Vol. VI.— No. iS. 



NEW ENGLAND FARlVJER. 



881 



CULTURE OF SILK. I *"*' i" other couiitries. This leiiiark i.s pi-obably 



The following extract tVoiu the " Letter from the jt'otnxi of the tvailitioii, iiieiitioiicd by Beverly 



the Seeretury of the Trciisury, &c. in relation to tliat the King had worn a robe of Virginia silk at 



the growth niul iiiannfacture of silk," whilst it liis coronation. 



shows that, at an early period of our lii-^tory, tills Tlie revived encouragement given by the Col- 



valuablc article was advantageously ciihivatcd in ""ial Legislatiue to the culture of silk, had the de- 



the State of \'irgijiia, excites our regret that so sired eU'ect. Mulberry tre<'s were generally plaiit- 



imporlaut a pursuit should have been abandoned, ed, and the rearing of silk worms formed a part of 



Wo hope to see it resumed, not only in Virginia the regular business of many of the farmers. Ma- 



NEVV ENG LAND FA RMER. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, JUNE 20,1828. 



j(U' Walker, a nieinber of the Legislature, produc- 

 ed satisfactory evidence of his having 70,000 trees 

 growhig in the year 1664, and claimed the premi- 

 um. Other claims of a like tenor were presented 



but throughout the Union.— jVn(. Intel. 



Hislori) of Silk in the United Slates. — The cul- 

 ture of silli first commenced in Virginia. Upon 



the settlement of that colotiy it was deemed an ob- • r.,, „ ,. , « 



ject of the first importance ; an.l the attention of ","' ««"'« ^^ssion. The Easterti part of the State 



the settlers was strongly directed to it by the Brit- "'^."""ds at present wtth white mulberry trees, and 



ish Government, by which silk-worm eggs, white !' '=^ '» '^'r ''"'f'* "^ People wiU see their mterest 



.nulberry trees, a.td printed instructions, were sent "' renewm g the culture of silk. ^ 



over and distributed. King James the First, in! HFMl OrK 



the 20tliJt'ear of his reign, having doubtless seen ! ,, „ „ ^, , ' . . „ , 



., , ,. ~ .. ,. , " " ., ■„ ,),,., Very few of the countless varieties of plants 



the defeat of his plan to encourage the silk culture , "^i , ... ., ^^ ., 



' ° - ' whose blossoms wave by the way sile, or flourish 



at home, was induced to attempt it in Virginia : 

 and " having understood that the soil naturally 

 cfded store of excellent mulberries," gave in 



on the margin of the stream, are to be avoided, or 

 can be regarded without admiration and pleasure. 



„ , ^ r, , . . .1 One, liowever, possessed most deleterious proper- 



structious to the Earl of Southampton to urge the .• , , , , „ ' .' . 



> - ° ties, aiui has iieen nntpn ns a nnwnn frmn .)ntiniii 



cultivation of silk in the Colony, in preference to 



ties, aud has been noted as a poison from antiqui- 



. , „,-,,• ■ , •. ]■ J J 1 ty. Its easy and certain power of destroymg life, 



tobacco, " which hriugs with It nuinv disorders and / •' , , • .. • ^ ^ ,■ 



„ T , f ■ 1 I have reeommenued it for use in prisons of arbi- 



iiicoiiveuiences." In obedience to the command, 

 tiie Earl wrote an express letter on the subject to 

 the Governor aud Council, in which he desu'cd 

 tliem to compel the colonists to plant mulberry 

 trees, and also vnies. Accorduigly, " as early as 

 the year 1623, the Colonial Assembly directed the 

 ))lanting of mulberry trees ; and, in 1656, another 

 act was passed, in which tlie culture of silk is des- 

 cribed as the most jjrofitable commodity for tlie 

 country ; and a penalty of ten pouud.s of tobacco 

 is imposed upon every planter who shall fail to 

 plant, at least, ten mulberry trees for every hiiiid- 

 ved acres of land in his possession. In the same 

 year a premium of 4000 pounds of tobacco* was 

 given to a person as an inducement to remain in 

 the country, and prosecute the trade in silli ; and in 

 the next year a premium of 10,000 pounds of to- 

 bacco was offered to any one who should ex])ort 

 £200 worth of tlie raw material of silli." About 

 the same tune, 5000 pounds of the same article, 

 was promised " to any one who should produce 

 2,000 pounds of raw silk in one year." The act 

 of 1656, coercing the planting of the mulberry 

 trees, was repealed in the year 1658, but was 



vived two years after; and the system of reward; 



and penalties was steadily pursued until the year' ■""", '""'" '" •"";" ^"^—' "j ^■■' 

