93 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No. 2 



for the eleventh year shice beginning ihe planta- 

 tions. 



The piece of land where my mulberry trees are 

 planted, is at the gates of Rodez, and devoted, 

 these thirteen years, to the culture, as a nursery, 

 of all kinds of trees, lor fruit and ornament, to the 

 number of more than 80,000. The size is about 

 three hectares. The part occupied by the mul- 

 berry trees cannot be estimated at more than one- 

 sixth of the whole surface.* For the sake of i)roper 

 order and arrangement in the plantations, and to 

 regulate things so that the mulberry trees intended 

 to'produce leaves for feeding shall not in any man- 

 ner injure the trees of the nursery,! I have enclosed 

 this property by a road of three metres [10 feel,] in 

 width, planted on both sides, with a row of dwarf 

 mulberries,standing at three leet distance from each 

 other. This road forms straight lines from one cor- 

 ner to another. Ail the irregular parts lying outside 

 of this great quadrangle [formed by the road,] are 

 also set in mulberry trees. I have also planted 

 upon a point exposed to the south, 125 standard 

 mulberry lrees,J which are in five lines, and filteen 

 feet apart. Some other trees, which also are stand- 

 ards, separate the several compartments of the in- 

 terior of the nursery. 



Estimate. Expenses of every kind. 



francs, c. francs, cen. 



225 standard mulberry trees at 1 225 



Planting and manuring the 225 



trees at 75 168 75 



450 dwarf-trees on the borders, 



or separate, 30 135 



135 dwarf-trees disposed in a 



hedge, 30 40 50 



Planting and manuring the 585 



dwarfs at 60 333 



2,500 plants in eeed-bed, the 



1000 at 20 50 



Their p!anting,without manure, 100 



Culture, 40 days' work a year, 



and for 11 years, 440, at 1 50 660 



Rent of a half-hectare of ground 



for 11 years, by the year, 100 1,100 



francs, will be reduced to less than 2000. How- 

 ever, it is this last sum which I have taken as the 

 basis of my operation. If I do not count, in the 

 general addition of expenses, the interest of the 

 sums advanced each year, nor the rent of the lo- 

 cality lor the feeding,'it is because I have been 

 largely indemnified by the result of the preceding 

 reariiigs, and by the crops of vegetables of every 

 kind, cultivated between the 'rows of mulberry 

 trees. 



Let us now see the product of the rearing, and 

 compare the revenue of this year with the ex- 

 penses already incurred. 



The 928 lbs. of cocoons, might have been sold, 

 lor cash, according to usage, at 1 franc 50 cen- 

 times . - - - 1,392.00 



Deduct the expenses of rearing, viz. : 

 62days' work ofa man, at 1.50, 93.00 

 33 do. of a woman, at 75 24.75 

 16 do. of a child, at 50 8. 

 4 sacks of charcoal 1.50 6 



Pit-coal - - - 8 



Lights - - - 2 



Loss of broom to form the 

 cabins, and of which the 

 rubbish served to feed 

 the fires - - 20 



Paper and other small 

 charo;es - - 10 



Total expenses, 



2,812 25 



Not an inconsiderable part of the plantations 

 which are embraced in tliis esiiniale, are of trees of 

 three, four, and five years old ; and one-third of the 

 trees, at least, have not been stripped this year, 

 particularly a young coppice of 1500 dwarf-mul- 

 berry trees, grafied not long since. 1 think, after 

 these considerations, that it is just, for fixing the 

 exact income of 1833, to deduct from the above 

 expense, that of the culture and rent of ground 

 occupied by the trees of which the leaves have 

 contributed nothing to the production of the co- 

 coons. In this case, the sum total of 2,812 ^^^f^ 



* The hectare is not quite 2h English or American 

 acres; therefore the whole piece of land was about 7S 

 acres, and the part in mulberry trees, 1+ acres. — Ed". 

 F. R. 



t It should be borne in mind, thr.t it is of the white 

 mulberry that M. Carrier speaks; the leaves of which 

 are not plucked for feeding, nor cannot be, with safety 

 to the trees, until after the trees are five years old. — 

 Ed. F. R. 



X -d haute tige, that is, intended to grow to full or na- 

 tural size, instead of being confined and dwarfed by 

 close planting, or other means.~ED. F. R. 



Total expenses 



171.75 



Net product fr.1220.25* 



This sum of 1,220 f„% francs, obtained, in the 

 eleventh year of my planting, from the employ- 

 ment of a capital of 2000 francs, is equal to an in- 

 terest of 60 per cent. And even if the whole ex- 

 pense of 2820 y-ii'ij francs be counted as the capi- 

 tal, the interest will still be above 40 per cent. 



It should be observed moreover that this plan- 

 tation gives product in the five years less consider- 

 able, in truth, [than will be the average product,] 

 but which wdl progressively increase with the 

 growth of the trees, without the expenses being 

 increased in the same proportion. 



Such results, (obtained at Rodez, a point of the 

 department where the climate is severe enough, 

 and the temperature very variable,) appear to me, 

 as I have said before, of a kind to command the 

 attention of all the proprietors of land proper for 

 this culture. Indeed, I ask of you, sir, what 

 other branch of agricultural industry offers to the 

 cullivatois such great profits'? 



I will add some of the observations which I 

 have been able to make upon my three last rear- 

 ings of silk- worms. 



I. At each period of the life of the worms, 

 there are to be observed some that are not dis- 

 posed to moult. These are of two kinds ; the 

 first are swollen, larger than the ordinary worms ; 

 their color is livid and shining; they are almost 

 always extended upon the litter, without making 

 the least movement; however, when food is given, 

 they climb upon it, and eat a little. The others, 

 to the contrary, are meager, thin, and wrinkled 

 in the forward part of the body; they remain at- 

 tached to the point of the hurdle which they oc- 

 cupy, keeping their heads raised, and moving them 

 continually. Their muzzle is very pointed. These 



Or $227.65, the franc being 93 f'^ cents.— Ed. 



