PRACTICAL FARMER. 



27 



MUIiBERRY TREE. 



Directions for sowing the seed, and rearing the 

 plants, of the White Mulberry Tree : pi-epared in 

 pursuance of a resolution of the New York State 

 Agricultui'al Society. 



1. Prepare a good piece of garden soil, by dig- 

 ging and pulverizing it ; lay it out in beds three 

 or four feet broad, and rake it off smooth. Do 

 this early in May. Sow from 12tli May to the 1st 

 June. 



2. With a hoe, stick, or other instrument, pi-o- 

 ceed to make shallow drills across the bed thus 

 prepared, from twelve to fifteen inches apart, and 

 scatter the seed in the drills as thick as you would 

 onion or parsnip seed ; then cover half an inch 

 "with fine mould, and press it moderately down 

 with a hoe; or when the first drill is sown and 

 covered, place upon it a narrow strip of board and 

 stand upon this board to sow the second drill, 

 upon which, when sown, place the board in a like 

 manner, and soav the third drill and proceed thus 

 until the whole is completed. The pressure of 

 the earth upon the seeds is to bring it in close 

 contact with them, that they may be kept moist, 

 and germinate readily. If the weather be dry, or 

 the soil very light, an occasional watering at eve- 

 ning will be beneficial. 



3. The only further care requii-ed, the first sea- 

 son, will be to keep the ground free from weeds 

 and the soil moderately loose. 



4. Strong plants of one year's growth may be 

 transplanted in April into nursery rows ; or the 

 whole may ,be left to grow a second summer in 

 the seed bed ; the ground, as bcfoi-e, being kept 

 from weeds, and occasionally stirred. 



5. After two summer's growth, all the strong 

 and healthy plants should be placed in nursery 

 rows, which may be done thus ; the good ground 

 being prepared, as for a crop, draw a line and pro- 

 ceed to open a trench, of sufficient breadth and 

 depth to admit the roots freely, leaving the side 

 next the line straight and ])erpendicular. Having 

 assorted the plants, and cut off the bruised, and 

 shortened the top roots, a man proceeds to lay 

 them in a ti-ench, in their proper position, the heel 

 of the plant towards the line, and at the distance 

 of a foot apart : while another man with a spade 

 or the planter with a gardener's trowel, throws in 

 earth to hold them in their places. The trench 

 is then to be filled, the plants set upright, and the 

 earth trod about them. The other rows are 

 planted in like manner, three feet apart ; the 

 ground to be kept clean during the season. 



6. After standing two years in nursery, the 

 plants will have acquired a sufficient size to plant 

 out in the ground where they are to stand ; and if 

 intended to be grown in hedges, or as bushes, they 

 may be taken earlier, even at two years old, from 

 the seed bed. For hedges, plant the same as for 



nursery rows, at eighteen inches, the ground hav- 

 ing been previously prepared by an ameliorating 

 crop, as potatoes. The same precautions are 

 necessary with mulberry as with other fruit trees, 

 intended for standards, as to distance and planting. 

 A broad and deep hole, partially filled with good 

 surface mould, will always repay for extra labor. 

 When intended to be cultivated as bushes, they 

 may be planted thick and left untrimmed, so as to 

 occupy the entire ground. The mulberry is gen- 

 erally grown in the latter way in India and some 

 parts of Italy. It facilitates the gathering of the 

 leaves, and affords an earlier product. 



TJie mulberry grows well on almost any soil, 

 and particularly in one which is stony. Upon 

 poor, dry soils, it affords the best material for 

 silk. An ounce of seed will give some thousand 

 plants, and require a bed four feet broad, and 

 forty to fifty feet long. J. Buel, Cor. Sec. 



Mbany, March 15, 1835. 



The Silk Culture. — The culture of the mul- 

 berry tree, and the production of silk, appears at 

 this time to be drawing the attention of the people 

 of this state, and many have already made consid- 

 erable progress in preparations necessary for its 

 continued and successful pursuit. It is unques- 

 tionably worthy of their attention, and we believe 

 the day is not far distant when silk is to become 

 one of the staple productions of the Northern 

 States. A fair experiment proves that the climate 

 is favorable, and that it may, at little expense, be 

 made to every family a safe, convenient and highly 

 lucrative employment. 



P.Iany gentlemen in this vicinity have this spring 

 arranged, and others are arranging their mulberry 

 orchards, and the interest which it engages affords a 

 safe assurance of the complete success of the un- 

 dertaking. 



Individuals introduced the business several 

 years since — more perhaps for the curiosity of the 

 thing than any hope of profit — but the imperfect 

 experiments which have been thus tried, show 

 that each thrifty tree at five years old will produce 

 one dollar! — JV. H. Statesman. 



An Industrious Wife. — A married lady, of 

 about twentyone years of age, in a town in this 

 county, besides taking the whole care of her fam- 

 ily, braided in as many successive days, (Sundays 

 and one week of ill-health excepted) ojie hundred 

 palm leaf hats, which she brought to this town, a 

 few weeks since, and sold in a lot for forty dollars. 

 The stock cost her six cents apiece, so that the 

 nett gain of her labors has been thirtyfour dollars. 

 Praise upon a married lady is, however, rather 

 posthumous, for her fate is fixed ; but if our single 

 dainsels will exert a like industry," the story of their 

 deeds might not be told in vain. — Ports. Jour. 