 ,„„f , . , •'.'^ , , „ . -^ [carelessness or ignorance. Th 



166b, when It was determined that all statutory 



trary rule, from the tribunal of the Athenian Are 

 opagus, to the court of the Spanish Inquisition. 

 Its mild and lethargic operation have established 

 it not only as the instrmnent of the executioner, 

 but the agent of the suicide. A species of this 

 jilant, emigrating from Europe, is now common 

 about road sides, and in waste grounds ; especial- 

 ly in those parts of the country which ha^■e been 

 long settled. The frequent instances of deplora- 

 ble accidents resulting from its use, show that its 

 deleterious properties are unknown, or too often 

 neglected. In general appearance the plant has 

 a resemblance to the carrot when shooting up to 

 bear seed. It is commonly found in bmiches and 

 rises to the height of four, five, or six feet, and pro- 

 duces clusters of minute flowers of a dull wliite, 

 from June to November. 



Dr. Bigelow speaks of the poisonous ofTccts as 

 very different on different individuals ; — varjing 

 with the temperament of the person, the age and 

 place of growth of the plant and other circum- 

 stances. Generally, .dizziness, nausea, diminished 

 power of vision, faintness and muscular weakness 

 are described as the consequences of its operation. 

 This plant is often eaten by children either from 



]iapers on our 



, ,. , table contain two instances, where death has fol- 



provisions were tiiereafter unnecessary, as tlie sue- , j .i j . u,, ■, , •, 



^ ,. ,. • 1 .. X- 11 J lowed the dangerous repast. While our legisla- 



cess of divers persons in the growtii of silk and . • .i i . .• i- .i 



^ ' J .1 1 . . 11 ture are proposing the destruction of the vegeta- 



other manufactures, "evidently demonstrated how ,, ■ i- fi. i • ■. u . •■ •,. 



. „ . , , ' ij ,, mi ble enemies of the harvest, it would be well if 



beneficial the same would prove. 1 hree years ., 1 1 . i I • , 



.,,.,. ' . , thev would take measures to exterminate these 



after, the legislative encouragements were revived; .■, , . j,,,-. 



, . ', ,1 . .1 iccn .1 • . f ' treacherous weeds creeping rriiind the habitations 



but subsequently to the year loo9, tlie iiitelerance ; „ » . , i-I- j u •„ ■<• . 



„ „ ^ ' 11 1 of man, to steal away life ; and better stdl, if thev 



of Government seems entirely to nave ceased. — .. , j i . ,. 



~. 1 r-i a .1. . i-j Iweie attacked by every person who discovers 



The renewal of the premiums after the act ot Uie ,. • . j- l /• ' • * , . 



tcca J 1 .1 • t ,u them mtrudmg on the frontiers of his possessions. 



Worcester JE^s. 



year 1658, was doisi>t(ess owing to the recom- 

 mendation of Charle-i !! : for, in the year 1661, 



among the instructions (fjvon tf. Sir William Berke- ^Ww Invention.— Mr Pliny Welmer of York, Liv- 

 ly, upon his re-aj»|MMiit»iiei»t as Cvernor, aud ingston co. has invented and put into operation, a 

 while in Englaiiil tm « \'i»H, l\te King recomnieiid- 



cd the cultivatioit of Mik, anil mentioned, as an in- 

 ducement to the '•oiotiists to attend to his advice, 

 " that he hyd formerly woi-n some of the hilk of 

 Virginia, which he found not inferior to that rais- 



* In ihe early selll^ment of Virginia, tobacco was the circu- 

 laling medium, the substitute for money, as sewing silk is, in 

 ijarl at preaeut, in Windham couiiiy, Conueclicut 



machine for making barrel staves which takes 

 them from the log ; and prepares them for the 

 truss hoop. It will with the attendance of a man 

 and one boy, dresa three thousand six hundred 

 staves per ijay. A day's labor in the usual way is 

 we understand, two hundred. — The value of this 

 invention in a country where so many barrels are 

 used, must be immense. — Rochester Observer. 



