THE CULTIVATOR. 
3 
■still the public is not greatly benefitted,—for in general they are 
aot enough better than common roads to make up for the tolls they 
exact. Had the number been limited to one-third, or one-fourth, 
and these well made, the interests both of the stockholders and of 
the public would have been much better subserved than they now 
are. They have besides led to the culpable neglect of our public 
roads. We have seen that several of our banks have turned out to 
he mere bubbles;—and, if we mistake not, some of our cana's, and 
many of our projected rail-roads will in the end prove to bo not 
much better—public sacrifices at the shrine of private gain. We 
profess to be the ardent friends to public improvements of every 
sort: but we insist that prudence, which is wisdom applied to prac¬ 
tice, is as commenable, and as necessary, and as much a virtue, in 
the management of the public concerns, as it is in the management 
of one’s private concerns. What individual has ever been renown¬ 
ed for his wisdom or for bis justice, who lavished upon one or two 
favorites, the patrimony which belonged equally to his whole fami¬ 
ly,—or who, to benefit his children, has encumbered his farm with 
an enormous debt- We would neither creep nor run, if we meant 
to make haste in a long journey. 
No sooner has the silk business become a theme of public favor, 
than we see capitalists, or speculators, clubbing their means, and 
already erecting large silk establishments, as they have an undoubt¬ 
ed right to do, but in too many cases we fear, from a hope of get¬ 
ting a profit on the stock, rather than on the business —on their cun¬ 
ning, rather than on their labor. They should remember, that the 
first requisite in cooking fish, is to catch them. Children some¬ 
times recreate themselves with a play called “ Robin’s alive''' —and 
this seems now to have become a fashionable game with men— 
though many a “burnt child,” we apprehend, will have cause, 
hereafter, to dread the fire. 
But we will go back to our starting point, from which we have 
been inadvertently drawn. 
The silk busine-s may be safely undertaken by every farmer who 
has a family of females, or children, willing to pick the mulberry 
leaves and take care of the worms, —or, if he begins with seeding 
plants in the nursery, who has this aid in prospect, —and he may 
enlarge his scale of operations, as his prospects of help and profit 
increase. His outlay will be comparatively trifling. An ounce of 
mu'berry seed, or a few hundred plants, and some eggs when his 
trees afford leaves, will constitute the principal expense. The mo¬ 
ney which he obtains for his cocoons, or his silk, will be so much 
added to his nett income. But if the business is to be managed by 
hired labor, or without the supervision of the master or mistress, 
we cannot guarantee success, at least not to the extent that many 
sanguinely anticipate; and we should by all means advise such as 
thus intend, to begin with moderation, and to satisfy themselves, 
from experience, that they can manage ihe business with profit, be¬ 
fore they venture to embark in it to a large extent. 
We ought in candor to state two other facts, one of which we 
have not seen published, and which may be doubted by many till 
they have it confirmed by their experience. One fact is, that even 
the common white mulberry is often seriously injured, and some¬ 
times killed, by the severity of our northern winters. The other 
is, that the Chinese mulberry, or moms 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 tire roots. We have had the 
Chinese three winters, and three winters the plants have been kill¬ 
ed to the ground, and some of them have been destroyed root and 
branch. Others, we know, have succeeded better. 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 busi¬ 
ness. 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 feeding the worm. This species is common 
in most of the states, and a correspondent in Maryland writes us, 
that 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 introduced seeds of the 
Asiatic mulberry, from Constantinople; and D. Ruggles, Esq., of 
Nou'burgh, 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 species; and there is another, we 
believe from Italy, similar to the Asiatic, and possibly the same, 
w h cli 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 be¬ 
cause the others cannot be immediately procured in sufficient quan¬ 
tities. Of tire first only can seeds be procured, and this is the sea¬ 
son to provide them. Plants of both kinds may be had at most of 
the public, and at many private nurseries. W. Thorburn, in Alba¬ 
ny, sells the seed at fiftyeents 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 
depends 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, tire author of “ A Practical Trea¬ 
tise on the Culture of S lk,” puts it down, as a safe calculation, 
that 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 diieciions 
for sowing the seed, and managing the plants in the seed bed, with 
this further direction, that in northern latitudes, it is a good pre¬ 
caution 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 propogated 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 separated from the parent stock and transplanted. 
Or these maybe bent down to tire earth, and converted into layers. 
The Soil best adapted to the mulberry in 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 diame¬ 
ter, 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 diame¬ 
ter at the butt. Those who contemplate going into the business 
largely, have a chance of three modes of planting, viz: as stand¬ 
ards, 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 in¬ 
stance, 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 cultivated, 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 intervals for the passage of a cart between each dou¬ 
ble row. Plant in quincunx, putting the plant in one row opposite 
the interval between two trees in the other, thus • . * . Half stand¬ 
ards need not be pruned, except of such limbs as fall to the ground. 
Branches will spring from near the surface, and the intervals will 
