276 



NEW ENGLA^JD FARM Ell. 



March 23. 183 



0.\ liA. Lu^iVti'L, O/ .ML;-.. 



By the late Ahchieald Stefiieksd.s, Esq. of 



Mongicenan, in Ayrshire.'^ 



The public attention liavinfc of atte been particu- 

 larly called to the possibility of groicing Silk in the 

 British Is ands : the Socieit/ have ban imlticsd to 

 direct the publication of the follou^inx; observaiions. 

 Thty have been for several years in the Society's 

 possession ; but beina the result nf actual practice 

 and careful observation, will be highly acceptable to 

 those who are about to direct their capital into this 

 new channel of industry. 



Havings resided for five years in the provinces 

 of Languedoc .ind Quercy, in the South of France 

 where the utmost attention is paid to the cnltiire 

 of sillj ; I einbrKced that opportunity of observing 

 with care, the manner in which this lucrative 

 branch of manufacture and commerce was carried 

 on ; and indeed I was led to bestow the more at- 

 tention upon this important subject, from an idea, 

 I entertained, that this valuable culture by proper 

 care, might certainly be introduced into Great 

 Britain, particularly in the southern parts of this 

 island, where there are large tracts of land, which 

 would answer perfectly for the production of the 

 mulberry tree, and which, from the nature of the 

 soil, can never bo employed to any great advan- 

 tage in rearing corn. 



To show in some measure, that this object well 

 merits the attention of this country, it iiiay not be 

 improper to mention that from a memorial in rela- 

 tion to the culture of silk in l'"rance, drawn up for 

 the inspection of the French minister, and of 

 which I was favored v/ith a perusal, by the author 

 thereof; it appeared that the value of the rav/ 

 silk raised in France in the year 17(14, amounted 

 to no less thiin thirty millions of livres ; and it 

 must iiativraily be supposed, that the value of it 

 must now be increased considerably, as the cul- 

 ture of silk has been extending itself rapidly to- 

 wards the more northern parts of the country 

 since that period. 



Having with grent pleasure observed the pro- 

 gress which has been made by the Society of Arts, 

 &c. with a viow to introduce this valuable culture 

 into Britain, I must beg as a mark of the high 

 respect in which I hold the Society, for their un- 

 remitted attention to every object which can 

 serve to promote the prosperity of this country, to 

 be permitted the honor of laying before them the 

 following observations in relation to that c Iture, 

 which I collected during my residence in France ; 

 and shall reckon myself particularly happy, if any 

 of them shull be found to be of use to them, in the 

 prosecution of the truly patriotic views of the So 

 ciety. 



1. It appears proper to begin by giving some 

 little account of the mulberry tree, since, as the 

 Society justly observes, this is the first object 

 which chiima our attention; because we must first I 

 of all make some provision of food for the silk [ 

 worms, before any trials at large can be carried \ 

 into execution witli any propriety, or indeed with 

 any rational hope's of success. 



There are two kinds of black mulberry tree 

 which have been cultivated in France. The first 

 of these bears a fruit well known, and frequently 

 presented at table, being the same which is c^ilti- 

 vated in our gardens in the neighborhood of Lon- 

 don. But the loaves of this tree have been found, 

 from experience, to be too liarsh and too succu- 

 J ent, to prove in every re spert a pro;)or food for 



* From tlie Transactions of tlie Society of Arts. 

 Manufactures and Commerce. 



Uii' ^i[K ,•. onn , aUii In -lik it vn'iil.i turns out to 

 I be course, and of an ii fjrior quality. 



Tiie second kind of tiie black mulberry tree 

 I carries fruit inferior to tlie other in jioint of size 

 and improper for the table ; but the leaf of it has 

 been found superior to the first as food for the 

 [silk worm; and it is less harfjh, less succulent, 

 i and yields siik of a finer qualily than the one first 

 i mentioned. 



■ This second sort of the black mulberry is, in all 

 probability, the particular kind, which is said to 

 be at present cultivated in the kingdom of Valen- 

 cia, in Spain for the use of their silk worms ; and, 

 indeed, many of their old plantations in France 

 consist of this sort. But their new plantations 

 consist wliollv of the white mulberry tree, hereaf- 

 ter to be mentioned, which is the only one they 

 now nnltivatp in all their nursery grounds for the 

 use of their silk worms ; so far at least as I had 

 occasion to see them. 



There is n third sort, known by the name of the 

 white mulborrv, tlie leaf of which is more terider 

 and less sticculent than either of the other two, 

 and has been found to produce silk of the finest 

 and best quality. 



