vol.. XVII NO 23. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



181 



MULBERRY TREES AND THE SILK 



BUSINESS. 



Extract from a Letter from Mr Chcmncey Stone of 



Burlington, .V. /. 



In replying to your qtiestiona it will be necessary 



for me briefly to recapitulate them. Question 



1. Have you been long engage. I in cultivating 

 the mulberry ? 



2. What species of morus do you deem preter- 

 able, and what kind of soil suits it best? 



3. What is the best mode of propagating, plant- 

 ino-, and managing it .- 



4. Wliat is the value, expense and prout on an 

 acre of mulberry trees for the first five years inclu- 



5. What kind of worm do you consider the 

 most valuable ? • ,nn 



G. What lielp does it require to raise lUU 

 pounds of silk ? , u c . 



pirst.—l am one of the number who first com- 

 menced the silk business in this vicinity, and have 

 devoted the two last years with close application 

 practically to the culture of the morus multic.iulis 

 and rearing the silk worm. 



Second.— 1 have taken much interest during the 

 last few years in comparing the relative qualities 

 of the diff-erent mulberries ; and at present I know 

 of none better than the morus multicaulis tor this 

 and the more southern latitudes for the silk busi- 

 ness The Alpine, the Canton, and the Brusa, are 

 excellent species, and may be well adapted to the 

 more northern latitudes. Most of the different 

 species 1 have seen, which are fourteen or fifteen 

 varieties, require four or five years' growth before 

 havino- much foliage to part with ; but the multi- 

 caul's°will yield a large quantity the first year's 

 growth without injury to the tree, and is eaten 

 with great avidity by the silk worm. The mulber- 

 ry that is most productive of fruit is less produc- 

 tive of foliage. The multicaulis produces very 

 little fruit, a.id is not often grown from the seed. 

 It will flourish on all soils where the peach does._ 



To select a location on which to plant a field for 

 the silk business, I would prefer undulating grounds, 

 havin.r a deep mellow loam, and mixed with sand 

 and gravel sufficient to prevent the soil from baking 

 or crusting. 



Third. — Afler having the ground made mellow, 

 lay out the field in rows about four feet apart, and 

 the surest mode, by taking one season with another, 

 is to lay the tree down full length and cover deep 

 enough to keep moist The time for planting in 

 this latitude, I think, will be during the first and 

 second weeks in April, in common seasons. By 

 plantino- a field of mnlbe-ries in this mode they 

 must bl taken up in the autumn, as they will stand 

 too near each other to remain in the ground. But 

 to plant a field of mulberries not to be taken up 

 in the fall, mv own views are to lay out the rows 

 about five feet apart, and in the autumn take up 

 every other tree in the rows, leaving them standing 

 four feet apart; the remainder to have the tops cut 

 off near the ground in the fall. In the following 

 sprin<^, many shoots from each stump will start up 

 with vigor, and produce an abundance of foliage, 

 and eas°y to be gathered. And where the field is 

 large, I think every fifth row may be omitted and 

 not^ planted, but used as a passage for a cart or 

 wagon in which to transport the foliage to cocoon- 

 cry. Our experiments made this season have proved 

 the feasibility, that mulberry treated in the above 

 manner will fulfil the most sanguine anticipations. 



Fourth.— To answer this question it will require 

 some philosophical speculations, as the feeding of 

 silk worms from an acre of multicaulis of four or 

 five years' growth, has not been done by me, or un- 

 der my observation. At the rate of fifty pounds 

 of reeled silk to the acre has been produced from 

 tlie first year's growth of trees. Hut from an acre 

 to be planted in tlie manner I have described, ;iO 

 pounds the first year will be a fair production, and 

 by leaving the roots in the ground and pruning the 

 tops in the autumn, I deem it not extravagant to 

 estimate one hundred pounds reeled silk yearly on 

 an average, the four succeeding years after the first 

 year's growth of trees. 



After tlie cocooneries and fixtures for feeding are 

 prepared, we can feed the silk worms and reel the 

 silk at an expense not over two dollars and fifty 

 cents per pound, and it is then worth from foar 

 dollar and fifty cents to six dollars a pound to the 

 manufacturer. 



Fifth. At present I know of none I prefer to 



the white mammoth worm, so called, but we have a 

 kind that spins a large yellow cocoon, and is a very 

 good kind. The silk of the white is worth most. 

 We have a kind called the two crop kind, that can 

 be reproduced the same year, but they spin a small 

 cocoon. 



Sixth.— h requires a person having experience 

 to take charge of the feeding, who can manage du- 

 rino- the first week alone after the worms hatch, 

 and the second week a boy or girl will be wanted 

 to pick leaves, and after that another person, equal 

 to a full hand, will be all that will be required to 

 finish the crop, which will be about three hundred 

 thousand in number. 



