

 certainly produced a large slock of leaves as food 

 lor the worms. The cotisequence of which was, 

 that this practice of grafting prevailed for a great; 

 many years all over Provence and Languedoc. 



But Monsieur Marteloy, a physician at Mont- 

 pellier, who had made "the culture of the silk- 

 worm his particular study for a number of years 

 together, at last made it clearly apparent to the 

 conviction of every body, by a regular course of 

 attentive and well-conducted experiments, that the 

 leaf of the seedling white mulberry was the food of 

 all others the best for this valuable insect ; as the 

 worms which werefed with this particular leaf 

 were found to be more healthy and vigorous, and 

 less subject to diseases of any kind than those that 

 were fed upon any of the other kinds of leaves 

 above mentioned ; and that their silk turned out to 

 be of the very best quality. Since that time, 

 namely, 1765, a decided preltjrence has been 

 given to this particular leaf beyond all the others. 



* # * # # 



I shall therefore go on to observe, that their first 

 object is to make choice of a spot of ground for 

 their seed bed, of a gravelly or sandy soil which 

 has been in garden culture, or under tillage for 

 some time, and which they know to be in good 

 heart. 



* * * * # 



From the experiments carried on by Monsieur 

 Marteloy, that gentleman made it lijlly appear 

 that the leaves of the trees which grew in a rich 

 soil were by no means proper food for the silk 

 worm, as they were loo luxuriant and full of juice 

 for them ; and that the leaves of those trees which 

 were raised in a gravelly or sandy soil, where no 

 manure was employed, were greatly to be prefer- 

 red. 



From these experiments also, one ofthe reasons 

 and apparently the principal one may now be 

 pretty clearly pointed out, which rendered abortive 

 the trials made in Encland, during the reigns of 

 James I. and Charles IF. for introducing the cul- 

 ture of silk into Great Britain ; though that reason 

 was altogether unknown in England, at the times 

 these diflerent trials were made. It appears to 

 have been only this, that they had no other fond 

 to give to their worms but ihe leaves of the b!nck 

 mulberry, carryinir the large li-uit U!=ually presentrd 

 ] at our tables, which is now aliou<"her rejected in 

 I France as an improper Ibod for the worms; and 

 which was rendered infinitely more destructive 

 for these insects by the trees which produced them 

 havinw been all of them reared in the richest 

 ground in England, namely, in the garden grounds 

 about London, which we know are in a manner 

 yearly loaded with dung. 



