Class u£^A5 Book JlLj2>_ . Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from The Library of Congress http://www.archive.org/details/treatiseonmulber01clar % TREATISE MULBERRY TREE SILKWORM. AND ON THE PRODUCTION AND MANUFACTURE OF SILK. EMBELLISHED ,^FITH APPROPRIATE ENGRAVINGS. SUPERINTENDENT OP THE BY JOHN CLARKEf V MORODENDRON SILK COM^A*gj"g» OP* B HI © Look to the Silk Culture for the true Gold Mines of theVWffifced Independence, Wealth, and PowerVf |^~ PHILADELPHIA : THOMAS, COWPERTHWAIT & CO. 253 MARKET STREET. ; 183 9. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1839, by John Clarke, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. PRINTED BY T. K. AND P. G. COLLINS. STEREOTYPED BY L. JOHNSON PHILADELPHIA. PREFACE " Not to know what occurred before one was born, is to be," said an ancient writer, " always a child." Knowledge, indeed, is that to which, as a means, we owe our all. And whatever we shall, or shall not, be or possess hereafter, will be measured by knowledge, or the want of it ; or by our diligent use or neglect of it. Knowledge, in short, should be hailed, invited, as our best friend ; whilst its reverse, ignorance, our worst, if not our only enemy, should be scouted, were it possible, from the very face of an earth tenanted by man, by all that aspire to the dignity of the intel- lectual character. On knowledge, or on the want of it, how often has depended whether whole nations shall be civilized or uncivilized, as well as learned or unlearned; whether whole kingdoms shall slumber for centuries in comparative barbarism, as well as whether the myriads of individuals composing them shall spend their existence in prosperity and peace, or be immured in wretchedness, to bequeath it, as an entail, to their posterity after them. A Providence, kind and paternal, however, deserts not man, unless he neglect himself. The inventive faculty is given to him. " Necessity," it is commonly said, " is the mother of invention ;" but with all deference to her maternal powers, it may be added, that they would be unproductive, were it not for the astonishing and yet undeveloped powers of mind. The history of mind, could it be well composed — and of its inventions and discoveries, for five thousand years, in the arts, in science, in manu- factures, in implements, in machinery, and in productions of every kind, sweeping in its universe of evolutions, the two empires of material and immaterial being — would present at once the most interesting and im- portant detail of the great and mystic movements of what the same Pro- vidence has placed here, on this earth, to be the sovereign of matter. We repeat it, Mind is the sovereign of matter ! Matter, it is true, in all forms, is created from age to age, ready to our hands, by the same Paternal energy ; but it is left to the empire of instinct and reason, or of mind, through all its divisions of power, to move, change, transform, metamorphose it into other forms, substances, shapes, and modifications, so dissimilar, that the crude ore of the mountain becomes the spangling specie of the bank ; the fleece of an animal, the clothing of man ; the cotton of a vegetable, the calico, the muslin of the store ; and the leaf of the mulberry tree, the velvet cushion of the throne, or the robes that embellish the persons of emperors and of queens, 3 4 PREFACE. Such is mind ! It reigns supreme : its sway " there is none to dis- pute." On the throne of instinct, reason, it sits : it waves the hand ; onward is the march, the great triumphal march of mind ; and imme- diately a host of satellites — for such there must be in the rear of every sovereign — are in motion ; writers, authors, copyists, compilers, histo- rians, are pushing after it, in the orbit of intellect, "with all the speed and splendour that can be given by essays, histories, digests, encyclopaedias, periodicals and manuals ; and such has been the rapidity of late, that even the press, with all its additional powers of type and stereotype, travels not with sufficient velocity, unless it move by steam ! What is the cause of all this 1 Mind, the sovereign of matter, in the march of intellect : it approaches, probably, the perihelion : onward it must go, and our business is to follow ; which, if we do, though it cannot, will not stop, it will look back to bless us, and will whisper peace and prosperity to us as a nation, and to each of us as individuals. Our peace, our fortune, or our happiness is made, if we follow Mind ! How is this to be done 1 History presents us with an eminence, on whose height we view, in a long and extended vista, a series of inven- tions counted by the thousand years, each of which has blessed mankind. On one side we see a nation deprived of their benefit, for ages slumber- ing in obscurity, in barbarism, and in wretchedness ; there another that has embraced a gift, that seems to have dropped from the skies, whose history demonstrates to the world, more satisfactorily than the problem which cost the hecatomb, that " knowledge is power " to which we add, that knowledge not only is power, hut, knowledge rightly used, is wealth and happiness. Knowledge has visited the American people. Volumes are in her hands ; her finger first points to this page, then to that. Are we attentive ] On this page we see, in prominent characters, the word China ! and in alto-relievo the word Silk ! and by attention we are enabled to decipher the words " China, in silk, an example to America." We pause ; we reflect : in these words we see a volume ; we have caught the idea ! that idea is a world ! And a volume we could write, and a new world, a new era, we could speak of; but these pages, the.se limits, refuse a safety-valve to the engine, to thought ; -the power we must diminish, and reserve for another time. Knowledge perceives that the subject is too great for our utterance ; she waves her sceptre, changes the page, and turns to another, on the head of which we distinctly see the word Cotton. Some time ago we visited the South, and lodged in this hotel, and then in that ; but wherever we abode, no word heard we so frequently as the word " Cotton /" Cotton was said, and cotton was responded, and cotton was echoed; neither did we understand the mysteries of echo until we understood the sympathies of cotton. Not being gifted with a musical ear, we were perplexed to discover the melody of the word cotton, until a friend kindly hinted, it was the music of the pocket ! The secret now was out, the enigma solved ; and ever since, we dis- tinctly perceived, that cotton was music to the pockets of the people of the South. Two great staples of the United States of North America are now in our diorama — Cotton and Silk ; but which is to become the greater, is the question. No less true is it, that all men are not born prophets, PREFACE. 5 than that the souls of all men are not integral quantities ; and of these, the progenitors it was, that, sixty years ago, laughed at cotton becoming a staple of this country. But these fractional quantities we let alone : it is with integral characters only that we are concerned ; with men capable of comprehending distinctly, not merely a part, but a whole subject. And these are they who proclaim that of the two, cotton or silk, the latter eventually is to become the greater, the more important staple of this country. It is easy to form a cursory estimate of the immense benefit which the production and manufacture of cotton and its fabrics have been to this country. Great, however, as this is, we hesitate not to anticipate that silk will be — if the people, the government, the whole commonwealth, only evince enterprise and zeal commensurate to the object, as a staple — not inferior to cotton. The growth of the latter article is confined to the southern states ; whereas every state of the Union is eligible for the production of silk. For silk as well as for cotton, independently of our own consumption, foreign markets are ready to afford the most ample encouragement. Of the raw material, France is under the necessity of importing more than one-third of her vast consumption in her manufactures; and England must import every ounce. These two kingdoms only offer a market to the value of $40,000,000 annually. We shall add to this the singular consideration, that for years past, this country has been in the habit of importing raw and manufactured silks, at the rate of §1*40 for every individual in its population, which evidently implies an ulterior amount of indefinite magnitude. For raw and manufactured silks upwards of §25,000,000 were sent abroad in the year 1836 ; equivalent to an annual drain of specie to that amount. We have then at once before us a market for silk, to the extent of $65,000,000 annually. China, however, which may afford a valuable lesson at once in politics and political economy, surpasses this. There, every artisan is capacitated and encouraged to be a consumer as well as a producer. Thus her home trade is supported ; and it is thus she becomes inde- pendent. Were only all the white females above the age of fifteen, of the United States, to encourage our home trade to the extent of one silk dress annually, it would produce an additional market of the annual amount of $66,150,000. By this means, or by others, at least, added to the preceding quotation of $65,000,000 annually, we see no limits necessarily restraining the extent of the silk market short of $100,000,000 per annum. And with all our exertions, it will be years before this demand is satisfied, and the check given to the serious drain of specie out of the country, to purchase of foreigners what we can produce at home. On the subject of specie, banks, hard coin, cash payments, mines, and Mexico, we have read essays, lectures, pamphlets, and volumes, without number. But how much more simple is the course we prescribe! Only set the silk worm to work ; stop the enormous drain of specie abroad, by producing all at home ; and we effect at once more than all the mines, more than all the ponderous tomes, whether extended by sheet or counted by volume, though they should reach from pole to pole, could accomplish in a century. The next lecture we intend to hear on the mystery of banking, mines, specie, and hard cash, shall be given by the silk worm. 1* 6 PREFACE. Only produce, and hard cash will come as surely as the sun will cross the equinoctial twice in each year. Individual and national benefit are evidently here combined. But in recommending the culture of silk, there is another feature which we scarcely can omit ; it is that of benevolence. It promises good-will to our fellow-men, from one end of the nation to the other. To the benefit of a leaf-market to towns and densely populated cities, we have in the ensuing work briefly adverted. But whether silk is cultivated in the country or town, the same beneficial consequences will attend it. The process, in an otherwise unemployed season of the year, may be con- ducted by females, children, and old or invalid men, unable to perform hard labour; and therefore to them, and to others, especially if we include the more extended business of reeling, it will be a new means of employment, industry, and gain, without interference with other sources of income. This feature alone, were there no other, is sufficient to warrant our warm advocacy of the culture. In short, on this as well as on every other point in which it presents itself to our notice, we could expatiate by the volume, whilst our limits restrict us to the line. Through several years of close attention to this subject, we have long perceived its individual, its political, its national importance ; to which the numberless volumes, guides, and manuals, already existing on this topic, we have at the same time been deeply sensible, were not singly at least, commensurate, nor in every respect suited to the wants and exi- gencies of the young and comparatively inexperienced culturist. This desideratum we have endeavoured to supply, not only from our own experience, but from a larger collection of European and American works on the culture than is perhaps possessed by any other individual in the United States. Our work is now before the tribunal of the public. Of its comparative merits they may judge; but a conviction of our motives, and endeavours to serve all, is unalterably fixed in our own conscience ; and its accomplishment of the purpose, in any degree* for which it was originally intended, is all the praise, if any, that we shall ever desire. To extend the work to comprise not only the pro- duction, but the whole of the manufacturing processes of silk, was our intention ; but the numerous volumes we have since received, especially from Europe, and the large amount of plates relative to machinery, an explanation, at least to do justice to this important branch of national industry, would require, convinced us of the impracticability^ of fulfilling our original design short of the limits of a second volume, now in the course of preparation ; and for its completion we, very respectfully, at present, beg leave to retire. CONTENTS PART I. CHAPTER I. Page History of the Culture and Manufacture of Silk - 13 Preliminary Remarks on the Origin of the Silk Culture in China ib. CHAPTER II. History of Silk to the Period when Silk Worms were first introduced into europe - - - - 31 CHAPTER III. Subsequent History of Silk - - - - 49 From the Period when Silk Worms were first introduced into Europe, continued to each Nation distinctly - - ib. Arabs, Tartars, Turks - - - -55 Turkey and Persia 56 Hindoostan - - - - - 58 Egypt 61 CHAPTER IV. Europe : — Naples, Calabria, Sicily - - - - 63 Italy, Venice, and Genoa - -"#".- 64 Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands - - -66 France 69 Other States of Continental Europe - - - 74 Switzerland - - - - ib. Germany - - - - - 75 Prussia 83 Austria - - - - - 84 Sweden 85 Russia - - - - - ib. England 86 Ireland - - - - - - 90 Statistics ----- 99 Malta - - - - - - 106 St. Helena - - - - - ib. Isles of France ■ - - - - ib. Cuba - - - - 107 Mexico - - - - - ib. Lower Canada - ib. North America: — Georgia - - - - - 110 South Carolina - 113 Pennsylvania - - - - ib. Connecticut - - - - 117 New York - - - - - 119 Five New England States - - - 127 Middle States - - - - - 130 Southern States - ib. Western States - - - - - 131 ° CONTENTS. PART II. ON THE MULBERRY TREE. CHAPTER I. Mulberry, Genus, Species, Culture. Page Species I. Moms Nigra - - - - - 136 Species II. Moras Rubra ----- 137 Species III. Broussonetia Papyrifera - - - - 139 Species IV. V. Morus Tinctoria, and the Moras Indica - - 140 Species VI. Morus Tartarica, Constantinopolitana, Broussa - - ib. Species VII. Moras Alba ----- 141 Varieties of the Morus Alba : — Folio Doppea ----- 142 Folio Giazzolia - - - - - ib. Sub-varieties : — Feuille Rose ----- 143 La Feuille Doree - - - ib. La Reine Batarde - - - - ib. Femelle - - - - - ib. La Reine - - - - - ib. La Grosse Reine - - - - ib. La Feuille d'Espagne - ib. La Feuille de Floes - ib. Moras Alba Rosea - - - - - 144 Ovalifolia - ib. Macrophylla - - - ib. Obion gifolia - - - - 145 Nana - - - - ib. Integrifolia - - - ib. — — Integrifolia Obscura - ib. Semilobata - - - - ib. - — Lobata -, ib. Lanciniata - - - ib. La Colombassette - - - - 146 La Rose - - - - «&. La Colombasse Verte - ib. La Rabalayre, or Traineuse - - ib. La Poumaou, or la Porame - - - ib. La Meyne - - - - 147 L'Amella, or L'Amande - ib. La Forcade, or la Fourche - - ib. La Dure - - - - ib. L 'Admirable - ib. Moras Lucida - - - - 150 CHAPTER II. On the Culture of Species, or Kinds capable of Reproduction from Seed. Climate, Soil, Situation, Seed, Seedlings, Nurseries, Engrafting, &c. Transplanting, Standards, Plantations, Instruments. Climate ------ 151 CONTENTS. y Page Situation and Shelter - - - -152 Preparation of the Ground, - - - 153 To obtain the Seed - - - - - ib. To prepare the Seed - - - - ib. Mode of testing the Quality of Seed - - - 155 Time of sowing - - - - - 156 Manner of sowing - - - - - 157 Subsequent Culture of the Seed-beds and Seedlings - 158 Sowing by the whole Fruit - - - - 159 Sowing broad-cast - - - - 160 Transplanting - - - - -161 By the Seed-bed - ■ ' , - io - — the Nursery ----- 162 — Mulberry Hedge --•'-.- *63 — the Dwarf Orchard - - - - 164 — Hedge Plantations - 170 _ First Plan - - - - 171 Second Plan - - - - 173 — Plantation Standards - 174 Grafting and Budding - - - - 177 Pruning - - - - - -178 Suckers _----«&. CHAPTER III. The Morus Multicaulis, its Description and Statistics - 180 CHAPTER IV. On the Culture of the Morus Multicaulis - - 190 Cultivation - 193 By Cuttings ; Method 1. - - - - ib. — do. do. 2. - 195 — Layers; do. 3. - - - 197 — do. do. 4. - ib. Substitutes for the Mulberry Tree - - - 198 Madura Auruntiaca, or Osage Orange - - ib. Scorzonera, or Viper Grass - - - - 199 Tragopogan porrifolium, or Salsafy - - ib. Lactuca Sativa, or Garden Lettuce - ib. The Willow Tree, Rose Tree, &c. - - ib. CHAPTER V. Leaves : Trees or Leaves selling or renting : Leaf Market : Statistics. 1. Analysis of the Mulberry Tree - 200 2. State of Leaves proper for feeding - 202 3. Preserving Leaves ----- 203 4. Mode of gathering the Leaves - - - 204 5. Repeated Defoliations - 205 1st Method, or by the green Leaf - 207 2d do. or by the dry Leaf - ib. 3d do. or by Leaf-powder - ib. Renting of Trees, or selling of Leaves - 208 Leaf-market - - - - - 213 Statistics relative to the Mulberry Tree - - - 214 Product of the White Mulberry - - - 217 Product of the Morus Multicaulis - 219 Tabular Statistics - 222 10 CONTENTS. PART III. ON THE SILK WORM. CHAPTER I. Page On the Silk Worm ; Genus, Species, Varieties - - 224 Order, Lepidoptera ib. Genus, Bombyx - - - - ib. Species, Mori - - - - - ib. Larva — Pupa, Nymph, Aurelia, or Chrysalis - - 225 Caterpillar of four Moultings - 230 1. three Moultings - ib. 2. Large Silk Worms of four Moultings - - ib. 3. Silk Worms that produce white Silk - - - 231 4. The dark-coloured Silk Worm - ib. 5. Silk Worms of eight Crops - - - - 232 6. Mammoth White - ib. Varieties : — 1. The Pennsylvania Silk Worm - ib. 2. The Virginia do. - 233 3. The Tusseh or Bughy do. - - - ib. 4. The Arrindy do. - 234 5. The Jarroo do. - - - ib. 6. The Emperor Moth - ib. 7. The Bombyx Chrysorrhcea - ib. 8, 9. Tsouen-kien, or Lyan-kien - 235 10. The Social Silk-nest Spinner - ib. 11, 12. The Wild Figara, and Oak Silk Worm of China - ib. Substitutes : — Spiders' Silk - - - - - 236 Pinna Silk ----- 237 CHAPTER II. Cocoonery: Eggs: Hatching. Cocoonery ------ 239 Eggs of the Silk Worm - - - 245 Preservation and Treatment of Eggs - - ib. Hatching ----- 247 Diseases - - - - - - 251 1. Diseases from Defect in the Eggs - 252 2. bad Air of the District in which Silk Worms are raised - 253 3. Impurity in the Air in the Cocoonery - 254 4. want of Room - 256 5. the quality or quantity of Food - 257 6. improper Change of Food - - ib. 7. a peculiar Constitution of the Air - 258 8. sudden Changes of Temperature - - 259 Particular Diseases: — - - - - ib. 1. The Passis - - - - - 260 2. The Grasserie - ib. 3. The Lusette, Causes and Remedy - - - 261 4. The Yellows, Symptoms ; Causes ; Remedy - - ib. 5. The Muscardine, Symptoms ; Causes - 262 6. The Tripes, Symptoms ; Cause ; Remedies - - 263 Enemies to Silk Worms - 264 Statistics, relative to Silk Worms' Eggs N - - 265 , Space - - - - - 278 CONTENTS. 11 CHAPTER III. Page The Rearing or Silk Worms, from the first Appearance of the Larva unto the Chrysalis, or Cocoon - - 280 1st Age - - - - 291 2d Age - - - - - - ib. 3d Age ------ . ib. 4th Age - - - - - - 292 5th Age - - - - ib. Rearing of the Worms. 1st Age .—First Day - - - - - 294 Second Day - 295 Third Day - - - - ib. Fourth Day - - - 296 Fifth Day - ib. General Remarks on the First Age - 297 2d Age: — Sixth Day - - - - 299 Seventh Day - 300 Eighth Day - ib. Ninth Day - ib. General Remarks on the Second Age - - - 301 3d Age: — Tenth Day - ib. Eleventh Day - - - - 302 Twelfth Day ib. Thirteenth Day - ib. Fourteenth Day - _ - 303 Fifteenth Day - ib. General Remarks on the Third Age - - ib. 4th Age:— - _ _ - - 304 Sixteenth Day - 305 Seventeenth Day - 306 Eighteenth Day - - ib. Nineteenth Day - " - - - ib. Twentieth Day - ib. Twenty-first Day - ib. Twenty-second Day - ib. General Remarks on the Fourth Age - - - 307 5th Age:— -.-..--- i6. Twenty-third Day - - - - 309 Twenty-fourth Day - - _ 310 Twenty-fifth Day - ib. Twenty-sixth Day - ib. Twenty-seventh Day - - - 311 Twenty-eighth Day - ib. Twenty-ninth Day - - - _ ib. Thirtieth Day - ib. Thirty-first Day - - _ - 312 General Remarks on the Fifth Age - - - ib. Thirty-second Day - ib. Spinning Cocoons - 314 6th Age, Commencing the Pupa State - - - 315 Gathering the Cocoons for Seed - - - ib. Preservation of Cocoons intended for Eggs - - 316 Daily Loss in Weight of Cocoons - - - 317 1th Age, The entire Life of the Moth - - - 318 Stparation of the Moths and laying of Eggs - - 319 Preservation of Eggs - 320 Stifling the Chrysalides - _ . 321 12 CONTENTS. PART IV. REELING: THROWSTING: DYEING: STATISTICS. CHAPTER I. Page Reeling : Description of Cocoons - 323 1. Good Cocoons - - - - ib. 2. Pointed Cocoons - - - - ib. 3. Cocalons - - - - - ib. 4. Dupions, or Double Cocoons - - - - ib. 5. Soufflons - - - - ib. 6. Perforated Cocoons - - - - - ib. 7. Good Choquettes - ib. 8. Bad Choquettes - - - - - 324 9. Calcined Cocoons - ib. The relative Value of Cocoons - ib. Piedmontese Reel, Description of - - 325 Filature - - - - - - 326 Disbanding the Silk from the Reel - - 332 Throwsting: Singles, Organzine, Tram, Sewing Silk, Cordon- net, Filoselle - - - - - 333 Machinery - 334 CHAPTER II. Dyeing. To cleanse and ungwn Silk - 342 White Silk, or boiling to be dyed - 343 Sulphuring - - - - - - ib. To boil Silks which are to be dyed - . - - ib. Aluming - - - - - - ib. The Indigo Tub ----- 344 Crimson, several Receipts - 344, 352, 353 Green ----- 345, 355, 357 Lilac ------ 345 Violet, with Logwood, Brazil Wood, Archil - - 346 Violet Blue ' - -' - - - - 356 Yellow, of various Shades - - 346,349,350,351,354 Poppy - ,- - - - - 347 Black ------ ib. Blue, dark ----- 348,356 Blue, Turkish ----- 351,355 Blue, (ultramarine) ----- 356 Buff - - - - - - 351 Pink, real - - - - - - ib. Red, deep - - - - 352,353,357 Brown, real - - - - - - 353 Nankeen ------ 355 Conclusion ------ 358 Statistics- ----- 359 — — — , Feeding - - - - - 361 A TREATISE ON THE MULBERRY TREE, &c. PART I. HISTORY OF THE CULTURE AND MANUFACTURE OF SILK. CHAPTER I. PRELIMINARY REMARKS ON THE ORIGIN OF SILK CULTURE IN CHINA. How frequently do we find that the highest eleva- tion in character, in the wealth and independence of individuals or nations, arises from some small and apparently insignificant origin. The silk worm, the cocoon, the raw material that gives lucrative employ- ment to myriads, mills, looms, machinery, filatures, factories, the busy merchant, the crowded warehouse, the loaded ship, transporting the rich damask, the thick velvet, the stiff brocade, the thin gauze and delicate blonde, fabrics valuable as silver, or more valuable than mines of precious metals to nations, proceed from, or are set in motion, by what ? By the eggs of an insect ; eggs so small that threescore scarcely weigh one grain ! ! It is no less singular than true, that light, know- ledge, the arts and sciences, literature, and even the gospel itself, pursue, in their respective movements, a course similar to that of the sun. They rise in the 2 13 14 HISTORY OF SILK. east, and move towards the west. Thus onward may they go till they encompass the earth, not only with a zone, but with zones of light more numerous than the belts of Jupiter or the rings of Saturn, dis- pelling all the proceeds of darkness, misunderstand- ing, and animosity, and binding man to man, nation to nation, and hemisphere to hemisphere, in one grand circle of reciprocity and fellow interest, and in all the amenities of fraternal benevolence. In our search for the distant origin of any art or science, or in looking through the long vista of ages remote even to nations extinct before our own, we are favoured with satisfactory evidence so long as we are accompanied with authentic records: beyond, all is dark, obscure, tradition, fable. On such ground it would be credulous or rash in the extreme to re- peat, as our own, an affirmation, when that rests on the single testimony of one party or interest, espe- cially when that is of a very questionable character. It is even more safe, when history or well authen- ticated records fail us, to appeal to philosophy, or to the well known laws of mind, from which all arts and science spring. The former favours us with the commanding evidence of certainty and decision ; and though the latter may only afford the testimony of analogy, yet is its probability more safe, at least, than what rests on misguided calculations or on the legend- ary tales of artifice and fiction. Whilst the natural sun that shines on this earth diffuses his rays equally, and illuminates a whole hemisphere at once, how different is it in reference to the intellectual sun. Here we see the latter steadily maintaining his immovable meridian over some favoured portion, some central region of the earth, even for ages, until the derivative, not the primitive rays, are transmitted to every cardinal point of the civilized nations. And after first com- municating, by the latter, the inventive power to man, like a pillar of light gradually wending its way from east to west ; or, forming a zone, of which HISTORY OF SILK. 15 whilst one extremity has not yet left the east, now- bending over the Atlantic, the other is already illu- minating the shores of the western world. After this view of the subject, there will be the less difficulty in arranging all the families of the earth into two divisions, strongly distinguished from each other. The one, that which has signalized itself by the possession and exercise of the inventive talent ; a faculty in common with every other of excellence, originally proceeding from Him who is the only giver of mind and its every attribute.* In striking contrast to this is that division which comprises those nations that, instead of the inventive, have, from time imme- morial, only evinced the imitative faculty. The deri- vative, not the primitive, rays have reached them. They may be in possession of many of the arts, and some of the sciences, but together with these they give full proof that they originated not with them. They know precisely what their fathers knew. In present emergencies, they refer to the precedent of their ancestors, rather than to the varying circum- stances of the case. Their dress, their manners, their habits, their customs, their festivals, their gods, their temples, their superstition, their pagodas, in routine and fashion, are the same they were centuries ago. Improvements in the arts, or new discoveries in science they know not. And all these are so many collateral proofs, and afford strong presumptive testi- mony, that whatever arts, or whatever of science they inherit, they are the bequest of antecedent proprietors.! * As a proof that the inventive faculty, as to every thing truly useful to man, originally proceeded from the only " Giver of every good mid perfect gift" consult Isa. xxviii. 24 to 29 : and also a beautiful com- ment by Dr. A. Clarke on, " And thou shalt speak unto all that are wise hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom." Exod. xxviii. 3 : and also on, " I have filled him with the spirit of God in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workman- ship ; to devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass ; and in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of curious workmanship." Exod. xxxi. 3, 4, and 5. ■j- " The stationary condition of the arts and sciences in China," says a late writer, " proves that they have not originated with that people : 16 HISTORY OF SILK. Frequent examples are found where the polity of a whole nation, of a whole empire, or even of a whole church, is to chain down the mind not merely of an in- dividual, but of whole communities in all thinking, say- ing, doing, to the formularies of antiquated precedent. Wherever this is the case, the mind becomes habitu- ally inert ; it is circumscribed on every side by the moss-grown barriers of patriarchal times, beyond which it never dares to pass, and never knows either the joy or the fame of an Archimedes when he ex- claimed Evgmut, iv^Kst, I have found it ! I have found it ! No facts are of greater notoriety than those that give new and varied proofs every day, that ambition is a vice too generally prevalent in nations much more civilized than the Chinese. But that furtive species of it that induces an individual or a nation to claim this discovery or that invention, whilst it is the property of another, is, however dishonourable, too frequently practised. If a single discovery, invention, or art, is sufficient to produce this temptation, how and many peculiarities of the manners, institutions, and popular religion of the Chinese, have a near affinity to those of the Hindoos. We have remarked the ignorance of the Chinese in mathematics and astronomy. Of physics they have no acquaintance beyond the knowledge of appa- rent facts. They never ascend to principles, nor form theories. Their knowledge of medicine is extremely limited, and blended with the most contemptible superstition. Of anatomy they know next to nothing ; and in surgery, they have* never ventured to amputate a limb, nor to reduce a fracture. The Chinese are said to have manufactured glass 2000 years ago, yet at this day it is inferior in transparency to the European, and is not used in their windows. They are reported to have known gunpowder from time immemorial, but they never employed it in artillery or fire arms, till they were taught by the Europeans. When first shown the use of the compass in sailing, they affirmed that they were well acquainted with it, but found no occasion to employ it /" If they are indeed conversant with navigation, let them prove it, by sending a vessel, navigated by a Chinese captain, here. " The art of painting in China is mere mechanical imitation, without grace, expres- sion, or even accuracy of proportions : of the rules of perspective they have not the smallest idea. In sculpture, as in the figure of their idols, the Chinese seem to delight in distortion. The knowledge they have seems to have been imported, and not of original growth, for it has never been progressive." See also M. Bailly's Theory of the Origin of the Sciences among the Nations of India. HISTORY OP SILK. 17 much stronger must this be, when it refers to a whole circle of such discoveries or arts, on which the aggran- dizement and independence of an empire is supposed to depend ? What a necessary part of the policy of such a commonwealth must it be, to adopt every manoeuvre to preserve concealment, or to shroud the whole in the distant mists of extreme and visionary antiquity. What motives have the Chinese had, in which they have had no parallel amongst any other people, to isolate themselves, from the earliest times, from the scrutiny of other nations; to burn, in the reign of Tchehoam-ti, all their historical writings, to bury alive their learned men, to destroy effectually the dates and records of past events, and to sanction the Jesuits in the calculation of eclipses, to the know- ledge of which the Chinese pretend, but could never use or exemplify, except when surreptitiously ob- tained, for the purposes of subtlety and deception. The advocates for the extreme antiquity of the Chinese, assert that their empire has subsisted above 4000 years, and appeal, as a proof, to a series of eclipses marking contemporary events, calculated for 2155 years before the Christian era. The present Chinese have no such knowledge of the motions of the celestial bodies as to enable them to calculate eclipses. They can no more calculate one eclipse, past or future, much less a series, than they can navigate a ship from Canton to Acapulco. But the Jesuits who presided there in the tribunal of mathematics, for more tha,n 200 years, calculated for them, these eclipses, in order to ingratiate themselves with the emperors, and to natter Chinese vanity. And if they could have done this, still it proves nothing. It is easy to calculate eclipses backwards from the present to any period, and thus to give to any fictitious portion of history its chronology of real eclipses. But no valid conclusion can result from this, unless it were likewise proved that all those eclipses were not only actually recorded at the time when they happened, but also in reference to some historic 18 HISTORY OF SILK. event. But this neither has nor can be done ; for it is an allowed fact, that there are no authentic Chinese records beyond the third century prior to the Chris- tian era. Hence, there is no argument; and the futility of such an artifice is too self-evident to have demanded the able pen of so eminent an astronomer as La Place* to expose the chicanery of such a sub- terfuge.! We have, however, authentic testimony that the inventive faculty existed at a very early period. The peculiar condition of man at that time must have afforded many imperative occasions for its ex- ertion. Hence we read that " JabalJ was the father of such as dwell in tents," (inventor of tent-making;) that " Jubal, his brother, was the father," (inventor) * See La Place on the subject. j- Neither is it always considered, in referring to any distant period, especially as to remote nations, or prior to the time of Sosigenes, what we are to understand by the word year. The solar year is 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 51*6 seconds precisely, and no other computation, whether what. is called the Julian year of 365 days 6 hours, or what is commonly, but erroneously quoted as a tropical revolution, 365 days 5 hours 48 minutes and 45 seconds, will correspond to solar time, without periodic corrections, such as the intercalation of a day every leap year, and the omission of three days every 400 years, according to the edict of Gregory XIII : and even then there will be an error of 5 hours and 40 minutes every 1 000 years. If then, we, the moderns, find such difficulty in keeping pace with the sun, what did the ancients do 1 The very circumstance of our present years commencing on the 1st of January, instead of at the winter solstice, is a proof of their pre- dilection for lunar instead of solar time. For the new moon happening 8 days after the solstice, when Csesar first adopted the Julian computa- tion, the year was made to commence on that day instead of when the sun entered Capricorn. Before this the year amongst all nations was lunar, containing precisely so many moons, moonths, or months, each beginning on the day of the new moon, though they consisted of a different number of days. The Hebrew and Greek year contained 354 days ; that of Numa Pompilius, 355, and the year of Romulus com- prised only 304 days. The very terms expressive of time, as calendar from Kiixio) to call, or from the calling together of the people on the first day of the new moon,- or annus, kvkkoc, &c. from which we have annual, cycle, &c. being ambiguous, and signifying a circle as well as time, have occasioned some to suspect that anciently, especially amongst remote nations, these circles were the less and not the greater, and therefore lunar, and absolutely moonths, not years. + Gen. iv. 20. HISTORY OF SILK. 19 of musical instruments : such as the kinnor, harp, or stringed instruments, and the ugab, organ, or wind instruments ; that " Tubal-cain was the instructor of every artificer in brass and iron," the first smith on record, or one to teach how to make instruments and utensils out of brass and iron ; and that the sister of Tubal-cain* was Naamah, whom the Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel affirms to have been the inven- irix of plaintive or elegiac poetry. Here is then an account of the inventive faculty being in exercise 3504 years before the Christian era ; or 1156 years prior to the deluge ; or 804 years before the earliest period assigned to the Chinese for the discovery of silk. And of whatever arts or sciences existing amongst men prior to the deluge, there is no diffi- culty in conceiving the possibility of the transmission of the leading and most essential parts, at least, to the post-diluvians, by the family of Noah. But instead of giving our unqualified assent to what has been servilely copied from book to book from the most accessible account, we shall advert to the great discrepancy relative to Chinese chronology, amongst those who have had equal access to their records. Thus the time of Fohi, the first emperor, has been said to be 2951 b. c. by some 21 98 b. c., and by others 2057, or about 300 years after the deluge: of Hoang-ti, 2700 b. c, by Mailla it is quoted at 2602 b. c.j by Le Sage at 2597 b. c, and by Robin- son and others at 1703 b. c. Similar disagreements might, would our limits allow, be observed concerning * It is worthy of remark that M. de Lavaur in his Conference de la Fable avec VHlstoire Sainte supposes that the Greeks and Romans took their smith-god Vulcan from Tubal-cain. Tubal-cain is, indeed, easily convertible into Vul-can, who was also an artificer, a master smith in brass and iron. Now if the Greeks and Romans, through that change of letters, syllables, or sounds, which one language is liable to suffer in its transit to another, and through the obscurity of tradition, could so easily mistake one sound or name for another, or substitute a fictitious for a real character ; it becomes a matter of still greater pro- bability that similar substitutions may be found, especially in that part of Chinese history which is extremely remote and fabulous. 20 HISTORY OP SILK. the rest, and particularly of the emperors, Hiao-wen- ti, Chim-ti, Ming-ti, Youen-ti, Wen-ti, Wou-ti, and Hiao-wou-ti. Even in more modern times, and rela- tive to a character so notorious as Confucius, no less than three dates are equally affirmed to be true. As to Hoang-ti, who is said to have begun the culture of silk, we are inclined to prefer the latter account, 1703 b. c, which makes him contemporary with Joseph, when prime minister over the land of Egypt. As a confirmation of this, it may be stated, that by referring to the account given of nine* of the patriarchs at this period, we shall find that the aver- age age of man was then 186 years; and that the duration of human life, before much greater, soon after rapidly declined. Now the average duration of the reigns of the first threet Chinese emperors, including Hoang-ti was 118 years; of the five that immediately succeeded, only 68 years. After this, until the Christian era, the average duration of a single reign of the Chinese emperors did not exceed 23 years, and thence until the present time not 13 years. Since, therefore, the average duration of the reign of the first three emperors bears an evident and fit proportion to that of the age of man at the period specified, though not at any other before or after, being in the former case as much too small as it would in the latter be too great, the opinion we have offered is the only one that can be consistent with these striking facts ; and, if duly considered, presents an argument strongly corroborating the view we have taken of the subject. The attempt to establish any greater certainty, in a case of this nature, the Chinese during the dynasty of Tschin, having, to conceal the truth, destroyed every thing authentic, would be in vain. It would be even more rational to have recourse to the Vedas, or sacred books of the Brahmins, or to records in the * Peleg, Reu, Serug, Nahor, Terah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph: Gen. xi. 16 to 26 ; xlvii. 28; and 1. 26. •j- Fohi, Eohi Xinum, and Hoang-ti. HISTORY OF SILK. 21 ancient Sanscrit, were it not a well known fact, that nearly all ancient nations, except the Jews, actuated by the same ambition, have betrayed a wish to have their origin traced as far back as the creation. And in the gratification of this passion none are so noto- riously pre-eminent as the Egyptians, Hindoos, and Chinese. For them the limits of the creation itself have been too narrow, and days, weeks, and even months too short, unless multiplied into years.* Whenever authentic records fail, fable or hypothe- sis alone can supply the place. The former can only amuse us with a whole host of gods, demi-gods, satyrs, nymphs, and heroes. As to the latter, our only alternative is to select the one that has the strongest presumptive testimony in its favour. The strong resemblance, in several respects, be- tween the Chinese and the ancient Egyptians, has almost irresistibly given rise to the conjecture that originally they were the same people. M. de Mairan informs us, that the Egyptians and Chinese were strikingly similar in the following points : the same permanency of manners, abhorrence of innovation, aversion to war, a superficial knowledge of the arts and sciences without the ability to make improve- ments or discoveries ; and, in more remote times, the use of hieroglyphics. A festival of the Egyptians called the feast of the lights, corresponds to that of the Chinese, the feast of the lanterns : the features of the Chinese resemble the ancient Egyptian statues; and certain characters engraven on an Egyptian bust of Isis were found to belong to the Chinese lan- guage. " If we find," says M. Bailly, " in the scattered huts of peasants, fragments interspersed of sculptured columns, we conclude with certainty that they are not the work of the rude peasants who reared those huts, but that they are the remains of a magnificent building, the work of able architects, though we dis- * See Dr. A. Clarke's remarks : end of Gen. 22 HISTORY OP SILK. cover no other traces of the existence of that building, and cannot ascertain where was its precise situation." From this argument, and a comparison of the man- ners, customs, opinions, and attainments of the In- dians, Persians, Chinese, Chaldeans, and Egyp- tians, and a discovery of many circumstances of similarity between all those nations, M. Bailly comes to the singular conclusion, that the knowledge com- mon to all has been derived from the same original source, a most ancient and highly cultivated people of Asia, of which every trace is new extinct.* * " The sciences and arts of the Chinese have been stationary for 2000 years. The Chaldeans were a comparatively enlightened people at the commencement of the Babylonish empire, or so early as 1900 a. m. We find, soon afterwards, that they were astronomers, and understood the revolutions of the celestial bodies. The Chaldeans probably pro- ceeded from this ancient people. In the leading and more essential points of theology, the belief of the Brahmins is the same as was that of the Chaldeans, though subsequently intermingled with many ab- surdities, the result of their superstition and ignorance. The elegant and copious language, the Sanscrit, the source of all Indian knowledge, has been now a dead language for more than 2000 years, and is intelli- gible only to a few of the Brahmins. It was probably the language of that great and ancient people. " The custom of libations and religious ablutions was common to the Tartars, Chinese, and Hindoos, as well as to the Greeks and Romans. All the Asiatic nations had festivals of the nature of the Roman saturn- alia. The tradition of the deluge is diffused among all those nations ; and that of the giants attacking heaven, (tower of Babel) is equally general. The doctrine of the metempsychosis was common to the Egyptians, Greeks, Indians, Persians, Tartarians, and Chinese. A conformity in a true doctrine is no proof of mutual communication or concert ; but it is ingeniously remarked, that a conformity in a false doctrine comes very near to such a proof." "The Egyptians, Chaldeans, Indians, Persians, and Chinese, all placed their temples fronting the east. All these nations had a cycle or period of 60 years for regulating their chronology. They all divided the circle into 360 degrees ; the zodiac into 12 signs, and the week into 7 days. The Chinese, Indians, and Egyptians distinguished the seven days of the week by the names of the seven planets ranged in the same order. The long measures of the ancient nations had all one common origin." " These singular coincidences," says M. Bailly, " can be explained only upon one or the other of the following three suppositions : 1st, that there was a free communication between all those ancient nations ; 2ndly, that those circumstances of coincidence are so founded in human HISTORY OP SILK. 23 From the Egyptians, it is well known, that the Greeks, those venerable models of fine taste, of the arts and sciences, received the first rudiments of their knowledge. And M. de Guignes of the Academy of Sciences and Belles Lettres in France, has present- ed strong presumptive testimony that the Chinese, (he might probably have added the Hindoos,) were originally an Egyptian colony. He has discovered the very remarkable fact, that the first Chinese sovereigns were precisely the same, as those of Thebes in Upper Egypt. He concludes from thence, with sufficient reason, that an Egyptian emigration, of which we find some traces in their history, settled themselves upon the borders of the eastern ocean, and grafted the history of their native place, upon that of the soil of their adopted country. He more- over points out an evident affinity between the Chinese alphabet and the Egyptian hieroglyphics. Whether M. de Guignes is correct in his conjectures or not, it is certain, that there is an extraordinary similitude in the manners, genius, morals, and cha- racter of these two distant nations; and it must be confessed that the collective testimonies adduced by him approximate to that evidence which demands conviction. Admitting, as is equally, if not still more probably a fact, that the Chinese emigrated from the Hindoos, and the latter from the Egyptians, Sir William Jones, consistently with the above hypothesis, and with evidence deduced from the high authority of the Sanscrit, traces the origin of the Chinese from the Hindoos. He appeals to passages of the ancient Sanscrit records, which mention a migration of certain of the military class termed Chinas from India to the countries east from Bengal. If to a declaration from nature, that the most unconnected nations could not fail to hit upon them ; or, 3dly, that they have been all derived from a common source. He rejects the two former suppositions as contrary, in his opinion, to the ordinary course of things, as well as to matter of fact ; and adopts the last." 24 HISTORY OF SILK. the Sanscrit, by so competent an authority as Sir William Jones, be added the allowed affinity existing between the manners, institutions, religion, and pecu- liarities of the Hindoos and those of the Chinese, we have an evidence relative to the origin of the latter, which, if it obtain not our entire credence, is, at least, entitled to our respect. But our belief of this is further strengthened from the consideration, that in the days of Ninus, a. m., 1995, the Assyrian empire extended from Egypt to Bactria,* now a part of Bukharia ; and in the time of Semiramis, the conquests were pursued to the south and east, as far as the river Indus. The transit, therefore, of Egyptian colonists to India or Hindoos- tan, at this time, was easy ; since one interest, or one government prevailed from Egypt on the southwest to Bactria on the north, and to the Indus on the southeast. Nineveht founded by Asshur,J the second son of Shem, who gave his name to Assyria, was in the early part of the reign of Semiramis the metro- polis of the Assyrian government, but in the latter part, the capital was established at Babylon: the Chaldeans, at that time, being a part of the same empire. Both the Egyptians and Chaldeans were renowned for their early acquaintance with the arts and sciences. We perceive, therefore, the united lore of both already on the march to India. And if the rest of that march we give up to the high authorities of Sir William Jones and the Sanscrit, that announce to us an " early migration of the military class, the Chinas from India to countries east of Bengal," we are, together with our Egyptian and Chaldean§ colo- nists, in China at once. * Bactra, the capital, was about 60 miles to the north of the present Samarcand, the metropolis of the great conqueror Tamerlane. •j- Now called Mossul, on the banks of the Tigris. * Gen. x. 11 and 22. § " In confirmation that all men have been derived from one family, let it be observed, that there are many customs and usages, both sacred and civil, which have prevailed in all parts of the world, which could owe their origin to nothing but a general institution, that could never HISTORY OF SILK. 25 But who was Fohi, or the supposed first Chinese emperor ? And who were the Seres, the reputed first cultivators of silk, and where did they dwell ? We shall begin with the latter inquiry first. Dr. Lardner informs us that " Se is the name for silk in the Chinese language ; this, by a faulty pro- nunciation in the frontier provinces, acquired the final r. thus changing the word into Ser, the very name adopted by the Greeks." And under the word 2»§, in the Lexicon of Hesychius we read raowf ywZv to a-H^Uov, the worm which produces the silk thread. Its plural is found in the same sense in the letter of the emperor Julian, bl n^o) o%?. the Persian silk worms. Seres also in the plural, was employed by the Greeks and Romans to signify the people who attended to silk worms. Hence Serica, the country of the Seres ; which was sometimes written Sereinda, a term ap- plicable indefinitely to any country inhabited by the Seres* or silk growers, beyond the Indus.t By the ancients, and in maps of ancient geography, Serica is differently placed, sometimes more to the have existed, had not mankind been of the same blood originally, and instructed in the same common notions before they were dispersed. Among these usages may be reckoned, 1. The numbering by tens. 2. Their computing time by a cycle of seven days. 3. Their setting apart the seventh day for religious purposes. 4. Their use of sacrifices, pro- pitiatory, and eucharistical. 5. The consecration of temples and altars. 6. The institution of sanctuaries or places of refuge, and their privi- leges. 7. Their giving a tenth part (tythe) of the produce of their fields, &c. for the use of the altar. 8. The custom of worshipping the Deity bare-footed. 9. Abstinence from sensual gratification previous to offering sacrifice. 10. The order of priesthood and its support. 11. The notion of legal pollutions, defilements, &c. 12. The universal tradition of a general deluge. 13. The universal opinion that the rain- bow was a divine sign or portent, &c. See Dodd." Dr. A. Clarke on Gen. x. 26. The Chinese use certain purifications even before they enter their cocooneries. See a summary of the principal Chinese Treatises on the Culture of Silk, &c, published in 1838, by P. Force, Washington. * Hence the Greek term for silk, a-ngmov, the Latin sericum, the Ita- lian seta, the French soie, and the English silk. In more modern times, from &/u£u%, or Bombyx mori, the caterpillar of the mulberry, we find the terms Bombycina, and Bombykia employed to signify silk. •}• Not beyond the Ganges as has been inconsiderately affirmed. 3 26 HISTORY OP SILK. east, at others to the west, but never beyond the 48th degree of north latitude. This is indefinite, but easily accounted for from the consideration that the ancients had only a confused idea of central Asia. They gave it the vague denomination of Scythia beyond Im- maus, though that included that vast region, now known as Chinese Tartary, ranging from the Belur- tag mountains on the west to the Pacific on the east. They, therefore, wrote so imperfectly of the exact position of Seres, Serica, or Sericane, as to occasion considerable dispute amongst European writers on the subject, whilst some, for no better reason than that deduced from the more modern site of the silk trade, have placed it in northern China. But we are informed by Madame Coinde, that an enlightened critic, without stating his name, has assigned satisfac- tory reasons for placing aboriginal Serica in little Bu- charia, a country crossing the 40th parallel of north latitude near the eastern fronts of the Belur-tag moun- tains ; whence migration subsequently may have taken place to China proper. We have seen that the most probable account re- lative to the time of Fohi, said to have been the first Chinese emperor, is, that he reigned 2057 years be- fore the Christian era, or in the year of the world 1947. "According to the most current opinion," says M. Lavoisne, " China was founded by one of the colonies formed at the dispersion of Noah's pos- terity, under the conduct of Yao, who took for his colleague Chun, afterwards his successor. But most writers consider Fohi to have been Noah himself." Now the deluge terminated a. m. 1657, and Noah lived after the deluge 350 years,* and therefore died a. m. 2007 ; and as Fohi is said to have reigned 114 years, before Eohi Chun or Chimin succeeded him, he was cotemporary, at least, with Noah. The ark rested on Mount Ararat, which is generally allowed to be one of the mountains of Armenia, to the east of * Gen. ix. 28. HISTORY OF SILK. 27 the head of the Tigris. And here the same author remarks, that " in rather less than a century and a half, after the birth of Peleg, it is supposed that Noah, being then about his 840th year, wearied with the growing depravity of his descendants, retired with a select company to a remote corner of Asia, and there began what in after ages has been termed the Chinese monarchy." Little Bukharia assigned by Madame Coinde as the first settlement of the Seres, frequently translated Chinese, is certainly not far from the head of the Tigris. But here we take our leave of hypo- thesis, being not partial to any beyond what truth and future investigation will warrant, contenting our- selves with having shown that the most respectable testimonies relative to China are compatible with the most authentic records, now extant, in the world. Having offered these preliminary remarks, and given the most credible hypotheses to supply the place of absolute fiction ; finding also that the theories and even reputable testimonies presented by Messieurs Ma'irau, Bailly, Gruignes, and Sir William Jones, are perfectly compatible with each other, and allow us to demonstrate that the transit of more central abori- gines, since the deluge, to the extremes of China, was perfectly feasible, and a matter of even high proba- bility, we have sufficient warrant to decline repeating whatever any one else has said relative to the ex- treme antiquity of the first discovery of silk. With a considerable portion of mankind, the passion for the marvellous is excessive. China and other distant regions have been a convenient fund to draw upon. Had it not been for this source, the legends of Greek and Roman mythology having been long since given up as the mere bagatelle for the school-boy, there would have been a dearth. Fortunately for this pur- pose China is remote, access to her is denied, her ancient records are burnt; yet what has been written siuce, we are told, is more ancient than Egyptian pyramids. Thus the fund is renewed ; and in our search for the new and strange, we are, conveniently 28 HISTORY OF SILK. enough, sent to China, to the Pelew Islands, to the depths of Nubia, to Gondar, or to Tombuctoo, where, of course, no one else can go. Of emperors the Chi- nese boast of 244, from Fohi the first, to Kia-Kim the present sovereign; and of gods, goddesses, demi-gods, and semi-goddesses, heroes, heroines, satyrs, fauns, the Pelopidse, Heraclidse, Labdacides, and Tynda- ridse, river, wood, and mountain nymphs of Greek and Roman mythology, without the name of empe- ror, king, or consul of authentic history, we ourselves can furnish, by genealogy and pedigree, a catalogue of more than 666, and calculate, as well as the Jesuits, eclipses for them too, if required ; and how many more they had, to whom as yet we have not had the honour of an introduction, we know not. ADDITIONAL NOTES. In Russel's View of Ancient and Modern Egypt we find, relative to the subject of the preceding chapter, so many valuable remarks, and that evidence, which it has cost the world ages to collect, that we cannot persuade ourselves to withhold such as our limits will allow from our readers ; and therefore add the following notes. 1. "It has long been an object of inquiry among scholars to discover the channel through which civilization, science, and an acquaintance with the liberal arts first reached the valley which is watered by the Nile. Without analyzing the numerous hypotheses which have been successively formed and abandoned, we shall state at once as the most probable of the opinions that have been entertained on this subject, that the stream of knowledge, from the first family, accompanied the progress of commerce along the banks of those great rivers, which fall into the Persian Gulf, and thence along the coast of Arabia to the shores of the Red Sea. There is the best reason to believe that those passes or lateral defiles which connect the sea just named with the river of Egypt, wit- nessed the earliest migration of colonists from Asia ; who, in the pur- suits of commerce, or in search of more fertile lands, or of mountains enriched with gold, found their way into Nubia and Abyssinia. Mean- time it is possible, a similar current set eastward across the mouths of the Indus, carrying arts and institutions of a corresponding character into the countries which stretch from that river to the great peninsula of Hindoostan. 2. " The most obvious confirmation of the opinion now stated may be drawn from the striking resemblance which is known to subsist be- HISTORY OF SILK. 29 tween the usages, the superstitions, the arts, and the mythology of the ancient inhabitants of western India, and those of the first settlers on the Upper Nile. The temples of Nubia, for example, exhibit the same features, whether as to the style of architecture, or the form of worship which must have been practised in them, with the similar buildings which have been recently examined in the neighbourhood of Bombay. In both cases they consist of vast excavations hewn out of the solid body of a hill or mountain, and are decorated with huge figures which indicate the same powers of nature, or serve as emblems to denote the same qualities in the ruling spirits of the universe. 