J 826. 



NEW ENGT.AND FARMER. 



237 



cessary to have mulberry trees higher tlian our : niHv always be obtained to furnish tiin Fmall j " The cxjiosilion, the exposure, lias also great 

 raspberries, gooseberries and ciirmnls. When- shrubberies necessary for the siif)|Jort ol' the sill; I eflect. Trees planled in n northern exposure 

 ever they get beyond that, they lose their value, | worm. Another impediment will occnr in tlie j or as|)ect are ot-i-m/s below niediocrily, or infe- 

 and it' these trenches succeed you may have a ! cnminencpment of the experiment; the procur- 1 rior in nualily ; ibe jiiiccs are loo watery, and 

 fresh supply coming up day after day, or any | ing a sufficient number of cocoons, conlaining ' Ihe worms do not thrive as well n[)nn them. — 

 quantity you jjlease. Thus an abundance ofi the male and female insects. But Ihey exist in I Tho^^e raised oti hill sides with a southern ex- 

 (hese trees may be reared. But as mulberry j our own counliy, and we hope that a liberal posure are preferable lo llin.^e grown on plains." 

 trees are not yet found in abundance in Britain, I feeling uill l)e encouraged among those who) S. The berries gathered for seed cannot be 

 it were to be wished that some other food could have heretofore raised them, and thai they "ill ' ion ripe. When Ihey are jii^t barely fit tor eat- 

 be substituted in their place. Allem(its have j be ready to cooperate in the exertion which, I ing, not more than J4 percent, will vegetate, 

 been made, and il has been found possible to we hope, is about lo be made for (he extensive i When fully ripe and ready to fall, mnre than 

 support the silli worm on lettuce." — Bcifis/i £»- [ culiivation of this branch of industry. [half the seeds have usu;;lly grown : if left till 



cijchpedia. Art. Silk. Il would be very desirable thai those persons! they are dry, nearly all have succeeded. The 



The editors then proceed lo give an account who have already entered into litis eni|)lnyment \ mode of obtaining seed is to dry the berries, and 

 of successt'iil allempis lo support the silk worm in Now England, should send to Ihe Edilor of when wanted to rub out the seed, and fan away 

 on lettuce, but still it seems lo be well under- 1 the New England Farmer, some account of (heir ' ihe dried pul|>. 



stood that the mulberry of various sorts, and es- , success, and of the various processes necessary ! 4. As lo Ihe time of sowing: In the most 

 pecially in preference Ihe white, are its natuial, ' to ihe cultivation. ! southern jiarts of France they sow as soon as 



favourite, most wholesome diet. If we were to insert all that European writers' the seed is ripe, but Ihe most usual course is to 



We acknowledge that the article ivhich we | have said on Ihe subject, it would neither be re- j sow Ihe following spring. In France, according 

 have just quoted is very loose and unsatisfaclor). jCeived with so much confidence, nor be entitled to liie climale ofdifferent provinces, in Febru 



We are not told whether this hair line is buried to as much respect as that of our own culliva- 

 J!) the summer, at the lime when the mulberries | tors. 



are ripe, or whether the rope so prepared is 

 kept till the spring after, and then planted. We 

 are left in ignorance whether the seed cy( the 

 mulberry vegetates instantly ; how soon the act 

 of stripping commences; and to what extent il 

 is pursued. We are not informed how long the 

 hedge row of mulberry bushes, (for they must 

 be so considered,) endures. .Stinted, we know 

 they must be, from the continued destruction of 

 their leaves. No plant could sust.iin such re- 

 peated injuries without suflering most essential- 

 ly. The method of distributing the-seeds seems 

 lo us lo be very coarse and inartificial. Hair 

 rope is not always easily procured ; the seeds 



So much depends upon climnle, upon Ihe 



ary, March, and April. In New England we 

 could not sow till Afiril or May. 



5. The manner of sowinff. — Thev sometimes 



price of labour, upon Ihe demand for the pro- sow in Ihe spot where Ihe young mulberry is lo 

 duction, that our own experience is of far high-; grow for Ihe first three years ; but ihey prefer 

 er value than that of any other nation. j sowing them in boxes about three feet long, and 



Yet with all our ignorance of this culltire. i nine inches deep. The reason assigned is, that 

 with the discouragements, which anv new em- 1 Ihey are more easily watered and sheltered 

 [ilo^menl of capital and skill must encounter, we ! against frost. They remove them from the 

 I'eel convinced that Ihe lime has arrived in boxes into rous in a nursery which is done 

 which Ihe production of silk may be undertaken i without injury to the roots by taking ofl" one of 

 with safety, we hope with great profit. j Ihe sides of the box. Rozicr remarks upon the 



