1839] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



7M 



believe, therefore, I have demonstrated, not by 

 figures and on paper onl}', but by the aoval pro- 

 duction oi' ihe eiik, ilial every f)rij(lent culiurisi 

 may safely rely on realizinfj a net profit oi'at least 

 JglOS, the first year, or jjj 180 while the price of raw 

 silk continues what it now is. And 1 ask, is not 

 this sufficient'? ought not any reasonable man to 

 be satisfied with this? I wish, indeed; I could 

 have made the profits a liltie larger, but I could 

 not do it. Other gentlemen, in our country, with 

 their enormously krge cocoons, may have been 

 more successful, and may have had practical re- 

 sults more nearly answering the calculations usu- 

 ally made. Suppose 1 had taken my 130 lbs. of 

 cocoons, and had selected 8 lbs. ol' \he firmest aiid 

 best, and had reeled these, and no more, and the 

 result had been, as I have no doubt it would, 1 lb. 

 of reeled silk, and then had put ilmh my siaiement, 

 saying, " if I had reeled all, and all had yielded as 

 well as those actually reeled, then I would have 

 had 64 lbs. per acre !" — thus increasing the profits 

 in this convenient way more than one quarter ! 

 would not this be deceptive, and would it not be 

 calculated to mislead? Now, however, there is 

 no room for deception — all was actually reeled, and 

 is exhibited to the public. 



But I lear my anxiety to exhibit this whole sub- 

 ject before the public in its true light will induce 

 me to write a book, rather than a simple siaiement. 

 The committee, however, aware of the magnitude 

 and importance of this suliject, and ihe eaixerness 

 of Ihe public to obtain minute and authen;ic infor- 

 mation, will I trust pardon the length to which this 

 communicaiioii extends. 



Much is said in various quarters respecting the 

 different varieties of mulberry trees as IboJ lor the 

 silk worm. By some it is confidently asserted that 

 the multicaulis is inlerior to the broad leaved Can- 

 ton, to the Broussa, and to the hundred and one 

 other varieties for which names are invented. 

 Others go still furiher, and assert that the mulii- 

 caulis is inferior to all other species, tlie paper mul- 

 berry alone excepted, which the worm will not eat 

 at all, and that good silk cannot be made from the 

 multicaulis, that it is the least hardy of all species 

 of the mulberry, (which, however, has never been 

 proved.) and that Ihe quality of Ihe silk will al- 

 ways be in proportion to the hardiness of the tree 

 from which it is made. 



Now I have no theories to sustain on this sub- 

 ject, and I think personal interest has no influence 

 on my opinion?. I iiave indeed some 40.000 of 

 these precious trees, a considerable portion of 

 which I would dispose of on reasonable terms to 

 any gentlemen who want Ihe genuine article, hut 

 I think this circumstance has no influence on my 

 judgment. Other species of the mulberry may be 

 good, as I h?ve no doubt they are, they may even 

 be belter than the multicaulis for any thing I know 

 to the contrary. One thing Ida know, the worms 

 devour the multicaulis leaves with great avidity — 

 grow well — continue healthy — make iiood silk, in 

 sufficient qtianiitiesto yield a net profit per acre of 

 S108 to ^180. This they have done lor me two 

 years in succession. As to the quality of the silk, 

 I do not pr^ofess to he a judge. It obtained the 

 gold medal, at the fair of the American Institute 

 in October last, and intelligent judjjes pronounced 

 it superior. 



Now I say other varieties of the mulberry may 

 make more and belter silk than the raullicaulis. 



But has any individual actually produced more and 

 betiersilk from tiny other tree, from a quarter of an 

 acre? Unul tins is done, the public will be slow 

 10 believe that so many intelligent men are de- 

 ceived, and that the muliicaults is good lor nothing. 



Let us judge the tree by the quantity and the 

 quality of ihe silk which it produces, and at pre- 

 sent, I have no lear that it will be superseded by 

 any oilier kind. 



It is matter of great regret that men are found, 

 professedly friendly to the silk culture who, from 

 sell-interest, pre-conceived opinions, or even par- 

 tial experiments, are distracting the public mind, 

 or rather laboring to distract it, respecting the kind 

 of mulberry to be used. 



The truth is, most or all the varieties in our 

 country are undoubtedly good, and every extensive 

 silk grower will undoubtedly he disposed to have 

 more varieties than one on his plantation. 1 can 

 however, with the utmost sincerity and confidence, 

 assure the public il is my deliberate conviction, 

 that the morus multicaulis will be the prevailing 

 tree ibr silk in this country, as Avell because it is 

 peculiarly adapted to the silk worm, as because 

 ffreat expense will be saved in gathering the leaves. 

 The same amount of foliage can be gathered from 

 the multicaulis, with probably half the expense 

 that it can be gathered from any other variety of 

 the mulberry. 



I entertain now an unwavering conviction that 

 the silk buHness will triunphanlly succeed in our 

 country. That it promises to do more for the 

 comfort of the indigent and dependent portion of 

 our community, especially fur indigent l<?males, 

 and to add more to the wealth of the nation, than 

 can now be told. 



How much larger the profits will be the second, 

 and succeeding years, if the trees are lell out 

 through Ihe winter, as we trust they now will be, 

 I cannot tell, as I have made no experiment on this 

 point. Every one must see the profits will be 

 larger. I believe it will he one-quarter to one- 

 third greater. 



What motives then, let me ask, are here fur- 

 nished to embark in this business? Will not our 

 farmers awake to their true interests'? I would 

 not persuade any farmer, ifl could, to give up his 

 whole farm to the silk business ; ihe friends of the 

 silk culture do not desire to see any of the present 

 products of our soil diminished; we wish to en- 

 rich our nation by addin<j another to the list of her 

 producie, without atl'ecting any that now exist. 

 Let the farmer put a lew acrps of some hill-side, 

 or unproductive part of his Ibirm in moms multi- 

 caulis, and thus add to his inc-ome a few hun- 

 dred dollars in a way in which he will scarcely 

 perceive the cost. Let liis daughters, one al- 

 ter another, if he has daughters, have ihe avails 

 ol the cocoonery in successive years, if these avails 

 are not absolutely needed in the family. I am per- 

 suaded that by the avails of silk, produced even on 

 a small scale, many of our farmers who are now in 

 debt, whose tiirins are mnrtsaCTpil U^ half their va- 

 lue, and who in consequence of this are able to do 

 little more than live, will not otdy be free from 

 debt, but will in turn have their mnvey a" interest; 

 and what has been proudly said of Oid Mansfield 

 in Connecticut may he said of them. Every 

 daughter in the liimily of adult years will also 

 have her hundred or more dollars at interest, the 

 avails of her own labor in the cocoonery. 