3. " As a further proof of this hypothesis, we are informed that the Sepoys who joined the British army in Egypt under Lord Hutchinson, imagined that they found their own temples in the ruins of Dendera, and were greatly exasperated at the natives for their neglect of the an- cient deities, whose images are still preserved. So strongly indeed were they themselves impressed with this identity, that they proceeded to perform their devotions with all the ceremonies practised in their own land. There is a resemblance too, in the minor instruments of their superstition — the lotus, the lingam, and the serpent, — which can hardly be regarded as accidental ; but it is no doubt in the immense extent, the gigantic plan, the vast conception which appear in all their sacred buildings, that we most readily discover the influence of the same lofty genius, and the endeavour to accomplish the same mighty object. The excavated temple of Guerfeh Hassan, for instance, reminds every travel- ler of the cave of Elephanta. The resemblance, indeed, is singularly striking ; as are all the leading principles of Egyptian architecture to those of the Hindoos. Many even of the rites and emblems are pre- cisely the same, especially those of the temples dedicated to Iswara, the Indian Bacchus. In truth they are so much alike that the same workman might almost be supposed to have superintended the execution of them in both countries. In India and in Egypt the hardest granite mountains have been cut down into the most striking, if not the most beautiful fronts of temples adorned with sculpture. In both countries large masses of rocks have been excavated into hollow chambers, whose sides are embellished with columns and statues of men and animals carved out of the same stone ; and in each are found solid blocks of many hundred tons weight, separated from the adjoining mountain, and lifted up into the air. By whom and by what means these wonderful efforts have been ac- complished is a mystery sunk too deep into the abyss of time ever to be revealed. We need only compare the monolithic temples of Nubia with those of Mahabulipoor, the excavations of Guerfeh Hassan with those of Elephanta, and the grottoes of Hadjur Silsili with the caverns of El- lora, to be convinced that these sacred monuments of ancient days de- rived their origin from the same source." 4. " A resemblance of a corresponding nature has been discovered in the religious usages of the Chinese compared with those of the Egyptians, particularly in what is called the feast of lamps, a festival annually ob- served by the latter people, and graphically described by Herodotus This coincidence led M. de Guignes to conclude that the first inhabi- tants of China must have been a colony from Egypt. But it is easy to account for all such facts on a much more rational hypothesis. No one 3* 30 HISTORY OF SILK. can have failed to remark, that among the more ancient nations, there is a great similarity in point of tradition, habits, opinions, knowledge, and history. The Babylonians, the Egyptians, the Assyrians, the Hindoos, and the descendants of Abraham, held many things in com- mon respecting the creation of the world, the great deluge, the disper- sion of the human race, and the first institution of laws and religious worship. Hence we may conclude that the general agreement in these particulars, which we contemplate ampng the more primitive tribes of mankind, ought to be ascribed to the instruction which they had re- ceived while as yet they were but one family, or to the traditionary tenets which had spread, with here and there a little variation, with the diverging lines of their successive tribes, though derived originally from the same source. 5. " But by far the most striking point of resemblance between the ancient inhabitants of Egypt and of India is the institution of castes; that singular arrangement which places an insuperable barrier between different orders of men in the same country, and renders their respective honours, toils, and degradations, strictly hereditary and permanent. Before the invention of letters, indeed, mankind may be said to have been perpetually in their infancy ; whence arose the expedient, founded in a view for the public good, of compelling sons to cultivate the arts which had originated in their families, and to follow the professions whereby their fathers had acquired distinction. The narrative of Hero- dotus bears evidence to the same institution at an early period among the Egyptians. And his statement when compared with that of Dio- dorus Siculus at a later epoch, removes every shadow of doubt in regard to the identity of the principle from which this political arrangement must have originally proceeded." The reader will not be disappointed in perusing the whole of the highly interesting volume from which these notes are extracted. HISTORY OF SILK. 31 CHAPTER II. HISTORY OF SILK TO THE PERIOD WHEN SILK WORMS WERE FIRST INTRODUCED INTO EUROPE. Though we are called upon in this chapter to give the chronology relative to the early culture of silk, as found in Chinese documents, yet we are by no means pledged to affirm that either in the authenticity of the books, or in the correctness of the dates have we any faith. The whole of this, for the several irrefragable objections already assigned, is exceed- ingly questionable. M. Lavoisne dates the com- mencement of the Chinese dynasties at a. m.* 1816, or 159 years after the deluge. The Rev. J. Robinson of Christ Col., Cam., at a. m. 1947. We have already given as strong reasons, as under the extreme incer- titude of the case, can, perhaps, be offered, for pre- ferring the latter: the important points may be briefly stated, thus: End of the deluge f 1 657 a. m. Fohi, first emperor, began to reign 1947 a. m. Noah died 2007 a.m. Eohi Chinun, second emperor, began to reign 2061 a. m. Hoang-ti, the third emperor, began to reign 2201 a. m. Hoang-ti, after establishing the silk culture, died 2301 a. m. And was therefore contemporary with Joseph when administering the affairs of Egypt. We have already seen that Seres is the term origi- nally employed for the silk growers, and since iden- * We prefer this mode (a. m. anno mundi, in the year of the world) of marking the time of events prior to the birth of Christ, which ac- cording to the commonly received chronology was a. m. 4004. | It will here not be improper to observe that the Samaritan text and Septuagint version of the Hebrew, carry the deluge as far back as to the year 3716 before Christ; or 1000 years before the Chinese account of Hoang-ti. On this subject see the New Analysis of Chronology, by the Rev. W. Hales, D.D., 4to. 3 vol. V 32 HISTORY OF SILK. tified with the Chinese : Serica, the silk growing country, was therefore that of the Seres. Serica, in the most indefinite sense, was thought to be some region within what we call Chinese Tartary : by others, perhaps, inconsiderately placed in China pro- per; but by an ingenious author, quoted, but not named, by Madame Coinde, in Little Bukharia, near the Belur-tag mountains. We are not disposed to contemplate Sereinda, or the silk country beyond the Indus, as a distinct section of Serica. The course of the Indus, from which Sereinda is designated, is on the western frontiers of the Belur-tag mountains, which to a considerable distance, but not uniformly, form the western boundaries of Little Bukharia ; and the source of the Indus has been traced nearly as high as the 40th parallel of north latitude. We, therefore, contemplate the primitive settlement of the aboriginal Seres, or the ancient Serica, or Sereinda, as the same country ; and about five degrees to the south, but on the same meridian with the present city of Cashgar; and consequently between the sources of the Indus on the west, and the Belur-tags on the east. And sections of this original colony might subsequently migrate to Hindoostan on the south, or to China on the east. Whether this was the cradle of the first silk culture or not, the general interest, in process of time, would naturally set in with the tide of migration and move easterly, until we find the great emporium within the limits of the Celestial Empire. Here, doubtless, the Seres would be in the time of so late a Roman writer as Ammianus Marcellinus, quoted by Dr. Lardner. "Marcellinus describes the Seres as a sedate and gentle people, who avoid all contentions with neighbouring nations, and are, there- fore, free from the miseries and alarms of war. Being without the necessity for using offensive weapons, they are even unacquainted with them. Blessed with a fertile soil, and a delicious and salubrious cli- mate, they are represented as passing their happy days in the most perfect tranquillity and delightful HISTORY OF SILK. 33 leisure, amid shady groves fanned by gentle breezes, and producing fleeces of downy wool, which after being sprinkled with water, is combed off in the finest threads, and woven into sericum." Marcel- linns proceeds to describe the Seres as being content with their own felicitous condition, and so reserved in their intercourse with the rest of mankind, that when foreigners venture within their boundaries for wrought and unwrought silk, and other valuable ar- ticles, they consider the price offered in silence, and transact their business without exchanging a word : a mode of traffic which is still practised in some eastern countries. How nearly this corresponds to the singularly immutable manners of the Chinese of the present age, is sufficiently obvious. But would we know what account the Chinese themselves give relative to the earliest introduction of the silk culture, we shall find it in the French ver- sion of the Chinese Treatises, by M. Stanislas Julien, or in the following words of p. 77 and 78, as trans- lated and published in 1838, at Washington, under the title of "Summary* of the principal Chinese Treatises upon the Culture of the Mulberry, and the rearing of Silk Worms." " In the book on silk worms we read — the lawful wife of the emperor Hoang-ti, named Si-ling-chi, began the culture of silk. It was at that time that the emperor Hoang-ti invented the art of making garments." " Observations by the Translator. — The same fact is mentioned more in detail in the general history of China, by P. Mailla, in the year 2602t before our era, (4438 years ago.)" * " This Summary was first translated from the Chinese, by M. Stan- islas Julien, member of the French Institute, and Professor of Chinese Literature in the College of France, and printed at the royal press in Paris by order of the minister of public works, agriculture, and com- merce. The French copy from which this translation was made, was transmitted from Paris to the secretary of state, and by his recommen- dation has been translated and published at Washington." -J- Not 2700 a. c. as commonly repeated. 34 HISTORY OF SILK. "This great prince, Hoang-ti, was desirous that Si-ling-chi, his legitimate wife, should contribute to the happiness of his people. He charged her to ex- amine the silk worms, and to test the practicability of using the thread. Si-ling-chi had a large quantity of these insects collected, which she fed herself, in a place prepared solely for that purpose, and discovered not only the means of raising them, but also the manner of reeling the silk, and of employing it to make garments." "It is through gratitude for so great a benefit," says the history, entitled Wai-ki, "that posterity has deified Si-ling-chi, and rendered her particular honours un- der the name of the goddess of silk worms* (Me- moirs on the Chinese, vol. 13, p. 240.)" * Whatever of these extracts is important we shall, in the notes, in- troduce, in the proper place ; and take this opportunity to observe, once for all, that no doubt to many the Chinese prescriptions will frequently appear to be blended with superstition, or with what we should have thought too trifling for the sense and science of a people of 4000 years. But since M. Camille Beauvais's well known enthusiasm for the intro- duction of improvement in the culture of the mulberry and rearing of silk worms has led him to commend, in almost unqualified terms, what- ever the Chinese say on the subject, we shall, wherever occasion re- quires, introduce their rules as we find them, leaving it to the reader's judgment and experience to determine what is unnecessary. On this subject, we quote as fellows from the preface to the American edition. " Notwithstanding the superiority of the French in the arts and sciences, and length of time which has elapsed since the introduction of the manufacture of silk into France, (in the reign of Francis I.,) the fact of the great superiority of the Chinese culture is frankly admitted by M. Camille Beauvais, the gentleman at whose instance the French minister directed the translation to be made from the Chinese works. Such is the strength of his testimony on this point, that he asserts, "THE CHINESE LOSE IN THE REARING SCARCELY ONE PER CENT. OF THEIR WORMS, WHEREAS THE FRENCH LOSE MORE THAN FIFTY !" " Some minds, influenced by ancient traditions," says M. Beauvais, "will perhaps consider this multitude of trifling attentions, which the Chinese lavish upon the silk worms as childish ; others will only see some proceedings little different from theirs in appearance, or will say, that they may be proper to the climate of China, and not applicable in ours. But time and experience will, I hope, cause these natural methods, these delicate attentions, these wise and multiplied precau- tions, the Chinese authors recommend to be appreciated at their just value." HISTORY OF SILK. 35 We have here an example of the good sense, which, in this respect at least, the Chinese have evinced not only in primeval but also in subsequent times. The attention of the " powers that be," do not seem there After this explanation we shall add the most important points from the translation of these Chinese works now before us. " It is written in the Book on Worms," one of the five canonical books, chapter Pin-fong, Ode I., "In the month when the silk worms are fed (fourth month) the leaves of the mulberry trees must be ga- thered." 'This chapter was composed by Tcheou-kong, uncle to the emperor Tching-wang, 1115 years before our era.' — St. Julien. " We read in the Li-ki, or book of Ceremonies, one of the five cano- nical books, in the chapter Youei-sing : 1 In the last spring month, the young empress purifies herself, and off era a sacrifice to the goddess of silk worms,' (very important !) ' She goes to the fields, situated to the east, and gathers mulberry leaves her- self. She forbids the noble ladies and ministers' wives all ornamental dress, who sew and embroider, so that they may be able to give all then- attention to the raising of silk worms.' " The Li-ki, or book of Rites, from which this passage has been ex- tracted, was compiled by Confucius, whose birth was 551 b. c." " In the work entitled Nong-sang-thong-kioue, we read : ' The place called kien-kouan, (or the house of cocoons,) is that where the empress herself raises silk worms. In ancient times, there was a plantation of mulberry trees, belonging to the state, and a build- ing called Tsan-chi, (or the house of the silk worms,) which had the same destination, which is now designated kien-kouan, viz. the house of cocoons. ' The young empress purifies herself, and offers a sacrifice to the god- dess of the silk worms, as an example to the whole empire, and to pro- mote the general culture of silk. The empress repairs to a mulberry plantation. She first cuts a branch ,■ an attendant who holds a basket, receives the leaves ; afterwards the empress cuts three branches. A maid of honour, endowed with the title of Chang-chou, (or president,) throws herself on her knees, and sai/s, it is enough.'' (Does M. Beau- vais wish all this to be attended to !) It is forbidden to carry the leaves to that part of the palace called Ken-chi, or golden house." " The author of the work entitled Nong-song-thong-kioue continues to quote some analogous facts, which he had gathered from the history of the emperors, from the years of Thien-pao, 968, of the dynasty of Song, under which he lived, so as to show, that from the highest an- tiquity, the empress raised silk worms as an example to the whole em- pire." " In the work entitled Tsan-lun, or Considerations on the silk worm, we notice : " Every species of tree requires a particular soil, except the mulberry tree alone, which grows everywhere, and consequently there is not a single place in the empire where silk worms cannot be raised." 36 HISTORY OF SILK. so much directed either to support and extend society in an artificial condition, or in political wrangling and intrigue ; but in the promotion of that natural and salutary state, which can only be maintained by a due proportion between production and consumption, especially in reference to every agricultural depart- ment. And, therefore, in this, the productive class is encouraged by imperial or royal sanction and patron- age. We have, therefore, before us, an historical demonstration of the felicitous consequences of such a polity : whilst it has in all ages of that vast empire contributed to the comfort and consequent peace and content of the many millions subject to its government, it has by the same means combined the immense plains of Chinese interests into one consolidated system of independence and wealth. This policy, found profitable at first, was continued through a succession of generations too numerous for even history to comprise; and royal sanction and patronage were perpetuated through a long line of the empresses of 4000 years. The fair sex of all ranks did not fail, under such fostering auspices, to copy a precedent at once honourable in its character and profitable to themselves. The example of encou- raging domestic industry was shown by the emperor and princes, mandarins, courtiers, and all orders be- came clothed in silk. Thus China, at an early period, was in possession "of a secret that European nations have not learned to this day: that the full encourage- ment of home produce and manufacture is of far greater consequence than foreign trade. Such is the wise and steady course that has been This seems confirmed, since in the same notes we find the following provinces of China where silk is raised, viz. Si-gan-fou, which is now the capital of the present provinces of Chen-si, Honan, Chan-si, Hou- nan, Chan-tong, Hou-kouang, Sse-tchouen. There are similar short and detached historical notices relative to the years 163 b. c, 156 b. c, 48 b. c, 58 a. d., 220 a. d., 265 and 275 a. n., 454 and 457 a. d., but none of them contain any thing important to Americans or new or un- known, as to the culture, to moderns, except auch peculiarities as we have already specified. HISTORY OF SILK. 37 exemplified and transmitted from emperor to emperor, and from empress to empress. It seems to declare to the world that the permanency of nations cannot exist, except where the interest of the government and that of the people is such as to be identical. It is not the theory of a political economist, but an ex- periment that has been tested by centuries. For its verity time himself has been appealed to, and has given a verdict that is a salutary lesson to those that have neglected it. Its utility and profit to the indi- vidual and to the nation have been too reciprocal to require distinction, and as changeless as the necessities of man. A state occupied in the pursuits of war, or in inter- national feuds and distraction, is embarked in the career of national hazard and popular suffering. But the emperor, prince, or government, monarchical or republican, that smiles on the amenities of peace, by extending its fostering energies collaterally with the wants of man, and encourages production proportion- ate to necessity, adopts a policy which has the highest claim of any thing secular to perpetuity. Thus an adequate impetus is given to industry; national broils are merged in the prospect of domestic comfort, and dissatisfaction is exchanged for contentment; salutary habits are instituted ; new prospects are introduced and urged ; and reciprocal interests are national sinews. To promote this, a spring is bent of imperial steel : and what is the consequence ? The mulberry, the orchard, the plantation, and even the very insects are put in requisition. An easy, a pleasant, and a profitable mode of employment is established suit- able to all ranks, all ages, and constitutions. In this, industry becomes nobility and imparts it. The emperors, the empresses, princes, mandarins, courtiers, the affluent, the learned, all, were in the ranks. National and home wants were supplied; commerce lends her wings; ships and caravans moved; oceans and seas gave their aid, and deserts looked gay ; solitudes, if not made to blossom, were 4 38 HISTORY OF SILK. seen to smile ; the Parthians, the Hindoos, the Per- sees, the Arabs, the Syrians, the Phoenicians, were converting the wastes of Asia into the panorama of activity: all western tribes were seen in travelling communities, and the "wealth of the Indies' 5 became a proverb current as far as the shores of Colombia. Thus China has stood as a monument, with the age and firmness of a pyramid, to testify to the world, that whilst many states have felt the alternate favours and caprice of fortune, or have fallen as suddenly as they rose in the scale of nations, she, by pursuing a policy differing from all, has stood the test of 4000 years. This career of industry and domestic production found so beneficial at first, is continued to the present. By adverting to the preface of the Washington edition of the Summary we have mentioned, we read that, " the egg of this insect exceeds not the size of a grain of mustard seed, yet so amazing are the results, that the proceeds of its industry actually constitute the chief source of wealth to the most populous, and per- haps the richest nation of the globe. In the language of a French writer, ' If the cocoons in China were collected together they would form mountains/ The two provinces of Nanking and Chakiang, alone send every year to the court three hundred and sixty-five barks laden not only with pieces of wrought silk, satins, and velvets of various kinds and colours, but even with rich and costly garments of the same ma- terial." If two provinces, only, annually send this quantity, and that merely to the court, what all the provinces transmit not only for national consumption, but to the other parts of Asia, and to the rest of the world, we may conjecture, but cannot estimate.* * The singular mode by which weaving or the manufacture of silk fabrics is conducted in some parts of China, is thus narrated at page 18 of vol. 1, of the Silk Culturist. " Silk looms in Europe are of the most simple construction, but when contrasted with the contrivances in India, would seem to give them a decided advantage. In India, the weaver weaves his web in the open HISTORY OP SILK. 39 It is a singular mystery attached to the history of the culture of silk, "that before silk worms were brought to Constantinople, in the middle of the sixth century, no person in that capital/' nor apparently beyond the precincts of China, " knew that silk was produced by a worm."* Notwithstanding this, not only were silk fabrics transmitted to distant nations, but also the raw material, which employed manufac- tories in Persia, Tyre, Berytus, and in Cos, an island of the Archipelago. t It is obvious that had the use air. He first selects a station for his work, generally under a tree, that its foliage may protect him from the scorching rays of the sun. He then extends the threads which compose the warp of his intended fabric lengthwise between two bamboo rollers, which are fastened to the ground by means of wooden pins. He then digs a hole in the earth large enough to contain his legs in a sitting posture. He next attaches to a limb of the tree, the cords by which his harness is to be worked, and to the lower shafts of the harness cords with loops of sufficient size to admit the insertion of his great toes. With his web thus arranged, he is prepared to commence weaving. This he does by putting his toe into the loop of the cord attached to that part of the harness which he wishes to tread down, and then with a shuttle introduces the woof and beats up by striking the threads of the woof with the shuttle instead of a batten. The shuttle is in the form of a netting needle, and longer than the breadth of the web. With this rude apparatus he manufac- tures a fabric of which an Italian silk weaver would be proud. If the silk manufacture in China is so simple, and is so easily performed with- out the aid of complicated machinery, can it not be successfully prose- cuted in a country abounding in machinists, with ingenuity to invent, and skill to execute the most perfect machinery in the world 1 * Theophanes and Zonaras, the Byzantine historians quoted by Dr. Lardner. j- Chateaubriand, in his travels, speaking of the isle of Zea, says, its present commerce are acorns and silk. " The silk gauze worn by the ancients was invented at Ceos," the ancient name of Zea. " The poets, to convey an idea of its fineness and transparency, called it woven wind. 7ie& still furnishes silk." "The women of Zea," says Tournefort, " generally assemble in companies to spin silk, and they seat themselves on the edge of the terraces at the top of the houses, that they may drop the spindle down to the street, and draw it vrp again as they wind the thread. In this attitude we found the Greek bishop : he inquired who we were, and told us that our occupations were extremely frivolous, if we came only to look for plants and old pieces of marble. We replied, that we should be much more edified to see him with the works of St. Chrysostom and St. Basil in his hand, than twirling the spindle." The island of Zea or Ceos and Cos have been confounded ; the latter is 200 miles from the», former up the Levant. Tibullus, Horace, and 40 HISTORY OF SILK. of the silk worm been known at that island, the source from which silk is derived would also have been known at Byzantium. It is at the island of Cos, however, that not only the manufacture of silk is reported to have been first known in the west, but of a peculiar species of it. Pamphila is reputed to have been the inventress. According to the testimony of Aristotle, bombykia* was respun and rewoven at this island. The imported fabric seems to have been so costly as to form an inducement to Pamphila and her associates to unweave the precious webs in order to convert the substantial stuffs of Serica into a more extended surface, or into a thin transparent gauze ; and thus to gain in measure what was lost in sub- stance. This Pamphilan expedient was subsequently imitated by the Roman ladies, amongst whom the foreign article seemed to have been one of increased value, since it was the chains only of their rewoven fabrics that were allowed to be of silk, the interstices being filled up with linen or cotton, constituting a sort of half silk stuffs. Yet, though the more costly material of the mixture was thus attenuated, it did not prevent the subsequent outcry against it, as too extravagant an article for dress. For centuries Persia seems to have enjoyed the monopoly of the trade with India and China; though, in later times, it is reported, that caravans were pass- ing direct from the coasts of China to Syria, occupy- ing a period of two hundred and forty-three days in the transit; whence the wealth of the Indies was further transmitted by Arabs and Phoenicians to more western parts. Notwithstanding all this intercourse, and the curiosity that interest must naturally have excited relative to the origin of silk, yet it appears, through that finesse and subtle policy, which consti- others make Cos, and not Ceos, the place where silk gauze was an- ciently manufactured ; but common opinion is in favour of Ceos, and the fact that the business is still carried on at the latter place to a con- siderable extent is strongly in its favour. * The fabric produced from the Bombyx, or silk worm. HISTORY OP SILK. 41 tute the national characteristic of the Chinese to the present day, the western part of Asia, and Europe, were kept in profound ignorance on this important topic, until the secret was elicited by stratagem in the sixth century. Notwithstanding the contumely with which the character of Aristotle has been treated by those who never either read him, or were disposed to make candid allowance for the comparative darkness of the times in which he lived, he appears, in the in- vestigation of truth, even as to the silk worm, to have been on the advance, not only of his cotemporaries, but, for 800 years, of those that succeeded him. It was fortunate for philosophy that his influence, as a preceptor, was prevalent with Alexander. In con- formity to his advice, he took out with him, on his Asiatic expedition, 1000 men, whose exclusive com- mission was to make collections in the several depart- ments of zoology, and to transmit them, from time to time, to the Grecian naturalist : to which were added, on the return* of the victorious army of Alex- ander, amongst other eastern luxuries, wrought silks from Persia. Aristotle, therefore, seems to have been thus enabled to give, though without naming the country of its origin, the most accurate account of the silk worm, describing it as a horned insect, passing through successive transformations and producing bombykia. Neither does Pliny seem to have been unacquainted with the silk worm, though his description differs materially from that of the Grecian philosopher; but of its use he evinces a total ignorance, since he affirms that the fabrics unravelled and rewoven by the Ro- man ladies, were the proceed of a woolly substance combed from the leaves of trees to form the draperies made and exported by the Seres. Assyria,! however, * a. m. 3678. e. c. 326. ■j- Justin relates that Sardanapalus (a. m. 778) emperor of Assyria, never left his palace, but spent his time with women and eunuchs spinning with them at the distaff. Had it not been for the late period, when the use of the mulberry and silk worm was known at Constan- 4* 42 HISTORY OF SILK. he assigns as the country indigenous to the insect he describes, and names Ceos (not Cos) an island of the iEgean sea, as the seat of Pamphila, and the singu- lar manufacture of which she was the inventress. With the exception of the two naturalists already- mentioned, ancient writers,* for nearly nine centuries, not only evince complete ignorance relative to the origin of silk, but also betray the most crude concep- tions as to its production. At one time it was ima- gined that Sericum was made either from fleeces growing upon trees,! or from bark, or flowers; at another that the silken filament % was the proceed of a species of spider or beetle. A strong interest must have existed somewhere to have kept the whole of this a secret ; and persevering, indefatigable, and vigi- lant must have been the policy to have maintained it such for so many centuries. Here we see a trait of the Chinese, in which they stand unequalled, and without a parallel in any other nation. This, together with other circumstances, will enable us, in some degree, to account for the extreme scarcity, for many centuries, of silk in Europe. So costly was this article of luxury, that all knowledge of it was chiefly confined to Rome, or to other cities of princely tinople, charity, aided by this account of Pliny, would have inclined us to attribute that as a virtue to this monarch, especially when his age at the time is considered, which has been commonly imputed as a vice ; or to suppose that he and his attendants were engaged at that period, on the banks of the Tigris, in the laudable pursuit of producing silk ; and, therefore, not suited to the military taste of Arbaces governor of Media, and affording an opportunity to the rapacity of Belesis, governor of Babylon. * Nearchus, Aristobulus, Theophrastus, Virgil, Dionysius, Periegetes, Seneca, Arrian, Solinus, Ammianus Marcellinus, Claudian, Jerome, &c. j- " Vellera ut foliis depectant tenuia Seres." — Virgil. | " I have long entertained the idea that the golden fleece which Jason carried from Colchis, was a cargo, or perhaps only a skein of rich golden coloured raw silk in the hank, which might figuratively be termed a fleece, because it was to be twisted into thread and interwoven into cloth. This at least is as plausible as the commonly received solu- tion admitted by a celebrated historian not prone to credulity." — Note to Martin's Translation of the Travels of Marco Polo, quoted by Dr. Lardner. HISTORY OF SILK. 43 residence. Before the reign of Augustus,* there is little or no mention of it ; and its use, in that of Ti- berius,! was restricted by sumptuary laws to women of rank and fashion. Though this prohibition did not, in summer, apply to the use of the lighter fabrics of Cos by the men; yet their extreme tenuity or transparency, as an article of apparel, whether worn by men or women, met the frowns, though with but partial success, of the Roman satirists^ for more than a century. § Rome was at this time rapidly increasing in wealth, and therefore in luxury. The demand for silk, as a consequence, was no longer commensurate with the scanty supply, and the price became exorbitant. To obtain relief, or a more direct commercial communi- cation, an embassy, by way of Egypt and India, was sent, in the second century, by Marcus Antoninus. || The Chinese annals testify, that the changeless polity of that country treated then, with the same reserve, as it does now, all applications for foreign intercourse, except through channels of long and tried fidelity. The Persians, therefore, retained for centuries the Indian monopoly, and their caravans laden with its wealth traversed the wilds of Asia from the Celestial Empire to the shores of Syria. Had we no other proof that this state of things, for some time, continued on the increase, that relative to the Syrian voluptuary Heliogabalus,1F would be suf- ficient ; of whose extravagance, after the Roman writers have mentioned the particulars, they add, as a climax in the list of his criminality, that he wore a holosericum, or a garment altogether made of silk. It is added likewise as a further proof to the same * B. C. 31. f A. D. 14. i Publius Syrus, Varro, Tibullus, Propertius, Horace, Seneca, Pliny, and Juvenal. Pliny, 1. xi. c. 23. Tacit. Ann. 1. ii. c. 32. § According to the testimony of different writers, silk was not un- frequently seen at Rome as early as in the reign of Tiberius, a. d. 17. Galen, a. d. 173, mentions that the scarcity of silk was such that it could be worn only by the rich. 1 a. n. 177. 1 a. d. 222. 44 HISTORY OP SILK. purpose, that Aurelian* assigned as a reason for his refusing his empress a similar luxury, that its cost would be equal to its weight in gold. It is easy to perceive the advantage which this passion for dress, that, of course, accompanied the Romans to Constantinople, offered to the Persians, at that time in the unimpaired possession of their mono- poly. Neither was it without a liability to disap- pointment to the Romans on the one hand, and to the final loss of the trade to the Persians on the other. In availing themselves of the advantage, the latter, either by the exorbitant prices imposed by the mer- chant, or by the exactions of government, evinced that gross indiscretion which was ultimately destruc- tive to their interest. And to this, when there was added a war between the two countries, a different mode of procuring supplies, became, on more accounts than one, imperatively necessary. A war with the Persians occurring in the reign of Justinian induced that monarch to obtain supplies from a more eligible channel. Through a defi- ciency of the requisite experience and qualifications necessary for so difficult an undertaking, Elasbaan king of Axuma, and Esimiphaeus governor of the Homerites in Arabia, to whom, for this purpose, Justi- nian had made application, failed to fulfil their en- gagement; and silk,. in consequence, rose at Constan- tinople to a height before unknown. This, the par- tial supplies, usually afforded by the Phoenician manufacturers would have considerably relieved, had not Justinian with a blind rapacity, that, in his aim to augment the revenue, effectually defeated itself, imposed heavy duties on the importations, which became absolutely prohibitory. t In consequence the merchants were ruined, the scarcity of silk was equi- valent to absolute privation, and the failure of a * a. d. 273. j- The nominal price of silk per pound at this time, may be quoted as equivalent to 22*98, which, however, was but trifling to the real value, when the difference of the times is considered. HISTORY OP SILK. 45 revenue whose increase was contemplated by Justi- nian, was a practical sarcasm on his avarice. Thus have we, in the history of silk, arrived at a very important and ever memorable crisis. Silk was produced even from the earliest ages, in regions congenial to its culture, where in consequence of the blessings it confers, the inhabitants proclaim them- selves celestial, but assiduously withhold all know- ledge from what the benefit is derived. An insect, as if in some land of enchantment, labours, spins, and dies; and without leaving itself even a sarcophagus, bequeaths its house, more valuable to man than the proud monuments of the Egyptian architect, its robe more golden than Jason's fleece, and all its estate, by the bale and cargo, to the men of Hesperian climes, who know not either of its existence, nor the mystery of its operations. The elegance of the fabrics is ad- mired by all ; Europe invites the commerce ; a diffi- culty unmanageable in the ordinary course of things occurs ; a crisis arrives ; the old epoch is closed, and a new era, most important in its history ar- rives. How frequently has relief come, not only at the moment of extremity, but by the most unexpected means. Justinian failed in his diplomatic application to the Arabian princes, as well as his predecessor had done at the Chinese court ; and his very attempt to force a trade was the means of its almost total ex- tinction. But how could it have been foreseen, that what emperors, ambassadors, and merchants failed to accomplish, would be effected by means so unlikely as by two comparatively obscure Nestorian monks ? The preachers of the doctrines of Nestor, exiled by the government of Byzantium, had fled to India ; and missions, convents, and bishoprics, by their pa- triarch resident in Persia, had been, according to the testimony of Cosmas, established in every direction. Two of the monks penetrated to the country of the Seres. With curious eye they had observed the dress of the Chinese; the manufactures of the silken fabric; 46 HISTORY OF SILK. and the millions of insects, whose education was the labour of queens, converting the leaves of a tree into silk. All the manipulations requisite, from the em- bryo state of the little animal, to the production of the costly material, were marked with intense interest. The secret was out! two monks in possession of it — the knowledge to benefit myriads was entrusted to two — the perils in traversing a vast continent were yet to be encountered — a risk was to be incurred — no insurance was effected, but that of Providence : thus all was safe : and the two monks, our benefac- tors, bequeathed a mystery hid for ages, as a legacy to a western hemisphere. Aware of the solicitude of the Europeans on this subject, the monks repaired to Constantinople, and revealed to the emperor the secret that silk was pro- duced by insects whose eggs might be conveyed to his dominions. Were we to indulge in the conjecture what, most naturally on such a momentous occasion, was the passion chiefly excited in Justinian, at this important juncture, when a report, than which none could be more interesting to the secular concerns of man, was first announced to his ears, our charity might have inclined us to point to philanthropy, had we not ascertained the character of the man. With him, on several occasions, self was a universe, and all within it his minions, whose interests were to be consulted precisely to the point where they served his own. By the promise of a great reward, the monks were induced to return to China, elude the vigilance of that jealous people, obtain the eggs, and to confine within the narrow precincts of a hollow cane, what was subsequently to create machines and factories, fill warehouses and ships, and become in- exhaustable mines of wealth to nations. They suc- ceeded; and in the year 552, they were in Constan- tinople, and their cane, like Noah's ark, contained a family, whose posterity are now filling regions wider than those peopled, within the same time, by Shem, Ham, and Japheth. HISTORY OF SILK. 47 "The insects thus produced," says Dr. Lardner, " were the progenitors of all the generations of silk worms, which have since been reared, in Europe, and the western parts of Asia ;"— to which we may now add, Africa and America — "of the countless myriads whose constant and successive labours are engaged in supplying a great and still increasing de- mand. A caneful of eggs thus became the means of establishing a manufacture which fashion and luxury had already rendered important, and of saving vast sums annually to European nations, which in this respect had been so long dependent on, and obliged to submit to, the exactions of their oriental neigh- bours."* No sooner is this new and interesting colony in Europe, than the avarice of Justinian seizes the cra- dle of the infant concern. His own treasurer had the control, the monks the direction, weavers brought from Tyre and Berytus were the creatures of the monopoly, and his became the prerogative to fix the price which his subjects should pay for the indulgence of their vanity. The price of silk, by this means, became eight times more expensive than before the introduction of the silk worm : an ounce weight of a fabric of common colours could not be purchased for * The authorities quoted, on the whole of this part of the subject, by Dr. Lardner are, Robertson's Disquisitions on the Commerce of India. D'Herbelot Biblioth. Orient, art. Harir. Procopius, Hist. Arcan ; and de Bello Gothico, 1. iv. c. 17, Theophan. Byzant. apud Photium. Theo- phylact. 1. viii. et apud Photium. Zonaras, vol. iii. p. 50, edit. 1557. " The eggs were hatched in the proper season by the warmth of manure, and the worms were fed with the leaves of the mulberry. In due time, they spun their silk, ^ind propagated under the careful atten- tion of the monks ; who also instructed the Romans in the whole pro- cess of manufacturing their production." — Id. In the Silk Grower for September, 1838, it is added, that the monks " brought with them minute instructions for hatching the eggs, rearing the worms, reeling, spinning, and weaving the silk. But they made but little improvement. Cocooneries were then unknown ; hurdles and other necessary conveniences not thought of. The worms fed on the ground, allowed to wind their balls amongst the rubbish of six weeks' collection ; and then reels were entirely useless, being too complicated to be used except by rich manufacturing companies." 48 HISTORY OF SILK. less than six pieces of gold, but the royal purple was of quadruple value. Fortunately for the public good, the oppressors of mankind live not for ever: Justinian died; and the monopoly ceased. The people of western Asia and Europeans discovered that neither the mulberry nor the silk worm, wanted either Chinese climes, or the . care of a Justinian to foster them. Mulberries were planted in all directions ; and the insects fell to work with haste as eager, as if they had never known that their ancestors had been silk worms royal to his highness Justinian. After the death of the emperor* we shall find the culture and manufacture of silk transferred to Greece, especially Peloponnesus, and to the cities of Athens, Thebes, and Corinth. Soon after the Venetians en- tered on commercial relations with the Grecian em- pire, and conducted the carrying trade, for several centuries, to the western parts of Europe. Such was the estimation in which this manufacture was then held, as appears from the example of Charlemagne in the year 790, sending two silken vests to Offa king of Mercia, that it was considered worthy of being made a regal gift. Greece, notwithstanding all dis- couragement consequent on the continued and rapid decline of the Roman empire, continued to excel all other nations of Europe in the quality of her manu- factures. She alone, for near 600 years, possessed the valuable breed of silk worms ; soon produced wroughtt silks adequate to her own consumption ; a recourse to Persia for a supply ceased, and a material change took place in the intercourse with India. * a. d. 565. ■}- Modern silks, as velvets, damasks, and satin remained as yet un- known. HISTORY OF SILK. 49 CHAPTER III. SUBSEQUENT HISTORY OF SILK, FROM THE PERIOD WHEN SILK WORMS WERE FIRST INTRODUCED INTO EUROPE, CONTINUED AS TO EACH NATION DISTINCTLY ; CHINA; ARABS, TARTARS, TURKS? TURKEY AND PERSIA? HIN- DOOSTAN; EGYPT. Having, in the preceding chapter, pursued our history until the time when silk worms were first in- troduced into Europe, and a manufacture commenced within the precincts of the Greek empire, we shall now, since the subject becomes more strongly marked and distinct, consider the sequel as to each nation singly, and resume our inquiries relative to China. The silk worms had arrived from India, and Gre- cian industry had been employed at a season not too early to render, by establishing new resources in the west, European admirers of the silken robe independ- ent of oriental supplies : for when Canfu, the Chinese port for the resort of foreign merchants, fell, in the year 877, into the hands of the savage rebel Baichu, he not only massacred all the inhabitants, amongst whom, it is reported, there were 120,000 merchants, comprising Mohammedans, Jews, Christians, and Persees, but also extended his cruelty to the very insects on whose productions the natives depended, destroyed the trees necessary to their existence, and in addition, imposed such exactions on foreign inter- course, that the Chinese trade, for threescore years, seems to have been completely annihilated. And it did not recover, according to the testimony of Mas- soudi, from the infernal tempest of this eastern maniac, until 938, when Canfu once more became a place of mercantile resort. 5 50 HISTORY OF SILK. The Venetian nobleman and celebrated traveller, Marco Polo, at the close of the thirteenth century, gave to the world one of the most interesting accounts which the middle ages produced, in which he fur- nishes a narrative of his travels in the Celestial Em- pire, and over the Asiatic interior. " No fewer," he says, "than 1000 carriages and pack horses, loaded with raw silk, make their daily entry into the city ;* and silks of various textures are manufactured to an immense extent." Great, rich, and crowded cities, filled with manufacturers of silk and merchandise, covered the whole extent of China.t We are all aware that climate is a matter of first importance, in the growth of the mulberry, and in the raising of silk. In this respect, it is evident, that China is particularly favoured, when it is considered, that the latitude of her metropolis, Peking, 39° 54', about 3 miles more to the south than Philadelphia, may be quoted, being within 100 miles of the great wall, as the northern extremity of her silk growing country, which thence extends to the south as far as to the 20th parallel of north latitude. But it is in her central provinces, between the 25th and 35th de- grees of latitude that the greater part of the silk is produced. * Cambalu, then the name for the royal city. •j- " According to Cosn'ias, the Indians who traded with the Chinese, were accustomed to resort to Ceylon, where alone they received silks, spices, and other valuable productions, which were thence distributed among the different marts of India. Gibbon, in the fifth volume of the ' Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,' thus describes the mode of prosecuting this commerce : ' The Chinese and Indian navigators were conducted by the flight of birds, and periodical winds, and the ocean might be securely traversed in square built ships, which, instead of iron, were sewed together with the strong thread of the cocoa nut. Ceylon, Serendip, or Taprobana, were divided between two hostile princes ; one of whom possessed the mountains, the elephants, and the luminous car- buncle ; and the other enjoyed the more sordid riches of domestic in- dustry, foreign trade, and the capacious harbour of Trinquemale, which received and dismissed the fleets of the east and west. In this hospita- ble isle, at an equal distance from their respective countries, the silk merchants of China, who had collected in their voyages, aloes, cloves, nutmegs, and sandal wood, maintained a free and beneficial commerce with the inhabitants of the Persian Gulf.' " — Dr. Lardner, p. 256, note I. HISTORY OF SILK. 51 It is also well known that an accurate estimate of temperature cannot always be made by inferring the climate of one place from that of another of the same latitude on a different meridian, without referring to the isothermal* lines. The eastern shore of North America, is, in this respect, so similarly situated to the same shore of the Asiatic continent, that the mean annual temperature of any given degree of latitude on our Atlantic shores, will be found very nearly to correspond with the mean annual temperature of the same degree of latitude in China near the Pacific. China also, in point of extent of surface and territory- very much resembling those of the United States, it is evident that we, of all nations under the sun, have the greatest chance to equal that eminent nation as to the golden fleece. Nature has done all she could do for us, in this respect ; will a sound policy and a salutary government effect the rest ? In the Washington version of M. Julien's Transla- tion of the Summary already mentioned, a note is given from M. E. Biot on this subject, as it refers to the temperature of this vast country not inaptly termed the silk empire; a name of some importance to us should we, so similarly circumstanced, become silk empire the second. That part of the note which refers to isothermal relations, as in this respect the United States are correlative to China, it is unnecessary to quote ; but all that we have found in M. Biot's re- marks, said to be derived from the observations of La Perouse, Amyot, Lord Amherst, and missionaries long resident there, on the subject of mean tempera- tures, we have reduced from the ratio of the centi- grade to that of Fahrenheit, as stated in the follow- ing table. * Or lines of equal temperatures in different latitudes of the same hemisphere. A variation effected chiefly by the prevalence of north- westerly wind, sweeping the chilling blasts of frozen plains on the north of large continents to their eastern shores. So that the western extre- mity of an isothermal line will be from 10 to 15 degrees more to the north, than the eastern extremity on the same continent. 52 HISTORY OP SILK. MEAN TEMPERATURES IN CHINA. North Latitude. Cities. Mean Temperature of the warmest month. Mean Temperature of the year. Mean Temperature of the coldest month. 39° 54' 32° 45' 23° 8' 22° 12' Peking Nangasaki Canton Macao 84-3 86-9 54-8 60-7 73-2 74-0 39-2* 43-7 59-5 We regret that the testimonies adduced do not en- able us to fill our columns, and prefer leaving the blanks for the reader to supply from authentic docu- ments. As a further proof that any latitude in the United States is nearly isothermal with the same latitude in * Some error is suspected here. "The summer at Peking," says the note, " is like that of Naples, whilst the mean temperature of the coldest month is 4° ; and the thermometer remains there for 3 months below zero." Now M. Biot's temperatures are those of the centigrade, 4 y 9 .-.— — [-32=39° 2' of Fahrenheit, the mean temperature of the coldest month, which is such that it is not likely to be for 3 months below zero. Yet there is no observable discrepancy between that mean, and that of the same month at Nangasaki, the difference of latitude considered. We further extract from M. Biot's note as follows. "In 1820, at Timkowski, in Mongolia,, in 40° to 45° of latitude," (same as from the latitude of Philadelphia to that of the southern part of Maine,) " in the month of October and November, the thermometer descended from 10° to 15° below zero=18° to 27° of Fahrenheit." A French missionary established in 1833 in East Tartary, at Si-wang, in 41° 39' of latitude, relates extraordinary differences between the temperature of summer and winter. According to him the thermometer rises to 37° 5' centi- grades in summer (99-5 Fahrenheit) and descends to 37-5 below zero in winter, (67-5 Fahrenheit.) " During this last season," say the An- nals of the Propagation of Faith, Nos. 40 and 50, " spirits of wine only remain liquid ; and when a metal is touched with moist hands, the epidermis of the fingers remains attached thereto." In conclusion, a useful remark on the temperature of the central provinces is furnished us by a misssionary who has lived 10 years in China, and which limits the cultivation of the orange to the 30th degree of latitude," (corres- ponding to our oranges at St. Augustin, in Florida, latitude also 30°,) " while in Provence, (France,) we have oranges as high as the 43d HISTORY OF SILK. 53 China on a meridian equidistant from the eastern shore, and that for any season of the year, we shall further quote the following examples. Philadelphia is in the same latitude as Peking, and nearly equi- distant from an eastern sea. The mean annual tem- perature of the former is 53*7; of the latter 54-8. At Nangasaki, latitude 32° 45', and at Augusta in Georgia, nearly in the same parallel, and as near the eastern sea as any place of that latitude in the United States of which we have any thermometrical record, the comparison may be stated as follows : North latitude. Cities. Where. Mean Temperature of the warmest month. Mean Temperature of the year. Mean Temperature of the coldest month. Nangasaki Augusta .... Kiusu U. S. 86-9 83-0 60-7 67-0 43-7 46-0 32° 45' 32° 35' The differences being slight are referable to local causes. This, however, is sufficient to show the striking resemblance of the climates of the two coun- tries. The subject is important: China long has been the first silk growing country in the world; our fa- vours in point of climate are equal; in other respects greater; and, therefore, whatever the Chinese can effect, we can accomplish likewise. We further learn, that the raising of silk worms, commences there in April, when the air is sufficiently warm; though in the more northern provinces, the development is aided artificially by heat. The cold in winter in these provinces seems very rigorous, yet the mulber- ries do not freeze. Du Halde says, "Everybody knows the abundance and beauty of the silk made throughout China/' Dr. Lardner adds, " the ancients showed their knowledge of this abundance, when they called it the kingdom of silk; and the moderns know it from experience. For many nations both of Asia and Europe draw 5* 54 HISTORY OF SILK. from it the superabundance of its produce; and every year, ships and caravans leave the country, laden with vast quantities of the wrought and unwrought material. Yet although thus lavishly sent forth, still, such is the amount, produced, that silken fabrics, either of the simple material, or mixed with gold or silver, are consumed throughout the empire to an almost, incredible amount. To this evidence may be added the many hundred thousand pounds of wrought and unwrought silk which the provinces annually pay as tribute to the emperor." The largest quantity of silk in China is produced about the neighbourhood of Nan-king, or the latitude of 32°. The production of silk furnishes in that em- pire employment to a greater number of individuals than any other avocation. England imports a vast quantity of both raw and wrought silks from China. The amount of the latter kind, being brought by the East India Company's ships, is not known. But of raw silk only from China, England imported in the year 1829, 600,000 pound's weight. Dr. Lardner observes, that "fourteen thousand millions of ani- mated creatures annually live and die to supply this little corner of the world (England) with this article of luxury ! If astonishment be excited at the fact, let us extend our view to China, and survey the dense population of its widely spread region, a population that from the emperor on his throne to the peasant in the lowly hut, are indebted for their clothing to the labours of the silk worm !" Thus the home trade of China is encouraged, and rendered efficient, whatever may become of the foreign. If the home trade is encouraged, consumption is sup- ported ; in which case it is evident, that the means of the artisan and operatives of all kinds, the most nu- merous class, enable them to obtain not only the necessaries of life, (agricultural production,) but also proper conveniences, (manufactured products.) If vital and healthy action be given to consumption to HISTORY OP SILK. 55 this extent, it will encourage production to a degree such that foreign trade will be nearly a national luxury, or something not essential to existence. Should this take place amongst a people whose diversified climates and soils may be termed om- niferous, capable of bearing all things, (like ours, a blessing we scarcely yet have learnt) it places their nation in the predicament of the independent indivi- dual, who spares a redundant article, merely because he does not want it; though on the other hand it is no inconvenience to keep it. Consequently he is in- different, like the Chinese, either way ; or, if he has a choice, he prefers that course which brings in specie instead of taking it out. To be independent, as far as possible of foreign supplies; or, in other words, to have, of products, more to give than it is necessary to receive, except in hard cash, is a desideratum to nations : the true Mexico. And wherever practicable, (as with us, if we knew it,) will illustrate a sound and salutary principle in political economy. A nation that can have all her resources within herself, and adopts the policy to encourage home consumption to the utmost extent of her productive energies, proportioned to that consumption, lays the firmest foundation, so far as secular principles go, of her own permanent stability and independence. ARABS, TARTARS, TURKS. The introduction of the silk worms, and the conse- quent manufacture in Europe, produced a consider- able impression on the demand for silks from China, which was increased by political changes then rapidly taking place in Asia. But notwithstanding the in- terruption of the caravans, and diminution of trade, in the sixth century, between China and Persia, in consequence of the establishment of the Turkish power, we have a proof, in what manner the Per- sians appreciated the value of what remains of their 56 HISTORY OP SILK. Chinese intercourse was left to them, in the example of the Sogdian* ambassador, sent by the Turks to Chosroes king of Persia. He took with him many bales of silk for sale, and requested that the Sogdians, then subject to the Turks, might be allowed to supply the Persians with silk. Chosroes having bought the bales, immediately consumed them by fire, as the only answer to the request: an argument that needed neither mood nor figure in logic to prove to the am- bassador that the king thought that a direct convey- ance by the Persian Gulf would be more beneficial to his subjects than to give up the trade to foreign carriers. The Arabs or Saracens, Tartars and Turks, all in their turns, participated, not in the producing, but in the carrying, of the silken fleece. On this account it is, as well because of their nomadic habits, that we see them not in the orchard or plantation, nor in any fixed position, but in the desert or at the caravan, as distant objects in the horizon that appear for a while and vanish. We therefore look for a new order of things, which we now find in TURKEY AND PERSIA. "Turkey supplies England," says Dr. Lardner, "with a considerable quantity of raw silk. Our im- ports from that country average more than 300,000 pound's weight annually. It is brought to us from Aleppo, Tripoli, Sayda, &c. but Smyrna is the prin- cipal port of commerce, especially for the silk of Persia, which forms a great part of that which is im- ported from Turkey. The silks of Persia are brought to Smyrna in caravans during part of the year, i. e. from January to September. The caravans dispatched in January are laden with the finest silk, and the quality is found to deteriorate with each following month.t The silk of Persia comes chiefly from the * Ancient Sogdia was on the banks of the river Sogd, which now washes Samarcand. f They produce silk in Persia by successive monthly crops. HISTORY OP SILK. 57 provinces of Ghilan and Shirvan, and the city of Schamachia, situated near the edge of the Caspian sea. It is said that in some years no less than 30,000 bales of silk have been sent from these three places. The produce of Ghilan is the most abundant in quan- tity, and the best in quality. Shirvan and Erivan rank next; then Mazanderan, and lastly, Astrabad ; but the latter is so inferior, as to be usually employed in forming fabrics intermixed with cotton. It is sel- dom or never exported. The silk from these different places is stored at Ardebil, another Persian city, whence caravans set out for Smyrna, Aleppo, Scan- deroon, and Constantinople." In Turkey, the production of silk is confined to cities or larger towns, in the neighbourhood of which, the mulberry is the chief object of cultivation, whose proprietors rear not the worm, but vend the leaves daily during crop season in the market in such quan- tities as purchasers require. At the commencement of the season, almost every family clears out all the rooms in the house except one in which they live. The worms being obtained, they purchase leaves, strew them over the floor, leaving a path all round next the walls, and placing the worms thereon, purchase for the next day or days the requisite quantity of leaves, and so on, paying no attention to the accu- mulation of litter, until the feeding season is over. This pile of stems, offal, leaves, and litter frequently rises to 3 or 4 feet; over which, when the worms seem inclined to mount, they place branches or brash wood for their accommodation, leaving them to find their way out of the labyrinth as well as they can. It doubtless would, in several cases, be profitable, here, as well as in Turkey, to proprietors of mulberry trees or orchards in the country, near cities or markets, to vend their leaves to persons residing in the town having apartments not convertible to a better purpose. To the former it would be a source of profit, and to the latter, especially to the infirm, of lucrative employment not obtained by other means. 