AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER 



PUBLISHED BY JOSEPH BRECK & CO., NO. 



NORTH MARKET STREET, (AGRicuLTDaAL Wakehouse.) 



VOL. XV^II.] 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JUNE 5, 1839. 



[NO. 48. 



AGRICULTURAL. 



'rom ' Transactions of the Essex Agricultural Society, 1838.' 



ON MULBERRY TREES. 



The Committee on the Cultivation of Mulberry 

 Trees, Silk, &c. respectfully report: That applica- 

 ions for preiniunis have been made by Miss B. G. 

 'hillips and sisters, and Joseph S. Holt, of Andover, 

 ;br plantations of mulberry trees, aitd by Gardner 

 i. Perry, of Bradford, for a nursery of the same, 

 or a description of which we refer to the statements 

 nade by the claimants, which the conmiittee be- 

 ieve are fully sustained by the appearance of the 

 rees, and recommend the folIow:ng awards : 



1. To the Misses Phillips, for their orchard of 

 ine acre, containing five liundred trees, the first 

 [■rcmium of .$25 00. 



I 2. To Mr Joseph S. Holt, for his plantation of a 

 little less than a half acre, containing fifteen hun- 

 ! red trees, the second premium, §20 00. 



3. To Mr Perry, for his nursery adapted to the 

 ■rowth of silk, $20 00. 



The committee in submitting their report, think 

 : proper to observe, that though these were the 

 nly opplications made, yet they should not have 

 ;lt it their duty to recommend the awards, had 

 ley not thought them justly merited on account of 

 le flourishing state of the trees and the apparent 

 kilfu! management bestowed upon them. 



GARDNER B. PERRY, 

 JOHN W. GROSVENOR, 

 EDWARD S. DAVIS, 

 ASA -A. ABBOT, 

 ABEL NICHOLS, 



Co7nmitt<c, 



MISSES PHILLIPS' STATEMENT. 



To the Committee of the Essex ,/lgrisultiiral Society 

 on the Cultivation of Mulberry Trees : 



Gentlemi^.n — The land on which our "rchard 

 itands, h."s for some years past, been lying at grass ; 

 vas ploughed up in the fall of 1837. Soil a grav- 

 illy mould, rather inclined to moisture. The trees 

 Tere procured of Rev. G. B. Perry, of different 

 liges, from six to ten years, and in height, from five 

 .o twelve or thirteen feet, possessing fine roots, 

 iind were very flourishing — five hundred in number, 

 vhich were set out in May. They stand in rows, 

 sixteen feet apart, and generally four feet from each 

 )ther in the rows, and occupy orio acre. They are 

 i.he kind known as the Italian. The estimated val- 

 lie of tlie trees at the time of transplanting was 



!)ne hundred dollars ; they have grown well this 

 season and now appear in a healthy condition. — 

 The land was well manured, and the spaces be- 

 tween the rows have been cultivated with beans and 

 livinter squashes, of which there were good crops. 

 iThe surface of the land is level. Expense of plant- 

 ing the trees, about twelve or thirteen dollars. 

 Andover, Dec. 20, 1838. 



MR. HOLT'S STATEMENT. 

 To the Committee of the Essex Co. .Agricultural So- 

 ciety on the Cultivation of tlie Mulberry Tree. 



Gentlemkn — I oflfer for premium a growth of 

 the White Mul'ierry tree, of about 1500 plants. 

 The following is the method adopted in their culti- 

 vation : 



The seed was sown in the spring of 1S33. The 

 plants for the first season were rather small ; an'd 

 altkough they were covered in autumn with straw 

 and coarse manure, they were killed to the ground 

 by the severe frosts of the following winter. Tiie 

 second season they grew to the height of about 2 

 feet. In 1835 they were removed fiom the bed to 

 a gravelly knoll, in a field exposed to bleak winds, 

 and planted in hedge-rows, 8 feet asunder, and the 

 trees one foot apart in the rows. The ground has 

 since been improved in raising potatoes and beans 

 alternately ; very little inan\ire having been used, 

 and tliat in the hills of the growing crop. iMy ob- 

 ject has been to raise the trees by a slov/, healthy, 

 and substantial growth ; and I have thus far suc- 

 ceeded in preserving them, while many who have 

 urged their trees forward too rapidly, have been 

 sadly disappointed in having them destro)'^d by our 

 severe winters. 



I will merely add, that if applied for, a part of 

 the trees will be disposed of at a reasonable price, 

 as I have a larger number than- 1 need for my own 

 use. ^ 



Respectfully, 



JOSEPH S. HOLT. 



