710 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 11 



that I lately made with a lew cocoons of worms 

 that were fed on leaves of the morus rubra,* or 

 common red mulberrj' of om* western forests. 



Tiic cocoons were deprived of their loose floss, 

 and the crysalids were perfectly dry. I weiyh^d 

 cocoons to the amount ot" 215 grains, and caus- 

 ing them to be reeled I obtained 75 grains of silk, 

 equivalent, very nearly to 35 percent. Observing 

 that several grains were lost through unskililil 

 management, the reelcr being altogether inexpe- 

 rienced in the business, I detern)ined to repeat the 

 expenment, in order to ascertain, if possible, the 

 maximum of silk that could be reeled li'om a given 

 quantity of cocoons. I then carefully weighed 

 just 100 grains of the cocoons, which yielded 39 

 grains of reeled silk, besides a few atoms of floss 

 amounting perhaps to one grain. It would thus 

 appear that these cocoons contained about 40 per 

 cent, of silk. What is the per centum of silk usu- 

 all}' contained in dry cocoons ? and what propor- 

 tion of the silk contained by the cocoons is ex- 

 tracted in the ordinary process of reeling? 



In determining the value of tlie red mulberr}^, as 

 a source of food for the silk worm, we should in- 

 quire — 



1st. What is the quality of the silk it produ- 

 ces ? 



2ndly. Is the red American mulberry, a tree of 

 as rapid growth as the white Italian, with which 

 we would naturally compare it I 



3rdly. Does the former produce as abundant a 

 foliage as the latter? 



4thly. Is the fijiiage of the American tree as 

 Tiutrilious as that of the Italian — and do worms 

 ied upon the former produce as good cocoons as 

 those led upon the latter ? 



1. With regard to the quality of the silk obtain- 

 ed in my experiments, I do not profess to be a 

 competent judge ; but I certainly cannot conceive 

 that any thing ot the silk kind could excel it in 

 fineness arui brilliancy. JMy judgment, however, 

 is not needed to establish the cimracter of the silk 

 produced from the American mulberry. We are 

 already in possession of an overwhelming mass 

 of evidence tending to prove most decisively^ that 

 this silk will bear comparison with the best that 

 can be produced from any other source. Your 

 readers may find some of this evidence m articles 

 on the 92d," 94th, 96th, 105th, 109th, 138th, 155th 

 and 156th pages of the "Silk Cuhurist," and also 

 in a document published by Congress in 1828, and 

 containing " information in relation to the growth 

 and manufacture of silk." 



In addition to these testimonials, I would pre- 

 sent the evidence of Mr. D'llomergue, a French 

 silk manufacturer, who pronounced a sample of 

 reeled silk which had been produced fi'om the red 

 mulberry to be "indeed beautiful" — "not sur- 

 passed by any that he had ever seen," and "equal 

 in firmness to any other." 



I could also demonstrate by citing several au- 

 thorities, that sewing silk produced li-om our na- 

 tive mulberry is stronger than the European arti- 

 cle. 



2. With regard to the second query I would 

 premise that it is hardly fair to compare a plant 



* This is the true botanical appellation. Some have 

 improperly called it Morus nigra, or black mulberry. 

 The black mulberry is not a native of North America. 



in a state of nature with one that has enjoyed the 

 advantages of cultivation. Notwithstanding, how- 

 ever, the disadvantage that exists on the'side of 

 the xVmerican mulberry, it iias the appearance of 

 being the more thrifty iree, if I might be permitted 

 to judge liom a few specimens that I have seen 

 of the Italian tree. 



3. W there is any dillerence in regard to the 

 quantity of foliage yielded by each, I believe that 

 the dilliirence is in fiwor oV the American tree. 

 At least it is certain that the red mulberry ha* the 

 important advantage of producing a much larger 

 leaf than the otiier. 



4. That the leaves of the American mulberry 

 are as nutritious as those of the Italian, and that a 

 given quantity of the former will produce as much 

 silk as the same quantity of the latter, there can 

 be no doubt. And all observers concur in remark- 

 ing that the cocoons preduced from each are M 

 equally fine. Mr. Jesse Waltz of this place in- ■ 

 formed me that he and his neighbor, Gen. P. 

 Bcecher, each ied a fijw silk worms in the same 

 season, Mr. Waltz using th.e common wild mul- 

 berry, while Gen. Beecher used the Italian; and 

 that upon comparing the cocoons, there was not the 

 least perceptible difference. The cocoons were 

 reeled, and upon a second comparison no diffier- 

 encein the quality of the silk could be discovered. 



I would now inquire, why in the name of com- 

 mon sense, persons in the west who wish to en- 

 gage in the silk culture should wait on the tardy 

 growth of the Italian mulberry li-om the seed, 

 when the forests everywhere around them abound 

 with a tree altogether equal, if not superior to it. 

 In almost ever}' neighliorhood a considerable co- 

 coonery might be profitably supplied from trees 

 planted by the hand of nature. But as these 

 trees are generally somewhat dispersed, and as 

 the climbing of large trees is inconvenient, I 

 would recommend the plan of propagating the 

 red mulberry l)y means of cuttings set hedge- 

 wise. By stocking the requisite quantity of ground 

 with thrifty cuttings, a person might, on the second 

 year, have any amount of foliage that he might 

 desire. 



One of your correspondents estimates that an 

 acre of ground set with cuttings of the Chinese 

 mulberry will on the first year yield 10,000 pounds 

 of leaves. It is allowed by some writers that 

 100 pounds of foliage will produce one pound 

 of silk. If this supposition is correct, then the 

 produce of one acre on the first year would be 

 100 pounds of silk, worth, when reeled, ^500. I 

 I'eel confident that on the second year a result 

 equal to this might be obtained from our native 

 mulberry. I am not sure that the foliage might 

 not he profitab!}' used even on the first year. 



Permit me to suggest a theory in regard to the 

 Chinese mulberry. I am persuaded that it is a 

 creature of cultivation. It is propagated alto- 

 gether by layers and cuttings, instead of seed ; 

 and the stems are cut down every year to the 

 ground in order to obtain an annual crop of fresh 

 shoots. It is to these circumstances of its propa- 

 gation and culture that the luxuriance of its 

 growth, and the larceness and tenderness of its 

 leaves, are owing. Hence will appear the reason 

 why a similar plant is not obtained when attempts 

 are made to propagate it from the seed. The plant 

 obtained fi-om the seed is a natural production; 

 while that produced by other means is an artificial 



