VOI« XV, AO, 34. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL 



267 



On the day previous to my leaving Northampton 

 for Rochester anil Greece, Mr Hiinliiigdoa called 

 and requested me to carry a small package to Rey- 

 nolds & Uatehilni, Rochester, lie stated that it 

 contained I've papers of Chinese Midherry Seed, 

 and that on the delivery of said |)ackage 1 must 

 rer-eive twentyfive dollars or not deliver it. 



I delivered the said package, on which vviis 

 written " .5 papers of Chin;se mulherry seed." — 

 Mr Huntingdon also placed a qnantity of seiul in 

 my hands to sell to such other purchasers as 1 

 might meet with, at the same time stating that it 

 v.as Chinese Midbcrry Seed, which Mr W'hitmarsh 

 had recently hroiight from Europe, that it was »!o< 

 the Morns ninlticanlis, and in no case did ! assert 

 it to he snch. 



Mr Rowe slates that " IMr I'radley iiifornjed iri.. 

 that a friend of his, Mr Fancher from Northamp- 

 ton, was at \u< house, ami that he had some of the 

 Chinese Mnlherry seed for sale." Thus far the 

 statement is correct ; hnt that it was the Morus 

 nmlticaidis, ] did not state: That I informed Mr 

 Bradley that I had sold tw.'ntyfive papers in Uti- 

 ca, is also a mistake, for I <lid not sell a paper in 

 that jilace. All that I disposed of, was the five 

 papers to Reynolds & liatehani, three pa[)ers that 

 J left with Mr Hradley for ,^Ir Rowe, two papers 

 that 1 left in Rochester for Mr Greenleaf of Brock- 

 port, and two papers that 1 sold in Syracuse. 



I met with gentlemen who said that Chinese 

 mulberry seed was Morns multicaulis. I told 

 them them the seed 1 had was not the Morns mul- 

 ticaulis, hnt Chinese Ahilbern/ Seed, which Mr 

 Whitmarsli had recently hrought from Europe, as 

 Mr Huntingdon slated. With respect, 



J. S. Fancher. 



THE MULBERRY PATCH AND COCOONERY. 



Extract of a letter, dated Aug. 4, 1836. 



'From the seed of the Cam'on Mulberry, pre- 

 sented me in ,\lay 1834, I have obtained a num- 

 ber of trees. The last winter was so severe, that 

 the stalks were killed down to the hard wood, 

 but this summer the brandies have started from 

 the roots and grown over four feet in height. 



' I fed my worms upon the Chinese or Canton 

 Mulberry, and some of the white. Ten of the 

 cocoons before stit5ing, weighed one ounce, at 

 which rate 1600 would make a bushel. 



' I adopted a new plan, or new to me, for the 

 worms to wind their cocoons. I made a frame of 

 lath, {the size of the table on which the worms 

 were fed) one and four-tenths of an inch wide, 

 six and three-fourths of an inch high. The out- 

 side I (covered with millinet, and also the inside, 

 to within one inch of the bottom of the frame. 



' The worms, when ready to rise for winding, 

 would go up between the two pieces of millinet, 

 and suspend themselves in the centre, between 

 the two pieces of millinet. The cocoons were 

 more perfect, much cleaner, and more easily col- 

 lected than formerly.' 



Remarks. — Our corresiiondent may preserve 

 his Chinese or Canton Mulberry from t'utnre in- 

 jury of the whiter, by heading down the tree to 

 two or four buds above the roots, slightly cover- 

 ing the stumps, and may also cover the branches 

 cut off, either in a dry place in the open field, or 

 remove to a dry cellar and there cover with dry 

 earth, to be used for cuttings the next spring, or 

 he might take ofl' the side branches to one or two 

 buds of the main stalk, to be used as short cut- 



tings, and lay down the main stalk, with or with- 

 out a root, coveri ig the same with about two 

 inches of earth, from which shoots would start so 

 early next spring, as to (iroduce abundance of 

 vigorous shoots,- with large loot.s, and afford 

 abundance of foliage lor worms the same .season, 

 and might be nsi;d with advantage to the plant — 

 in this there is no tnistnke. 



We think fiivoralily <d' the method he adopted 

 for the worms to spin the cocoons, which is about 

 as neat and convenient as the mode used in (^hi- 

 na — when millinet is not at hand, the whole might 

 be made with thin lath. We think the method 

 of feeding on hurdles made of twine will give 

 way to the above or a better mode. Even plain 

 shelves or boards are prelerable. The Chinese 

 fVed on oval trays made wholly of bamboo, 

 ^wjth a rim of one or two inches to keep the 

 woijTS from falling off, and of snfiicient size to 

 contain 50 to IOC worms separate from each 

 other, and might be made of thin lath — square, 

 and f)f a size to be easily handled, removed, 

 cleaned, a;id set on racks. From a gentleman to 

 whom the (ilan of our correspondent has been 

 communicated, we are expecting an improvement 

 or better plan of feeding which, slifiuhl it be 

 made public in season, will be communicated with 

 pleasure. — JVorthamptjn Courier. 



GREAT MEETING IN PHILADELPHIA. 



