210 [Senate 



son; the stench arising from the hen roost, at particular times, was al- 

 most suffocating. My worms were managed this year precisely the 

 same as last, by the same persons, and fed from the same trees. Seve- 

 ral of my neighbors have engaged in feeding worms this year, and 

 all have been very successful, and had their eggs of me. I am una- 

 ble to account for my failure in any other way than by the infected 

 air from the hen-house. My last parcel of worms, at the age of two 

 w^eeks, which were very unhealthy, and dying rapidly; I gave them to a 

 neighbor, who removed them into his own laboratory, and in 48 

 hours they had stopped dying, revived, and have done well ever 

 since, and are now winding. 1 have co : mon stoves, but have not 

 resorted to artificial heat but very little at any time ; whenever I 

 have, I have endeavored to keep the temperature up to 75 degrees 

 Fahrenheit. Answer to 3d question. I have never fed in open sheds 

 or tent. Answer to 4th question. I prefer the orange peanut to any 

 I am acquainted with. Answer to 5th question. I use the morus 

 multicaulis, and no other; I care not how they are planted, whether 

 in cuttings or whole trees; cut off the tops close to the ground in the 

 fall, if they are to be preserved for planting, if not I do it early in 

 the spring. The same quantity of ground will produce more foliage 

 managed in that way than to let the trees stand. Answer to 6th 

 question. I have had as good success in late feeding as early, my 

 experience has taught me no difference. Answer to the 7th question. 

 The failures in feeding that have come under my observation, in a 

 proportion of 99 to 100, have been for want of sjfficient ventilation. 

 I have used the mulberry leaf for no other purpose than feeding 

 worms and milch cows, and neither have I tried any experiments to 

 get the bark oflf the tree. From all my experience and observation, 

 I think we have abundant encouragement in this most noble of all 

 American enterprises. 



Titus Brown, Francestown, JV. H. — I want your report. I can- 

 not truly call myself a silk grower, except it be in anticipation. It 

 is my intention, at a future, and not a distant day, to engage in the 

 business. I am, for that purpose, cultivating a considerable quantity 

 of the multicaulis mulberry, and shall next year increase the number 

 of my trees as much as possible. Some of my neighbors laugh at 

 me, but I am not discouraged, I believe the business, when fairly 

 established, will afford as rich a return for the capital and labor em- 

 ployed, as any of the ordinary branches of business, in which men 

 engage. With such a result, those who go into it should be satisfied 



RoBT. Sinclair, Clairmont JVursery, near Baltimore. — I have not 

 been engaged in manufacturing silk, but having a large stock of mo- 

 rus multicaulis and other mulberry trees, I built a house 42 by 30 

 feet, two stories high, both stories and garret well shelved, with a 



