AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER. 



PUBLISHED "^j- JOSEPH BRECK &. CO., NO. 62 NORTH MARKET STREET, (Agricdltubal Warehouse.) 



VOL. XVH.3 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, MARCH 27, 1839. 



[NO. 38- 



N 



FARMER 



For the New England Farmer. 



Mr Breck — Within a fen- days, I have received 

 several letters and pamphlets, with a small package 

 of en-gs, of a new species of silk worm, from the 

 Messrs Winship, — the estimable proprietors of the 

 celebrated nursery in Brighton, which had been 

 presented to tliem, by captain Charles Hunt, com- 

 mander of the ship Switzerland, wliich has recent- 

 ly arrived in Boston, from France ; and I was re- 

 quested to make such a disposition of them, as 

 would be most beneficial to the country. 



By the letter from J. H. Mey, Esq. of Paris, to 

 captain Hunt, and which is herewith submitted for 

 publication, it will be perceived, that the silk worm 

 eggs, from which tlie sample transmitted were de- 

 rived, have been lately introduced into France ; 

 and from an article in the first number of " Le 

 Propagatenr de L' Industrie de la Sole," to which 

 Mr Mey alludes, it appears, tliat they were brought 

 from Bengal, by captain Vaillant in the corvette 

 Bonite. 



I shall translate from the Propagateur for the 

 next number of the New England Farmer, the ac- 

 count of an experiment, which was made by Baron 

 D' Hambres-Firmis, in rearing a small colony of 

 these oriental strangers, at the request of the Min- 

 ister of Agiiculture and Commerce, from whom 

 some of the eggs, tliat had been just brouglit from 

 India were received ; and I will at the same time, 

 deposit with Mr Colman, the agricultural commis- 

 sioner of the state, the eggs, confided to me for dis- 

 tribution among such persons as are engaged in the 

 silk culture, as may be desirous of making an exper- 

 iment, to ascertain whether this species of the pre- 

 cious family of the silk manufacturing insects, will 

 be an acquisition to them and the country, or not; 

 and also an engraved sheet, containing accurate and 

 beautifully colored representations of the insect, 

 in all its various stages and transformations, from 

 the moment it leaves the egg, until it reaches the 

 perfect winged state. 



There is an advertisement of the Chevalier Sou- 

 lange Bodin, announcing that he has for sale, at his 

 celebrated establishment of Fremont, plants of 

 the Morus Multicaulis, Camellia, Rhododendron, 

 Magnolia, Azalea, Rose, Dahlia and Chrysanthe- 

 mum, which you will please to publish untiil the 

 first of May. 



The eminent services, which the Chevalier Bodin 

 has rendered to horticulture, by his extensive and 

 admirably conducted experimental garden and 

 school at Fremont, and his numerous publications, 

 on the science and art of horticulture, in all its in- 

 teresting departments, have rendered him highly 

 distinguished and most deservedly honored, in both 

 hemispheres ; and whoever may desire to obtain 

 any plants, from his vast nurseries, can rely, with 

 confidence, on receiving the best samples, which 

 are to be procured in France, of all the varieties, 

 of fruit, forest and ornamental trees and shrubs, 

 which are cultivated in that kingdom. 



Captain Hunt is entitled to the gratitude of his 



fellow citizens, for his honorable e.Kertions to sub- 

 serve the interests of his country, in one of its 

 most important branches of industry. Such rare 

 instances of fidelity to the republic, among the 

 thousands of Americans who visit every portion of 

 the globe, are deserving of the highest commenda- 

 tion ; for the introduction of a single new plant, 

 seed or product, which may give employment to any 

 portion of the people, is often of more momentous 

 consequence, to the prosperity of agriculture, man- 

 ufactories, and navigation, than the annual importa- 

 tions of our whole commercial fleet. Such was the 

 cise with the cotton seed, and may be with the 

 silk worm and morus multicaulis. Nantucket may 

 well be proud of such an intelligent and patriotic 

 nautical commander, who ha.s evinced a disposition 

 and has a mind sufficiently enlightened and dis- 

 criminating to ascertain, that the introduction of 

 the minute egg of an insect, may bo more credita- 

 ble to himself, and beneficial to the United States, 

 than a return from the coast of Japan, after the ac- 

 complishment of the most successful whaling ex- 

 pedition, that ever made glad the hearts of the 

 bold, hardy and adventurous mariners, of the 

 storm-beaten island, of the illustrious Penn's ex- 

 emplary and meritorious disciples. 