Extracts from Knight's Treatise on the Culture of 

 the Jljiph and Fear. 

 The properties which constitute a good apple 

 for cider, and lor the di:,ssert, are seldom found in 

 the same fruit, though they are not incompatible 

 with each other. The firmness of the pulp, which 

 is essential in the eating apple is useless in the 

 cider fruit, in the best kinds of which it is often 

 tough, dry, and fibrous ; and color which is justly 

 disregarded in the fiirmer is generally hidicative 

 of the first good quahtics in the latter. Some de- 

 gree of astriiigency also, which is hijurious to the 

 eating fruit, as always advantageous of the other. 

 Amongst the endless variety of kuids, which are 

 found in Herefordshire, very few ever deserved 

 the attention of the planter, and the greater parf 

 of those are only capable of attaming a proper 

 state of maturity in very warm situations. When 

 the rind and pulp are green, the cider will always 

 be thin, weak, and colourless ; and ui whatever 

 soil it may liave grown, almost always possess 

 color with either strength or richness.* The sub- 

 stances which constitute the strength and body in 

 this liquor generally exist ui the same proportion 

 I with the color, t'lougli tliere does not appear to 

 i be any necessary connexion between the tuiging 

 I matter and the other component parts. 

 j The apple being most easilj' jiropagated by 

 grafting, the means of obtaining proper stocks 

 must be amongst the first things to occupy the at- 

 j tention of the planter. A preference lias gener- 

 i ally and justly been given to those raised from the 

 seeds of the native kind, or ci-ab, as being more 

 hardy and durable than those produced from tlie 

 apple. 



The offspring of some varieties of the crab, par- 

 ticularly of tliose uitroduced from Siberia, vege- 

 tate much e.a-iier ui the s])ring than otlier trees 

 of the same species; and thence the inexperienc- 

 ed planter will probably be led to suppose, that 

 such stocks would accelerate the vegetation of 

 other varieties in the sjiring, and tend to produce 

 an early maturity of fruit in autumn. In this, 

 however, he will be 'isa|ipointed. The office of 

 the stock is in every sense of the word subser- 

 vient ;t and it acts only m obedience to the im- 

 I pulse it receives fi-om 'ho branches ; the only 



* I have discovered since Ihe ,asl pdilion ol Ihis work was 

 ' published, that the sppcilic pravii; flihc juice of any apple, re- 

 cently expressed, indicates with very consideiable accuracy the 

 strength of the future cider. 



I t " The stock give'h aliment, hut i.o motion to the grafts." — 

 Lord Bacon. The keen and inquisit.ve mind of this extraor- 

 dinary man appears to have penetr- ted 'Iceply into the nature 

 of vegetation; and in this as in other br.nchesof knowledge,, 

 to have anticipated the discoveries of succeeding generations. 

 He has suggesied the idea of improving iniits by conibinmg 

 the excelleucies of different kinds, and cciireives Ihi^ to he 

 practicable, though he sa.vs it cannot be done by grafting ; be- 

 cause the graft •' overruleth" the stock. [Note]. To Lord Ba- 

 con, als'i belongs the rematk^i ihal the lives of trees are greatly 

 prolonged, when iheir branches are tireqi-enlly taken off. 



Note. But the nature of ihe Iruli is to a cer.ain enent, af- 

 fected by the nature of Ihe stock .Xdler sav s deiidedly, that 

 crab slocks cause apples to be firmer, lo k'-ep lou. er, and to 

 have a sharper flavor; and he is e qually. roi.fi<!ent, that it the 

 breaking pears lie graftfd on quince slocks, the Iruil is render- 

 ed griUy or slon) , while the melting pears arc niu* h improved 

 by such stocks. This, according to ^eill, is .scarcely to )>*■ con- 

 sidered as inconsistent with LorcCiSacon's doctrine, " that ihe 

 scion overruleth the graft quite; iHe stock being passive only ;" 

 which, as a general proposition remains true ; it being evioeot 

 that the scion, bud, or inarched shoot is endowed wiifi the pow- 

 er of drawing or forming from the slock that peculiar kind of 