Some people, I find, have been led to think, that 

 thi^ kind of the mulberry tree does not carry any 

 fruit, r.nd that it can only be propagated by layers; 

 but in this particular the fact stands much other- 

 wise. For. thona-h the white mulberry may not 

 perhaps produce any fruit in a climnte so far north 

 as ours, which, hov/ever, I do not take it npon me 

 to sny is the case ; vet the truth is that in cli- 

 mates such as that of the South of France, this 

 tree carries fruit in vm-v rrreat qunntities, though 

 it is of a smaller kind than either of the two al- 

 ready mentioned. It is of a dusky white colonr, 

 rather inclining a litth; to vellow ; and contains a I 

 number of small seeds, like mustard seed ; from 

 which larire nurseries of this valuable tree are i 

 now annually raised all over the southern parts of I 

 Frnnce. | 



For a number of yesrs after the culture of silk 

 wa'i introduced into Prance, the people were ac- 

 customed to employ the leaves of the different 

 kinds of mulherrv trep* before mentioned promis 

 cnoiislv ; and some arafts of the white mulberry I 

 from Piedmont, and from Spain, which carried a' 

 laro-er leaf than the one they had got in France, 

 having been obtained from those countries, these 

 grafts were put upon French seedling stocks, i 

 which had the effect of increasing greatly the i 

 si'e of the leaves, and was regarde-' as an acqui- 1 

 sition, as it certainly produced a larger stock of 

 leaves as food for the worms. The consequence 

 was. that this practice of rrrafting prevailed for 

 many years all ovpr Provence and Lanjuedoc. 



Rut Monsieur Marteloy, a physician at Montpe- 

 lier, who had made the cnlture of the silk v.'orm 

 his particular study for a number of years toreth- 

 er, at last made it 'clearly apparent to the convic- 

 tion of every body, by a rei^ular course of atten- 

 tive and well conducted experiments, that the leaf 

 of the seedling' white mulbrrry ivas the food of nil 

 others the best for this valuable insect : as the 

 worms which were fed with this particular leaf 

 were found to he mc.rp healthy ai'd \'iEroroii«. and 

 less subject to diseHseii of any kind than those 

 that were fed upon any of the other kinds of 

 leaves above mentioned ; and that their silk turn- 

 ed out to be of the »ery best quality. Since that 

 time, namely, ITfi."), a decided preference has been 

 given to this particular leaf beyond all the others. 



The first object in the culture of the mulberry 



i» to make choice of a spot of gruumi for a . 

 bed of a gravelly or sandy soil, which has bee! 

 garden culture, or under tillage for some 

 and in good heart. When this ground is , 

 oughly dressed, they make drills at the disti 

 of twofeet from euch other, as they usually do! 

 lettuce or sallads. Thpy then cover the si 

 lightly with some of the finest earth after pul 

 it through a sieve ; ami if the weather happe 

 be dry, they water it sligntly once or tw; 

 week, as they judge to be necessary. These 

 they sow as above at aoy time from the e: 

 April to the end of M-,iy, and even during the 

 week in .Tune ; snd I observed that some 

 ers, the better to ensure success, were in 

 pr-ictice of sowing the seeds at three diffej 

 times during the same season ; to wit, the 

 sowing in the la-t week of .\pril ; the stei 

 about the middle of May ; and the third the 

 ginning of June. 



When the plants are fairly above ground, tj 

 take particular care to keep them clear 

 weeds, and, from time to ti.me, to stir with a spj 

 er hoe the ground in the intervals between 

 diflerent drills." 



After remaining for two years in the seed bi 

 they take up the plants ; such of thein as are] 

 the si^e of a writing quill, thoy plant out in 

 nursery groinids ; each plant at two feet dista 

 from each other in the row, and the rows at th 

 feet distance from each other, that there ma; 

 room for cleaning and dressing the ground 

 twixt the plants. At transplanting thoy cut 

 ne-irly naif the root, and also cut off the topi 

 about six or seven inches above the ground 

 the other plants, which are too small for the a 

 scry they plant out thick by themselves, to re 

 for another year, or two, if necessary ; aftei 

 which they plant them out in the nursery grounds 

 as above. The most proper time for transplnnting 

 the mulberry tree is just after the fall of the leal 

 in autumn. 



When the plants in the nursery are sprung they 

 take care to strip off the side buds, and leave 

 none but such as are necessary to form the head 

 of the tree. 



If the oiants in the nursery do not shoot wdl 

 the first year, in the month of March followiBg. 

 they cut them over, about seven inches from tbe 

 ground, which makes them come on biiskly the 

 year folhi.ving'- 



When the plants are grown to the size of one 

 inch in diameter, they plant them out in the fields 

 where they are to remain, making the pits whore 

 they plant them of the si-e of six feet square, and 

 dressing the ground for twenty inches or two 

 feet deep. 



During the first ye ir of planting out they leave 

 the whole buds which the trees have pushed out 

 on the top until the following spring, when they 

 take care to leave non.-^ but three or four branches 

 to form the head of the tree ; and as the buds 

 come out they take off all those which appea* 

 upoi the body of the tree, from the bottom all th« 

 way up to those which arc left to form the head of 

 the tree ; and for several years after, at the seaS- 

 ens above mentioned, they take care to o[ren the 

 heiida of the trees, when too thick of wood, and 

 particularly to cut off any branch, which takes the 

 lead from Ihe rest, and to engross more of the 

 sap than falls to its share, that the different bran- 

 ches may increase equally as much as possible. 



After the trees are planted out, and likewise 

 while the plants are in Uie nursery grounds, they 



