516 [Senate 



are from W. H. Benton. A specimen of the silk from those cocoons 

 120 fibres to the thread as it now is, reeled and twisted by Mrs. Wm. 

 M. Wells and my daughter, from our cocoons. A specimen of reeling, 

 70 fibres, reeled by Mrs. P. and her sister Mrs. S. B. Gibbes from 

 small yellow cocoons, eggs procured originally from Mrs. Wells. A 

 pair of mits, the work from beginning to end done by Mrs. Whitford, 

 a lady fifty years of age, and presented to Mrs. Philips. And last a 

 fishing line, made from our wrought silk left in the gum, thinking 

 that the gum would keep it slightly stiff and elastic, and also less 

 penetrable to water. 



[These articles were duly received and placed in a case in the Fair, 

 where they were seen and admired by tens of thousand of visiters. 

 They are very fine indeed. — A. C. V. E.J 



W. H. Benton, (referred to in the above.) — Dear Sir : I received 

 yours of the 20th inst.j you are aware that my object in feeding 

 worms this year, was only to obtain a stock of eggs for the next, 

 and to make such experiments, as to the manner of rearing, as would 

 give light in regard to future operations. In the limited experiment 

 of this year, I have not been able to arrive at any satisfactory result 

 as regards the profit of the business. It was not to be expected ; nor 

 was it a question with me. I have considered it as already settled, 

 that it is the best mode of remunerating labor, under certain circum- 

 stances : i. e. when the laborers are unfitted for field work. You 

 know the kind of worms I had, the eggs being all forwarded by 

 your kindness. There were three varieties : the light yellow, deep 

 yellow, and white. Not having, as yet, reeled any of the cocoons, 

 my preference for the white, is merely for its beauty and size, and 

 most of the eggs saved, are of this variety. My worms were all mix- 

 ed together upon the shelves, and I cannot, therefore, say which is the 

 most healthy. I lost, probably, not more than 100, by disease, out 

 of about 10,000 ; and that loss was, I think, occasioned by the crowd- 

 ed state of two or three of our shelves. My feeding was altogether 

 from the wild mulberry, but of various kinds ; one kind I found near 

 my house, which I think far superior to the morus: leaves very large, 

 very thin and tender, soft and flexible ', the young branches have a 

 velvet appearance, which distinguishes the tree from any other that 

 I have seen. It however remains to be seen, whether it can be as 

 easily propagated, for in this, I think, the great superiority of the 

 multicaulis consists. My opinion is decidedly in favor of using cut 

 leaves entirely, in all stages ; and as I have no doubt that this opin- 

 ion coincides with those of the best informed ; it is not necessary to 

 state the reaaons for it. I tried various experiments with regard to 

 spinning. The Greek mode is to pile up mulberry branches on the 

 shelves, crossing them in all directions, and leaving the worms to 

 spin among them as they please, and when they please : a bad plan, 

 for various reasons, to every one who has tried it. I tried two kinds 

 of frames made of sawed lath; by crossing the lath, boxes were form- 

 ed of an inch square. Other frames were made by placing the lath 

 only one way, thus forming groves. This plan I found to be the 



