18 



SILK MANUAL, AND 



other uses, — tliat if seed cannot be obtained, it 

 may be propairatcd rqiially well from cuttings, or 

 pieces of twigs, or you?ig brandies, a few Indies 

 long, with one end stuck into tlie grouiui. 



'lliere is no industrious man in the United 

 States, with a family and in iiealih, who cannot 

 hire, if Jie cannot buy, an acre of ground for a 

 nursery ; and having bought it he can, by exchang- 

 ing work witli some farmer, cause it, or a }iart of 

 it, to be ploughed. II' he is unable to buy young 

 Chinese midberry trees, and cannot proctre the 

 seed, which may for a sliort time to come, be 

 rather difficult, be can easi'y by a iittle energetic 

 perseverance, pro'iiretvvo hundred cuttings, prol)- 

 ably witfjout | aying any ibing, or at most but 

 very little. Let him con uieuce with these, and 

 at lowest calctdtition, wliuli i^ perhaps »nor« thnn 

 three quarters below the truth, they will pmduce 

 him a thousand the second year, and may be mul- 

 tiplied, from year to year, n. t only in the same, 

 but in an increased ratio, as those first set out in- 

 crease in size. 



1 wi:l endeavor t'' show what may be effected 

 by perseverance in a systematic [dan, which is the 

 only mode of i)roceeding with any certainty of 

 success. ] shall limit the calculation to seven 

 years, which will be a fair begiimitig ; after whicli, 

 'any one with the experience of tf at time, will be 

 al>le to make calculations for the future. I shall 

 set down each item in the calculation far below, 

 and in some instances, three hundred per cent, 

 below what fair ex[ieriments have shown may be 

 relied on. 



As it is important, at the commencement, to 

 mnlti|)ly the trees as fast as possible, I would ad- 

 vise to begin with about an acre of mellow, rich 

 soil, sandy loam, which though not s;) good for 

 the ultimate production of silk, is more conducive 

 to the rapid growth of the young trees before 

 transplanting, and is therefore best for the nurse- 

 ry. In this nursery, I would set the seedlings, 

 cuttings, or other young trees, as near together as 

 they can have room to grow the first year. 



The first year, 200 cuttings, set in the spring, 

 will afford haves sufficient to feed about 500 

 worms. Tliis nmnher would be of no profitable 

 use in yielding silk ; but ii will be well to keep 

 them, in order to form some acquaintance with 

 them, and to provide eggs for the next year. 



'j he moths produced by the 500 worms, will 

 probably be half females, and will produce about 

 100,000 eggs; about 15,000 of which will be want- 

 ed for the next season. Suppose 50,000 of them 

 should be sold at 12 1-2 cents, which is one half 

 their present price, the account for this year may 

 stand thus : 



Rent for acre, for nursery, f 5 



200 cuttings, say, 2 



Trouble of collecting, setting, &sc., 2 



Feeding 500 worms, 



$'2 



^11 

 50,000 eggs sold, at 12 1-2 cts. per 1000, 6 



Nett expense out, first year, $4 75 



SECOND YEAR. 



This year, a'so, but little or no profit can be ex- 

 pected. Allowing only five cuttings or layers from 

 each tree, which is not ju-obably not more than 

 om- fiiurth of what may be procluced, there will 

 be 200 trees of last year, and one thousand prn()a- 

 gatcd this year. These will afford leaves sutfi- 

 cient for 15,000 worms, which, besides producing 

 eggs for next year, would yield, ].erbaps, a little 

 over six pounds of silk, which, at $5 l)er pound, 

 will bring $30. 



'J'he exi)enses and proceeds of this year may be 

 estimated thus: 



Rent of nursery, $5 



Propagating by cuttings or layers, 1000 



trees, 6 



Feeding 15,000 worms, 10 



Reeling 6 lbs. silk, 4 50 



$25 50 

 30 00 



$4 50 



Six pounds silk, at $5 per pound, 

 Nett gain second year, 



TUIRD YEAR. 



This year also, will afford but small profit. All 

 the increase of the trees may still be retained in 

 the nursery. From each of those set the sprnig 

 before, ten at least may be taken. 



For the spring oi tl>e third year, there will be 

 200 trees two years old, and 1000 of one year old. 

 From each of the first, may be propagated ten, and 

 five from each of the others, making- of this year's 

 propagation, 7000; in the whole, 8,200. It" from 

 each of the first trees, two ])Ounds of leaves are 

 taken, and one pound from each of the next, and 

 1000 pounds from the 7000 young plants, making 

 in all 1900 pounds of leaves, these together will 

 feed 50,000 worms, which will make twenty pounds 

 of silk. 



* Statement for the third year. 

 Rent, t5 



Setting 7000 trees, 21 



Feeding and care of 50,000 worms, • 25 



Reeling 20 pounds silk, 15 



20 pounds silk, at $5 per pound, $100 



$34 



Nett gain third year 



FOURTH YEAR. 



Proceeding in the same ratio for four years yet 



