VOIi. Xin. NO. 48. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



881 



in the market ; and he had ascertained that the 

 stoclis of both were extremely low — much lower 

 than they were at the same time last season. He 

 imputed the late importation of foreign wool, not 

 to the alleged conspirac-y among the manufac- 

 turers to depress the price of native wool, but to 

 the fact that the market was nearly bare of stock, 

 and they were thus obliged to go abroad for it. He 

 said that the manufacturers had done a profitable 

 business during the past year, and the result would 

 be a considerable extension during the next, which 

 would correspondingly increase the demand for 

 the raw material. During the last twelve months 

 new machinery capable of manuftcturing two 

 millions of pounds of wool per annum, h.id been 

 set up in Worcester county and its vicinity alone. 

 Believing then that the demand for manufacture 

 and consumption had been and would be rather in 

 advance of the production, he inferred that the 

 current prices of wool would at present be sus- 

 tained. He alluded to the fact that thirty orforty 

 thousand pounds of fine American wool had been 

 exported during the past year. This speculation 

 he said, had proved a profitable one : the wool 

 was of a long, fine staple, and was meant to be 

 used in the manufacture of merino shawls. 



Col. Shepherd stated some interesting facts in 

 relation to the early stages of the wool manufac- 

 ture in this state. His attention was first attract- 

 ed to the subject in 1808, by noticing tlie flimsy, 

 trashy imported stuff, the superior finish of which 

 enabled it to drive out of the market our coarse 

 and strong home-made cloth. In 1809, he bought 

 all the native wool which was to be found in Bos- 

 ton and its vicinity, with a view to use it in the 

 manufacture of negro cloths. He gave from 33 to 

 42 cents per pound for it, and it shortly afterwards 

 rose to 50. in 1810 he procured from Col. Hum- 

 phreys a buck and eleven ewes from tlie first flock 

 of Spanish mcrinoes im|)orted into this country. 



In 1818, in conjunction with the late Gov. Gray, 

 he imported Saxony bucks from Hamburgh, at a 

 cost of about $100 each. Since first starting in the 

 business, though unfortunate in the pecuniary re- 

 sult of his own exertions, he bad bad the pleasure 

 of seeing the wool culture and manufacture ex- 

 tending itself widely, striking firm root and add- 

 ing millions to the wealth of the country. 



We observe by Col. Shepherd's circular that he 

 has taken a building in Worcester for the transac- 

 tion of a commission business in American wool, 

 his charges being at the rate of two and a half 

 per cent on all sales. — Franklin Mercury. 



SILK CUI.TIIRE. 



The following in answer to a letter from Judge Spen- 

 cer, published on p.nge 338 of our current volume, pre- 

 sents vnUiablc information, and, logetliRr with tiie ad- 

 dress to which this is a reponse, affords gratifying proof 

 that our men of the first talents, and of the highest 

 standing in the community ace employing their influence 

 and directing their mental powers to the due develope- 

 mentof a branch of economy, destined to become a co- 

 pious source of national as well as of individual pros- 

 perity. 



Geneva, May 12lh., 1335. 

 To the Hon. Artilirose Spencer. 



Dear Sir — The honor j'ou have done me by 

 associating my name with yours, in a late letter 

 on silk and the mulberry tree would be most fitly 

 acknowledged by my rendering some useful ser- 

 vice, if I were able, to the cause of public iui- 



I'rovement. Having, however, nothing of my 

 Own to offer, 1 have taken a few days since your 

 letter, to gain information of the mulberry plan- 

 tations which have sprung up in this neighbor- 

 hood, in consequence of the report, which, as 

 chairman of the conmiittee on agriculture, you 

 presented to Congress on this subject. And I de- 

 sire to address to you publicly the result of this 

 information, limited as it i.s, for several reasons ; 

 — that the public may be [irepared for the great 

 chantre in this branch of production which I 

 verily believe is approaching ; — that producers 

 may feel confidence in having a staple market 

 such as any large product will always connnand, 

 though one more limited, may perish for the want 

 of it; — that you personally, may see more of 

 the fruit of your labors; — and generally, that 

 those who labor for the public good may have 

 another example of successful effort, and may 

 know that their names are oflen blessed by thous- 

 and whom they never hear of. 



Within a circle of twenty miles round this 

 place, there are the means of entering upon the 

 culture of silk almost immediately, and upon an 

 extensive scale. One plantation of mulberry, if 

 I am rightly informed, contains si.xteen acres. 