58 HISTORY OF SILK. But the Turkish senseless mode of feeding, is to be rejected altogether. The principal place for silk in all Asia Minor is Broosa, about 90 miles to the south of Constantinople.* HINDOOSTAN. We are not furnished with any evidence to esta- blish the fact that the Hindoos, or the inhabitants of any part of peninsular India, were at an early period in possession of the mystery of producing silk, though we have reputable testimony to inform us of the ex- istence of an ancient military class in Hindoostan, termed Chinas ,t who migrated towards the country * Broosa, sometimes called Brussa, or Bursa, and anciently Prusa, from Prusias one of its first kings, contains about 100,000 inhabitants. It is a beautiful city, and a place of considerable trade ; four-fifths of its inhabitants are Osmanlis. It is situated at the foot of Olympus, a mountain of Bythinia, which covers it on three sides, and close upon which it lies. Its principal merchandise is silk, which constitutes the chief wealth of the place. Broosa, with its environs, furnishes in the course of a favourable year, a crop of from 7000 to 8000 bales of all kinds of silk from the finest to the very coarsest. The manufactories, such as they are, are spread all over the city, but there is nothing that can be called a factory. The weaving is all done by job work, at so much a peake for a measure about three quarters of a yard ; and these stuffs, so remarkable for beauty, are woven in miserable little rooms, only large enough to contain the loom and the weaver, or .two, as the case requires. When the figure is plain or striped, a man or boy alone, is sufficient for the purpose ; but when flowered, it requires a man and a boy ; one to weave and the other to work with bobbins in a manner to me incom- prehensible, but which he could manage with his eyes shut as well as open. These beautiful silks are woven by miserable, half starved wretches, at a gain of not more than three, and sometimes only one, piastre (six cents) a day. But the abundance of the country is said to be such that the cravings of nature may be satisfied for a para, one- fortieth of a piastre, a day. Broosa, like most of the places in Turkey, is surrounded by planta- tions of mulberry trees for the use of the silk worm ; with the limbs of which asses laden may be seen every instant going to the city. These trees are planted in rows, not more than 2 or 3 feet apart, and are kept so low, that a man can reach the top limbs, which are all cut down every year as the worms require them. — Extracted chiefly from the correspondence of Messrs. Rhind $ Porter in the Silk Culturist. ■j- See also the learned volumes of Dr. Vincent on the Commerce and HISTORY OF SILK. 59 now occupied by the Chinese, who from their earliest existence seem to have been engaged in the success- ful development of both the raw and wrought mate- rial. The thousand collectors also that accompanied Alexander's expedition to the Indus, delegated to transmit specimens in Natural History to the Grecian philosopher, were, as well as the army, successful in sending to Aristotle, not only the worms, but also their product. This added to the additional circumstance quoted by Gibbon in the "Decline and Fall," that the Indians and Chinese had anciently constant com- mercial intercourse at Trincomalee, affords the pre- sumption that amongst the ancient Hindoos there was not a complete ignorance, as to theory of the subject, but that the Chinese being more successful in the manipulation, both as to the raw and wrought mate- rial, were then, as they have continued to be since, in possession of the practice. That the entire of both processes, the production and the manufacture, are, in India, now successfully in the hands of the moderns, the East India Company, is well known. Every thing, in short, must have in- vited it there ; the soil, the climate of India, and above all the cheapness of labour. These not only origi- nally gave the invitation, but subsequently completed the success. The island of Cossimbazar, in the pro- vince of Bengal, possesses every advantage suitable to the wants and labours of the silk worm. There have been a considerable increase in the quantity and improvement in the quality of the raw silk produced since 1760, in the territories of the East India Com- pany. Dr.Lardner says, "There are eight principal silk fila- tures or factories belonging to the company in Bengal. In every filature are employed, according to its size, from 3000 to 10,000 people ; and if to these be added the mulberry planters, worm feeders, &c. the number dependent on each establishment may be stated at Navigation of the Ancients, and Dr. Robertson's Historical Disquisitions concerning Ancient India. 60 HISTORY OF SILK. from 10,000 to 40,000 men, women, and children. Attempts have been made to introduce the silk worm into other parts of the Company's possessions, especi- ally on the coast of Coromandel." Dr. James An- derson introduced mulberry trees at Madras. In the year 1789 his success engaged several persons on different parts of the coast, Palamcotta, Masulipatam, Trichinopoly, and elsewhere, to the extent of 600 miles along the coast. It does not appear that raw silk was produced in India, prior to the middle of the eighteenth century, with any view to immediate exportation. The little that then found its way to the English market, through a defect in the filature or from some other cause, was, in value, worth not more than from one-third to one- half of that of Italian silk. To obviate this, proper machinery and competent persons were sent for the establishment of filatures, or silk winding factories on the Italian system. After this we find improvement both in quantity and quality. In 1776, the shipments from Bengal amounted to 515,913 pounds, and during ten years, from 1776 to 1785, the average importa- tion in England is quoted at 560,283 pounds. The amount continued to advance progressively. About 10 years since the average annual import of Bengal silks was 1,500,000 pounds. In point of quality, prior to 1794 Bengal silk was thought applicable only to a very limited number of uses, and accumulation in the warehouses of the East India Company was the consequence. Their com- mittee, therefore, advised that a portion of their stock should be converted into organzine by the silk throws- ters of the country. The experiment tended to lessen the prejudice against Bengal silk, and render the trade less dependent on Italy, whence the greatest part of the organzine was brought. From that time the im- portations of Bengal silk have been progressively improving in quality, and the organzine made from it has grown into favour, until it now ranks nearly at par with Italian organzine. In France, Italy, and HISTORY OF SILK. 61 Turkey ', there is but one regular annual crop, while in Bengal there are three, at intervals of four months; in March, July, and November.* EGYPT.! Neither is it to the land of Pyramids that we look so much for the vestiges of the early culture of silk, as for those architectural remains compared with whose dimensions the proud monuments of ancient Greece and Rome are insignificant. But Egypt is rapidly rising as to the arts and products of useful industry; and the people of the fertile valley of the Nile, that on a sudden emergency can command the labour of 250,000 men to cut a canal J of 4S miles in 6 weeks, can now produce six million pounds of * " Bengal raw silk is distinguished by two appellations — country- wound, and filature ; the former being furnished by native adventurers, who can employ none but the rudest methods for winding it ; while the latter is produced by servants of the East India Company, and treated according to the most approved European methods. " Different degrees of fineness or coarseness are denoted in the Com- pany's filatures in Bengal by the letters A, B, C ; silk of 4 to 5 cocoons is called A No. 1 ; of 6 to 8 cocoons B No. 2 ; of 12 to 14, and 16 to 18 cocoons B No. 3 ; of 18 to 20 cocoons C No. 1 ; of 20 to 22 cocoons C No. 2 ; of 22 to 24 cocoons C No. 3. The silk which the natives reel by hand is much inferior, and is marked by the letters A, B, C, D, E. It must, therefore, be understood that the A No. 1 silk of one district in India will differ very materially in quality from that of an- other district, though bearing the same distinctive letter and number. Even the filature wound silks of different districts are subject to the same difference of quality. Thus, Bauleah filature is inferior to Rad- nagore or Cossimbazar filature, which again are excelled by the produce of Gonatea and Comercolly. In the last mentioned of these filatures, through the scientific skill and energy of the East India Company's re- sident, a system has lately been adopted of giving the necessary degree of heat to the cocoons while being wound, by means of steam ; and both the arrangement and execution of the plans for this purpose speak very favourably for the talents of the parties employed, when the re- moteness of the situation, and the consequent difficulties and obstacles to be surmounted are taken into account." — Dr. Lardner. f ~E-Gopt the land of the Copt. \. The canal of Nahmoudieh, opened in 1819, connecting Alexandria with the Nile at Fouah, 48 miles long, 90 feet broad,and 18 feet deep. 6 62 HISTORY OF SILK. cotton* annually; and in addition to the successful culture of the vine, the olive, and the sugar cane, have now turned their attention to that of silk. Mr. Russel informs us, in his interesting volume on An- cient and Modern Egypt, that " In the valley of Tumulaut, the ancient land of Goshen, \ is established a colony of five hundred Syrians for the purpose of cultivating the mulberry and rearing silk worms ; while in the beautiful province of Fayoum,| the vine and the olive are again approaching that perfection which they once enjoyed, and for which the genial climate of Egypt appears so well calculated." Nothing can so strikingly illustrate the wonderous effects, almost miraculously so, that may be accom- plished by a good government, even in one genera- tion ! — ought we not rather to say, by a government^ that Providence deigns to bless ? Egypt was lately a desert : feuds, distractions, and civil wars, worse than locusts, bats, and simooms, desolated the coun- try; but such is the inflexible decision to suppress the evil, and prompt energy to encourage industry, of the * " M. Jumel discovered one day," as we are informed by Mr. Russel, " in the garden of a Turk called Mako, a plant of the cotton tree, which he afterwards propagated with so much skill and success, as to have changed the commerce and statistics of Egypt. Jumel erected at Bou- lak, a superb establishment, equal in its structure to the finest European manufactory for spinning, weaving, dying, and printing of cotton goods- The latest improvements in machinery were borrowed from Europe ; steam is the principal moving power, and gas is employed for the pur- poses of artificial light. At Siout Mr. Webster found a cotton manu- factory in full operation. It gave employment to 800 men and boys who earn 10, 15, 20, or 30 paras and sometimes three piastres. Cotton factories are by no means uncommon in Egypt." Mr. Russel says, " It is very probable the quantity of cotton which may be raised in Egypt will at no distant period equal the whole im- portation from America !" It is time then that we should be looking after silk. j- Between the Nile and Suez at the head of the Red Sea, and east of the ancient Memphis, Pharaoh's city, which was 10 miles south of the site of the present Cairo. i About 40 miles south of Cairo, on the west of the Nile. § We could wish that this should be fully understood by the govern- ments of the present day, who seem to think that no politics should be put off so late, as those of Him that made them. HISTORY OF SILK. 63 Pasha,* whose portrait is now before us,t that Egypt, the late desert, is a garden that blossoms as the rose ; and her agriculture, her commerce, her caravans, her ships, are growing, moving to the south, north, east, and west. Like her river, her redundance is overflowing, and Africa, Europe, and Asia are partaking the benefit. The Pasha can now not only supply wax, hides, coffee, myrrh, frankincense, coculus indicus, asafoetida, ivory, rhinoceros horn, tortoise shell, sal ammoniac, senna, tamarinds, ostrich feathers, balsam of Mecca, gum arabic, gum copal, benzoin, aloes, coloquintida, gum ammoniac, galbanum, opoponax, spikenard, musk, gold dust, grain, but also cotton and silk to those who either cannot or will not raise them for themselves. CHAPTER IV. EUROPE. SECTION I. Naples, Calabria, Sicily ,• Italy, Venice, and Genoa. No satisfactory reason, as yet has been assigned to account for a tardiness in the dissemination of the knowledge of silk culture, such that it was confined, after its first introduction into Europe, to Greece until the demolition of the Greek empire, or for 600 years. And mankind first became indebted for the further extension of that knowledge to means, on common principles not apparently justifiable. For * This trait is here considered abstractedly from his former character. ■j- Russel's View of Ancient and Modern Egypt, chapter viii. In reading the volume through, there will be instruction and entertainment without disappointment. 64 HISTORY OP SILK. Roger, the Norman king of Sicily,* invaded the Grecian countries, a. d. 1146, carried off the treasures of Athens, Thebes, and Corinth, led into captivity a number of silk weavers, and thus severing them from the natural ties of country and relationship, con- strained them to settle at Palermo and Calabria, both then within the kingdom of Naples possessed by the Norman family, to conduct the cocoonery, filature, and manufacturing processes about to be established, by rapine and compulsion, in the domi- nions of Sicily. In twenty years, considerable ex- cellency was attained under the instruction of the Greeks; and silks of diversified colours, some inter- woven with gold, others adorned with figures or em- bellished with pearls were produced : but the dying in high colours, is said to be a later discovery. From that time to the present the policy of that country has encouraged the manufacture, and it is esteemed there, in importance, as an agricultural product next to corn. A company invested with privileges for erecting manufactories of silks, stuffs, and camblets was established in 1752 by the king of Naples. The annual average of silks exported from Sicily is quoted at the value of $1,087,500. There are 900 looms at Palermo, 1200 at Messina, and a greater number at Catania. Of what is exported, the greater part is to' the Levant, and but little to the English market. It is defective in reeling, dying, and sorting : the length of its skein also differing from the general importations, is inconvenient to the throwster, and the quality of its filament is not suit- able to the general purposes of the manufacturer.t ITALY, VENICE, AND GENOA. The provinces of the Greek empire, which were * After his return from the Second Crusade. •j- Finizio, the celebrated manufacturer at Naples, makes and sends to the New York market, at the rate of 3000 lbs. of sewing silk a week. —Silk Cul., vol. i. p. 133. IS HISTORY OF SILK. 65 the principal seats for the production of silk, coming, in the year 1203, into the possession of the Venetians; and Galata into that of the Genoese, lead to the pre- sumption that they would not fail, under such favour- able circumstances, to transfer to their equally con- genial climates the means for the prosecution of a concern so lucrative as that of silk. There are few or no authentic records relative to the introduction of silk into any other part of Italy before the year 1300. At Venice encouragement was given by the government and the wealthy. The production, there- fore, and the manufacture of silk were considered to be noble employments, the pursuit of which implied no degradation of rank. In 1300, Florence was the principal place for the manufacture, which at that time employed many thousand people. In the year 1306, the rearing of silk worms had become of so much importance at Modena, as to yield a revenue to the state, and its silk was then esteemed to be the best in Lombardy. But until the beginning of the sixteenth century, Bologna was the only city of Italy in possession of throwsting mills or machinery re- quisite for preparing the silken fabrics for weaving. The average amount of silk annually exported from Italy is computed to exceed $17,500,000. Count Dandolo says that two-thirds, in amount, of all the exports from Italy are silks.* * " Though there are silk factories in Italy, yet the greater part of fabrics are domestic manufacture, managed much in the same way as cotton was in this country before the introduction of power looms. The manufacturer purchases the silk of the grower, reeled suitable for such fabrics as he wishes to make, prepares it for the loom by dying, warp- ing, &c, and then puts it out to the weaver, who weaves it in a hand loom and returns it. Afterwards it is finished and put up for market." —Silk Cul., vol. i. p. 13. It may be well here to observe, that the power loom is nowhere used in Europe in the manufacture of silk. The first silk ever wrought by power loom was recently made in Rhode Island by Mr. Gay. But the quantity made has been small — enough, however, to assure us that when the material can be supplied in the necessary quantity, this me- thod of manufacturing that article will be adopted. 6* 66 HISTORY OF SILK. SPAIN, PORTUGAL, AND THE NETHERLANDS. It is well known that during the middle ages, literature and the arts were almost universally neg- lected. Such barbarian influence had invaded civil- ized nations, and so great a cloud had covered the earth, that for ages we find the Arabs chiefly signal- ized for a knowledge of what remained of art or science, and for attention to agriculture, manufacture, and commerce. For an acquaintance with these, it was to the Arabs or Saracens, their conquerors, that Spain and Portugal were indebted. Bishop Otto de Freysingen speaking of the great progress which silk manufactures had made in Spain, relates that, "after the siege of Milan, Frederick I., held a diet of the empire in 1158, in the fields of Roncaglia, at which were present, in magnificent attires, the ambassadors of the Genoese, who recently had conquered from the Saracens, two important cities, Lisbon and Almeria, both famous on account of their manufactures of silk." It appears from a work that Marino Sanuto, a noble Venetian, commenced in the year 1306, and pre- sented to the pope in 1321, entitled, "the Secrets of the Faithful/' complaining of certain exactions im- posed, during the whole of that time, on the European trader, in ports subject to Mohammedan princes, par- ticularly as to silk and sugar, that Apulia, Romania, Sicily, Crete, and Cyprus were then signalized for the production of the former. In addition to which we find mention made of Lisbon, Almeria, Granada, Murcia, Cordova, and Majorca, as places engaged in the culture very early after the introduction of silk worms into Sicily. We are also informed that " when Ferdinand V. conquered Granada, a. d. 1492, and put an end to the Moorish power in Spain, he found there numerous establishments for the production of silk fabrics, which were rivalled by others in Murcia and Cordova." HISTORY OF SILK. 67 This evidently implies that the Saracens were they, who were then principally employed in this culture. Although the first body of these primeval wanderers that entered Spain, crossed the straits from Maurita- nia, a. d. 712 ; yet we find that others inhabited Sicily from a. d. 828 until they were finally driven from thence a. d. 1272. And it was there, doubtless, that the Saracens first acquired the necessary know- ledge as to the rearing of silk worms. On their ex- pulsion from Sicily, a transit to Majorca and Spain would be easy ; to which a knowledge of the success- ful establishments there of other tribes from the same progenitor, and of the same faith, would be an ad- ditional inducement. Though since the above period, Spain has not been as eminent, as other nations, either as a silk growing or manufacturing country, yet an attention as steady, though comparatively stationary, has been devoted to these concerns, as that want of both agricultural and commercial enterprise, for which, through poli- tical, not physical circumstances, that nation is cha- racterized, would, perhaps, allow. Therefore, under this comparative dearth of interest, as to the culture in Spain, we shall pass to countries whence we may derive more information, contenting ourselves with observ- ing, " en passant," that it was to Spain, that Henry II. was indebted for the silk stockings he wore, and which in his day attracted such extraordinary notice. Henry VIII., as well as Edward VI., were likewise supplied from that country with the same article for their personal use. We also learn, that not long after the commencement of the eighteenth century, when France, over and above her own production, imported yearly 4800 bales (each weighing 160 lbs.) of silk; of these 300 bales were annually imported of Spanish manufacture. Though Spain and the Netherlands were subject to one crown in the person of Charles V., yet it was to France first, though to Spain subsequently, that the Netherlands were indebted for their knowledge 68 HISTORY OF SILK. of the mysteries of the silken fabric. On the subject of the trade at Antwerp, in the middle of the sixteenth century, Guicciardini has given us the following tes- timony. " The merchants of Antwerp exchanged at Bologna their own serges and other stuffs, tapestries, linens, merceries, &c. for wrought silks, cloth of gold, silver crapes, &c. To Venice, they sent jewels, pearls, and the cloth and wool of England, and received in return, the finest and richest wrought silks, &c. Na- ples took from them cloths of their own and English manufacture, and returned raw, thrown, and wrought silks. Sicily obtained from them serges and cloth, paying in cotton and silk. The consignments to Milan were pepper, sugar, &c; the returns were wrought silks. To Florence and Genoa, woollen stuffs and English wool ; and the imports from the first of these places were very fine wrought silk, and from Genoa, satins and velvets." History, by a thousand examples, everywhere testi- fies that the industrious energies of man will advance in the uninterrupted career of prosperity, only in climes blessed with peace and freedom from internal war and political distraction. Flanders ere this had ranked high as one of those favourable regions where com- merce has fixed her seat, had not the desolating pest of war blasted the growth of ages, and driven what- ever was likely to benefit man to more peaceful shores, the three days indiscriminate plunder and destruction to which Antwerp was subject in 1585, by the duke of Parma, then governor of the Spanish Netherlands, was a blow to the commerce of the Low Countries, from which they have never since reco- vered. The artisans, merchants, manufacturers, and their capital were dispersed; England became the asylum, and reaped in return the wealth that war forbade to dwell elsewhere. As to the production of silk in the Netherlands, it remains only to quote M. d'Homergue. " The king of the Netherlands," to secure the instruction of a competent superintendent, "invited from Spain the HISTORY OF SILK. 69 chevalier Barramendy, and assigned to him the castle of Manoge, in the vicinity of the town of Ath, ten leagues from Brussels, with a number of acres of ground belonging to it; which he has planted with the white mulberry. The king supplied him with considerable sums of money. The silk which was made, proved, however, of a very inferior quality. Nevertheless, the minister of the interior, Van Gob- helschroy, and the inspector of the national manufac- tories, M. Nettscher, continue to encourage the un- dertaking. The prince of Orange himself went in person to Manoge, to inspect the establishment, and gave it the sanction of his patronage." FRANCE. M. Mavet, in his history of the silk trade, asserts that thejirst* mulberry tree in France, was brought during the time of the crusades by Guipape of St. Aubon, and planted three leagues from Montmeliart. At an early period the Greeks supplied France and Germany with the fabrics, and silk came into use as an article for apparel. " Charlemagne wore above his linen doublet and under garment, a silk scarf round his waist. Not sooner than the middle ages did the sumptuous silk cloaks, embroidered with gold and silver, worn by the knights over their more martial equipment, come into fashion. Charles VI. wore constantly a black velvet coat of arms even in the hottest days. And Charles VII. wore at his entrance into Rouen, in 1449, a beaver lined with velvet, which was the most costly and elegant head orna- ment known at that time.'*t * " This identical tree, it is said, was living in 1810, when the owner of the premises, M. de la Tour des pay le Chaux, caused this venerable parent of French mulberry to be preserved and respected, by having a wall built round it, and forbidding its leaves to be gathered. The cuttings and descendants of this tree now cover the soil of France, and produced to the state in 1810, a revenue of more than 100,000,000 pounds of raw silk, and more than 400,000,000 of francs in industry only, an amount greatly increased since that time." f Count de Hazzi. 70 HISTORY OF SILK. The manufacture of silk does not appear to have been introduced into France earlier than the time of Louis XL, who in 1480 established, with extensive privileges, at Tours, the artisans he had obtained from Genoa, Venice, and Florence. Authors do not ap- pear to be perfectly agreed relative to the first intro- duction of the silk worm into France. Some refer that event to the year 1494, or during the campaigns of Charles VIIL, when, it is affirmed that not only silk worms, but also a further supply of mulberry trees were brought from Italy, which gave prospe- rity to the rich countries that, border on the Rhone. The progress of the manufacture, however, appears to have been comparatively stationary, until the reign of Francis I. The artisans obtained in the year 1521 from the dutchy of Milan, then in the possession of the French, introduced the manufacture into Lyons, and were encouraged by the patronage of that mo- narch. According to these authorities, it was from this time that a more rapid progress ensued, and ma- nufactories sprung up not only in Lyons, but also in the southern provinces, adequate first to supply do- mestic consumption, and soon after to export wrought silks of a quality to sustain competition in foreign markets, which to France ultimately became, even from England only, a source of abundant wealth. But according to Thuanus, it is to Francis I. that the French were indebted for the first introduction of the silk worms ; which were successfully reared in Provence, Avignon, and Lyons. Others refer this event to the time of Henry IV. The more probable case is that all previous attempts, whether in the raising of silk, or in the manufacture of fabrics, com- pared with those resulting from the more liberal patronage of the monarch last mentioned, were not so extensively successful Indeed it is acknowledged that both mulberry trees and silk worms were reared before in Lyonnois, Dauphine, Provence, and Lan- guedoc ; but by Henry, it appears, they were natu- ralized as far north as Orleans ; who also, according HISTORY OF SILK. 71 to Mezeray planted the trees at Paris, and reared the worms at the Tuileries. The Parisians were encou- raged by letters patent, conferring, on certain condi- tions, even titles of nobility, to introduce manufacto- ries into the metropolis. But later experience has shown that the climate north of the Loire is not suitable to the insect. M. d'Homergue informs us that Henry " invited one Michaeli from Italy into his dominions, and gave him, for the purpose of forming an extensive planta- tion of mulberry trees, and raising the article of silk, the castle of the old Marquis de Fournes, situate on the river Gardon, in the vicinity of Nimes. This inge- nious foreigner was the first who began the manufac- tories of silk stuffs that now enrich that city. And tradition informs us that the king expended on those establishments the immense sum of near one million and a half of livres; an enormous sum in those days." Olivier de Serres was highly instrumental in urging the king in the furtherance of this national benefit,* who is, indeed, called by the French to this day, the patriarch of agriculture. The king conscious of the merits of Olivier, " offered him the highest honours, — but he asked for one favour only, viz. that all useless trees might be banished from the royal gardens ; an example that was soon extensively followed through- out the kingdom. At Olivier's recommendation 14,000 mulberry trees, and a large quantity of seed of the same tree were ordered from Italy, to supply the vacancies intentionally made in the Royal Gar- dens. In later times he also procured silk worms' eggs, and persons acquainted with their rearing. The trees, the eggs, and printed instructions, were distributed gratis to agriculturists."^ Well, there- fore, may Henry and Olivier be called the chief patrons of the silk culture in France. Olivier for this, was entitled to greater merit, since he was op- * Opposed at first, through misapprehension, even by Sully. This is curiously stated by Comte de Hazzi, q. v. p. 16, 17, 18. \ (Jomte de Hazzi. 72 HISTORY OF SILK. posed (Anno 1603) by the powerful influence of Sully and the other ministers of the French king.* "How much would Sully now," adds Count de Hazzi, " be astonished, could he behold the evidence of his mistake, and the foresight of his royal master. Instead of continuing to pay to foreign merchants four millions of francs annually, for silk, the French draw many millions from their ancient suppliers, and enrich themselves in proportion." The prosperity of the silk culture and manufacture in France, resulting from the favouring auspices of Henry IV. and Olivier de Serres, received a further impulse from the fostering care and patronage of Louis XIV. and his minister Colbert. A reward of three livres to the cultivator for every mulberry tree that should be found in a thriving condition three years after being planted, had the desired effect, and Provence, Languedoc, Dauphine, Vivarais, Lyonnois, Gascony, and Saaitonge were speedily covered with trees though the former chiefly produced the silk. Francis I., in the year 1540, granted to the city of Lyons, which may be termed the silk emporium of France, the privilege, since by various royal ordi- nances continued to 1717, of being the depot, through which, on account of certain duties, all silks brought by sea or land, had to pass. On an average, 6000 bales of silk, from the Levant, 1000 from Sicily, 1500 from Italy, 300 from Spain, and 1200 from Langue- doc, Provence, and Dauphine annually passed through the city, in which when in its most flourishing state 18,000 looms were in operation.! * Memoirs de Max. de Bethune, Due de Sully; Londres, 1767, vol. v. p. 74. And Count von Hazzi, p. 17 et seq. -j- In 1656, frames for weaving silk stockings were obtained from England and introduced into Paris. In 16 years after, so rapidly had this branch of operative industry extended, that the silk stocking weavers were considered to be of sufficient importance to be incorporated by royal ordinance, and extensive stocking manufactories were established in numerous towns. This department of manufacture nourished until restrictions imposed by the injudicious interference of government re- pressed its prosperity, and it is now chiefly found at Cevennes. HISTORY OF SILK. 73 Between 1688 and 1741, according to the "Com- merce dn 19me Siecle," France annually exported to England wrought silks to the value of 12,500,000 francs. For the protection of her own manufacture, prohibitory laws against the introduction of foreign silk commenced in England in 1765, which with various modifications have been, but not effectually, maintained until the present. The French export of wrought goods, notwithstanding, in 1784 is quoted at 25 million of francs, and in 1789, at 29,745,000 francs. During a state of domestic peace, whatever were the foreign wars, the manufactures of France were in a prosperous condition. But two political events, the one characterized by religious intolerance and massacre, and the other by the prevalency of atheism and anarchy, proved by their destructive conse- quences, their origin. The desolating effects of the revocation of the edict of Nantes in 1685, in a few years reduced the 1 8,000 looms at Lyons to 4000 ; and consequences still more disastrous were exem- plified at Tours ; which before the revocation had 800 mills for winding and preparing silk, 8000 looms for weaving, and 40,000 persons engaged in the manufacture, as well as 3000 looms in the manufac- ture of ribands. Soon after the revocation, the mills were reduced to 70, the looms to 1200, and the ope- ratives to 4000 ; and the consumption of silk which had amounted to 2400 bales decreased to 700 I The same features of family descent are indelibly stamped on the revolution. Before it, in 1786, Lyons had 15,000 looms; in 1789 not half that number, and in 1800, not more than 3500, nor more than 5800 artisans employed in the manufacture. The removal of that political sirocco allowed once more the healthy energies of man to circulate. In 1824 Lyons had 24,000 looms employed, and 36,000 artisans; and in 1825, a Lyons newspaper states that 8526 factories were in operation. Subsequent fluctuations, it is true, but neither material nor permanent, might be noticed, 7 74 HISTORY OP SILK. but they chiefly arose from indiscreet interference and political impediment ; from the artificial and not the natural springs of action. The annual consumption of silks in France for 1823, was quoted at 1,600,000 lbs.* The difference existing, for nearly 30 years past, as to any statistics from customhouse documents, between declared and real values of exports and imports, precludes the possibility of quoting with accuracy from thence the quantity of silk sent to foreign markets. But from the most credible testimonies, we may state as an approximation to the truth, that in France, notwith- standing they raise so much silk, they annually import in value, on the average, to the extent of 30,000,000 francs of raw silk, or one-third of all they consume for their manufactures.! Value of exported wrought silk. Year 1801 39,314,000 francs. Year 1820. 123,063,000 francs. Year 1821 1 1 1,689,000 francs. Year 1822 99,063,000 francs. Year 1835 124,850,000 francs. One-third of which was brought to the United States ! ! ! OTHER STATUES OF CONTINENTAL EUROPE. Switzerland is one of the countries benefited by the ambitious projects and sanguinary discontent of other nations. The very weapon of Bonaparte, uplifted to destroy, in 1810, the commerce of England, merely * "France produced in 1812, 987,000 lbs. of raw silk, and imported a like quantity." — Dr. Lardner. -j- The statement from Count de Hazzi is as follows : " The annual profits from this single branch of industry in France, are estimated at 40 millions of florins ; of which, a tenth is derived from the production of the raw material, and the remainder from the manufacture. Ac- cording to the most recent statistical data, that kingdom derives from the production of silk 23,560,000 francs per annum, and 84,000,000 francs from the fabrication ; and, consequently, the capital which is brought into circulation in both ways, amounts to 107,560,000 francs ! ! ! HISTORY OP SILK. 75 fell to crush the prosperity of his own people. The manufacturers of cottons and muslins inhabiting the vicinity of the lake of Zurich, losing their usual mar- ket by Napoleon's prohibition to admit, in order to exclude English manufacture, foreign goods into France, transferred their labours so skilfully to silk, that in a very few years, they became successful competitors with the French in the German markets. And the injury thus first inflicted by war on the in- ternal resources of France, was redoubled by religious persecutions. On this account in 1815, 1816, and 1817, numerous artisans and manufacturers emigrated from Lyons, and transported their industry and capital to Zurich. Thus strangers and aliens profit by the domestic quarrels of others : but governments when they become Ahithophels learn not by such lessons. The neighbourhood of Zurich, in 1814, contained not more than 2000 looms; in 1828 the looms had increased there to 10,000: and three of the factories employed 2600 and one 1204 artisans. In the year 1820, Germany entirely depended on France for a supply of wrought silks ; since then silks of Swiss manufacture are so abundant in the markets of Frankfort and Leipzig, as to interfere materially with the French merchant. At Zurich and Basle silk fabrics of all kinds, crape and satin excepted, are now manufactured. The silk for umbrellas is also now made so extensively at Berne, as to supply the north of continental Europe. The encouragement given to Switzerland is such that other cantons are now enlisting in the enterprise : in short, what the litigious French have lost, the peaceful Swiss have gained. Count de Hazzi says, " The history of the cultivation of silk in Germany divide sitself into three epochs; of which the two former may be called the unlucky ! According to written documents, the first experiment on rearing the silk worm was made in 1598, at Roth- enburg ; and repeated at Wurtzburg, Hochheim, Dresden, and Stutgard." In 1669, further efforts were renewed, and a numerous company, consisting 76 HISTORY OF SILK. of some of the most distinguished families in Munich, was organized. But the misunderstanding* with their Italian superintendant, Lucas UrTele, involved the company in law suits with him and the Italian mer- chants. The company sustained the loss of many thousand florins, and Lucas imprisonment, from which he did not escape till after a confinement of six years and a half. The next impulse given to Germany, originated from the example of Prussia ; to the history of which we refer under a distinct section. Hence, "from 1744 to 1755, 35,678 mulberry trees were planted in Saxony, which in 1753, produced 150 lbs. of silk. Similar success attended the endeavours which were made in Wurtemberg, Anspach, and Baireuth. But the most active promoter was the Elector Charles Theodore in the Palatinate, where, under his auspices, 80,000 mulberry trees were planted, and his example was soon followed in the dutchy of Deux-Ponts." A company was afterwards formed, by which extensive plantations of mulberry trees were made at Munich, Landshut, Engelkofen, Arnsdorf, Straubing, and Burkhausen; and the promenades, ramparts, and streets of many cities were ornamented with these trees \ and the whole was in a promising state, until 1787. The cause of the temporary failure is a sub- ject of distinct and subsequent consideration. It is more remarkable than extraordinary that the third epoch of the silk culture in Germany, which is •to be dated from 1821, was brought about by a lady. "During the distribution of premiums," says Comte de Hazzi, " at the agricultural solemnities of that year, in the circle of the Lower Danube, high praise was given to the exertions which had been made for the revival of the silk culture, by a noble lady, by name of Leeb Straubing. My own attention was thereby strangely kindled, and I remember that on my entrance into public life, as aulic counsellor, I * Comte de Hazzi, p. 19, et seq. HISTORY OF SILK. 77 heard much in the council of silk culture. I requested M. de Nagel* to draw up a memorandum respecting the mulberry tree — to enter into correspondence with the above mentioned lady, and to converse on the subject with the officers of the late superintendency. Much information was thereby obtained. With 50 silk worm eggs furnished by lady Leeb, the first ex- periment was made in the spring of 1822. Fortu- nately 3 mulberry trees were discovered not far from the capital. Within 44 days we were in possession of 50 beautiful cocoons, and the butterflies produced 2500 eggs. These were hatched in the spring of 1823, at which period more mulberry trees had been discovered. In 1823, the number of eggs of which we could dispose amounted to 600,000. Demands for eggs and directions for their use reached us from several parts of the kingdom. We were informed at the same time, how madly whole alleys of the pre- cious trees had been cut down, even very recently, to serve for fuel like the commonest wood." In the report, before the board for the extension of silk culture in Bavaria, we find that " mulberry trees had multiplied in all directions ; that a great number had been found and fortunately saved from the axe, after thousands of them had been felled through sheer ignorance ! upwards of 100,000 had been cut down in one single district, called the Regens Kreis ; that the silk worms had withstood all the changes of climate, even when not tended at all ; and that neither mortality nor diseases had occurred; that the silk produced was not inferior in quality to that of Italy." In 1825, the progress which the cul- tivation of silk was making in Bavaria, attracted the attention of several German states, viz. the kingdom of Wurtemberg, the Grand Dutchy of Baden, the Electorate of Hessen, Nassau, and Meinungen. According to the report of Count Reigersberg, the * Secretary of the committee of the Agricultural Society, and who had become acquainted with the culture of silk in Hungary. 7* 78 HISTORY OF SILK. quantity of silk produced in the Palatinate during the years specified below, may be stated as follows In the year 1777 15,024 lbs. 1784. 45,728 lbs. 1785 29,249 lbs. 1 787 1 7,047 lbs. 1789 37,137 lbs. In the same report we read, " According to long experience, the mulberry tree thrives among us as well as the common fruit trees. The experience of many years, proves sufficiently that the culture agrees at least as well with our climate, as with those of the provinces of France and Italy, which for several cen- turies have been considered as the principal seats of the silk culture in Europe. Whilst it failed so com- pletely in those countries in 1816 and 1817, that the price of silk was more than double, the pound selling at 28 florins ; we nevertheless obtained good crops. There remains not the least doubt that we can pro- duce silk as cheap as in France. In the Cevennes, female spinners receive 42 kr. a day, and twiners 21 kr. ; whilst, among us, women well acquainted with that kind of labour, will work for a third of the money. The silk produced in Germany is at least equal to that of Turin. Not long ago, in weaving silk imported from Italy and from Manheim, we found that the weaver, who had been accustomed to Italian and French silk, preferred by far the organzine of Manheim for its greater strength and equality." It appears from the whole of the evidence before us, that there have been three distinct periods in the history of silk in Germany, commencing respectively in 1598, 1744, and 1821 ; that the two former were, as termed by Comte de Hazzi, unlucky, a conse- quence resulting from misunderstanding and misman- agement; the whole of which does not even yet appear to be removed ; and therefore the enterprise commencing with 1821, compared with what it would be, were it free from impediments with which it has no physical or necessary connexion, is yet in its in- fancy. HISTORY OF SILK. 79 On reading this singular statement given by Count de Hazzi, we were naturally led to inquire, what was the cause of the two former periods being " un- lucky?" Was it the high latitude ? Not so ; since silk is produced not unsuccessfully, as far to the north as Sweden. Was it any peculiarity whatever of climate ? We are informed not. It is by all parties confessed not only that mulberry trees and silk worms were raised there, but also that the German climate proved congenial to both. Was it because the pro- duction of domestic silk was unimportant in a national or financial point of view ? Quite the contrary, since Bavaria alone, recently imported silks at the rate of 10 millions of florins per annum. Are we then to look, somewhat philosophically, into national cha- racter : the French, the Italians, nay even the Rus- sians and the Swedes succeed, why not the Germans ? We are met again by a negative, since the Germans, even the uneducated, are remarkable for their steady and industrious habits. Neither were the failures attributable to the want of the most encouraging ex- amples from the neighbouring silk districts of France and Italy ; in each, a source of abundant wealth to the nation, and giving employment to myriads of men, women, and children, otherwise, perhaps, des- titute. No such cause or causes can be assigned. Here then, in the history of men, either as individuals or formed into communities have we an anomaly ! No impediment from any physical, natural cause what- ever ; not from the soil, situation nor climate ; but from, if we are allowed the expression, a political climate. A moral phenomenon ! Men destroy what Providence bestows ! There are some cases, in which interference on the part of government with the in- dustry and secular prosperity of its people, has been salutary, but many in which it has been a withering political atmosphere, something like a posthumous edition of Justinian's overreaching rapacity, that, by 80 HISTORY OP SILK. grasping at too much, loses all.* Charity, however, intimates, that on the part of the German govern- ments, it was philanthropy aiming at the people's weal.t Be it so ; — yet the indiscretion that misdi- rected it, rendered the whole abortive. But what a picture of artificial clogs and shackles have we on reading the long list of governmental restrictions, mulcts, charges, and compulsive mea- sures. Surely the whole apparatus of screws, fetters, pincers, hammer, nail, and tongs, brought by the Spanish Armada, to show how the friends of the holy inquisition intended to bless the English with a happy purgatory in their own country, could not well equal such a thumb-screw system ; such artificial manacles to clog the free blessings of the skies, By some legislative fiat, monopolies rise, having officers, inspectors, and creatures enjoying uncondi- tional salaries, and privileges that another, by the most untiring industry, loyalty, and merit, could never touch, though induced to engage, not by the reward that sweetens toil, but by coercive means. Two castes among the children of the same father ! One has encouragement, the other compulsion, though the merit is equal! Here not only a full price, but even a bounty is given for the produce ; there a law forcing to undersell at the risk of fine, bodily punishment, or imprisonment, for either not producing or with- holding. The smiles of government beam with pe- culiar grace on the minions of the monopoly, but the back of the hand or the spurn of the heel is shown to its slaves. The former enjoy the gracious touch of * " Apa? to , Woodstock, Middlebury, Ben- nington, South Hero, Montpelier, Orwell, Shore- ham, Guilford, Putney, and other places preparations are making on a large scale. The legislation of Massachusetts, for the encouragement of the growth of silk, is of the most liberal character. The bounty on all silk grown, reeled, and throwsted, in the com- monwealth is two dollars a pound ; which is consi- dered by silk growers to be sufficient to defray all expenses attending its growing, reeling, and throws- ting. There are several incorporated companies. Amongst them is the New England Silk Company at Dedham, under the superintendence of Mr. Cobb. HISTORY OF SILK. 129 This company has a capital of $50,000 with liberty to extend it to $100,000. Mr. Cobb says, "we have sixteen sewing silk machines. We have found organ- zine and tram, or warp and filling, to be in greater demand than heretofore ; but in consequence of the forty per cent, protection on sewing silk held out by government, we have been building a large mill, and are now ready to manufacture 200 lbs. per week of sewing silk, which, at present prices, will bring $2000. About $10,000 worth of silk goods, part with a mix- ture of cotton, have been manufactured here the year past.' 5 In addition to this, Mr. Judson notices the Atlantic Silk Company, at Nantucket; the Northamp- ton, the Massachusetts, the Boston, the Roxbury, and the Newburyport Silk Companies ; all with ade- quate capitals, and "promising prospects." "In Rhode Island the manufacture of silk is commencing. The Rhode Island Silk Company has a capital of $100,000. The factory is at Providence, and the plantation in the neighbourhood. It has ma- nufactured some very beautiful and durable articles. " In Connecticut silk has been grown in consi- derable quantities for fifty or sixty years, particularly in the counties of Windham and Tolland. The state pays a bounty of one dollar on every hundred Italian or Chinese mulberry trees, set out at such dis- tances from each other as will best favour their full growth and the collection of their leaves, and culti- vated until they are five years old ; also a bounty of fifty cents on every pound of silk reeled on an im- proved reel. There are two incorporated companies, the Mansfield and the Connecticut. The former is located at Mansfield, and has a capital of $20,000 ; the latter at Hartford, with a capital of $30,000. There is also a silk factory at Lisbon. Individuals also, in all parts of the state, are engaging in the cul- ture. There are likewise extensive nurseries at Hartford, Suffield, Farmington, Litchfield, New London, Stoninglon, Durham, Neiv Haven, and many other towns." 