50 



terial food of the silk-worm. Let the plantations and 

 supplies of the mulberry leaves abound, that there be no 

 lack of nourishment in the latter days, when most of all 

 the silk-worms require very large quantities of food, as 

 any deficiency at that critical period would be without 

 remedy ; for the profit of the silk-worms depends mainly 

 on their being full fed, as the cocoons will in this case 

 be large and the filament strong. 



Economy is however important in regard to food, that 

 the insects be regularly fed, arid their wants duly sup- 

 plied, arid that none be wasted. Economy is equally 

 important as it regards time; the plantation should there- 

 fore be near, that little time be wasted in travelling to 

 and fro. 



'The roots of the mulberry tree incline downwards, 

 descending deep into the soil : unlike other trees whose 

 roots incline towards the surface, they do not so much 

 impoverish the upper soil ; and other plants, whose roots 

 do not descend deep, may be cultivated with profit be- 

 neath their shade. It is stated on good authority, that 

 beneath the shade of the groves of the mulberry tree, 

 the pasture is always more valuable and abundant, pro- 

 tected as it is from the scorching rays of the sun. 



Formerly, in Italy and in France, the plantations of 

 the mulberry consisted almost exclusively of large stand- 

 ard trees the surface of the land being covered with 

 groves. Elsewhere I shall give the particulars of the 

 formation of a mulberry grove of 60 arperits at Fontaine, 

 near the city of Lyons, in France, as related to me by 

 S. V. S. Wilder, Esq. Thrice he visited this plantation 

 from its formation, and during 17 years, by which time 

 it had become a source of great revenue to the proprie- 

 tor. The leaves were not sold to the gatherers till the 

 sixth year, and then the leaves at the tip ends of the 

 twigs were invariably left. In Connecticut the practice 

 prevailed almost exclusively of planting trees at remote 

 distances ; and there they climb trees of 30 or 40 feet 

 in height. But orchards of the mulberry, with the trees 



