vol.. XIV. MO. S3. 



AND ?, A R D E N K R ' S JOURNAL 



179 



iFnini Kc?semicii'« Silk M.nnnnl.] 

 FACTS AND OBSERVATIOIVS 



RF.LATIVR TO TlIK CUl.TUHF. OK SILK. 



Thk following facts aro from a slip cut fioni 

 New York newspaper, but the date nor llie title 

 It boinj; preserved, we cannot jfive credit to the 

 urce from which we hnve derived it. 

 About five years aijo, William Gillespie, Esq., 

 the town of Monti^omery, Ornnwe County, (N. 

 I sowed seed for a nursery ofthe white jnulher- 

 (niorus alba) for the purpose ofthe culture of 

 Sik Worm. The ground occu|)ied by the 

 rsery is about four square rods. This small lot 

 Ided lust summer 175 skeins of sewing silk, 

 ailing in softness, strength and beauty, the best 

 ported specimens ofthe same article. These 

 ins, with a sufScicnt quantity of tow for a pair 

 stockings, would command in market .$10. The 

 ole labor expended in the culture, Mr Gillespie 

 iniates at $2 — making the product of four 

 are rods $S. One acre cultivated this way 

 uld yield $320, besides the expense of the 

 our. 



FariAers might clothe their wives and daugli- 

 3 with silk of a good quality at less expense 

 n it now requires to clothe them in fine cotton, 

 estimated that $5,000 worth of sewing silk is 

 i annually in Orange County alone, and the 

 ole sale ofthe article in the State of New York 

 y i)robably be estimated at 150,000. All this 

 uld be saved in our country by the extension 

 :his very profitable branch of husbandry so as 

 upply the home consumption. Much ofthe 

 3r too can be performed by small children 

 would otherwise be idle, and thus early hab- 

 of industry would bo created, 

 ["he whole process is simple, and a knowledge 

 t easily acquired. After the middle of May, 

 egg of the silk worm is brought from the bu- 

 u, and exposed to the warmth of the air, but 

 to the rays of the sun. Early in June the 

 rj of incubation expires, and the small silk 

 •ms make their appearance. They are now 

 le fed with mulberry leaves, with.which they 

 supplied twice a day, the leaves to Le scattered 

 he enclosure where they are kept. In about 

 weeks they attain their full growth, when they 

 of a beautiful golden color. A small quantity 

 eaves supplies them for the five first weeks; 

 sixth week they require an abundant supply. 

 Gidespie informs us, that during this week 

 >n a stranger visits their apartment, they leave 

 eating, raise their horn and give plain indica- 

 s that they know him to be stranger. 

 Ifter feeding about six weeks they quit eating 

 are prepared to commence spinning. Oak 

 valnut leaves, dried in the sun so as to be 

 led are now thrown into their enclosure ; they 

 je in the folds of the leaf, and begin to spin 

 n their own bowels — first the tow by which 

 y attach their web to the leaf, then the thread, 

 ch they form into a perfect web, so as to shut 

 mselves closely within. 



The larvas or worms enclosed in the balls, that 

 intended for propogation, cut their way out of 

 silken cell and escape from their own prison, 

 he form of a butterfly, with beautiful variega- 

 wings ; white paper is placed under them, on 

 ich the egg is deposited ; one butterfly will 

 ■osit two thousand eggs. These papers, with 

 eggs are laid away in a chest or desk until the 

 owiugspring, when the process above described 

 igain repeated. 



After this interest 

 fine material, the tow 

 aro thrown into hot 

 among them, to whii 

 attiich themselves. F 

 are laid together and r 

 posed of forty fibres, 

 spiiming wheel, then 

 and wrought into ske 

 manufacture is compli 

 manner as woollen y 

 substance, which the 

 cation of its threa<l. 



ing insect has furnished 



is picked otftho balls, which 



water and a stick is passed 



ch the euils of the threads 



'or sewing silk, forty of them 

 eeled. The thread thus corn- 

 is twisted hard on a large 

 doubled and twisted again, 



ins. The whole process of 

 ■ted by scouring in the same 



,'arn to detach the glutinous 

 worm employs in the fabri- 



From the Horticultural Register. 

 SILK CULTURE IN INDIA. 



Uoxbury. November 19. 1835. 



My Dear Sir, — Having recently been reading 

 Milburn's Oriental Commerce, I was much inter- 

 ested in tke account he has given ofthe silk cul- 

 ture in India: and as it contains some valuable 

 information, whicdi I do not recollect to have seen 

 in any other work, on a branch of rnral industry, 

 whicli has claimed so much of your attention, and 

 is becoming so important to this country, I enclose 

 several extracts for publication. 



The mode in which the mulberry plantations 

 are managed, is novel, and well worthy of experi- 

 ment ; for if it will not enable us to obtain, as is 

 there done, six crops of silk in a year, it is possi- 

 ble such advantages may be derived, as to induce 

 its adoption, — especially in the Southern States. 



The two species of silk- worms, which are de- 

 scribed as peculiar to Hindostan, might be a valu- 

 able acquisition ; especially that of .\rrindy, as 

 the Palma Christi, on which it feeds, flourishes 

 throughout the United States. 



