286 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[^0.5 



until compelled by hunger to cat. them. On the 

 contrary, when those which had the red mulberry 

 leaves assigned to thum, were furnished with a 

 few of the Madura, they would collect around the 

 latter, and devour them with avidity, before they 

 would begin to feed on their accustomed diet. 



The relative value however of the Madura and 

 Chinese mulberry for the production of silk, was 

 only to be llilly determined after the formation ol 

 the cocoons, "llmaybe recollected by those who 

 read the article of M. Bonafous that he regarded 

 the Madura as chiefly valuable for feeding the 

 worms during their early age ; that subsequently 

 they should be supplied wnh the mulberry, their 

 natural tbod : and that though the former would 

 produce silk of a fair quality, yet it would be inferior 

 and in diminished quality compared with the pro- 

 duct of the mulberry. I find this to be true as it 

 regards the Madura and Chinese mulberry, so far 

 at least as it respect the size of the cocoon; but 

 the Madura is at least of equal value to the red 

 or native mulberry. The worms fed on the 

 Chinese mulberry, spun cocoons weighing from 

 thirty to ibrty five grains— those raised on the Ma- 

 dura and Chinese mulberry combined, made their 

 balls somewhat lighter on the average — while the 

 Aveight ol" those obtained from the Madura and 

 red mulberry respectively, was about equal, and 

 still less than either of the preceding. Tlie qual- 

 ity of the thread tor the manufacturing purposes, 

 I am unable to pronounce upon, not having yet 

 submitted specimens to a competent judge. The 

 cocoons were nearly all of a pale straw color. 



If the value of the Madura consisted only in 

 furnishing food for the silk worm, it might from its 

 extreme hardiness and consequent exemption from 

 late spring li'osts, be deemed worthy of planting: 

 but when to this, other important uses to which it 

 may be applied are superadded, it appears to pre- 

 sent irresistible claims to our favor. I may there- 

 fore be excused for dwelling more at large on its 

 merits, which have as yet scarcely begun to be ap- 

 preciated, or even known. 



In many parts of the United States the scarci- 

 ty of timljer has lur many years been sensibly 

 felt. Still our forests continue to disappear; and 

 to mitigate the evils of this alarming destruction, 

 efforts have frccjucntly liccn made to substitute 

 live ibr dead fences. It is believed however that 

 hedges have not to any considerable extent an- 

 swered the purposes of an enclosure. After all 

 the trouble and expense bestowed upon them, 

 they have in most Instance*! finally dwindled 

 avv^ay, and been rooted out. Hence it may be in- 

 ferred that the plants used in their construction, 

 have been too feeble in their constitution and 

 therefore incapable of attaining the necessary 

 size and developcmenr. A i)lant that would unite 

 these requisites would be a desideratum. Now it 

 lias been confidently asserted that the Madura 

 will make a most substantial and impervious hedge 

 ■ — a fact which cannot well be doubted by any per- 

 son who will take the trouble to examine its man- 

 ner of growth. The branches are thickly set, 

 and the lateral ones almost unilormly take a hori- 

 zontal direction: they are moreover armed with a 

 number of sharp and very rigid spines, which do 

 not disappear, as has l)ecn stated, after one or two 

 years, but permanently rem;-iin. The plants grow 

 with such vigor, that it would only require a lew 

 years, under careful treatment, to rear an excellent 



hedge from the seed. To those who are fond o*" 

 the ornamental, it may also be recommended for 

 the lustre of its foliage, and the magnificence of 

 its Iruit. 



Hitherto, the means of propagating the Madura 

 have been rather limited. It grows but indifl'e- 

 rently from cuttings, and not with certainty from 

 slips of the root. The only mode which can be 

 depended on for extensive increase, is by the seed. 

 These have been seldom perfected on this side of 

 the Aiississippi, owing partly to the small number 

 of trees wliich gentlemen have introduced into 

 their grounds, and also to inattention to the fact 

 that they are dioecious. With a knowledge jof 

 this characteristic, there is no difficulty in having 

 them to bear abundantly. There is one growing 

 in my garden, now seven or eight years old, which 

 has matured its fruit for a year or two past, and 

 which would have borne considerably earlier, had 

 not the staminate plant perished, which was or- 

 dered with it. The one subsequently obtained 

 was feeble in its growth, and slow in flowering. 

 Last year the number ol" seeds which ripened, 

 amounted to many thousands. These readily 

 vegetated in the spring, and the seedlings are now 

 growing in nursery rows as finely as could be de- 

 sired. 



1 regret that I have not been able to compress 

 my'remaiks into a smaller space; but before con- 

 cluding, I will take the liberty to suggest to some 

 of" our cnlerpri.^ing seedsmen the propriety of ob- 

 taining a parcel ot the seed of the maclura from its 

 native forests. They may be gathered in any de- 

 sirable quantity on the Red river and in the con- 

 tiguous parts ot" Arkansas. It is the practice now 

 to compass sea and land to discov-era new vegeta- 

 ble lor our tables, or a flower for the parterre; and 

 while the seeds of these productions meet with a 

 ready sale, in consequence of the increased taste 

 for horticultural pursuits, it is not to be doubted 

 that a considerable demand will also be found for 

 those of a plant which will equally contribute to 

 the ornamental and the useful. 



T. S. P. 



Goochland, 7ih Month, 1838. 



FRAGMENTS OF IttY MEMORANDU3I BOOK. 



[The following article is formed of parts of the me- 

 moranda which the writer was formerly in the habit of 

 hastily noting down, whenever his very limited oppor- 

 tunities for agricultural observation occurred, and wliich 

 observations were generally directed to particular lo- 

 calities more by the compulsion of other circum- 

 stances, than by the mere object of seeking such facts 

 and information as v/ere found. The record was com- 

 menced and kept (in a loose and irregular manner,) 

 solely for the writer's amusement, and at first designed 

 to meet the eye of no other person — and the length of 

 time that has since elapsed will suffice to prove that 

 publication of these parts was not then designed. 

 Upon looking over them recently, they appeared to con- 

 tain nothing that ought to give offence to the individu- 

 als referred to, and the views, and even tlic mistakes of 

 the writer, may attract the notice of others to points 

 deserving more full and correct statements. Several 

 of the mora important parts of the notes were before 

 published iji the 1st and 2nd vols, of thi;j journal, un- 



