60 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
suspect, are identical, and the'latter perhaps only varieties of the red, 
as neither Beck nor Eaton make mention of any American species but 
the red. Yet we have had forwarded to us, by a friend, three impres¬ 
sions of mulberry leaves, said to be indigenous, growing wild in Ul¬ 
ster, which seem not to belong to any of the popular species, and two 
of which, at least, appear to be dissimilar. Upon these,, our corre¬ 
spondent successfully fed the silk-worm. Two of these leaves are 10J 
inches long and 8 broad, the other is 8 inches long and broad f and we 
are told of indigenous kinds bearing both red and white fruit. If our 
friends will furnish us seeds of indigenous kinds, other than the red, 
they will confer on us a favor, and perhaps do a public benefit. 
In the mean time, though we cannot promise to clear up the matter, 
we will endeavor to throw upon it all the light in our power. 
We will, in the first place, show, from three modern authorities, all 
the species of the mulberry which have been described. Kenrick, an 
American authority, names five species, viz:— 
Botanic name. Common name. Native of 
1. Morus Nigra,.. Black,.... Asia Minor. 
2. Do. Rubra,_..... Red,... N. America, 
3. Do. Alba,....White,... China. 
4. Do. Moretti,.,. Dandolo,.Italy. 
5. Do. Multicaulis, .... Many stalked,,.China, 
Loudon is silent as to No, 4, gives Italy as the native country of th< 
black, and adds: 
6 . Morus Tartarica,.... Tartarian,.,...,-Tartary, 
7. Do. Tinctoria,_... Fustic wood,,........ West-Indies, 
And Sweet adds to the list ; 
8 . Morus Italica,.......... .. Italian,...,.,.Italy. 
9. Do. Constantinopolitana, Constantinople,- Constantinople. 
10. Do. Scabra,. Rough,. N. America. 
11. Do. Pennsylvanica,.Pennsylvanian, .... do. 
12. Do. Pumula,.. Dwarf,.. do, 
13. Do. Indica,.. Indian,.,,.,.East-Indies. 
14. Do. Sinensis,. Chinese,.. China, 
15. Do. Mauritiana,. Mauritius,.Mauritius, 
The three last named are stove and green-house plants, and of course! 
too tender for our climate. 
1. The black is peculiar to Europe and Asia, and does not, when in¬ 
troduced, stand well our northern winters. It seems from Gen. Tall- 
madge’s letters, published in the Journal of the American Institute, 
that worms fed on the black mulberry make the strongest thread, and 
we are left to infer, that Italian sewing silk, which is of the highest 
repute in the market, comes from this species of the mulberry. This 
is given on the authority of an extensive manufacturer of Italian sew¬ 
ing silk. 
2. The red mulberry abounds in our woods, in several of the states, 
but is a different species from the black of Europe, Good silk has 
been produced from the leaves of this tree, in Kentucky, Ohio, N. York 
and Pennsylvania, and we have been presented with a beautiful fabric 
produced from it in the first named state. It is quite hardy. 
3. The white is the common kind, well known. 
4. The Dandolo is a new species or variety, discovered in Italy in 
1815, of great promise, and is probably identical with the Italian of 
Sweet, (No. 8,) and possibly with those from Constantinople, &c. Its 
qualities for silk are not fully known; but we believe it to be more 
hardy than even the common white, if, as we suspect, we have a plant 
of it in our grounds. 
5. The multicaulis, we are obliged to persist in saying, is too tender 
for our climate, north of 42°. We believe all attempts to cultivate it 
here, will end in disappointment. The white and the black suffice in 
the great silk countries of Europe. Gen. Tallmadge tells us, after he 
had traversed Italy and France, and made silk the subject of special 
observation and inquiry, that “we have more of the Chinese (multi¬ 
caulis,) growing than France and Italy togetherand that though the 
silk from the multicaulis was finer and more delieate, it required more 
skilful and delicate work to wind and work it. 
6 and 8. Of these we know very little, except the latter should be the 
Dandolo; and 7 is employed merely as a dye-wood. 
9. AVe believe to be the same as the Brussa, which is cultivated in 
Asia Minor, and seeds of which have recently been introduced from 
Constantinople, by Mr. Rand. Great hopes are entertained that it 
will be found useful and hardy, though these hopes remain to be con¬ 
firmed—the seed not having been sown, we believe, till 1834. 
The next three named (10, 11,12,) which purport to be American 
species, are not recognized, as we have before observed, by American 
botanists; and yet we think that on examination, it will be found, that 
we have more than one indigenous species. 
Having alluded to the letters of Gen. Tallmadge, we make'from 
them the following extract, for the benefit of our silk growers:— 
“Finizio is an extensive manufacturer of sewingsilk; he makes about 
3,000 pound? a week, which is mostly sent to the New-York market. 
