Ssrx. i, L865.] THE TECHNOLOGIST. 
CULTIVATION OF THE MULBERRY. 75 
yield large returns, and be of great benefit not only to the agriculturist, 
but to the whole community. The demand for silk produced from the 
worms fed upon the leaves of the mulberry is always increasing, and 
I cannot foresee any but the most beneficial results in its general adop- 
tion to this country. In the composition of the leaves of the mulberry 
tree there are five different substances — viz., solid or fibrinous, colouring 
matter, water, and saccharine or resinous and silky matters. The three 
first substances are not absolutely necessary for the life of the silkworm. 
The saccharine matter nourishes and aids in the formation of the animal, 
and the resinous matter imbibed by the worm from the leaves is accu- 
mulated and purified by its peculiar organisation, and collected in the two 
reservoirs of the worm to be discharged afterwards through the mouth in 
the form of silk. The yield of silk will be found in accordance with 
the presence of more or less of the saccharine and resinous matters in 
the leaves on which the worm is fed. For instance, the silk produced 
by the leaves of the black mulberry, which are hard, rough, and 
tenacious, and which was the principal food of worms in the warm 
countries of Europe, such as Greece, Spain, Sicily, Calabria, &c, is 
abundant, the thread strong, but very coarse. The worms fed on leaves 
of the white mulberry (which has been planted on elevated situations 
and exposed to a dry wind) produce abundance of silk, strong, very pure, 
and of very fine quality. It is almost unnecessary to state that the 
less nutriment there is in the leaves the greater will be the quantity 
required to perfectly develope the worm. The result is that the worm 
which is fed on leaves which possess great nutritive power will grow 
large, and produce less silk than that which is fed on those containing 
a large amount of resinous matter, although not attaining the same size 
as the former is liable to become sick, and its productive powers put 
out of order. Of the white mulberry there are many varieties, but of 
these the following sixteen are in general use in Italy for grafting 
stocks — viz., 1. A. foglie nervose ; 2. Bathiany ; 3. Columbassa ; 4. Flava ; 
5. Giazzola a foglia doppia ; 6. Integrifolia ; 7. Latif'olia ; 8. Macro- 
phylla ; 9. Macrophylla grisea ; 10. Mascula pedemontana ; 11. Ovali- 
folia fructibus albidis ; 12. Piramidale ; 13. Eoseo di Lombardia; 
14. Rose laevigata ; 15. Rouillardi ; 16. Vainissi. For sowing, two ara 
principally used — viz., Morrettiana and common alba. Of those used 
for grafting, the three most generally in favour are the Giazzolo a foglia 
doppia, Mascula pedemontana, and the Roseo di Lombardia, as being 
more rich in saccharine and resinous matters, and containing less water, 
&c, than the others. From experiments made with one hundred ounces 
of the fresh-gathered leaves of each of these three varieties, the yield 
after being properly dried was found as follows : — Roseo di Lombardia, 
thirty ounces ; Giazzolo a foglia doppia, thirty-one ounces ; and Mascula 
pedemontana, thirty-six ounces. Another variety of mulberry, the 
Multicaulis, that was impoited from the Island of Luzon, is also very 
much used for the early education of the silkworm, but owing to its 
