AND HORTICULTURAL REfilSTER. 



Boston, Wednesday, September 25, 18OT. 



SILK PRODUCTION AND MANUFACTURE. 



The subjoined leller from a highly valii«fl and intelli- 

 gent friend is so encouraging in regard lo iIib prtiriuiUon 

 of silk, that we give it to the pvihlic wiili great pleasure. 

 It was not designed for publiciition ; but we have no 

 knowledge of any experiment where the results .«eem so 

 decisive and emphalical. 



The sample <if silk referred to has been received, and 

 is of a beautiful description, h has been seen by sever- 

 al competent judges, and universally admired. It will 

 be exhibited at the Meclianies' Fair in Quincy Hall, and 

 we commend it to the attention of the interested .nnd cu- 



rmiiQ tl. Ky. 



5th Seplcmlxr, 1839. 

 Mr H. CoLMAN-Dear Sir— 1 have produced 600,01)0 

 gilk worms' eggs, of excellent quality, from two varie- 

 ties of worms — the common brown worm with sulphur 

 cocoon, and the large white worm with pea-nut cocoon 

 Sofaraslam acquainted, the latter is very sufierior, 

 and is so considered, especially by Whitmarsh, who says 



the silk is worth one quarter more thiin any other. The but one thing 1 consider certain ; that should the cult' 

 fibre is long, fine, and beautiful, and valuable (iir fine fab- | of silk become a staple business, trees will conseqi — 



how much I could accomplish. I supposed it would 

 require years of pracDce to produce cocoons, and fur- 

 ther than this, I though! I never should siep. That is, 1 

 did not think it possible without great skill to produce 

 a merchantable article of reeled silk. But the whole pro- 

 cess is well soiled to the intelligence of New England, 

 aHd blessed as we are by ihe most favorable cliinato in 

 the world, it will be strange indeed if we do not be- 

 come a silk gMwiug people. We can feed successive 

 crops from the njiddle of May to the middle of Septem- 

 ber, without artifir-ial heat. All Europeans agree that 

 the cocoons of this country are of extraordinary size, 

 and produce double the amount of silk over ihose of 

 France or Italy ; and they all further concur in the fact, 

 that in every stage of the kiisiness, we possess superior 

 advantages, and that there are no obstacles to our pro- 

 ducing siik to an immense amount and of the best qual- 

 ity. 1 should be veiy hap|iy to spend the summer 

 months in producing silk, and it would be my pride to 

 oblain redid silk ,.f the finest quality. 1 sent a small 

 parcel to Philadelphia, for which I was olTered- $7 50^ 

 a pound— a higher price than sewing silk of domestic 

 produce commands. 



Trees of foreign origin are yet dear, yet I think under 

 no contingency tan an orchard be produced so cheap as 

 10 piiicliaGe trees and multiply them by cuttings. 1 do 

 not mean that 1 think they will command present prices, 



gralulate him, if by any fortunate discovery through hi» 

 skill, observation, and experience, he is able to confer 

 such a benefit upon the agricultural world as his coni- 



jnication would lead us to suppose. 



We understand his letter as an offer to make known 

 to us, upon certain conditions, the process by which he 

 is able to produce the results he specifies We shall be 

 happy to hear farther from him on the subject; but as 

 he has not made known the precise boon which he prof- 

 fers, nor the coiidilions on which the offer is made, we 

 must wait lor farther information H. C. 



53= Wo beg leave to say lo "I.A.J." that his com- 

 munication in a previous paper addressed to H. C, was 

 received in our absence; and we had. not the pleasure 

 of reading it until we saw it in print. We have only to 

 say to him that we shall be happy to hear fn-m him as 

 often as he will be kind enoi.:gh to favor us; and we 

 hope that will be very often. The manuscripts have 

 likewise been received, for which he will accept our 

 thanks. We wait only for a moment of leisure to have 

 the pleasure of a perusal. H. C. 



rics. If you should meet with demands for silk worms' 

 eggs, 1 will forward them to your order with great 

 pleasure. They are deposited on sheets of foolscap, and 

 can be enclosed in a letter. We have also a small col- 

 lection of Multicaulis trees. Unfortunately I was in- 

 duced to purchase Alpine cuttings, which, owing to 

 the hardness of its v/ood and the cold season, was al- 

 most an entire failure ; and (jf the Multicaulis kind less 

 than one-half vegetated. Under all these unfavorable 

 circumstances I believe I shall nevertheless be able to 

 give a good account of my stewardship. 



The experiments 1 have been able to make have been 

 most satisfactory, and the practical knowlede I have ac- 

 quired, most useful to me. I have carried my plan 

 through without the slightest drawback, and have given 

 a practical demonstration that with ordinary intelligence 

 and carelul management, the culture of silk is as feasi- 

 ble as the culture of Indian corn. Evtry step in the 

 business was new to me, and ail my iiiformatibn was 

 drawn alone from books. 



From the cocoons remaining or those not pierced by 

 millers, we are now extracting a beautiful quality of 

 Bilk— a specimen of which 1 intend to oSer for premium 

 at the next exhibition of the Massachuselta Chaiitable 

 Mechanic Association, if you can do me the favor lo 

 present it for me, as I cannot personally attend to it. I 

 shall offer it for competition as ihe best reeled silk, 



I of the busines 

 every thing to learn, lor 1 never saw a silk reel except 



ntly 

 bear a good price. It is my determination to follow up 

 the business with spirit if at all. The outlay for lands, 

 buildings, and trees need not be very considerable, in 

 comparison with that required for most enterprises. 



