PRACTICAL FARMER 



29 



ill well prepared ground, in drills or by broad 

 cast. The next year, when the plants are cov- 

 ered with foliage, they mow them down, in the 

 same manner that farmers mow small bushes in 

 their pastures, and feed the worms. These mow- 

 ings are followed until the stock becomes so stinted 

 and exhausted as to be unable to send forth shoots, 

 when they sow .another piece of ground for the 

 ensuing year. This crop can be daily made, ex- 

 cept after very dry weather, in different portions 

 of the ground, and each plant will bear to be top- 

 ped three times at least before the mounting of 

 the silk worms. 



This method has several important advantages 

 over all other methods. The leaves are gathered 

 with trifling labor and expense — the same area of 

 ground will produce more foliage — it enables the 

 cultin-ist to commence the making of silk in the 

 course of one year — tenants from year to year, as 

 well as owners of the soil, can secure a yearly 

 crop of silk, and the quantity of silk can be in- 

 creased or diminished according to the demand of 

 the market or of the manufacturers. 



This method can, doubtless, be advantageously 

 adopted in this country, subject, however, to such 

 modifications as the variableness or vicissitudes of 

 our climate require. Dr Pascalis, an eminent and 

 experienced silk culturist, suggests the propriety 

 of sowing in the latter part of the sunuuer, and 

 also to gather and dry carefully the foliage before 

 using. — Silk Culturist. 



SILK CULTURE. 



The following in answer to a letter from Judge Spen- 

 cer, published on page 5 of our first number, pre- 

 sents valuable information and, together with the ad- 

 dress to which this is a reponse, affords gratifying proof 

 that our men of the first talents, and of the highest 

 standing in the community are employing their influence 

 and directing their mental powers to the due develope- 

 mentof a branch of economy, destined to become a co- 

 pious source of national as well as of individual pros- 

 perity. 



Geneva, May 12, 1835. 



To the Hon. Ambrose Spencer. 



Dear. Sir — The honor j'^ou have done me by 

 associating my name with yours, in a late letter 

 on silk and the mulberry tree would be most fitly 

 acknowledged by my rendering some useful ser- 

 vice, if I were able, to the cause of public im- 

 provement. Having, however, nothing of my 

 own to offer, I have taken n few days, since your 

 letter, to gain information of the mulberry plan- 

 tations which have sprung up iii this neighbor- 

 hood, in consequence of the report, which, as 

 chairman of the committee on agriculture, you 

 j)resent3d to Congress on this subject. And I de- 

 sire to address to you )>"'>licly the result of this 



information, limited as it is, for several reasons ; 

 — that the public may be prepared for the great 

 change in this branch of production which I 

 verily believe is approaching ; — that producers 

 may feel confidence in having a staple market 

 such as any large product will always command, 

 though one more limited, may perish for the want 

 of it ; — that you personally, may see more of 

 the fruit of your labors ; — and generally, that 

 those who labor for the public good may have 

 another example of successful effort, apd may 

 know that their names are often blessed by thous- 

 and whom they never hear of. 



Within a circle of twenty miles round this 

 place, there are the means of entering upon the 

 culture of silk almost immediately, and upon an 

 extensive scale. One plantation of mulberry, jf 

 I am rightly informed, contains sixteen acres. 

 There are very considerable nurseries of young 

 trees for sale. Two gentlemen of this village 

 have young plantations for use ; and I have ap- 

 plications, since your letter, for information, for 

 seeds, &c., on the mistaken idea that I know 

 something about the matter. Finally, it may be 

 useful to know th<it a Mr Loomis, of the " Se- 

 neca Castle" in this town, an early settler and a 

 revolutionary soldier, has a noble avenue planted 

 with white mulberry trees, nearly fifty years old, 

 and which will probably give seed enough in the 

 fall to supply any supposeable demand. If other 

 parts of the country are awake to this subject in 

 any corresponding degree, there seems no reason 

 to doubt but we are on the point of beginning 

 another great branch of production, and one 

 which will lead to important changes in trade, 

 manufacture and consumption. 



You mention that silk has been cultivated in 

 the eastern parts of Connecticut since the year 

 1760, and you adduce facts to show that there is 

 no mystery in the production ; and that now, so 

 soon as American ingenuity was applied to the 

 subject, all mystery has disappeared from the ])ro- 

 cess of reeling, also. The great difBculty with 

 every new branch of agricultural product, is an 

 apprehension that there is something in it requir- 

 ing peculiar art and skill, and therefore that in 

 new hands it is peculiarly liable to failure. Such 

 opinions are often encouraged by an air of quack- 

 ery in books that teach the art. I desire, there- 

 fore, to add a word on these points. 



I did suppose (but have not time to examine) 

 tliat there were scraps of history which showed 

 that the British Government, or perhaps planta- 

 tion companies or proprietors, had introduced the 

 culture of silk in this country earlier than the 

 date you refer to. But this I know, that I have 

 heard the whole process described by old people, 

 when I was a child, and I think this recollection 