130 HISTORY OF SILK. MIDDLE STATES. "The subject of encouraging the culture of silk has been under consideration in New York, and it is expected will be given at the present session. Several silk companies have been incorporated, among which are the Troy, the Poughkeepsie, the Neio York, and the Albany Silk Grower's Compa- nies. In all parts of the state, individuals are en- gaging with spirit; and there is no doubt New York will become a great silk growing district. "In New Jersey several companies have been incorporated, among which are the New Jersey and the Monmouth Silk Companies. Several others are formed, and enterprising individuals are engaging in the culture. The soil and climate have been found well adapted to the business." This state pays a bounty of sixteen cents a pound for cocoons, and fifty cents a pound for reeled silk. " A number of companies have been formed in Pennsylvania, under a general law of the state for the encouragement of the culture of silk." The Beaver, Chester, Philadelphia, and Economy Silk Companies, are those which Mr. Judson notices in 1837. A number of companies have sprung up during the past season and others are almost daily coming into existence. " In Delaware and Maryland, the subject is at- tracting much attention. Several companies have been formed, and individuals are commencing plan- tations." The Queen Anne County and Talbot Silk Companies are mentioned. SOUTHERN STATES. " In the Southern States much interest is felt in the subject, and much is doing to introduce it to the at- tention of planters. In Virginia, they are proposing to devote their worn-out tobacco lands to the culture of silk, in the hope of checking the tide of emigration, HISTORY OF SILK. 131 which is setting west, and threatening to depopulate the country. There are several silk companies, and many individuals are making experiments. The ac- counts I have received from North Carolina are of the most cheering character. They represent the soil and climate to be remarkably favourable to the growth of the tree and to the rearing of the worm. The same is substantially true as respects South Carolina and Georgia. Experiments have been made, whose results have satisfied the planters that the young, aged, and infirm portion of their slaves can be profitably employed in the culture of silk : and there is little doubt that in a short time many of them will make a silk as well as a cotton crop. In Florida and Alabama the tree grows luxuriantly, and pro- duces an abundance of foliage. Experiments in rear- ing the worm have also been attended with favour- able results; and a portion of the inhabitants are convinced that silk will be the most profitable crop they can make. At Pensacola and Mobile are large numbers of mulberry trees; and arrangements are making to commence the business. The black mul- berry is there indigenous, and its foliage has been found to make as good silk as that of the Chinese. It is also supposed that the sterile lands of West Flo- rida will become valuable on account of their adapta- tion to the production of silk." WESTERN STATES. The soil and climate of the Western States, has also been found to be peculiarly adapted to the silk culture. In Ohio there are a number of companies incorporated with large capitals, and under the direc- tion of skilful managers. In the vicinity of Canton, in Stark county, seventy families are engaged in making silk; and in Knox, Cuyahoga, Jefferson, Belmont, Washington, Broivn, Hamilton, Mont- gomery, Highland, and several other counties, many individuals are beginning. The subject is new in 132 HISTORY OF SILK. Kentucky, but as is evident from the following ex- tract of a letter, is attracting attention. " The first talk of silk raising in this country was about a year and a half since, when a friend sent me the first copy of the Silk Culturist. So great has been the increase of public sentiment, that there appear but few of the rich farmers who are not contemplating it as a source of employment for their weak force. The six that are now making experiments, can bring into the field one hundred hands, and our whole energy will be turned to it. In Indiana large quantities of white mulberry seed have been sown, and a spirit of in- quiry has been awakened. The business cannot flourish with us till our trees have grown, though our woods abound with the black mulberry. In Il- linois, Missouri, and Tennessee, small beginnings have been made, and the congeniality of the soil and climate cannot, ultimately, fail of making them great silk growing states. Could a general diffusion of practical knowledge on the subject of cultivating the tree, and rearing the worm, be effected, I have no doubt the United States would become one of the greatest silk growing countries in the world." Beyond the period to which these brief extracts from Mr. Judson's highly credible testimony relative to the general state of the silk culture in this country refer, it is, at present, unnecessary to pass ; particu- larly as the progress since, has been so rapid, that to delineate, with any precision, the whole at any exact moment, over so wide a field as that of the United States, would be impossible, unless furnished with facilities similar to those which Mr. Judson's official commission for inquiry commanded. PART II. ON THE MULBERRY TREE. CHAPTER I. MULBERRY, GENUS, SPECIES. The first thing to be done towards either the pro- duction or manufacture of silk, is a provision of food for the thrifty insect, that will take due care to perform its part, if only we are equally industrious to perform ours ; and its only proper and legitimate aliment is the leaf of the mulberry tree. The Morus* of botanists, a genus! of the tetran- dria order, belonging to the Monoecia class of plants; * Morus, Lat. a mulberry tree ; said by some to be derived from the Celtic word Mor, black. But /uco^ov, the mulberry, is probably from the adjective fjuogos, insipid, since the fruit of every species, except the red, is comparatively insipid. •f Order, tetrandria. Oalyx four-parted, divisions oval and concave; corolla none ; stamens four, situated between the divisions of the calyx ; filaments erect, subulate, longer than the calyx, and supporting the an- thers. Female flowers, growing sometimes on the same individual, and sometimes on a separate plant, have a calyx with four leaves, rounded, obtuse, and persistent ; the two opposite exterior ones approaching each other : corolla none ; pistil naked ; germ, heart shaped, surmounted with two oblong, subulate, rough, strong styles, terminated by simple stig- mas ; no pericarp ; its place supplied by the calyx, which is converted into a fleshy succulent berry, containing one, sometimes two, pointed oval seeds, of which one is usually abortive ; perisperm whitish, fleshy, of the same form as the seeds, receiving the embryo reversed, bent into hooks. Cotyledons oblong, foliacious, smooth, narrow, bent over one another. The upper radicle is cylindrical. Distinctive character, mo- noecial flowers. Calyx four-parted, corolla none, stamens four, styles two, pericarp none, calyx changed into a flesh berry. The female flowers are numerous, collected rather loosely in a common receptacle. Each germ is changed into a succulent berry. These three particularly refer to the mulberry, white, red, or black. They extend their roofs deep, large, and 12 133 134 THE MULBERRY TREE. of which Linnaeus mentions seven distinct species, viz. 1. Morns nigra; 2. Morus rubra ; 3. Morus pa- pyrifera ; 4. Morus tinctoria ; 5. Morus indica : 6. Morus tartarica, and 7. Morus alba ; of which we shall treat in due order, The above, it is to be observed, are ranked by Linnaeus as species ; and if species, they are each respectively capable of reproduction from its own seed. There are besides varieties of each species ; or kinds produced by two or more species, whose pro- perties have been combined by proximate influence or artificial culture, as ingrafting, inoculating; and even, in certain cases, other varieties obtained by a change of soil or climate ; most, if not all of which, however, are Hybrids ; and consequently, incapable of reproduction from seed. But what are varieties only, and what hybrids, have not as yet been distinctly stated, either by the botanist or the horticulturist; and, therefore, until experiments of a satisfactory character are made, we shall refer both the latter to a distinct chapter. The mulberry tree has many properties such, as if it had been endowed by nature with every requisite to render its cultivation, wherever that be, in the hedge, in the plantation, in the cornfield, or as an ornament around our premises and dwellings, an ob- ject happily combining utility, convenience, and plea- sure. Independently of the primary purpose of its culture, the production of an agreeable and elegant article of clothing, in consequence of its roots, not obliquely but more deeply and perpendicularly striking into the earth, it leaves the surface less impoverished and incommoded than it is by many trees. The ground, therefore, between mulberries, or their rows, may, in many cases, be successfully occupied with branching. They are exceedingly vivacious, and put forth rapidly. When grafted they die after twenty-five years ,- while the mulberries not grafted will live, sometimes, through three centuries. There are mulberry trees in England and France, known to be of this age. THE MULBERRY TREE. 135 other products ; particularly since neither the shade of the tree, nor the dropping of rain from its leaves, is considered prejudicial to plants growing beneath. It is also a matter of universal observation that no insect, except the silk worm will feed on the mulberry- leaf. The experiment was purposely tried by M. Pullein, which satisfactorily demonstrated that the product of this tree is the exclusive property of the silk worm, or the insect, which apparently ivorks only for man. "During the continued observation of three years, Miss Rhodes never once found any other insect on the leaves used by her. Other fruit trees and vegetables in the same garden were some- times covered by myriads, while the mulberry tree, surrounded by these ravagers, remained sacred from their depredations." Not even the aphides invade the tree so exclusively devoted to the little operative that so exclusively devotes itself to us. "All the different parts of the mulberry," says Seignor Tinelli, "are useful and good for some pur- pose or other. Its leaves form the only food that experience has found to be appropriate to nourish the silk worm. The leaves of a second growth, serve, at the close of autumn, as an excellent nourishment for cattle and sheep.* The body and larger limbs, may also be converted into boards of a beautiful yel- lowish colour,t and finely clouded, for the use of the cabinetmaker; the fibrous epidermis of the young branches, that are often cut, either for the purpose of ingrafting or of pruning, and directing the shape of the tree, if macerated in lime and water, may be made into paper, that is exceedingly delicate and shining, and properly called silk paper. The young mul- berries take the most beautiful forms that it is possi- ble for the hand of man to give them ; and thus this * " It being understood, however, that the second gathering ought not to be made till the vegetation of the plant has entirely ceased, and the sap has begun to descend from the branches." t " Citron colour, more or less deep." — Morm. 136 THE MULBERRY TREE. plant so rich in its produce, furnishes also an elegant ornament in parks and gardens, and in the avenues to villas and country houses."* Relative to what mulberry trees are distinct species, and what only varieties, the greatest discrepancy and want of distinctness, as already observed, are found in the works of the most popular writers on this sub- ject. The real case, no doubt, is that sufficient trial has not yet been made to determine which of the several kinds are producible, without variation, from their own seed, and therefore distinct species ; and which are not, and consequently hybrids, or the mere creatures of local and accidental circumstances, or to be sustained only by artificial culture. Until this in- teresting, as well as important point is satisfactorily ascertained, we prefer, as to those we quote as spe- cies, to abide by the Linnsean classification, sanc- tioned by Dr. Lardner, as good authority ; though at the same time, we doubt not, but that some of the kinds not yet ranked as species, will eventually, by further experience, be proved to be such. Species I. Morus Nigra, or black mulberry, a na- tive of Asia Minor. The leaves are large and rugged. Its fruit is large, black, aromatic, juicy, subacid, and good. The leaves will answer for the food of silk worms ; but those of other kinds are more suitable. It is much used, however, in Persia, where good silk is produced : the European red mulberry is said to be a variety of the black, and is used in Calabria, and in some parts of Italy.! It rises from twenty-five to thirty feet. The morus nigra never has been extensively used where the morus alba was known. "The sewing * See " Hints on the Cultivation of the Mulberry," dedicated to the American Institute, by Seignor Tinelli, LL.D., or Silk Culturist, torn, iii. p. 36 et seg. -j- See Silk Culturist, vol. ii. p. 134, col. 1 and 2 ; also p. 158, col. 3, et seg. On page 3 of the same work, we read, " The black mulberry grows spontaneously in the wilds of some of the southern and western states. The worms will eat the leaves and thrive upon them, but the silk they make is of a very inferior quality." THE MULBERRY TREE. 137 silks of Naples are mostly made from the silk grown in Calabria, where the worm is fed principally on the black mulberry, and which makes the strongest and best of sewing silk. Finizio* stated that the worm fed on the black mulberry made the strongest thread ; that on the white mulberry finer and better for fa- brics."! The relative fineness of silk produced from the black and white mulberry may be compared to that between hemp and flax in linen. Species II. Morus Rubra, or the red mulberry, a native of America.^ The leaves are large, cordate, often palmated, and more often two or three lobed, denticulated, dark green above, downy beneath, rug- ged. The fruit is of a very deep red or black colour, an oblong shape, and of an agreeable, acidulous, sugary taste. It is composed of the union of a great number of small berries, each of which contains a minute seed. The tree often exceeds sixty feet in height, and two feet in diameter. The wood is of a yellowish hue, aproaching to lemon colour, fine grained and compact, and durable as the white locust. Several varieties of this tree are quoted, viz. 1. Leaves all orbiculated (round.) 2. Leaves deeply lobed. 3. Leaves with three short lobes. 4. Fruit berries nearly white. 5. Fruit berries bluish purple. 6. Fruit berries red and long. 7. Fruit berries blackish red. Though the red mulberry is said to be peculiar to * An extensive manufacturer of sewing silks at Naples. He makes about 3000 lb. a week, most It/ for the New York market ! f Silk Cul. from letter of General Tallmadge, p. 133, col. 3. t " Michaux assigns the same limits north to it as to the majestic and beautiful tulip tree, (lirisdendron tulipifera,) viz. the northern ex- tremity of Lake Champlain ; but it also grows in Massachusetts. Southward and westward it abounds in all the states, and has recently been found as far west as the lower part of the river Canadian, by Dr. James, U. S. Army." — Annals of the Lyceum, New York, vol. ii. p. 246. 12 * 138 THE MULBERRY TREE. America, yet in the Silk Culturist, p. 1 34,* we read as follows. "The red mulberry is here, (south of Italy,) principally used, and is known as the Calabria mulberry. It is described as having a dark fruit ; the tree is like our black, and when I called it the black mulberry, I was corrected, and told that the stain of the fruit was red, which gave the character of the tree." The experience of more than a century has esta- blished the fact, that the leaves of the red mulberry agree perfectly well with silk worms, and yield very good silk ; it is, therefore, somewhat singular that M. Deslongchmaps should assert that the leaves do not suit the constitution of French ivorms ! Yet Ma- dame Humbertt in Louisiana, and Mr. Seth Milling- ton:]: of Missouri affirm that the insects evinced no preference between the leaves of the white and red species, but that the silks produced from both " were stronger and finer than that of France." Preference is, notwithstanding, generally given to the leaves of the white mulberry. § Much evidence, the detail of which is too long for our limits, in favour of the American red mulberry, is given in the Silk Culturist, vol. ii. p. 172, col. 3, and p. 173. Mr. S. R. Jones || affirms that in its native state, it yields a large cruantity of leaves of a bright glossy green, and smooth texture, many of which by actual trial, measure twelve inches in length and nine in breadth, and weigh a quarter of a pound avoirdupois a piece. Should this species of mulberry prove to be valuable, it will be a source of almost incalculable profit to the families of the south west. Already ac- climated no danger need to be apprehended from the * Letter from General Tallmadge. j- Du Pratt's Hist, of Louisiana, p. 187. \ Answer to the silk circular sent by secretary of the treasury, 1827. § But see a somewhat spirited article in the Silk Culturist, vol. ii. p. 158, col. 3 et seq. from the Mechanic's Messenger. || lb. vol. iii., p. 34, col. 1, et seq. THE MULBERRY TREE. 139 severity of our winters. Another species of mulberry which I have discovered, yields a beautiful leaf, ele- ven inches long, but which weighs only half as much as the rubra. It is a very fine and brilliant leaf with a lobe or ear on each side, about midway between its widest place, and its point, which gives it a peculiar appearance. The worm is voraciously fond of it, I think it to be a valuable kind especially for second crops/'* Species III. Broussonetia Papyrifera,! or Ja- pan paper mulberry. The leaves are rough, either cordate, entire or lobed. The tree is of rapid growth and rises to a large size, with a round head. It is a native of China and Japan. From the inner bark of its branches, the Japanese make their paper ; and also certain articles of clothing. Its leaves are also used as food for the silk worm, for which purpose the tree is now successfully cultivated in France.^ * " From the character of the leaves and fruit of a. native mulberry tree growing in Washita,* there is reason to believe that it is a different species from the moras rubra. The leaves are three-lobed, three-nerved, unequally serrated ; base, subcordate entire ; lobes, ovate oblong, acute or acuminate ; sinuses broad, with large interjected acute teeth. Both surfaces rough. The leaves are larger than those of the red species. Upper lobes more ovate, with base narrower ; no pubescence beneath : lateral lobes narrower than the middle teeth of the sinuses, sometimes entire, sometimes with a few unequal teeth on the side, upper sinuses broader than the lower." -j- " Termed Broussonetia," says Count Dandolo, " from the name of M. Augustus Broussonet, a distinguished professor." i " The bark of this tree not only furnishes fibres for ropes, but it can even be formed into a species of cloth. M. la Rouverie affirms, that he procured a beautiful vegetable silk from the young branches of this spe- cies of mulberry ; cutting the bark while the tree was in sap, and then beating it with mallets and steeping it in water, he obtained a thread from the fibres, almost equal to silk in quality ; and this was woven into a cloth whose texture appeared as if formed of that material. The women of Louisiana obtain a similar production from the off-shoots of the mul- berry. These are gathered when they are about four or five feet high. The bark is stripped and dried in the sun. It is then beaten to get rid of the external part, which falls off, leaving the inner bark entire. This is again beaten, to make it still finer, after which it is bleached in dew. It is then spun, and various fabrics are made from it, such as webs and * Sent by Judge Bry to the secretary of the treasury : Letter from the secretary of the treasury. 140 THE MULBERRY TREE. The Abbe Grozier speaks of this species, in his description of China, in the following manner, " This tree is so much more precious to the Chinese, because it furnishes them with a great quantity of paper which they consume. When its branches are broken, the bark detaches itself and peels off like long ribands. To judge of the species by the leaves, it would be thought to be a wild mulberry tree ; but by its fruit, it resembles more a fig tree. It produces milk like the fig, if pulled before it ripens. Its resemblance to the fig and mulberry trees, may be the cause of its being regarded as a species of sycamore. It grows on mountains and stony places." Species IV. and V. Morus Tinctoria, and the Morus Indica, which seem not to be generally known, are not used for the nourishment of the silk worm. Species VI. Morus Tartarica, or Tartarian mulberry, abounds on the borders of the Sea of Azoph, and on the banks of the Volga, and of the Don or Tanais. The leaves are large, oval, oblong, serrated, and shining. The fruit resembles the Morus Nigra. The leaves afford silk of the finest quality. It is proper that we should in this place state, that Count Dandolo, in the enumeration of his 12 species, mentions the Morus Constantinopolitana, as well as the Morus Tartarica. But he nowhere mentions the Morus Broussa. This circumstance, and the proximity of Constantinople to Broussa, warrant the presumption, until evidence to the contrary, that these two are the same. It has been asserted that the Broussa can be raised from its own seed ; it is, there- fore, a species ; and whether this species may be con- sidered or not the same as the Morus Tartarica or Tartarian mulberry, may be in some degree, deter- mined from the note below.* fringes ; and sometimes it is woven into cloth. The finest sort of cloth- ing among the inhabitants of Otaheite, and other of the South Sea Islands, is made of the bark of this tree." — Dr. Lardner. * " The silks of Turkey have long been celebrated for their softness, THE MULBERRY TREE. 141 Species VII. Morus Alba, called the White or Italian mulberry. This species originally was from China, but has been most extensively cultivated in Italy and France for ages. The silk which it produces is of the finest quality. The leaves are cordate, serrate, entire or lobed. Their upper surface is a shining green, perfectly smooth, and the under has some hairs set on its edges. The flowers are monoecial ; some males, disposed in cylindrical chatons, supported on peduncles, longer than themselves : the others, females, form round or oval chatons, rather short peduncles, which are succeeded by small berries of the same form, and of a red or white colour. The fruit is white, roundish oblong and insipid. It is a tree of a rapid growth. In the climate of Paris it attains to the height of 25 or 30 feet, but in more southern countries of 40 or 50 feet, with a trunk from 6 to 8 feet circum- ference.* This tree is known to have attained the richness and brilliancy. This can only be accounted for, from the supe- rior excellence of the Turkish mulberry," (Tartarica, Constantinopoli- tana or Droussa ?) "Fortunately there are already trees growing in this country" (America) "from the seeds of the Broussa mulberry. Mr. Charles Rhind, some years American Consul at Odessa," {where the Tar- tarica is indigenous,) " struck with the beauty and the 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 on his country, than in acquiring the seed of this species, and planting it here. From the local situation of Broussa, which is on ele- vated ground at the base of mount Olympus, whose tops are covered with perpetual snow, and from the hardiness of the mulberry trees grow- ing there, he concluded that they were adapted to our climate, and would resist our severest winters. He obtained a quantity of the Broussa seed, and committed it to the care and cultivation of David Ruggles, Esq., of Newburgh on the Hudson River. Under the superintendence of Mr. Ruggles, he has growing in his nursery, ten or tivelve thousand trees of about three years old. Mr. Ruggles asserts that these trees are very hardy, and that not one of the several thousands growing in his nursery, has been affected or killed by the frost of the two last severe winters." — The Cultivator, vol. iv. p. 14. " I wish, however, to be understood that by Broussa, I do not mean all those various hinds, which are sold under that name, but I have a direct reference to the tree or trees which Mr. Charles Rhind brought from Broussa to this country." — Letter of Mr. C. F. Durant to the Secretary of the American Institute, February, 1838. * The bark, according to Rosier, may be converted into linen of the 142 THE MULBERRY TREE. venerable age of more than 400 years. Its superiority- over every other mulberry, except the moms multi- caulis, consists in this ; it is clothed with leaves fifteen or twenty days earlier than the other ; the silk worms, therefore, come more speedily at maturity, and are thus preserved from the inconvenience of the hot sea- son. The white Italian mulberry, moreover, not only grows more rapidly, but has a more abundant foliage ; and leaves more delicate and nutritious, whence the silk is more handsome, and of a better quality. The forms of the leaves are extremely variable. M. Audibert,* an experienced cultivator in France, says, " that the same tree will have leaves divided into several lobes, when young, and when it becomes old, they will be entire ; others have the second crop of leaves differently formed from the first ; some again have entire leaves in the spring, and lobed leaves in autumn. Hence the difficulty that not unfrequently occurs on this and other accounts, of stating what are distinct species, and what are merely varieties. Of this tree it is generally confessed indeed, that there are, even when raised from seed several varie- ties ; many of which are of inferior quality, the trees being thorny, the leaves small and few in number. Hence Count Dandolo sought improvement by en- grafting or inoculation with the large leaved kinds. He particularly mentions those known in Lombardy, by the names, folia doppia, and folia giazzolia. M. Bourgeois and M. Thome recommend those graft- ed with the rose-leaved and Spanish mulberry. The Count says, " the common grafted mulberry comprises the following varieties : 1. Of a white berry : 2. Of a red berry : 3. Of a black berry : 4. Of a large leaf called of Tuscany : 5. Of a middle fineness of silk. For this purpose, the young wood is gathered in autumn, during the ascent of the second sap, and immersed for three or four days in water. It is then taken out at sunset, spread on grass, and returned to the water at sunrise, and this is daily repeated, until finally it is pre- pared and spun like flax. * Essai sur des muriers, et des vers-a-soie, par M. Deslongchamps, p. 21. Paris, 1824. THE MULBERRY TREE. 143 sized leaf, dark green, called in Italy, folia giaz- zola : 6. Small leaf, of a dark colour rather thick called double leaf, more difficult to pick, but the best calculated for the nutrition of the silk worm." M. Morin, who paid particular attention to the mulberry, informs us, that " the careful culture of the white mulberry has produced many varieties, distin- guishable into the wild and grafted. The first com- prises four sub-varieties ; the first called feullle rose, rose leaf bears a small white insipid fruit, and its leaf is rounded like the small leaf of a rose-bush, but larger : the second, la feullle doree, the gold leaf has a small purple fruit, and an elongated shin- ing leaf: the third, la reine batarde, or bastard queen, is distinguished by its black fruit, and its leaves, which are twice as large as the rose leafed, indented in their circumference, at the superior ex- tremely elongated to a point : the fourth is called, pemelle, the tree is thorny, it puts forth flowers be- fore leaves, which are divided into three lobes like clover. In the grafted mulberry we distinguish also four varieties; 1. La reine, the queen, with leaves shin- ing and larger than any of the wild ; its fruit is ash- coloured : 2. La grosse reine, large queen, has leaves of a deep green, and a black fruit : 3. La feuille d'EspAGNE, the Spanish leaf bears very large leaves, extremely rough and thick, and a long white berry : and 4. La feuille de flocs, the woolly leafed, is of a deep green, very like the former, but less elongated and disposed in tufts on the boughs. Its fruit very abundant, but never comes to maturity. However, as it is very difficult to distinguish the wild mulberry, as the morns alba grow nowhere in Europe spontaneously, but we meet with them al- ways cultivated ; and the young plants that grow in the nurseries cannot be considered as wild specimens, since they come from seed obtained from trees, that a long culture has more or less modified, and that they have themselves sometimes undergone new 144 THE MULBERRY TREE. changes by the effects of a change of climate and pe- culiar treatment in the culture ; therefore it is, that in even the trees of a distinct species raised from seed we observe differences more or less considerable in the thickness or size of the leaf or in the habit of re- maining entire, or dividing into lobes. And if these young trees were not grafted before bearing fruit, we should find in them differences which might serve to distinguish them; but, otherwise, they must create new varieties from each particular seed. The only varieties of which it will be useful to mention are those which, being propagated for a long- er or shorter time from the seed, have been distin- guished as exhibiting remarkable characters or quali- ties, and which, therefore, pains have been taken to multiply by cuttings or by grafting on seeding plants in the nursery which are called wild stock. Such are the following : 1. Morus alba rosea, rose leafed mulberry. The tree is slender, with branches more extended than all the other grafted varieties. It may, however, attain a great height. Its wood is more solid and compact. Its leaves are shining as if varnished, rarely lobed, borne on rose petioles ; and its fruit is of a rose gray. 2. Morus alba ovalifolia, oval leafed white mulberry, or Roman mulberry. The tree is large, and grows rapidly. Its leaves are large and hand- some, shining on the upper surface ; whole and some- times divided into three or five lobes on the young and vigorous stems. Its berries are rose gray or lilac. This variety is most prevalent in Provence, or in the environs of Avignon or Languedoc. It is agreed that the rose leafed variety produces a leaf of superior quality, which gives a good silk, and occasions not those diseases to the worms which arise from leaves too moist, or from a soil too fertile. 3. Morus alba macrophylla, the grosse reine white mulberry. This variety grows large, but not higher than the Roman. Its snoots are large, and its THE MULBERRY TREE. 145 buds nearer together. No other variety exhibits so large leaves. They are a little more plaited, and their petiole is short. The berries are large and white, very sugary, without, however, the agreeable acidity of the berries of the black species. A smaller quan- tity of this variety is planted, and its leaves are only given towards the end of the feeding season, or when the worms are on the eve of moulting. 4. Morus alba oblongifolia, or langue de boeuf, or ox tongue mulberry. Leaves large, shining, not lobed ; nearly twice as long as broad. This variety is cultivated in the Cevennes ; but it is not much esteemed. They prefer that called colombassette, which seems to be a sub-variety of the rose leafed mulberry of Provence. 5. Morus alba nana, the dwarf white mulberry. This tree is a little larger than that known under the name of Constantinople mulberry. Its leaves are like those of the grosse reine, but its berries are white. The dwarf mulberry may be advantageously cul- tivated, since its boughs are near ; and this tree of small size will furnish as many leaves as another thrice its magnitude ; and a greater number can be planted on the same space of land. 6. Morus alba integrifolia. A mulberry with leaves always whole and shining. 7. Morus alba integrifolia obscura. Leaves always whole but not shining. 8. Morus alba semilobata, with large leaves, tough as leather; divided into from two to five lobes. 9. Morus alba lobata. Leaves divided as far as the centre into from three to five lobes. This mul- berry has three sub-varieties, viz. of very large, mid- dling or very small leaves. 10. Morus alba laciniata. This variety has its leaves divided into five deep lobes ; of which the middle one, larger than all the others, is itself divided into five or six alternate lobes. To these varieties may be added another cultivated now for some years past in the Jardin du Roi, and brought from the Isle 13 146 THE MULBERRY TREE. of Bourbon, by Captain Philibert. Its leaves are whole and scarcely marked, nearly dull on the upper surface, more decidedly pubescent on the lower than other white mulberries. Its parenchyme or pitch is rather small and dry. It withstands the rigour of the winter even when unprotected by the cultivator. M. Loiseleur Deslongchamps has pointed out still further varieties of the white mulberry, interesting on account of the qualities they possess for the nourish- ment of the silk worm. "The first is la colombassette. This is the most ancient known variety ; its leaf is small, slender, thin, very soft ; the silk worms prefer it to other kinds. The berries at maturity are yellowish and very large. The trees are the largest of the species, and of the longest duration. "The second is la rose. Its leaf is a little larger, and of rather deeper green than the colombassette. It is as good for the nourishment of the worms. Its berries are reddish, and of the same size as those of the preceding variety. "The third is la colombasse verte, exhibiting two sub-varieties, which are designated by the names of the large and the small colombasse verte. Its leaves are not so fine as the two first, but they are larger and more elongated. Its berries are bluish, and not so large as those of the colombassette and la rose. " The fourth is la rabalayre, or traineuse ; a variety much resembling the colombasse verte : but which is essentially distinguished from it, in its buds being further apart, and of consequence the tree pro- duces less leaves ; but as it is less exhausted by the production of foliage, it grows large and developes itself rapidly. The tree bears few berries; which are of the same colour as those of the colombasse verte. The fifth, la poumaou, or la pomme. Its leaf is large, rather fine, and of a round form. The tree produces scarcely any berries, and though it does not throw out shoots as long as the other varieties, it fur- THE MULBERRY TREE. 147 nishes a sufficiently large quantity of leaves, because its branches are leaved in their whole extent. "The sixth, la meyne. This variety has the greatest resemblance to the preceding, both in quality and size. The form of the leaf is not so round. "The seventh, l'amella, or l'amande. The leaf of this variety is oval, much thicker and heavier than that of all the preceding, and more difficult to gather. It suffers less than those from the cold, or from winds and dew which produce mildew or mould ; a disease of the leaf that is productive of loss. The tree yields very few berries. "The eighth is la forcade, or la fourche; a va- riety, whose leaf is nearly round, and very abundant, on account of the proximity of its buds. "The ninth is la dure. It bears this name, because its leaves are really hard, not for the worms, but in detaching them from the branches. It requires strong arms to gather them j and labourers to make the work lighter, detach them singly. Its leaves are nearly round, rather fine, and are produced as abund- antly as those of the fourcade. It produces no berries. "The tenth is l' admirable. This variety exceeds all the others in the size of its leaves, which are strong and thick, and, by reason of the nearness of the buds, produces them in greater abundance. They, generally, are not given till after the fourth moulting, because the worms then have the requisite strength and appetite to eat them without injury. When this tree is set deeply and well cultivated, its leaves attain an extraordinary size. It is not then uncom- mon to find them even eleven inches long by nine broad. The berries are few, small, and grayish." Of these ten varieties the colombasse, and the co- lombassette, are most favourable to the health of the worm, and to improvement in silk, both as it respects quantity and quality. Notwithstanding, in France, the preference, generally, is given to the poumaou, the meyne, the fourcade, l'amella and V admirable, on account of the abundance of leaves they produce. 148 THE MULBERRY TREE. The above are varieties of the white mulberry ; and it is evident from what has been said, that varie- ties of this, and of the other species, may, by artificial culture and other means, be tortured to an almost indefinite extent. But with regard to what are the several species of the genus mulberry, we have al- ready observed that, authors differ; and, perhaps, will do, until we can find combined in one, the cha- racter of the accurate botanist, and that of the prac- tical horticulturist, whose skill is the result of long- continued and patient observation. Count Dandolo has enumerated no less than twelve kinds as species. Eminent, no doubt, he justly is ; but then it is chiefly for the accurate development of his valuable expe- rience relative to the wants, habits, and economy of the silk worm, but not as a phytologist. The follow- ing, however, is his enumeration of species. " 1. Morus alba. 2. M. tartaria. 3. M. Constan- tinopolitana. 4. M. nigra, (the common mulberry well known ; its fruit of a sweet flavour. Particu- larly cultivated in the ex-Venetian provinces.) 5. M. rubra, (cultivated in botanical gardens.) 6. M. in- dica, (also cultivated for botanical purposes.) 7. M. latifolio, cultivated in botanical hot-houses. 8. M. australis. 9. M. mauritiana, (these three latter sort are little known in Italy.) 10. M. tinctoria. 11. M. papyri/era. (These two last have been recently transported into another class of plants, termed M. Broussonetia.) The list I have given sufficiently shows the variety of mulberry leaves which might be found even more suitable to the nourishment of the silk worm, than those hitherto used." With the exception of the enumeration of a few of the varieties of the white mulberry, the above is all the information we shall derive from Count Dandolo's work "on the Art of rearing Silk Worms" relative to what kinds are distinct species of the mulberry ; though as to the subject on which it professedly treats, we shall find the most ample satisfaction. But how THE MULBERRY TREE. 149 very different is this from the enumeration of species given in Loudon's " Encyclopaedia of Plants;" than which, both as a botanical work, and a recent pro- duction, no other Treatise stands equally and more justly eminent.* In this work the kinds ranked as species are only five, viz. Class, Monoecea ; Order, Tetrandria ; Genus, Morus. Species I. Alba; white; China; leaves deeply cordate, unequal at the base, ovate, lobed, unequally ser- rated, smoothish. Species II. Tartarica ; Tartarian ; Tartary ; leaves slightly cordate, equal at the base, ovate or lobed, equally serrated, smooth.! Species III. Nigra; black or common; Italy; leaves cordate, ovate or lobed, unequally toothed, sca- brous.;}: Species IV. Rubra; red; North America; leaves cor- date, ovate, acuminate or three-lobed, equally serrated, scabrous, soft beneath. Fern., spikes cylindrical^ Species V. Tinctoria; fusticwood; West Indies ; leaves oblong, unequal at the base; spines axillary, solitary. § * « Encyclopaedia of Plants," by J. C. Loudon, F.L.S. H.S., &c. and others, London, 1836, 8vo. pp. 1160, price £3 13s. 6c?. In the produc- tion of this volume more botanical works have been consulted than most men can have access to in a century. \ " Morus rubra has black shoots, rougher leaves than the black mul- berry, and a dark reddish fruit, longer than the common sort, and of a very pleasant taste. The tree is cultivated in China, but not so gene- rally as the white mulberry. Morus tartarica bears pale red berries of an insipid taste, but eaten in Russia fresh, conserved or dried." t " Young trees, like most of the monoecious class, often produce only male blossoms for many years after they are planted, and yet after- wards become fruitful. As the tree increases in age, it increases in fruitfulness. In some of the old gardens near London, there are black mulberry trees, of a great age, which are very healthy and fruitful ; most of which were planted in the time of James I." § " Morus tinctoria is a tall branching tree, with a fine head, smooth leaves, and awl-shaped solitary spines. The whole plant abounds in a 13* 150 THE MULBERRY TREE. Notwithstanding these authorities, we find, in a recent publication, the following noticed, not as a variety ', but as a species, viz. " Dandolo, or Morettianna mulberry, is a new and most valuable species of mulberry for the nou- rishment of the silk worm. It was first discovered about 1815, by M. Moretti, professor in the Univer- sity of Pavia. The tree is presumed to be hardy ; the fruit which is at first violet, becomes at maturity perfectly black. The leaf is ovate, sharp pointed, entire, cordate at the base. It is thin, smooth on the under and especially on the upper surface ; which is of a beautiful and rather deep shining green. It is not near so thick as that of the large white mulberry, called in France the admirable : and is thinner than that of the Spanish mulberry or morus nigra. It is neither wrinkled nor plaited. Generally, the leaf is nearly eight inches wide, and ten inches long. This mulberry will be most profitably cultivated in the form of a hedge, and from the superior size of the leaf, its foliage is gathered with facility. Its superior quality has been proved by the experiments of M. Gera, and Count Dandolo, who assert that it pro- duces silk of a more beautiful gloss, and finer quality than common silk.* The following, however, by the somewhat indeter- minate language and method of the same author is acknowledged to be a variety. " Morus lucida, or shining leaved. The leaves slightly glutinous milk of a sulphureous colour. The timber is yellow, and a good deal used in dyeing, for which it is imported under the name of fusticwood." " All the species of morus are remarkable for putting out their leaves late ; so that when they appear, gardeners, may safely set out their greenhouse plants, taking it for granted, that all danger from frost is over." — Loudon's Encycl. of Plants, p. 783. * See the whole article inserted by the Hon. H. A. S. Dearborn, in the New England Farmer, vol. viii. No. 29. It is from the Annales d'Horticulture ; and it is extracted from the report of Dr. Fontaneilles, on a letter published by M. Gera in 1826, in the Journal of Physics and of Chemistry of Pavia. THE MULBERRY TREE. 151 are very large, pointed, cordate and shining. This variety is said to be highly deserving of cultivation for the nourishment of silk worms." CHAPTER II. ON THE CULTURE OF SPECIES, OR OF KINDS CAPABLE OF REPRODUCTION FROM SEED. CLIMATE, SOU, SITUATION, SEED, SEEDLINGS, NURSERIES, ENGRAFT- ING, &C. TRANSPLANTING, STANDARDS, PLANTATIONS, INSTRU- MENTS. The question of climate refers at once not only to the mulberry, but also to the silk worm ; for the former would cease to be an interesting object of cultivation, could it be found in a region where it might be satisfactorily proved that the latter, at least with such adventitious means as peculiar circum- stances might require, could not exist, or perform, with success, functions so important to the conve- niences of man. Both the one and the other, as the question refers to latitude, have been found in a prosperous condition, in all parallels from the equator to that of fifty-four degrees in Russia, and of fifty- five degrees in Sweden. But how far the influence of moisture held in solution, within topical limits, in the atmosphere, may be corrected, is a question that remains yet to be proved, by that peculiar kind of cocoonery, which hereafter, for distinction sake, we shall call the Dandoliere, which is useful chiefly in countries where humidity is prevalent.* * " The silk worm is by no means so delicate as many may imagine. Mr. Cobb saw the insects raised by M. d'Homergue in a yard of mul- berry trees in Philadelphia, which endured cold windy days, and storms of rain and thunder ; and notwithstanding spun in thirty days. At Northampton, also, the eggs of the silk worm, which had been deposited 152 THE MULBERRY TREE. In the recommendation of soil proper for the cul- ture of the mulberry, there has, amongst authors, been some discrepancy. Although it is to be conceded that this invaluable plant will flourish in a moist and rich soil, and even, of course, more luxuriantly when thus favoured than it otherwise would, yet experience has proved that not only the leaves thus produced are not so suitable to the health of the worms, but that the vegetative function is thus protracted too late in the autumn to allow the young wood to ripen sufficiently to withstand the attacks of early frost. The majority of authors, therefore, and amongst them the most ex- perienced, agree that the soil should be dry, sandy loam, or stony. It has been even said, though per- haps the opposite extreme, " the more stony the bet- ter, provided that the roots can penetrate." Of stiffer soils, a calcareous sandy clay is to be preferred. But clay that is heavy, and earth that is fenny or marshy, and on which through excess of moisture, the frost has greater power in winter, not only expose young trees to greater danger before their coating is formed and wood matured, but also favour the growth of moss on the bark, and of leaves too full of moisture to suit the health of the worm. In this country, it is admitted as a general rule, that all soils adapted to the culture of Indian corn, or that will produce ten bushels and more to the acre, are adapted to the cul- ture of the mulberry. As to situation or shelter, all agree, that nurse- ries and plantations should have a sunny exposure, and protection against strong cold winds. Declivities, hill sides, land sloping towards the east, south-east on the outside of a window frame, remained uninjured and hatched well, although they had endured alternate sunshine and cold winds and storms, and the extreme rigours of the last uncommon winter, and a degree of cold thirty-three degrees below zero. There too stood the common white mulberry, and the multicaulis ; the plants of three years growth. A shelter, however, is necessary for the silk worm, to defend it at once from long and fatal storms, and from insects and birds of prey." — Ken- rick. See on the subject of Climate, the History of Silk in this volume, as it refers to China. THE MULBERRY TREE. 153 or south, and protected on the north and north-west, by woods, groves, artificial plantations, or buildings, are situations eligible to favour and sustain the growth of the mulberry. As tO the PREPARATION OF THE GROUND if for standard trees, let it be manured in the cavity dug for the tree, but if for hedge rows, in the drill, with a compost made of one-eighth lime, three-eighths mould or decomposed leaves, one-fourth stable manure half rotted, and the remaining fourth of leached ashes, prepared and suffered previously to mellow for three or four months, during which it should be three or four times turned up and mixed with any well rotted manure. The ground itself should be prepared, if for hedge rows, by previous ploughing in the autumn, and once again on the opening of spring. The reader will recollect that we now treat of the white, &c. mulberry, as the varieties require different culture. But if it is to be prepared FOR a seed bed; manure it well with a compost made of stable manure, ashes, decomposed leaves, of each one-third, or instead with any well rotted manure. Let the soil be dug deeply, finely pulverized, and laid off in drills twelve inches apart, and half an inch deep. To obtain the seed. As fast as the fruit ripens, it should be gathered, otherwise it will fall from the tree and be lost, or devoured by birds. When a portion of the fruit is ripe, spread blankets under the trees, and shake them gently every morning during the ripening season. By this means the ripe berries are disengaged from the boughs, and falling on the blankets, are easily gathered, whilst those that are unripe remain undisturbed. To prepare the seed.* To avoid fermentation, * To save the seed of the white mulberry, M. de Labegaire gives the following directions. " Gather the berries as they fall from the tree ; put them for two days in a dry place, where they must be turned up and down for fear they should be heated ; after which mash them with your hands in a tub, pouring over them some water from time to time in order to separate the seed from the must. Let then the water settle for a quarter of an hour, and all the useless particles floating over will 154 THE MULBERRY TREE. suffer not the seed to remain in the fruit longer than three days; but put it into any convenient vessel, and mash the fruit with the hand, into a pulp. On this mass, having poured water, stir it briskly till a complete separation takes place between the seed and the pulp. During the process, frequently decant the water from off the sediment, and with it suffer all super-natant seed to flow off, as not good. Rub the last sediment through a sieve with meshes of sufficient size to admit the passage of the seed, which should be then laid on bibulous paper, or spread thinly on cloths and dried in the shade. Put it finally in bot- tles, when well dried, and by corking well, by situa- tion and other means, exclude the light, air, and dampness. The white mulberry seed is of an obtuse triangular shape ; and of a dark, dull, yellow colour, and full of oil. The fruit of the white mulberry, when ripe, if put in the ground whole, will vegetate imme- diately, and if the plant be kept weeded, will be suf- ficiently advanced, with the aid of a slight covering, to stand the winter. The first fruit of this tree ripens about June. It may be sowed on well pulverized ground and covered with a fine toothed rake. As to the preparation of seed, so far as it refers to imme- diate sowing, be it remembered that there are authors who recommend previous soaking, some in cold, others in warm, some in hot, others in boiling water! ! and a few in oxy muriatic acid, or in a solution of the chlorate of potassa, for a time varying according to the creed of the several experimentalists, from six to forty-eight hours ! All this, at best, in the present state of this soaking theory, or without further limi- tation, is indefinite and venturesome. It may be very well, on the small scale, as to some limited crop, or as a matter of experiment. But should this time for be taken out. Repeat the washings till the seed is disengaged and pure. The best seed being the heaviest, will stay at the bottom of the tub. Then spread the seed to dry upon a piece of linen, and when dry it must be put by till the season for sowing," — which should be about the 1st of May. THE MULBERRY TREE. 155 soaking, particularly as it refers to any large crop, be protracted, which it may especially in the hurry of the spring season, by the labourers being prevented by other pressing duties, from sowing the soaked seed until after the germinative vigour of the seed is ex- hausted by this precocious and ill-timed process, the whole crop, whether it be of one or twenty acres, will be unquestionably lost.* As to the term hot\ water, it is grossly ambiguous, and the term boiling not less questionable, however recommended. On the whole it would be safer, especially to avoid the possibility of previous accident and delay, instead of antecedent soaking, to water, from the common gardening pot, after the dry seed is in the ground, the beds, with a very mild% solution of the carbonate of potassa. This was never yet tried but with success. The Chinese books say, " when the time for sowing is come, the seed must be mixed with some ashes from the burnt branches of the mulberry trees, and they must be soaked to make them soft. The next day the seed must be washed with care, and those that float re- jected. The full seed must be dried in the sun until the absorbed water has entirely evaporated. They can then be sown, and they never fail to grow rapidly." Nong-sang-thong-kioue. Here is, however, no men- tion of hot or boiling water. Mode of testing the quality of seed. — This is a point, in this age of studied selfishness and designed deceit, far from being unimportant, especially when the seed of certain vegetables may, so far as appear- * In this way precisely, a farmer lately, within ten miles of Phila- delphia, lost the valuable crops of ten acres, on which he relied for the payment of his rent. He depended on this soaking theory, and it ren- dered him insolvent. | " In a solution of soot and hot water for forty-eight hours," says a publication of 1838. t Two ounces dissolved in three gallons ; and the watering repeated, if the season be dry. The water generally, in all natural cases, is agent sufficient without any thing adventitious. But a weak alkaline solution, or even water with common soap-suds will not injure. On the contrary, the result has frequently been a luxuriant crop. 156 THE MULBERRY TREE. ance goes, be easily substituted, and sold at a high price, to any one not a connoisseur, for that of the mulberry. Seed bought at the shops may not only be spurious, productive merely of hybrids, but also old, and, therefore, liable to protract the germinating process, until neutralized or destroyed by the frost. In order to guard against imposition, seed of domestic growth should be preferred when it can be obtained, or procured at least from those on whose veracity we can depend.* Such seed, or that on the quality of which we can rely, may be safely, at the proper season, committed to the ground ; in it, as well as in the best sample, there may be some unproductive seeds, which the common vegetative process will in the natural way indicate. A recent writer says : " Soak the seed in hot water a few hours, when the seed that is worthless will float," without having the politeness to tell us, how hot. This gentleman, no doubt, is fond of a hot potato, but we could readily obtain him one, which if it once reached his mouth, he would be glad to drop it soon, as a bad concem.t " It is computed," says a writer in the first volume of Fessenden's Silk Manual, that one ounce of seed properly sown will give about 5000 young trees." Another writer allows about 8000 trees to the ounce, and from the average of these two, we may infer 100,000 trees to the pound of seed avoirdupois. This is confirmed by what Mr. Comstock says, viz : " From a single pound of seed, one hundred thousand plants may be reasonably expected." There are in one pound avoirdupois, of white mulberry seed, about 322,700 seeds.J This therefore allows one seed * Turnip, poppy and other seeds, have been sold in the " down east," for the genuine multicaulis seed ; first at $5 an ounce, then at the same price for a small paper containing 2000 seeds, not worth one cent. •j- " Before sowing," says Judge Comstock, " the seed ought to be steeped in water about blood warm, for 24 or 36 hours." Now this is definite ; and if the seed be sown immediately after, the above objection will not apply; but we should think 24 hours to be amply sufficient. i According to an actual trial, made this day, 9th February, 1839. THE MULBE3RY TREE. 157 nearly out of every three to vegetate. On this sub- ject, Count de Hazzi, says: " From 9,600 to 10,000 seeds weigh about one ounce of our Bavarian weight, and 320,000, or at least 300,000 seeds may on the average be considered to the pound." Time of sowing. From the first of Apr iU to the beginning of May, or even in favourable situations, should circumstances require it, so late as the begin- ning of June. But it should be remembered, that the earlier the spring sowing, the more strength, firmness and bark the seedling will acquire to resist the attacks of its first winter, which will be the most critical period in the history of the young plant. Autumnal sowing for no species of mulberry can be fully recommended. But if peculiar circumstances should render it desirable when it could not be at- tended to in the previous spring, it may be attempted with partial safety, not later than the first week of August* provided that every facility, by manuring, pulverizing, weeding, and subsequent culture, by covering the young plants with horse manure, straw or refuse hay on the approach of winter, be afforded to the beds intended for its reception. Manner of sowing. The seed may be sown in seed beds or nurseries, as best suits the convenience of the cultivator. When land is no object, it will be best to sow them in the nursery, as it will save the labour of once transplanting. For spring sowing the land should be prepared by ploughing, &c, the pre- ceding fall. Every cultivator knows the fertilizing effects of frost and snow, and consequently ought to avail himself of them at the proper season.! The ground should also be ploughed again, or two or three times if necessary to render it light and friable, in the White mulberry seed has been selling in New England at. various prices for some years past from $4 00 to even $7 50 per lb. * A quantity of seed thus treated in Philadelphia lived through the cold winter of 1S25-6. ■j- Dig or plough the preceding autumn, and leave the ground rough, and exposed to the pulverizing action of frost and thaw all winter. 14 158 THE MULBERRY TREE. spring. Two or three dressings of manure well ploughed in, will be of essential service. The seed may be sown in drills, at sufficient distances asunder to admit of passing between them* for the purpose of weeding and hoeing. Roll the seed in plaster of Paris, or mix with mould, then sow it tolerably thick, as in the sowing of onions or carrots. For a single ounce of seed, a bed fifty feet long and four broad, pre pared by manuring and culture, as already described, will be sufficient. With the rake cover the seed not more than half an inch in depth with rich mould, and immediately press, or lightly tread, or roll down the mould to cause the seed to come into contact with the earth ; and over the whole may be laid some horse manure. Subsequent culture of the seed beds and seedlings. Should the weather be dry, water the seed beds every other evening. The ground must be stirred occasionally, or the soil lightened between the drills, and the beds at all times kept clean of weeds. With barn-yard drain, or soap-suds, continue to water once, in dry weather twice, a week, and in every case either before the rising or after the setting of the sun. It is important to push, by every means, the growth of the young plants sown in spring, in order that the stronger ones, at least, may be trans- planted into nursery beds on the ensuing spring. The watering should not be carried on after August. " I have sown the mulberries in July," says Mr. Cobb, " and they have sprouted, and come on rapidly ; but the frosts of winter, in our climate, (New England,) have been too severe for them. I would recommend to sow the seed in the spring. From a quarter of an acre of ground, the last season, I had over 10,000 plants, produced from seed sown in the spring, in the way above mentioned," (equivalent to 40,000 per acre,) " some of them upwards of a foot in height." * From one to two feet distant. THE MULBERRY TREE. 159 On the near approach of winter, or on the first appearance of what is commonly called black frost, cover the plant beds with long stable manure, leaves, straw, or matting, and confine the covering with twigs of pine or evergreen, until the middle of the ensuing April. Even then, the covering is to be re- moved only with caution, lest the young plants should be exposed too suddenly to sudden returns of frost or bleak winds before a more mature growth and the further advance of spring render them secure. Care must be taken, in covering the plants, not to oppress or smother them. Transplanting does not appear always to take place so early in France as with us ; nevertheless part of their practice seems worthy of our attention. " The plants will soon show themselves, when they must be thinned, if growing too thick, putting them, as near as possible, two or three inches apart. After having let them come to the size of a goose quill, it will be necessary, for at least three years, counting that in which they are sown, to tend them during the whole time in the following manner. At their first appear- ance they should be thinned : the second year they are to be pruned of all the small branches up to a foot from the ground ; from time to time they must be watered; they should also be weeded with a weeding hook, have frequent tillage ; be retrenched of all the superfluous branches, and all that are un- thrifty, poor, or grubby must be entirely cut off. The best only are to be grafted, after having transplanted them to another place, dug about and tilled anew, and set at the distance of at least three feet from one another."* Sowing by the whole fruit. We cannot omit to mention that Mr. W. H. Vernon of Rhode Island has, through the medium of his translation, published at Boston in 182S, of M. de la Brousse's Treatise on the Cultivation of the Mulberry Tree, and on the * Morin. 