114 



in prime condition, a much greater amount might be 

 gathered with the same labor. 



In the " Silk CuUurist" a valuable periodical pub- 

 lished at Hartford, by Judge Comstock, is the statement 

 of Mr. Harvey Clark, who we well know is a highly re- 

 spectable citizen of Mansfield in Connecticut. This 

 account is valuable as showing the amount of labor and 

 attendance, and of gathering the leaves from tall trees, 

 and of reeling. 



Mr. Clark has annually made thirty-five pounds of 

 reeled silk from trees forty or fifty years old, and cover- 

 ing half an acre, all the labor of gathering the leaves 

 and attendance, during the first three weeks, being 

 performed by Mrs. Clark and a young woman who 

 lives in the family. After the first three weeks, Mr. 

 Clark devotes himself entirely to the business. The 

 silk has been reeled exclusive by Mrs. Clark and the 

 young woman, at the rate of a pound and a half a day. 

 During the whole silk season they have had the care of 

 eight small children. Mr. Clark states that no fire is 

 ever used in the apartments of the silk-worm by him or 

 others, in Mansfield. 



The communication of M. Amans Carrier, a silk cul- 

 turist in Aveyron, in France, to M. Bonafoux, director 

 of the Royal Garden of Turin, is from the " Farmer's 

 Register." In this particular account of the profit of 

 a silk crop much is ascribed to the perfect mode of reel- 

 ing, and full credit is given to aid derived from the coun- 

 sels and assistance of M. Marchetti, an Italian and po- 

 litical refugee, and a skilful Jilateur of silk. The crop 

 was raised in 1833, from trees which had been planted 

 eight years, on less than half a hectare of land or one 

 and a fourth English acres. 



