126 



SILK MANUAL, AND 



of the crops of corn and potatoes which the best 

 condition of the trees will require should be 

 p'aiiled among tliem. With a liberal application 

 of fisli, wliich abound, as a manure, within less 

 than a mile of the farm, it may, beyond doubt, 

 be rendered tnuch more [n-oductive than, in tha 

 above calculations, is anticif)atcd, and by plantinj- 

 in hedge rows 100,000 more trees, which it is 

 coui|)etent to sustain, it would of course yield a 

 manifold increase of silk. On one side of the 

 farm is a beautiful pond, from which the trees 

 may be water d, by the aid of a force pump, in 

 any f)eriod ofdrought. 



The whole establishment of this Company is 

 now in fine order, and is judiciously located and 

 well arranged for the purpose of exhibiting to our 

 farmeis and manufacturers the mode of operating 

 this imj ortant branch of business. The soil of 

 Rhode Island is well adapted to the growth of the 

 midberry tree, and the very borders of the rdads 

 may be apjiroyjriated to this use. 'J here can 

 hardly be a limit assigned to the ainount of wealth 

 which would accrue to this State, should its 

 ]jopulation be generally engaged in the cultivation 

 and manufacture of silk. VVe have taken much 

 pains to ascertain, from persons long acquainted 

 with silk growing in Connecticut, what are the 

 actual profits of the tree, and it is our purpose to 

 give the results of our inquiries at another time. 



[From tlie New England Farmer.] 



aUKRIES RHIiATIVE TO THE CUIiTURK OS" 

 THE MULBERRY, «fcc. 



Mr Fksse.nden: — 



I liave on my farm in Worcester county, about 

 sixteen acres of what is commonly called brush 

 j)asture, on which I design to plant mulberry trees, 

 as soon as it can be properly prepared. The soil 

 is a sandy loam by no means poor; and. With the 

 exception of here and there a spot, free from stones 

 — . producing white birches, from the size of a 

 riding stick to four or five inches in diameter ; 

 and a few white oaks of about twenty years' 

 growth, some of which are full twelve inches 

 through. 



Having had little experience in this business, 

 and being in immediate want of information, I 

 am induced to solicit it, through the medium of 

 your excellent journal; and I have no doubt that 

 you. Sir, or some of your more experienced cor- 

 respondents, will afford me just the assistance I 

 need, by publishing the best method of destroying 

 the birch, and preparing the land for the reception 

 of the mulberry trees. An iNquiRER. 



By the Editor. — A very good mode, as we 

 should suppose, of clearing land of bushes, was 

 originally published in the Baltimore Farmer, and 

 republished in the New England Farmer, vol. xii. 

 p. 334. It is as follows : — 



" Grubbing. — -The manner in which I cleared 

 a piece of groun<l grown up with bushes and 

 undergrowth of various sizes, from three to ten 

 feet high, was with a pair of oxen and a chain of 

 ten or twelve feet long, with one end attached to 

 tlie yoke, and forming a noose with the other 

 around as many of the sprouts as could be encom- 

 passed by it, which, when thus made fast, they 

 drew out by the roots with great ease ; it was in 

 the Spring, while the ground was yet loose ; it is 

 jirobable the operation would not be so easy when 

 the ground is dry and hard. Two active boys of 

 fifteen years of age, will clear more ground in this 

 way than ten men will grub out in the ordinary 

 method with mattocks." 



With regard to jireparing the land and the cul- 

 ture of the mulberry, Mr Cobb says : " The ground 

 should be ploughed the jireceding full, and again 

 ploughed two or three times in the spring, and 

 made light and friable ; two or three dressings, 

 with manure well ploughed in, would be of essen- 

 tial service ; the ground may be levelled with a 

 hoe or rake, and the seed sown in drills about the 

 first of May, much in the same way as our farm- 

 ers sow carrots. The weeds must be carefully 

 destroyed, and in dry times watering will be ben- 

 eficial." [See " Cobb's Silk Manual," pp. 12, 13.] 



Mr Kenrif-k says : — " The seeds of the mul- 

 berry are obtained by wasljing the bruised pulp 

 of thoroughly ripe fruit ; they are carefully dried, 

 and sown early in May, in a rich, fresh, and well 

 prepared soil, in drills or rows two feet asunder, 

 and at an average distance of about an inch. 

 Cover the seed but half an inch deep, and stamp 

 or roll the ground immediately, that the earth may 

 retain sufficient moisture at its surface, &c. [See 

 " Kenrick's American Silk Grower's Guide," p. 37, 

 &c. Also " Fessenden's Silk Manual," p. 86.] 



For transplanting mulberry trees for standards, 

 hedges, &c. the same works may be consulted, 

 and as they are short it is not necessary to refer 

 to particular pages. 



The Northampton Republican gays : — " We 

 understand that Mr William Clark, Jr., of this 

 town, has contracted to plough upwards of two 

 hundred acres for the Silk Company. Mr C. has 

 in use several of " Howard's Hingham Ploughs," 

 which do the work well, and require less team 

 than any in use. 



We understand (says the Pawtucket Chronicle) 

 that a gentleman of the South has purchased part 

 of Seekonk Plains, and intends to cultivate it for 

 the purpose of raising mulberry trees. He will 

 set out sixty thousand trees in the Spring. 



The surplus revenue at this moment in the 

 Treasury of the United States is just about sixteen 

 millions. 



