1836] 



F A R M E R S' REGISTER. 



549 



•*' forget its cunning" as that he should abandon a 

 syfstom which makes his barns to overflow, his 

 horses, cows and hogs, to multiply and be liit, and 

 the wliole face ot nature to smile around him. 



Permit an humble indiviifual, therelbre, to urge 

 those who liave not already done so, to at once 

 adopt this system, so deiighttui as well as profita- 

 ble; and endeavor by the use ol clover, wiih plas- 

 ter and manure, to make their lands progressively 

 better. pro;iu!nng Ironi '-thirty to sixty and even a 

 hundred Ibid.'' 



For some years past, ih? wheat crop, on which 

 we principally depeiul for profit, has sulfered 

 greatly from two causes, viz: the Hessian fiy, and 

 hard fi'eeziug. x\s a means of resistance to the 

 fly, I believe that nothing can be relied upon but 

 strength of soil, and that but imperfectly. Here 

 then should be a powerlul additional incentive to 

 clover, and to the use ol" all means at all likely to 

 grve vigor to the soil, and thus fortify, to some ex- 

 tent at least, against the ravages of this fell- de- 

 stroyer and stealthy robber. It can, however, 

 afford no sort of protect ion -against Hie evils of hard 

 freezing : to this case " humarTwitand reason are 

 inade(]uate. To him, and to him alone, " who 

 holds the winds in his hands"' are we to look for 

 relief 



Your calling, gentlemen, is pleasant, honest, 

 honorable, and when properly pursued, profitable. 

 Let me then, in conclusion, beseech each one of 

 you to use every exertion to make it still more 

 pleasant, honorable and profitable, by giving to it 

 an enliffhtened attention — Iw a free, frequent and 

 generous interchange of opinions — by zealously 

 advocatinir, and carefldly cherishing such publica- 

 tions and institutions as are likely thus to renovate 

 and make happy our beloved country. 



From Uie Silli Culturist. 



GREAT lA'CRKASE, ATX D VALUE, OF CHINESE 

 aiULBEKRY. 



Predericksburg, Virginia, October 10, 1836. 

 F. G. Comstock, Esq. 



Dear Sir, — In your September number, you 

 have "hit the nail on the head" in your editorial on 

 the acclimation of the Moras multicaulis, from the 

 testimony of the Secretary of the Horticultural 

 Society of" Antwerp. The method to which I re- 

 fer is cutting down the tree, every year, in the faH, 

 to within a few inches of the ground. I have had 

 experience on that point, this year, though my ob- 

 ject was not to acclimate the tree. We have none, 

 or but little winter to contend with here. Whilst 

 on this subject, I will detail all my experience with 

 the multicaulis — fur you know that if I lived in 

 Maine, I would not give you a fig for all the white 

 and other mulberry trees, for the purpose of feed- 

 ing silk worm, in Christendom. 



In April, 1835, I purchased of an ageni of (he 

 Messrs. Prince, 75 trees of the morus multicaulis, 

 which I set out, about two leet apart each way, in 

 a moist loamy soil. They averaged about two feet 

 in height, and half inch in diameter at the butt. 

 By this fall they had put up, on an average, six- 

 branches about five feet high. In the spring of 

 '36, as snoii as I could find a bud swollen, I cut all 

 the branches down to within six inches of" the 

 ground. These I cut up into pieces about eight 



inches long, having two buds on each cutting — 

 amountiiiiT in all to uj)wards of five thousand cut- 

 tings. These were stuck in prepared grotmd to 

 one half their length — one bud in the earili, and 

 one bud out — and I am sure I have not lost five 

 per cent, of" them, and many of these cutiinirs are 

 now six leet tall, and an inch in diameter at the 

 butt. - 



But the 75 stocks which were cut to the ground 

 have attained the average height of eight leet, and 

 a dozen branches somewhat lower, and are bend- 

 ing beneath the heaviest growth of foliage I ever 

 saw. I had, the oilier day, a few moments con- 

 versation with a gentleman just returned from Eu- 

 rope, and lie inlbrmed me that it is the practice of 

 the farmers in the mulberry countries, through 

 which he travelled, to cut the trees down annually, 

 not lor the purpose of acclimating, (which I have 

 no doubt will serve .a good purpose in New En- 

 gland (or that object,) but for the purpose of pro- 

 ducing a tender and abundant ("diage. 



To suni up, the reader will notice the facility 

 with which the multicaulis can be propagated. 

 From 75 — 5,000 in 18 months — one fourth tTcre of 

 land — S 12.50 first cost, and .$5 worth of labor be- 

 stowed in cultivation. I am fully persuaded that 

 the multicaulis is decidedly the best tree for feed- 

 ing the silk worm ; and that 8 or 10 by 2 or 3 leet, 

 is the most convenient distance, and tiiat the trees 

 should be cut down every year to within a few 

 inches of the ground. 



Respectfully, 



J. B. GRAY. 



Notes ^by the Editor. — 1. We hope our friends 

 in Maine, will not be deterred Irom prosecuting the 

 culture ol'silk by the remark of Mr. Gray. It 

 must be remembered that he 1s a Virginian, enjoy- 

 ing a climate peculiarly mild, and an air remarka- 

 bly congenial to the growth and labor of the silk 

 worm. It is also probable that he has no personal 

 knowledire of the climate of Maine, and, like all 

 others who have not visited that state, supposes it 

 to be a region as cold and dreary as Lapland or 

 Iceland. From personal observation, we are con- 

 vinced that the growth of silk may be pursued to 

 advantage in most parts of the state; and the re- 

 sults ol"late ex[)eriments have also settled the ques- 

 tion beyond a doubt, that both the mulberry and 

 the worm will live and thrive in the 45th parallel 

 of latitude. The silk is also of a better quality 

 than that grown in warmer climates. 



2. The ratio in which Mr. G. has multiplied his 

 trees is truly astonishing, and the profits he must 

 have derived from them is ecjually so. He has 

 given the time he has been engaged in the busi- 

 ness, the stock with which he conunenced, the cost 

 of trees, labor, &c. and the number he has now on 

 hand; — to which we will add their present value, 

 that the reader nmy have the whole subject before 

 him. Trees of the size and height he describes are 

 worth fifty cents a piece in market, and would be 

 purchased in New England at that price as soon 

 as offered. The present worth of his 5,000 trees 

 is therefore S-500 — an enormous sum to be derived 

 from an investment of S 17.50 in trees and labor in 

 the short term of eighteen months. These, it will 

 also be noticd, have been produced on one fourth 

 of an acre of land.. We leave the reader to com- 

 pute the number, and their value, which an acre 

 would produce in the same proportion. — Ed. S. C. 