Andover, Oc4. 1, 1838. 



MR PERRY'S STATEMENT. 

 To the Committee of the Essex Agricultural Society 

 on the Cultivation of the Mulberry Tree : 

 The nursery which I submit to the committee for 

 examination and award, is the produce of two and 

 a quarter pounds of seed, sown in 1S3G, one pound 

 Italian and the remainder of the kind sold as the 

 Chinese. The seed came up tolerably well, but 

 owing to the unfavorable season, many of the plants 

 died during the summer, and those that lived grew 

 but very little, many hardly putting forth more than 

 four or five leaves, and in the winter, though pro- 

 tected with pine boughs (probably the best protec- 

 tion they could have,) a considerable portion, full 

 one-half, perished. In the year 1837 they proved 

 more flourishing, and were less injured by the suc- 

 ceedi.'ig winter. This year they have had a vigor- 

 ous and healthful growth, exhibiting a full and swell- 

 ing crown, and strong and properly inclined bran- 

 ches. They stand in wide rows, with a space be- 

 tween the rows of five or six feet, well adapted to 

 feeding worms, where it is thought best to sufler 

 the trees to stand in nurseries — a method, however, 

 which my own experience would not justify me in 

 recommending. I have not taken pains to ascer- 

 tain with much accuracy the number of .trees; they 

 probably amount to five or six thousand. The land 

 is a gravelly loam, rather inclined lo be dry ; had 

 been cultivated the two previous years with corn 



and potatoes, pretty v/ell manured. The soil has 

 not,- 1 think, proved as favorable to thein as that of 

 some pieces which I have before devoted to a sim- 

 ilar use. The reason, so far as I have been able to 

 discover it is, that it contains a large portion of 

 clay. It is not easy to state the expense with much 

 accuracy, so much of the labor being performed at 

 wh;it farmerstcall odd jobs ; but of one thing T have 

 become fully convinced, that in common with many 

 others, I have in former estimates set the sum too 

 low. The seed cost about sixteen dollars, and the 

 expense of labor, &c. amounted to from fifty to sev- 

 entyfive dolhirs, and I should not be surprised, could 

 a full accoiu'.t be presented, to find it a still larger 

 sum. 



A part of the trees in this nursery, together with 

 some thousa.-ids of others from five to eleven years 

 old, in flourk-hing condition, are for sale. 



General Remarks on the Cultivation of Mulberry 

 Trees. 



In compliance with a wish expressed by several 

 gentlemen, I will subjoin to tl;e report on mu.lberry 

 trees a few observations, for the justness of which 

 the committee are not to be held respi)nsilite, as 

 owing to thetime, it lias not been practicatiile to 

 submit them to their approval, though most of the 

 statements, which will be made were subjects of 

 conversatioB with members of the committee, and 

 I do not recollect but there was a perfect agree- 

 ment of opinion in respect to them. 



The raising of mulberry trees in this county for 

 the purpose --if producing silk ia modern times, was 

 commenced by Mr Enoch Boynton, of New bury, 

 who in 18S2 planted some cuttings. His nursery 

 thus commenced, was inareased by trees raised 

 from seed, engraftings and cuttings, to moj'e than 

 42,000 in 1832. Upon the produce of them he fed 

 many worms, produced considerable silk, for speci- 

 mens of which he rsceived more tlian one gratuity 

 from this Society. A few years after the last date, 

 his farm passed into other hands, and the nursery 

 was either dug up or sufliered to run out, so that 

 very few if any trees now remain. In 1829, and 

 the years following, the writer of this and a few 

 others, commenced nurseries. The seed sowed 

 generally came up well, and the young trees grew 

 thriftily, and the prospect of producing food for 

 worms to any desired amount, was altogether en- 

 couraging. A deep and spreading interest began 

 to be awakened upon the subject. Many persons 

 in different parts of the county set out plantations, 

 in size from a few hundred to as many thousand. 

 Worms were raised in a great many families, from 

 a fevv- dozens by way of experiment, to many thou- 

 sands for ))rofit ; reports of many of these experi- 

 ments were made, useful and interesting accounts 

 of which may be found in the printed transactions 

 of the Society. Among other communications 

 was an essay from the pen of Andrew Nich- 

 ols, M. D., which deserves particular notice. — 

 This article contains more just observations and 

 practical wisdom than are found in any other work 

 of the same extent on the subject that has fallen 



