Vol. VII.— No. 2S. 



AISD HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



221 



cleaned frequently, and all set to spinning at tlie 

 same time. So nuicli to do at tlje sajne time cre- 

 ates a hurry and perplexity wliicli must frequently 

 eveiitnate in a los.s for tlie want of time to do all 

 that is required. Such was my exjicrience last 

 year in a crop of worms, all of the same age, 

 which made two hundred and thirty-nine pounds 

 of cocoons. . They would have made more, had 

 they been better attended for a few of the last 

 days. When the worms are of different ages, the 

 labor required is more equalized. A part of them 

 will constantly be of the age to require considera- 

 ble attention. But this i)arcel will be so small, 

 the hands will have spare time to attend to the 

 younger parcels. I woul<l not be understood, that 

 I keep iconns of all ages, and spinning loorms too, 

 on ihe same shelf. I have certain shelves allotted 

 to each parcel, during a certain age ; and others 

 exclusively for them to spin on. I begin with 

 fresh hatched worms, placed on the shflvcs allot- 

 ted to worms of that age. After their first cast, I 

 pass them to the shelf allotted to the next age, 

 and again supply the first shelf with fresh hatch- 

 ed worms. In this manner I continue, through 

 the whole season, to bring young worms on the 

 first shelves, and i)ass them on, until they reach 

 tlj^e s])inning shelves, frotn which the cocoons are 

 removed, to make room for the next succeeding 

 parcel. I believe this inode of raising silk is 

 somewhat new, and may not be approved of by 

 those who think we should strictly follow the 

 plans laid down by the French and Italian writers. 

 Probably, this is not the best mode in Italy and 

 France. But I am sure it will succeed well in 

 this section of the world. In 132G, I raised three 

 crops of worms, and there was about one month 

 between each crop, which made the last crop late. 

 lu 1827, I had worms in feeding from the 20th of 

 April until frost canje late in October ; all which 

 were healthi/, and made good cocoons, not material- 

 ly affected by the difference in the tcnqicrature of 

 the air, or time of the season in which they were 

 . made. Then, why not continue to feed the silk 

 worms through the summer, and constantly have 

 them of several ages ? It has been supposed it 

 will be attended with more trouble than the com- 

 mon method. But this is certainly a mistake. — 

 Again, it has been supposed that the spinning 

 worms may be disturbed by the eating worms, 

 while spinning their cocoons. But as my plan, 

 rightly imderstood, is to have certain shelves exclu- 

 tively allotled to the spinning ivorms, this must also 

 be a mistake. See the Secretary's 3Ianual on the 

 growth and inanufacture of silk, p. 117. 



It has also been remarked, that silk worms are 

 aflfected by change of climate ; that when remov- 

 ed to a warmer or colder climate, they will not do 

 so well until after three or four generations ; and 

 that the eggs from worms which have been rais- 

 ed for many generations in the cool spring months, 

 will not make worms suitable for our dry, hot 

 summer months. Possibly there may be .some 

 truth in these remarks. My experiments, as yet, 

 give little light on the subject. But even admit- 

 ting that the- silk worms are thus affected by 

 change of climate, yet my jilan obviates the ap- 

 prehended evil. It will be observed above, that I 

 write on each sheet of paper containing the eggs 

 the time in which the eggs were laid. This 

 fibows me the time the ])arent insect existed, and 

 enables me to bring their offspring into existence 

 at the same time the following year. This plan, 

 followed a few years, will produce several va- 



rieties of silk worms, some one of which will be 

 suitable for each month during the sununer. I 

 have raised many worms which hatched out the 

 same season the eggs were Uiid. But this hatch- 

 ing is generally only ]>artial, and cannot be de- 

 jiended on for succeeding crops, unless by contin- 

 uing to breed from those which show the greatest 

 disposition to batch, we can produce a variety of 

 the silk worm which will more readily hatch re- 

 peatedly dming the same season. This I am try- 

 ing to efject. My remarks on the raising of sev- 

 eral crops of silk the same season, are more ex- 

 tended, because I believe it is the mode best 

 adajited to these western states. Here, rich un- 

 cultivated lands are cheap and abundant, and can 

 easily be covered with the white mulberry. Our 

 summers are uniformly waim, and vegetation, the 

 leaves of the midberry in i)articidar, puts forth 

 luxuriantly for more than five months in the year. 

 We theretbre can easily provide for a plentiful 

 s\ipply of food for the wdiole summer season, and 

 will then certainly find it our interest to realize 

 the [irofits of several years in one summer. 



Q. 7. What is the lustre of your silk, compar- 

 ing that of the wild with the Italian mulberry, and 

 both with English and French silk. 



JJ. I am confident that the American silk, from 

 either kind of mulberry, is not deficient in lustre, 

 wliile in its natural state ; but is greatly depriv- 

 ed of its lustre by the process used to remove the 

 gum and coloring matter attached to it. Were 

 it an object, the lustre might be retained. 



