vol.. XIV. NO. 33. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



2G1 



From the Silk Cultvirisl. 



HEDGES. i 



We comiiioiul tliii fnllowiiis lotter to the atton- 

 tion ol'cultiv.itors of ihe Miillierry. The imnhod 

 of cultivating in licilges, we think the best tliat 

 bas heen attenipteil, ami have little doiiht of its 

 ultimately being universally adopted. The inul- 

 beny is cultivated in this manner in the form of 

 fence and field liedgcs. On the liorders of fields 

 lodges may be set out for the double purpose of 

 fence and ioliasre.aiid the interior of fields is often 

 ■overed with hedges, at suitable distances from 

 jach other to admit the passage of a hand cart or 

 me horse waggon, for the purpose of gathering 

 he foliage and transporting it to the cocoonery. 

 The method of propagation is much the same iu 

 joth cases, and is done either by transplanting the 

 jlants froni the nursery, or sowing the seed where 

 t is intended to inake a hedge. 



To make a hedge by transplanting from the 

 nirsery, take jilants one or two years old- and set 

 hem at the distance of eighteen incites apart, or, 

 fit ho intended to inakc a thick set hedge, at the 

 listance of one foot. Cut off the tops at foitr or 

 ix inches from the ground, leaving two btids oppo- 

 ite each other, and removing the rest. This cau- 

 ses the stock to have two vigorous branches t!ie 

 irst year. The next spring, ctit one of these two 

 )ranches on the same side, at twelve inches from 

 he ground, in such tiianner that each plant may 

 lave a Icng and a short otic, but horizontally on 

 he same side also one after anotfjer, all the 

 iranches and fasten them with cords or withes, so 

 hat they may form a line parallel with the earth, 

 ud leave the entire branches untouched. At tlie 

 oniuiencement of the third year, the plants will 

 lave branches to form a hedge. 



The height, form, &e. of u hedge iijay be regti- 

 ited, according to the taste or convenience of the 

 nitivator, by cutting off the branches, when cov- 

 red with leaves, and feeding the silk wortn. 

 •!ome cultivators are permitting standard trees to 

 TOW up out of their hedges at the distance often 

 )r twelve feet frotii each other. This is doubtless 

 in improvement, as by cutting away the hedge, an 

 ircbard of standard trees would be left, should it 

 iver be found desirable so to do. Rails might 

 llso be inserted into the standards, and a good 

 ence easily made. '!'o make a hedge from the 

 jed it is only necessary to sow the seed and then 

 reat the plants in the same tiianuer as if trausplan- 

 sd from the nursery. 



With regard to the inquiry of Mr Paige respect- 

 ng engaging the services of some person of expe- 

 ience in tnanagiug the silk worm, we can only 

 .ay that we have numerous applications of the 

 lame kind, which as yet we are unable to sujtply. 

 But we will her§ take occasion to say to all such 

 lersons, male or female, who may not be other- 

 vise engased, that by making the fact known to 

 IS, we can refer them to gentlemen, who would 

 ;ladly avail themselves of their services the com- 

 silk season, at wages with which they would 

 le satisfied. 



worm, I slinll not hcsitiite in making them contti- 

 btite to that object! I have already tnore than a 

 mile in liedge, and about two acres in ntirsery ; 

 and seedlings of hist season, sufticicnt to add at 

 least another acre to my nursery. In hedge and 

 nursery, of two, three, and four years old, I have 

 about 4,5,000. If 1 could procure a female of suf- 

 ficient expirienee to take charge of the silk worms, 

 I think I would make the expetiment next sum- 

 mer, I think my trees woulil furnish food for CO or 

 70 thousand worms, perhaps more. There is no 

 one in this part of the country who has any prac- 

 tical knowledge of the management of the worm. 

 i\Iay I be permitted to ask, if you can refer mo 

 to any one, whom I could probably eiriploy for 

 that purpose. 



Respectfully, Your 



Obedient Serv't. 



J.NO. Keyes Paige. 



NATIVE SIMC. 



A specimen of sewing silk was shown to us a 

 few days since by a gentleman of this town, which 

 was produced on the firm of Mr Adams, of Wal- 

 pole, Cheshire county, and manufactured by Mrs. 

 Adams. It was reeled from the cocoons on a 

 common hand rec' and spun on a common spin- 

 ning wheel. Mrs A. was aided in tiie process by 

 no other knowledge than that which she had ac- 

 quired frofu reading. For smoothness, evenness 

 of texture and strength, it is not surpassed by any 

 which we have ever examined. We have a sam- 

 ple of the silk in our possession, which we shall 

 be glad to exhibit to any one who may have the 

 curiosity to inspect it. 



We are further informed, that the trees from 

 which the worms are fed, are but four years from 

 the seed. — JV. H. Ai^us. 



Aleant, Jan. 4th, 1836. 

