82 



SILK MANUAL, AND 



FACTS AND OBSERVATIONS. 



The following is from an old number of the Memoirs 

 of the Massachusetts -/Igr. Society. 



The attention necessary to be paid to raising 

 and feeding Silk worms, would form an agreeable 

 and lucrative employment to those who are placed 

 above manual services. There is no part of Amer- 

 ica wherein the silk worm cannot be supplied with 

 proper feed : as mulberry trees will thrive with 

 very little care, even in the coldest. We are in- 

 formed that in 1789, no less than 5400 pounds of 

 silk were raised in the cold and sandy territory of 

 Prussia. Perhaps no country possesses greater 

 advantages for this purpose, than America; and 

 should this manufacture ever be actively pursued, 

 it will not be extravagant to expect silken stuffs 

 as cheap as any cloth made in America. 



To shew with what ease and convenience the 

 worm may be fed, the following directions are 

 extracted from some sensible letters, written by 

 Mr. Joseph Clarke, of Northampton, and commu- 

 nicated by the Hon. James VVinthrop, Esq., of 

 Cambridge. To these gentlemen, the Society re- 

 turn their thanks, and will be obliged by any fur- 

 ther communications to improve the agriculture 

 and manufactures of our country. 



Extracts from Mr. darkens Letters. 

 About ten years ago, I set over an acre of land 

 with small mulberry trees, ten feet apart; they 

 flourished extremely well, and in three or four 

 years, they formed a perfect forest. From these 

 I used to gather my leaves ; but 1 soon found the 

 troubJe and expense was too great ; for I was 

 obliged in the latter part of feeding, to employ a 

 great many peo[)le, or the worm must starve ; 

 having observed those trees, wh ch were acciden- 

 tally broken down, sprouted anew and luxuriant- 

 ly the following year, determined me on another 

 method. I had a small enclosure of very rich 

 ground, about six rods square, which in the spring 

 of the year 1793, I ploughed and manured well. 

 Here J sowed my mulberry seed in rows, like 

 carrots or parsnips in a garden, at suitable distan- 

 ces from each other for weeding and hoemg be- 

 tween them. The seed came up well, and the 

 plants were kept quite free from weeds that sum- 

 mer ; in doing which, you must be very careful, 

 as the plants are exceeding tender; in this first 

 weeding the fingers must be j)rincipally used. — 

 The next spring before they began to sprout, with 

 a scythe, I cut down all the bushes within two in- 

 ches of the ground, and carefully weed them. 

 This method ansvrered my most sanguine ex|)ec- 

 tations ; for by the mid(lie of July, when the 

 worms devour the most leaves, they had grown 

 up three feet in height, and being cut with a sick- 

 le, furnished me with abundance of leaves, in a 

 cheap, easy and expeditious manner. , The same 



method has been pursued with these trees or hush- 

 es ever since ; so that you see there is no ncce.s- 

 sity for sowing the seed annually. A field once 

 sown, will, for aught I can see, last a tl ousand 

 years, if it be well taken care of. My n^ilbeny 

 tre(!S are more flourishing this year, and yielded 

 mor-e food for the worms than they ever did be- 

 fore. This 1 attribute chiefly to the manure I put 

 on them the last spring ; notwithstanding they 

 were cut down last July, they are now (October) 

 about three feet high. My worms were hatched 

 out the 24th of June, and continued eating just 

 four weeks. They have consumed upwards of 

 three thousand pounds of leaves, and the trouble 

 of gathering them has been but little, compared 

 with the whole business. A man can reap 3 or 

 400 weight within an liour; the expense and 

 trouble are therefore trifling. I jierform about 

 three quarters of the business myself. The quan- 

 tity of silk produced is about ten pounds ; as to 

 the quality I can in no way so well inform you 

 as by sending a skein of sewing silk,* which I 

 pray you to accept. 



The idea that water is injurious to silk worms, 

 is totally unfounded. My worms this year have 

 been chiefly led on wet leaves, gathered early in 

 the morning, and as they grow dry in the course 

 of the day, were sprinkled with water.f I have 

 used in one day three pails full, in sprinkling the 

 leaves, for I think it invigorates the worm in sul- 

 try weather. Hot water for the purpose of killing 

 the chrysalis that is within the cocoon to prevent 

 his making his making his way through, andspoil- 

 ing the silk is never used. Hot water is only 

 used when the cocoons are wound off" into skeins. 

 To kill the chrysalis, the cocoons are put into an 

 oven, about as warm as when a woman takes out 

 her bread ; or they are exposed one or two days 

 to the fierce rays of the sun. The last method is 

 best as there is no danger of injuring the silk, as 

 may be the case in the fonner way. Should the 

 oven be a little too warm, spread your cocoons on 

 a table in the sun for two days successively ; If 

 you suspect they are not effectually killed l.'tthem 

 be out another day. They must be carried in at 

 night, they must not be wet; if you wish 

 to know whether the chrysalis ' be dead, 

 take one of the thickest of the cocoons and cut it 

 ojien ; if you cannot perceive any life, you may 

 conclude they are sunned sufficiently ; should you 

 perceive any signs of life, sun them another day. 



* This Silk will bear a comparison with the best im- 

 ported Silk. 



t This candid statement destroys the idea of water 

 being injurious to the silk worm, an opinion that has 

 been long established and is still maintained in some 

 late publications. To remove all doubt, (if any can 

 possibly remain) the following mode is added, which 

 will not only confirm Mr. Clarke's assertion, but teach 