 There are very considerable nurseries of young 

 trees for sale. Two gentlemen of this village 

 have young plantations for use ; and I have ap- 

 plications, since your letter, for information, for 

 seeds, &c., on the mistaken idea that I know 

 something about the matter. Finally, it may be 

 useful to know that a Mr Loomis, of the " Se- 

 neca Castle," in this town, an early settler and a 

 revolutionary soldier, has a noble avenue planted 

 with white mulberry tree-s, nearly fifty years old, 

 and which will probably give seed enough in the 

 fidi to supply any supposeable demand. If other 

 parts of the country are awake to this subject in 

 any corresponding degree, there seems no reason 

 to doubt but we are on the point of beginning 

 another great branch of production, and one 

 which will lead to important changes in trade, 

 manufacture and consumption. 



You mention that silk has been cultivated in 

 the eastern parts of Connecticut since the year 

 1760, and you adduce facts to show that there is 

 no mystery in the production ; and that now, so 

 soon as American ingenuity was applied to the 

 subject, all mystery has disappeared from the jno- 

 eess of reeling, also. The great difficidty with 

 every new branch of agricultmal product, is an 

 apprehension that there is something in it requir- 

 ing peculiar art and skill, and therefore that in 

 new bauds it is peculiarly liable to failure. Such 

 opinions are ot^cn encouraged by an air of quack- 

 ery in books that teach the art. I desire, there- 

 fore, to add a word on these points. 



I did suppose (but have not time to examine) 

 that there were scraps of history which showed 

 that the British Government, or perhaps ])lanta- 

 tion companies or proprietors, had introduced the 

 culture of silk in this country earlier than the 

 date you refer to. But this I know, that I have 

 hcar,l the whole process described by old people, 

 when I was a child, and I think this recollection 

 of mine must go back nearly to the peace of 

 1783. The important point however is, that as 

 they stated, the whole process— raising, reeling, 

 dyeing and weaving — was so very easy, that a 

 young woman could make herself a silk gown as 

 easily as one of linen or flannel; (cotton was not 



then in domestic use,) and that the young women 

 of that part of Connecticut where silk was raised, 

 were often dressed, in those times in silks which 

 were, throughout, of their own nianufacture. In 

 mentioning this to Mr Loomis, (to whom 1 have 

 before referred,) he confirmed the fact from his 

 own recollection, and added that whenever they 

 made sewing silk, it was eagerly bought up in 

 ])reference to any other. When now we consider 

 that according to Mr D'llomergue, the | roduct 

 might be doubled in amount by skilful reeling, the 

 real cheapness of the article becomes quite aston 

 ishing. What then shall we say to the additional 

 fiict, to which you have referred in your publish- 

 ed papers, that almost all the work may be done 

 by hands not cajiable of hard labor ; by women, 

 cliildren, persons in weak health ; by female and 

 other feeble convicts in prison? In some papers 

 which I published in 1830, on State Prisons, &c., 

 the subject was refi?rred to as means of employ- 

 ment at Sing Sing, and as having been suggested 

 by an intelligent assistant keeper there. 



I have today conversed with an intelligent 

 neighbor, who has both lately and formerly seen 

 the mulberry cultivated in hedges, slashed down 

 and kept so low that the leaves may be plucked 

 by persons standing on the ground. Another ol 

 my neighbors has a small nursery, consisting 

 v/holly of young trees produced from cuttings; 

 and from those young trees he has again given 

 me many hundred cutting.s, which I have set with 

 a view to a nursery of my own. Allow me to 

 close this letter by stating summarily from known 

 facts, (though not exactly from my personal expe- 

 rience) the great advantages of such hedges. 



1. The young mulberry sends out side and bot- 

 tom shoots very beautifully. 



2. The prunings of those, will furnish cuttings 

 or scions for hedges ; and those hedges will fur- 

 nish a considerable supply of leaves the next year 

 and in three or it)ur years be as high as a man can 

 reach. The more they are tojiped down, the more 

 side shoots. 



3. I am assured that a thick set hedge of mul- 

 berry will effectually turn large cattle ; though I 

 doubt whether it will, when old, be thick enough 

 bottom to prevent snjall animals from passing 

 through it. 



4. By planting hedges six or eight feet apurt, 

 and keeping them not more than six or seven feet 

 high, I think it plain that the ground will produce 

 vastly tnore leaves than could be got fiom large, 

 trees, set orchard-wise. 



5. In this way the rearing of a few worms may 

 be begun the second year, and be most rapidly in- 

 creased subsequently. 1 su[ipose, too, the leaves 

 of these young branches must be the most juicy, 

 and tender. 



6. If the hedges, when they become old, are 

 liable to auy objections whatever, new ones can be 

 made with vast ease between the old rows, which 

 then may be rooted up. 



I am, dear Sir, with great respect and 

 friendship, yours, &c. 



Sam. M. HoPKiws. 



The Maine Farmer, says, Caj t. Jo^n Haines of 

 Readfield, has discovered that a little tar, laid on 

 tlie backs of cattle in spots will kill or drive ofl" 

 all lice. If so, this is much better than unguen- 

 tum, or other mercurial ointments, or tobacco 

 juice, which will injure the cattle. 



