14 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
namental plants; from H. L. Ellsworth, Esq. Washington, a sample 
of the Baden corn; from Mr. Allen, of Chili, South America, samples 
of Chilian wheat. We tender to the gentlemen our thanks for these 
favors. '_ 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
We have many communications on hand, which will receive as early a no¬ 
tice as our limits and leisure will permit. 
“A Subscriber,” who addressed queries to Mr. Ball, is informed, that 
answers to his queries have been left for him with the conductor. We 
beg it to be understood, that we do not hold ourselves bound to respond to the 
inquiries of anonymous correspondents, unless their object is manifestly to 
elicit useful information in the business of husbandry; and where this is the 
object, there is no substantial reason for withholding the inquirer’s true name. 
Gentlemen who have sent us mineral specimens for analysis, are advised 
that we make no pretensions to geological science, and that Prof. Mather ad¬ 
vertises to analyze minerals, &c. on moderate terms. See his advertisement 
on our advertising sheet. 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
THE MULBERRY—DIFFERENT SPECIES. 
To the Editor of the Cultivator—Sir —With your leave, I 
avail myself of the columns of your widely circulated periodical, to 
communicate to the silk culturists of the country, some information 
which appears to me to be of great importance to them. I am one 
of those who firmly'believe, that the culture of silk in the United 
States, is of immense interest, regarded either as a national or indi¬ 
vidual concern, and I am rejoiced to see that this conviction has al¬ 
ready taken root, and is daily extending among the intelligent and 
patriotic citizens, so as to ensure its success. 
It is my purpose to speak in this communication, of several spe¬ 
cies of the mulberry, and of the qualities of theii leaves as food for 
the silk worm, and their resistance to the rigors of our northern 
winters. 
The Morus Alba, or white Italian, it is certain, affords an excellent 
aliment for the worm, and at the same time is capable of enduring our 
severest cold weather. The branches of this tree are sometimes affect¬ 
ed by frosts, especial'y if the autumn is unfavorable, and the wood 
has not been matured; but generally speaking, it is as hardy a tree 
as the apple. The silk produced from its leaves, is of a good quality, 
and well reeled and manufactured, makes beautiful fabrics. If we 
had no other species of the mulberry, we ought to be satisfied with 
this kind. 
Much has been written and said of the Chinese, or Morus Mul- 
ticaulis, and the expectations of the silk culturist have been highly 
excited as to the great value and importance of this species. It is 
a beautiful tree as regards the size and brilliancy of its leaves; and 
the facility With which it can be propagated, and its leaves gathered, 
would strongly recommend it to notice and cultivation. The ques¬ 
tion of the most importance is, what are the qualities of its leaves'! 
It is well ascertained, that the quality of silk depends on the nutri¬ 
tive qualities of the mulberry leaves. Count Dandalo, than whom 
there is no higher authority, says, that “the leaves of the broad 
leaved white mulberry contain but little saccharine matter,” and you 
make the remark, which I believe to be correct, in the last number 
of the Cultivator, that “ both the fabrics and raw silk from our na¬ 
tive mulberry, although they do not excel in softness and beauty, 
they appear equal to any in strength and durability.” Gen. Tall- 
madge’s information, that the Italian sewing silk, which stands so 
high, is neither produced from the white mulberry nor the multicau- 
lis, but from the indigenous mulberry of the country, the black or 
Mm'us Nigra, confirms the position that the quality of the silk de¬ 
pends entirely on the quality of the leaf. 
With" these preliminary remarks, I state, that I received a letter 
from Mr. Andrie Michaux, under date of the 4th of July last, at Pa¬ 
ris, containing the following remarks:—«The Morus Multicaulis 
does not answer the expectation it raised. Already we have ascer¬ 
tained that its leaves are not as suitable for the nourishment of the 
silk worm as those of the common white mulberry tree. A method 
has been introduced, that promises to be advantageous, and has 
succeeded so far very well. It is to graft or inoculate near the earth, 
or two or three inches above the soil, the common white mulberry 
on the plants of the morus multicaulis, two or three years old; these 
grafts of the common white mulberry grow to the height of four or 
six feet the same year.” To enable us to decide on the verity of 
this statement, I can only say, that Mr. Michaux had no possible 
motive to misrepresent. His character stands too high even for 
suspicion; he is an eminent botanist and arborist, and his treatise on 
the trees of this country, attests to his ability in both departments. 
