NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



MAY 6, 1835. 



CXJIiTURE OP THE MULBERRY. 



It oeems to be a matter well established, that at I 

 least the white mulbeny will do well in our state. 

 We wish we could aflirra as n.uch of the Morus 

 nu.lticaulis,bulour experience compels us to say 

 that its success in the northern sections of tins 

 state, is at least doubtful. The next que.fon to he 

 solved is, can the silk business be rcndert-d profit- 

 able ^ That it can, in families, who have females 

 and children, who will gather the leaves and take 

 care of the worms, we have no manner of doubt 

 The last Farmer's Register contams an mterest.ng 

 letter upon the subject of silk culture translated 

 from the French, which the restncted 1>""«^ f J' 

 monthly sheet prevent our pubhshmg nt deta,^ 

 as it does many other articles ot mteres . It is 

 written by Mr Carrier of Averyon, into which de- 

 partment the silk business has been recen dy 

 Introduced, to M. Bonafons, director of the royal 

 garden at Turin, giving an accotint among other 

 fhings, of the products and profits of his silk 

 business in 1833. This is stated in the follow- 



ins extract. , . „ , 



"I will now show yon," says the writer, "the 



account of the sale of my silk of 1832.1 shall 



take care to substract the expense, and you may 



see the clear profit, 



29 1-5 kilograms white silk at 65 



francs the kilogram, l.»-^"*- •'"<'. 



2 11-12 inferior silk, at 18 francs the 



, ., 44 95 

 kUogram, 



leaves, at four francs the (luintal. Well, th.s 

 proprietor could have obtained from half a hec- 

 tare (about Id acres) of ground, with no other 

 expense than that of cultivating the trees, a 

 revenue of 640 francs, or 320f. for each seteree, 

 composed of 940 square fathoms. 



The person who would have bought this 

 quantity of leaves, to devote himself to the 

 raisin- of silk worms, would have had (as 1 

 did) 028 pounds of cocoons and would have sold 

 them at If. 20c. a pound according to the course 

 of that time: this sale would have 

 produced 



Deduction of expenses, purchase ot 

 about 8 ounces of eggs, at 3 francs 

 the ounce, 

 Expenses af all kinds 



1392f. 00c, 



for the management, 

 Price of 160 quintals 



of leaves, at 4f. 

 Rent of the room, 



24f. 00c. 

 171 75 



540 00 

 60 00 



His part of the profits for 40 days' 



attendance, 

 The filature who buys the cocoons, 



obtains a quantity of silk equal 



to mine and sells it in the same 



manner, 

 He draws from the remains, 



Deduct for portage 



l,884f. 55c, 

 16 00 



895f 76c. 

 496 25 



1,937 85 

 115 00 



l,983f. 55c. 



l,868f. 55.C 

 Value of the different remains, coming 

 from the remains of the filatures 

 used at my house, H^ 00 



Sum realized. 



For the expense of manage- 

 ment, 171f. 75c. 



For the filature reel- 

 ing, 263 85 



Profit, 



1,983 65f. 



436 60 



Total, 



It is necessary to deduct from this 



sum, at the cost of 928 pounds of 



cocoons, at If. 50c. 1392f. 00c. 



Expenses of the filature 263 85 



■ 1,655 So 



l,548f. 95c, 



Clear gain of the winder 327f. 70c. 



The laborer with a family, takes for his share 

 the remainder of this filature, employs !"« ^■f'; 

 and children to wind the low and different 

 qualities of silk, which are in much request 

 and readily sold. These products can be valued 

 after having received all the suitable work at 1651. 

 Deduction for the purchase of the 

 first materials 50f. 



Hand work, although gained by 



the family. ^0 ^^ 



» To appreciate the advantages of the culture 

 of the mulberry, one must remember that tins 

 sum 1,548 francs of profit, (after dednctmg all ex- 

 penses,) is the product of leaves furnished by 

 Irees which have occupied for eight years, on 

 an average, a piece of ground, rather less than 

 half a hectare, or at most two setcrees, a local 



measure." , 



The kilogramme is two pounds and two 

 ounces and four grains, avoirdupois; the Iranc 

 is 181 cents ; the c. (centime) one hundred h 

 part of a franc;' the half hectare is about IJ 

 acres. Hence, the gross product in silk, from one 

 and a quarter acres iu mulberries, was 694 lbs., 

 which sold for 8350,25, or about $5 the pound, 

 an<l after paying all expenses, afforded to the pro- 

 prietors a nctt profit in one year, of about 



$290,40. . , , „ 



We quote again from M. Carrier's letter: 

 " The i.roprietor who wishes to occupy a plan- 

 tation of mulberry trees, supposing he had al- 

 ready at his disposal a quantity equal to those 

 which I stripped last spring, and in the same 

 condition, that is, producing 160 quintals of 



Profit, including his work, already paid, 85f. 

