208 fSKItATE 



tell us whether the morus multicaulis leaves, in the above experi- 

 ment, were equally ripe. — J. R. B.] 



F. Leonard, Watertown, JV. Y. — Sir : I hatched a crop of pea- 

 nut silk-worms the 1st of July, which were kept till after their 

 second moulting in an airy room, and then put into a barn which had 

 been removed from its old location. In this barn they had a free 

 circulation of air, either with or without the doors being shut. The 

 worms did well till after fourth moulting, when some turned yellow 

 and died — loss at least 20 per cent. A lot of worms fed by a lady 

 (Mrs. Fairbanks, of Le Ray,) near me, from the same eggs, are the 

 finest I ever saw, yet she too sustained a small loss from the same 

 disease ; she states that a few worms looking so bad that she con- 

 sidered them lost, she threw them into the garden and there fed 

 them — and a great portion of them recovered and made cocoons in 

 the grass. 



David W. Dexter, Claremont^ JV. H. — I regret much that I 

 am not able to meet my friends, the silk growers of the country, in 

 convention, but unforeseen circumstances have rendered my absence 

 unavoidable. I confidently believe that these two conventions, at 

 Northampton and New^-York, will spread before the public so much 

 practical experience, and such profitable results, that the last linger- 

 ing doubts of the most prejudiced and disappointed multicaulis specu- 

 lator must be removed, and that they and all others who have looked 

 upon the persevering silk grower with contempt, will be compelled 

 to admit that we have not been chasing shadows — that the culture 

 and manufacture of silk is altogether feasible, and will be a source 

 of wealth to this nation. In regard to the results of my own expe- 

 rience, am unable to give any statistical statements. 



From five years' experience, 1 have come to the full conclusion 

 that open or tent feeding is the only way that we can raise silk suc- 

 cessfully. My cocoonery is 106 feet by 25, with 20 windows, 3 

 ventilators in the roof, and a number in the floor. This season I 

 have taken out the windows and left open the ventilators day and 

 night, and with admirable success. It is the pure air of heaven that 

 is needed, and the more the better — and I think, sir, that we had better 

 turn our whole attention to the raising of one crop, which in our 

 latitude should be secured up by the 1st of September. 



Saml. C, Moore, Georgetown^ Mass. — I send you a sample of the 

 silk I raised this year, reeled on a common silk-reel, and spun on a 

 common spinning wheel. I received for my silk and cocoons, at the 

 Essex County Cattle Show at Andover, $8 as a gratuity — by mistake 



