110 



On Silk and Morns Multicaulis. 



Vol. III. 



cob together : his success so far in feeding 

 some fettening cattle has been very satisfac- 

 tory and encouraging. 



In order to economize fuel and to procure 

 the full effect of the heat, it is very important 

 to have a grate under the fire, with a door to 

 shut close where the fire is put in, so that 

 the air to supply the fire may pass in under 

 the grate only, for where a fire is supplied 

 with air, which passes between it and the 

 boiler, it is constantly carrying the heat up 

 the flue, and tends to keep the boiler cooler 

 than it ought to be from the quantity of fuel 

 consumed ; but when the air has to pass 

 through the fire from below, it is thoroughly 

 heated before it comes in contact with the 

 boiler. After the fire has burnt down so as 

 not to need ventilation for the smoke, the 

 flue or pipe should be closed above, and the 

 access of air under the grate prevented by a 

 suitable stopper or door; this prevents the cir- 

 culation of cold air from conveying off" the 

 heat from the brick work and boiler, and the 

 process of cooking will be carried on for hours 

 after the fire has burnt down, provided the 

 access of cold air is prevented. The fire- 

 place should not be made larger than that of 

 a small stove, and the brick work should be 

 brought pretty well up to the boiler, leaving 

 but a small space around it for the smoke to 

 pass up. A boiler of the kind referred to, is 

 of good value to a farmer for other purposes 

 than cooking grain, and one of them ought to 

 be put up on every farm in the country, and 

 to be considered as much a fixture as a corn 

 crib or pig pen. B. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 On Silk and Morus Multicaulis* 



In the last number of the Cabinet at page 

 80, 1 have been surprised to find a long article 

 upon the Morus Multicaulis. The right of 

 free discussion in a free country I will not 

 controvert, but I do deny the right of any in- 

 dividual to call me a speculator and gambler, 

 because I chose to purchase multicaulis trees 

 and plant and cultivate them upon my own 

 land, if in my opinion it is more expedient or 

 profitable to do so than to raise grain, corn, 

 potatoes, or any other crop. 



If the present price of the multicaulis tree 

 and its value in use is such as to justify me 

 in expecting that it will handsomely reward 

 me for my outlay, and the expense of taking 

 care of and cultivating it, why should I not be 

 at the liberty to do so as well as to attend to 

 any other crop. 



Your paper is essentially an agricultural 

 one. It is distributed amongst farmers to com- 

 municate information to them in reference to 

 their calling, and your correspondent tells 

 them' that if they cultivate the multicaulis 

 tree they are in fact speculators and gamblers. 



Do the facts connected with the history of 

 this tree and the silk culture justify such 

 wholesale denunciation! The multicaulis 

 tree has not been cultivated in Europe 

 more than twenty years, and its value as a 

 food for silk worms has only been recently 

 properly estimated there. It is therefore 

 comparatively a rare tree. It is now ascer- 

 tained, however, that it is the greatest known 

 bearer of food for the silk worm — that its 

 leaves are larger and more readily taken from 

 the tree than those of any other description 

 of mulberry — that it is constitutionally har- 

 dy, indeed more so than most trees known to 

 us — that it will bear to be buried in the earth 

 for the six winter months, and in the spring 

 when dug up be a vigorous and healthy tree : 

 that when planted it maybe entirely covered 

 with earth and will still vegetate, and the 

 parent stem will become the roots of a large 

 number of healthy trees — that when grow- 

 ing it will bear to be handled roughly and 

 stript of its foliage, and still retain its health 

 and vigor — that it will grow luxuriantly 

 upon all soils, whether arid sand or rich and 

 moist land — that the hottest summers give it 

 the most vigor, and that it will in the open 

 air bear the rigors of our winters without in- 

 jury, when three years old. 



There is now a multicaulis tree in the gar- 

 den of Daniel Maupay, near this city, which 

 has not been removed from where it now 

 stands for three years past, and has had no 

 protection from the inclemencies of the wea- 

 ther, and yet it has not been in the slightest 

 degree injured by the severities of the three 

 last very severe winters. I state this fact as 

 on offset to the remark of your correspondent, 

 tiiat " it is well known that the whole of the 

 tree that is above the ground is frequently if 

 not generally killed in this latitude by the 

 frost." The fact is that this tree is recom- 

 mended in France as well calculated for the 

 northern regions of that country, the rigors 

 of the winters of which are at least sufficient 

 to destroy trees peculiarly tropical. But 

 enough of the capacity of the tree ; what is its. 

 value in use ? 



1. It can be cultivated without much ex- 

 pense, to an unlimited extent. 



2. It is ascertained that worms when fed 

 upon its leaves, make the strongest, finest,, 

 and most lustrous silk. 



3. That the cocoons are larger than those 

 produced from any other description of mul- 

 berry. 



4. That the worms feed freely upon the 

 leaves, and that when fed upon them they are 

 not so liable to the diseases to which they are 

 subject, as when fed upon any other variety. 



.5. That they produce a much larger quan- 

 tity of foliage than any other species of mul- 

 " berry. 



