NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



rublishod by John B. Kussp.i.i. at iNo. J,; iNorlli Market «truot, (opposite l'',timoil tlaUj.-^TuoMAS U. PusaEHDn^, Editor. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, MARCH 2, 1827. 



No. :32. 



RIGINAL PAPERS. 



f 



E EDITOR OF THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



CULTURE OF SILK. 



In the course of tlie last year, I received 



ular* from tlie Secretary of the Treasury of 

 nitcd States, issued in compliance with a 

 lion of Congress, requesting such infortna- 

 s might be obtained upon the subject of the 

 hand manufacture ot Silk, the management 

 Silk Worm, and the cultivation of tlie Mtil- 

 Trec, as its appropriate food. Having pre- 

 ly known that in several towns of the county 

 orcestet attempts hud been made to prosecute 

 iranch of domestic economy, I immediately 

 uted the inquiries suggested in the Sccreta- 

 etter. Tne r ' dt produced the most satis- 

 ry conviction upon my own mind, that the 

 of silk might be pursued with gieat ad- 

 ige in most parts of this Commonwealth. 1 

 it ti'.-.t no particular skill, and but ordinary at- 

 nJ care are requisite to the successful 

 raent of the uorm. The white mulberry tree, 

 foliage of which is the best, if not the pecu- 

 bod of the insect, is of easy culture in a warm 

 deep mould, in almost any exposure. The 

 nhich is favourable to the apple is equally so 

 le mulberry. My personal experience has 

 vn, that it is rather prone to too great luxuri- 

 3 for its strength, tlian slow to vegetate. It is 

 lily raised from the seed, and I am told, altho' 

 lis I have no practical observation, that it»fey 

 iropagatcd by slips i>r cuttings. It has often 

 rr€d, as matter of interesting consideration, 

 the condition of our Poor House Establish- 

 its in the country, especially those connected 

 h farms, might be much improved by introduc- 

 the culture of silk. The feeble and decrepicl 

 j!d thus be enabled to con'ribiite something to 

 rds their support, in the gathering of the leaves 

 1 the feeding of the worms, which roquirc little 

 re ihan the strength and faculties of a child ; 

 ile the more vigorous might well bo spared, suf- 

 ently from other occupations, to plant and dress 

 ; trees. 



The Worcester Agricultural Society, for many 



ars, ofi'ered premiums for specimens of sewing 



k, the product of the County, which we-e uni- 



mly exhibited, and the bounty paid. Several 



nilies in the town of Dudley, and n few, in oth- 



towns.are still paitially engaged in this employ 



!Bt. The late Rev Mr Holcomb of Sterling, for- 



x minister of that place, who had particn!:irly 



tended to this business, spoke to me, with great 



nfidence, of its profitable result,'). 



I had not however designed this imperfect de- 



il of per jonal observations. In the course of my 



tention to the subject of the Secretary's letter, I 



>rtunately applied to a friend and former profes- 



onal pupil, from whom I subsequently received a 



lost instructive and interesting commuiiiration. 



he original was forwarded to VVashington, but 



aving preserved a copy, I trust I shall render to 



ou and to the public no unacceptable service, in 



See New England Farmer, vol. v. page C>9. 



offering it to your disposal, whicli was my only 

 object in hastily addressing you on this occasion. 



The finures prefixed to the paragraplis refer to 

 the dctinite questions proposed in the circular 

 They are so well explained by the answers, as to 

 render their recital unnecessary. 



With high esteem for you valuable labors. 

 Your oberlient servant, 



Boston, Feb. 97, 1897. LEVI LINC(;LN. 



■htswer to inquhies respecting the culture of tlic 

 Mulberry Tree, and the Growth and Manufa 

 ture of Silk. Transmitted by George A. Tcfts, 

 Escj. of Dudley, in the County of Worcester, to 

 Governor Lincoln of Massachusetts, in compli- 

 ance with the request of the latter. 

 1 & 9. The white mulberry tree vras introduced 

 into Dudley more than 40 years since. The seed 

 of the tree was obtained from Mansfield in the 

 State of Connecticut, apd planted. Silk was first 

 made in Dudley in 1798, by one Capt. John Eddy, 

 who obtained the worm also from Mansfielu. No 

 varieties of the worm are known in this part of 

 the state. 



3. No kind or species of the mulberry is indig- 

 enous in Massachusetts ; but the cultivated tree, 

 — particularly the white, — grows luxuriantly in 

 this vicinity. A deep mellow and rich loam suits 

 the tree best. In this respect however the mul- 

 berry tree is not peculiar, as soil of this character 

 seems most congenial to almost all our cultivated 

 trees. 



