9Q ON MULBERRY TREES. 



of Joshua H. Ordway, of West Newbury, the only 

 claimant on that subject, respectfully Report : 



That Mr. Ordvvay's plantation of 1500 white mulber- 

 ry trees, of five to six years' growth, has been well 

 managed, the foliage is luxuriant, and the trees of a 

 large size at the root ; w^e notice particularly his meth- 

 od of keeping them headed down. His practice is to 

 cut them off near the ground early in the spring ; by 

 this treatment, as he says, he obtains four times the 

 amount of foliage as when permitted to grow high, as 

 we can readily conceive, and greatly facilitates the work 

 of gathering it, his object being actual silk-growing. He 

 has fed, the past season, 4000 w^orms, but his trees 

 would undoubtedly have fed 20,000 at twice cropping, 

 of which he is confident, had he been prepared with the 

 proper fixtures. His worms were perfectly healthy, as 

 evidently appeared by the cocoons and the texture of 

 the reeled silk. The silk was principally made into 

 sewings by his sister, Miss Sophia Ordway, and were of 

 superior character. A part of it was twisted directly 

 from the cocoons, without having been first reeled, as is 

 the common mode ; all the work was done on a com- 

 mon high wheel. This sewing silk appeared very even, 

 and equally as good as. that which was first reeled and 

 then twisted ; and the work is thereby greatly expedi- 

 ted. Although Mr. Ordway has fine nurseries, and ex- 

 cellent orchards of various fruits which produce a large 

 income, yet, he is confident his mulberry tree planta- 

 tion would produce him more profit in raising silk than 

 any of his grounds of equal extent, and he intends ex- 

 tending his silk raising next season. Taking into view 

 the good management of Mr. Ordway's plantation, and 

 the practical use to which he has applied its produce, 

 in raising and making sewing silk, which would proba- 

 bly itself deserve the Society's premium on manufactur- 

 ed silk, (had a claim been entered according to its rules,) 

 we are of opinion he is well entitled to the Society's 

 first premium of fifteen dollars. 



Your Committee, in making this report, beg to sub- 

 mit for the consideration of the Society the expediency 



