NATIONAL INSTITUTE. 



LETTEUl FROM DR. JOSEPH JOHNSON, OF CHARLESTON, (S. C.1 ON THE SILK PLANT, &c. 



Washington, (D.C.) Oct. 4th, 1845. 

 Francis Markoe, Jr. Esq. 



Cor. Secy of the National Institute, Washington : 



Dear Sir — I read with much pleasure, in Mr. 

 Skinner's July number of the Agricultural Jour- 

 nal, a Letter from D. Smith McCauley to you, 

 from the Consulate at Tripoli, relative to the 

 Vegetable Silk cultivated in that country; of 

 which he also sent the seed and a drawing of 

 the plant. I have now the pleasure of present- 

 ing a specimen of the plant, with its flower.s and 

 fruit, produced by cultivation on the Agricultu- 

 ral Farm near Charleston, S. C. 



In March, 1844, I received a letter from Rev. 

 J. B. Adger, Missionary in Smyrna, Asia Minor. 

 from the Presbyterian Church in the U. States ; 

 and with it were various seeds, which I distrib- 

 uted among gentlemen mo-st likely to take an 

 interest in their propagation. Among them 

 were the seeds of this plant, marked " Asclepi- 

 as :" but, if I remember rightly, not designating 

 the species. No mention was made of its uses 

 or value. Some of the seeds I placed in the 

 hands of Mr. Joseph O'Hear, Superintendent of 

 the Agricultural Farm, and requested his care 

 and attention to them. When your letter ap- 

 peared in print, Mr. O'Hear not only had the 

 plant itself in flower, but on it were some co- 

 coons, or seed-pods, perfectly matured. He 

 called on me with them, and said that tlie plant 

 did not flower the year before, but that the stem 

 and root had survived the winter, in an open 

 exposure, and commenced bearing early in the 

 summer; that he had lost the paper with its 

 name, and could not have identified it but for 

 the excellent drawing of the plant in Skinner's 

 Journal. The paper with the name had been 

 staked in the row, when he sowed the seed, to 

 de.'iignate it, and was lost in the exposure to the 

 weather. He told me, also, that eight or ten 

 additional stems had sprung up from the roots, 

 most of which had matured their fruit, or pod.s. 

 When I saw the plants, the season was late and 

 the flowering over ; but I obtained a few flow- 

 ers, with the other important parts of the plant, 

 which I now enclose for the examination of 

 yourself and friends. 



When first matured and ficsh, these follicles, 

 or pods, resembled the cocoons of silk-\vorms 

 as much as a vegetable substance may be ex- 

 pected to re-semblo an animal production. The 

 plants being too much crovi ded, Mr. O'Hear in- 



tends transplanting the stems, and placing them 

 about eight feet apart ; the seeds he will distrib- 

 ute among the members of the Agricultural So- 

 ciety. 



1 have no doubt that the plant has been de- 

 scribed and named by European botanists, but 

 I have not met with any satisfactory description 

 of it. It certainly is not among the numerous 

 species found in the United States. As it may 

 interest others, I give the best botanical descrip- 

 tion that 1 could obtain ; which, conjoined with 

 Mr. Skinner's plate, will give a pretty correct 

 idea of the plant. It is a species of Swallow- 

 wort, one of which is well known as the Trin- 

 ket plant. In " Turlon's Linnajus," it is classed 

 Pentandria Digyitia ; and, we think, comes 

 nearest to his Asclepias Lunaria of any other. 

 The stem is simple, round, naked, and about 5 

 feet high. The leaves linear, channeled, in 

 pairs, and crowded near the top. The flowers 

 in small umbels, a.xillary, on long peduncles, 

 yellow, nodding, petals very small, the horn not 

 above the crown. The follicles ovate, a little 

 pointed, ventose, thin, white, and spinous. The 

 seeds numerous, black, oblong, and enveloped 

 in a white silky wool, somewhat stronger iu its 

 fibre than the shining flo-ss of other species. 



^Ir. Adger also sent us the seeds of a most de- 

 lightful species of muskmelon, called the Cassa- 

 ba melon, from a district in which it is chiefly 

 cultivated and sent to the Smj'rna market. — 

 Cassaba is at the western extrcmitj- of Asia 

 Minor, about midw ay between Constantinople 

 and Smyrna, not far from the site of Ancient 

 Troy. I have seen tliese melons highly com- 

 mended by English touri.=its of taste, thereby 

 confirming Mr. Adger's preference ; in Charles- 

 ton they were decidedly preferred in flavor to 

 all others. The melons, from which the seeds 

 were taken which I no\\' send you, were the 

 produce of Dr. Thomas Legare's plantation, on 

 James's Island, near Charleston, and carefully 

 cultivated by him. They succeed best on a good 

 garden mould, damp but not wet, and contain- 

 ing a little lime. They .should not be located 

 near other melons, gourds, cucumbers, &c. — 

 which may impair the flavor, aud vitiate the 

 seed for a future crop. 



I tein.nin, very respectfully, 



Vour obcdinit servant, 



JOS. JOHNSON. 