 " A simple recapitulation will make the result 

 better understood than this division of the labor, 

 which division certainly agrees in many cases, 

 with the taste or situation of persons who neither 

 wish, nor are able, to undertake all parts of the 



business. 



The land owner who sells 160 quin- 



■ tals of leaves at 4f receives 640f. 00c. 



The person who buys them and man- 



ages the raising gains 49b J.0 



The winder who takes charge of the 



cocoons, winds them and receives 33- -0 



The laborer who works up the re- 



mains does it for 30f, and gains besides 85 00 



Sum equal to the total profit which 1 



have made by the union of all 



these operations, lv548f 95c. 



The calculations which I have just presented, 

 speak loudly enough without my adding the least 

 observation to make the evidence more sure ; 1 

 will only sav, one of the great benefits of this di- 



rection of industry is to make a considerable mass^j 

 of work for all classes of society, and for all ages. I 

 A plantation of mulberry trees may soon beob-l 

 tained, by procuring the young trees from thel 

 nurseries,' or by sowing the seed. An ounce o^ 

 seed will produce from two to three thousand 

 plants. Sow early in May, upon a bed of good 

 earth, well pulverized, in a drill a foot apart ; cover! 

 with half an inch of fine mould, compress the^ 

 surface lightly with a hoe, that the soil may bet-J 

 ter retain moisture and come in contact with th$ 

 seeds, and if the weather is dry, water occasion- 

 ally to aid germination, and to enable the youn^ 

 roots to get firm hold of the earth ; to keep the 

 I bed free from weeds, and after one or two yeari 

 I prune out the plants in nursery rows, three fee« 

 apart, and in two years more they will be fit to 

 set out where they are to remain permanently. 



THE SI1.K CULTURE. 



The following letter, written by the venerable 

 Jud-e Spencer, of New York, relates to a subject 

 of growing importance to the people of this coun- 

 try, and one for which the same eminent and en. 

 li-htened citizen labored, though unsuccessfully, 

 to obtain the fostering aid of the Government 

 when his State had the honor to be represented 

 by him in Congress.— Argus. 



CULTURE AND MANUFACTURE OF SILK. 



Albany, April 7, 1835. 



From a long acquaintance, and as I believe, i 

 reciprocal esteem and friendship, I have though 

 that 1 could not better employ a leisure hour 

 than in addressing you on a topic which I regar. 

 as of high importance to our fellow citizens 

 You will not suspect me of insincerity or Hat 

 terv when I assure you that I know no maj 

 whom I believe to have more enlightened views 

 or more ardent patriotism than you. Hence th 

 propriety of my selecting you as a corresponded 

 ou the interesting subject which I proceed t 



^""s^nce 1830 my attention has been drawn to th 

 consideration of the culture of silk in this cour 

 try, and particularly in this State. I am pertectl 

 sat sfied that no agricultural pursuit will bear an 

 comparison with the culture of silk, as regar, 

 profit. I should not want a better income tlw 

 Ihe clear profits of an orchard of white mulbeii 

 trees, of twenty acres at ten years old. 1 

 clear nett i^rofits of such an estate would not U 

 short of from $3000 to $5000 annually ; and tb 

 profit would go on increasing with the grow 

 and the productiveness of the trees. 



You have seen a communication made by r 



to the commissioners appointed by the Govern' 



,0 examine into the economy, govermnent, a 



discipline of the State prisons, which has be 



published, not, however, extensively. It conta) 



some matter irrelevant to the culture ot si 



aud omits some things interesting to those w 



may embark iu the enterprise. Yoi. must h. 



observed as a statist, that our annual import 



silk amounts to the value of $10,000,000, and T 



increase with our wealth aud population. 1 



amount far exceeds the value of all our hn 



stuffs exported. This consideration ought to , 



cite us to inquiry, whether such a drain from 



resources of the country cannot be preveutec 



new source of industry be opened, which s 



in a short period supply our own wants, and* 



blc us to become exporters of either raw silk, 



silk fabrics. 



