300 



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<i EW ENGLAND FARMER. 



MARCH 38, 1858. 



For the N. E. Farmer. 



EARLY HISTORY OF SILK CULTURE IN 

 MASSACHUSETTS. 



We ijublish below a curious document sent tis 

 by a correspondent from whom wo ask the favor 

 of iarther contributions relating to the history of 

 the silk culture in tins state. It will be seen how 

 early this iniponiint branch of liusbandry, destined 

 to become one of the greatest interests of New 

 Englanil, attracted attention. We have seen some 

 of t°he silk, a part of a gown manufactured at that 

 early period. It is a hanilsome and a most sub- 

 stantial fabric, manuftiptured with the common 

 implements then in use for the manufacture of flax. 



Mr Editor,— SiV ; I copy the following on the 

 cultivation of Silk, from Nathaniel Ames's Alma- 

 nac " for the year of our Lord Christ " 1769, be- 

 in- now si.xty-nine years since. If you thmk it 

 of interest enough, you will please insert it in 



your I'"P<='^^^^^^ ^^ LEVI BARTLETT. 



Warner, jY. H., March 20, 1838. 

 " Enough has been said in the public prints to 

 convince us of the importance ; and experience 

 proves the practicability of raising Silk in New 

 En.'land"; but for the encouragement of such who 

 wil? hazard nothing for the good of themselves or 

 country, without an immediate i)rofit, a gentleman, 

 ■whom posterity will bless, has deposited $100 

 in the hands of the Selectmen of Boston, $40 to 

 be given the person who in the year 1771 shall 

 have raised the greatest number of Mulberry 

 trees ; .$30 to hinrthat shall have the next great- 

 est nuinber ; !?20 to the next, and $W to the next; 

 certificate being produced from a Justice of the 

 Peace of the number and that they belong to Mas- 

 sachusetts Bay." 



" Justinian the Emperor looking on it as a great 

 hardship that his subjects should buy the manu- 

 facture of the Persians at so dear a rate as a pound 

 of gold for a pound of silk, dispatched two monks 

 into India to discover and learn how the silk trade 

 was managed there, and to bring a quantity ol 

 those insects, from whom he was informed the 

 silk was produced, but this was not completed till 

 a second voyage, when they brought to Constan- 

 tinople great quantities of silk worm's eggs. It is 

 but of late years that the Europeans fell into the 

 way of cultivating any quantity of raw silk, the 

 Italians led the way, and they have been followed 

 with great success by the French ; and the advan- 

 tages "thereof to those nations is amazing, as they 

 supply Great Britain, with raw silk for the thous- 

 ands of spinners and weavers constantly employed 

 in Spittaltields ; and it being certain that raw silk 

 is plentifully raised in much more northern cli- 

 mates than this ; we have a most promising pros- 

 pect of one day turning the constant course of 

 prodfious sums of money from France, Spam 

 and ludy into America; and no doubt we shall 

 be encouraged by our mother country, notwith- 

 standing her present severity. 



" In hot countries they place the insects loose 

 upon the mulberry trees to serve themselves, but 

 in our climate as they do in France, it will be 

 necessary to choose a warm room for their nur- 

 sery, and fit it up as you would for a large Library 

 of Books, with wood that has not a very strong 

 Bcent. Care must be taken to keep their shelves 



clean from stale leaves and their droppings, and 

 when the worms grow large and require more 

 room ; then says Vida, 



" The whole nation into tribes divide. 

 And give tliem diiTerent mansions to reside. 

 This more than once, as often as you view, 

 Their rooms too narrow for the growing crew, 

 1 Nor cease dividing and removing still, 

 'Till every shelf and every lodge you fill. 

 Meanwhile neglect not with immediate food. 

 To cherish and support the new born brood ; 

 With their first breath they'll draw their pastures in 

 At once their hunger and their lives begin. 

 When for one night thro' wretched lust of gain, 

 Laid up in stores the gathered leaves remain. 

 Their wholesome use is by corruption cross'd, 

 Their taste ungrateful, and their flavor lost, 

 Take thou care with moderate hand to strow, 

 And only thrice eacli day their food bestow ; 

 Should you stint their forage, or refuse 

 The wonted comfort of their daily dues, 

 A disease invades the starving worms. 

 And meagre leanness all the flock deforms; 

 With wine perfumed, besprinkle and expel 

 From the purged mansions etich offensive smell." 

 Then follow in prose, directions for the man- 

 agement of the worms— for killing the chrysalis in 

 ihe "Cods or Cones" by exposure for several 

 hours "to the hot sunshine" for reeling &c. all 

 very nearly like the directions of the present day, 

 " but if any do not wish to reel their pods, they 

 may find a ready market in Boston for the pods 

 or balls as the worms left them." 