The. descriptions of the various kinds of silk 

 produced in Bengal, and the mode of ascertaining 

 their qualities, may be found usefid to those who 

 have established manufactories in this country, 

 and as yet rely on the raw silk of India for their 

 looms. With great esteem, 



your most obedient servant, 



H. A. S. DEARBORN. 



EXTRACTS. 



Silk Worm. — "In Bengal, the largest and best 

 cocoons are preserved for the grain, and preserved 

 in bags suspended to the roof of the hut ofthe 

 peasant. VVh«n the insect is ready to burst its 

 prison, a few balls are placed in a large basket on 

 one shelf of a frame, provided for the nurture of 

 ofthe worm. The frame in co:itira0H use, con- 

 sists of sixteen shelves, placed iu a shed upon ves- 

 sels filled with water, by way of precaution against 

 ants. After the* moths quit their covering, atten- 

 dance is required to remove the males as soon as 

 their functions have been |)ei-formed, and the fe- 

 males when they have ))roduced their eggs. The 

 basket is carefully covered with a cloth, and in a 

 fortnight the worm quits the egg. They are first 

 fed with mulberry leaves, chopped vei-y fine ; as 

 they advance in their growth, they are dispersed 

 into more baskets, on the several shelves ofthe 

 frame, and are supplied with leaves, cut into lar- 

 ger pieces, and latterly with whole leaves, until 

 the |;eriod when the insect quits the food. As 

 soon as it recommences eating, brandies of mul- 

 berry trees are thrown on with the leaves upon 

 them, and the insects eat with eagerness, and soon 

 fill the baskets on the whole number of shelves ; 

 they arrive at their full size in a little more than a 



month from their birth, and cliniiging their skins 

 for the last lime, are disposed to begin their cones, 

 'i'hey arc now removed to baskets, divid('d into 

 spiral cnmpartnients, where they spin their webs, 

 and cover themselves with silk. When the co- 

 coon is completed, a few are set ajinrt for propa- 

 gation, and the rest are exposed to the heat ofthe 

 sun, for the purpose of killing the chrysalis," 



"The peasants sell the cocoons to the filatures, 

 or winding houses, most of whom are in the em- 

 ploy ofthe East India Com])any." 



Cultivation oj the Mulbcrn/ Tree. — The follow- 

 ing is the mode of propagating the mulberry tree. 

 The waste land is opened with the S|>ade m tho 

 month of April ; good soif is brought and enougij 

 is thrown on to raise it one cubit.* The ground 

 is well broken with the plough, and levelled with 

 an implement, M'hich in form resembles a ladder, 

 but which supplies the place of a haiTow. The 

 mulberry is planted in October ; the slijis are cut 

 a spanf long, thrown into a hole, covered from the 

 sun, and are continually watered, until at the end 

 of a fortnight they begin to vegetate. They are 

 then transplanted into the fields, in holes, distant 

 a span from each other, and nearly one span deep ; 

 four or five cuttings are placed obliquely, in each 

 hole, which is then filled up, so as to cover tho 

 s;i])s with a fingerf of earth, closely pressed down. 

 As soon as the plants appear, in December or Jan- 

 nary, the field is weeded. In April, when they 

 are grown to the height of a cubit, they are to|>ped, 

 so as to leave a stem one hand§ high ; otherwise 

 it is thought that the leaves would be bitter and 

 hard, and that the worms would refuse them. A 

 hand-hoeing is now given, and a fortnight after- 

 ward, the leaves are ready for use. The plant is 

 then cut down a little above the root, and the silk 

 worms are fed with the leaves ; the field is weeded, 

 if necessary, and another crop is obtained in June, 

 and a third in July ; but the leaves of this last 

 crop only are gathered without cutting the stem, 

 because that operation at so late a season, would, 

 it is apprehended, injure the plant. The field is 

 again weeded, and a fourth crop is ready in Sep- 

 tember ; after gathering it, the ground is ploughed 

 several times, and levelled with the implement 

 above inentioned. In November, a hand-hoeing 

 assists vegetation, and accelerates the best crop, 

 which is cut in December ; this is followed by a 

 hand-hoeing and weeding, and is succeeded by 

 another crop in Pdarch. The same course recom- 

 mences, and the field, if sufficiently attended and 

 cultivated, wi!l continue productive during many 

 years.'' 



The Silk Worms of Tusseh and Arrindy. — 

 "There are two other kinds of worms, which pro- 

 duce si'k in Bengal, viz. the Tusseh and Arrindy 

 worms ; the former are found in such abundance, 

 over many jiarts of Bengal, and the adjoining pro- 

 vinces, as to have afforded to the natives, frorri 

 time immemorial, a considerable supply of a most 

 durable, coarse, dark-colored silk, commonly 

 called Tusseh silk, which is woven into a kind of 

 cloth, called Tusseh dooties, much worn by Bra- 

 mins, and other sects of Hindoos. This substance 

 would, no doubt, be highly useful to the inhabi- 

 tants of many parts of America, and the south of 

 Europe, where cheap, light, cool, durable dress. 



" The cubit of Bengal is eighteen inches, 

 t The span is nine inches. 

 t The finger is three fourths of an inch. 

 § Tho hand is three inches. 



