Vol. XI. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



27 



From the Ttansaclions of the Essex Asiioultural Society. 



RIR TEllRY'S EXPERIMENT IN RAISING 



SILK. 



Moses Newell, Esij. 



Dear Sir— It appears reasonrtble that while the 

 Esse.-i County Agricultural Society is ofieriiig its 

 patronage to encourage the cultivation of the mul- 

 berry tree, and the producing of silk, that it should 

 in return be furnishisd with the information which 

 e.xperimcnts may afford those who have been ben- 

 efitted by its patronage. With this impression, I 

 seud you a few observations relative to the raising 

 of Silk, drawn from a small experiment made by 

 me the season past. 



Last year I raised several thousand worms of 

 three kinds ; one gray and two while. 



For the first crop, the eggs were put in rooms, 

 without artificial heat and hatched the last week 

 in May and the first in June. 



The gray came to maturity in 35 days. 



1 of white « « 32 



2 of white « " 28 or 29 

 Parcels of the eggs of each kiud produced by 



millers, from the worms, were kept in the same 

 room for tlie purpose of ascertaining whether 

 they would hatch another time the same season 

 without artificial heat, or even greater iieat than 

 would be found in any common apartment at that 

 season. In about eight days from the depositing 

 of the eggs of the second kind of white, they all 

 hatched in fine order to the amount of some thou- 

 sand, while the eggs of the other two remauied 

 the whole summer in the same situation without 

 being very sensibly affected with the heat, and in 

 fact a part of them remain still in the same place 

 exposed without covering in a room without fire, 

 where I have let them remain to try the effect of 

 cold. How it will terminate whh them I cannot 

 say ; they appear now to be in a sound and healfh- 

 ful state. The eggs of these last I procured of a 

 friend in Bristol County ; the others from Mr 

 Boynton of Newbury ; to both of whom I am un- 

 der much obligation for the important and truly 

 practical information vei-y readily given on the 

 subject of feeding the worms. Mr Boynton has had 

 a second crop of the white worm furnished me. 



I raised three crops of worms on the same ta 

 bles. Five crops might be raised by anticipating 

 the spinning of one by the hatching of another, 

 and keeping them the first ten days on small fix- 

 tures, as they then need occni)y but little space. 



My own observation would not justify cutting 

 the leaves into pieces to feed them when young, 

 either upon tlie principle of economy or for the 

 benefit and safety of the worm. The more 

 tender leaves should be gathered for the young, 

 but they should be given whole. My impres- 

 sion, also, is that it is better to cut off the 

 small limbs and give them to the worms with 

 the leaves on them than to strip the leaves off. 

 The worms feed better this way, eat the leaves 

 more closely, liave a better opportunity to move 

 and enjoy better air, and are more easily transfer- 

 red from one table to another when cleaning be- 

 comes necessary, while it is necessary to perform 

 this much less frequently when the limbs are used 

 tlian when the leaves separately are spread out for 

 them. I think also that the tree is much less in- 

 jured in this way than by stripping it of its leaves, 

 Trimming, even if it be severe and close, seldom 

 injures trees; while exfohating even if it be in a 



be mistaken, if I am, the Directors of your Society 

 are abundantly able to set me right, in the suppo- 

 sition that the putting forth of new limbs with 

 leaves is much less exhausting to trees of any 

 kind, than the putting forth of new leaves from 

 limbs exfohated in the heat of the summer. 



I have seen it observed somewhere, that the 

 dried leaves of a former year, prepared by pulver- 

 izing and wetting, will answer to feed the young 

 worm when first hatched in the spring. I cannot 

 speak from experience on this subject. I have 

 some leaves in keeping to try this season. I have, 

 however, reason irom the following circumstance 

 to think that they will answer that purpose. 

 Many of the ends of the small limbs of my mul- 

 berry ti-ees were killed by the cold of the preced- 

 ing winter ; in cutting the limbs for the worms 

 these dead ends were not taken off; a very few days 

 had passed before we observed the worms feeding 

 ujion the dead bark of these limbs, evidently pre- 

 ferring it for a part of their food to the fresh and 

 green leaves which were given them in abund- 

 ance. And this propensity was observed during 

 the summer in each successive crop, (and I had 

 fom-) though as the leaves grew harder and drier 

 as the season advanced, the worms were not seen 

 so frequently in the dry limbs. 



From the little experiment I made I am very 

 much convinced of these two things: first, that 

 under favorable circumstances the raising of silk 

 will yield a good profit. And secondly, that it is 

 a much less intricate and difficult business than a 

 person would be apt to suppose from the account 

 given in most treatises on the subject. Mine were 

 taken care of mostly by my son, a lad of ten years. 