160 THE MULBERRY TREE. raising of Silk Worms, favoured us with the follow- ing account of the French mode of sowing by the whole fruit, or berry, instead of by the dried seed. " On two acres of land, or on any other quantity, at the will of the proprietor, beds must be made four feet ivide, levelled and smoothed with the rake. On these beds must be traced by a line eight small fur- rows lengthwise, two inches wide, and very little more than half an inch deep, and at the distance of six inches from one furroiv to another. At this moment it is necessary to be provided with mulber- ries, (i. e. the fruit,) from the white mulberry tree or else from the Spanish, which are the two most proper kinds for this purpose ; they must then be dropped in the furrows, at the distance of tivelve inches from each other, must be covered from the sides of the furrows, and the beds carefully levelled with a short toothed rake." " There are two seasons for making nurseries, the spring, and the time of the maturity of the fruit. Those who choose to sow the seed of the mulberry in the month of April, must consequently use the dried seed gathered nine months before, and less apt to sprout. But those who soio the fruit at its matu- rity, enveloped with all its moisture, (or pulp,) which seems intended for its nourishment, and to give it, if we may use the expression, its first milk, have gene- rally the pleasure of seeing it put forth with vigour. Besides the heat of the season, provided the proprietor use the precaution to water the plants, will necessarily cause their rapid growth." Sowing broad-cast. This method is extensively and usefully practised in China ; and has also been tried with success and profit in New England. Though culturists generally prefer the crops of stand- ard trees or hedges, and the recent introduction of the multicaulis may render this process less necessary, yet occasions may exist wherein for special purposes it may be expedient. On ground previously prepared sow the seed, broad- THE MULBERRY TREE. 161 cast, every spring; and the next year, when the young plants are covered with foliage, they may be mowed in the same manner that farmers mow small shrubs, and given to the worms. These mowings may be repeated until the stock becomes exhausted, when the land must be seeded again. During one season the same seedlings will bear to be mown thrice, and on different portions of the ground, the mowing may be daily continued according to the demand for the crop, except after very dry weather. The advantages of this method are, 1. The leaves are gathered with little expense or labour. 2. The same area of ground will produce more foliage. 3. The making of silk may thus be commenced on the first year. 4. Tenants, as well as owners, from year to year, can secure a yearly crop of silk ; and the quantity can be increased or diminished as occa- sion requires. Transplanting. On this subject, authors do not precisely agree, and are generally wanting in that method which will be found necessary in this place. For the sake of distinction, we shall divide this section into what refers — 1. To the seed bed ; 2. To the nur- sery ; 3. To the hedge ; 4. To the dwarf orchard ; 5. To the hedge plantation ; and 6. To the plan- tation for standards. 1. By the seed bed we mean that on which not only the young seedlings* or plants from seeds, are growing, but where they have suffered no transplant- ing, nor other disturbance, except that of being kept clear from weeds, and of the culture, already de- scribed, subsequent to sowing. From the seed bed, according to the time and manner hereafter to be stated, the seedlings are to be transplanted either to the nursery, the hedge, the dwarf orchard, or to the plantation for standards, according to the design and intention of the culturist. * The term seedling will in this work be applied to young trees raised from seed, and not transplanted ; and that for any age not ex- ceeding three years. 14* 162 THE MULBERRY TREE. Seedlings are fit for transplanting when they attain the height of eighteen inches; and generally on the second year, those not removed before, may be trans- planted in the nursery. When the seedlings are taken up it should be with such care as to prevent injury to the roots. After this, it would be an advantage to assort them into classes,* planting those nearly of a size together. But, if they are thrifty, they may remain in the seed bed until planted out into hedges. It is, however, indispensable, when the seedlings are in- tended for standard trees, to remove them to a nur- sery, where they may more rapidly attain a larger growth than they would in the seed bed ; and from thence they should not be removed to be placed out permanently for standards until they are one inch in diameter, and from four to eight feet, according to the French, or from seven to eight feet high, accord- ing to the practice with us. 2. By the nursery we intend ground purposely prepared and reserved for the reception and growth of young plants, into which the young seedlings, at the proper time, are to be transplanted,! and there to remain, at proper distances, during the second period of their existence. Horticulturists recommend a rich soil for the nur- sery ; the ground at least should be previously pre- pared, as for any other crop. In April, or later, if there be a probability of the return of frost, parallel furrows are to be made of sufficient depth, eight feet asunder. In which, as soon as possible after remov- ing from the seed bed, and taking away the ragged roots, as well as shortening the tap root, in order to force out lateral roots, the seedlings must be planted, one foot apart in the rows. Particular attention must be given to preserve all the small branches of the roots from contact as much as possible. The earth is then to be well trodden around the plant. Afterwards * Two classes : Count Hazzi. \ In France, they transplant just after the fall of the leaf. THE MULBERRY TREE. 163 keep the soil open, free from weeds, and water in dry seasons. When the plants in the nursery are sprung, strip off the side buds, and leave none but such as are ne- cessary to form the head of the tree. The buds which are left, should be opposite to one another. If the plants in the nursery do not shoot well the first year, in the month of March following cut them over, about seven inches from the ground 5 this will make them grow rapidly. They should also be watered with diluted barn-yard water.* 3. Mulberry hedge. One method of turning into direct profit, and economizing the very ground on which our fences stand, is to turn them into mulberry hedges. "The white mulberry," says Mr. Cobb, " forms an excellent live fence, and when once esta- blished, is probably the most permanent of any other. Cattle must not be allowed free access to the hedge while young, as they would destroy it altogether; but after it has become a good fence, they may approach it with advantage. The more it is broken and lace- rated by cattle, the more impenetrable it will become; as for every branch broken, a half dozen shoots will immediately start out, till the bush forms a perfect bramble." This mode is, therefore, recommended as accomplishing three important objects : supplying food for silk worms ; keeping the trees low, that the * Several of the manipulations recommended by Count de Hazzi, on this subject, are worthy of attention. " The roots of a plant of one year being yet delicate, it will be better to put them in the ground with a planting stick, along a line, than with a shovel. They should be planted a little deeper than they were before ; for a mould recently stirred sinks somewhat, and the seedlings would, therefore, be too high above ground. They should be watered as soon as transplanted, in order to bring the earth into closer contact with the root. These beds must be managed, during the summer, like the seed beds, viz. they must be cleared of weeds, and watered in dry weather ; and, before the winter comes on, they must be covered again with dry leaves, several inches in depth, which are to be removed in the spring. Before the seedlings begin to bud, all the wood affected by the frost must be cut off, and the ground ought to be carefully opened and stirred, without injuring the roots of the seedlings." 164 THE MULBERRY TREE. leaves may be gathered from the ground by children; and furnishing a good and almost never ending fence. Take seedlings two years old from the seed bed, and set them, in the spring, at the distance of eighteen inches apart, or, if it is intended to make a thick set hedge, at the distance of one foot. Cut off the tops at four or six inches from the ground, leaving two buds on each plant, opposite each other, and removing all the rest. This causes the stock to have two vigorous branches the first year. The next spring, cut off one of these two branches on the same side, at about twelve inches from the ground, in such a manner that each plant may have a long and a short one. Cut horizontally on the same side, also one after another, all the branches, and fasten them with cords or withes, so that they form lines parallel with the earth, and leave the entire branches untouched. At the commencement of the third year, the plants will have branches to form a hedge. The height, form, &c. of which may be regulated according to the fancy of the cultivator, by cutting the branches accordingly, and feeding the silk worms with them. Some permit trees to grow up from the hedges as standards, at the distance of ten or twelve feet from each other. Thus rails might be fastened to the standards and form alone a good fence, even if, in the course of time, the old materials of the hedge should have been removed, or fallen into decay. 4. The dwarf orchard. The dwarf orchard, either consists of the dwarf or bush mulberry, so com- mon in France ; or of any mulberry species or variety kept in hedge size and cultivation. As to the divarf orchard and mulberry, we are informed by M. de la Brousse, that " the dwarf or bush mulberry has been cultivated for ages in the East Indies. It is there preferred to the tree with a high trunk, because its leaves are more easily gathered, the trimming less difficult and less expensive, and the sap having a shorter distance to rise, produces earlier leaves, and proportionably in greater abundance. THE MULBERRY TREE. 165 The tree with a lofty trunk must have a good soil and ample room, whilst the dwarf trees will grow any- where, on an arid soil and small space. Extending their branches very little, they may be reached on all sides. They also yield an early leaf, and full as wholesome for the silk worm as that of the high tree. The grafted dwarf mulberry of good kinds, such as la rose, putting forth as early as the pourette, is a valuable resource in a warm climate, where silk worms succeed only when they are raised before the more vehement heat sets in. The field selected for an orchard of the dwarf mul- berry ought to be ploughed, and after remaining in the furrow about two months, to be manured and cross-ploughed, and lastly levelled with a harrow. Lines must then be drawn nine feet apart through the whole length of the field, and the young trees must be planted along those lines at the distance of six feet from each other. Frequent tillage, manure every year, and watering in dry seasons are requisite particularly during the first years of their growth. The hoe may be employed, if the plough cannot, since their stems are so short as to send forth branches within a foot of the soil. After the gathering of the leaves in the third year, the dwarf mulberry may be trimmed, but not before. Then it will be necessary to leave four branches at proper distance towards each of the cardinal points, in order that they may form, in the three succeeding years, the head of the tree. At the end of that term, each tree will nearly touch its neighbour, and ought every following year to be pruned immediately after the gathering of the leaves. This trimming, amongst the French, consists in lopping off the branches that have yielded leaves during three years, and reserving the wood of the preceding and of the current years. The height of the trunk of a dwarf being regulated at a foot, and its branches spreading, in the second year, about two feet and a half in all directions, they would 166 THE MULBERRY TREE. be within the reach of the smallest cattle, which, must therefore be carefully excluded. But the dwarf orchard may consist of any of the varieties of the black, red, or white mulberry, pro- vided that they are kept in dwarf cultivation. This method is well adapted for this country, and recom- mended because, 1. The trees thus arrive to a state of productiveness with comparatively little expense of time and labour. 2. Sufficient sun and air are ad- mitted to the trees to render the leaves of the first quality, and to enable them to put forth early. 3. The ground is more suddenly and completely filled and occupied than by planting standards. 4. The trees are more easily managed, and their form controlled. 5. The leaves are more easily gathered, and very readily by women and children.* It has been recommended to have the rows of the dwarf orchard sufficiently distant to allow a horse and cart to pass between, to convey, during the gathering, the leaves with the greater expedition to the cocoon- ery. Mr. Roberts objects to this, because the pressure of the horse and cart on the intervening space might be such as to injure the vegetation of the trees. To avoid which he recommends that the leaves should be gathered into large baskets, and conveyed to a cart conveniently situated ; or rather, that light hand carts propelled by men should be substituted. Over ground duly prepared, as before directed, extend parallel lines, in number sufficient to cover the whole breadth, eight feet asunder. Along these lines, whilst kept straight, at the distance of two feet apart, dig cavities for the reception of the plants, into which cast some good rich mould; where the seedlings of two years old are to be transplanted, and the earth * In India and Persia, the dwarf orchards are not, for the above rea- sons, suffered to rise above eight feet. At Broossa, in Turkey, they are planted within three feet of each other in rows not exceeding ten feet asunder ; and always so pruned that a man standing on the ground may reach the top. THE MULBERRY TREE. 167 immediately pressed around them. The young trees are to be headed to about a foot from the ground, and but two or three branches allowed to grow. These, by pruning, are made to diverge, continually sub-dividing in every direction above the horizontal, so that every part of the tree be duly filled with young wood and leaves. Suffer no vertical shoot to rise in the centre, and curtail all straggling shoots near the top, and all pendulous shoots below. The tree is not to be suffered to spread wider than about two feet, towards the wide or middle space, and the rows must ever be preserved within four and a half feet in width and about ten feet in height. The ground in this way, may be cultivated with other various productions, especially during the first years. Indeed, it has been recommended by some, to give to the ground applied to dwarf orchards or hedge plantations, the benefit of meliorating crops, because the soil, according to this opinion, becomes improved, and the intervening crops defray all expenses in the culture of the mulberry.* * On this subject, we cannot quote a better authority than that of Mr. Goodrich, president of the Hartford County Silk Society. " I ad- vise you to set the rows of mulberry trees at the distance of eight feet. This will allow sufficient space to plough between the rows with a yoke of oxen, or to pass between them, with a one horse wagon, when the trees are considerably grown. " I would transplant the trees when they are one or two years old, and set them in the rows originally at the distance of two feet. They will grow for two or three years within two feet of each other. You will then have more than 2700 trees on an acre. " It is important that the young plants should be hoed and cultivated for a few years, with as much care, as is usually bestowed on carrots or onions ; and, in order to do this with as little expense as possible, po- tatoes, beans, or ruta baga, may be planted between the rows. And when the potatoes are hoed, all the weeds around the mulberry trees must be carefully destroyed. "When the trees are three or four years old, and have begun to spread and fill the ground, I would thin them out, by digging up and trans- planting every other tree. Experience will enable ycm to decide at what time this is proper to be done. " I ought to have added above, that potatoes should be between the rows, well manured ; so that the whole ground may be rich like a garden. 168 THE MULBERRY TREE. There are some who, both for the purpose of stir- ring the soil and keeping it light, between the rows of the young trees, as well as that of defraying, during the first years, the expense of planting and trimming " I observed the last year, that the young mulberry trees grew as well where potatoes were planted between the rows, as where they were omitted. " I would begin to prune the young trees the first year, and continue it every year. Observing to cut off all sprouts which grow near the ground ; no leaves ought to be suffered to grow nearer than two or three feet to the ground. The earlier you begin to prune, the easier it will be to form good trees, and the more rapidly they will grow. " The second year I would begin to make silk of the twigs which are trimmed off. If the trees have been properly cultivated from the begin- ning, I think you may make silk enough the second year, to pay all the expense of making the silk and of cultivating the trees that year. The principal object, however, ought to be, not to make silk the second year, but to cultivate the trees in the most judicious manner. I would, there- fore, advise, that for the two or three first years, the trees should be trimmed, and the leaves gathered, only by persons who know how to trim the trees properly. " When the trees are four or five years old, at which time they will be six or eight feet high, I propose to gather leaves for the worms, by cutting off twigs or small branches, which may be done by a person standing on the ground, still observing to trim the trees in such a man- ner as will best promote their growth. At Mansfield, in this state, the leaves have usually been stripped with the hand from the branches, and the person who gathers them is obliged to climb trees thirty or forty feet high. I propose to save this labour, in a great measure, by trimming and heading down the trees from year to year, so that they shall not grow more than six or eight feet high, and in such a manner that the leaves may always be gathered by a person standing on the ground. In this manner, leaves are gathered in Persia and in the vicinity of Con- stantinople. " The leaves, or rather branches, are to be conveyed to the cocoonery, in one horse wagons, and you will now see the propriety of leaving the rows sufficiently apart for wagons to pass between them. I propose also to gather the leaves or branches in large baskets of a proper shape, adapted to the wagons. I suppose that one man with a wagon, will carry these baskets of leaves to the cocoonery as fast as a number can fill them. " I found the last year, that leaves which grew near the ground were covered with sand or dirt, thrown upon them during showers of rain ; and it was necessary to clean them thoroughly, before they were given to the worms. The labour of doing this was about equal to that of gathering the leaves. This suggested the propriety of trimming up the young plant from the beginning, so that no leaves should grow near the ground. " I omitted to mention that the potatoes which may be grown the first THE MULBERRY TREE. 169 the orchard, before it is directly productive, recom- mend the culture, as will be seen by the subjoined note of intermediate crops. It is, however, proper to state here the opposite opinion. We add that ex- pressed by M. de la Brousse, since it comprises much under the head of subsequent culture. After re- commending as to standard trees, between rows, two dressings of manure, a year, he says, " It is almost an unpardonable sin to sow or plant a piece of land covered with the mulberry of high growth ; but it would be an act still more inexcusable to sow with grain, or with that of any other produce, an orchard of these useful trees newly set. Though the ground be not wholly covered, and but partially shaded with these small trees, yet any grain, roots, or grass, would exhaust the soil, retard the activity of the sap, and obstruct the expansion of every part of the tree. Nemo duobus* is a maxim so true in agriculture, that every proprietor, who has attempted to take at the same time two full crops from the same land, has unwisely exhausted the soil, and finally diminished his income. By manuring well our fields, and re- quiring but one crop at a time, we shall make better harvests, and receive a better rent." Mr. Vernon, the translator, adds, " the whole of this ought to at- tract the notice of the farmers of our own country. For it is the general usage with them, to take a crop of grain, of roots, or of grass from their orchards. This custom, so inconsistent with sound reason, added to their careless treatment of the trees, is the cause of that infertility of which we hear them so often complain ; and it also very materially affects the year, between rows of seedlings, will, as I think, pay for settting out and cultivating the plants that year. When the mulberry trees have grown to a considerable size, and the roots have rilled the ground, it may, perhaps, be advisable to discontinue planting potatoes between the rows, as the roots of the trees would be impaired by ploughing the land." * M. de la Brousse means, of course, " No soil for two crops," whether nemo be classically applicable to any thing inanimate or not. 15 170 THE MULBERRY TREE. quality of the leaves and fruit. At Montreuil, a vil- lage of nearly 20,000 inhabitants, all maintained by the cultivation of fruit for the supply of the city of Paris, a proprietor will not allow even a plant of let- tuce to be grown near fruit trees. Every particle of the surface of the ground is there kept in a friable state to the full extent of the roots of the trees; a due proportion of manure is every year worked into the soil, the art of trimming is there perfectly understood and practised ; and there we never hear the barbarous assertion that the apple tree bears well only once in two or three years." 5. The making of hedge plantations is now also recommended. It consists of a piece of ground, not only fenced in, but its whole interior planted with mulberries in regular rows at certain distances kept in hedge culture. A plan which will be found con- venient during the leaf-gathering season ; especially for children. It was formerly the practice in France to plant out the mulberry as standards, and to suffer them to attain a considerable size, for which gathering lad- ders and additional labour were indispensable. The practice is of late much changed. It was observed, says Rozier, that the young plants in nurseries, put forth their leaves much sooner than the standard trees ; and the necessity of obtaining early food for the young insects obliged the cultivators to provide themselves with a certain number of mulberries in the bush, shrubby, or hedge state. From these first experiments arose the prevalent practice of raising dwarf mulberries extensively, and also of surrounding the fields with mulberry hedges. It is said that the produce of an acre in dwarf mul- berries is much greater than one in large trees, the distance between the plants being so much less, so that the number of dwarfs may be eight times as great. This is admitted to be true at first, though some cultivators deny that it continues to be so after the standard trees have attained their full size. But THE MULBERRY TREE. 171 whether the increase of the foliage of the full grown standards is such over that of eight times the number of dwarfs, as to countervail the additional expense in the gathering of the former, is a question, that expe- riment, fairly conducted, alone can decide. In India, in China, in Turkey, and, at present, in France, hedge or dwarf plantations are most highly approved ; and the system is gaining ground also in Italy and Belgium. M. Bonafoux, the celebrated writer on silk, and the disciple of that "faciZS Prin- ceps" of silk worms, Count Dandolo, and the director of the Royal Gardens of Turin, highly recommends this mode, of cultivating in mulberry prairies, as in China. Dr. Tinelli* says, " this method is now generally adopted in Italy. 1. Because the produce of the little mulberry is much earlier than that of the large one ; for in the third year they begin to gather the leaves from hedge rows, while six years are required before we can strip the large trees. 2. Because the low trees, being more immediately affected by the warmth of the soil, begin to put forth their leaves fifteen days earlier than the larger ones, which is certainly a great advantage. 3. The care of low trees and the gathering of the leaves are left to children, which is a considerable saving of expense. The trees of low size, planted in hedge rows, occupy the least possible space, while at the same time they supply a crop as perfect as those of a greater height, and their leaves, extremely agreeable to the worms, furnish a silk of the first quality." Of hedge plantations, there are two plans. The first plan we have thus well described by Seignor Tinelli : " For the purpose of making plantations of this kind, young trees of orie year's growth are used. The hedges are planted in lines, extending the whole length of the field, and the lines (or rows) separated from each other by a space of six feet.f Each tree * Doctor of Civil Law of the University of Pavia. f " Eight feet." Silk Oil. vol. ii. p. 181, col. 1, giving 2000 trees to the acre. 172 THE MULBERRY TREE. is planted at the distance of three feet from the next in the same row. So that in the space of an acre, or 43,560 square feet, ice shall have 2420 of these trees. They will yield, in their third year, about 2 lbs. of leaves each; (or 4840 lbs. for the acre;) and this quantity will be doubled annually, till the eighth year, provided they are cultivated, attended to, and managed as required." The above statement of Seignor Tinelli leads to the following statistical consequence; the trees on one acre for the 3d year yield. . . . 4,840 lbs. of leaves. 4th year yield. . . . 9,680 lbs. of leaves. 5th year yield. . . . 19,360 lbs. of leaves. 6th year yield 38,720 lbs. of leaves. 7th year yield. . . . 77,440 lbs. of leaves. 8th year yield. . . .154,880 lbs. of leaves ! Which in this case, on the eighth year, would be equal to* 1548 lbs. of silk, worth $7740.t Although the young trees when planted, are fur- nished with very small roots, yet it is necessary to dig the trench made to receive them of considerable depth. It is usual to make it one foot and a half deep, and of the same breadth. When the little trees * 100 lbs. of leaves of the white mulberry are reckoned to be equal to one pound of raw silk, now worth at least five dollars. j- The above statement of Dr. Tinelli we have given, merely to show how extravagantly great men — men who are looked up to as great au- thority, will wander into the regions of fancy when they are supposed to be furnishing facts. It must be obvious to all that the quotation above, and the subsequent statement legitimately drawn from it, are erroneous. But much of what is written on this subject, is not any thing more accurate ; and if we advert to the widely divergent state- ments made by authors in our own country, upon the culture and pro- duce of the mulberry tree, we need not be surprised that such things come from abroad. One tells us, that the mulberry tree should be planted on high, another on low, ground ; one on a south, another on a north exposure ; this one on stony, gravelly soil, that on sandy loam ; the next on any soil that will produce vegetation, the opposite excludes us from almost any soil that can be procured. These unsettled and uncertain opinions remind us of the Scripture phrase, " If the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself for the battle?" In these pages we shall present a better view of these subjects, with more certain data. THE MULBERRY TREE. 173 are set in the ground, the stems are cut so as to leave only three eyes above the ground. The second plan of the hedge plantation, and also its cultivation, is best described by Mr. Roberts. " At two years old, the plants may be planted out into hedges, at eighteen inches apart, in rows eight feet asunder. The ground should be prepared as before directed, and some good rich mould put into the holes, to be afterwards pressed around the plants. Take care that the two lowest buds be in the direction of the (gardening) line ; which should be drawn straight. The plant is to be cut down to these two buds, about half a foot from the ground. By the ensuing spring these buds will have become two beautiful branches, when one of them is to be pruned down to one foot, and always on one side of the plant. The branches on the opposite side to be left uncut, but to be bent in the direction of the hedge towards the lopped branches, and fastened to them with willow withs so as to form an arch. The third spring the plants will have branches to form a hedge, when they must be cut about two feet from the ground, leaving the branches below that point entire. When plants die, replace them by layers from an adjoining one, as the introduction of new plants hardly ever succeeds. The hedges should never be permitted to grow higher than six feet, so as to keep them within a convenient height for gathering the leaves. After the leaves have been gathered, they should be pruned, and particularly of such branches as may have been injured or killed. AH dead branches, also, thus found in the beginning of April, must be pruned from the living wood, with sharp hedge shears, and these primings should be so regulated as to give a proper form to the hedge." The planting of morus alba in the hedge form, will be found to be the most advantageous. The same quan- tity of land will thus produce at least eighty per cent, more leaves, than from standard trees ; the labour of gathering leaves is full one half less, and the vegeta- 15* 174 THE MULBERRY TREE. tion is much quicker. These certainly are consider- ations worthy of attention. A few standard trees, or & plantation of standards, should be kept on every estate, and particularly where situated in the interior, for the purpose of keeping up regular supplies of seed, and of making that of leaves doubly secure. 6. Plantation for standards is a piece of ground, on which, at proper distances, mulberry trees, designed to arrive at, or that have attained to, full growth, are planted. The distances generally recommended for this pur- pose are tiventy feet between the rows, and twenty feet asunder, i. e. twenty feet every ivay. But here the quincunx order would probably be an improve- ment. That is, the rows twenty feet asunder as be- fore, and the trees in each row, twenty feet distant from each other, but each tree of every alternate row placed opposite the centre or middle point of the nearest two trees of the opposite row ; so that each tree of one row forms an isosceles triangle with the two nearest trees of the next row. An advantage is thus gained in every case, where between two op- posite trees only twenty feet would intervene, of two feet and one-third, both for the extension of branches, and the freer admission of both sun and air. Let then this piece of ground intended for such a plantation be first described into lines or parallel rows, twenty feet asunder, on each of which rows dig cavities twenty feet, also between one and the other on the same row. But let the first cavity on the second row be dug precisely opposite to the centre point between the nearest two on the opposite row ; and thus continue for every other cavity and every other row ; and we shall then have a plantation of the quincunx order. This quincuncial order derives its name from the numeral V, which is called the single quincunx; and the numeral X, which was termed the double quincunx. Of all arrangements, the quin- cunx order combines the most advantages. More trees may thus be set at any distance apart on the THE MULBERRY TREE, 175 same area than in any other mode. Each tree will have the same proximity to its neighbours on the same row, but all will enjoy superior facilities for the admission of air, heat, and light. The land where the trees are to be set, will be much better for the purpose, if previously ploughed, harrowed, and manured on the preceding autumn. It will be proper to transplant only handsome, well- selected subjects, and which are not getting too old in the nursery, crooked, knotty, or mean looking. It would be desirable to ascertain the position of the plant when in the nursery in reference to the south, which may be easily discovered, even when sent from a distance, by the magnitude and number of its roots, which are generally larger and more numerous on the south side of the tree, as well as by the size and distance of the rings which form at the forks of the branches. Directed by these signs the tree may have the same side turned towards the south, which it had before its removal, by turning in that direction the largest roots and circles. The transplanting may take place either in spring, as soon as the frost is out of the ground, or in autumn at the fall of the leaf. Not a few prefer the former season. Mr. Gideon Smith of Baltimore, whose judg- ment unquestionably ranks high, gives the preference to the latter, in order to let " the small fibrous roots which convey nourishment to the tree, have time to prepare for their functions by the vegetating season of the next spring."* When the plants are grown to the size of onet inch * From an authority so respectable as Mr. Smith, however, we must beg leave to dissent. In the south where there is comparatively no winter, or at least a mild one, his system will answer very well, perhaps be the better plan ; but in the eastern and middle states, where the win- ters are severe, the method of fall planting, recommended above, would be exceedingly questionable. The gain would not be so great as to put to hazard so great a stake where the seasons are so rigid, and the spring planting, in this climate, is, we think, greatly to be preferred. •j- The French practice directs, six inches in circumference at the 176 THE MULBERRY TREE. in diameter, and from seven to eight feet high, they are fit to be planted out into the field where they are finally to remain. Let them be dug up without injury to the roots, and, whenever practicable, transplant immediately, or soon as possible, after removal from the ground, without cutting off any thing.* When- ever the planting cannot be immediately effected, the roots must be surrounded with straw wrapped around them. Let each cavity for the reception of the trees, at the distances already stated, be made eighteen inches deep, and Jive feet in diameter and its lower part covered with a few inches of fresh mould. The young tree is placed in its proper range, ascertained by a stake fixed at each extremity of the line, and it is to be held there till its roots are covered with friable and well manured earth free from stones, which must then be well trodden down, and watered if necessary.t A small furrow left round the stem to retain the rain is very proper. Leave all the buds which the young trees have pushed out on the top, till the following spring; when none are to be left, but three or four branches to form the head of the tree. These should be so left as to form a circle round the stem. That the interior of the tree may be kept open, all buds as they appear on its body should be pinched off for a few years. The head of the tree also, for several years, should be thinned out, cutting off such branches as cross bottom of the trunk, and from six to nine feet in height. Others say, the plant ought not to be more than three years old when taken from a rich soil, or four years old, if removed from poor land. * Except what is bruised or broken just above the defect. Yet some say the roots should be trimmed. j- The practice in France, with some, is, in order to give immediate activity to the sap, as well as to make the earth on all sides closely ad- here to the roots, to pour six or eight gallons of water into the cavity, which is then filled with earth to the surface. But the season, wet or dry, and the proprietor's experience and discretion will vary this accord- ing to circumstances. THE MULBERRY TREE. 177 others, or take the lead of the rest : equality in growth and beauty in appearance will be thus preserved. Every spring, the young trees should be dressed two or three feet around the trunk ; and stakes also should be placed by each, and fastened to it at the time of planting, to prevent its position being altered by strong winds. When the trees shall have nearly attained their growth, two top dressings of manure a year will pre- serve them in an improved condition. The first may be given in the month of March, or the time of the first rising of the sap ; when after hoeing, they ought to be treated with a proper quantity of manure. The second tillage must be given immediately after gather- ing the leaves, in order to promote the August growth, on which the produce of the following year so much depends. Grafting and budding are methods of culture long practised, especially in Europe, and supposed to improve the several species and varieties of the mul- berry. The only reasons assigned by a recent writer to warrant the neglect here of these methods, is be- cause with us, land is cheap and labour high. More weighty and decisive reasons, however, than these exist; and we shall find them most strongly expressed by authors, who are themselves natives of the coun- tries where these methods have been the longest tried, and through the current of imitative custom, not in- vestigation, have been the most popular. Count Dandolo says, " fourteen pounds and a half of wild* mulberry leaves will produce one and a half pounds of cocoons; whilst it requires twenty pounds and three- fourths of the leaves of the grafted mulberry to yield the same quantity." Again, " Seven and a half pounds of cocoons proceeding from worms fed on the leaves of the wild mulberry, give about fourteen ounces of exceedingly fine silk; whilst the same * I. e. not grafted. 178 THE MULBERRY TREE. weight of silk worms fed with the leaves of the grafted mulberry only yields eleven or twelve ounces of silk : that the silk worms fed on the wild leaves are always brisker, and have better appetites." M. Morin informs us, that " the mulberry trees not grafted, last for ages,* whilst the grafted after twen- ty-five years fall into decay." No other additional reason needs be assigned for the entire abolition, in this country at least, of grafting, budding, and in- oculating, of such vivacious and even indigenous trees as mulberries, than that the superiority of the multicaulis, for which no such process is necessary, is now so far decided, as to render attention to the engrafted and artificial varieties, so far quite unne- cessary, that a page or pages occupied with the de- tail of these tedious and laboured manipulations, would be at once a misapplication both of our limits and of the reader's time and attention. Pruning. Trees left to themselves are liable to assume forms as unsuitable to the taste of the horti- culturist, as they are inconvenient to those engaged in the gathering of their leaves. June is the best season for pruning, when the young twigs that are taken off may be, with advantage, given to the worms. But after what has been already said on this subject, it is -here only necessary to add, that the imperfections in the form and growth of trees, may easily be remedied by a judicious cultivator, at least once every two or three years. Suckers. Trees may also be obtained from suck- ers. These, each with some roots attached to them, may be separated from the tree early in the spring, planted in the nursery or orchard, two feet apart, where they may remain until their size intimates the propriety of transplanting. They must be treated as * The black mulberry tree adjoining Greenwich Park, planted in the reign of James the L, now covers a circumference of 150 feet, and yields during the season eighty quarts per day of the finest mulberries in England. THE MULBERRY TREE. 179 seedlings or cuttings ; watered in dry weather and kept clear of weeds. Though the white mulberry admits of this variety in its mode of propagation, yet no method, as yet, has been found preferable to that of reproducing it from its own seed or fruit. The modes of reproduction from cuttings and layers, alike applicable to both the species and varieties of the mulberry, are so particularly suitable to the hybrids, and especially to the multicaulis, that we defer what is necessary to observe on these subjects to the next chapter. In the complete silk establishment, the nursery, orchard, and plantation, will require their instru- ments ; as well as the cocoonery its furniture and utensils ; and the manufacture, its machinery. In the former we should be supplied with the weeding hook, pruning chisels, and shears adapted to different parts of this work, and suited to different altitudes. For the plantation for full grown standards there should not be omitted a pair of pruning shears at- tached by one of the handles to a ten foot pole, which whilst it is held in one hand, is worked by means of a cord passing through a pulley, and attached to the other handle by the other hand. By this means twigs and branches, though at the height of seventeen or eighteen feet are taken off with ease, and that so smoothly as neither to lacerate the bark nor injure the appearance of the tree. Hoes also will be neces- sary, particularly one adapted to the mulberry orchard culture and described by Messrs. Cheney in the early numbers of the Silk Grower. In very dry seasons, the proximity of a pond, or one in the midst of the plantation, with a forcing pump and hose to send the water to every part, will be of great advantage. On the following cut will be found a representation of the M. alba, M. tartarica, and M. nigra. The M. alba on the right, the M. tartarica in the centre, and the M. nigra on the left. They exhibit the leaves and fruit drawn from nature. It has not been thought necessary to give a representation of the other species 180 THE MULBERRY TREE. under this head, as they are different only in size and in few peculiarities of the leaves which have been previously described. CHAPTER III. THE MORUS MULTICAULIS. It is now universally known amongst all expe- rienced culturists, that the morus multicaulis is a hybrid ; and as the most judicious and discerning amongst them think, that it is a variety produced from the morus alba and morus nigra ; and there- fore whilst it yields silk having all the delicacy of the proceed of the former, combines the strength, with- out the comparative coarseness of that of the latter ; and consequently is in itself the complete " utili duke" of the mulberry tribe. It is to the national- stirring industry, and wealth-giving properties of this tree, that the disciples of Confucius attribute the prosperity and solidity of an empire that knows no parallel on the face of this earth. It came here recently as a stranger, and had its" own character to substantiate ; but with it, as with every thing of intrinsic excellence, this was soon and easily effected. In its favour, the verdict of the well known culturist, THE MORUS MULTICAULIS. 181 Gideon B. Smith, of Baltimore, has been quoted. "Whoever," says he, "is desirous of entering into the silk culture, must now abandon every idea of culti- vating any other kind than this ; as from its superior fitness, in every respect, to the feeding of the worms, it would be impossible that any one growing any other could compete with those who fed with it. That as there is no offal from coarse fibres, fully one third of the labour of gathering will be saved. That the leaves of the multicaulis yield a finer silk, more delicate in texture, and brilliant in gloss than any other kind." But now, independently of all private opinion, however eminent, by experiment and matter of fact, a thousand times repeated, whether they refer to the possibility of its acclimation in our Chi- nese-parallel climes, its fitness for the worms, the immense saving of labour which it affords, or to the superior quality of its produce, its fame is known and acknowledged, without a dissentient voice, from Maine to Louisiana, and from the Atlantic to the Western shores of the Mississippi. As an object of public attention, it is now one of such intense interest, that inverted must be the tele- scope of the man that has not the prescience to discern that a new and a great era is now about to open in this country. What will be the ultimate benefits, it is now impossible to calculate. If the first advantage accrue to an individual, it extends to his neighbour and thence to a third, and thus on in the great catena of society, from link to link, till the individual blesses the nation, and by reciprocity the nation the indivi- dual, until national prosperity and individual con- tentment merge party and comparatively petty dif- ferences into an equanimity, that may leave China herself dispossessed of the singularity, in this respect, of which she at present boasts. As such it would be almost unpardonable, in a work of this nature, not to give, even as a tribute of gratitude, the history of a tree, to which we are all likely to become so much indebted. 16 182 THE MORUS MULTICAULIS. The first complete history and account of this plant appeared in the " Annales d'Horticulture," and the " Annales Royal Horticule de Fromont ;" and were afterwards collected and inserted by the Hon. H. Dearborn in the "New England Farmer" of 1830 and 1831. From which it appears that the honour of the discovery of this plant, and its intro- duction to Europe, to Africa, and to America, is due to M. S. Perrottet, agricultural botanist and traveller of the marine and colonies of France. This distin- guished botanist was sent out by the government of France on a voyage of research to the seas of Asia, a national ship having been provided especially for his use. After an absence of nearly three years he returned to Havre in 1821. He brought with him eighty-four boxes of various dimensions, containing one hundred and fifty-eight species of living plants, of at least eight feet in height, to the quantity of five hundred and thirty-four individuals. All these productions had been procured on the coasts of Asia, or gathered in the lands of Cayenne. From the commencement of the present century there had never been so vast an importation into France, or one so extensive in number, and at the same time each so remarkable for rare genera, species and va- rieties. In this immense collection was the morus multicaulis, thus called by Perrottet for the first time, and ascertained by him to be the real Chinese mulberry ; or as sometimes improperly called the morus alba sinensis. It was in descending the river which traverses the city of Manilla, the capital of the Philippine islands, and on its banks, and in the garden of a Chinese cultivator, that M. Perrottet saw, for the first time, the multicaulis. It was there that he first found it growing with a vast variety of other precious plants, which had there been collected from India, from Ceylon, from Sumatra and from China. The multicaulis appears from the statements of M. Perrottet to have originated in the elevated regions THE MORUS MULTICAULIS. 183 of China, and from thence to have been disseminated over all the plains near the sea shore. It was intro- duced into Manilla, and into all the islands in the Asiatic Archipelago, from Canton. The morus multicaulis has had already many- names assigned to it. It has been called morus ma- nilla, from Manilla, where first discovered, which is the capital of the Philippine Islands, hence also its second name morus philippina ; from the hooded convex, or bowled form of the leaves, it has been also termed the morus cucullata ; from the name of its first European discoverer the Perrottet mulberry ; but Perrottet himself called it the multicaulis, many stalked, or mulberry with many stems ; and by way of eminence the Chinese mulberry. To the name morus nigra sinensis there is no objection except that in it there is no word to express that it is a mere hybrid or variety ; but to the name morus alba si- nensis, which we find has been ascribed to it, we do object, since its fruit is black and not white. Many names for the same thing are generally productive of confusion. This has been verified ; since there are not wanting several who, from these diverse names, have supposed the existence of so many different hybrids, or even of so many distinct species. Had the just conviction of M. Poiteau been originally adopted, who observed that " public gratitude and justice require that the name of the zealous traveller should be affixed to the valuable plant, which has given him celebrity, and he has given to Europe, to Africa, and to America," the ambiguity would have been avoided in a way whose propriety none would have questioned. From Manilla, the multicaulis was first introduced by M. Perrottet to the Isle of Bourbon, and from thence into Cayenne, and afterwards to France, where, at first, its culture was confined to the Royal Gardens. At a later period, it was sent from Cayenne to Martinique, and from France to Guadaloupe, and also to Senegal. The numerous plants now dissemi- 184 THE MORUS MULTICAULIS. nated through the diverse climes of Europe, Africa and America, are all the proceed of the two indi- vidual plants brought by M. Perrottet from Manilla. M. Poiteau, M. Eyries of Havre, and Chevalier Bodin of Paris, have informed us that this plant has braved all the winters since its introduction, and prospered in all climates in France. M. Bonafoux, the director of the Royal Gardens at Turin, and the celebrated writer on silk, has also fully attested its decided superiority in Italy, where he has found that, by close planting and low pruning, whole fields may be suddenly covered with a mass of the most luxu- riant foliage. M. Dupont of Chiron, near Chamberry in France, also found that, as the silk worms fed on this mulberry make less waste of litter and of food, so the chances of disease are diminished from this cause, and they finish their labours in less time, producing silk of a more brilliant lustre. He also found that the saving of labour, in gathering the food, is so great that ten quintals of the leaves of the multicaulis are gathered in the same time which is requisite to gather two quintals of the leaves of the common white mulberry. By the most perfect rules of prun- ing, he makes this mulberry assume the form of a quenouille, or vast distaff, fifteen feet high : the form to be always preserved. Dr. Deslongchamps, in his experiments at Paris, had found that the cocoons produced by the worms fed exclusively on the Chinese mulberry, were even heavier than other cocoons. And in the report, on this shrub, to the Academy of Dijon by M. Tilloy, in 1834, we learn that it appeared by accurate experi- ments that the cocoons produced from this variety being rather heavier, the fibre was consequently stronger ; and it was remarked in winding 384 cocoons that not a thread was broken. Near Montgeron in the north of France, the French have established an experimental silk farm under the direction of M. Camille Beauvais. And the extraor- dinary experiments, which are there in progress, were THE MORFS MULTICATJLIS. 185 published in 1835. Already had he succeeded in producing thirteen pounds of silk from the same number of silk worms, which in France usually pro- duced but five pounds, in Italy seven pounds and a half, and in India twenty pounds. And even in his climate, M. Beauvais expects soon to be able to pro- duce, with the aid of the multicaulis, an equal num- ber of pounds from the same quantity of silk worms as the old practitioners of 4000 years. In Tuscany, so fine is their climate, that two suc- cessive crops of silk are annually produced from the common mulberry ; and Dr. Deslongchamps has proved that, by the aid of the Chinese mulberry, two crops of silk may be annually produced even in the north of France. And, in this country, the cele- brated prediction of Dr. Pascalis that, " after the discovery of this plant, a doubt no longer existed that two crops of silk may be produced in a single season" has been repeatedly verified. Every thing relative to the history of the multi- caulis in this country that is necessary on our part to give, is combined with other important matter in the following extract from the correspondence of one on whose testimony and opinion we can rely. " I was the first person south of New York, who had the morus multicaulis. It was sent to me by Wm. Prince and Sons, in 1S28,* in a collection of seven other va- rieties of mulberry. It was not then known by the present name, but it was called the Philippine mul- berry. About a year after I received it, accounts arrived from France of the receipt there of the multicaulis, and of its great value for feeding silk worms. On examining my trees, I at once found that my Philippine mulberry was the multicaulis, and immediately commenced feeding my silk worms with it, and from experiment ascertained the truth of all * From this we may suppose that Messrs. Prince & Sons possessed the first multicaulis tree in North America; probably in 1827. Mr. Kenrick dates the time of its first introduction into New England in 1831. 16* 186 THE MORUS MULTICAULIS. the French had said about it. From that time to this, I have continued to urge upon all, the propriety of cultivating this in preference to the white mul- berry. Its advantages are, 1. It is full as hardy as the white : 2. One pound of its leaves contain as much nutritive matter as a pound and a half of the white: 3. The silk made from it is of a finer tex- ture and more lustrous : 4. Its leaves are so large that a pound can be gathered at half the expense and trouble that a pound of white mulberry leaves require : 5. It can be cultivated with infinitely more despatch than any other kind. These are all great advantages. In relation to the hardiness of the multicaulis, I observe that I have cultivated it for seven years ; never protected it in any manner what- ever, and never lost a tree. I have seen the young unripened wood of all varieties destroyed by the winter, and was very early led to adopt measures to guard against it, and now I never lose a bud."* The morus multicaulis grows vigorous, upright, and beautiful ; the leaves are large, soft, and tender, pe- tiolate, cordate, acuminate, serrated towards the sum- mit, marked with nerves, always entire ; their upper surface is convex, bowled or curved ; of a deep and beautifully shining green. The form and dimensions of the leaf vary in different soils. In a dry and arid soil, their size is less, their form elliptical and without the heart-shaped indentation at the base; their breadth in this case being six inches, and their length eight ; but in a light, rich and friable soil, the produce of the foliage is most abundant, the leaves large and cordiform; extraordinary specimens having sometimes measured more than a foot in breadth and fifteen inches in length. Each male flower has a calyx of four concave, oval, membranous leaflets, four stamina, with fila- ments accompanied with a tridentate appendage ; * Letter to the Farmer and Guardian from Gideon B. Smith, Esq., of Baltimore, inserted in Fessenden's Silk Manual for February, 1837. THE MORUS MULTICAULIS. 187 anthers sagittate, bilocular. Each female has an ovary, terminated by two divergent styles. The ovary is unilocular, containing a single pendant seed, which is frequently blasted or imperfect. A comparison between the white Italian mulberry and the morus multicaulis, is thus stated in the third volume of the Silk Culturist. The white Italian mulberry requires four years' growth before it can be safely fed from, six years before remunerating profits can be obtained from its foliage, and twenty before it can be said to have attained its full growth. The morus multicaulis tree can be fed from the first season without injury ; the second season it will yield nearly as much foliage as at any subsequent period. It may be multiplied from cut- tings to an almost incalculable extent. Every piece of wood with a single bud, being competent to make a shrub from four to six feet high the first year : whereas the white Italian mulberry requires four years before it can be fed from, and even then to nothing like the extent of the former. The leaves of the morus multicaulis are nine or ten times as large as those of the white Italian mul- berry ; equally as nutritious, and are eaten with more avidity by the worms. They will make silk fully as lustrous and as elastic as those of the white Italian ; and from the great size of the leaves of the former, it reduces the labour of gathering and feeding seven- ty, eighty, or ninety per cent.; but for the sake of accuracy, we will say fifty per cent. An acre in morus multicaulis, two years old, will yield by one half more foliage than the same quanti- ty of ground in the white Italian mulberry, six years old. ; when a leaf of the former is gathered, food is provided for nine or ten worms ; whereas a leaf of the latter only suffices one worm. There is no more trouble in gathering the large leaves of the multicau- lis, than there is in those of the morus alba. The labour of feeding is the same, with this difference, that in feeding with one of its leaves, you accommo- 188 THE MORUS MTTLTICATTLIS. date nine times the number. In the leaf of the multicaulis there are but few stems, and scarcely any that are not eatable by the worm. In that of the moras alba the stems or uneatable fibres, compose fully one-third of its weight, all which is waste and loss. In feeding with the multicaulis, the residuum being but little, there is no vegetable offal remaining to become noxious by fermentation, and hence a greatly reduced quantity of labour is necessary to keep the whole cocoonery in a salutary state. In feeding with the white Italian mulberry, a large amount of stems and coarse fibres are left on the shelves, which, if not speedily removed, ferment and become productive of disease/' This comparative statement, the Messrs. Cheneys, who are regarded in the light of practical men, fully confirm as follows : " It takes jive years, at least, to grow off the white mulberry sufficient to afford foliage to feed many worms. But from the multi- caulis of the first year's growth, we have fed worms in such numbers as to obtain from fifty to one hun- dred pounds of silk from the leaves growing on an acre of land, worth from 250 to 500 dollars/' This, we must remember, refers merely to the amount of silk that may be obtained from the multicaulis, not within five yea? s as would be the case with the white mulberry, but within five months of its being planted ; but we shall hereafter see that the amount of silk to be obtained the second year is double that of the former. " It has another advantage of still greater magnitude. The leaf of the morns multicaulis is eight times larger than that of the white mulberry ; therefore the labour of gathering it is reduced in the same ratio. This is a very weighty consideration, since the picking of the leaves is the great, item of expense in making raw silk.