SILK AND MULBERRIES. 429 



Having made these preliminary remarks, from a wish to present the reader 

 with a view of the whole ground, we proceed in our task to speak of the 



Mulberry, to plant and nurture which is the first step in the business. There 

 are several species and varieties of this tree, the leaves of which the worm 

 converts into silk. Our correspondents advise us, that there are three kinds 

 of indigenous growth in Ulster, and two in Montgomery, near the Mohawk 

 river. The red fruited, (rubra,) is found wild in many parts of the country, 

 and the leave* have been employed in feeding the worm. This species is 

 common in most of the states, and a correspondent in Maryland writes us, 

 that both the red and white grow abundantly there. The seeds of both kinds 

 are scattered by birds, and we do not doubt 'but in a few years the white will 

 be found springing up in our woods, as though it were indigenous. Mr. RIND 

 has also introduced seeds of the Asiatic mulberry, from Constantinople; and 

 D. RUGGLES, Esq., of Newburgh, has twelve or thirteen thousand plants, from 

 this seed, growing in his nursery. The leaves are intermediate in size between 

 those of the white and Chinese species; and there is another, we believe from 

 Italy, similar to the Asiatic, and possibly the same, which has been growing 

 some winters in our nursery, uninjured by frost. But for the present, reliance 

 can only be had on the white and Chinese, not only because they are reputed 

 to be best, but because the others cannot be immediately procured in sufficient 

 quantities. Of the first only can seeds be procured, and this is the season to 

 provide them. Plants of both kinds may be had at most of the public, and at 

 many private nurseries. W. THORBURN, in Albany, sells the seed at fifty cents 

 the ounce, and the eggs at eighteen to twenty-five cents the thousand. An 

 ounce of seed will give from two to three thousand plains. 



The statements in regard to profits are extremely variant, which depends 

 undoubtedly upon good or bad management. The estimates of sixteen indi- 

 viduals, in Roberts' Manual, vary from 872 to J&CfU, as the product's d nn 

 acre, in money, averaging about 81,000 per acre. The editor adopts $.">(i~> "><> 

 as the nett profit of an acre of full grown trees. Dr. COMSTOCK, the author of 

 "A Practical Treatise on the Culture of Silk," puts its down, as a safe calcu- 

 lation, that from 8125 to 8150 nett profit, may be expected from an acre of lull 

 grown trees. The lowest estimate is always the safest one for beginners. 



We must refer to page 51 of vol. ii. of the Cultivator for directions for sow- 

 ing the seed, and managing the plants in the seed bed, with this further direc- 

 tion, that in northern latitudes, it is a good precaution to cover the plants 

 while in the seed bed, in winter, with coarse litter from the cattle yard or 

 elsewhere. 



The mulberry may be also propagated by layers, suckers and cuttings, and 

 by the ordinary processes of grafting and budding. These modes of increase 

 are seldom applied to any but the Chinese kind. Sprouts often spring from 

 about the surface of the ground; and if these are earthed up they will throw 

 off roots, and after a season maybe separated from the parent stock and trans- 

 planted. Or these may be bent down to the earth, and converted into layers. 



The Soil best adapted to the mulberry is a light loam, though they will 

 grow in almost any soil not habitually wet. Stony ground, unfit for tillage, 

 is as good as any for them. 



The best aspect for a mulberry plantation is one sloping to the south or south- 

 east and south-west; and it is advantageous to have it sheltered on the north 

 and west by woods or high grounds. 



MI nner of planting. If the business is to be managed on a small scale, and 

 only a few trees planted, these may be put out along fences, at the distance of 

 twelve to fifteen feet apart, and trimmed up as they grow, so as not to incom- 

 mode teams in the ordinary field labour. The holes for the plants should be 

 three feet in diameter, and eighteen inches deep, and filled up to a sufficient 

 height to receive the plant, with surface mould. In this the tree should be 

 planted no deeper than it stood in the nursery, as when the ground has become 

 compact, it will have settled an inch or more. The plants for this purpose 

 should be from one to two inches in diameter at the butt. Those who contem- 

 plate going into the business largely, have a chance of three modes of planting, 

 viz: as standards, in fields to be used for farm crops; as half standards, in 

 grounds to be wholly appropriated to their growth; and as dwarfs, planted as 



