VOb. XIV. NO. I. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL 



3 



emothtTfil at half that (lr|)tli. Lot the Ox-oyc 

 Daisy thon be iiloiijihod iitulcr with a ilcop, cvoii, 

 rctjular tMirow, wlu'ii in its tnost gmwiiif; state, 

 and sulVoi-alioii must oiisuc. Tlio ground howev- 

 er, will jirolia'.ily coutain unsprontcd seeds. When 

 the ohl plants have rotted, successive ploughings 

 and harrowings may be necessary to destroy the 

 young |ilaiits that come forward, and to bring up 

 more seed near the surface of the genuiuate. 

 Pei*severanre can conquer all such enemies, and 

 make a profitable business of it to the former. 

 Maine Farmer. 



[From the I'raclical Farinrr.] 



FACTS AKD OBSERVATIOKS RELATIVE TO 



THE CULTURE OP SILK. 



The following extract from the Journal of a 

 Board fur the extension of the culture of silk, 

 connected with the Agricultural Society of Bava- 

 ria, contains ideas which may prove useful to as- 

 sociations combined for similar purposes in the 

 Uuited States : 



After reading of the resolutions and the list of 

 the members of the new Board, the Counseller of 

 State, M. (le Haggi, spoke in substance as follows: 

 •" Gentlemen — The resolutions which have 

 just been read explain tlie end for which you have 

 convened. It is not less than to procure to your 

 country an important branch of industry, known 

 by the name of culture of silk. Like the Greeks, 

 Italians and French we wisli to call silk culture 

 into existence. The culture of silk will be an 

 incidental business, the secondary work of chil- 

 dren, panp. rs ami old people. Encouraged b}' 

 the example of Greece, Italy and France we wish 

 to trust it to the fair hands of ladies, who could 

 4|lby way of amusement, and without any expense, 

 obtain within six weeks, a most elegant material 

 for the ornament of their persons and of their 

 apartments. 



" The whole enterprize requires nothing further 

 than to feed the silk worms in the spring with 

 tmulberry leaves; a care not greater, but surely 

 more useful, than the feeding of dogs, birds, and 

 cats ; to keep them clean, and to grant them a 

 little s; ace in a room to spin their silk. These 

 are the means by which the cocoons are obtained, 

 and these furnish again eggs: and here ends the 

 whole culture: for the cocoons themselves are ar- 

 ticles of commerce. 



" The business of the board is for the present : 



1. to attend to the plantation of mulberry trees; 



2. to procure silk worms: 3, and lastly, to guide 

 in the use of these means. Only after these three 

 jnx'liminaries have been attended to begins the 

 first chapter of fabrication." 



Mulberry must not be planted separate along 

 the street, exposed to dust, or to northerly winds, 

 nor in a marshy soil ; but on the contrary in a 

 shelten'd place, with an ex] osure to the sun. 

 Cobh's Manual asserts that the white mulberry has 

 been found superior to the purple or native red. 

 Rush's report enumerates seven varieties of the red, 

 and says that "the leaves of the native red nmlher- 

 ry tree agree perfectly vvith si k-worms, and yield 

 very good silk, is a fact so well established by the 

 ••xperienee of more than a century, that to doubt 

 it would amount to an absurdity. It appears 

 however, that the leaves do not suit the constitu- 

 tion of French worms and the author [Mr De- 

 longchainps] of the experiment, which he made 

 to satisfy himself on this point, therefore, decides 



a^'ainst the fitness of the tn^e for the food of the 

 insects." 



" The roots of the mulberry tree strike very, 

 deep into thi; ground, so that the surface not 

 being impoverishe<l as it is by many trees, whose 

 roots are founil more in the upper soil, other 

 kinds of cultivation may he prosecuted arouiul it. 

 Neither its shade nor the droi)pings of rain from 

 its leaves is considered prejuilicial to plants 

 growing beneath. 



Moist lands in valleys and near rivers induce a 

 very rapid growth in the trees ; hut their leaves 

 contain in such situations, too much watery mat- 

 ter, and though eaten voraciously are hurtful to 

 the worms from their comiiaralive want of nourish- 

 ishment. The labors of the insect are also de- 

 layed, and the quality of their produce injured, 

 bv the weakness of constitution resulting from 

 this cause. Trees in dry soils give fewer leaves, 

 but any deficiency in their quantity is amply com- 

 pensated by the greater nutriment which they af- 

 ford and as a necessary consequence by the su- 

 perior quality of the silk produced." — Lardner^s 

 Cabincl Cyclopedia. 



Extra food for silk ivorms. — Mr Loudon men- 

 tions that M. Honal'oiis, an experienced cultiva- 

 tor of silk worms found that "dandelions sustain- 

 ed them imtil the fourth change, when the leaves 

 of the mulberry were substituted." If this plant 

 should answer in the Uuited States the fact is im- 

 portant, as it is the first vegetable that appears in 

 spring. Various works, during the last thirty 

 years have repeated the following statement, viz : 

 that DrBellardi, of Turin, after a number of ex- 

 periments, found that young worms eat dried mul- 

 berry leaves vvith avidity. The leaves must be 

 collected about the end of autumn before frosts 

 and in dry weather, and at a time when the heat 

 is greatest ; then dried in the sun, and laid up in a 

 dry place, after they have been reduced to powder. 