 G. Comstock, Esq., 

 Sir: — I have for the last four summers en- 

 gaged iu the culture of the mulberry. My. object 

 )riginally was, solely for the purpose of hedging ; 

 md I shall continue it, but if eventually my hedges 

 ;an be turned to a'-'ount, by the aid of the silk 



Price of Maki.ng Cocoons. — In most of our 

 estimates of the profit of a mulberry plantation, 

 we iiave put down the labor of making silk at 

 three-fourths of its value, and in no instance less 

 than one half. A few days since, a silk grower 

 from Mansfield informed us that he was ready to 

 contract for making cocoons at $1 a bushel, which 

 is one third of theprice they are now selling at 

 the Silk Factory in this city. He remarked that 

 he could furnish the help and make a fair profit 

 at that price. From this statement it will be seen 

 that foliage sufficient to make a bushel of cocoons 

 is worth on the tr(;e $2,00 and according to the 

 quantity ordinarily consumed in making a bushel, 

 14 cents a pound. Taking this as a basis of a cal- 

 culation, a farmer may readily ascertain the income 

 he may derive from this source without interfer- 

 ing with his other agricultural operations. The 

 sale of mulberry foliage is a very itnportant article 

 of traffic in Europe and Asia, and we have no 

 doubt will soon be in America. Every farmer 

 who sets out mulberry trees will very soon derive 

 a fair profit from them, though he may not be dis- 

 posed to engage in the culture of silk. We hope 

 no farmer will neglect to provide in this manner, 

 a fund from which both himself and his posterity 

 may draw at pleasure. 



Atlantic Silk Cojjpany. — A number of the 

 citizens of Nantucket have reeently associated for 

 the purpose of engaging in the manufacture of silk, 

 with iilierior reference to the production of the 

 raw material. They have assumed the name of 

 the " Atlantic Silk Company," and propose invest- 

 ing a capital of not exceeding $40,000. From an 

 article on the subject in the Inquirer, it is manifest 

 they have taken hold of the business with an en- 

 ergy and zeal which will ensure success. They 

 have purchased a site for a factory, and are about 

 erecting a building 60 by 30 feet. They have 

 a so contracted for an engine, machinery, &c., and 

 expect to turn out in the course of the ensuing 

 year upwards of three hundred yards of rich 

 heavy fabrics per week. 



Beaver Silk Company. — The silk busin«ss is 

 " going ahead" in Pennsylvania. A company has 

 lately been formed in Philadelphia by the name of 

 'The Heaver Silk Culture and Manufacturing 

 Company. — The capital stock of the Company is 

 50,000, and a tract of land near Beaver Falls in 

 Western Pennsylvania, has been purchased for 

 their operations. Samuel C. Atkinson, Esq., edi- 

 tor of the Saturday Evening Post, has been elec- 

 ted President of the Company — Silk CuUurist. 



The Manufacture of Silk. — We have here- 

 tofore had occasion to s])eak of the success with 

 which the power loom had been applied by Mr 

 Gay to the weaving of Silk. But the only exper- 

 imerK.4' which had then been made, had been made 

 ui)on an old and very awkwardly constructed cot- 

 ton loom. Within the last three Weeks, one of 

 the new looms, with improvements by Mr. Gay, 

 adapted to the manufacture of silk has been put 

 in operation upon a piece of fine white Pongee 

 Handkerchiefs, three quarters wide. This loom 

 has put at rest all doidit that might before have 

 been entertained in relation to the practicability of 

 weaving silk in this manner. We have several 

 times made. the observation by marking the piece 

 with a pencil, and the looltf has woven an inch 

 and a half of this fabric in one minute. Others 

 have at different times witnessed the operation, of 

 the loom and their observation of the result has 

 been precisely the same. The speed is regulated 

 at one hundred and forty strokes of the lathe per 

 minute, and the fabric which it turns off is in no 

 manner inferior to the imported article. 



The girl who attends it is an experienced cot- 

 ton weaver and one of the smartest in the country. 

 She affirms that she can without difficulty tend 

 four of them, and turn off one hundred yards of 

 goods per day. What will Louis Phillipe say to 

 tbat ? — Providence Journal. 



Have you made up your mind with regard to 

 entering into the mulberry culture? If you have 

 not, let no consideration deter you from it longer 

 than the coming spring. A, few dollars laid out 

 in white mulberry seed, and morns multicaulis 

 cuttings, if these should be judiciously cftltivated, 

 wouldlay the foundation of future independence. 

 We wish the farmer in moderate circumstances to 

 bear in mind that a single acre in mulberries, 

 will clothe and educate his children ; that five 

 will enable him to live sumptuously, and lay by 

 enough in ten years to leave his family indepen- 

 dent. — Farmer and Gardener. 



India Rubber Fabric— A discovery has been 

 reeently made by Mr Charles Goodyear, by which 

 India Rubber, after having been dissolved, can be 

 restored, by a cheap process, to its original white- 

 ness and the l)ure gum formed into a fabric to be 

 used instead of cloth, leather, or parchment, and 

 can be moulded into almost any form, and can also 

 be combined in a variety of ways with cloth, cord- 

 age or leather. Being first made white, it admits 

 of every shade of color woked in, and is as dura- 

 ble as the rubber itself. 



