106 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 2. 



bels many, from the same common peduncle; a 

 native of Virginia. 



17. Parvijlora — small-flowered. A native oi 

 South Carolina and Florida. 



18. Syriaca — milk-weed, or silk-weed. This 

 species abounds all over our country, and lor the 

 many useful purposes to which it. may be applied, 

 is deserving of especial attention. The root is 

 perennial, and in April or May throws out, like 

 asparagus and hops, a great number of shoots; 

 the stems rise to six or seven feet in height in a 

 rich soil. When the leaves or stems are broken 

 off', a milky substance, of a viscous consistence, 

 exudes, from whence the plant derives one of its 

 most general trivial names. The flowers appear 

 in July, and are in umbels of . from twelve to six- 

 teen on one stem, each containing thirty or forty 

 single flowers, which adhere to the umbel by a 

 long slender stalk, and has a sweetish odor. Each 

 bunch of flowers is succeeded by three, four, and 

 sometimes ten long, flat and rough pods, which 

 enclose numerous round, flat, thin, ^ yellowish 

 brown seeds, wrapped up in a beautiful shining 

 white and soft kind of silk, which constitutes their 

 wings, and by means of which they are conveyed 

 with ease to a great distance by the wind; it has 

 also given rise to the other trivial name, by which 

 the plant is known in some parts of the country. 



The great utility of the Syriaca or milk-weed 

 in the arts, has not been understood but since the 

 middle of the last century, although it was intro- 

 duced into Europe at a much earlier period. 



A manufactory of articles from the silk was es- 

 tablished in Paris in 1760, and it has long been 

 employed at Louzanne, with advantage, as can- 

 dle-wicks. Mr. Schneider of Liegnitz, has been 

 distinguished for the zeal he has evinced, in rela- 

 tion to the cultivation and preparation of this ar- 

 ticle, and has recommended it in two different 

 pamphlets. 



In the application of it to paper making, Mr. 

 Schmid of Lunenburg made a variety of very in- 

 teresting and instructive experiments. 



The cultivation of the plant has been found 

 very easv. Mr. Schneider began in 1785, with 

 but six plants, and in 1793 he had a plantation of 

 30,000, which yielded him 800 pounds of silk the 

 first crop, 355 the second, and 600 the third. They 

 were planted in rows about two feet apart, with a 

 sufficient distance between the roots in each row. 

 The silk was separated into two parts, the longer 

 being used for spinning, and the shorter for hat 

 making and beds. 



Mr. Schmid, who was an ingenious manufac- 

 turer of paper, made several experiments with the 

 capsules, or pods, which gave the following re- 

 sults: 



1. From the interior white rind of the pods he 

 obtained writing paper, pretty white, of sood qual- 

 ity, and similar to the silk paper of the Chinese. 



2. From the external green part of the pods, 

 a greenish colored paper was made, which, when 

 sized, was stronger than paper made from rags. 

 It was almost as close in its texture as parchment, 

 and even when unsized did not suffer the ink to 

 pass through it. It was excellent wrapping pa- 

 per. 



3. From the bark of the stems he obtained a 

 paper so like, in every thing, to paper made from 

 rags, that the difference could scarcely be distin- 

 guished. 



The silk when taken from the pods, and being 

 freed from the seeds, is hung up in thin bags in 

 the sun, and when perfectly dry, may be used 

 without any fur; her preparation, instead of feath- 

 ers, horse hair, wool, or cotton, lor cushions, bol- 

 sters, pillows, mattresses, and coverlets. From 

 eight to nine pounds is sufficient for a bed, bolster, 

 and two pillows. It is lighter and warmer, when 

 used in forming coverlets or comforters, than cot- 

 ton or wool, and is nearly equal to eider-down. 



For spinning, the staple of the silk is too short, 

 when taken alone, and therefore is combined with 

 flax, wool, cotton, or raw silk. 



One-third of this silk, with two-thirds of cotton, 

 forms a very excellent mixture for gloves, stock- 

 ings, and other articles of like manufacture. One 

 part of this silk and two of rabbit's fur, forms hats 

 exceedingly light, soft to the touch, glossy, and 

 which have a* great resemblance to beaver hats. 



The plant throws around it, long roots with 

 new eyes; these can be cut off in autumn or early 

 in the spring, before the milk flows, and may be 

 divided into pieces from four to six inches long, 

 which may be planted in trenches, four or five 

 inches deep, in an oblique position, with the eyes 

 or buds standing up. 



Where the plant grows wild in abundance, a 

 bed for culinary purposes could be easily formed, 

 from the roots in the manner above described, and 

 would be fit for use the second spring; by which 

 two years would be gained over plants raised from 

 the seed. 



Besides the above named articles manufactured 

 from the silk, I recollecfliaving seen, at several of 

 the annual exhibitions of the Massachusetts Ag- 

 ricultural Society, in Brighton, tippets, capes, bon- 

 nets, and various other articles, which were very 

 beautiful. They were formed by sewing the tuffs 

 of silk by the part which is attached to the seed, 

 to linen, cotton, or silk cloth in rows, one overlap- 

 ing the other, like the shingles on a roof. They 

 had the appearance of the most delicate and rich 

 fur; and so simple was the work that a child could 

 execute it. 



For embellishing the outer borders of pleasure 

 grounds, the skirts of roads, avenues, clumps of 

 trees, the sides of groves, and to intermingle with 

 shrubs, all the American varieties may be used 

 with picturesque effect. 



On examining some botanical works since 

 writing the above, I found that Parkinson had re- 

 ceived the Syriaca from this country, and culti- 

 vated it in his botanical garden of rare plants, as 

 early as 1629. He called it Virginia silk, and it 

 was sttited that the French Canadians were in the 

 habit of eating the tender shoots as substitutes for 

 asparagus. 



It is but little trouble to form in every garden, 

 side by side, beds of dandelions, sea-kale, milk- 

 weed, and asparagus, which, from the last of 

 March, until the green peas appear, will afford a 

 daily and various supply of delicious vegetables. 

 They are all perennial plants, and when once set 

 out, and properly taken care of in autumn and 

 spring, will yield abundant crops, for all time, with- 

 out removal. 



II. A. S. DEARBORN. 



Roxbury, March 9th, 1835. 



[Judging from the foregoing description, and with- 

 out the sure guidance of botanical knowledge, we infer 



