1839] 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



84 



beginning to spin their cocoons. At this period, 

 a dry atmosphere is absolutely essential to the Ibr- 

 nialion of good silk. In damp weather, tlie co- 

 coons will be soli and flabby, the fibre cannot dry 

 speedily as it is spun by the worm, and the conse- 

 quence will be an inlerior article. 



That silk may be cultivated in any part of the 

 U. Stales, is proved by the fact that we want but 

 six weeks of warm weather for the purpose; and 

 what part of our happy country is there, asked 

 Mr. S., in which we have not six weeks of hot 

 sunmier weather? 



Mr. Smith pointed to a morus mullicaulis tree, 

 standing at the extremity of the hall, four or five 

 years old, and grown in the state of Connecticut, 

 unprotected fi-oni the inclemency of the winters, 

 and yet it was uninjured ; and alluded to another 

 which had remained uninjured upon the brow of 

 a hill at Hyde Park, on the North river, state of 

 New York, for five or six years. [It has indeed 

 been there since the spring of 1830, as it was given 

 to Dr. Hosack, by Dr. Pascalis, at that time,] and 

 yet it remained perfect, not a bud had ever been 

 killed. Mr. S. said he knew that silk could be made 

 from the morus multicaulis in almost every section 

 of the Union, and as we were but just entering 

 upon this important branch of industry, which he 

 hoped yet lo be able to call American industry, it 

 was of the utmost importance that we begin right. 

 We have no prejudices to contend with, no old 

 orchards of other trees to get clear olj no bad hab- 

 its to eradicate, as in Europe. 



We are asked why they do not make silk from 

 morus multicaulis in Europe. The reason is ob- 

 vious. They must in the first place go to a very 

 considerable expense in the purchase of the trees, 

 as we have to do; but in addition to this, they have 

 their old over-grown white mulberry trees to dig 

 up and throw away. Besides this, in Europe, 

 generally, the landlords own the trees and sell the 

 leaves by weight to the surrounding peasants to 

 feed the worms with; and so long as they can sell 

 their white mulberry leaves, they will not be 

 very likely to destroy the trees for the purpose of 

 replanting their grounds with the multicaulis, and 

 especially so as they will not derive much il" any 

 advantage from it. Another reason why they do 

 not make silk from this tree in Europe, is, the 

 trees are all in possession of the nurserymen, who 

 propagate them for exportation, for which they 

 have a demand at liigh prices. The probability 

 is, that at this day, there is not one hundredth part 

 as many plants in France as in the United Slates. 

 But neither io France nor in the United States, 

 will any one make silk while they can sell the 

 trees at the prices now current in both count riiv. 



Mr. S. related a series of experiments in feeding 

 from fifteen varieties of mulberry, in 1830,viz: the 

 morus multicaulis, the Tartarian, the while mul- 

 berry, (several kinds,) common wild nuilherry, 

 &c. &c. tlie result of which, fully convinced him 

 ol" the superiority of the morus mullicaulis. The 

 worms preferred it, the cocoons were larger, and 

 the silk better and stronger. He then tested the 

 strength of the silk from different varieties of the 

 mulberry, by suspending weights to each till it 

 broke, and in every instance, he had found that 

 from the multicaulis to bear more weight than any 

 other kind. The native mulberry produced silk 

 next in strength to that from the multicaulis, 

 and the Tartarian next. But the difference was 



extremely elight. He believed it did not amount 

 to more than three or lour per cent, between the 

 strongest and the weakest. 



Mr. S. asserted that the multicaulis was not a 

 Chinese tree. There was in the Phillippine Isl- 

 ands, it was true, a tradition that a colony of Chi- 

 nese who emigrated to those islands, had brought 

 the tree with them secretly from China; but va- 

 rious orders had been sent to China for it, but the 

 tree had never been found there. The white 

 mulberry, said Mr. S. is a native of China, and 

 not of Italy as is generally supposed. We had 

 no doubt taken the idea of its Italian nativity from 

 the fact of its extensive use in that country. The 

 seed derived from China is white mulberry seed, 

 in some of its varieties. And here, said Mr. S. 

 permit me to state a fact in relation to such seed. 

 The white mulberry "plays,^'' as the gardeners ex- 

 press it, into more varieties than almost any other 

 tree wfien raised from seed. I have seen a bed of 

 seedlings all from the same parcel of imported 

 seed, from which might be selected an hundred 

 different varieties. It was a singular fact, that 

 white mulberry seed raised in this country did not 

 thus play ; its produce were almost always the 

 same as the parent tree. 



Mr. S. spoke favourably of the Alpine mulberry 

 and of the Brussa, the latter being what he for- 

 merly had in his grounds, and used lor feeding 

 worms, under the name of the "Constantinopoli- 

 tana." The word "multicaulis" was adopted by the 

 Linna?an Society of Paris, as being descriptive of 

 the specific character of the tree, which is many- 

 stalked; that is, numerous stocks grow from the 

 crown of the roots, like those of the lilac, hazle, 

 &c. The first introduction of the name multicau- 

 lis, into this country, was in the early part of 1830. 

 Three of the trees were sent to the late Dr. Pas- 

 calis, of New York, under the name of morus 

 multicaulis, with a detailed description of the tree 

 and its botanical characters. Dr. P. sent the 

 pamphlet containing them to me, and I at once 

 discovered that the descriptions and drawings ap- 

 plied exactly lo my Phillippine island mulberry, 

 as we then called if, which had been in my pos- 

 session for some time, presented to me by my 

 friend Mr. Prince, of Long Island. This tree is 

 still in my possession. 



In reply to several questions from diflTerent gen- 

 tlemen, Mr. S. slated, that he had found his worms, 

 fed upon the multicaulis, as healthy as those fed 

 upon other varieties of the mulberry. The soil best 

 adapted to the multicaulis, is a slight sandy loam, 

 or gravelly soil ; the situation should be high and 

 dry, with a northern or north-western exposure, 

 and no protection. Indeed he would select the 

 coldest and bleakest hill-side for his multicaulis. 

 When protected by a wall or close fence from the 

 northern blast, they have been frequently killed; 

 but if planted upon a high and dry ground, where 

 water cannot stand about the roots, and exposed to 

 the north, they can hardly be killed. They should 

 not be grown upon low or rich ground; they 

 become too succulent, and grow too late in the fall. 

 Mr. S. said that his tree had always been perfectly 

 naked of leaves and the wood perfectly ripe to the 

 topmost buds, before ice began to form in the fall. 

 He objected to a clay sub-soil, as it would retain 

 too much water, and expose the roots to injurj'. 

 He related an interesting experiment which he 

 had tried in feeding with fifteen varieties of mulber- 