* The weight of leaves * The fact, that in two months after the cuttings of the morus mul- ticaulis is planted, it begins to supply the silk worms, daily increasing as the worms pass through their several stages, so as to meet their wants, THE MORUS MULTICAULIS. 189 which the multicaulis will produce, is a hundred per cent, more than the white mulberry affords, when the trees are of equal age and on the same extent of ground. This is not all. The multicaulis can be propagated more abundantly and cheaper than the morus alba or any other with which we are ac- quainted. That the multicaulis with proper manage- ment will endure the climate of New York and New England, we have abundant evidence. That it will flourish in Pennsylvania and the southern portion of the union is not, now, questionable. At the north the tree must be protected the first winter ; at the south* even this is unnecessary. J? is giving a crop of silk sooner than corn will give its yield planted on the same day, together with the easy facility of collecting the leaves, which, the first year at least, are lower, instead of higher than the smallest person that can be engaged to collect them, is the reason why the citizens of the United States have promptly sought this tree, and resolved to enter into the silk business at any price within their power to command. * The cases of making large profits in a short time, both in the multiplying of this multiplying stem or shoot tree, as well as in the production of silk, the first year, are numerous. Instead of giving numberless examples, which it would be in our power to do, we will give one. " As far as I know I was the first that tried the multicaulis in North Carolina, by procuring one rooted plant about a foot high from Baltimore, four years ago, which cost me a dollar, beside convey- ance. From this one I have since propagated several thousand rooted trees, not to name cuttings. I have sold to the amount of near a thou- sand dollars, (a thousand dollars from one in four years) and have a stock left worth several hundred dollars. My cuttings grew, with few exceptions, to five and six feet the first year, and in good ground to eight or nine feet in a season. My first propagated trees are sixteen or eighteen feet high. It is my purpose to unite in one establishment the vine and silk culture. And I hope thereby not only to profitably em- ploy all the year, widows, and children and the superannuated, or the otherwise disqualified for hard labour, but to clear $500 per annum per acre from the silk, and $1000 per acre from the vine culture. This may appear to some an Eutopean scheme, but not to those who know the profits of the silk business, when properly conducted, nor to those who have witnessed the abundant and never failing yield of the Scup- pernong vines."— Sidney Wilier, Brinkleyville, N. C, Nov. 1837. We have said that we could relate numberless similar examples ; but it would be amusing to mention the case of the man, in this Philadel- phia, two years ago not worth one cent ! but his credit was good; on which he borrowed $100, the whole of which he invested, not in a 190 THE MORUS MULTICAULIS, CHAPTER IV. ON THE CULTURE OF THE MULTICAULIS. It was for some time a question whether this in- valuable shrub could be reproduced from its own seed ; and for a time the dye spun doubtfully. It would be now useless to spend many lines on the subject : it, is decided : the multicaulis is a hybrid, and cannot, from its own seed, in one case out of a thousand reproduce its like. It is true that the plant will produce black berries or fruit, and that but spar- ingly. It is further conceded that one seed out of several hundreds, or even a thousand, may produce the multicaulis ; but all the rest diverge into varieties so numerous as to defy the patience of the most at- tentive phytologist to define them. To save our own limits, we refer to an article, which may be consider- ed as the verdict of a jury of this country on the subject, on page 711 of vol. iv. of the Farmer's Re- gister. We repeat it: the multicaulis is a hybrid. One seed out of many hundreds may produce its own like ; the rest will not. Its reproduction, there- fore, must be either by cuttings or layers. As for grafting, budding or inoculating, absolutely not one of them is worthy of either our attention, or of that of the reader. It is asserted by a late writer that no kind of mul- berry tree under cultivation, can be produced from seed. This is an error, which all experience at once disproves. It is only the hybrid kinds of which this may be said. The white, the black, the red, in short silver mine, but in a tree, which yielded silver more rapidly than could the mine. After paying his debt, he is now worth considerably more than $3000 ' THE MORUS MTJLTICAULIS. 191 all the distinct species, are constantly under cultiva- tion from the seed ; and they have thus, questionless, produced their like, since the creation, as they cer- tainly have since their distinctive properties were first known. The error of the author in question can only be attributed to his utter unacquaintance with the history, genera, species, and varieties of the morus. Such inferences may be easily but rashly drawn, where the writer is unable to distinguish in the order of classifications, according to the established laws of phytology that relate to tribes, order, genera, species, and varieties. Without this knowledge, our expe- rience is of little worth, since we are thus disqualified to mark with precision those distinctive attributes with which every one, that attempts to enlighten another, should be familiar. It is further decided that any land suitable for rais- ing a crop of corn, (some go so far as to say, of only ten bushels to the acre,) will do for cultivating the Chinese mulberry. A dry, warm, sandy loam is quite congenial to its nature. A cold, damp, or heavy soil, will not answer. // ivill thrive tolerably well on poor land, but much better on that which is fer- tile. Sunny exposures, and the declivities of hills, especially those which slope to the south, east, or west, are favourable. If the ground is to be prepared for layers, prepare it, as for corn, and at the same season furrow it into rows three and a half feet asun- der. Then scatter ivell rotted* manure into the fur- rows two inches deep. This mulberry should be cultivated in hedge rows, or not suffered to rise higher than seven or eight feet. But a few years are requi- site to raise considerable fields of them in full vigour, sufficient to supply an immense number of silk worms; and regular plantations can be formed, by planting the trees in rows of eight feet asunder, and at the distance of three feet and a half in the ro vvs ; a space sufficient for the extension of the branches, for sub- * This distinction is somewhat important, since it is even said, that fresh manure is poison to the mulberry. 192 THE MORUS MULTICAULIS. sequent culture, and for the convenience of gathering the leaves. With the multicaulis cultivated on this plan, we are informed by M. Perrottet, that a child is sufficient, so flexible are the stalks, and the leaves so large, to supply with food a large establishment of silk worms. We have taken it for granted that it is generally understood that the several distinct species of mul- berry trees, or kinds capable of reproduction from seed, are best cultivated as we have already described in preceding chapters ; and that all hybrids, or varie- ties* incapable of reproduction from seed, can only be propagated by cuttings or layers. Of these methods, a description here for the multicaulis will suffice for the rest, and even for a species, whenever any should choose to cultivate it, in either of these ways, since in whatever way a hybrid may be propagated any * To comprehend what is meant by a hybrid plant it must be under- stood that among the genera and species of trees there are different sexes. These sexes contain two or more whorls of transformed leaves, of which the outer are called stamens, and the inner pistilla. The stamens have at their apex an organ, called the anther, which contains a powder or the pollen. This pollen when the anther is mature, is emitted, and dispersed, or deposited upon the stigma. The action of the winds may bear it to a distance where other plants may be fecundated by it, as in some trees, the male and female being distinct trees, are thus affected. The pistillum has at its base one or more cells, in which the ovula are placed ; and at its apex one or more secreting surfaces called stigmata. These ovula are the rudiments of the seeds. The fecundating power of the pollen enters or falls on the stigma, and the ovula of the pistillum are vivified, and become seeds. But it is possible, by artificial means, to cause deviations from this law of nature. If the pollen of one species be placed upon the stigma of another species, the ovula will be vivified, and a hybrid plant will be the pro- duct. These hybrids are different from both their parents, but the new species will have the general aspect of the polleniferous parent, but is, notwithstanding, influenced in other respects by the peculiarities of the female parent ; a fact, in procuring new hybrid plants, which should never be forgotten. Plants capable of being hybridized are those in which the sexual or- gans are prominently developed. To produce hybrids, therefore, plants must be selected from different species of the same genus, and should not be confounded with the spurious formations from admixture with the same genus and species. THE MORUS MULTICAULIS. 193 other variety or even a species may ; though on the other hand a hybrid cannot in every way be cul- tivated as a species, or raised from seed. We have, therefore, purposely deferred the whole subject rela- tive to cuttings and layers to this chapter. Cultivation by cuttings and layers is divisible in four methods, of which two refer to cuttings, and two to the method by layers. 1. Cuttings: method 1. By previous forwarding the budding or vegetative process in frames or under glass. Let there be prepared, before the month of March, frames or boxes, of convenient lengths, and sufficient in number to contain the cuttings on hand. Let the depth of the front of these frames or boxes, be about eighteen inches, that of the back two feet ; and width two feet and a half. If these be boxes, having bottoms, they must be perforated, to allow of a constant communication, on account of the draining off or admission of moisture, with the external soil. To these glass frame tops, opening by hinges should be provided. Prepare also a mixture composed of rather more than one half, or nearly two-thirds, of well rotted* stable or other manure, and the rest of a light dry mould, sufficient in quantity to fill the frames, box or boxes, to the depth, of from twelve to fourteen inches. Place these on the ground where they are intended to remain, in a position facing the sun. The trees intended for this use, cut into pieces of two, or two and a half inches, or always of such lengths as to have each at least one bud, which should be near the end.t In the frames or boxes * Some have said fresh manure ; though in this case, they always allow sufficient time for its partial decomposition. It is proper to ob- serve this, since it has been said that all fresh manure is poison to the mulberry. ■j- It has been recommended, previous to planting of the cutting, to take a sharp knife, and to cut a slice oif the lower end of about three- fourths of an inch below the bud, on two sides, somewhat in the shape of the bowl of a pen. The advantage of this, however, appears to be doubtful. 17 194 THE MORUS MULTICATTLIS. containing the mixture already described, about the first of March, stick these cuttings, with the bud always uppermost and turned towards the south, but the whole cutting inclined with its head towards the north, at an angle of about forty-five degrees. Place them in rows about half an inch asunder, and at about the same distance in each row ; or in such wise that the one shall not touch the other. Press the earth around them with the finger and thumb, cover- ing over the bud about the fourth of an inch.* On mild warm days, open the glass tops to admit air ; but on the approach of frost, especially at night, close the glasses, and cover with matting or other protection. Or rather cover with mattings every evening before sunset, and keep them on next day, until the sun has attained considerable power. To prevent the escape of the heat of the bed from the sides, let a few inches of horse manure be placed around them. Two or three times a week, just be- fore putting on the matting for the evening, let the bed be gently watered with water that has been pre- viously exposed for a day or two to the sun. And when the plants come up and begin to put forth leaves, some plaster of Paris should be sprinkled over them. From the first to the middle of May, the plants will be from four to eight inches high : and may then be transplanted to the place where they are intended to grow. For this purpose, on ground previously prepared as already directed, with the plough de- scribe parallel rows three feet asunder ', on each of which let holes, for the reception of the plants, be made one foot apart. With a transplanting trowel, * It has been customary with some to leave the tip of the bud ex- posed ; but subsequent experience has proved the advantage of the method prescribed. A hand machine, with a cutter and lever, has re- cently been prepared, and is for sale at the seed store of Messrs. Lan- dreths in this city, with which thousands can be cut clean off with one stroke each. Its price is moderate, and it is extremely useful and con- venient for the cultivator. THE MORUS MULTICAULIS. 195 if possible soon after a rain, take the plants up care- fully, with as much earth as possible attached to the roots. Insert these in the cavities prepared, the earth drawn around, press about them with the finger and thumb. Water them, for two weeks daily, especially if the weather be dry ; or until the plants give evi- dence of having freely commenced drawing their sus- tenance from the soil. If the whole of this be at- tended to, very general success and with few failures will be the consequence, and the plants will grow, during the same season, from four to six feet, and will ripen their wood so that the ensuing winter will not injure them. The advantages resulting from the process of pre- viously starting the cuttings in hot beds, are several and self-evident. By this means the culturist can insure to his young trees at least four weeks' longer growth in the first season. One bud by this means only is necessary, but in other cases two, which alone is a saving of half the expense in trees. The cer- tainty of success as to each cutting is by this method much greater. Watering the whole when necessary, is by the contracted space they occupy much facili- tated ; and by this forwarding process, the young plants get such a start, that the weeds, which soon after spring up in prodigious numbers, cannot so se- riously injure them. 2. Cuttings : method, 2. By open cultivation without previous budding. It is strongly asserted by some that two buds instead of one are necessary on each cutting whenever planted in open culture. For this let the ground be previously prepared with well rotted barn-yard or other stable manure ; or in the want of it, with a mixture of ashes with fine mould, in the proportion of 150 bushels of the former to four loads of the latter to the acre. Having plenty of this or other suitable compost, manure broadcast, otherwise in the furrow, or even in the dibble, as is sometimes done for corn. After ploughing and har- rowing strike off furrows, north and south, three feet 196 THE MORUS MULTICAULIS. asunder, in which, one foot apart, and at an angle of forty-five degrees, as before, the heads pointed to the north, place about the last week of April the cuttings, one inch under the earth, with the upper bud facing the south. Draw the earth around the cutting so as to cover the bud about one quarter of an inch, and press the earth tightly around it. Water them for a few days, if there be no rain. As the sprouts appear, let the hoe draw some mould carefully round them, so as to give the roots depth of soil for their nutri- ment. Let the weeds be kept down, and the ground in all the above cases be kept frequently turned over, and fresh ; and a good crop of trees may be insured. By the frequent use of the cultivator, all grass and weeds between the rows should be effectually kept down. To keep the plants clean, and the ground well stirred and mellow is highly necessary till the first of August ; after which the ground should not be stirred, and the trees should be left to ripen their wood. Plaster of Paris in the proportion of one bushel to the acre may be strewed over the plants when they are first forming their leaves whilst the dew is on them. Fig. 2. THE MORUS MULTICAULIS. 197 3. Layers : method 3. Layering by the whole tree, without branches. Trees are either layered by the whole tree, or by first taking off the lateral branches, and then layering each separately ; the lat- ter plan is preferable ; since it allows sufficient room for the young shoots to grow. For this purpose let the ground be duly prepared and pulverized by ploughing, harrowing, and if ne- cessary, rolling ; and manure, at least in the drill, with the compost already mentioned or slaked ashes. About the last week of April, run a plough or culti- vator through the land, as if for corn, in parallel lines, three feet asunder ; and let each furrow be three inches deep. One person lays the tree in a horizontal position in this furrow ; the root of one plant being placed at the top of the one preceding it, and proceeds thus to the end of the line. Another follows him with a hoe, and draws the earth over the prostrate plant, covering it with mould to the depth of from one to two inches ; though care should be taken not to bury it too deep. Wherever the furrow is not of depth sufficient to admit of covering the root or thicker part of the tree to that extent, with the hoe deepen the farrow below the root. In cover- ing the root and main stem, lightly press down the earth with the flat part of the hoe, so as to cause the earth to adhere to both. And, in covering, draw into the furrow none but the well pulverized mould, that nothing should impede the ascent of the young leaf- let. A little additional care employed here, will be well repaid in the improvement of the crop. Nothing can be more simple than this process. An additional advantage would be gained by previously steeping, for twenty-four hours, the trees in pure water. The roots and stems being thus all planted, proceed in all respects with the lateral branches in the same manner. 4. Layers : method 4. Layering by sections de- serves the attention of culturists. Cut the tree into pieces of from twelve to fifteen inches ; and having prepared the soil at the same season as already di- 17* 198 THE MORUS MULTICATTLIS. rected, place these sections in the plough trace in such a manner that there will be a piece of the plant alter- nating with a space of equal length intervening be- tween it and the next section. The intention of this is to admit more freely the sun and air between the plants, and also to favour the growth of the offshoots or branches ; for these by the last method will be, from the closeness of the trees, few, compared with the number of buds which otherwise would produce a plant. When the moras multicaulis is planted by layers, a tree does not always proceed from each bud. The buds, it is true, will frequently all put forth, but soon some one will exhibit greater vigour than the rest, and its growth will be rapid ; but the next shoot or shoots will probably dwindle or dry up. The last method of planting layers is said to obviate this diffi- culty, as the several shoots, in their possession of vital power, are more on an equilibrium, and is, therefore, on the whole to be preferred. Of the two methods of preparing and planting cuttings, that of previously budding them is said to be much the better, though some prefer the latter. The last spring, cuttings planted without previously springing them nearly all failed, while layers were successful. But this was attributed to the unusual dryness of the season, and the want of skill among noviciates in the art, who did not understand many of their peculiarities and wants. Substitutes fob the mttebebbt tbee, in the rearing of silk worms, have been long and anxiously sought. It has for some time been an opinion that the mulberry leaf was the only food on which the silk worm would subsist ; but experience has proved otherwise. Among these substitutes, we find the Madura auruntiaca of Nuttal; the scorzonera of Willdenow ; the tragopogon ; and the lactuca sativa. The maclura, or osage orange, it is said, affords a good substitute for the mulberry, and will make excellent cocoons. This is a spreading deciduous tree, and at maturity is from twenty to thirty feet high, with a yellow axillary berry, the size of an orange, but not so succulent, though said to be agreeable when fully ripe. It was originally found THE MORUS MULTICAULIS. 199 on the banks of the little Missouri or Washita river ; also on those of the Red river in Louisiana, and of the Arkansa river in the Arkansa Territory. It is rapidly spreading over the south-west ; and is a valu- able tree for hedges as well as for ornamental variety. It begins to find a place in our nurseries, and will soon be generally known on account of its beauty. The scorzo?tera, or viper grass, from scurzon, Sp. viper, on ac- count of its being considered a certain remedy for the bite of that rep- tile ; an attribute, however, which we much question, as few plants used for food possess such active qualities, unless we may suppose the roots contain medicinal properties not found in the tops, which is sometimes the case ; and even such roots with particular preparation become safely edible. The TRAGOPoooif porrifoliux, or salsafy, is well known in our gardens, as an esculent root, resembling in its habits, carrots, parsnips, &c. That a complete substitute for the mulberry had been found out, was recently announced, and from it, doubtless, the discoverer, from the supposition that it contained both a cheaper and better food for the silk worm, expected fame and wealth. It was ultimately ascertained that this important secret for supplanting the morus tribe, was no other than salsafy ! The secret, however, died in the act of revealment. We hear no more of it. The lactdca sativa, ox garden lettuce has, in several of its species, been long known, as affording leaves on which the silk worms will feed. Cocoons have been made from them, as well as from the leaves of the trees already named. But they have been used either for amusement, experiment, or when other more natural and agreeable pabulum failed. The latter is probably the poorest of the substitutes known. Many others, may, no doubt, be in time discovered ; but it is not probable that any herb or leaf, other than that of the mulberry, will ever be valuable for the silk culture. Though these substitutes have partially succeeded in the production of silk, yet not in a single instance, so far as known, of good quality, and therefore the use of them can by no means be re- commended. Rice flour is said to be used in China for silk; but in this country were it employed for this purpose, it would soon become scarce and dear. In short, no food can be supplied in equal abundance, nor so well adapted to fill the silk-secretors of the caterpillar, as that which has already been considered to be its legitimate and peculiar pro- perty. Other varieties of silk- secreting caterpillars consuming food of a different description may yet be discovered. It is said that in the Bra- zils, a caterpillar is found spinning its cocoons in the woods, from which the natives make silk. But we have no well authenticated accounts either of the worm, or of the tree on which it feeds. There are several other kinds of substitutes, as for example the leaves of the willow, or of the rose tree ,- but the above are the principal now used. In England experiments have been made on an extensive scale to discover substitutes for the mulberry. Among these the succulent buds of blackberries or the young leaves were offered to the worms and eaten greedily by them. The elm, the sweet cowslip, and the primrose were presented with equal success ; but when subsequently the mulberry leaf was offered, all the substitutes were instantly deserted, and their 200 MULBEREY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. preference for the food that nature, not art, ever designed for them was immediately decisive ; nor could they afterwards be induced to taste the leaves which before they had greedily devoured. The leaves of lettuce and spinach were those they would afterwards taste. No flower or leaf of a roseate hue could they be made to approach. These remarks we close with observing that those who seek for sub- stitutes may, it is true, gratify useless curiosity, but will never thereby either benefit the public, or increase the quantity of silk. CHAPTER V. MULBERRY LEAVES : LEAF-SELLING : MULBERRY TREE- RENTING : LEAF-MARKET : STATISTICS. 1. Analysis of the mulberry leaf. All sub- sequent writers appear to be indebted to Count Dan- dolo for information on this point ; but whilst they have added nothing new on the subject, they have deprived us of many remarks of practical conse- quence which may be considered as a comment on the count's important text, the cmalysis of the mul- berry leaf* " There are five different substances in the mul- * A recent author on the " Mulberry and Silk Worm," detailing his experience, commences by decrying all published works as translations of foreign authors or compilations not adapted to our country. But having acquitted himself of this difficulty in his path, he at once takes up Count Dandolo and other authorities, and having darkened what they made clear, and confused what they had simplified — having minced the most important intelligence, and left those subjects doubtful where others had rendered them lucid and well defined, he suddenly leaves his readers in the mists of conjecture, without a new idea, an improvement, or any experience of which it was not in the power of every one who chose to take up any other book but his own to obtain more correct and definite intelligence. Having left his subject in " confusion worse confounded," he performs one redeeming act, by fixing upon it a price so outrageously enormous, that it is not likely to do immense injury by its circulation. To foreign authors, and to the good sense of our able and industrious fellow-citizens in correcting and improving them, we owe every thing we know on the silk culture. MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. 201 berry; 1. The solid or fibrous substance. 2. The colouring matter. 3. Water. 4. The saccharine substance. 5. And the resinous substance. " The fibrous substance, the colouring matter, and the water, excepting that which composes the body of the silk worm, cannot be said to be nutritive to that insect. The saccharine matter is that which nourishes the insect, that enlarges it, and forms its animal substance. The resinous substance is that which, separating itself gradually from the leaf, and attracted by the animal organization, accumulates, clears itself, and insensibly fills the two reservoirs, or silk vessels, which form the integral parts of the silk worm. According to the different proportions of the elements which compose the leaf, it follows that cases may occur, in which a greater iveight of leaf may yield less that is useful to the silk worm. " Thus the leaf of the black mulberry, hard, harsh and tough, produces abundant silk, the thread of which is very strong, but coarse. The white mulberry leaf of the tree planted in high lands, ex- posed to cold dry winds, and in light soil, produces a large quantity of strong silk, of the purest and finest quality. The leaf of the same tree, planted in damp situations, in low grounds, or in a stiff soil, produces less silk, and of a quality less pure and fine. The less nutritive substance the leaf contains, the more leaves must the silk worm consume to com- plete its development. The result must, therefore, be, that the silk worm which consumes a large quan- tity of leaves that are not nutritive, must be more fatigued, and more liable to disease, than the insect that eats a smaller proportion of more nutritive leaves. The same may be said of those leaves which, containing a sufficiency of nutritive matter, contain little resinous substance ; in this case the insects would thrive and grow, but probably would not produce either a thick or strong cocoon proportion- ate to the weight of the worm." The count, however, does not intend us to under- 202 MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. stand this without some limitation, as appears from the following remark: "the quality of the silk does not solely depend on the food, but also on the degree of temperature in which the silk worm has been reared." And soon after, he expresses himself thus, "notwithstanding all this, my experiments prove, that all things balanced, the qualities of the soil pro- duce but a very slight difference on the quality of the leaf : that which will appear most evident is, that the principal influential cause of the fineness of the silk is the degree of temperature in which the silk worm is reared." To which we shall take the liber- ty to add, with the risk of little contradiction on the subject, lastly, to the care with which the little spin- ners are treated throughout the whole of their inte- resting economy.* 2. State of leaves proper for feeding. Not- withstanding all silk-growers that have favoured us with the result of their experience, have recommend- ed the feeding with dry leaves, or leaves free from both dew and rain, two articles appeared in the Sep- tember number of the Silk Culturist of 1837 affirming * " The following is the result of my experiments on the leaves of the grafted mulberry tree. " 1. One hundred ounces of leaves nearly ripe, picked on the sarse day from a Tuscany mulberry tree, produced thirty ounces (dry leaves) after dessication. " 2. One hundred ounces of the leaves of the giazzola produced thirty- one ounces and a half. " 3. One hundred ounces of the double-leaved mulberry produced thirty-six ounces. " 4. There are few ripe leaves of different trees which contain so little liquid as those of the mulberry when ripe ; while on the contrary, the young leaf of this tree contains much liquid. " 5. One hundred ounces of the young leaves, such as are given to the silk worm in the first age, weigh less than twenty-one ounces when dried ; thus it is evident, they contain almost four-fifths of water. This abundance of liquid accounts for the very great evaporation that takes place in the body of the young silk worm, in the first and second age." Id. It is however a fact that some writers among us recommend leaves partially wilted and dry, while others affirm that they may be washed, the water wrung out, and then given to the worms. MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. 203 that leaves wet with either were innoxious to the insect, and not prejudicial to the cocoon. Nothing, however, can be more contrary to the advice general- ly given us on this subject. We need not go far to find precepts of this nature in Count Dandolo ; they run throughout his whole volume, and form a promi- nent article of his creed. One is now immediately before us, " These insects would be injured by eating leaves moist with either dew or rain " p. 33. u The stripping of the leaves should not be begun before the disappearance of the dew, and ought to be con- cluded before the setting of the sun — it is all-impor- tant to have always a supply of dry leaves." Count de Hazzi, p. 65 and 67. " The preservation of the health of silk ivorms, depends essentially on the leaves being perfectly dry ivhen given to them. Wet leaves invariably produce a diarrhoea." Ma- nual published by order of Congress 1828, p. 122. It would be needless to multiply authorities on this topic ; they are everywhere, except in the two ar- ticles already mentioned in the Silk Culturist. But there are other accidents that may render a mulberry leaf unsuitable to the insect. " The worst leaf that can be given to the silk worm, and which always injures it, is that which is covered with what is termed manna, that arises from the diseased state of the tree. The blighted or rust-spotted leaves do not injure. The worm will eat this leaf, carefully avoiding the spots."* 3. Preserving leaves. Hence to avoid these accidents, and to supply a resource for rainy days, a stock should always be kept on hand sufficient for two or three days ; during which they may be kept without prejudice in cool places, sheltered from the light, but not too dry ; such as cellars, storehouses, * Dandolo, p. 33. " Rusty leaves have not this inconvenience, be- cause the worms eat only the healthy portion." C. de Hazzi, p. 67. " Even when leaves become mouldy before being gathered, we need not regret it, because the worm eats only of it what is uninfected." Mo- rin, p. 27. 204 MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. brick floors, &c. They would lose their freshness in too dry a place and might rot in one too damp. Se- parate with care the wet leaves, and those affected by the secretion called manna ;* dry the former ; the latter reject. They should not be heaped up too much together, nor any change of temperature suf- fered in the leaf-store, such as to promote fermenta- tion, to which they will be liable when gathered in very warm weather, or too long left in a state of compression in bags, panniers, or baskets. On a dry and clean brick pavement, turn them frequently to new and dry parts of the floor, and expose them to the action of the air. Count de Hazzi says, " spread them in parcels on a clean linen cloth in a dry room, stir them often, with a rake or fork ; shake the cloth, and the leaves will soon dry. Dusty leaves must be cleansed with clean linen." t If the signs of the weather be watched with ordinary vigilance, much trouble, however, of this kind may be avoided. 4. Mode of gathering the leaves. Count Verri recommends to pass the hands from the lower parts of a branch to the top, and to strip the tree of its leaves upwards, not doivmvards, as the latter mode would injure the buds. This should be parti- cularly enjoined on children and on others employed in picking. In short, the whole process requires caution to prevent the trees, especially when young, from receiving injury. Nature evidently has not in- tended that they should be stripped violently of their * The manna is a disease which seldom affects the mulberry in this climate, but the information may, notwithstanding, be of great im- portance. -f- The better way at least with the leaves of the morus multicaulis is to wash leaves which become dusty, and after wringing out the surplus water, as a washerwoman would wring a cloth, let them remain thinly scattered in a shady dry place till they become dry of the excess of water. From experiments hereafter to be adverted to, it will be seen that dried leaves are used in some places, by preparing them in the fall and feeding the young worms with them before the tender leaflets have been sufficiently matured in the spring. Hence we conclude that if the culled leaves are properly preserved from heating, moulding, SfC, what is called wilting will not injure them. MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. 205 foliage. In the event of having hedges, orchards or other plantations, begin by pulling the leaves of the hedges ; then proceed to the young trees, when it is generally prescribed to strip each completely, for, if any leaves remain on the branches, they attract the sap, whilst the naked branches are incompletely nourished.* 5. Repeated defoliations. On this subject * So far as this inquiry relates to the multicaulis, it may be further observed, that the leaves must be plucked carefully so as not to injure the bud ; for the plant is now of such value that one bud more or less makes a difference with the purchaser ; as it is well known that each bud will produce a tree when properly planted and cultivated. It is generally thought too that leaves perform functions for vegetables ana- logous to that, of lungs for animals. Hence it is recommended not to strip the multicaulis of all its leaves during the season, at least, of its growth. Whilst the tree commands a high price in the market, not more than one half of the leaves should be taken. In the course of a few years, when the plant is extensively grown, and its value diminish- ed, it- will be allowable to cut it down as wanted, and pass stalk, limbs, and leaves through a cutting machine into the hurdles. To obviate all doubts under present circumstances on this subject, in the event of wish- ing to raise more crops of silk during any summer than one, the dilemma may be solved by feeding the second or any successive crops, from dif- ferent lots of trees kept for that purpose on the same estate. All climbing on young trees must be avoided. In this case, the use of a rolling or wheeling ladder is recommended. It consists of two parts ; a wheelbarrow, the legs of which are to be from seven to eight feet long, straight, somewhat projecting beyond the wheel, and connect- ed by four cross sticks ; and a ladder six feet long, which is attached to the wheelbarrow by a fourth cross stick. With this apparatus, a single man is able to carry several bags of leaves. The ends at either extre- mity must be pointed with iron. It forms when only half displayed a double ladder in the form of a triangle, resting on the ground, from its vertex at the cross sticks, the wheel of course being on one side, then suspended some inches above the ground. When opened out and fully extended, it is a ladder of from twelve to thirteen feet long. The leaf- bags used with this apparatus must be hooped, so as to remain open, and ought to have a hook to be hung on the branches ; and care must be taken that the leaves, to keep them free from dust, be not emptied on the ground. When conveyed to the wheelbarrow or other vehicle they should be kept sheltered from the sun. For hedge forms and shrub plantations, as for the multicaulis, much of this trouble and expense is unnecessary. Yet light wheelbarrows with long deep bodies, or bodies with outward and obliquely projecting railing, will be found to be pre- ferable to a heavy cart, in transporting leaves to the cocoonery or leaf- store. IS 206 MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. Count Dandolo says, " the mulberry tree should only be stripped once a year, and that crop should be gathered so as to allow time for the leaves to shoot again before the cold weather, otherwise the tree would shortly die." We have here, however, to re- member, that the count's precept had no reference to the superior energy of the vegetative principle of the multicaulis ; and that frequently what is an orthodox canon in European agriculture, is nugatory in this climate ; we must travel round half the globe before we find its like within the same parallels of latitude ; and when there, we shall be, as here, in the land of silk. For the mulberry, multicaulis, and silk, China is the only American pattern. It is proper to hear another witness on the other side of the question. During the present year, experiments have been made in feeding silk worms, and gathering the foliage of the Chinese mulberry, several times, during the season of feeding ; but what is allowable with the white mulberry is inadmissible with the exotic. It should never be denuded as the other species are ; — never more than one-third when young, or one- half when old. That this practice is adopted in China, is abundantly evident from a volume of splendid paintings just received, from a gentleman who has for years been conversant with that coun- try. It appears from these paintings, that while feeding, and depriving the plants of foliage, the top- most shoots must be carefully preserved ; but when feeding is over, it is then proper to nip off the leading shoots to promote the formation of wood, and at the close of the season head doivn the plant, the stump or root of which in our latitude is to be slightly covered with earth during the winter. 6. Provisions for early supply op leaves. It is generally by no means advisable to admit the hatching of the insects until the early spring vegeta- tion of the mulberry is sufficiently advanced to insure a continued supply of the leaf; in which case no MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. 207 earlier resource procured artificially is desirable. The climates in this country, in which the return of these seasons may be calculated on with tolerable certainty, may be said to be anywhere to the south of the fortieth degree of latitude. To the north of this parallel extraordinary returns, in the spring season, of unseasonable frosts, occasionally exist, retarding or checking the movements of the agriculturist. Un- der these circumstances, it would not be otherwise than provident to be ready to countervail these con- tingencies by a secondary resource obtained artifi- cially. To accomplish this, there are three methods, one by the green leaf, and two by the dry. First method : or by the green leaf. Let a mul- berry hedge be provided in a warm situation, having a southern exposure, and on the north and north- western extremities, well protected, by buildings, plantations or woods. Early in the spring, cover the hedge, with platted straw or matting, to protect it from the frost by night. Or, as the worms in their first age consume but little, a garden border will afford dimensions sufficient for the purpose. Again, we may sow the seed broad-cast or in drills, in a forcing border or hot bed, and thus obtain, to meet the first wants of the insect, an early resource which would be valuable in the event of temporary disappoint- ment of supply in the ordinary way. Second method : or by the dry leaf. This is ac- complished simply by carefully drying and preserving the leaves of the early part of autumn before they begin to fall. It will be requisite to soak them in pure water, so as to restore to them nearly the same degree of moisture they had on the tree, and after- wards to dry them with clean linen cloth, before they are distributed to the young family in the spring. Third method : by leaf powder. The leaves for this purpose towards the close of summer may be taken from the tree, and dried so effectually as to ad- mit of being reduced to a fine powder, and after- wards preserved during the winter. In the spring, 208 MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. after gently sprinkling with water as much of this powder as may be wanted, allow it slightly to ma- cerate or acquire general moisture ; when if given to the early hatch, it will be found to attack this powder with an avidity not perceptibly differing from that with which it would consume the early leaf. § 2. Renting of trees or selling of leaves. Of the " division of labour" in the parcelling out of industry in the mass, in a kind of retail manipulation, we, proud mortals, sometimes boast, as if it were peculiar to civilized society, and therefore give the term a sort of dignity, by heading with it whole chapters on " political economy/' as if that too were our exclusive property ; without reflecting that both the one and the other are carried out, even by insect tribes, in all their beautiful development. There is not an art, a fabric, a machine, or an edifice but what exemplifies it. The painter, the artist, the sculptor, the maker of a penknife or even of a pin, each im- plies a little host of dependent operatives in his rear ; and thus what would be an impracticability to one, becomes an amusement when parcelled out in social industry. And why should "silk-' either in the whole extent of this term, or in any part of it, be supposed to require any more difficult manipulation. Let us contemplate, for a moment, the wide surface it covers. Here is a leaf! and we see nothing but it, and its kindred leaves of the mulberry tree — but there is a silken shawl worn by a queen ! What metamorphosis has affected this ? Ovid, himself, with all his imaginative powers, must yield to this : his was fancy, ours is reality : the leaves of a tree are the silken shawl on the shoulders of a queen ! ! But what has accomplished all this ? The division of labour ! Ask the proprietor of the orchard ; the horticulturist that raised the tree ; the individual that culled the leaves ; the one that ministers sus- tenance to an insect that boasts of nothing, but per- forms wonders, inhabiting a building furnished with an apparatus both made by others; another that MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. 209 patiently waits on the reel, or the multitudes attend- ing the filature ; the several machinists in wood and iron ; the many engaged in throwsting, dyeing, weav- ing ; the merchant, and his carriers by land or sea to the retail dealer, the maker of the shawl ; and lastly, though not least, the wondrous insect, without whose toil all the rest were vain ; and then the " unknown something" that has diffused, if not inspired industry throughout the whole. In this way, and in no other, we arrive from the mulberry leaf to the silken shawl on the shoulders of a queen. Could all this be ac- complished by one? — Impossible. Thus what is a mountain to one, is sportive recreation when parti- tioned out to the many ; and thus by the division of labour a toil becomes a pleasure. But is the division of labour the child of man's in- ventive ingenuity? We could give many proofs, would our limits allow, to show that this is by no means always the case. Sometimes it has cost man- kind whole centuries to find out what, when seen, we all wonder was not for ages before discovered to be the most simple of all contrivances. Rather then let it be ranked as the creature of Providence, with which if we co-operate, we shall be a blessing to the world. Even in the production and manufacture of silk, strange to say, there are several parts, that we concede immediately should be the subjects of the division of labour ; whilst there are others, that we have not yet, in this country, an adequate idea of the benefits that would result to society were they equally distributed. Often to him that supplies the land for the culture of the tree, it would be an inconvenience to attend to the production of silk. To another that grows the trees merely for sale, the tons of leaves that fall in autumn merely to manure the earth that might be silk to enrich the nation, are, for the want of the divi- sion of labour, a serious loss. To a family having only partial employment, to which it would be, on account of the avocation of one demanding a city re- sidence, an inconvenience to remove to an orchard, or 18* 210 MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. to a situation in the country, merely to afford employ- ment to the minor branches of the family, the esta- blishment of a leaf -market in cities, and the possi- bility of rearing silk- worms, and producing and reeling silk in the otherwise unemployed apartments of a partially occupied house, would be an incalculable benefit. By which means too, industry might be af- forded to thousands of the young, old, infirm, women, children, and others incapable of hard labour, that inhabit all our large and populous cities, who thus, instead of being idle or dissipated, would in enriching themselves as surely enrich the nation. Let all then that have both land and trees, and are willing to sustain the amusing toil of five weeks in the cocoonery, comprise this much of the general produc- tion in their individual enterprise. As for the rest, we must repair to France, to Italy, to Broosa, or to Turkey and Persia generally for an example; and we shall there find, that in many cases, the concern of growing trees or leaves is one thing, and that of pro- ducing silk another ;* that the one is the business of the country, the other of the town : and that the con- nexion between them is established by a leaf -market. The agriculturist there attends to avocations peculiar to the former, the manufacturer to that which is com- patible with others-he may have in the latter. Leaves there inhabit the forest until they visit the market, where silk worms are citizens, spare apartments are cocooneries, and towns or cities are the busy hives of domestic industry.! * Several years since, a farmer in a vicinity not far from Mansfield, (Conn.) purchased a farm on which were standing twelve mulberry trees of full growth. Knowing nothing of the business of making silk, he supposed them to be of no more than the ordinary value of forest trees for fuel, A neighbour, however, soon called upon him, and agreed to pay him twelve dollars annually for the privilege of picking the leaves. The farmer, to his astonishment, found that the twelve mulberry trees were as good to him as $200 at six per cent, interest. j- We do not wish to be understood as saying that the two branches of business are incompatible. We think quite otherwise, more espe- cially in this country; but we do advocate the system of a mulberry leaf MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. 211 We learn that the friend of a gentleman, now resi- dent in New York, in the year 1807, invited him "to visit a plantation of mulberry trees, which he had just planted at Fontaine, about fifteen miles from Lyons. Here sixty French acres, (about seventy-five English) had just been set out with trees of the mulberry, at the rate of 200 trees to the French acre. About six years afterwards he was again invited to visit the plan- tation, at the time the leaves were fit for gathering ; and he there found that the leaves of the whole plan- tation, or of about 10,000 trees, had just been sold on the trees to the gatherers, for one franc for each tree, or about $2000 for the whole. " These gatherers, (an example of the division of labour,) are another class, who come at times from remote distances with their whole families in wagons, with cooking utensils and provisions, with ample means for the purchase of the leaves. Shantees or sheds only, for their accommodation, are provided by the owner. It is particularly understood, however, that the leaves at the tip end of every twig are ahvays to be preserved, to draw the sap and preserve the life and vigour of the tree. "Four years after he was invited to renew his visit, when he found that the leaves had been sold on the trees for three francs per tree. He renewed his visit about seven years after, or seventeen years from the first formation of the plantation, and he then found that the leaves had been sold on all the trees, for five francs per tree, or for about $10,000 for the whole ; and that this same quantity, or more would be annu- ally produced for a long course of years." Granting that these trees were three years old when planted, and consequently nine years old from the seed at the first visit, thirteen years old at the second, and twenty years old at the third ; from the whole of this account we learn as follows : 1. That in France market, as being especially beneficial to citizens in moderate circum- stances without land. 212 MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. the leaves of the white mulberry of nine years old from the seed, are worth one franc, about twenty cents per tree ; at thirteen years old, sixty cents on the average per tree ; and at twenty years, or of full growth as sometimes said, at $1 per tree. 2. Here are seventy-five acres, and they yield in the sixth year after planting $2000, or $26.66 per acre : of the intermediate years we are told nothing,butin the tenth, they yield $6000, or $S0 per acre. We now, by the account arrive at the seventeenth year of the appropria- tion of these seventy-five acres to a plantation, when they yield $10,000, or $133.33 per acre for a crop of leaves only ! How valuable then are leaves, if of the mulberry, even without fruit, without roots. To how many other kinds of crop* could an acre be devoted, and yield a profit equal to an income from mere leaves ? 3. We are told that this rate of profit the trees would maintain for "a course of years,'' 7 we are not told, however, why such an indefinite expression is used. The reason, however, is self-evident, and stands thus ; if the trees were the grafted mulberry, chiefly used in France, it is true that they would thus hold out only for a " course of years" probably not more than five. This is all the benefit oi grafting, altering the course of nature by art. For the sake of some improvement in quality or quantity for a short time, it is rapid destruction; whereas the natural not artifi- cial mulberry, will improve, proprio Marte, both in quantity and quality, as it grows older, and has been found exuberant in produce, and in quality more ex- cellent than its juniors at the venerable age of three hundred years. 4. Here are ten thousand standard trees on seventy-five acres : hence, in France, they plant standards at eighteen square feet between every four trees.t * We might say from the vine; or from the beet, not to produce sugar, which requires machinery, but to fatten cattle; but this depends on circumstances, and right management; and this is not the place to explain. j- A writer in the Silk Culturist inquires, " Whether farmers cannot plant trees, and let them out to poor families to make silk on shares, MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. 213 § 3. Leaf -Market. We know that these are regularly established on the Continent, not only of Europe, but of Asia. Time and limits fail to give all the examples ; that of Broosa is enough. There, on all the roads and avenues to the city we see mules, asses, camels, and other means of conveyance freighted with mulberry leaves to the leaf-market in Broosa. In the city itself, we see nearly every family, on the approach of the silk-raising season, on the move to clear, and to make ready for the labours of the silk worm, every spare apartment in the house. Two-thirds, three- fourths, or four-fifths of every dwelling is a cocoonery. And where is the difficulty ? In the town there is the leaf-market every day ; and in the house there are the worms, all the advantages of the town and country are combined, without the disturbance of other en- gagements, by the connecting link, the leaf-market. And it is evident of what accommodation and ad- vantage this would be to all parties. That to the leaf-groiver admits of calculation. M. Bonafoux found that a jourral of land of Piedmont (four-fifths of an acre) produced from multicaulis cuttings* of the second year,t fifty quintals. That is about five- ninths of a pound of leaves to each ; on the third year from the time the cuttings were set out, the same trees produced 100 quintals or more than one pound of and thereby not only extend the culture of silk, and benefit themselves, but also afford a livelihood to those in their employ? The editor answers : " We have no hesitation in answering in the affirmative. There are few farms in this country that could not be fourfolded in value, by adopting this course; besides giving an opportunity to the industrious poor, not only to provide for the present wants of their families, but to lay up something in store for the day of adversity. The children of poor families might be profitably employed in picking the leaves, and thus contribute much towards their clothing and education. Multitudes of such children are, instead of this, running about the streets contract- ing habits of vice and immorality. We know of no better remedy than the one suggested by our correspondent." * Set in rows two and a half feet asunder, and in the rows each tree one and a half feet apart; i. e., 11,537 cuttings to the English acre. ■j- A quintal is equal to 100 pounds. On the jourral of land, at the rate mentioned of setting, there would be 9,229 cuttings or trees. 