Mr Mey, who is a citizen of South Carolina, has 

 well earned the thanks of his countrymen, by his 

 active zeal to promote their interests; and it is 

 desirable, that other gentlemen, who have as favor- 

 able opportunities, to transmit, whatever may be 

 valuable to their native land, would imitate his gen- 

 erous attention to really useful or interesting ob- 

 jects, as well as to the worthless pageantries which 

 amuse and occupy most of the tims', of too many 

 of our ever wandering, yet mere sight-seeing and 

 profitless tourists ; who, if they do bring home 

 some foreign article, it is often the fragment of some 

 ancient work of art, and in the acquisition of which 

 they have evinced their refnud taste in the Elgian 

 manner, by mutilating a superb temple, column or 

 statue, in the acquisition. A book, or painting, or 

 any whole and complete object, no matter how 

 small, is worth all the baubles and pieces of stone, 

 which illustrate the profound researches, of the in- 

 numerable " lookers on," male and female, which 

 our modern Viennas annually send forth ; and tho 

 if they " have swam in a gondola" on the canals of 

 Venice, have satisfied their lofty notions of foreign 

 travel. Very respectfully your 



Most obedient servant, 



H. A. S. DEARBORN. 



Hawthorn Cotta&e, 

 Roxbury, March, 14, 183&. 



Paris, Jamiary 16, 1839. 

 Captain Hunt commaniler of the ship Switzerland, 



Sir — Since you left this city, I have subscribed 

 to a work, which treats exclusively of the silk 

 worm and the cultivation of the mulberry tree, 

 which I send to you, that you may present it to 

 your society, and if they choose they can write 

 to me to subscribe for them. The cost is but 

 eight francs per annum. 



I hive been promised a species of silk worm, 

 which laid eggs, that hatched immediately after. 

 ! his is but lately known, and a report will be made 

 of it, at our next meeting of the horticultural socie- 

 ty ; so that you have the latest information on the 

 subject, and which but few Frenchmen yet know. 

 If I can, 1 will send you, by tiie same conveyance, 

 some of these eggs, which were brought here by 

 the Honite, captain La Vaillant ; and these are the 

 only eggs produced here from them. 



On the iSth of June, 48 eggs produced, at the 

 end of 40 days 1'3 cocoons. These cocoons pro- 

 duced eggs, which hatched in a cellar, where they 

 were placed, and were removed to a hot house on 

 the 18th of -August, where the heat was up to 147 

 by Fahrenheit's thermometer. The first day 24 

 hatched, the next 2.5, and on the 21st they were all 

 hatched, producing lO.jG worms. The first cocoons 

 were small, pointed and soft, the second much larg- 

 er and solid. The color of the silk was white, 

 yellow, and greenish-yellow, or rather yellow with 

 a tinge of green. The 12 cocoons produced but 

 one male, and another male was procured to fecun- 

 date the rest. 



I think the species, which it is said produces 

 many crops in its native country, will be valuable, 

 therefore take care of them. I also send a sketch 

 of' the different stages of the worm, the eggs of 

 which I beg you will endeavor to distribute.* 



Thursday '-i o'clock, P. M, Jan. 17. I have suc- 

 ceeded in procuring the Sina species of worm, Sy- 

 rean mixed. If they can be separated, when hatch- 

 ed it would be better, as they are two different 

 kinds. Keep the eggs, which are in a tin box, in 

 a cool place, that they may not hatch before the 

 time, you have leaves to feed them with. I think 

 you may have three crops in Boston, with tlie aid 

 of the morus multicaulis leaves. 

 I am respectfully, 



Your obedient servant. 



J. H. MEY. 



SERICICULTURE. 



Mb Breck I promised, in the communication 



which I sent you on the 14th inst., to furnish addi- 

 tional information, in relation to the Bengal silk 

 worm, and annexed are translations from the num- 

 bers of the Propagateur, of the several accounts, 

 which have-b«e|i given of that insect. 



The Propagatenr is a monthly journal, which has 

 been established at Rodez, the capital of Aveiriki, 

 by a society of agriculturists and manufacturers, 

 for the special purpose of extending and perfect- 

 incr the culture of the mulberry and the manage- 

 ment of silk worms, in the southern departments of 

 France. It is under the direction of M. Amans 

 Carrier, who is eminently qualified for the station. 

 The first number was published in July last, which 

 with those for the other five niontlis of the year, 



• It is possible that this silk worm is the variety 

 which is mentioned in an article I furnished for the 12t/i 

 number of the first volume of your Horticultural Regis- 

 ter, as being chiefly cultivated in India, lor it yields six 

 crops in a year. H- A. S. D. 



