THE CULTIVATOR. 
5 
white mulberry is often seriously injured, and sometimes killed, by the 
severity of our northern winters. The other is, that the Chinese mul¬ 
berry, or morus multicaulus, seldom escapes injury from a like cause. 
We have had the white mulberry in our nursery the last six winters. 
In five of these the frost has killed many of the branches and some of 
the roots. We have had the Chinese three winters, and three winters 
the plants have been killed to the ground, and some of them have been 
destroyed root and bTanch, Others, we know, have succeeded better. j 
Our soil is light, and we are aware that tender plants suffer more in it, 
from cold, than they do in clay or loamy soils. 
Having made these preliminary remarks, from a wish to present the 
reader with a view of the whole ground, we preceed in our task to 
speak of the 
Mulberry , to plant and nurture which is the first step in the business. 
There are several species and varieties of this tree, the leaves of which 
the worm converts into silk. Our correspondents advise us, that there 
are three kinds of indigenous growth in Ulster, and two in Montgomery, 
near the Mohawk river. The red fruited, (rubra,) is found wild in 
many parts of the country, and the leaves have been employed in feed- ; 
jng the worm. This species is common in most of the states, and a 
correspondent in Maryland writes us, thal both the red and white grow' 
abundantly there. The seeds of both kinds are'scattered by birds, and 
we do not doubt but in a few years the white will be found springing up 
in our woods, as though it were indigenous. Mr. Rind has also intro¬ 
duced seeds of the Asiatic mulberry, from Constantinople; and D. j 
Ruggles, Esq. of Newburgh, has twelve or thirteen thousand plants, 
from this seed, growing in nursery. The leaves are intermediate in ! 
size between those of the white and Chinese spe iest and there is an- j 
other, we believe from Italy, similar to the Asiatic, and possibly the 
same, which has been growing some winters in our nursery, uninjured 
by frost. But for the present, reliance can only be had on the white 
and Chinese, not only because they are reputed to be best, but because 
the others cannot be immediately procured in sufficient quantities. Of j 
the first only can seeds be procured, and this is the season to provide ; 
them. Plants of both kinds may be had at most of the public, and at 
many private nurseries. W. Thorburn, in Albany, sells the seed at J 
fifty cents the ounce, and the eggs at eighteen to twenty-five cents the 
thousand. An ounce of seed will give from two to three thousand 
plants. 
The statements in regard to profits are extremely variant, which de¬ 
pends undoubtedly upon good or bad management. The estimates of 
sixteen individuals, in Robert’s Manual, vary from $72 to $2,664, as ; 
the products of an acre, in money, averaging about $1,000 per acre. \ 
The editor adopts $565.50 as the nett profit of an acre of full grown 
trees. Dr. Comstock, the author of “A Practical Treatise on the Cul¬ 
ture of Silk,” puts it down, as a safe calculation, lhat from $125 to 
$150 nett profit, may be expected from an acre of full grown trees. 
The lowest estimate is always the safest one for beginners. 
We must refer to page 51 of vol. 2 of the Cultivator for directions 
for sowing the seed, and managing the plants in the seed bed, with this 
further direction, that in northern latitudes, it is a good precaution to 
cover the plants while in the seed bed, in winter, with coarse litter from 
the cattle yard or elsewhere. 
The mulberry may be also propagated by layers, suckers and cuttings. | 
and by the ordinary processes of grafting and budding. These modes 
of increase are seldom applied to any but the Chinese kind. Sprouts 
often spring from about the surface of the ground; and if these are 
earthed up they will throw off roots, and after a season may be sepa¬ 
rated from the parent stock and transplanted. Or these may be bent 
down to the earth, and converted into layers. 
The Soil best adapted to the mulberry is a light loam, though they 
will grow in almost any soil not habitually wet. Stony ground, unfit 
for tillage, is as good as any for them. 
The best aspect for a mulberry plantation is one sloping to the south 
or south-east or south-west; and it is advantageous to have it sheltered 
on the north and west by woods or high grounds. 