214 MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. leaves each. And he estimated the maximum to which they would attain at 200 quintals, (about 25,000 pounds of leaves to the English acre,) or about two and two-thirds of a pound to each multi- caulis tree ; which at eighty cents* per quintal of 100 pounds, would be equal to $200 per acre to the leaf- grower from the multicaulis tree. M. Bonafoux further calculates that these 250 quintals of multi- caulis leaves, would produce 312 pounds of reeled silk, which in this country would be, at least, worth $1560. Hence more than $1300 are to be gained on the 250 quintals grown in the country, by the fami- lies in toivn that take the trouble to attend the worms, and produce the silk. We say then, on account of the thousands of wo- men, children, aged, infirm, and otherwise unemployed people, inhabiting Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore, and all our large and populous cities, let a leaf-market be established in each, and let the farmers that have the ivisdom to enrich their hedges, orchards and fields with the wealth-giving tree, be told to bring their leaves by the horse load, the wagon load, the boat load, or our very railroads will help them; and then every citizen that is tied by his duties to the town, but has hands to spare in his family, and apartments in his house not paying rent, will provide the worms, buy the leaves, and put all in requisition; and our streets, and oar cities will be filled with the scenes of activity, marking out to all the way to industry, mo- rality and wealth. § 4. Statistics relative to the mulberry tree. Both theory and practice have reference to statis- tical consequences. Mere theory often contemplates them, but without practice arrives at erroneous results. On the other hand, a career of practice entered on without previous inquiry of a statistical character, * A quintal of leaves sometimes attains more than this in the leaf- markets of the continent ; sixty-four cents per quintal, are not far from the average price. MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. 215 must often lead into a dilemma or difficulty, easily avoided by competent information of this nature pre- viously acquired; and when this is the legitimate proceed of the experience of the many, the eccentri- city of extraordinary cases corrected by the more ac- curate report of the majority, we have, perhaps, as great an indemnity against either failure or incon- venience, in the development of our practical designs, as the nature of things can possibly admit. So long as the silk, or any other business, is, in de- sign, at a distance, statistics may be looked upon as something abstract, mathematical, dry or uninterest- ing ; but precisely as we approach the bourne, where we are to have the object in our grasp, the case be- comes altered, until statistics appear all-interesting, of immense consequence. Statistics, in short, in all things, are too little studied. Without them, theories, hypotheses, schemes and systems, in art, in science, or in political economy, may be multiplied numerous as the phantasms of the kaleidoscope. But begin with statistics, the true gauge and barometer of conse- quences, and theories, hypotheses, and schemes ex- plode by the legion, and leave nothing but truth in alto-relievo. Relative to the silk business, no inquiry is more common, nor, perhaps, more proper, than what is the weight and value of raw silk which may be produced from one acre ? But it is evident that this question involves several others, each of which must be answered or understood, before we can arrive at the correct solution of this important problem. As 1. What weight of cocoons will, on the average, yield one pound of raw silk? 2. How many silk worms, will, generally, produce this weight of cocoons ? And this question implies at least three subordinate in- quiries relative to the kind of silk worm employed, the manner with which it is attended, and the leaf with which it is fed. 3. What weight of mulberry leaves will sustain and bring to maturity this number of silk worms ? This again is another question that 216 MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. evidently subdivides into as many branches as there are species and varieties of the mulberry. 4. Then we arrive at another stage of the investigation, i. e. what weight of leaves will a mulberry tree or shrub, on the average, produce, at all ages, from a few months to twenty years ; when, if it be the grafted mulberry it is said to be at its maximum yield : very different, however, will be the case, if it has not had its natural youth vitiated by the artificial device of man, worse than vaccine inoculation. And here, again to answer correctly, we must attend to several important distinctions ; not only according to the several species and varieties of the mulberry, but also to the nature of the soil, which must either further or retard its growth. 5. How many such trees or shrubs will an acre contain; and finally, what weight of leaves on the average, in each case, will an acre yield ? And this last inquiry depends on an almost unlimited variety of complex distances, that of be- tween the rows in the acre, and between the trees in each row, as well as the distinction to be primarily entertained in the mind of the inquirer, relative to the species or variety of the silk-producing tree, and the soil that fertilizes it. The wide extent of surface which these several questions, with their subordinate modifications, evi- dently cover, requires that the general inquiry, for distinction sake, be broken down into its proper com- ponent parts ; and that no attempt be made to answer the whole, as some have done, en masse ; and there- fore, have left the mist, like that of the mock-sun in the sunless climes of Iceland, as thick at the end of their apparent scrutiny as where it began. We shall take up, in the course of this work, seriatim, the whole of these inquiries. But here, immediately after the mulberry, our subject is leaves ; or the quantity of them in weight, which, on the average, according to its age, may be expected from one of each species or variety principally cultivated, or from one acre charged with its cultivation. MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. 217 That the yield in foliage of a white mulberry standard of twenty years old is from 150 to 200 pounds of leaves, is universally affirmed.* The doubt, then, as to the product of white mulberries, is not here, but relative to those of minor growth, on which egregious discrepancy, amongst different authors exists. Mr. Cobb tells us that M. d'Homerguet asserts^ that a white mulberry of six years old, will produce thirty pounds of leaves ! This assertion re- appears in the first edition of Mr. Roberts' manual, and has been copied, with the following palpable contradiction in the second edition of that work. " The Editor of this§ manual, assumes the following : it being the best result at which his mind could arrive after the most careful examination of various authori- ties — that is, that a tree, as a standard, four years of age. well cultivated, will yield twenty pounds of foliage, that at six years of age, it will yield thirty pounds ; and that if planted in hedge form, an acre of land will yield an amount of leaves, when six years * Though even here, authors always forget to say, whether the twenty years be reckoned from the seed, or from the first introduction of the tree into the plantation of standards : an ambiguity which has frequently led into apparent contradiction. This appears to have been first af- firmed by Mr. Bailiff Hout, of Manheim, in his memoir submitted to the Agricultural Society of the Grand Dutchy of Baden. f We quote M. d'Homergue, whose book is in our hands, and whose residence is at our door, on the mulberry tree, because he is given as authority on this subject by several recent writers! We admit this very respectable writer as good authority on the filature. He is, on this branch of the business, quite au fait. But we have yet to be assured that he is a safe guide on some other branches of the silk culture, because his experience is quite limited, and he makes no pretension to any but one branch. From M. d'Homergue, however, we have received many at- tentions ; and on the Piedmontese reel and filature some information, which we acknowledge with the kindest feelings. But when we see him quoted on the mulberry tree, as a practical man, we suspect that there can be no extensive experience among those who do so, since they demonstrate to us that they are unable to discriminate between what is theory and what practice. t Page 40. § " This manual," first edition. " The manual." second edition, Balti- more, 1838. 19 218 MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. of age, more than equal to the support of 540,000 worms: that is, he believes, that each tree at four years will yield four pounds of leaves, and at six years will yield seven pounds of leaves ; and that its capacity to yield will increase by the time the hedge shall have attained its twentieth year, 100 per cent. !"* From the whole of this passage we are edified as fol- lows: "each tree at four years old will yield four pounds of leaves," and in the former part of the para- graph it is said that a tree of the same age will pro- duce " twenty pounds of leaves !" Again, " at six years it will yield seven pounds of leaves ;" very true, since a few lines above we are informed that such a tree will yield thirty pounds of leaves ! Should we endeavour to find a salvo to resolve this gross ambi- guity, it must be from the phrase, " as a standard." The one tree then is four years old from the seed, the other four years from the time it became a stan- dard by transplanting. Allow four years for this,t and the same for the tree of six years, and we then have, that a white mulberry tree of four years old from the seed, will yield four pounds of leaves; of six years, seven pounds ; of eight years from the seed, twenty pounds ; of ten years, thirty pounds. But how far is this corroborated by other accounts? We find it stated by the same author,^: that " one pound" (of silk) was produced from eight trees, (white mulberries) eight years old from the seed." Now, as it requires 100 pounds of white mulberry leaves to produce one pound of silk, it is evident that in this case, these eight trees bore 100 pounds of leaves, or twelve and a half, each. The preceding statement relative to a tree of the same age, was twenty pounds. The mean of the two respecting a white mulberry tree of eight years from the seed, therefore, is sixteen pounds of leaves. * How extremely indefinite is all this. 100 per cent, on what? On the first, second, or on what other year's produce 1 f See note, page 176. * First edition, p. 32, col. 1. MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. 219 We shall now quote another authority found on page S, vol. I. of the Silk Grower.* " In one acre there are, 43,650 square feet. 1,210 trees six feet by- six, on one acre ; or 4,840 trees one and a half feet by six. Each Italian mulberry tree, six years old, will produce six pounds of leaves. Fifty pounds of leaves, (some say thirty-six) will feed 1,000 worms ; 300 cocoons will weigh one pound ; 3,000 cocoons (ten pounds) make one pound of silk. 30,000 trees, six years old, will produce 180,000 pounds of leaves. The above calculation is made on the white mul- berry." From the whole of this evidence, we come to the conclusion) that a white mulberry tree of Age. lbs. 4 years from the seed will yield 4 of leaves. 6... 7f 8 12f 10 20 20 150 — Though this is deduced from the best accounts extant on this question, it can only be regarded, espe- cially when difference of soil is considered, as an ap- proximation, until the attention of the culturist is more particularly directed, to derive more accurate averages from well conducted experiments of this nature. As to the product in leaves of the morus multi- caulis, it is stated in an article of the Silk CulturistJ that 100 cuttings of the first year, i. e., within a feio months of setting, yielded fifty-five pounds of leaves; and that 100 cuttings, started the year before, pro- duced 150 pounds. That is, at the rate of between eight and nine ounces for the former, and one pound * And therefore has passed the revision of the Messrs. Cheney. j- " Each tree at six years of age, with the best cultivation, will pro- duce twelve pounds of leaves." Kenrick, p. 88. But Mr. Kenrick, in common with others, does not state whether this is six years from the seed or from planting. If the former, it is contradicted by several other accounts, but more consistent with them, if we are to understand it in the latter sense. $ December, 1835. 220 MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. and a half for the latter. We have besides various other evidence relative to the same point, now before us, too voluminous to copy in detail.* The accounts as to first year's cutting vary, as for example; seven, eight, eight, nine, nine, twelve ounces ; the mean of which is eight and five-sixths ounces. This compared with the first statement, fifty-five hun- dredths, or eight and four-fifths ounces, will fully warrant us in quoting that the average yield in leaves of a multicaulis cutting of the first year is above eight ounces or half a pound. But the mean of the evidence we have before us, relative to the weight of the leaves of layers of the first year, is fourteen and a half ounces. We may, therefore, safely quote, half a pound for the former, and three-quarters of a pound for the latter. Amongst the several thousand pages, in the many volumes on the Silk Culture, that we have examined, there is very little of a statistical character, relative to the average product in leaves of a multicaulis tree of the second year's growth ; and that little is extremely discrepant and dissatisfactory. Sufficient attention, it is evident, has not as yet been paid to this subject, though it constitutes an important element in calcula- tions relative to the silk culture, without which they must be comparatively indefinite and vague. We are aware, indeed, of all that might be said concerning the variable productiveness of different soils and cli- mates, but notwithstanding this, an average, a mean, does and must exist in this, and in all things, and this is all we aim at. It is true, that this cannot accurately be had except from a multitude of experiments ; and until these can be made and their mean determined, we had rather have an approximate average than have none. It was originally stated in the Northampton Courier, that from 100 multicaulis trees of the second year's * See Silk Culturist, pp. 71. 76. 130. 157; vol. III. 35. Fessenden's Silk Manual, vol. I., p. 140 ; vol. II. p. 2. MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. 221 growth 150 pounds of leaves were obtained; which is one and a half pounds per tree. This was after- wards copied into Fessenden's Silk Manual, vol. I. page 141 : and also into the Silk Culturist, vol. I. page 71. Yet five pages after in the latter work we read, " 14,000 Chinese plants on one acre of two years' growth would yield 35,000 pounds of foliage ;" that is two and a half pounds per tree. We think that this latter statement is erroneous and presumptive ; not merely because it differs from the former, but deals so much in round numbers, as to wear on the face of it the absence of actual experiment or calcula- tion ; and until better evidence can be adduced, we are inclined to say that a multicaulis tree of the se- cond year's growth will produce, on the average of trees, soils, and climates, two pounds of leaves. But what a wide leap have we from two pounds of leaves, or even from two and a half pounds on the second year, to fifteen pounds of foliage on the third year; yet at page 32 of the last edition (1838) of Mr. Roberts' Manual we read " we assume that each of these trees (multicaulis) at three years of age, if properly cultivated, and not despoiled of their limbs will yield fifteen pounds of foliage !" But how is this series to be accounted for, first year, one half or three-quarters of a pound of leaves; second year, two or two and a half pounds ; third year, fifteen pounds. Mr. Cheney has somewhere intimated that the ratio of the increase of the multicaulis in successive years, is geometrical. But we have not mathematics suffi- cient to discover what geometrical ratio exists between three-quarters, two, and fifteen ; and therefore refer the enigma to the experimental horticulturist to deci- pher. Were it allowable, however, to go on the principle of a geometrical ratio, until matter of fact could correct the series, we should say that the multi- caulis of the first year's growth that produces half a pound of leaves, would on the second yield two pounds, and on the third, eight pounds; whilst another that yielded on the first year three-quarters of a pound, 19* 222 MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. would on the second produce two and a quarter pounds, and on the third nine pounds. And this, however, hypothetical it is at present, for want of facts clearly stated, must be, will eventually, perhaps, be found to be not far from the truth. The inquiry relative to the yield of foliage per acre, whether of the morus alba, multicaulis, or of any other tree, admits of as many answers, as it is possible to divide, without injury to vegetation, an acre into rows, and the several distances from each other that it would be proper to set the trees in each row. A hundred inquiries of this kind will be met, once for all, by the following table, and any interme- diate cases will be easily calculated. An acre, of course, we all know, is any piece of ground that con- tains exactly 4,840* square yards, or 43,560* square feet. In the following table fractions are rejected, and the nearest whole number taken. Table showing the number of trees or plants in an acre according to the width of rows, and distances between trees or plants in each row. 8.2 . Number of feet distant from tree to tree in each row. 1 2 3 4 6 9 12 15 2904 1452 18 2420 1210 20 2178 1089 1 43560 21780 14520 10890 7260 4840 3630 2 21780 10890 7260 5445 3630 2420 1815 3 14520 7260 4840 3630 2420 1613 1210 968 806 726 4 10890 5445 3630 2722 1815 1210 907 726 484 322 242 193 161 145 605 403 268 201 161 134 121 544 363 242 181 145 121 108 6 7260 3630 2420 1815 1210 806 605 9 4840 2420 1613 1210 806 537 403 12 3630 1815 1210 907 605 403 302 15 2904 1452 968 726 484 322 242 18 2420 1210 806 605 403 268 201 20 2178 1089 726 544 363 242 181 One acre X 4 X 30* -4840 ; and 4840 X 9-43560 MULBERRY LEAVES AND STATISTICS. 223 The use of this table will be readily perceived from an example or two. If we have an acre set with the morus alba six years old, three feet distant from one another in rows six feet asunder ; it is seen by the above table that we have 2,420 such trees on the acre, which at seven pounds of leaves each will pro- duce 16,940 pounds of leaves. And as 100 pounds of leaves of the Italian mulberry are equal to one pound of silk, we are warranted to expect from that acre 169 pounds of raw silk. But, if the acre be set with the multicaulis of the second year's growth one foot distant as directed, from one another in rows three feet asunder ; we shall have, according to the same table, 14,520 trees on the acre, which, at one and a half pounds of fo- liage each, will produce 21,780 pounds of leaves ; and since of the multicaulis eighty pounds of leaves are equal to one pound of silk, we may expect from the acre 272 pounds of silk; or 103 pounds more than from the acre of the morus alba of six years' growth set as described. PART III. ON THE SILK WORM. CHAPTER I. ON THE SILK WORM, GENUS, SPECIES, VARIETIES. " The silk worm, or bornbyx mori* is one of the va- rious familiest of caterpillars, that pass through several transformations into their final state, the moth or butterfly. All such caterpillars are of the lepidoptera| order§ of insects ; and of these, all that have four wings in their moth or butterfly state are capable of producing silk. Of insects generally, it is proper here to state, that when they issue from the egg, they are by naturalists called larva ; but in common language, according to * Bornbyx mori, the silk worm of the mulberry tree ; a proper dis- tinction, since there are caterpillars producing silk from the cypress, fir, ash and oak, according to Pliny, D'lncarville and others. f As the carpenter caterpillar, the goat-moth, earth-mason caterpillar, tent-maker, stone mason caterpillar, leaf-miner, bark-miner, gipsey-moth, tiger-moth, puss-moth, golden-tail moth, spinning caterpillar, silk worms of several varieties, &c. \ Aim?, tSos, scale, flake, and 7rrt£ov, wing ; hsxtiovrt^aL scale, or flake- winged. § One of the twelve orders of insects, viz.: 1. Cokoptera, from wxtoe, a sheath, and vn^v, a wing, sheath-winged: as beetles, &c. 2. Strepsiptera, from a-T^/?, a turning or folding, and sn-ggov, folding-wings ; as sty lops, xenos, &c. 3. Dermaptera, from Si^/uct, skin, leather, and ttti^ov, leather- winged, as earwigs, &c. 4. Orthoptera, from o" — " Give me only a place whereon I can stand, and I will shake the earth." But this very " tov o-tu" "place whereon I can sfrmrf," Count Dandolo and his copyists take away, by their scrapers, ablutions, and wine-washings, and leave the little folks to act mechanically on moonshine, if they can. THE SILK WORM. 251 activity. Its strong desire to eat, which it imme- diately manifests, impels it to wander anywhere for food. But if this desire be satisfied by an adequate and timely provision, they seldom show an inclina- tion to leave the shelves on which their wants are supplied. Should this, at any time, take place, which will only be occasioned by hunger, the mere smell of a leaf is sufficient to bring them back to their domi- cile. This disinclination to locomotion is one of the greatest advantages of the domestic over the wild silk worm ; otherwise, the trouble consequent on their attendance would be immense. Providence, without our contrivance, has ordained it otherwise, so that our attendance on their little but important wants, is an interesting specimen of the coalition of profit and amusement. We have not stated any special day or week of the calendar for the hatching to commence. As already observed, this should be regulated by the time when the food is in sufficient abundance on the branches of the mulberry tree. Before we commence a history of the life of the insect from the time of its egress from the egg, it may be proper to premise, that each of the moultings through which it is destined to pass may be considered as a disease. The period of moulting is about twenty-four hours, during which it lies in a torpid state, and refuses to eat. They are then greatly injured by disturbance, and, therefore, as already remarked, all in the same stage of for- wardness should be classed distinctly, or be in a place or places separate from those of any other stage, that the feeding or attendance necessary to one, may not disturb another class in a different condition. Diseases. — The silk worms are, too, through im- proper or negligent treatment, liable to several dis- eases, sufficiently distinct, by criteria peculiar to each, from one another. With these diseases it may be proper to become acquainted, before we enter on the important operation of feeding, that the silk grower may, as he advances, understand, at every step, the 252 THE SILK WORM. prognostics by which one disease is distinguished from another, and the remedies necessary to arrest its pro- gress. Some of these diseases may be engendered by the climate, but more either by that peculiar treat- ment of the eggs, which fortunately is better known elsewhere than here, or by some negligence in the feeding, or mismanagement during the respective stages ; but the whole of this, whether experienced in this or in other countries, it is incumbent on us to bring here, in proprio loco, under one view. The Congressional Report on the Silk Worm enu- merates eight causes of disease in silk worms, viz : " 1. Errors in the hatching of eggs, and in the treatment of very young worms. " 2. Unwholesome air of the district in which they were bred. " 3. Impurity in the air in which they are kept ; arising from imperfect ventilation, from the exhala- tions of the litter and faeces of the worms, which have been permitted to accumulate. "4. Too close crowding, owing to which cause their spiracles (spiracula) or breathing orifices were stopped, and the expiration and inspiration of air pre- vented.* " 5. The quality and quantity of food. " 6. Improper change of food. "7. Peculiar constitution of the air in certain sea- sons, against which no precaution can avail.t " 8. Frequent changes of temperature in the room in which they are kept." 1. Diseases from defect in the eggs. It is said, that when the department destined for the coming * Had not mechanical impediment been contemplated here, we might have suspected the philosophical accuracy of this statement ; and sup- posed that the writer intended to say, that by crowding, the vital princi pie, or oxygen, in any proximate volume of air was impaired ; which we yet suspect is more or less, on such occasions, combined with any impe- diment that is mechanical. ■f Indeed ! What, not even a Dandoliere, nor the Count's fumigating bottle, nor the chloride of lime ! Credat Judaeus, non ego. THE SILK WORM. 253 forth and laying of the eggs of the moth, is too cold, below fifty-nine degrees, (say sixty degrees) the im- pregnating liquor will not be perfected ; and conse- quently, it does not give them their ashy, yellowish colour, which in the course of fifteen or twenty days, indicates the perfect impregnation. Those imper- fectly fecundated bear in them the elements of dis- ease. Let those who select eggs notice this ; an im- portant hint, whilst the eggs are so dear. A room too hot, seventy-seven to eighty-one degrees, is also injurious. If the male delays coition, he loses much of the impregnating liquid ; if he couples too soon, before the female has discharged a fluid with which she is loaded, her eggs become imperfect, and their larvae will be liable to disease. Or when the place where the eggs are kept, is too damp, or they are too thickly heaped together, in either case they are in- jured. In the former, the evaporation or drying requisite to their maturity is prevented; in the latter, they heat, and the embryo is impaired. No disease, however, from any of these causes will occur, when 1. the temperature of the room, appro- priated to the moths and their evolutions, is kept be- tween sixty-eight and seventy-five degrees; 2. when the apartment is dry; 3. when the cloths or paper on which the eggs are deposited are not too much folded, and are properly hung on frames. — Diseases, also arising from the mismanagement of good eggs re- main to be mentioned under this head. When the temperature, whilst the embryo is approximating to the state of the larva, is too suddenly elevated, the organization suffers partial decomposition, indicated by the reddish colour of the shell, which is a prog- nostic of disease in the insect. Injurious consequences also follow a sudden depression of temperature; in short, sudden transitions are to be avoided throughout the whole existence of the animal. 2. Diseases from the bad air of the distinct in which silk worms are reared. Low marshy places, productive of noxious vapour : all situations where 22 254 THE SILK WORM. the air is liable to become stagnant ; and certain ef- fluvia, especially that from tobacco, or tobacco smoke from segars are injurious, the latter being speedy- death to the worm. On the contrary, high and ele- vated places, where wholesome air exists, are salu- tary to the worm, and favourable to the quality of the silk, the product of its labours. 3. Diseases from impurity in the air of the co- coonery. When the air of the cocoonery is not fre- quently renewed, particularly in the two last ages, a large volume of evaporation and effluvia from the in- sects and their litter, stagnates, the transpiration is checked, the faeces and decomposition of the litter emit noxious exhalations, and the worms become re- laxed, and disease follows in a few hours. That cocooneries and all apartments in which numerous silk worms are kept, should be well ventilated, is, therefore, indispensable ; and for this very purpose, in all regular establishments ventilators are con- structed. When the air is liable to acquire a morbid ten- dency, besides the ordinary ventilation, its noxious qualities may, by fumigation and other means, be chemically neutralized. This, however, must be done with care and judgment. Nothing should be con- sumed in the mi'dst of the cocoonery, but under some chimney, or in some fireplace constructed for that and similar purposes, to which the bad air may be drawn in a current and consumed. Mr. Nysten, page 105, has given his opinion as to the total inefncacy, as a corrective, of all mere perfumes, though he has not assigned the reason; which is, that from them there is only mechanical diffusion in the air, but no chemical action, and consequently nothing is neu- tralized. For establishments containing numerous insects, those from five ounces of eggs or more, the occasional and prudent use of the chemical fumiga- tory, is to be recommended. For this purpose put six ounces of common salt, well mixed, with three ounces of the black oxide of manganese into a bottle, THE SILK WORM. 255 to which add two ounces of water ; which keep well corked remote from any stove or fire. In another bottle provided with a glass ground stopper, (since acids carbonize and destroy all corks, by which the acid itself becomes injured,) put a pound and a half of sulphuric acid; and be provided with any small china or delf cup or glass,* by which the quantity of two-thirds of a spoonful, by any mark within or other- wise, may be ascertained when fumigation is required ; in the glass, or earthen cup, measure two-thirds of a spoonful of the sulphuric acid,t which pour into the first bottle, and immediately a whitish vapour will ascend. Let this, always held at an elevation above the head or nostrils^ be carried backwards and for- * Instead of this in the books we find an iron spoon recommended. Tins, however, is somewhat singular, since it is well known that all metals, particularly iron, decompose the water of the mineral acids, and consequently hydrogen gas is evolved. But no acid except the fluoric, has any action on china, glazed earthenware or glass. In practice, a small cream jug, or vessel having a spout, will be found to be the most convenient. Chlorine gas is wanted from this fumigatory, which has a powerful disinfecting power ; but any hydrogen gas would be improper. " Accounts have been received from Spain," says the well-known che- mist, Samuel Parkes, " that in the midst of the dreadful contagion which reigned in that country, the inhabitants of those houses where fumiga- tions of chlorine gas were used, had no attacks of sickness, and enjoyed the best health." j- Before the nomenclature of Fourcroix and Lavoisier, or in the lan- guage of mere alchymy, sulphuric acid was called the oil of vitriol. It is so, in some measure yet, but very improperly, since not a particle of vitriol exists in its composition. It will be here necessary to caution all unaccustomed to its use. If a drop, or the smallest quantity fall on the clothes, the colour is changed, and the fabric in that place destroyed ; if it fall on the hand or skin, the epidermis is destroyed, but if a particle fly into the eye, or reach that tender region by a finger not previously well washed even after handling the bottle, painful or destructive conse- quences to the sight will follow. In this latter case apply immediately and liberally soap-suds, or alkali, and wash off with water. On the clothes apply directly liquid ammonia, and both colour and texture are instantly restored. For this purpose these materials should always be at hand. t In the books it is recommended to carry the bottle above the head ; but the proper expression would be above the eyes, mouth or nostrils, since chlorine gas notwithstanding all its disinfecting power, is far from being fit for being breathed, especially in its undiluted state, and in that state would be injurious to the organs of vision. When in a highly 256 THE SILK WORM. wards several times through the cocoonery, and when the vapour ceases return the cork, and replace the bottle. If the state of the room require it, let this pro- cess be repeated, pro re natd, during the two last stages particularly of the worm. If the cocoonery is large, either repeat oftener, increase the mixture, or which is better, have two bottles containing the mix- ture of the first. In the last days of the worm, the bottle may, particularly if on some elevated and cen- tral place, be left open an hour or two each day, or moved when elevated into various parts of the co- coonery. This remedy should be repeated as often as foulness is indicated. When a fireplace is in the laboratory, a few shavings may be occasionally burned in the last stages, which will draw in a fresh current of air ; but even this, if cleanliness be strictly attended to, is scarcely requisite. In short, we may remember, as the Chinese have done for ages, that cleanliness is a "sine qua non" in raising silk. 4. Diseases from want of room. When silk worms are on the shelves, crowded too much, they become unhealthy. In removing them, the hand need not be applied to the insect. It is only neces- sary to apply another hurdle with fresh leaves in it to the side of the shelf or hurdle, where the crowded worms are; which, by the smell of the leaves, they will perceive and crawl over to them. When a suffi- cient number has passed, the hurdle can be applied to another shelf, and so on, till the crowded shelves have diluted state, i. e. as when smelt at a short distance, it occasions cough- ing ; but if a small quantity of the gas, whilst yet undiluted with atmo- spheric air, enter the mouth or nostrils, painful and extreme irritability, if not confinement, is the consequence. The death of the ingenious chemist Pelletier was occasioned by inhaling by accident a large portion of this gas. His lungs were instantly irretrievably injured, and con- sumption and death followed. On the contrary, by being first held high above the mouth or nostrils, the gas rises by its specific levity, is diluted by a large volume of atmospheric air, in which whilst it disinfects or neutralizes noxious mixtures, becomes itself neutralized, and conse- quently innoxious before it reaches the respiratory organs of man or in- sect. It is proper here to be remarked, that the use of the chloride of lime instead is free from these inconveniences. . THE SILK WORM. 257 Deen sufficiently thinned. Silk worms breathe through little orifices, or spiracula, situated on each side, near their legs. Consequently being crowded, to them is a greater mechanical obstruction than it would be to animals otherwise circumstanced. 5, Diseases from the quality or quantity of food. On this point little need be said. The worms should be fed with great attention to their peculiar wants. The leaves should be given dry. Wet leaves pro- duce a diarrhoea, according to some ; but others, on the contrary, state that they have washed dry leaves, squeezed out between two moist cloths the excess of water, and given them with a quantity of humidity, as nearly the same they had when fresh, to the worms. It is proper to observe that fresh leaves seem to be such as nature intended for the worms, which at all times have a degree of natural moisture, though externally they may be either wet or dry. But we approve of dry leaves, though fresh as possi- ble, being given. It is better that they should be even a little wilted, than externally moist or wet. The experience of American culturists vary on this subject. It is more than probable that a degree of that care which may be really requisite in a climate not natural to the insect, is redundant in this country, which at all latitudes is isothermal with China, and consequently, the only one, perhaps, in the world, equally favourable to its exigencies. The leaves should be given after having lain a day in a cool place, thinly spread to prevent heating. In the anti- cipation of rainy weather, a supply for three days may be procured. Leaves taken from trees growing in moist soil and shady places are not proper. Over and under feeding may equally produce disease. The leaves after being pulled may be exposed to the sun a. few minutes, and then set in a dry place to cool. 6. Diseases from improper change of food. Changing the leaves of the red for the white or other species of mulberry tree is sometimes detrimental, 22* 258 THE SILK WORM. or whenever this order is reversed. The leaves of different species or varieties of mulberries should not be given at the same time ; much less any leaf of in- ferior quality be administered within the last ages of feeding; since this would occasion derangement in the animal, imperfect spinning and inferior silk : ex- ceptions to this consequence are rare. 7. Diseases from a peculiar constitution of the air. The eudiometer does not seem to be an instru- ment at all times adequate to detect the variable cir- cumstances that may disturb, the heterogeneous sub- stances held in solution that may enter, or the different states, greater or less rarefaction, that may affect the general constitution of atmospheric air, and conse- quently vegetable and animal life. Count Dandolo complained of the year 1814. The farmers in Eng- land will ever remember the year 1816. The farmer, the horticulturist, the orchardist, all complain of unfa- vourable seasons; and the medical man, or his patients, of endemical and epidemical times. And whether we have the influenza or the cholera, we lay the blame to the air, and demand of the meteorologist its component parts. His answer is ready, and he re- plies in three terms, and we are no wiser. But all this time a myriad evanescent things, hidden from eye, from ear, from sense, may be in operation. We know not what magnetic currents, what mundane plates of electricity, positive and negative, may be in play, high in aerial climes, but affecting below all animal and vegetable life. All that we can do, in cases that transcend all ordinary experience, is to use the pre- cautions already prescribed, or such of them as the variable circumstances of 'he season may require.* * The year 1816, was, in England, one of unprecedented rain and humidity. The rain began to fall, soon after the earth got warmed by the sun, and the evaporation was abundant. After this, the alternation between excessive evaporation from below, and torrents of continuous rain from above was incessant during the summer and a large part of the autumn. The farmer sought hedges or walls on which to dry his hay, for the ground was unfit. The reapers were in some places up to THE SILK WORM. 259 8. Diseases from sudden changes of tempera- ture. We must ever remember that the insects, which we suppose to be now under our care, are tender, and of a delicate constitution ; and therefore we should be provided with every suitable means to correct any sudden, extraordinary or unexpected variation of temperature. And this care should be continued not only during their feeding, but also through their spinning season ; especially since the liquid gum in the secretor from which they spin, if the temperature be too low, congeals, and arrests, unless due warmth be immediately restored, the spin- ning process, and the silk in this case is lost. The directions already given, will on this point, and in this climate be sufficient. On the air, the quality of the food, and the degree of care and attendance which the caterpillar receives, through its several ages, and even during the fabrica- tion of its cocoon, depend the time it occupies in its respective changes, and the excellency of its silk. It has not been generally customary as yet to feed it through the night, but experience has proved that where night feeding has been attended to, the worms are stronger, the cocoons heavier, the silk superior, and the time shorter between the egg and the con- summation of its toil. Particular Diseases. The names ordinarily given to the diseases of silk worms, are not those em- ployed to signify the same in Lombardy, but those given in L'Abbe Rozier's Cour d'Agriculture, which is an excellent compendium of all written on silk worms by French authors. the ankles in mud to cut the wheat, and the sheaves, for want of sun to ripen, had to remain in the fields until the snow of an early winter began to cover them ! Who would not say, that had silk worms been rearing in such a climate and in such a season, that a Dandoliere, with all its apparatus of stoves and chimney-places, for sudden flash fires, and other corrections of excessive humidity, would have been desirable 1 In the same year (1816) there was almost no summer in the United States. Frost occurred in this state every month in the year save one, and the changeableness of the season was disastrous to vegetation. 260 THE SILK WORM. 1. The Passis. — This is a vague expression, and means little that is special, since it is derived from passus, that merely signifies suffering. Custom how- ever has arbitrarily applied it to signify in the insect a kind of marasmus, atrophy, or simple waste of muscular substance. This disease is known, 1st, from the yellow tinge of the worms ; 2d, from its lengthened spare shape and wrinkled skin ; 3d, from its sharp and stretched feet ; 4th, it eats little, lan- guishes, and is evidently in a state of atrophy. The cause is said to be an excess of heat main- tained during the dormant states, or convalescences immediately after the respective moultings, or to the length of time the worm is suffered to remain under the pressure of litter. The remedies are instant re- moval from the healthy worms to an apartment which is well ventilated, and where they can be distinctly attended to. They should have a due supply of ten- der leaves, a uniform temperature, but a little higher than that required by the worm in a state of health. 2. The Grasserie, derived from the French gras, grasse, fat, full, &c. This disease generally appears towards the second moulting, rarely later, and is scarcely known in the fourth age. The symptoms are, 1st, they eat, but do not digest their food ; hence, 2dly, they swell and become bloated ; 3d ly, their bodies become opaque and of a greenish colour ; 4th, the cir- cumference around their breathing apertures, become of a citron colour, or of a dirty white ; 5th, their skins tear from the least touch, and sometimes sponta- neously burst from over distension ; 6th, they are co- vered with a viscous, oily humour ; 7th, they appear disposed to obtain relief from distension to stretch their feet ; 8th, the acrid humour proceeding from it. The last stage of this disease is death to any worm with which it comes into contact. The causes are said by Mr. Nysten to be the too glutinous nature of the food given to the worm in its second and third ages ; by Mr. Roberts, the too sub- stantial food for the young worms, occasioning indi- THE SILK WORM. 261 gestion ; by La Brousse, too abundant nourishment, badly regulated, or to the neglect of drying the leaves when wet by rain or dew, and to the lack of fresh air during the last changes of the worms. The remedies are, if not too late, 1. instant removal to a distinct room or place ; 2. lessen the quantity of nourishment ; 3. give the thin leaves of the wild, or of some inferior mulberry ; and 4. ventilation and moderate temperature. 3. Luisette, from luire to shine. There are but few worms attacked by this disease, which seldom appears till after the fourth moulting, or fifth age. The symptoms are l.the luisettes, or shiners, feed and grow like others, except in thickness ; 2. their colour, first of a clear red, soon changes to a dirty white ; 3. if attentively observed, it will be seen to drop a viscous humour from its silk tubes ; 4. their body becomes transparent, which has occasioned the name of the luisette or glow worm. Causes. On being opened, their stomach has been found empty, except of a glairy transparent fluid, which has led to the inference that this malady is occasioned by negligence in feeding, or by a partial supply of food ; a theory since proved by M. Nys- ten,* who produced the disease by starving some worms for twenty-four hours. Remedy. The translator of Count Dandolo, and M. la Brousse prescribe a short remedy, viz. " throw them away." Others have either more patience or more mercy, and advise 1. instant removal; 2. a supply of food, gradually , not suddenly increased, until perfect restoration. 4. The Yellows is the name of a disease that ap- pears about the fifth age, when the worms are filled with a silky fluid, and are about to spin. Symptoms. 1. The body swells, and the enlarge- ment of the rings gives to the feet an appearance of being drawn up from the tumescence of the adjacent * Recherches sur le Maladies des vers a soie, par P. H. Nysten, Paris, 1808. Des Vers a Soie, par M. Reynard, Paris, 1824. 262 THE SILK WORM. parts ; 2. the worm acquires a yellow colour ; 3. they cease to eat, and run about, leaving stains of a yellow fluid ; 4. the yellowness first appears around the spi- racula, and is thence diffused over the externa] sur- face ; 5. the insects soon become soft, and burst ; 6. the morbid humour issuing from them is fatal to the worm that touches it. Causes. The Abbe Sauvage ascribes this affection to sudden exposures to great heat. It is also else- where imputed by him to indigestible food, and exposure to the influence of rainy or moist weather. It is said also to be an anasarca, or dropsy of the skin, arising from a defect in the absorbent vessels of its system. Remedy. 1. Instant removal, as on all similar occasions; 2. ventilation or a change of air, assisted by fires if necessary ; 3. in two cases, oak leaves were given, with success. 5. The Muscardine, or numbness. This disease appears in the fifth age. Symptoms. 1. Black spots appear in different parts ; 2. they next become yellow, and finally red, or of the colour of cinnamon, which is diffused over the whole body; 3. The worm becomes hard and dry, and covered ultimately with a white mould. Cause. 1. A continuance of a hot, dry, and close air. Remedies. 1. Removal; 2. purify the air by re- peated fumigations ; 3. and promote an active circu- lation in its current, by ventilation. 6. The Tripes, or mort blanc. We are informed that M. Rigaud de Lisle, inhabitant of Crest, first discovered this to be a disiinct disorder. Symptoms, the worms become flaccid and soft. When dead, they preserve a fresh and healthy appearance, and on being touched, they feel, it is said, like tripe: hence the name. Cause. The disease appearing chiefly during most or rainy weather ; and M. Nysten's experi- mental proof that it may be produced from the vapid THE SILK WORM. 263 exhalations from the litter of an nncleansed cocoonery, sufficiently indicate that an excess of moisture, held in mechanical diffusion in the atmosphere, is incom- patible with the health of the insect. Remedies. 1. Instant removal as before ; 2. dry the air of the infirmary apartment by sudden flash fires, under chimneys provided for the purpose, and keep up the warmth and dryness of the room by continuous fires in stoves at a proper temperature.* Though it is necessary in a work of this kind to mention the diseases that occur through either negli- gence or mismanagement, yet we may rest assured that if only the cautions and treatment prescribed in this work, suited to the several stages of our insect colony, be observed, the worms of our establishment, however numerous, will be preserved in perfect health. Ofivorms, through negligence, the French, M. Beauvais informs us, formerly lost fifty per cent. ; whilst the Chinese, bringing their experience of 4000 years to bear on their charge, scarcely lose one per cent. ! This difference carried out into the million, is 490,000 worms ; or a difference in silk of 163 pounds, worth $S15: sufficient to show the value of the timely care and vigilant attention of our five weeks' services, for which the little generous animals will pay us so liberally.! * The discovery of and remedy for this disease has been ascribed to Mr. G. B. Smith, of Baltimore. How long a time has elapsed since the discovery, we know not ; but we find the remedy recommended in Lardner and others, and it was probably known from ten to fifteen years ago at least. The chloride of lime, as a fumigator and purifier, has been known since its first discovery, and the application of such a chemical preparation, publicly known to possess such properties, is a discovery which would have suggested itself to every one requiring its aid. The disease itself may have been first pointed out by the very respectable gentleman above named. But the remedy claimed for Mr. Smith has been known to others, at a prior date, and has been men- tioned by Lardner at least, without knowing that such suggestions had been followed elsewhere. Vide Lardner, 133. j- Besides the diseases commonly mentioned by writers in this coun- try, the following, which are evidently distinct morbid affections, are also described by Italian and French authors. 7. The Scarlet. This disease is so called from the more or less 264 THE SILK WORM. Enemies to Silk Worms. The enemies of silk worms are sparrows, sivalloivs, robbins, the titmouse, and poultry. Care must therefore be taken to ex- clude them, by keeping, when necessary, the win- dark red colour which the skin of the silk worm assumes when issuing from the egg. The worms attacked by this disorder seem cramped, stu- pified, and suffocated. Their rings dry up, and they look exactly like mummies. The red colour then becomes ashy and white. This disor- der does not always kill the worm in the first moulting, nor yet in the second ; and sometimes, they do not die until after the fourth moulting. When, if they live so long, it becomes more difficult to distinguish them, as their colour becomes less dark, and cannot be so easily separated from the healthy, since they might be mistaken by the most practised eye. They will even weave cocoons, which are good for nothing, called cafignons, from being soft and ill-woven. 8. The Dragees. This is not properly a disease of the silk worm, since the cocoon is already formed, when it is called a dragee. A dragee cocoon does not contain a chrysalis, but a worm short and white, like a sugar plum: hence it has been also called the white comfit. If the worm, after having made the cocoon, has not been able to change into a chrysalis, it is a proof that, in that state, it was sick. But it is not likely that a disease that never occurs except in a chamber hermetically sealed from all observation, can be accurately defined by the J ucidty that attend on silk worms or on any other kind of patients. In Europe, whole broods have been found, of which nearly all the cocoons are affected with the dragee. This, however, except as to the egga, is not a loss, for the cocoons are unimpaired in quality. As an article of sale, they are undervalued, but the proprietor that reels himself, finds them as pro- fitable, both as to quantity and quality, as any other cocoons. A dragee cocoon is known by' shaking it, when the sound resulting from a dried substance may be perceived. 9. The Calcinaccio. " Calcination" says M. Dandolo, " is not a disease observed in any other species of worm, not even in the caterpil- lars that live in the open air ; which evidently proves that it proceeds from bad management. This disease is the result of certain chemical com- binations, which may decompose the component substance of the silk worm at any period of its existence. The causes which produce it are such, that sometimes it will declare itself rapidly, or sometimes it will remain dormant until the moment of rising on the hedge, and even when it has formed the cocoon. It becomes general in a laboratory, or is partial, according as the chemical element that produces it is spread or confined to peculiar parts ; but it is never contagious. A worm having died by calcination, put in contact with a healthy worm, will in no degree affect it." M. Decapitani having publicly asserted that calcination was the result of catarrhal affection, the count, in 18 IS, entered into a series of ten experiments, which successfully proved the error of the hypothesis of M. Decapitani. 10. The Gattine. By Gattina (Ital.) or Gattine {French) is gene- THE SILK WORM. 265 dows closed. Besides these, such vermin as mice, rats, weasels, lizards, ants, and spiders, are to be ca- talogued as enemies. The last are said to make the most active war against silk worms. Spider webs ought, therefore, to be carefully cleared away, and all possible precautions should be taken against the other enemies that beset them. To prevent the attack of ants, or other creeping insects, the posts supporting the fixed shelves, or any part of the frames, ought not to touch either the ceiling or the walls ; and the legs of the posts ought to be smeared with molasses, or placed in basins of wa*ter, where ants are known to harbour : both these methods would be a more secure preventive. Vermin of other kinds, as mice, rats, etc., must be trapped and killed in the usual way. Statistics relative to silk worm eggs and space requisite for feeding. Whether we are about to com- mence the silk culture on the small or large scale, it is of importance to know how many silk worms, at least on the average, we may expect from an ounce of eggs. But here as usual, instead of having any thing like certainty and precision, in what may be considered to be an element in statistical calculation on this subject, we have by the irreconcilable state- ments of all that have written on this topic, for at least the last twenty years, all that sort of obscurity which may be conceived to arise from the twofold source of error, discrepancy and ambiguity. We have before rally understood a worm that cannot accomplish the functions of nature to which it is destined according to the degree of change that it has expe- rienced. This disease is indicated by restlessness, seeking seclusion, loss of appetite ; though some eat well, live through several ages, and then, from instinctive desire of separation, die off the tray, or on the edge of it, but not on the litter, unless attacked by the disease suddenly, and have no strength to retreat. The causes assigned by Count Dandolo and Morin, are, 1. Injury as to the eggs, from error in the preservation, hatching, removal, or carriage; 2. Subsequent negligence as to temperature, air, or food. " There can- not exist disease," says the count, " when the egg is well impregnated, well preserved, and the silk worm well attended to." No remedies, ex- cept the preventive, have as yet been prescribed for this malady. 23 266 THE SILK WORM. us statements relative to the number of eggs in an ounce, that vacillate at all points between the two ex- tremes of 42,000 and 20,000 per ounce; and others condescend not even to say whether, by the number they quote, they mean simply the eggs, or the num- ber of worms we may expect from an ounce, or the number at the hatch that will weigh an ounce. All, however, in this, whether Italian, French, Ger- ,man, English or American writers, seem to follow Count Dandolo. Notwithstanding the count's very venial but yet evident eccentricities, wherein he has carried the favourite pursuit of his life beyond the " est modus in rebus," yet is he to this day, in several points relative to silk culture, the facile princeps. Had any one or two of the numerous copyists that have followed in his wake, exemplified the same in- defatigable patience in minute investigation, all incer- titude on this, and on certain other points, would have been at an end ; since, thus, in the mouth of two or three witnesses, not copyists, every thing had been established. Of those that have stated 42,000, 40,000, 35,000, 30,000, 29,000, 22,640, and 20,000, to the ounce, we could quote the principal and most popular authors that have written on this subject within the last twenty years, in this country, or in Europe. The 42,000 is a number that is some second edition of Dandolo's statement of 42,260 eggs to the ounce of his little worms, of three moultings, and therefore has nothing to do with the calculation. The 40,000 is the convenient echo in round numbers of the count's discovery that 39,168 eggs of the common silk worm weigh one ounce. This and all the rest, however modified, by taking oft' one-third for, as we are told, presumed loss, or for other reasons, are evidently de- rived, seldom with acknowledgment, but without any thing independent, anything new on the subject. The whole, therefore, whether Italian, French, Ger- man, English or American writers, on this point, being plainly convicted, on the prima facie evidence of the THE SILK WORM. 267 trial, of a second-hand character, we shall repair at once to our Pythagoras, not with servile obsequious- ness "jurare in verba magistri" nor to echo an "ipse dixit" but to institute an inquiry, relative to a point in silk culture, which may be considered as an element, and, therefore, important in statistical calcu- lation. The count says,* " to make one ounce of picked eggs, there should be, for an average weight, 39,168 eggs. I observed with some surprise, that there was little difference in the weight of eggs belonging to above twenty persons." Dandolo, therefore, had as- certained this fact by at least twenty distinct trials ! Where have we another example of patient investiga- tion equal to this ? Not one ! So easy is it to copy, or to quote the words of another as our doctrine ; so difficult to be original. The count adds, " I have had the patience to count many hundred thousand eggs, in hopes that it might be useful," (true patriotism exercised in that whence least expected; "in tcnui labor,") "in the art of rearing silk worms. The best eggs when weighed afforded no more than sixty-eight eggs per grain.t And the inferior quality of eggs did not afford more than seventy eggs per grain." He afterwards adds, "one ounce is com- posed of 576 grains." But what is to be inferred from this ? The count lived at Varese% near Milan in Lombardy, a region where both the number of grains in a pound, and the grain itself as weighed by any standard unit is con- stantly shifting every fifty or sixty miles. In Florence * P. 73 and 74. j- This would be equivalent to seventy-three to the English grain. \ Count Dandolo made those experiments on his estate, Varese, near Milan, where he opened a real school for the silk culture, and where he gathered around him some young men, to whom he read lectures on this art. The count died of apoplexy on the 12th of December, 1819. His laboratory still exists at Varese, and had been imitated in several places. It is indeed a perfect model. The Italians call these laboratories, Dan- didierex, from gratitude to the person through whose instruction the crops of silk have increased (enfold in Italy, and who has secured to his country an abundant source of wealth." Count de Hazzi. 