 For the purpose of extending a knowledge on 

 this subject through the community, the students 

 attending Merrimac Academy this season, under 

 the care of Mr S. Morse, will have an opportunity 

 of observing the whole process of raising the 

 worms, &c, in a room near the academy building, 

 which will be open to them from day to day. 

 And every circumstance, as far as understood, 

 freely and fully explained to them by the person 

 who has the care of the establishment. 



My mulberry trees continue in a very thriving 

 condition, and aftord the most abundant evidence 

 of the advantage obtained by pruning and fash- 

 ioning the roots as well as tops when they were 

 transplanted. 



With my best wishes for the prosperity of the 

 Society in its highly commendable efforts, I am, 

 sir, with much personal respect, yours, 



GARDNER B. PERRY. 

 Bradford, February 27, 1832. 



usual growth is a span in height in six years. The 

 timber of this tree has a most agreeable perfume, 

 and is much used fondomesiic utensils, as well aa 

 for wainscoating rooms. A traveller who visited 

 the chateau of Tarasp, was struck in almost every 

 apartment, with tlie perfume of this wood : and 

 he remarks it is as a smprising and inexplicable 

 circumstance, that the wood should have exhaled 

 this perfume for some centuries in undiminished 

 strength, and without the wood itself having suf- 

 fered any decrease of weight. But this wood 

 possesses another recommendation; rooms wains- 

 coated with it are not infested with bugs or moths. 

 Its seeds are esteemed a delicacy ; they are eaten 

 in great quantities at the winter parties ; and on 

 those occasions it is said the female sex display in 

 extracting them a high degree of skill, mixed with 

 much innocent gayety and vivacity. 



Swedish Turnips.— A writer in the English Far- 

 mer's Journal asserts, that " Swedish Turnips 

 have grown on the same soil, on the property of 

 W. Whitehouse, Esq. of Studley, for seven suc- 

 cessive years with undiminished fertility and 

 weight" of crop. This soil consisted principally of 

 decomposing vegetable peaty matter and chalk." 



Preserving Potatoes.— An English paper says, 

 that "to preserve potatoes in a proper state for 

 food for many years, it is only necessary to scald 

 them, or subject thein to a heated oven for a few 

 minutes. By doing this they will never sprout, 

 and the farinaceous substance will keep good for 

 many years, provided the cortical part or skin be 

 entire. They should be well dried after being 

 scalded. 



To prevent horses being teased by fies. — Take 

 two or three small handfuls of walnut leaves, up- 

 on which, pour two or three quarts of soft cold 

 water; let it infuse one night, and pour the whole 

 the next morning into a kettle, and let it boil for 

 a quarter of an hour ; when cold, it will be fit for 

 use. Nothing more is required than to moisten a 

 sponge, and before the horse goes out of the sta- 

 ble, let those parts which are most irritable be 

 smeared over with the liquor, viz: between and 

 upon the ears, the neck, the flank, &c. Not only 

 the lady or gentleman who rides out for pleasure, 

 will derive benefit from the walnut leaves thus 

 prepared, but the coachman, the wagoner, and all 

 others who use horses during the hot months.^ 

 Farmer's Receipt Book. 



ITEMS OF RURAL ECONOMY, 



Original and Selected, by the Editor. 



Oil from Sunjloiuer seeds. — We have heard much 

 of oil from the seeds of the Sunflower, but the 

 following from a paper printed in Scotland gives 

 us a new idea relative to the mode of obtaining 

 such oil. 



" A very delicate oil, much used in Russian 

 cookery, is expressed from the seeds of the Sun- 

 flower, and is prepared by inclosing them in bags, 

 and steeping them in warm water, after which the 

 oil is expressed; this is actually as sweet as butter." 

 The Stone Pine. (Pinus cembra.) — This is one 

 of the most useful trees in Switzerland ; it is in- 

 deed of very slow growth ; one of them, cut down 



when nineteen inches in diameter, displayed three 

 limited manner ia ahnost always injurious. I may 'hundred and fiftythre« concentric circles. Its 



Cork Collared Jackets.— The Florence Gazette 

 thus concludes an article, on the subject of the loss 

 of a steam boat. We think the concluding sug- 

 gestion too important not to be acted on promptly 

 by those concerned. 



AVe here repeat our admonition of the utility of 

 Cork Collar Jackets, to those who risk the multi- 

 plied dangers of Steam Boat navigation. Philan- 

 thropists have recommended their use to ocean 

 marintrs, and even there on the "mountain leaves," 

 numbers have been saved by them. But when 

 we take into consideration the comparative ease 

 with which the land could be reached from any 

 part of our rivers, and the total exemption from 

 high and dangerous ivaves, it must strike the mind 

 of°every one that here this simple apparatus would 

 be far more efficacious. 



In Russia, raw turnip is handed about in slices, 

 in the first houses, upon a silver salver, with, 

 brandy, as a whet before dinner! 