We have with pleasure examined the Report 

 made at the meeting in Philadelphia, on the sub- 

 ject of silk cultme. 'I'he committee have no 

 licsitaiion in saying that the Silk Culture in the 

 middle and northern States at no distant period 

 will rival the cotton and rice crops of the South — 



That the quality ofsilk oblained from American 

 cocoons is equal to that of Italy, and that it can 

 be made at less expense than in Europe, and that 

 a large profit may be realised, even at the low price 

 of hree dollars per pound — 



That 310 good cocoons will weigh a pound — 



Ihat when cocoons shall be raised in abun- 

 dance, they may he afforded at 12 1-2 cents per 

 pound, and that the raising of them even at that 

 price, will be a profitable CLncerij, and as lucra- 

 tive to onr farmers as the growing of cotton by 

 the southern planters at 19 cents per poiiml — 



'Ihat the present price or value of foreign raw 

 silk IS for 



Bengal, 

 China, 

 Italian, 

 That although 



$4 25 to 6. 

 $5 40 to 6. 

 $6 to 7. 

 .\nierica is much 



labor in 



higher than in Europe — yet, when American in- 

 gen lity shall be as faithfully applied to the struc- 

 ture and improvement of silk machinery as it 

 has been to the construction of cotton and wool- 

 len m chinery, then we shall more than compete 

 with or rival European n>annf'actnres, especially 

 as the articles we shall first bring into market will 

 principally consist of plain staple good.s, such as 

 stuiSs for vestings, sewing silk, plain ribbons, 

 pocket handkerchiefs — the machinery for which 

 need not cost over one eighth the expense of ma- 

 chinery lor a cotton factory, to turn out the value 

 of goods jH'oducing an equal or even greater 

 profit. And when made by power loom, and of 

 American silk, may yield a profit of 25 to 30 per 

 cent. 



The amount of sewing silk used annually in 

 the United States is amazing ; and to manufac- 

 ture even enough of this article to supply the de. 



mand, capital to almost any amount could be pro- 

 fitably employed, ann with only little expense of 

 machinery. 



Remarks. — We give our unqualified approba- 

 tion of the sentiments embodied in the Commit- 

 tee's Report, it is worthy of the perusal of every 

 silk grower in the United States and every friend 

 to its prosperity. That the manufacture of silk 

 at the North will yet become as important to lis, 

 as the cotton ami rice at the south, we verily 

 believe. 



The superiority of American silk is acknow- 

 ledgeil by the best judges. Silk made in a 

 high, northern latitude is always consiilered 

 sujierior to that grown in southern climes. This 

 fict is well established in China. The dealers 

 say that in Canton, silk grown in the northern 

 districts is uniformly 20 per cent hig-licr than that 

 grown in the most southern districts. 



It is confidently believed that silk will yet be 

 grown and manufactured in America at less ex- 

 pense than in Europe, and that we shall export 

 not only the raw material, hnt the stajde article 

 made from it, at a good profit. 



We think that the raw siik may yet be made at 

 a price even less than three <|ollars by the pound, 

 probably at about two dollars. 



The people of Massachusetts, under the pro- 

 tection of government or State bounty, are privi- 

 leged above most others, being allowed one dollar 

 for every ten pounds, or ten cents per pound for 

 all cocoons by them raised. Also 50 cents for the 

 reeling of every pound, and 50 cents for the 

 throwing or twisting of every pounil — making 

 iwo dollars bounty on every pound of sewing silk, 

 nearly or quite enough to pay all the expense of 

 raising the cocoons — reeling and twisting, leav- 

 ing every pound of silk a clear profit to the 

 grower. 



The Philadelphia Committee allow 2480 co- 

 coons to make a pound of raw silk. This is a 

 generous allowance, perha|)s ii medium quantity. 

 But worms well fed will yield cocoons, 2000 of 

 which will yield a pound of silk. We are confi- 

 '•lent that good American sewing silk will fetch as 

 much ill market as the best Italian — our mer- 

 chant tailors even prefer it. 



What better profit can the yankee farmer de- 

 sire, who, from cocoons of his own raising, can 

 reel and make sewing silk which will readily sell 

 at 10 dollars by the pound, and when he can take 

 at least 100 pounds of silk from an acre set with 

 Chinese mulberry ? Let posterity, nay let the 

 year 1840 or '43 decide the question, and we 

 think a few indiivsiduals will do it the next year. — 

 lb. 



Corn and Oil. — Itis said that the oil of Indian 

 corn is used in Cincinnati as a substitute for sperm 

 or whale oil. It is said to produce an equal quan- 

 tity of light, to be quite as transjiarent and tree 

 from disagreeable odor, in addition to which it is 

 not subject to freezing, having resisted the greatest 

 degree of cold during the present season — say 6° 

 below zero. The yield of oil is said to be half 

 a gallort to tlie bushel, without destroying the qual- 

 ities of the grain for distillation. — Boston Trans- 

 cript. 



In Fiance, although they raise so much silk, they 

 still import annually, to the amount of 43,000,000 

 fiaiics of raw silk, or nearly one-third of all they 

 consume, for the supply of their manufactures. 