 When given to the worms, this powder should he 

 slightly moistened with water, and a i)arcel of it 

 placed before the worms. This practice, ac- 

 cording to Du Halde, is pursued in China, with 

 this dift'erence, that the leaves are merely kept in 

 earthern jars. 



The writer wishes it to be distinctly understood 

 that the above substitutes for the proper food of 

 silk worms ought only to be used when this can- 

 not be had. Due attention except in a v(Ty late 

 spring, will always enable US to accommodate the 

 hatching of the worms to the vegetation of the 

 mulberry tree. — Rush's Report. 



Tlie object of this|,couuuunicalion is to suggest 

 the practicability of forming a company for the 

 growth and inaimfacture of silk. The County of 

 Essex possesses within itsi^lf all the advantages 

 of raising and manufaiituring an article which 

 annually takes from the county thousands of dol- 

 lars. The suggestion ol" the erection of a Mami- 

 factory for the production of silk fabrics is not 

 visionary. It can be done. " Whatever man has 

 (lone, man may do," is an old adage ; and where 

 is the man, or where a nation that has performed 

 a thing which a Yankee has not performed, of 

 could iHit i)erform, with additions and inii)rove- 

 ments ? 



Some of the farmers of Essex, a few years 

 since, in consequence of the suggestions of ob- 

 serving men, and the encouragement given by 

 Agricultural Societies, j)lanted very extensively 

 the mulberry tree. They have probably upwards 

 of 100,000 of them in full vigor, which would 

 yield Silk amply snliicient to supply the wants of 

 the county, and moreover leave a surplus for ex- 

 portation. The cidiure of silk has from the first 

 colonization of the country, more or less engaged 

 the attention of the American People. As early 

 as 1745, the colonics of Georgia and Vi :-'inia ex- 

 ported quantities of raw Silk to England. The 

 manufacture of Sewing Silk has been carried on 

 in Coimecticut and Massachusetts very profitably 

 for a number of years. " America is destined to 

 become a rich silk growing and silk manufactur- 

 ing country," was the remark of a distinguished 

 patron of domestic industry. It has been pioved 

 by actual experiment, that the quality of Ameri- 

 can silk is far superior to that of France or Italy 

 and that the product from the same number of 

 trees is greater. 



I sha 1 feel myself well repaid, if this commu- 

 nication serves to direct the attention of the friends 

 of American Manufiielures in Salem more partic- 

 u'arly to this subject, being convinced that should 

 they act upon the suggestion of erecting a manu- 

 ftictory for the production of silk fabrics, they will 

 find the experiment | rove successful, thereby 

 introducing a new article of commerce, and thus 

 b( n:ifittiiig the whole nation, by saving to the 

 country part of the innnense amount which is 

 annua ly paid for this article in the markets of 

 France and England. — Essex Register. 



SILK IN ESSEX COUNTY. 



Messrs ErrroRs — I am g'ad to observe the 

 symptoms of regeneralion spreading in our good- 

 ly town ; and I hope our business men and our 

 men of money, will cherish the spirit of enter- 

 prise and improvement which is abroad in the 

 land. It needs only a proper a; plication of the 

 means we possess, to make Salem what she ought 

 to be. It is bnmilialing to see other places with 

 but a tithe of the natural advantages we possess, 

 takiiig the lead and faroutstrii)ping Salem in every 

 thing of a business nature. 



The bad tenilcncy of this laxity of enterprise, 

 and inactivity of our abundant capital, in driving 

 from our conmiunify the " bone siiid sinew" of the 

 town, has repeatedly been laid before us. But a 

 new iuipidse has been given ! Salem has awaken- 

 ed ! Salem will prosper ! 



Clover with Oats. — Many of the farmers in 

 West Chester and Putnam counties sow clover 

 seed with their oats — thinking it taki s better.than 

 rye or wheat. Th«! ordinary rotation in nio.st 

 parts of this section of the Union is corn, oats, 

 tye or wheat with chjv( r. In order to secure 

 the enriching jiropc rlies ^f the cdvcr, I shoidd 

 suppose, even in this rotalion, if won d be i)rof- 

 itable to sow clover, with a view of turning it un- 

 der for rye or wheat in the fall. The expense 

 of seed ami sowing is but a trifii'. Tlie pasture, 

 from the time the oats are cut to that lor fall 

 ploughing, will pay for all expenses. 



A company lias hn n funned at Ponghkeepsic, 

 N. Y. for the mannliictnre ol'silk, with a capita of 

 8200,000. 'Miey are now ereeting a building for 

 that purpose, SO f. et long, by 35' foet wide, and 

 four st<iries hiijh. 



Nothing should be (lone in hast but the gri,:- 

 ping of fleas. 



