OBSERYEll AND RECOR 



OF AGRICULTURE, SCIENCE, AND ART. 



EDITED BY D. PEIRCE. 



Wo. «.] 



Pliiladclpliia, Monday, Itlarcli 4, 1839. 



[Vol. I. 



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MORUS MULTICAULIS AND SILK CULTURE. 



It has been said by some persons that 

 the silk made from worms fed on the foli- 

 age of the morus multicaulis is superior in 

 quality to that made from others fed on the 

 white mulberry; yet this opinion is not 

 decided — having seen specimens of silk 

 laised from both, as far as quality is con- 

 cerned we are not prepared to give the 

 jireference to either, but the superior size 

 of the leaf of the morus, its great saving of 

 offal, economy of time and labor, in gath- 

 ering and feeding, must always place it 

 ahead of every other variety of the mul- 

 berry; it requires no more time to pull one 

 of its leaves than the other, or any other 

 kind; but as the leaves of the morus mul- 

 ticaulis are much larger than an}' other 

 kind, then there is a great saving of time 

 in gathering and feeding the worms, and it 

 is said that the worms are better satisfied 

 in feeding upon this kind of leaves than on 

 any other, and remain in a more vigorous 

 state during the time of feeding; the les- 

 sening of expense of attendants alone, in 

 one season, will yield a handsome profit. 

 Besides this mulberry can be acclimated to 

 any region, and braves the most rigorous 

 winters in the United States. 



Soil and situation. — The White Mul- 

 berry. — The nurseries, as well as the large 

 and small mulberry plantations require a 

 sunny exposure, and spots sheltered against 

 strong winds; therefore, declivities, or hill 

 sides, descending towards the castor south- 

 east, and secured by woods or groves are 

 proper; as also, all spots protected by 

 buildings, &.c The trees should never 



be planted in marshy or low ground — 

 1st, because they would be more expo- 

 sed than in elevated situations to the in- 

 jurious influence of cold and frosts; and 

 2dly, because worms i^A from leaves gath- 

 ered from trees in such situations, owing to 

 the superabundance of aqueous matter 

 in them, do not yield silk either as lus- 

 trous or tenacious; and 3d!y, from the ab- 

 sence of saccharine matter, the worms are 

 not so healthy, nor do they give as much 

 silk. Next to the soil before described, a 

 calcareous sandy clay is to be pieferred. 

 The morus multicaulis partakes more of 

 the character of the shrub than of the tree, 

 and therefore requires less I'oom when 

 planted as standard trees, and more in 

 hedge-J, in consequence of its propensity 

 to throw up branches from the roots, 

 therefore it is thought by many experienc- 

 ed persons more practicable to raise them 

 by field culture. If the culturist proposes 

 to go at once into the silk business, and to 

 plant out his orchard to feed from, having 

 prepared his ground and fixed upon the 

 distance of his rows and that of his plants, 

 all he has to do is to strike out deep fur- 

 rows, place his trees at proper distances, 

 and while one person holds the tree in its 

 place let the other shovel the earth around 

 its roots, which must be compressed by the 

 first, so as to give the eartii a firm set in 

 the ground; this done, the labor will have 

 been performed. Two inches is a good 

 depth to cover the roots. If you propose 

 to layer your trees you may -either do 

 it by layering the whole tree, or you may 

 deprive it of its lateral brandies, and layer 



