ON ML'LBERRY TREES, hc. f>7 



of white mulberry trees of two years growth and containing in 

 the whole about 30,000 trees. About 8,000 were transplanted 

 in the spring of 1833, and occupy about 3-4 of an acre of 

 ground, in rows six feet apart. Mr Nichols, at the the time of 

 transplanting his trees, in most instances cut off the tap root, but 

 a portion of them were transplanted without taking off any of 

 the bottom roots. The Committee discovered a plain ditlerence 

 in favor of those which had the taproots taken off. They ap- 

 peared more firmly set in the ground and the lateral roots appear- 

 ed to have taken a firmer hold than those which had the tap 

 root remaining. The Committee consider this nursery as well 

 managed, thrifty, and kept free of weeds, and they think the 

 owner is entitled to the first premium of twenty dollars, of- 

 fered by the Society for nurseries not exceeding two years 

 growth. 



The Committee cannot close the report without expressing a 

 strong desire that the subject of the culture of silk may more gen- 

 erally engage the attention of the people of this county. The nur- 

 series of white mulberry trees in the county are already sufficient to 

 furnish plantations of very great extent, and the experiments al- 

 ready made hold out the strongest encouragement to persevere 

 in this business. The experiments of Messrs. Eaton and Bailey 

 contained in this report show with what litde labour the worms 

 may be fed. In the case of Mr. Eaton, two children gathered 

 the leaves, and in the case of Mr. Bailey it required but half 

 an hour daily for a person to gather the leaves in the first stage, 

 and feed them, and in the last stage from two to three hours 

 each day. In the great Laboratories of Europe we find that 

 great care is taken to keep the atmosphere of the rooms where 

 the worms are kept, in a certain temperature, by the use of stoves, 

 thermometers &c. and the dampness is regulated by the Hy- 

 drometer, and every precaution is used to secure the worms from 

 disease. Yet in the case of Mr. Eaton we find he succeeded in 

 obtaining his cocoons in a shed without floor or windows, and 

 with no artificial heat to temper the atmosphere, nothing to reg- 

 ulate or carry off the dampness, and all this in a season peculi- 

 arly unfavourable. Experiments already made fully establish 

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