By this calculation I expect the cocoonery to be 

 convenient to the mulberry field. It requires two 

 hands to change the worms de.xterously, but they 

 can attend to that in the morning when the dew 

 will be upon the leaves,, and to gathering the foli- 

 age after the dew shall disappear. A stock of leaves 

 w"ill always be wanted before hand, lest there 

 should be "rainy weather, when they cannot gather 

 them. 



Those who raise silk and wishing to sell it in its 

 raw state, had better reel it into skeins, and is then 

 in a merchantable condition. 



I have answered your interrogatories in a man- 

 ner that appears most feasible to my views, but 

 I do not pretend to lay down any particular modes 

 or systems as applicable to all future generations. 



first by filling the country with trees. It is only 

 until that is accomplished that raw silk can be cul- 

 tivated to advantage. The present prices of trees 

 are so extravagant that nobody can be induced to 

 use them to raise silk,— they are worth so much 

 more to sell or to cut up into slips for the purpose 

 of multiplying plants anotlier season. A little fore- 

 cast would teach these persons that silk i's to be 

 grown, and that it cannot be so long as the trees 

 are so expensive. The purpose, therefore, is to 

 reduce their price another season, by filling the 

 country with this species of merchandize. 



Another thing must be corrected and set right. 

 It is stated in some papers, on the authority of Mr 

 Pleasants of Virginia, that the silk companies at 

 the north have ceased to exist, except in riaim. 

 The ^gis alludes, with some emphasis, to the im- 

 portance of disseminating correct knowledge on 

 this subject, and then remarks, the incorporated 

 company in Northampton, without producing a 

 pound of silk, is abandoned and its " lands are of- 

 fered for sale" ! The admonition adii.inistered to 

 other people applies with peculiar force to such 

 statements as these, wliich are not merely disheart- 

 ening, but /«/sc. Experience has taught, that the 

 true'way to grow silk to advantage, is on farms 

 connected with other agricultural operatio:is. The 

 incorporated Company in this town purchased two 

 or three hundred acres of land, much of which was 

 set over with young mulberry trees. The trees 

 had not reached a size sufficient to feed worms, 

 before the price became enhanced and the sale of 

 them yielded more profit than the growth of the 

 raw silk. The Silk Company here not only exists 

 in ,iame, but in substance, having three hundred 

 acres of land, 100,000 mulberry trees, and a superb 

 brick factory four stories high and nearly one hun- 

 dred feet long, which is already partially filled 

 with machinery in operation. It will be completed 

 in the spring, and the business of manufacturing 

 sewino- silk carried on with vigor. One of the 

 hindra°nces at the present time arises from being 

 compelled to import the raw material ; for, with alj 

 the extravagant bounties ofiered by diff-erent legi- 

 latures, very little of the domestic article is yet 

 Uentto market. When the country is fil.ed with 

 trees and the price of them falls, then raw silk will 

 be produced at a great profit. The incorporated 

 company in this town, we ore happy to inform our 

 Worcester friends, still exists, and will show itself 

 snothei: season.— .Voritampfon Conner. 



SILK, MULBERRY TREES AND SO FORTH.' 



The Worcester Mgis and some otlier papers, 

 have attempted to draw deductions from the present 

 high price of mulberry trees, which will operate to 

 the injury of the silk business. They argue that 

 these exorbitant prices cannot be sustained an- 

 other season, but when they fall, then will come 

 the exploded humbug. These individuals are 

 wholly mistaken. No man, in his sober senses 

 believes, that when the tree have multiplied, the 

 value they now command will be sustained ; but 

 we contend that the scarcity of trees keeps up pre- 

 sent prices. Doubtless the trees another season 

 will be multiplied greatly, and of course sell lower. 

 Yet, if a man buys one stalk this year for 50 or 75 

 cents, which has twenty or thirty buds, and which 

 another season will yield as many trees, if the price 

 is at sixpence a tree next fall, will he not have a 

 productive crop? The purpose is to grow silk, 



Seven bushels of good sized potatoes were dug 

 iH Ciaremont, N. H. on the 1st ult., the product of 

 a. single poWo, of the "lady finger kind," which 

 was planted on th.e 15th of May last. This potato 

 had 72 eyes and was cut into as many pieces. 

 One of these was planted in a hill, and on the 

 eighth day after planting, the sprouts (when there 

 were more than two shoots springing from one eye) 

 were separated and transplanted. In this way 110 

 hills nere made. The vines measured one mile in 

 length, and the weight of the crop was 515 lbs. 



Said a purchaser to a horse dealer, " is that an- 

 imal sure footed ?" "Perfectly," said the Jockey, 

 "when h(iputs his foot down, you'd think he never 

 was going to take it up." 



The number of police constables on duty on 

 the day of the Coronation in London was 2,900. 



