SILK PLANT FROM TRIPOLL 



For the Silk Plant, which has been litho- 

 ^aphed for this number ^ve are indebted to the 

 Secretary of the National Institute, so called — 

 we say so called, for although truly broad and 

 National in spirit and objects, we are not aware 

 that it has yet been adopted, by the wise men 

 who g^ard the interests and chai-acter of the 

 Republic, and who ought to be the first to see 

 that its true welfare and glory can in no way be 

 80 well secured as by manifesting in the spirit 

 of their laws a love of justice and a readiness 

 to promote the permanent growth of the arts 

 and sciences. 



Even the fund so munificently bestowed by a 

 stranger in a foreign land, in a moment of en- 

 thusiastic admiration of our government, to 

 found an Institution at Washington, for the dif- 

 fusion of useful knowledge, if not impro^'ident- 

 ly squandered, is at least withheld, as if to sho\v 

 to the world that we are wanting either in sense 

 or honesty to appropriate it. How could that be 

 better appropriated than by bestowing it on the 

 National Institute, with a condition requiring 

 the use of it for the promotion and diifusion of 

 the Science of Agriculture, in something like 

 the proportion that that interest bears to all 

 others in the country. 



The Meteorological Table which accompanied 

 the drawing and description of the " Silk-Plant," 

 w^as sent back to Secretary Markoe, so that we 

 cannot institute an exact comparison between 

 the climate of Tripoli and the Southern States, 

 but w^e doubt not the plant \vould flourish in the 

 South if conviction of its adaptation to practical 

 purposes should invite its cultivation. But the 

 wish to encourage the Institute, in making the 

 Fanners' Library the depository of whatever 

 may be deemed an useful addition to the stock 

 of American Agricultural knowledge or pro- 

 ducts, is sufBcient inducement to give place to 

 any of its communications, in a manner best cal- 

 culated to evince our sense of duty as a mem- 

 ber of the Institute and our individual anxiety 

 to Bee it achieve its laudable and exalted pur- 

 poses. 



We have a few seed for distribution. 



The Plate of the plant, for convenience, has 

 been reduced to verj- little more than half of its 

 natural size. 



U. S. Consulate, ? 

 TRipoLt, 28th December, 1844. 3 

 To Franxis ^L^nKOF, Jr. Esq. 



Cor. Sec. of the National Institute, TTaskington. 

 Sir : I herewith transmit to the Institute a 

 small specimen of " vegetable silk," raised from 

 (93) 



a few seed that I received from Luccc (Italy,) 

 which origmally came from Syria. 



Without any instraction or knowledge of this 

 plant, I sowed the seeds in pots in the month of 

 March last. lu May and June they obtained the 

 heighth of six to eight inches, ^vheu I trans- 

 planted them into my garden, about eight inch- 

 es apart, much too near as my experience 

 proves. In the months of August and Septem- 

 ber they \vcre in flower, and the pods com- 

 menced opening in October, the plants' being 

 from six to eight feet high, and though ^ve have 

 had the thermometer frequently as low as 4l>° 

 Fahrenheit, and the apricot and pomegranate 

 trees, with the vine, have all shed their leaves, 

 yet there remain several pods, on the " Silk 

 plant" which are still perfectlj- gi-een and show 

 no signs of suffering or cold. This, ^vith some 

 other proofs of the plant being hardy, induces 

 me to believe and hope that it might be suc- 

 ce.ssfully cultivated in all our cotton gTO\ving 

 States, and should it become a staple com- 

 modity, no doubt tlie inventive genius of our 

 coimtn-men would soon discover the means of 

 spiuningik without tlie aid of the cotton fibre, 

 which I am told thej' use in Syria to assist the 

 spinning — their knowledge of the art not ex- 

 tending beyond the primitive distaff. The only 

 infuiTuation that I have acquired of this plant, 

 further than recounted above, is from the mouth 

 of one of the "propaganda" established here, 

 ^vho has seen it growing in Syria, where he 

 tells me it flourishes, and that " the cultiva- 

 tion of a small field gives support to a family ;" 

 that in the second and third years it is extreme- 

 ly productive. The plants grow to the height 

 of ten to fifteen feet, and are generally sepa- 

 rated from eight to ten feet from each other. 



I also foi-ward yon by this occasion the small 

 quantity of seed of the plant which the limited 

 number I have raised enables me to spare, 

 with the hope of sending a greater quantity 

 next year should the climate of our Southern 

 States prove favorable to its culture, or should 

 it be even otherwise interesting. 



I beg you will distribute these .seeds amongst 

 those gentlemen from our " i ottou growing 

 States." -who will take an interest in making an 

 experiment of the cultivation. Permit me to 

 mention two gentlemen to whom I would be 

 pleased to have presented a small portion : Hon. 

 Richard Donnel, of Newbern, N. C, and Hon. 

 D. Le>-y, M. C, from Florida. 



Fearing to trust to my botanical knowledge 

 in giving a satisfacton' description of the plant, 

 I send a preserved specimen of a small bi'anch 

 of the plant, w ith the pods or cocoon attached, 

 and also a rough sketch on paper of the same, 

 which may serve in the event of the specimen 

 itself not being properly preserved. 



I also enclose a summary- of Meterological ob- 



seri-ations, made here, for the year ending Jul}- 



1, 1844, the details of which, t have regularly 



forwarded to the Surgeon General of the Army. 



Very respectfully, Sir, your most ob't. serv't. 



D. SMITH M-CAULEY. 