He is an intelligent man, and I found him willing to answer my inqui¬ 
ries; as also were several other establishments, and which mostly con- 
firmed his statement. The sewing silks of Naples are mostly made' 
from the silk grown in Calabria, where the worm, is fed principally 
upon the black mulberry, and which makes the strongest and best for 
sowing silk.. Finizio stated that the worm fed on the black mulberry 
made the strongest thread; that on the white mulberry, finer and bet¬ 
ter for fabrics ; that on the Chinese mulberry still finer and more deli¬ 
cate. When asked if the cocoon from the Chinese mulberry required 
more skilful and delicate work to wind and work it, he said it did, and 
immediately produced two skeins, one of which he said was from the 
black mulberry (from a bush, perhaps, eight or fen feet in circum¬ 
ference,) the other from a bush about four feet. The lesser bush, he 
said, was less liable to break the thread in winding from the cocoon, 
and was used in finer silks for fabrics. The black mulberry pi'oduced 
a stronger thread, and would bear the larger reel, and was principal¬ 
ly used in that business. The silk here is mostly made in the country 
by families in detail, and much of it reeled there, and in this condition 
it is brought to market. For sewing silk it is doubled as often as re¬ 
quired, and twisted as much. This process is wholly in a dark room. 
The silk is worked wet, and for this purpose 1 , to preserve a uniformity, 
the atmosphere is kept damp, the daylight excluded, and the work 
carried on with small hand lamps. The machine was turned by men 
harnessed like mules. I have since been out about twenty miles to the 
silk factory of the king, which is worked by water power, and by 
which the cocoons are also reeled. I stated to Finizio, as well as at 
the king's factory, that the Italian sewing silk was sold in the Ameri¬ 
can markets by its weight, while the American sewing silk was sold 
by the skein; and that one pound of the Italian would have perhaps 
250 skeins, while one of the American silk would have about 350 
skeins. The cause of this difference of weight, or why the American 
sewing silk has a tendency to curl or knot,, they could not explain with¬ 
out a sample, but said the weight of sewing silk could be diminished 
or very considerably augmented in the dyeing, and that good dyeing 
required the silk to be well boiled in soap, after which if was put into 
an acid, and was there prepared for the process of the dye, according 
to the colour, as desired. The gloss, or dressing, seems to be produc¬ 
ed by beating and twisting on a post, which, with the manual labor 
put upon its finish, it is supposed, prevents its tendency to knot. 
“I asked if the colour of the cocoon, yellow or white, gave any dif¬ 
ference of value, cr indicated a sickly worm, and the answer was that 
the colour was casual, and the value the same; that a selection of 
white or yellow cocoons from which to get eggs would probably produce 
a like colour: and Mr. Finizio, said he had some customers who had 
so selected and brought him cocoons entirely white-, and that for white 
ribbons or fabrics, they commanded a greater price of from three to 
five per cent, though otherwise of equal value.” 
While on the subject of the mulberrj', we will mention a new mode 
of propagating or growing it, related to us by a gentleman from Mi¬ 
chigan. It is to lay the entire plant, while a .seedling, in the furrow, 
lengthwise, at a proper distance, and to cover them with the plough. 
The plant sends up a number of shoots, and if left to grow, forms 
what is technically called a stool. We understood our informant to 
say, that he had eight acres growing in this way. The advantages 
which this mode promises, are, first, the plant is rapidly multiplied; 
second, the leaves are gathered with greater facility, from the dwarf¬ 
ish habits of the plant; and third, and we deem this a very important 
advantage, if the wood is killed by the winter, and this is sometimes 
the case, even in Michigan, and often here, the roots are preserved, 
the dead wood may he readily cut off with a bush hook, and new and 
vigorous shoots, spring up from the base. We believe this mode of 
growing might be profitably adopted in regard to the multicaulis. 
AGRICULTURAL PREMIUMS. 
In what way can agricultural premiums be best applied, to promote 
agricultural improvement? is a question which has been several times 
propounded to ns, and which we have felt incompetent to answer in a 
satisfactory manner. That our agricultural premiums have too often 
been injudiciously bestowed, is confessed by all; and this has tended, 
in no little degree, to impair their usefulness, There are now many 
agricultural societies in our country, and others are being formed ; and 
it becomes a matter of interest to inquire, in what way they can affect 
the greatest good. Their professed, and no doubt their true object is, 
to increase the profits of agricultural labor, by introducing upon our 
farms better stock, better implements, and better modes of culture. How 
far this object if promoted by encouraging extraordinary expenditure 
in producing very greaj crops, and very fat animals, may be reasonably 
doubted ; foy such crops and such cattle may cost more than they are 
worth in the market; so that neither the owner nor the public are at 
all benefited by the experiment. But the man who introduces new 
subjects of culture, which increase the produce and profits of our 
farms ;—who improves the relative value of farm stock, either in re¬ 
gard to the disposition to fatten, to the products of the dairy or the 
value of the fleece;—who invents or introduces farm inplements, which 
