SILK. 



" Mr. H. p. Byham, Brandenburg, 

 Ky. — With pleasure I respond to tlic 

 questions contained in the ' Silk Cir- 

 cular' of the American Institute. 



" I have fed silk-worms to a greater 

 or less c.vtent in the Slate of Ken- 

 tucky, every season except one, since 

 the year 1837 inclusive, and generally 

 with good success, loss hy disease in 

 no lot exceeding fifteen percent., and 

 often not over three per cent. 



" I have fed in enclosed huildings, 

 ventilated hy doors, windows, and 

 openings under the latter, and heat- 

 ed hy a stove when necessary. 



"The present season I fed in an 

 open shed with decidedly good suc- 

 cess : worms healthy : they wound 

 large, fair cocoons. 



" I have fed every variety of worms 

 that I could procure, and give the 

 preference to those called the Chinese 

 Imperial, and a variety represented 

 to me as the pea-nut. 



" I feed from the multicaulis in the 

 first stages, and in the last stage use 

 all the white and Canton that I can 

 procure. 



" The multicaulis should be cut off 

 near the ground every three years, 

 one third of the field each year. The 

 other varieties I head down every 

 year. I feed branches in the last 

 stages. 



" I have hatched and fed worms in 

 every month from April to August, 

 the earliest fed always producing the 

 heaviest cocoons. The latter equally 

 healthy when the eggs have been 

 properly kept and managed. But few 

 persons have succeeded in late feed- 

 ing, from the w-ant of proper care of 

 the eggs. 



" The causes of bad success that 

 have come to my knowledge have 

 been owing either to bad eggSj bad 

 management, or the want of free cir- 

 culation of air in the apartment. 



" The hatching of eggs can be pcr- 

 fcetly retarded by being placed in a 

 tin box, enclosed in a wooden one, and 

 suspended in the body of the ice near 

 the bottom of the ice-house. This is 

 done hy introducing a long box, cut 

 in three lengths and placed on end, 

 Boon after the first portions of ice arc 

 722 



thrown into the house. The top joints 

 can be removed as the ice settles : 

 the eggs at no time to be above the 

 body of the ice. They should be pla- 

 ced in the ice in February or early ia 

 March." 



"Mr. Barbour, Oxford, Mass. — It 

 is fifteen years since I began to ex- 

 amine the silk business. 



" The results of my own labours 

 are decidedly in favour of early feed- 

 ing. Out of all the crops that I have 

 carried through by the middle of 

 August, I have never lost by disease 

 five per cent, in any case. Not so 

 with later crops generally, although 

 this year m.y later crops were healthy, 

 and made first-rate cocoons. 



"As to buildings, I have fed in a 

 large, open garret, in a corn-house 

 and a carpenter's shop. In 1840 I 

 built a regular cocoonery, thirty by 

 twenty feet, two storieshigh,with ten 

 windows in each story, and warmed 

 hy a hot-air chamber in the cellar. 

 In 1842, fed a lot also in an open shed, 

 and this year in a tent, with cradles, 

 on Mr. Gill's plan. The result of the 

 whole is, in my judgment, the more 

 air the better, only guarding against 

 sudden gusts of wind, that will dis- 

 turb your leaves or bushes. 



" As to ordinary turns of cold weath- 

 er, in our summer months, their ef- 

 fect is to render the worms torpid. 

 Of course they will not, in this state, 

 eat and grow, and there is a loss of 

 time in getting them through ; and 

 this is the only loss to be apprehend- 

 ed. Upon returning warmth they re- 

 vive, and go on with their labours, 

 apparently uninjured. 



"Trees.— My first movement (1837) 

 was wrong. I bought a lot of mul- 

 berry seed as < genuine Chinese Mul- 

 berry Seed,' which proved to be an in- 

 ferior variety of the white : lost two 

 seasons in getting started, and some 

 patience withal. In 1839. planted 

 one hundred dollars worth Alpine cut- 

 tings. According to the ' books,' I 

 was not to lose one in fifty : in the 

 result, did not get one in fifty. I 

 should almost as soon recommend 

 the propagation of oak bushes by cut- 



