Vol. VII.— No. 4l 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



333 



From the Salem Gazelle. 



better for feeding silk 



SILK— WHITE MULBERRY TREES. 



The importiiiice of introducing the cultivation 

 of the Wliite Mulberry Tree, a measure prepara- 

 tory to the extensive introduction of silk, in this 

 country may be inferred from the following facts, 

 extracted from the report of the Conniiittee on 

 Agriculinre in the United States House of Rep- 

 resentatives, May 2d, 1826. 



A statement of the value of Silk Goods imported 

 more than was exported, contrasted with the value of 

 bread stuffs exported in the years 1S24 and 1825. 

 Years. Silk iinp'd more ihan exp'd. II sluffexp'd. 



1824 $5,387,019 $6,799,246 



1825 7,705,78.5 5,417,997 

 An importation for home consumption of more 



than seven and a half millions of dollars in Silk, 

 an exportation of less than five and a half millions 

 of dollars in Bread stuffs ! The facts speak the 

 importance of the subject, and indicate the neces- 

 sity that exists of awakening the slumbering agri- 

 cultural resources of our country, by the introduc- 

 tion of new and profitable articles of production. 

 That our farmers may cultivate mulberry trees 

 ,and engage in the production of silk with a fair 

 prospect of profit, is rendered highly probable 

 from the following calculation, made by John 

 Fitch, Esq. of Mansfield, Con. where the business 

 has been carried on for several years to a consid- 

 erable extent. 



One acre of full grown trees, set one and a half 

 rods apart, will produce forty pounds of manufac- 

 tured sewing silk. 



The labor may be estimated as follows : — 



For the three first weeks after the worms are 

 hatched, one woman, or children who would be 

 equal to such a person. 



For the next twelve or fourteen days, 5 hands, 

 or an e()uivalent number of children. In this pe- 

 riod two men with other help would be employed 

 to better advantage than all women and children. 

 This finishes with the worms. 



For plucking off the balls, reeling the silk, &c. 

 it requires about the same amount of labor for the 

 same length of time as the last mentioned period, 

 which may all be performed by women and chil- 

 dren. The aforesaid labor and board may be es- 

 timated at $80 

 Bpinning. 34 



ered on many accounts 

 worms than the female. 



The value of a nursery of trees therefore, rais- 

 ed from seed or from cuttings taken from female 

 trees, or from inferior varieties, may be increased 

 by grafting. 



There are four methods of propagating mulber- 

 ry trees. 1st from the seed ; 2d from roots ; 3d 

 from layers, and 4th from cuttings. The 1st and 

 4 th can at present be alone generally resorted to 

 in this comitry. An ounce of good well cleaned 

 seed, well managed will probably produce ten or 

 twelve thousand plants. It should be sowed to- 

 wards the last of April. The ground being prop- 

 erly prepared by previous ploughing, or digging 

 and manuring, is to be cleaned, levelled, and di- 

 vided into beds of four or five feet in width. — 

 Drills from six to ten inches asunder and from 

 one to two inches deep must then be made by a 

 line. The seed may be sown in these drills dry, 

 or having been steeped two days in water, rub it 

 on packthread to which it will adhere, and lay the 

 thread in the bottom of the drill and cover it with 

 the earth. In two or three weeks, if kept moist, 

 the young plants will appear. Keep the beds 

 clear of weeds. On the approach of winter it 

 may be well to cover them with leaves. If the 

 seedlings grow the first season to the height of 

 one foot or more, take them up in the spring fol- 

 lowing, cut the top so as to leave about three 

 inches above ground, cut off the lower part of the 

 root and set them in nurseries in rows like other 

 fruit trees, where the following spring they may 

 or may not be grafted, pruned, and cultivated until 

 they become sufficiently large to set in Hedges or 

 Plantations. Cuttings should be taken from per- 

 pendicular shoots, and particvdarly from those 

 which terminate branches. They should be of 

 the last summer's growth, and from six to fifteen 

 inches in length. Plant them in shady borders, 

 early in the spring, about two-thirds their lengtl 

 in the ground ; close the earth well about them, 

 and in dry weather let them be watered. After a 

 year they may be transplanted in open nursery 

 rows if well rooted. 



bury. Jacob Conant, Sterling. Daniel Tenney, 

 Sutton. Samuel Read, Uxbridge. Lovett Peters, 

 Westborough. John W. Lincoln, Silas Brooks, 

 Gen. Nathan Heard, Rejoice Newton, Thomas 

 Chamberlain, Stephen Salisbury, Jun., Samuel B. 

 Thomas, Worcester. Lovel Walker, Templeton. 

 Jerome Gardner, Harvard. John Batcheller, 

 Grafton. Jonathan Wheeler, Grafton. James 

 Draper, Spencer. Jonathan P. Grosvenor, Pai- 

 ton. Stephen G. Gardner, Bolton. Nathan Howe, 

 Shrewsbury. Eli Warren, Upton. 



