THE 



AMERICAN 



GAEDENER'S MAGAZINE. 



SEPTEMBER, 1836. 



ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. 



Art. I. On the Use of the Osage Orange {JMaclura auran- 

 tiaca), as Food for Silk-worms. By T. S. P., Beaver- 

 dam, Va. 



Some months ago, the Farmer's Register contained a transla- 

 *tion of an interesting article by M. Bonafons, giving the result 

 of an experiment on feeding the silk-worm on the leaves of the 

 Madura. Although the authority of that gentleman may be 

 regarded as decisive on any matter connected with the culture 

 of silk, yet, as many substitutes for the mulberry have been suc- 

 cessively used and discarded, it was reasonable to suppose the 

 maclura might share the same fate. On trial, however, I fin,d it 

 to answer all the purposes for which M. Bonafons recommended 

 it ; and as the silk business is becoming an important branch of 

 the industry of the United States, I am induced to detail, in 

 corroboration thereof, the result of my own experiment. 



In the month of May I had a few thousand eggs to hatch ; 

 and, during the three first ages, the worms were fed exclusively 

 on the leaves of the maclura. At the commencement of the 

 fourth age they were divided into several parcels, with a view of 

 giving to each a separate kind of food. About one third were 

 continued on the same — the native mulberry was given to an 

 equal number — a portion of the balance was fed on the maclura 

 and Chinese mulberry indiscriminately — and the remainder on 

 the Chinese mulberry alone. During the process, I could not 

 perceive that the worms manifested any partiality between the 

 leaves of the maclura and those of the Chinese mulberry, — if 

 they evinced any, it was certainly not in favor of the latter. But 

 they greatly preferred either to the leaves of the red mulberry, 



VOL. II. — NO. IX. 41 