Probably by consulting the town records of 

 Boston for 1768, the name of that patriotic " gen- 

 tleman whom posterity should bless " might be 

 ascertained ; no doubt he was an associate and 

 co-worker with the Adamses, Quincys, Hancocks 

 and Warrens. L. B. 



1 also make some extracts from the "old alma- 

 nac " shewing the temper and spirit of the times. 

 •< Unity is a better guard than military force." 

 « What but devotion makes Bramins keep in- 

 struments to torture themselves. What but en- 

 trancing 0[iium makes the Turks give up their 

 manhood and freedom to Bashaws and their Jan- 

 nissaries. What but folly or madness makes 

 Americans do either." 



"Who would sell his birthright for a mess of 

 soup, or risk his constitution for a sip of Tea. 



"Men of War's jiress gangs appear in Boston 

 1768, to the scandal of the sons of freedom." 



" i would sooner jiistol a man for robbing tne 

 of liliertv, than for robbing me of my purse ; ne- 

 cessity is the shadow of an excuse for the last, 

 but the first has none at all." 



From the above extracts it is evident that Ames 

 was a strong whig in those days. 



power of the tree to sustain one of our cold sea- 

 sons such as the two preceding the last. 



Lin. Bot. Garden, Flusliine, near New Vork, ) 



"March 20. 1838. ( 



Sir: We think the culture of the Morus Multi- 

 cnulis so important as regards the silk manufac- 

 ture, that the introduction of seedling varieties ol 

 that tree possessing all its excellencies, but of a 

 much hardier nature and consequently well suited 

 for extreme northern latitudes, to be a stiljject oti 

 no common interest. During the autumn of 1836 

 we wrote to numerous foreign correspondent! 

 touching the choicest varieties of the Mulberry 

 Among the number one of them distinguished ii 

 the Horticultural annals of Europe for his scien 

 tific attainments, made known to us that he ha< 

 by intermixtuie of the Morus Multicaulis and th 

 Dandolo Mulberry ebtained numerous hybrid; 

 remarkable for their rapid growth, luxuriant foli 

 age of the most succulent nature, and also fo 

 their extreme hardihood. He was also kind enoug 

 to accompany this interesting communication b 

 an assortment of the trees. These were receive 

 in good order in April last and were immediatel 

 put in a course of propagation and by ekilful mat 

 agement have been increased to eight or ten thoi 

 sand trees, and the shoots have all been recent 

 made into cuttings for the present spring plantin 

 The numerous visitors to our establishment hi 

 their attention invariably arrested by the extren 

 luxuriance and the size of the foliage of the 

 trees, although they were in no case pointed On 

 them as new and distinct. 



The cuttings and layers formed roots even men 

 rapidly and they were also more numerous thai 

 on the Morus Multicaulis. 



We shall have none of these trees for sale uni 

 the ensuing autumn, but we thought some notii 

 might be satisfactory. 



Another variety introduced by us last spring 

 the Moms expansa. It is a variety of great inei 

 the leaves very large, their surface smooth, and 

 a glossy dark green hue. Its growth is vigeroi 

 the wood strong, and of the most hardy nature 

 The worm when it has attained some size seei 

 more fond of the rich, fleshy, succulent leaves 

 this variety than of any other that has been in u 

 among us, and they are peculiarly well calculat 

 to fatten and give strength and vigor to the wor 

 A distinction seems now to be pretty genera 

 made in feeding the worm, between leaves tl 

 are perfectly smooth and those whose surface 

 haiiy, as the worm is partial to the former a 

 averse to the latter. 



Yours, very respectfully, 



WM. PRINCE & SONS. 



Forltie N. E. Farmer. 



MESSRS PRINC.E's"lETTER ON THE 

 MULBERRY. 



We with pleasure give place to this communi 

 cation from the well-known proprietors of the 

 Flushing nursery. The mulberry of which they 

 speak seems to be a new variety. We have no 

 reason to doubt in the smallest degree their ac- 

 count of its hardiness ; but the almost unparalleled 

 mildness of the past winter gives no test of the 



Rat Stopper. — A friend at our elbow wis! 

 us to mention a method of stopping out rats fr 

 cellars. The varmints dug down on the outs 

 and came in under the cellar wall. In order 

 put a stop to this business of theirs, he carefi 

 dug down and deposited a goodly lot of bla 

 smith's cinders, in such a manner that their : 

 ships would have to dig or gnaw through il 

 order to get in. 



They have since disappeared, probably giv 

 up the scratch as hardly worth the wear and t 

 of teeth and toe nails. — jMaine Far. 



•We have 15,000 of these trees that have been out 

 present winter and in no case is the wood the leasil 

 jured. 



