No. 85.] 499 



reel and manufacture my own cocoons, from the fact that we have no 

 market. What we have made has been on the common wheel, but 

 pronounced a good article by those who have used it. Some of it has 

 been wrought into gloves, mits, &c. 



Previous to this year I have made 110 pounds of cocoons ; this 

 year, 50 pounds. I have three acres, containing six or seven thou- 

 sand trees of the white, and eight hundred multicaulus and Canton, 

 which I shall multiply as rapidly as possible. 



Samuel Barrett, French Creek, Lewis Co., Va. — About the first 

 of June I hatched 3,000 worms, for the purpose of testing the quality 

 of my eggs, and as a kind of first fruits of the season ; they were 

 more healthy, and made better cocoons than any I have before raised, 

 265 making a pound. 



J. Payson Van Epps, Fairmont JVursery^ Laurens, Otsego county, 

 JV. F. — I will give simply in this communication, a few extracts 

 from my Journal in the silk department, as another item in favor of 

 the feasibility of silk culture in the IJnited States. *' May 28th. 

 Have just finished planting my second load of multicaulis, nearly 

 three acres, furrows drawn six feet apart, about 5000 trees, avera- 

 ging three feet in length, roots and all — nicely buried, being laid ho- 

 rizontally in the drill, the tops uniformly up hill, July 26th. My 

 nursery looks promising still. I dare not venture to feed over 10,000 

 worms ; the lot of one thousand have moulted the first time, having 

 subsisted upon lettuce mostly. September 4th. I have been very 

 careful in preserving the leaves to the last age — cutting the stem with 

 a pocket scissor, in order to preserve the bud. Have about fifty 

 thousand trees and an abundance of foliage left, after taking through 

 a very respectable crop of worms." 



And now, as a deduction from the above, allow me to say, that no 

 doubts should be entertained for one moment, upon this interesting 

 branch of American industry. If farmers will only take hold of the 

 business in a rational manner, acquaint themselves with the habits of 

 this interesting and valuable insect, it can be made a profitable acqui- 

 sition. I think the American Institute deserves the thanks of the 

 people of the United States for their efforts to settle the great ques- 

 tion of silk growing in this country. 



P. H. Green, Jforthampton, Mass. — To the members of the New- 

 England Silk Convention. — The silk culture in the United States at- 

 tracted my attention some two or three years ago, since which I have 

 not been an indifferent observer of what has appeared in the public 

 prints, and other publications relating to the subject. These, with 

 other evidence, has convinced my mind, that at no distant period silk 

 will rank among the most important productions of our country. 

 Being desirous of obtaining practical knowledge, early last spring, I 

 leased in this town about five acres of land, four of which had, five 

 years|before, been planted with from 12 to 14,000 Alpine, Asiatic, mul- 

 ticaulis and Canton roots and cuttings. Two places were fitted up 

 for feeding; one put under the care of a person who had fed several 

 years, and acquired the reputation of being a good feeder. No infor- 

 mation would be conveyed by detailing the facts attending this at- 