Manner of planting .—If the business is to be managed on a small 
scale, and only a few trees planted, these may be put out along fences, 
at the distance of twelve to fifteen feet apart, and trimmed up as they 
grow, so as not to incommode teams in the ordinary field labor. The 
holes for the plants should be three feet in diameter, and eighteen inches 
deep, and filled up to a sufficient height to receive the plant, with 
surface mould. In this the tree should be planted no deeper than it 
stood in the nursery, as when the ground has become compact, it will 
have settled an inch or more. The plants for this purpose should be 
from one to two inches in diameter at the butt. Those who contem¬ 
plate going into the business largely, have a chance of three modes of 
planting, viz : as standards, in fields to be used for farm crops; as half 
standards, in grounds to be wholly appropriated to their growth ; and 
as dwarfs, planted as hedges to divide fields, or otherwise. In the first 
instance, the directions given for planting and pruning fence trees will 
apply here, and their distance may be fifteen feet, or more, to suit the 
taste or convenience of the proprietor. If half standards are to be cul¬ 
tivated, and the ground ultimately to be appropriated to their growth, 
the ground should be ploughed deep, and if trench ploughed the better, 
and well pulverized, and the trees planted four to eight feet apart in 
double rows, that is, two parallel rows four feet apart, leaving inter¬ 
vals for the passage of a cart between each double row. Plant in 
quincunx, putting the plant in one row opposite the interval between 
the trees in the other, thus ' . ' , Half standards need not be pruned, 
except of such limbs as fall to the ground. Branches will spring from 
near the surface, and the intervals will be filled, in a few years, with 
thrifty foliage. For two or three years the intervals may be ploughed 
carefully, and cropped with potatoes, beans, &c. the tillage of which will 
facilitate the growth of the mulberries. Plants for half standards may 
be taken from the nursery at two years, and if very thirifty, at one 
year old. In all cases it is advisable to transplant the mulberry, at the 
north, in the spring, and the earlier the better. The object of this 
mode of planting is, to raise the greatest quantity of leaves from a 
given area of ground, and to facilitate the gathering of them. When 
required for a hedge, the plants may be one or two years old. The pre¬ 
paration of the ground and planting are the same as directed for the 
locust in the last Cultivator. A neat way of training this hedge is to 
cut down the plants the first year, to within four or six inches of the 
ground, leaving two buds, and after another year’s growth, to bend 
down or lay one of the new sprouts, in the line of the fence, and tie it to 
the next plant, and to leave the other sprout to grow upright. The 
buds from the laid sprout will send up shoots and fill the intervals. The 
plants may be set fifteen inches apart. Sprouts springing from the 
roots should in all cases be cut away, unless they are wanted for layers. 
The method of managing this process we intend to describe in our next, 
accompanied with a cut. It is recommended that small trees, intended 
for spring planting, should be taken up the preceding fall, and buried 
in great part or wholly, to protect them from injury during the winter. 
The Cocoonery is the place where the worms are to be fed, which 
should be sufficiently tight to protect them from stormy or severe 
weather, and so fitted that it may be thoroughly ventilated when the 
weather is mild and fair. A spare room of the house, or an out build¬ 
ing, will serve for beginners on a small scale. This must he furnished 
with a table, or shelves to deposite the worms upon. The best way 
seems to be to frame four posts together, say four by three feet square, 
into which are fitted three or four frames for the worms to feed upon, 
the centre of which to be filled with meshes of catgut or twine, and 
others directly under them, covered with paper. The object of which, 
is, to have all the filth and excrements pass through the meshes on to 
the paper slide, which may be withdrawn and cleaned without disturb¬ 
ing the worms. The paper frame should be so near the other, that if 
the worms fall through the meshes, they may be able to roach it and 
get up again, which they will do lor the leaves, which are always laid 
upon the mesh frames. 
THE YOUNG CITIZEN’S MANUAL. 
This is the title of a small volume just published by O. Steele, of 
this city, of 220 pages, 18 mo. price 50 cents, designed for schools and 
the instruction of young persons generally, from the pen of ALFRED 
CONKLIN G, Esq. district judge of the northern district of New-York, 
well known as a scholar, a jurist and a gentleman. The object of the 
writer is to instruct our young men in the principles of our government, 
and in their duties as citizens. The object has been well carried out. 
The work is admirably adapted to the ends contemplated. It is divided 
into three parts: the first is an essay on the principles of civil govern¬ 
ment, and treats of the necessity of civil government, of the form of 
our own, and of the necessity of understanding its principles. Part 2, 
is a synopsis of the criminal code of New-York, explains the grades 
of felonies and misdemeanors, and the punishments which are by law 
attached to each—as also of the crimes and punishments defined by the 
laws of the United States. Part 3, has reference to such of our civil 
laws as are most important to be understood by the common citizen. 
The extract which we subjoin, on the reasonableness of submitting to 
the laws, must suffice, for the present, as a specimen of the matter and 
style of the author. 
“ Should I, therefore, hear a man railing against the laws of his country, 
because they did not allow him to act in all respects as he pleased, I should 
set him down as a most unreasonable person. And if I should think it worth 
while to attempt to convince him of his folly, I would expostulate with him 
“ Your complaints are without foundation : for, in the first place, you are 
at liberty to do all that your fellow-citizens are permitted to do. There is, 
therefore, in this respect, a perfect equality between you and the other mem¬ 
bers of society. But there is a much better reason why you ought not to com- 
Pl “You in fact enjoy far more liberty than you could if there were no laws ; 
you think it a hardship that you are not permitted to do as you please. But 
remember, that if you had this license, others would also have it. And sup¬ 
pose it should please some man stronger than yourself, to drive you out of your 
house, and keep possession of it himself; to take away your horse ; to stop 
you on the highway ; to break your bone® ; to blast you in your reputation ; 