Q. 8. How do you wind it ? Do you dye it in 

 the domestic way ? 



wJ. We wind or reel our silk in the manner di- 

 rected in the several treatises lately published on 

 silk raising. We have a reel made after a plan 

 found in an old French Encyclopedia. It takes 

 two threads at a time, and has a traversing bar to 

 spread the threads equally on the reel. Our dye- 

 ing is somewhat in the domestic way, and not 

 worth detailing. 



The above answers to your queries, I am sorry 

 to say, are given in too much haste. At a period 

 of more leisure, I might have gone more into de- 

 tail, and perhaps have made my answers more ac- 

 ceptable. But the facts would be the same as 

 now given, and I preferred giving them in this 

 hasty manner, to delaying the answer to your let- 

 ter. I am, very respectfullv, &c. 



SETH MILLINGTON. 



Rev. Timothy Flint. 



From llie Daily Albany Argus. 



HORTICULTURAL ASSOCIATIONS. 



Horticulture has been classed among the fine 

 arts, on account of the refinement which it pro- 

 duces on the manners of society, and the chaste 

 and ennobUng pleasures which it imparts to the 

 mind. Interwoven as it is with the study of natu- 

 ral philosophy, it has a tendency to lead the mind 



" 7'lirough Nature, up to Nature's God.'' 

 and to wean the afiections from frivolous or vi- 

 cious pursuits, and to wed them to habits of use- 

 fulness and virtue. 



If examples can add aught in favor of the utihty 

 of horticultural associations, they may be adduced 

 in great numbers. National societies for promot- 

 ing horticultural improvement, are in successful 

 operation in London, Edinburgh, Paris, Berlin, 

 Vienna, and in almost every capital in Europe. — 

 That of London established a garden in 1818, 



and its printed catalogue for 1826 enumerated 

 more than twelve thousand varieties of hardy fruit 

 then cultivated in it, which had been collected 

 iVoin every ipiarter and almost every country on 

 the globe. Upwards of two hnnilrcd varieties, of 

 superior quidiiy, have been added to the catalogue 

 of pears within the last thirty years, principally by 

 the industry of the Flemish horticulturists, few of 

 vvhicdi have been brought to a bearing state- 

 among us. Like improvements have been made 

 in other dci)artments of the fruit garden. Knight- 

 has adopted Bake well's system of crossing in the 

 vegetable kingdom, and has produced, by artificial 

 means, several improved varieties of the apple, 

 peach, cherry, strawberry, pea, &c., while every 

 clime has been made to contribute its floral riches, 

 to decorate the green house and conservatory, or 

 to add to the flower garden new beauties and fra- 

 grance. 



In looking over Loudon's Gardener's Magazine, 

 published in London, for the month of October, I 

 was struck with the number of horticultural 

 shows, at what are called provimial societies. — 

 They amounted to thirty-six distinct societies in 

 England alone, at which premiums were awarded 

 for fruits, flowers, and culinary vegetables. These 

 societies are not confined to practical gardeners ; 

 they are patronized by the purses, and encour- 

 aged by the presence of princes, and noblemen, 

 and gcntlcnjen of fortime. The fellows, or mem- 

 bers of the society in London, arc more than four 

 thousand in number. The admission fee is ten 

 guineas. Among other classes, the clergy distin- 

 guish theinsclves. They make it a jiart of their 

 [)arochial duty to compete for excellence in horti- 

 culture, and often carry home a goodly portion of 

 the prizes. Oberlin, protestant jjastor at Wald- 

 bach, was decorated with the cross of the legion 

 of honor, by Louis XVHI. for the rural and men- 

 tal improvement which he brought about in the 

 " dreary territory" entrusted to his charge. We 

 have no Louis the Desire to decorate our clergy 

 with the cross of honor ; yet I am persuaded that 

 by imitating the example of the good Oberlin, they 

 would extend the sphere of their iniluence, and 

 merit the grateful regards of their flocks. 



We have examples in our country and state, 

 also, calculated to call our attention to this sub- 

 ject. Horticidtural societies have been establish- 

 ed in New York, Hudson, and Utica, and incorpo- 

 rated by legislative acts. And your paper has re 

 cently informed us of the organization of a res 

 pectahle and extensive society in several of the 

 western counties of this state. These societies 

 embrace men of dignity, talents, patriotism and 

 wealth. THOUIN. 



SIGNS OF THE VIGOR, MATURITY AND 

 DECAY IN TREES. 



Signs announcing the vigor of a tree. The 

 branches, especially towards the top, are vigorous; 

 the annual shoots strong and long ; the leaves 

 green, vigorous, and thick, ])rincipally at the sum- 

 mit, and falling late in afttumn ; the bark is clear, 

 fine, united, and nearly of the same colour from 

 the foot to the large branches. If at the bottom 

 of the veins, or divisions of the thick bark, there 

 appear smaller divisions which follow from belovr 

 upwards, in the direction of the fibres, and hve 

 bark be observed at the bottom of these divisions, 

 it is an indication that the tree is very vigorous, 

 and rapidly increasing in size. If some of the 

 lower branches, stifled by others, are yellow, Ian 