Will you pleaso to say whether it will be quite con- 

 venient for you to enter my specimens of reeled silk at 

 the fair, and state where I may send it. I am so vain 

 as to think you will take pleasure in bringing my first 

 attempts into notice. 



CREEl'ING WHEAT— (Tritkum repens.) 

 Our correspondent N, L. is desirous of calling things 

 by their right names; and requests us. to inCorm liim 

 whether a certain grass, usually deemed a great pest bv 

 farmers and. gardeners, which has a sort of polypus life 

 and starts from every joint, is to be called witch grass or 

 twitch grass. Weanswor that this plant isa perfect «/(«*, 

 and known in almost every town by a different ci>gno- 

 men. In some places it is called, as he says, twitcli 

 grass ; in some witch grass ; in some Sprague's grass . 

 in some joint grass ; in some places and among a set of 

 men (we shall not s,.y where they live,) who get sud- 

 denly in a passicm, and use hard names, it is called dev- 

 il's weed^for certain folks are always fond ofaff"ection- 

 ate associations, and of remembering their intimate 

 friends on all occasions. But none of these names are 



, ^ . , ■ 11 J I half (Ml resnectable as the true botanical name, by the 



this importani branch of the business we have had half so respeciauie as I. .,, L,„ 



""""V ., ' yje nf which we hope our friends conscience will here- 



, . , . f „ ,„ ,„„..,r„M„n Th «' after be relieved; that is, Triticum repens, or Creep\ng 

 the one 1 use, which is of my own conelrujtron. in.s , ■»'<" "^ • ' ' U C 



instrument is exceedingly simple, and performs its work , Whc-.al. 



in the finest manner, and I should be happy if I knew ^ RAISING VEGETABLES. 



any person who could use it, to exhibit It also. 1 be- Nb w ...uur, vj .,.,,, , ., 



lieve its simplicity would commend itself to the favora- 1 Mr Stanley Carter, of North Wrenlham, un er date 

 ble notice of judges, as being the best machine of the j of September iOlh instant, informs us that he has dis- 

 k „d and peculiarly adapted for faudly use. Its move- covered a process of forwarding vegetation, by which, 

 TeL are the same as the famous Piedmontcse reel. , he says, vegetables can be brought to --"y - ">- 

 The reeling of silk is a verv delicate operation, yet it , fourths nflhe time usually required for that result^ He 

 isone that patience and industry will easily surmount, is of opinion that great improvements are not eft-ected 

 I believe you will be surprised to see , he specimens always and exclusively by master minds, as those of a 

 ee ed in my roon., for indeed I am surprised myself ! Newton and a Frankliu ; but often by the most seel ud- 

 When seveal months since you asked me why I did , ed and humble operators ,n the community. In this 

 Bot direct my attention to the silk culture,! had no idea we entirely agree with him, and shall most heartily con- 



LOWELL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The first exhibition of the Lowell Horticultural Soci- 

 ety took place at Mechanics' hall on Wednesday, the 

 I9!li inst It gave us much pleasure to be present and 

 witness the first offerings to Flora and Pomona. From 

 the spiiit which has marked the formation of this soci- 

 ety, and the result of its first effort, we anticipate that it 

 will become an object of much interest and usefulness 

 to the city of Lowell and vicinity. As we take a deep 

 interest in the dissemination and cultivation of fine 

 fruits and flowers, we hail with pleasure its existence, 

 and shall at all limes be pleased to extend to it the right 

 hand of fellowship. 



The show of flower? was very good considering the 

 recent organization of the society — much better than 

 could have been expected. The dahlia appeared the 

 most prominent among the floral tribe : some fine sp.'ci, 

 mens were exhibited by a number of contributors ; there 

 were also numerous bouquets and cut flowers, peculiar 

 to the season. The fruit consisted of apples, [lears, peach- 

 es, plums, grapes, melons, &c. of which there wasagood 

 display, reflecting much credit upon the cultivators in 

 the neighborhood ; many of the specimens were of the 

 first order. Overgrown squashes, pumpkins, and other 

 huge vegetables were to be seen as usual on such occa- 

 sions. A bushel basket of large Rohan potatoes was ex- 

 hibited, raised from twenty eyes, some of them weigh- 

 ing 1 1-2 lb. each. The hall was thronged with ladies 

 and gentlemen, .Tpparently well pleased with so success, 

 fill a commencement. In the evening an address was 

 delivered on the occasion by the Rev. J. L. Russell, 

 which we did not heal, as it was necessary for us to 

 return before night ; but from his well known ardent 

 love of Horticulture, and his perfect knowledge of Bot- 

 any, no doubt it was well adapted to interest and in- 

 struct his audience, and encourage them to persevere 

 in their efforts to promote a taste for the cultivation of 

 fruits and flowers in Lowell and vicinity. J. B. 



itiaasachiisetis Horticultural Soclely, 



EXHIBITION OF FROITS. 



Saturday, Sept. 14, 1839. 



The show of fruits at the hall of the Society have thus 

 lar been uncommonly good for the season. 



Mr Manning exhibited Gravenstein Apples ; Golden 

 Beurre of Bilboa, Styrian, Buffum, Beurre of Mons, of 

 the London Horticultural Society, and Belle Lucrative 



