174 TI1E CALIFORNIA 



ties of that fine variety will certainly be appreciated by 

 our silk growers, and I should not be surprised to see 

 it, in a short time, very extensively cultivated through- 

 out California. 



This, and the alba, and also the multicaulis, are the 

 principal varieties that we should cultivate for silk in 

 California, because it is fully demonstrated and known 

 that they produce the best quality of silk ; and, besides 

 that important point, there is another. We are satisfied 

 that these three varieties thrive most luxuriantly in our 

 Bilk State, as I have been able to ascertain in different 

 parts of the State, in my travelings for the silk cause. 



CHAPTER VI. 



THE SOIL. 



Without fear of being contradicted, I think that I 

 can say here, that in California we possess, hot only one 

 of the best, but the very best soil for the mulberry tree. 

 For my part, I never before saw mulberry trees with 

 such a growth as they have in California. In regard 

 to soil, in one of my letters to the " California Farmer " 

 I wrote thus : 



" To all who are about to start in that rich industry 

 I desire to say for their benefit, that the most important 

 point to begin with, is the selection of the soil for the 

 mulberry. It is a fact, that it grows almost anywhere 