— practice of rubbing the berries on a hair rcpe 



Since the foregoing remarks were committed, and then burying it in the earth, that it is an 

 lo Ihe press, being much dissatisfied with the j useless complication of labour, 

 negligent manner in which the subjecl was 6. The French seem to be in the constant 



must be unequally distributed, and sown loo (treated in Ihe Crilish Encyclopedia, we hare i practice of grafting Iheir miillierries. No sat- 



thick. Even ifil is Ihe practice in Ihe south of 

 Franco, we should lie disposed to think il a bad 

 one. The seeds of the mulberry may be sepa- 

 rated from the pulp like the seeds of all other 

 berries, by mashing them ami pouring water 



had recourse to Ihe work of Ihe Abbe Rozier, isfactory reason seems lo be assigned for this 

 entitled " CoursComplel d'Agricidture," &c. and I certainly expensive process; but as they are 

 although we cannot at this lime, and having ex- ! verj' familiar with ihe cullivalion, no doubt ex- 

 tended this article lo so great a length, give at perience must have shown them Ihe value, or 

 large his extensive liealise, yet we may and Ihe French, being habitual economists, would 



\ipnn them and stirring Ihe mixture till ihe | perhaps ought lo add some general hints derived nol have adopted it. 



seeds fall to Ihe bollom, when ihey may be col 

 lecied and dried, and sown at equal distances. — 

 We must suppose that Ihe best time of sowing 

 would be Ihe spring, especially in our climale, 

 in order lo enable the young plant lo acquire 

 siifi'icient firmness lo resist the next winter's 

 frost. The great difficulty, we apprehend, in 

 the ivay of new ex|>eriments here, would be Ihe 

 procurement of seeds of Ihe while mulberry in 

 sufiicienl quantities. 



The seeds of Ihe black mulberry are easily 

 obtained, and m.iy serve lo introduce the cul- 

 ture of silk, until vve can the procure while mul- 

 berry seeils in suilicient quantity. The only 

 ]ioiiil of anv importance which is staled by the 

 learneil editors of Ibis work, is, that the plants 

 are not suffered lo grow into trees. They are 

 ke|)t down so as to be within the reach of children 

 from the ground. No doubt this is essential- 

 the labour would be too great if the oratherers 

 ol the leaves were obliged lo mount upon lad- 

 ders to collect them. 



Cullivators of the white mulberrv can import 

 (he tree from ihe Linnean Garden, owned by 

 Mr Prince, at Flushing, Long Island, near New 

 York. Two or three trees might be kept as 



7. It was formerly the practice in France lo 



from an aulhorily so much more entitled to! 



weight than any Brilish writers on Ibis subjecl plant out the mulberry as slandards, and to suf- 

 can be. We shall only in«erl at present some fer them to attain a considerable size, taking 

 general rules, which we gather from this French care, however, so to manage the pruning' as lo 

 work. keep all the limbs within the reach of gather- 



The first is, that the)' consider Ihe white mul- ■ ing ladders. The practice is of late much chang- 

 berry Ihe best adapted for Ihe food of the silk ed. It was observed, says Rozier, that Ihe 

 worm. They speak of no other food except Ihe young plants in nurseries put forth their leaves 

 various sorts ol mulberries, as being adapted to ( much sooner than the standard Irees, and Ihe 



the successful culture of Ibis insect. 



The second is, that Ihe quality of ihe silk 

 depends in a very great degree upon the soil and 

 exposure of Ihe mulberry jdanl or tree. That the 

 most vigorous growth, and the most luxuriant 



and largest sized leaves are not the best adapted valent practice of raising dwarf mulberries ex 



necessity of obtaining earl^' food for the young 

 insect obliged Ihe cultivators lo provide them- 

 selves with a certain number of mulberries in Ihe 

 bush or shrubby slate. 



From these first experiments arose Ihe pre- 



for the production of the best silk 



" The leaves for the purpose of producing the 

 best silk, are those which are grown in dry land, 

 slony, elevated and sandy." "The trees produce 

 fewer and smaller leaves than those grown in 

 rich soils, but their leaves have more flavor and 

 are more nutritive." [This doctrine is certain- 

 ly favourable to Ihe culture of the silk worm in 

 the gravelly, stony and sandy soils of New Eng- 

 land.] 



"The quality of the leaves of the mulberry 



standards for the production of fruit. They ! is affected by'various circumstances. 1. The 

 grow with great rapidity, and bear in the very j age of Ihe plants. The leaves of a young tree 

 first year after thev are transplanted. From two j are more watery, the juices less concentrated, 

 or three trees a sufficient quantity of ripe seeds i than in an old one." 



lensively, and also of surrounding Iheir fields 

 with mulberry hedges. It is said that the pro- 

 duce of an acre in dwarf mulberries is much 

 greater than one in large trees, Ihe distance be- 

 tween Ihe plants being so much less, so that the 

 number of dwarfs may be eight limes as great. 

 This is admitted to be true at first, but some cul- 

 tivators deny that it continues to be so after the 

 standard trees have attained their full size. — 

 The benefits of the dwarf cullivalion are thus 

 briefly stated : — 1st. Women and children can 

 gather Ihe leaves without danger, and much 

 quicker tlian the most experienced gatherers 

 could on large trees. 2d. The proprietor i3 

 much more speedily repaid his advances. 3d-. 



