﻿Nelson Association. 425 



red and white mulberry trees, planted in high lands and in light soils, and 

 exposed to cold dry winds, produce large quantities of strong silk, of the 

 purest and finest qualities. The leaves of the same kinds of trees, planted in 

 damp situations, in low grounds, and in stiff soils, produce less silk, and of a 

 quality less pure and fine. 



The less nutritive substance the leaf contains, the more leaves must the 

 Silkworm consume to complete its development. The result must therefore 

 be, that the Silkworm which consumes a large quantity of leaves that are not 

 nutritive must be more fatigued and more liable to disease than the Silkworm 

 that eats a smaller proportion of more nutritive leaves. Notwithstanding all 

 this, experience proves that, all things balanced, the quality of the soU pro- 

 duces but a very slight difference on the quality of the leaf; that which will 

 ajipear most evident is, that the principal influential cause of the fineness of 

 the silk is the degree of temperature in which the Silkworm is reared. There 

 is another fact to be observed, that an old mulberry tree will always produce 

 better leaves than the young tree, and as the tree grows older, of whatever 

 quality it may be, the leaf diminishes in size, and improves so materially that 

 it attains a very excellent qiiality. 



Mr. Brady, the well-known sericidturist of ISTcav South "Wales, writes to 

 me that the Morus multicaulis is on the whole by far the best tree for its 

 earliness, ready growth, and quantity of leaves. Count Dandolo gives a 

 description of a tree called the Tuscan mulberry, which closely resembles the 

 Morus multicaulis, and says that if the leaves are allowed to get matured on 

 the tree, and those only given in the last stages of feeding, the Silkworms 

 answer every purpose required. I received lately from a silk merchant in 

 England S]3ecimens and circulars, giving names and descriptions of trees that 

 are used in Europe, viz., Morus jaj)onica, a large-leaved tree, Lombardy rose, 

 and Morus alpina, suitable for cold and exposed situations. Some plants of 

 M. multicaulis that I planted on a steej^ hill-side two years since have produced 

 a smaller but much thicker leaf. As the growth of mulbei'ry trees and the 

 rearing of silkworms are two different branches of industry, and are often fol- 

 lowed apart, there is no reason why this should not be done here, and there are 

 many reasons why it should be the more preferable. In the eai'ly stage of the 

 industry it would leave to the cottager the simj)le task of rearing the trees, 

 which would largely recompense him for his labour. A few statistics will not 

 be out of place here, to show what returns may be expected from growing 

 mulberry trees. Assuming that an acre of land is planted with 400 mulberry 

 trees one year old, at the first but few leaves can be taken, but the second year 

 each tree should produce one shilling's worth of leaves, or at the rate of £20 

 to the acre, and increasing in value every year. 



But it would be a mistake to suppose that the mulberry tree can be raised 