40 lbs. of silk at 6 dolls per lb. 



MI4 



200 



Net profit per acre, $86 



To pi-ejiare, therefore, for the production of silk, 

 it is desirable that White MuHiery Trees should 

 be immediately cultivated in all pints of our coun- 

 try. The wood produced by their growth will 

 pay well for the expense of cultivating, should our 

 farmers never find it for their interest to make 

 any other use of them. 



Hints on the management of the Mulbeiry Tree. 



All practical writers a^ree that the proper soils 

 for the nudberry tree arc dry, sandy, or stony. — 

 The nurseries as well as large or small mulberry 

 plantations, require a sunny e.xposure, sjiots well 

 eheltpred from strong and cold winds. There is 

 considerable difference in the quality of these 

 trees. They are dioecious, that is, some trees are 

 male or barren, some female, or fruit-bearing. — 

 The male produce the most Isaves and are consid- W. Watson, Princeton. Nymphas Pratt, ShrewB- 



JVEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



BOSTON, FRJDAY, MAY 8, 1829. 



Apparatus for Lyceums, fyc. — Mr Holbrook, who 

 has for several years been successfully and assid- 

 uously engaged in organising and carrying into ef- 

 fect those useful and popular seminaries of sci- 

 ence denominated Lyceums, has devised, collect- 

 ed, and advertised the following among other arti- 

 cles of apparatus for those institutions. A set of 

 Geometrical Solids and Diagrams, with a small 

 Manual to aid teachers, and their pupils in their 

 application. The Mechanical Powers, viz. Lev- 

 ers, Pulleys, Wheel and Axle, Screw, Wedge, In- 

 clined Plane, Hydrostatic Bellows, and Syphon.— 

 A representation of the Solar System, Instruments 

 for Tides, Eclipses, and Changes of Seasons, &c. 

 A Pneumatic Cistern, Lamp Stand, and various 

 other articles as they may be ordered. Air Pumps, 

 Electrical, and Galvanic Apparatus, Geological 

 Specimens, &c. &c. Remittances and orders for 

 the above and similar articles, to be directed to 

 Josiah Holbrook, Boston. 



Gypsum. — A paper printed at Middleburj', Vt, 

 states that great quantities of gypsum, or Plaster of 

 Paris, have been foimd in the country west of lake 

 Uhamplain, and east of the upper part of the Hud- 

 son river. 



WORCESTER AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The funds of this Society arising from the vol- 

 untary contributions of individuals as appears from 

 the annual report of the treasurer, now amount to 

 the sum of five thousand three hundred and sev- 

 enty-eight dollars, safely invested, in good promis- 

 sory notes of hand, signed by responsible individ- 

 uals. 



The following gentlemen were elected ofli- 

 cers. 



LEVI LINCOLN, President. 



AARON TUFTS, 1st Vice President. 



WM STEDMAN, 2d do do 



WM D. WHEELER, Rec. Sec. 



OLIVER FISKE, Corresponding Sec. 



THEOPH'S WHEELER, Treasurer. 



TRUSTEES. 



Seth Caldwell, Barre. Ileman Stebbins, Brook- 

 field. Gen. Salem Town, Charlton. Ebenezer 

 Estabrook, Holden. Jacob Fisher, Lancaster.— 

 Isaac Southgate, Leicester. Bezaleel Laurence, 

 Leominster. William S. Hastings, Mendon. — 

 Samuel Waters, Millbury. Adolphus Spring, 

 Northbridge. Col Samuel Mixter, New Braintree. 

 Col William Eager, Northborough. Col Jacob 



Chimney Sweepers The government of Great 



Britain, in order to abolish as far as possible the 

 practice of employing boys to clear out chimneys, 

 has issued an order that in future the flues of all 

 the Royal Palaces, public offices, &c. &c. shall be 

 cleansed by the use of machinery, invented by a 

 Mr Glass. 



Infusion of Walnut Leaves to destroy Insects. — It 

 appears by a late communication to the London 

 Horticultural Society, by Sir Charles M. L. Monck, 

 Bart., that worms which infested plants in pots 

 were destroyed by a pint of an infusion of walnut 

 leaves given to each pot. The worms quickly 

 emerged from the mould to the surface, and were 

 removed. This treatment was repeated in the 

 following week, when a few more worms were 

 extracted ; the plants which had been sickly, af- 

 ter this application resumed their health and blos- 

 somed strongly. This success induced Sir Charles 

 to try the experiment on orange trees, and other 

 plants in pot.s, and it was attended with equal suc- 

 cess. He thinks that the infusion is beneficial, not 

 only in destroying the worms, but that it acts also 

 as a manure. The infusion is made by ))ouring 

 boiling water on fresh walnut leaves ; which hav- 

 ing stood till cold, is ready for use. 



Forsyth recommends a decoction of walnut 

 leaves as an antidote to insects, and a decoction of 

 elder leaves is also said to answer the same pur- 

 pose. 