4. The e.\periinent of fQediiig the worm upon 

 the Red or Black raulbeiryhas never been made 

 here. Although the Black mulberry is the fa- 

 vourite tree, and much to be preferred to the 

 white in some parts of France, yet it is here be- 

 lieved and boldly asserted thiit the worm will make 

 no silk wlien fed upon the black mulberry, which 

 is common to this part of the rountry. Whother 

 this belief is founded on error or v\ hether our black 

 mulberry tree diffei's from that of France and Italy 

 I know not. 



The following fact related to me by one of my 

 neighbours who is engaged in the business of 

 weaving, silk, may be relied lipon as true. Ke 

 says that being short on one occasion, of the white 

 mulberry leaves, about the time the worms were 

 preparing to wind, a quantity of the black mulber- 

 ry leaves were given. The worms fed readily 

 ';r)on them, but immediately nauseated and per- 

 ornied their task of winding very imperfectly. — 

 This effect upon the worms might arise from no 

 other causD than a change of diet. The Currant 

 leaf and Briar has been used as a succedaneum in 

 cases of nr'cessity. The worm feeds and grows 

 upon these leaves, but w-ill not make silk from 

 them. They are resorted to as a temporary expe- 

 dient only, in the early part of the season, when 

 the mulberry is not sufficiently matured. 



5. The method of cultivating the mulberry in 

 this neichborhood is by standard trees. The tree 

 is propagated from the seed and cannot be grown 

 from the slip without difficulty. The seeds are 

 sown in beds and in rows, two feet apart, in the 

 same manner apple seeds are sown, where thov 

 are cultivated until they are fit for transportation, 

 a period of two or three years. It is no nncom- 1 



mon thing for tin; plants during the first wintei to 

 be cut down by the frost ; but tlioy .shoot un again 

 and grow with fresh vigour in the tbilovving spring. 

 The tree will ordinarily furnish food for the worm 

 in about four or five years. They may be strip- 

 ped for that purpose ns soon as the second year if 

 the m!iin branch or upriglit stem be loft untouch- 

 ed. The trees should be pruned and cultivated 

 with as much care as a skilful orchardist would 

 bestow upon his choicest apple trees. I am in- 

 formed that the quantity and quality of the silk de- 

 pend very much upon the perfection of the leaf. 



The mulberry trees have been soM from the 

 nursery at from three to four dollars per hundred. 

 It is thought that Kit) standard trees may be plant- 

 ed and grown upon an acre of ground with advan- 

 tage. The experiment of cultivating the mulber- 

 ry in the form of a shrub or bush has never been 

 attempted here, but it is thought to be an injudi- 

 cious mode of cultivation. One would suppose in- 

 deed, that the perfection of the plant and conse- 

 ([uently of the loaf, would bo more likely to be ob- 

 tained in the form of a tree, than in the form of .a 

 shrub or bush. 



G. It is estimated that an acre of standard trees 

 of moderate growth will make 40 pounds of silk. 

 Three thousand ivorms are supposed to make a 

 pound. The silk loorm however is not numbered 

 or sold by tale, but by measure. The dimensions 

 or circumference of a silver dollar is supposed to 

 contain 1000 eggs as the same are closely deposit- 

 ed by the miller on the paper. 



7. & 1.5. In the selection of cocoons for seed a 

 proportion cf rnules as well as females is necessa- 

 ry. A mucli less number of males, however, is ne- 

 cessary, than females. The male cocoon is distin- 

 guished from the female by its shape or form. — 

 The male is more sharp or pointed at the ends 

 than the female. The cocoons thus selected for 

 seed should be those that arc most perfectly wound, 

 which may be discovered by pressing the ends 

 with the finger. If the cocoon is perfectly and 

 uniformly wound, the ends will be hard «nd of 

 equal thickness with the sides. The cocoons thus 

 chosen are hung up in a room and suspended from 

 the ceiling by a thread to prevent vermin or insects 

 of any kind from disturbing them. In a few days 

 the chrysalis is changed to the miller, whose first 

 appearance is almost invariably about sunrise and 

 upon the outside of the cocoon. The millers are 

 taken from off the cocoons and placed upon paper, 

 when the male and female have access. The fe- 

 males during the first day commence dropping 

 their eggs. They continue to deposit their eggs 

 from three to five days and then expire. The eggs 

 adhere to the paper and the paper being folded is 

 put into a close box to secure the eggs from the 

 rats, mice, Sfc. and placed in the cellar. In the 

 succeeding summer as soon as the bud of the mul- 

 berry tree begins to unfold, the eggs are brought 

 up from the cellar and placed in an upper room to 

 hatch. The usual temperature of the season is 

 generally sufficient for that purpose. Should the 

 weather be cold and unpropitious, a fire may be 

 made in their apartment. The eggs always hatch 

 in the morning. As soon as theWrnt appears, food 

 should be furnished. It is not usual to remove the 

 worm from the house to their intended place of 