I received a visit in November last from Mr. Lewis Finnelli, one 
of the exiles from Lombardy in Italy. He arrived in the United 
States during the last autumn, in company with seven other exiles, 
in an Austrian ship of war. Mr. Finnelli is a well educated and 
highly respectable gentleman, who had been thirty years engaged 
in the silk culture in Lombardy. He is intimately acquainted with 
the entire process, from the rearing of the mulberry to the prepara¬ 
tion of the silk for the loom. He informed me, without knowing of 
Mr. Michaux’s letter, that the leaves of the morus multicaulis were 
not considered as suitable food for the silk worm as the white Ita¬ 
lian, and that the multicaulis was used in Lombardy as a mere reci¬ 
pient for the graft or bud of the white. I was struck with the coin¬ 
cidence of this intelligence, and communicated to him the contents 
of Mr. Michaux’s letter. 
I am not aware that we have any experience in the United States 
which would justify our discrediting the testimony of two gentlemen 
of such high respectability. Prudence at least would suggest to those 
who intend planting the mulberry, to be better assured of the quali¬ 
ties of the morus multicaulis, before they adopt it in preference to 
the white. 
The silks of Turkey have long been celebrated for their softness, 
richness and brilliancy, notwithstanding the inferiority of their ma- 
nupilatioa, to the silks of France and Italy. This can only he ac¬ 
counted for, by the superior excellence of the Turkish Mulberry.— 
Commodore Porter visited Broussa in 1832, and in one of his pub- 
lish'ed letters, says:—“We visited the silk manufactories for which 
Broussa is so celebrated; they are spread all over the city, but there 
is nothing that can be called a silk factory. The weaving is all done by 
job work, of so much the peake of 3-4ths of a yard or thereabouts: 
and these stuffs, so remarkable for their beauty, are wove in miserable 
little rooms, only large enough to contain the loom and the weaver, 
or two weavers, as the case may be.” 
Fortunately there are already trees growing in this country, from 
the seeds of the Broussa mulberry. Mr. Charles Rhind, some years 
American Consul at Odessa, struck with the beauty and brilliancy 
of the Turkish silk, came to the conclusion, that it was attributable 
to the superior qualities of their mulberry leaves; and that he could 
not confer a greater benefit upon his country than in acquiring the 
seed of this species, and planting it here. From the local situation 
of Broussa, which is on elevated ground at the base of Mount Olym¬ 
pus, whose tops are covered with perpetual snow, and from the har¬ 
diness of the mulberry trees growing there, he concluded that it was 
adapted to our climate and would resist our severest winters. He 
obtained a quantity of the Broussa seed, and committed them to the 
care and cultivation of David Ruggles, Esq. of Newburgh, on the 
Hudson River, just above the Highlands. Under the superinten¬ 
dence of Mr. Ruggles, he has growing in his nursery, ten or twelve 
thousand trees, of about three years old. Through the kindness of 
these gentlemen, I planted out upwards of a hundred of these young 
trees, during the last spring. Mr. Ruggles asserts, (and from the 
appearance of the trees he sent me, I can confirm his statement,) 
they are very hardy, and not one of the several thousand growing 
in his nursery, has been affected or killed by the two last severe 
winters. Those I received were alive and unaffected at their tops 
and branches; they suffered little in transplanting, and but one died. 
When they made new wood during the summer, it became mature 
and ligneous, so that when the cold weather came on the last fall, 
every £art of the tree was mature. My own observation convinces 
me, that this species of the mulberry is better adapted to our climate, 
than any other kind, and that it is hardier than the white. Mr. 
Rhind is of opinion that this species flourishes best in an elevated 
locality, and that it does not require a rich soil. 
These trees will not be in the market until after a full trial of the 
qualities of their leaves in the nourishment of the silk worm; and 
if they answer the high expectations which Mr. Rhind cherishes, he 
will expect, and justly so in my opinion, to reap an ample reward for 
the expense he has been at and the trouble he has taken in in¬ 
troducing them into this country. It is my intention to feed a few 
worms exclusively on the leaves of the trees I have, during the en¬ 
suing season, and the result shall be made known. 
Commodore Porter informs us, that the silk worm is reared in al¬ 
most every house in Broussa, the inhabitants devoting to that pur¬ 
pose every room they can spare. “The town (he says,) is sur¬ 
rounded by plantations of mulberry for the use of the silk worm, 
