A. ZIEGLER ON THE CULTURE OF THE SILK-WORM. 371 



them. But the occupation of rearing sillt-worms would enable females to earn suf- 

 ficient to live fur at least half of the year, if not the whole. This is done by many in 

 Europe, and can be done here. 



The eullure of the mtdberry and the rearing of the silk-worm I would not limit to 

 California, but extend it all over the United .States where the trees do not frcQze; 

 but, ofcour.se, they can not compete with California, as they have the same difficul- 

 ties to contend against as the European breeders ; but they have the very same chances 

 as the Europeans, without the high taxation, or tariff on silks, which sets them far 

 ahead of their European rivals. I am well aware that I handle a subject which, 

 some twenty-six years ago, exploded as a great humbug, and has been a subject of 

 ridicule with every one since, and whenever an enterjjrise seems to receive general 

 attention, persons are reminded of the iiiorus multicaulis humhxKj ; but I will not shrink 

 from advocating a measure which I have carried on in my native country, Hungary, 

 with great success, and which, in my recent travels, after the closest examinations, I 

 have found profitable every where the tree is planted and can live. 



I am not familiar with the exact reason of the failure of tlie morus mullicmills in 

 1835 and 1S3G, but believe it was owing partly to the great money crisis which just 

 then depressed the whole country, and partly that eveiy one planted the seeds in nurs- 

 eries for sale, and none for going into the business themselves ; or, as is often the 

 case with our people, they all started to get rich in one year. No merchant should 

 bo frightened wlien his neighbor fails; he should rather examine thoroughly the 

 cause of the failure, so that he may avoid falling into the same error ; for it is well 

 known that some merchants make money, and that commerce, if laid out by certain 

 rules, will make the person following it prosperous; so with the mulberry, if we do 

 not overdo it; if we remain in a reasonable boundary, millions will be added from 

 this source to the income of our country. 



There are before me, in many languages, elaborate reports to different govern- 

 ments, lengthy treatises, books, etc., on the culture of the mulberry and breeding of 

 the silk-woi-m, which to treat thoroughly would make this article too voluminous, 

 therefore I will give only a short extract from them, more especially from the report 

 of Anton Ziegler, Inspector and Director of the Mulberry Culture and Sill^-worm 

 Breeding of the Kingdom of Bavaria. A. H, 



Advantages of the Culture of the Silk-worm. 



Instead of giving a lengthy introduction, let us at once proceed 

 to our subject by annexing a comparison and calculation of the 

 costs and proceeds of a mulberrj^ plantation : 



Suppose we take one " tagwerk'" (parcel of land), suitable for a 

 plantation — say, for instance, a hill-side, protected from high north 

 winds (as we do not wish to rob the grain agriculture of its more 

 fertile fields, not absolutely required by the mulberry). The net 

 proceeds of this same piece of ground, by producing grain or other 

 cereals, would amount to about 10 florins (1 florin=40 cents.); 

 bearing mulberry-trees instead of these, it would, however, result 

 in a much larger gain. For let it be about 200 feet long and 200 

 feet broad, furrowed by 21 rows of 9 groivn-up trees each, planted 

 24 feet apart from each other, and the rows 9 feet, and we shall 

 have 189 trees altogether. 



In the intervals we may have shrubs (young trees) of the same 

 kind from 6 to 6f feet distant ; in 21 rows, therefore, 504 (allowing 

 10 of them to 1 grown tree). This willgive us 249 of the latter 

 in the entire plantation. 



Suppose, now, they have been transplanted to their particular 

 spot when 6 years old, and their produce will result as the an- 