268 THE SILK WORM. the pound is equal to 5286* grains English ; the pound at Genoa to 4426 ; at Naples to 4952 ; at Rome to 5257 ; at Turin to 4940 ; and at Venice they use two pounds, the greater and the less; one of 6S26, and the other of 4215 English grains. But we are nowhere accurately informed what the natives of these places respectively term a grain, nor how many, in each case, they reckon either to the pound or ounce. The number of grains, 576, in Dandolo's ounce being one-tenth of 5760, the number of English grains in a pound troy, added to a vague report from the neigh- bourhood of Naples, either that an Italian pound consists often Italian ounces, or is equal to ten Eng- lish ounces, has led some to conjecture that Dandolo's ounce was equal to one-tenth of a pound troy. But since the 576 grains quoted by him are no aliquot part, neither tenth nor twelfth at least of any one, on the list now before us of the sixty-five European pounds, whose quantities are expressed in English grains, it is sufficiently evident, that we are to under- stand 576 Italian not English grains. The count, however, has elsewhere informed us that the Milan pound consists of twelve ounces, and consequently of 6912 Milanese grains, and that twenty -eight ounces of Milan are equivalent to about twenty-five French ounces; without however stating of what French pound.t Dr. Lardner, however, without quoting authority, undertakes to decide that 533 Milanese grains are equal to one ounce avoirdupois. That is, 39,168 silk worm eggs weigh 576 Milanese grains: therefore, at the same rate, 36,244 are in weight equal * Though no notice is taken in avoirdupois tables of any denomina- tion lower than a drachm ; yet an avoirdupois pound is equal to 7000 grains ; and no grain is used in English weights but that in troy and apothecaries weights, which are the same. Of these the pound troy contains 5760 ; the ounce troy 480, and the ounce avoirdupois 4-37j. j- The following list will be sufficient to show the necessity of being special in quoting foreign weights or measures, when that of a single nation can shift into shapes as many as those of the Protean god. The pound of Avignon is equal to 6217 English grains: of Bordeaux to 7460 ; of Lisle to 6544 ; of Marseilles to 6041 ; of Montpelier to 6217; THE SILK WORM. 269 to our avoirdupois ounce of 437i grains. We are not warranted, therefore, making some deduction for loss, to quote more than 35,000 eggs to the English avoir- dupois ounce. Mr. Roberts, to make allowance for a possible loss of one-third, or thirty-three per cent., gives 20,000 to the ounce. Here then is meant, eggs that succeed in the hatch, which evidently agrees, accounting for the deduction, with the statement we have given. But we see no need for loss to any such extent, since the Chinese can boast that their loss exceeds not one per cent.* We cannot here omit to mention another interesting discovery, relative to the eggs of the silk worm, that did not escape the vigilance of Dandolo. He found that 576 grains, or one Milanese ounce of eggs, lost on being brought into the store room, in order to hatching, or at the temperature of 64°, forty-seven grains by evaporation ; and that the shells or husks, after hatching weighed 116 grains. Hence, 163 grains deducted from 576, leave the weight of the 39,168 worms immediately after hatchment to be 413 grains. " At this rate," says he, " 54,526 young worms are required to form the weight of one ounce," the silk pound of Lyons to 6946, the common to 6431 ; of Nancy to 7038 ; of Rouen to 7772; of Toulouse to 6323 ; and of Paris to 7561. Neither the hecatogramme, nor the chiliogramme of the French Na- tional Institute is, in quantity, any thing near to one pound. We are informed, it is true, that the Milan pound is equal to 5400 French grains, which are equal to 4430 English grains, or 369 English grains to the Milanese ounce ; but this would give the doubtful result of 46,439 silk worm eggs to the avoirdupois ounce. * We take this opportunity to advise every future and ingenious cul- turist to provide himself with a set of apothecaries weights and scales. He will find it useful for many domestic purposes. It will contain the following weights: of grains, from the half grain to six grains; the half scruple equal to ten grains ; the scruple twenty grains ; two scruples or forty grains ; the drachm sixty grains, eight of which are equal to one ounce troy or apothecaries, or 480 grains ; and the two drachm weight. Let him by repeated trials find the number of eggs that weigh five grains, and multiply the number by eighty-seven and a half; he will then have the number of eggs weighing an avoirdupois ounce of 437£ grains. 23* 270 THE SILK WORM. i. e. Milanese ounce of 576 grains, equal to 533 Eng- 54526 x 533 lish grains. Hence — ~~ SyB = 50,548 newly- hatched worms ; which are equal to ounce avoirdu- pois. The Count, besides informing us that it requires immediately after hatching 54,626 young worms to weigh an ounce, also states, that after the first moult- ing, " 3840 are sufficient to make up that weight ; and that the worm, therefore, has increased in six days, fourteen times its own weight:" that after the second moulting 610 will form this weight ; or that it has increased its average weight sixfold; that at the end of the third moulting, 144 worms weigh an ounce, implying an increase more than fourfold; that at the end of the fourth moulting, only thirty- five are requisite to the ounce, proving again & four- fold increase ; and that at the close of the fifth moult- ing even six silk worms weigh the same as 54,526 immediately after hatching, nearly an increase of six times their size in the preceding age ; or an entire in- crease in ail of 9000 times from the first commence- ment of the larva state. From these premises, it must necessarily follow that one English ounce of worms immediately after hatching, will, on the sup- position that none are lost, weigh 9000 ounces at mounting to spin the cocoon ; or 5 cwts. qrs. 2 lbs. 8 oz. for every ounce of worms ! !* The whole of the history of this little insect, is to the naturalist too interesting, and to the culturist too important, to allow any thing of a statistical charac- ter to pass unobserved. We have already remarked, that according to the calculation of Count Dandolo, these almost microscopic animalculse require, imme- diately after the hatch, 54,626 to weigh one ounce; but at the end of the first age 3840 worms ; at the end of the second 610 ; at the end of the third 144; at the end of the fourth 35 ; and at the end of the fifth only six * See Lardner, p. 105, und Dandolo, passim. THE SILK WORM. 271 are required to weigh one ounce. These numbers, however, are respectively adapted to the Milan ounce of 576 Milanese grains ; to 533 of which, one avoir- dupois ounce of 437*5 English grains, is equal; to which if the above numbers and ratios are reduced, they will stand as follows: Immediately after hatching, it will require 50,548 silk worm larvae to weigh one English avoirdupois ounce ; at the end of the first age 3553, when the ratio of increase in weight is more than fourteen times the first state of the larva ; at the end of the second age, 564, the ratio of increase exceeding six times the weight at the end of the first age ; at the end of the third age, 133, the ratio on the maximum weight of the preceding age being more than quadruple; at the end of the fourth age, thirty-two, the ratio being more than four ; at the end of the fifth age, 5,552, or little more than five and a half worms, if well fed, will weigh one English avoirdupois ounce, the ratio of increase ex- ceeding that of the quintuple on the former state of existence. But the whole ratio of increase from the hatchment to the full size of the last age, will be 9088; or, in round numbers, a single ounce of the insects, each of which at the hatch weighed less than nine one-thousandth parts of a grain, in less than five iveeks, will weigh more than 9000 ounces ! ! ! That is, a single worm will at the following specified stages of its existence weigh respectively as stated below. English Grains. At the hatch one worm will weigh '00865 At the end of the 1st age it will weigh "12313 2d -77570 3d 3-28947 4th 13-67187 5th 78-86023 or 9000 times its first weight ! But how does a unit of any dimensions become in five weeks 9000 such units ? Here we cannot but re- member that the leaves of the mulberry, by insect- chemistry, are marvellously converted, 1st, into a worm : 2dly, into a silken cocoon : then 3dly, by art 272 THE SILK WORM. into raw silk, and lastly into fabrics finer than which nothing can adorn the persons of emperors or queens, nor embellish their palaces and thrones. During the five weeks, one worm has consumed, on the average, about 340 grains, or twelve drachms eleven grains avoirdupois of leaves; more than three-fourths of which have evidently passed off by the pores and other emunctories; and there remain of the 340 grains, seventy-eight and forty-three fiftieths* grains, trans- formed into the substance of the worm. The whole of this statement deduced from Count Dandolo, is, however, somewhat at variance with what he has himself taught us in the latter part of his volume. t He there observes that 360 worms pro- duce, on the average, one pound and a half of co- coons, and that the silk worms proceeding from five ounces of eggs will yield 600 pounds of cocoons. Hence it is evident,} that his calculations all through, are for 144,000 surviving worms from five ounces of eggs ; and not for 200,000, as some, calculating on 40,000 worms from each of the five ounces, have supposed. But this 144,000 from five Milanese ounces are only equal to 133,250§ worms from five English avoirdupois ounces; or to 26,650 s urviving worms from each avoirdupois ounce. If Mr. Roberts calculates only for 100,000 surviving worms from five ounces of eggs, or 20,000 from one, the difference of 33,250 is between him and the count, in favour, however, of the latter; or rather in favour of the count's argus-eyed vigilance and care, and of the superiority of the dandoliere and its almost self- regulating correctives, over that of the comparatively chance-helmed cocoonery. That difference, how- * 27'34375 grains are equal to an avoirdupois drachm ; but sixty grains to a drachm apothecaries, eight of which make an ounce of apothe- caries, or troy weight. f Page 195, et seq. * 360X600 1-5 § 144000x533 576 = 144.000. = 133,250. THE SILK WORM. 273 ever, is one of thirty-three per cent., in favour of the Italian patriot in silk culture. It follows that when our zeal, our enthusiasm, are equal to those of the indefatigable Dandolo, we shall have 26,650 sur- viving insect artisans from every ounce of eggs ; or 26,650 that live to the cocoon out of every 36,244 originally in the shell. But the 133,250 survivors from five ounces of eggs, would at the moment of becoming larvae, weigh only 2 ounces, 10*177 drachms avoirdupois.* To trace now with accuracy the actual increase in weight from the incipient larva to the completion of the fifth age, and then the decrease in insect substance, and vege- table consumption, to the cocoon, we refer once more to our most assiduous experimentalist. At page 195 he observes, " the result of my experiments proves that 360 silk worms,which produce about one pound and a half of cocoons, weigh, when at their highest growth and size, three pounds, three ounces and a half. The silk worms, after this, are ready, in the course of two or three days, to begin their cocoons, and then weigh only about two pounds! seven ounces. When the silk worms begin to rise, they void a quan- tity of nearly pure water, part of which is sometimes discharged through the silk-drawing tubes, and by transpiration. They also evacuate a small quantity of solid substance, and then form the cocoon in three or four days : these cocoons altogether weigh about one pound and a half. Let us now imagine a labo- ratory calculated to contain the silk worms proceeding * 1x133250 in \ w , t, — — — =2 ounces 10-177 drachms. 50548 | Some discrepancy either in the original translation or type is evi- dent throughout the whole of this statement ; for here two pounds, seven ounces, are made equal to the forty-two ounces mentioned a few lines af- terwards. Again, notwithstanding that in the appendix we are told that twelve ounces make the Milanese pound, it is evident here, that all the count's reckoning is by some pound of sixteen ounces ; since ^ — — j- — i_^ =3 lbs. 3 J oz. which agrees with his statement ; 1050X 16 whilst twelve ounces to the pound do not. 274 THE SILK WORM. from five ounces of eggs, and sufficient to produce about six quintals* of cocoons ; the following will offer the result. If 360 silk worms weigh three pounds, three ounces and a half, when in their utmost growth and perfection, it must clearly appear that the whole of the silk worms of the laboratory, which pro- duce 600 pounds of cocoons, will weigh 1,285 pounds, three ounces, when they reach their utmost growth. And if the 360 silk worms, previous to beginning their cocoons, only weigh forty-two ounces, it must appear equally clear, that the whole of the silk worms of the laboratory will be about ten quintals, fifty pounds. And therefore, in three days, the silk worms must have lost 237^* pounds weight of substance, either solid or liquid, from exhalation or steam. And if after two or three days, the silk worms that are reduced to ten quintals and fifty pounds weight, are changed into 600 pounds of cocoons ; it is evident that in three or four days, they must have lost 450 pounds weight of substance either in liquid, vapour, or gas. In the space of six or seven days, therefore, the bodies of the insects requisite to produce only 600 pounds of cocoons, must have lost 700 pounds in weight and substance. This astonishing quantity excreted from the bodies of the worms in so short a time, is of greater weight than the total weight of the cocoons and aurelias, which only weigh 600 pounds." By an attentive investigation of the preceding statements of Count Dandolo, it will be sufficiently evident that he is calculating by the poids de marc of Charlemagne, equal to 7561 English troy grains. Consequently, the 144,000 surviving worms of the laboratory, to which his calculations refer, and which he says at their maximum size weigh 1285 lbs. 3 oz. weigh 9,717,301 English grains; or 67*48 grains each. And the 50,548 larvae that immediately at the * A quintal is equal to 100 pounds. + (1285 lbs. 3 oz.— 1050) = 235 lbs. 3 oz. and not 237£ lbs. THE SILK WORM. 275 hatch weighed one ounce, will at their maximum size weigh 4 cwt. 1 qr. 11 lbs. 4 oz. 10 dr. 17^ grains ; that is, one ounce of worms at the hatch, if well fed, will in five weeks weigh 487 lbs. 4 oz. 10 drachms, 17^ grains ! ! We prefer this result to the former ; the premises of which are comparatively vague and approximate. But if the calculation be referred to the count's 144,000 surviving silk worms that were originally five Milanese ounces in the shell, and 1285 pounds, three ounces of the same weight at their maximum size, and finally only 600 Milan pounds in the cocoon, and we find that they have consumed in their growth, according to the same authority, 7520 Milan pounds, of the white mulberry leaves, it is evident that nearly Jive-sixths of the entire quantity of food consumed by these insects have passed off by evaporation and otherwise before they attain their maximum size, and more than eleven-twelfths before the completion of the cocoon. Here are, therefore, eleven-twelfths, at least, or 6886 lbs. of the 7520 lbs. that must pass off by evaporation, ventilation, or in litter, before we have the consummation of the laboratory in cocoons. " It is scarcely credible," says Dandolo, " that the bodies of the silk worm should yield so much noxious mat- ter in a few days, were it not demonstrated by posi- tive facts. It is needless to remark how much this large body of exhalation, were it stagnant in the laboratory, might in the latter days generate disor- ders, and cause great mortality at the very moment when the abundant crop of cocoons was confidently expected. We must, therefore, deeply feel the neces- sity of attentively following the prescribed directions for avoiding this evil/' This is more minutely and clearly stated by the count in a calculation that he afterwards enters into for a single ounce. " The result of the most exact calculation is, that the quantity of leaves drawn from the trees, employed for each ounce of eggs, amounts 276 THE SILK WORM. to one thousand, six hundred and nine pounds, eight ounces, divided in the following manner. Sorted leaves. Refuse picked Loss by evaporation &c. from the leaves. during the whole period lbs. lbs. oz. of picking. 1st age 6 1 8 lbs. oz. 2d 18 3 105 3d 60 9 4th.... 180 27 142 8 5th 1098 102 1362 1362 142 8 1609 8 Relative to the refuse to be picked from the leaves, he observes : " Great care must be taken in picking and sorting the leaves for the feeding of the worms of the first ages, such as picking off all twigs, stalks, spots, &c; and to clear them as much as possible from all useless parts. This operation is most essential in the two first ages, when the leaves are to be chopped very small. In the third age, the sorting and picking is not of so much consequence, and still less so in the subsequent ages. The sorting and picking is of im- portance, inasmuch as it enables you to put fifteen or twenty per cent, less substance on the shelves, than would otherwise be done, which the worms do not eat. This substance increases the litter and the mois- ture, without necessity or motive. In the two last ages, leaves mixed with a quantity of boughs and stalks may be put on the hurdles, although it is known that the worms do not eat them; because at that period it would be too troublesome to sort so large a quantity perfectly, nor is there the same motive to do so. These substances being by this time grown large, hard and woody, are less liable to fermentation, al- though they may accumulate as litter. It has been observed that the leaves distributed on the hurdles per ounce of eggs were 1362 lbs. During the life of the silk worms there has been carried away from the hurdles, THE SILK WORM. 277 In gross litter. Of which in fecal substance existed lbs. oz. dr. lbs. oz. dr. In the 1st age 1 4 1 4 — 2d 4 8 1 3 — 3d 19 8 3 9 4 — 4th 60 18 9 4 — 5th 660 132 745 8 155 7 4 Deducting 155 lbs. 7 oz. 4 drs. from 745 lbs. 8 oz., there will remain 590 lbs. 4 drs. of vegetable substance; namely, in stalks, fruit, fragments, &c. not eaten by the worms; and subtracting the 590 lbs. 4 drs. from 1362 lbs. that had been laid on the hurdles, it will appear that the worms have only really consumed 771 lbs. 7 oz. 4 drs. of pure leaves. From which statement it ensues, 1. That to obtain a pound and a half of cocoons, it requires about 20 lbs. 4 oz. of leaves, as gathered from the trees; and that it requires 1609 lbs. 8 oz. to ob- tain 120 lbs. of cocoons .which an ounce of eggs should yield. 2. That this quantity of leaves gathered from the tree, deducting 142 lbs. 8 oz. of refuse and sorting, and 105 of decrease, by means of evaporation, it only requires 16 lbs. 8 oz. of pure leaf per lb. of cocoons, or 1362 lbs. for 120 lbs. of cocoons. 3. That subtracting from the 1362 lbs. the 590 lbs. 4 drs. of residue, such as branches, stalks, fruit, &c. which were taken off the hurdles with the litter, 9| lbs. of pure leaf have been sufficient to obtain 1^ lbs. of cocoons; and consequently 771 lbs. of leaves effectually eaten have sufficed to obtain 120 lbs. of cocoons. 4. That the 1362 lbs. of leaves distributed on the hurdles, having only yielded 745 lbs. 12 oz. of gross litter, and 120 lbs. cocoons, in all making 865 lbs. 12 oz. ; there is a loss escaped in gas, vapour and steam in the laboratory of 496 lbs. 4 oz. 24 278 THE SILK WORM. 5. That in a laboratory containing the worms pro- ceeding from 5 oz. of eggs, there must have escaped on each of the last six days of the fifth age, 300 or 450 lbs. of gas and vapour, invisibly to the eye. These latter statements present strong evidence how formidable the enemies are which assail the laboratory, and the need of ventilation. It is considered astonishing that one single worm, which, when first hatched, only weighs the hundredth part of a grain, should consume, in about thirty days, above an ounce of leaves ; that is to say, that it de- vours in vegetable substance about 60,000 times its primitive weight. Facts relative to the increase and decrease of silk worms in weight and size. Progressive Increase. grs. 100 worms just hatched weigh 1 After the 1st moulting 15 — 2d 94 — 3d 400 — 4th 1628 On attaining the greatest size 9500 Thus have they, within five weeks, increased 9500 times their primi- tive weight. Progressive Decrease. grs. 100 silk worms, when arrived at the highest 1 776O state of maturity, size, and perfection, weigh 5 100 chrysalides weigh 3900 100 female moths weigh 2990 100 male moths weigh 1700 100 female moths, after depositing eggs 980 100 female moths dying naturally, after having ~} 3 ™ laid the eggs, and nearly quite dried 5 Space Statistics. Animals that increase so ra- pidly in weight, must also increase in size. The infant worm, at the moment it ceases to be an em- bryo, is only one line, (one-twelfth of an inch,) in length : or its length through its successive periods may be thus stated : THE SILK WORM. 279 lines. inch. The length of the silk worm when just hatched is equal to 1 = JL After the 1st moulting its length is 4 = a — 2d 6=| — 3d 12= 1 — 4th 20 = If — 5th 40 — 3i The length of the silk worm is thus increased forty times within five weeks. But its length, from the period of the largest growth until it changes into the chrysalis, diminishes about two-fifths. The increase, however, in bulk of the silk worm, throughout its progressive ages, is a matter of prac- tical consequence. All writers on this topic, except Mr. Strong, seem agreed, jurare in verba magistri, to follow Dandolo. The latter says, the worms pro- ceeding from one ounce of eggs, should have a space — ft. in. In the 1 st age of. 7 4 square. — 2d 14 8 — — 3d 34 6 — — 4th 82 6 — — 5th 183 4 — Dr. Lardner increases a little these dimensions. But as, in a case of this nature, too much rather than too little, is the better error of the two, by merely rejecting the fraction, and taking the next greater integer, we furnish the following table, adapted to any quantity of worms, proceeding from one ounce to ten ounces. Ages. Feet square requisite on the shelves, for worms proceeding from One Ounce. Two Ounces. Three Ounces. Four Ounces. Five Ounces. Six Ounces. Seven Ounces. Eight Ounces. Nine Ounces. Ten Ounces. 1 8 16 24 32 40 48 56 64 72 80 2 15 30 45 60 75 90 105 120 135 150 3 35 70 105 140 175 210 245 280 315 350 4 83 166 249 j 332 415 498 581 664 747 830 5 184 368 552 ' 736 920 1104 12881472 1656 1840 280 THE SILK WORM. Mr. Strong of Germantown, from an experiment with five ounces, furnishes from the seventh to the thirty-third day, the following statement, by quoting the number of hurdles requisite each twelve square feet. Days. Hurdles. 7 11^ 8 13 9 13 10 13 11.. 13 12 18 13 27 14 27 15 30 Days. Hurdles. 16 34 17 34 18 34 19 34 20 34 21 34 22 51 23 51 24 70 Days. Hurdles. 25 70 26 70 27 87 28 87 29 87 30 87 31 90 32 108 33 112 CHAPTER III. ON THE REARING OF SILK WORMS FROM THE FIRST APPEARANCE OF THE LARVA UNTO THE CHRYSA- LIS OR COCOON. In the preceding parts of this work we have already attended to the preparation of the food, the house, the establishment, and furniture for the insect family, that, for five or six weeks, we intend to be our sum- mer guests, and we have not been negligent in giving precaution against the contingencies that might assail it from disease or vermin. That family, after the hatchment, to which also we have paid due atten- tion, is already announcing its approach on our threshold ; and the all-important question is, if it is ready to partake of our bounty, and repay us libe- rally in silken wealth, are we equally so, to satisfy, to the utmost, its physical wants, and to protect it against the insidious enemies, visible or invisible, to which it is liable. The food necessary to supply its wants, and the THE SILK WORM. 281 means requisite to maintain its health, must become prominent parts of this chapter. In a word, la table d'hote, the air, ventilation, temperature, and all the etiquette of daily service, must constitute the parts and parcels of the panoramic evolution now before us. Perhaps we had better put something of the latter first, since, when health is wanting, the host has little to do in the market ; for when the doctor is wanted, the cook has a holyday. Notwithstanding our propensity to vituperate the men of two thousand years ago, for their heathenism, superstition, &c, their common sense maxims, un- altered in validity to this day, are often, against our resolutions to the contrary, occurring to our recol- lection. "Est modus in rebus ; sunt certi denique fines, quos ultra, citraque nequit consistere rectum." There is a medium (a middle path between two ex- tremes) in all things ; in short, there are certain limits on either side of which, rectitude (prosperity or success) cannot exist. By observing which " aurea 7nediocritas" golden mean, we may in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, escape the Scylla on the one hand, and the Charybdis on the other. If we peruse the works of European culturists, we read the works of men that have to combat with the north-western blasts, nearly three-fourths of all that blow in the year, that sweep the immeasurable vapours of the Atlantic on European shores. Hence we hear of the artillery of their thermometers, ther- mometrographs, barometers, hygrometers, pluviome- ters, eudiometers, flash-fires, and all the paraphernalia of a Dandoliere. Here is one extreme ; suitable in- deed, at least to western Europe, and for some parts, even this is scarcely sufficient. On the other hand, the extreme, the unparalleled felicity of this climate, by some is so preached up, a climate so isothermal with that of China, where silk worms, as some dream, will live and thrive, whether any attention is paid to them or not, as if here care as to temperature is never necessary, whether a similar season to the year 24* 282 THE SILK WORM. 1816 should occur again or not, or without inquiring at what degree all the liquid gum in the secretors of the insect congeals, when all its previous toil, without an instant restoration of warmth, is rendered nugatory and useless. Unless we can in all climates of this Union from Maine to Louisiana, and in all years, through May and June at least, promise ourselves a temperature not less than 75°, the use of a thermometer, and of means requisite, if necessity exist, of raising the tem- perature to that degree, is advisable. Count Dandolo, in giving us his prescript, as to the successful rearing of the silk worm to the cocoon says, " I must suppose that the silk worms are kept until the first moulting at 75° of temperature ; between 73° and 75° until the second moulting ; between 71° and 73° until the third; and lastly between 68° and 71° until the fourth moult- ing." One of the foundations of the art of rearing silk worms is to know the various degrees of heat in which the silk worms should live ; if this precept be not enforced, nothing can be performed with ex- actness.* * On this subject the writer of an article on silk worms inserted in M. Rozier's Course of Agriculture, Paris edition, 1801, thus expresses him- self relative to heat suitable to the constitution and operations of these industrious animals. " It cannot be said that silk worms are injured by any degree of heat in these climates, however considerable it may be. Native of Asia, it must needs be accustomed to heat more intense than it can experience in Europe. But the sudden changes from moderate to violent heat, or the reverse, are injurious. In its native climate it is not exposed to those vicissitudes, and, therefore, thrives well, without requiring all the care we are obliged to bestow on it. We must not lose sight of the fact, that it is not heat that affects the silk worm, but. sudden transitions from one temperature to another. Such as making it pass from 68° to 77° in one day. If it be necessary to hasten the worms in consequence of the advanced state of the mulberry leaf, which cannot be retarded, it should be done gradually, so that they perceive not the alteration. M. Boissier de Sauvagues will show us by his experiments, to what degree the heat may be raised in rearing silk worms, without fear of injuring them. ' One year, when hurried by the early growth of the mulberry leaves, which were developed towards the latter end of April, I gave the silk worms 100° of heat during the two first THE SILK WORM. 283 On the subject of the amount of food necessary to be given to any given quantity of worms, Mr. Corn- stock says, " though we have not much faith in feed- ing worms by arbitrary mathematical rules, yet as they may be of some practical use to the culturist, in ascertaining the amount of food necessary to be pro- vided for his family of worms, we give them, in brief extracts, from the manual published by authority of Congress in 1828. In doing this, we shall give the amount prescribed on each consecutive day of days after hatching, and about 95° during the remainder of the first and second age, there elapsed only nine days from the hatching until the second moulting inclusively. The walls and wicker hurdles were so heated that they could scarcely be touched. All thought they must perish ; but all went on well, and to their great surprise, I had a most abundant crop. I afterwards tried giving the silk worms in their first age from 93° to 95° ; 89° to 91° in the second age, and it is remarkable, that the duration of these two ages was nearly similar to that of the pre- ceding experiment. It is singular that these worms thus hastened in their two first stages, consume only five days in moulting the third and fourth time, although with only a temperature of 82°; whilst those worms that have not been hastened, take seven or eight days for each of the two last moultings in an exactly similar degree of temperature. It appears suf- ficient to have given the constitution of the insect an impetus to re- gulate the quick succession of its changes. This impetus which we have described, as productive of such accelerated growth, also gives the insect additional vigour and activity, which they preserve through their after ages, and prevents diseases. Thus the hastened or forced cultiva- tion presents a double advantage. It also shortens the care and at- tendance necessary for silk worms, and sooner terminates the solicitude of the cultivator, who must necessary feel anxiety until the cocoon is gathered. To follow this method it is requisite to observe well the ad- vancement of the season ; the shooting of the mulberry leaf, whether it is checked by cold ; if, again, the growth of the leaf is delayed, and the heat should soon after set in, and ripen it more quickly than was ex- pected, it would be advantageous then to hasten the worms by heat; for if they are allowed to delay from want of heat, their first age is prolong- ed, and the mulberry leaf will grow, and harden, and become unfit for them. The essential point is that their progress should follow that of the mulberry leaf. If cultivators adopt this method, they must put the eggs to hatch ten days later than they would require to be laid to hatch in the ordinary way. And they must calculate the duration of the dif- ferent ages of the worm, and so manage that the completion of the rear- ing or fourth age should fall into the time in which the leaf has attained its full growth.' " 284 THE SILK WORM. their life, without regard to the day of their respective ages." But that work as well as every other manual pub- lished in this country, are evidently derived from the canons of Dandolo : and what is certainly very singu- lar, every one of them appears to be under a complete misconception relative to the number of worms for which the prescript of our Italian oracle is given. Hence Count Dandolo, Count de Hazzi, and M. Bona- foux, have been understood as prescribing different quantities of leaves for the same number of worms. Whereas a little investigation would have shown that instead of discrepancy, the different, not the same number of worms as most imagine, they contemplate being considered, there is evidently a remarkable agreement in the three authorities quoted. To show, however, that some discrepancy in their proportions have been commonly understood, it is only necessary to quote as follows from Mr. Corn- stock : " Count Dandolo calculates that 200,000 worms will consume 7000 lbs. of leaves. Count de Hazzi calculates that the same number of worms will require 10,000 lbs. of leaves. Mr. Bonafoux says that 200,000 worms were sustained by 7217 lbs. of leaves. The quantity, however, given them between the regular meals was not taken into the account, and the leaves were chopped during the first stages, which enables the worms to consume them with less waste." We now arrive at another version of Count Dan- dolo's meaning, in Mr. Roberts' Manual, where we read, " the quantity of food is the proportion given to the worms hatched from five ounces of eggs, which according to our reading, means 100,000 !" Here is discrepancy, the one supposes the count, by five ounces, to mean and provide for 200,000 worms, the other for only 100,000! How ungracious must this said count have been, to put our mathematics to so severe a test as to divine what number of worms he really did mean by five ounces of eggs. THE SILK WORM. 285 Though the count does not inform us of the num- ber of worms of the feeding of which he furnishes us an example, yet his statistics are clear, and will afford data sufficient to satisfy such further inquiries as are necessary. They are founded on a basis, fixed, from which, in general illustration, he does not swerve, that whilst it serves as a well defined unit, in consequence, admits of variations such as the contingencies he supposes may occasion. Hence we are duly informed that in the example given for general instruction, the experiment is not with the small worm of three moultings, for then should we have 42,620 eggs to the Milanese ounce ; nor yet with the large silk worm obtained from Friuli, when our calculations would have reference to 37,440 eggs to the ounce ; but to what he defines as the " common silk worm of four moultings" whose eggs he inva- riably quotes at 39,168 to the ounce of Milan. This, then, is the common measure, or measuring unit of the count's statistics, and to which his subsequent proportions refer. It is not 39,168 worms, but 39,1 6S eggs ; and how many of the former the latter will be, we are duly informed will depend on circumstances, not merely on the quality and preservation of the eggs, but on our careful and vigilant attention, not only in the hatch, but in the whole management of this interesting and profitable animal. From this unit, this starting place, we are, then, guided by a skilful hand, and our next step is to know that the quantity to which the count's feeding proportions refer, is the worms proceeding from five ounces of the kind of eggs specified. Hence the assumption is not warranted that the Italian experimentalist is giving us a lesson on feeding five times 39,1 6S or 195,840 worms, much less 200,000, as some have supposed, as if 40,000 were the proceed of an ounce ; nor is there on the other hand, any need, in making liberal allowances for negligent culture, to sink so low in the calculation, as to suppose that five ounces will only yield 100,000 surviving worms, or 20,000 286 THE SILK WORM. to the ounce, provided that we devote to the under- taking any thing like the almost paternal care of the patriarch Dandolo. He that manifests devotedness like his to any grand object of national industry, is questionless the true patriot ; a word, whether derived from pater or patria, in spite of our etymological subtleties, implies some thing parental. We are aware of the allowances to be made for the occa- sional foibles of every devoted parent : we have made them ; we have rejected the chaff and retain only the wheat ; and have the offspring, the silk culture, of full stature and healthy condition, and such as is capable of the reproduction of its own like in these transatlantic climes. After making these allowances, we are prepared to say, that out of all the numerous authors on this subject, whether of Asia, Europe, or America, with which we have long been acquainted, we know of not one to whom he is second. All the rest are either copyists, or the care, the minuteness, the science, they exemplify, will admit of no comparison with those of the archetype of Varese. It is, per- haps, time, therefore, that he should speak for him- self. At page 195 he says, "The result of my experiments proves that 360 silk worms, produce about one pound and a half of cocoons." Therefore 240 silk worms of the kind, constantly implied, and fed from the white mulberry with the care he supposes, yield, on the average one pound of cocoons. And from this doc- trine he does not vacillate throughout the whole of his statistical inferences. Deviations, indeed, he supposes possible, but they are always considered by him as the result of some corresponding variation from the management, the example of which he proposes to our view as the standard. We thus, therefore, obtain a kind of measuring equation, which will enable us to decipher not only the contingent fluctuations above or below the zero, which he contemplates as the standard, but also to ascertain the number of surviving THE SILK WORM. 287 worms which he evidently supposes, whether from one, five, or any other number of ounces, to be varia- ble and not fixed, unless the conditions he specifies be fulfilled. On this point his language is sufficiently definite. " I must make a few general remarks on the enor- mous difference in results, which real care," or the want of it, "produces. I do not here mean to allude to the slight and partial differences, that may be con- sidered as only exceptions and accidental, but of those which are caused by ignorant and ill-directed ma- nagement. Hitherto it has been generally thought, in quoting facts and experiments, that whatever were the quantity of eggs intended for a laboratory, the quan- tity of cocoons never bore any proportion to that of the eggs; but that on the contrary the greater the quantity of eggs, the less the proportion of cocoons." This is, questionless, an expose of the mismanagement and negligence existing even in the silk districts of Italy, before Dandolo taught there a more correct and phi- losophical doctrine. " These differences it should be known, do not de- pend on the organization or natural condition of the silk worm, but are solely to be ascribed to error and ignorance. Facts, and most evident reason surely prove that, if the silk worms have had space, if the degrees of temperature have been exactly regulated, if the necessary quantity and quality of food have been given, and that all the care I have recommended has been practised, the quantity of cocoons should be and always will be, proportioned to the quantity of eggs that were hatched. Those who do not obtain this result should attribute their failure to the er- roneous system they have adopted. My laboratories are of various sizes ; that which I am going to de- scribe is calculated for the reception of the worms proceeding from five ounces of eggs. The other laboratories equally yield cocoons in proportion to the eggs which I have hatched." 288 THE SILK WORM. " I should allow the advantage of my manner of rearing silk worms to be most trifling, if it were only in the produce of the 110 or 120 lbs. of cocoons from each ounce of eggs, which others obtain, con- suming the same quantity of leaves, and differing only in the hatching of two ounces of eggs. But as I said before, the great and principal aim of the art of rear- ing silk worms, is to obtain from one given quantity of mulberry leaves the greatest possible number of cocoons of the finest quality. It is not the trifling loss of an ounce of eggs which should induce a change of system, but the following advantages : for it is a true fact, that "1. When, with one ounce of eggs, 110 or 120 lbs. of cocoons are obtained, about 1650 lbs. of the mul- berry leaf will be used. "2. That when only 55 or 60 lbs. of cocoons are produced from one ounce of eggs, about 1050 lbs. of mulberry leaves have been used." Under this sup- position it would appear that 2100 lbs. of leaves are requisite to produce 110 or 120 lbs. of cocoons! "3. That 110 or 120 lbs. of cocoons obtained from one ounce of eggs, are worth a great deal more than a similar quantity procured from two ounces of eggs. It is easy to prove these facts rational. "I stated that 39,168 eggs, which constitute one ounce, might produce about 165 lbs. of cocoons." That is on the supposition that the 39,168 eggs be- come 39,168 worms, and that they survive, and pro- duce each a cocoon. "If, on this statement, we consider the loss of worms to be great, when we obtain only 120 lbs. of cocoons from one ounce of eggs, the loss will be essentially greater, should we only obtain 60 lbs. It is natural to suppose that by this greater mortality, a greater consumption of leaves should result, as the worms which do not reacn the consummation of the cocoon, feed more or less, as well as those which accomplish the cocoon. THE SILK WORM. 289 " The great mortality of the worms must also affect the quality of the cocoon. For who could suppose that two-thirds of the worms proceeding from one ounce of eggs should die without some error or want of care? In this case, are we not justified in think- ing that part of those that remain are weakened and injured? This inference would be still more forcible, if, as it frequently happens, that the 60 lbs. of cocoons be reduced," (what, in Italy ?) " to 45, to 30, 15 lbs., &c. " Whereas, if one ounce of eggs should produce, by the means I have stated, 120 lbs. of cocoons, they will be fine, and will sell well. 360 worms will pro- duce \\ lbs. of cocoons, (i. e. 240 to the pound,) and 11 or 12 ounces of these cocoons will yield an ounce of exquisitely fine silk. But when only 50 or 60 lbs. of cocoons proceed from an ounce of eggs, it may be generally presumed that they are of inferior quality and not so valuable, and that it will require 400 at least to make \\ lbs., (about 267 worms to one pound of cocoons,) and above 13 ounces of these cocoons, instead of 1 1 or 12 ounces, will be wanted to form one ounce of silk. " Moreover, when the worms have not been pro- perly managed, there is no certainty as to the quan- tity of cocoons that will be gathered ; and it happens continually, that the same cultivator will, from the same quantity of eggs, and the same quality in the leaves, obtain at one time a number of cocoons, at another time few, and sometimes none. It would be interesting therefore, as well to the government as to the individual, to compare the quantity and quality of the cocoons produced on my plan with those pro- duced on the system which is generally adopted. If it were afterwards calculated, the loss occasioned by ignorance every year would doubtless cause astonish- ment." Independently of the valuable information of prac- tical consequence, that we gain through these re- marks, we also learn that the count's ratio between 25 290 THE SILK WORM. the number of worms that arrive at maturity to spin, and the weight in Milan pounds of cocoons is 240 ; that is, if the whole be conducted with that degree of skill and care, which is necessary to constitute the medium, the unit of statistical calculation, and that to which the count's proportions, given in the diary, con- stantly refer. And as he also reckons, on the same condition, on 120 lbs. of cocoons to the ounce of eggs, it is evident that he is supposing that he is making a continued provision for 120 times 240 for every ounce of eggs in his laboratory ; or for 28,800 surviving worms proceeding from the 39,168 eggs that constitute a Milan ounce ; which makes the am- ple allowance of 10,368 for such contingency and mortality as might occur, on the average of seasons and circumstances, even under the unremitting vigi- lance of a Dandolo. Now as he here expressly in- forms us that he is making provision for five such ounces, or five times 28,800, and since he elsewhere, at least, twice says, that experience authorizes him to expect from such an example as he presents us for general illustration, 600 lbs. of cocoons, which as before observed are at the rate of 240 worms to the pound, from these separate and distinct premises, 240 x 120 x .5, and 600 x 240 we arrive at the same result, viz. 144,000 surviving worms, or the ivorms which out of Jive Milan ounces of the eggs of the common silk worm of four moultings will, with the very practicable care, and laudable zeal of Dan- dolo, on the average of seasons and circumstances, ultimately, spin cocoons. But it is here unnecessary to reduce these Milan pounds or ounces, or the num- ber of eggs or worms to which they refer, to English ounces or pounds ; since as the quantity of leaves prescribed for each day, is administered by the same kind of weight, the proportionality will be not dis- turbed. Hence the quantity of leaves prescribed for every day of the diary of Count Dandolo, is neither for the 200,000 worms seen through the convex glasses of Judge Comstock, nor for the 100,000 viewed THE SILK WORM. 291 through the concave lens of Mr. Roberts, but for the 144,000 surviving worms predestinated not by Cal- vin's but by Daudolo's decrees, under implied cir- cumstances, out of five Milanese ounces, to spin cocoons. With this understanding we shall find that the proportions prescribed respectively by Count Dan- dolo, Count de Hazzi and M. Bonafoux, are consist- ent, and are not either discrepant or contradictory as they have been erroneously represented. The whole consideration terminates in the simple re- suit that 10,000 lbs. of white mulberry leaves are necessary, during the five weeks of feeding for 200,000 silk worms; and consequently one pound of the same kind of leaves are requisite for every 20 worms. That is, 350 grains at least to constitute from 68 to 73 grains in the substance of the insect at its maximum size ; and therefore 12 lbs. of white mulberry leaves, at least, are necessary, to produce one pound of cocoons, and between eight and nine times that quantity, or 100 lbs. of the same leaf, to yield one pound of silk. After these preliminary observations it is now re- quisite that we turn our attention to our young family, which by this time will have important claims on our services. Prior to our entrance into the cocoonery of a large scale, or one of five ounces, the count gives an example of a smaller establishment, or the labora- tory of a single ounce. Of this, since in certain cases, it may have its use, we shall here give the outline. The silk worms proceeding from one ounce of eggs consume In the first age ; 6 lbs. of white mulberry leaves well sorted, and chopped very small ; to which 5 lbs. of the leaves of the morus multicaulis will be equal. In the second age ; of the white mulberry leaf, they consume 18 lbs. ; sorted, clean, and chopped rather more coarsely than in the first age ; of the multicaulis leaf, about 15 lbs. In the third age; of the white mulberry leaf 292 THE SILK WORM. they consume 60 lbs. well sorted and less chopped ; of the multicaulis 50 lbs. In the fourth age; of the white mulberry leaf, 180 lbs. well sorted and still less chopped than that of the third age : of the multicaulis 144 lbs. In the fifth age ; of the white mulberry leaf 1100 lbs. ; of the multicaulis 8S0 lbs. The above, of course, is given as a general rule, or one on the supposition of ordinary circumstances and care. We are informed that even a variation in the season will have an influence on the requisite quantity of leaves. If the leaf be injured by the season, and the proportion of nutritive matter it con- tains lessened, a greater quantity to produce the same effect will be necessary ; and vice versa, if the nutri- tive proportion of the leaf be increased, a quantity less than the medium prescribed will realize the hopes of the culturist. The above will serve as an outline of manipulation on a small scale. In following out the detail, how- ever, for the sake of variety, we will repair to the large laboratory, or establishment for ivorms pro- ceeding from Jive ounces of eggs. For small quantities, of course, as already observed, spare buildings or apartments, may often serve; but we must now suppose the previous building of a re- gular cocoonery, of which we have already given an example. It is proper that at the commencement, the shelves should be numbered, 1, 2, 3, 4, &c. through- out. The quantity of eggs to be hatched ought not to be more than will leave room, within the cocoonery, and according to the number of shelves that we can conveniently furnish therein, sufficient for the full de- velopment of the worm, or for their accommodation at their utmost growth. The eggs should have been divided by weight into ounces or half ounces, and each parcel kept apart. It would be better, supposing the number of shelves to be 30, 35, 40 or upwards, to divide into half ounces, and so to apportion them, as to leave a number of THE SILK WORM. 293 spare shelves; and if the eggs be good, and the pro- duce more than an average, to distribute them into more space than they would ordinarily occupy. But the distribution on the shelves according to the order or date of their hatching, and according to distinctive numbers on the shelves and as duly recorded in a diary, which will be kept by every accurate culturist, should be observed throughout. We have already remarked that several recent authors have estimated from 35,000 to 40^000 or even upwards to the ounce ; and we have seen that Count Dandolo quotes the definite number of 39,168 eggs of the common silk worm of four moultings to the Milan ounce; of which, it is evident, that the whole of his prescriptive measures are proportioned to the suppo- sition, that with the standard treatment, he sanctions 28,800 worms will survive to the cocoon, which we have already determined to be equivalent to 36,244 eggs and to 26,650 surviving worms to the English ounce avoirdupois. In the application of space, this latter number is to be regarded as a necessary element in our calculation ; but as it is quoted as a medium, and a contingent deviation, if any, might be in our favour rather than to the contrary, it will be acknow- ledged that of too much or too little space, an appro- priation of the former, will be the less evil of the two. With this allotment then of space, which in all cases should be such, that there be no necessity for the worms touching one another, we may suppose that the worms are now properly distributed on the shelves, and each in the enjoyment of as much or more space around, as its exclusive province or prin- cipality, as existed in the sweep of the eye of Thomp- son's insect on the dome of St. Paul's cathedral. All things then are ready, and we expect that the super- intendent is more than ready, and has counted, long since, the heads of his future manipulations, on the tips of his fingers, as accurately as the Roman orator. We see him then at work. The panorama of the 25* 294 THE SILK WORM. cocoonery, the tout ensemble is before us. We see that zeal, the spirit of his office, actuates the man ; which whilst it is the logic that suits his own pocket, benefits the nation. Patriotism, or even a nondescript philanthropy, not provided for by Linnseus, often effects the most, when it begins with a little thing, an insect for example; and here even selfishness, how ever paradoxical, must benefit another ! This zeal, we perceive, has dictated to this superintendent the propriety of a book of record, a diary, a book of me- moranda, or a faithful register of every event, each according to its respective date, of every thing that can concern the hatch, or hatches, if he have more than one, the moultings, the ages or quantity of leaves administered during each, the temperature, in short, every occurrence, especially of a statistical character, that can be comprised within the whole history be- tween the egg and the reel. Leaves are now to be thinly scattered over the shelves. It is not absolutely necessary that the hur- dles should be used till the third age. The young larvee will run about, and leave the shelves, if food be not given them immediately after their exodus from the shell. They will never leave the feeding shelves till they rise to spin, provided that they be duly supplied with food, proper in quality, sufficient in quantity, and at the time they require it. The fol- lowing cut represents the worms just emerged from the shell, during the first age. Fig. 5. REARING OF THE WORMS. First age : First day. To the worms proceeding from five ounces of eggs, on the first day of their existence in the larva state, are to be given, in proper proportions, at successive meals, two hours apart, of the white mulberry leaf, about 3| lbs., chopped very small ; giving the smallest quantity for the first feed- THE SILK WORM. 295 ing, and gradually increasing the quantity at each successive meal ; of the multicaulis leaf, the quantity may be 3 lbs. The benefit of giving the leaf, at this early stage of the worm, in a state of minute division, by chopping, is evident. The more the leaf is chopped, the more fresh cat edges exist, on which the little mandibles of the infant operatives can fasten. In this state, they bite the leaf quickly, and consume it before it is withered. If care be not taken thus to chop the leaf small, and to give the young worms sufficient space at first, and more as they need it, a greater number will be liable to perish, by disease, or from difficulties they want strength to encounter at an age so early. The worm that cannot eat, dwindles, becomes extenuated, weak, and unsupported, and, consequently, perishes under the leaf. Count Dandolo fed his worms regularly four times every day. From this medium, in practice, there are at least two variations. Some give the whole quan- tity for the day at once ! This mode is liable to seve- ral objections ; others divide Dandolo's four meals into from eight to twelve, which, we think, gives an indication that the party is determined to realize good cocoons. The worms, too, should be fed not only by day, but by night. Whatever number of meals are given during the twenty-four hours, it will be easy to give the whole quantity of leaves prescribed for the day, in corresponding proportions. Second day. On this day, of the white mulberry leaf, give, at four regular meals, about 6 lbs. chopped very small. Let the first meal be the least, and in- crease gradually to the last : of the multicaulis, give about 5 lbs. There will now appear some evident change in the appearance of the worm. It begins to lose its dingy and bristled aspect, and the head perceptibly enlarges and whitens. Third day. Give at four meals this day, of soft 296 THE SILK WORM. white mulberry leaves, chopped very small, about 12 lbs.: of the multicaulis, about 10 lbs. The worms are now feeding with avidity. The head of the worm continues to become whiter, the insect to grow larger, the former bristly appearance to vanish, and the skin is assuming a sort of hazel colour. When viewed through a convex lens, their surface looks shining, and their head, a silvery white, somewhat like mother of pearl, and transparent. Fourth day. As the worm approaches the moulting, a diminution of appetite occurs. Of the white mulberry, give about 6 lbs. 12 oz. ; let the first meal be about 2 lbs. 4 oz., and the rest gradually de- crease to the last. Of the multicaulis, give about 5i lbs. And let it be remembered, that in this first age, it is of importance to give the insects plenty of room, by gently separating and spreading them, to avoid as much as possible their sleeping, on the verge of moulting, in heaps. At the beginning of this day, the first appearances of the approaching change are indicated. The worms begin to shake their heads, and thus express uneasiness at the increasing tension of their skin. Some are now eating very little ; keep their head in an elevated position ; their body appears transparent; those nearer the moulting time, when seen against the light, are of a yellow, livid tinge; but the greater number, at the close of the day, appear torpid, and cease to eat. Fifth day. Of the young leaves of the white mul- berry, \h lbs. only, chopped small will be sufficient. These chopped leaves scattered lightly on those parts of the shelves, where worms appear to be still feed- ing. Of course, where variations from the general state be perceived, and some are still willing to eat, more leaves may be given. The discretion of the careful superintendent, here and in all similar cases must be exercised. Towards the end of the day, however, in the gene- ral case, the worms are torpid, and a few begin even THE SILK WORM. 297 to revive. After the first moulting the silk worm is of a dark ash colour, showing distinctly a peculiar vermicular motion, and the rings that mechanically assist that motion contract and dilate their intervening distance more freely than before. When the weather admits of it, the leaves should be gathered several hours before the meal is given ; they last very well a day, and more if kept in a damp cool place. General remarks on the first age. — The first age of this industrious animal, at the temperature here assigned as a medium, is almost always one of five days. In this age the silk worms proceeding from five ounces of eggs have, of the white mulberry consumed about 30 lbs. sorted, picked and chopped leaves. If the refuse of the leaves picked off and rejected be estimated, its proportion will be about 4% lbs. making the quantity taken from the trees to be in all 34£ lbs., or about 7 lbs. of leaves to each ounce of worms. In this age, the air of the cocoon- ery should be renewed only by opening the doors. Second age. — About 73 ft. 4 in. square of shelf space will be, for the accommodation of the growing family proceeding from 5 ounces necessary until the accomplishment of the second moulting, or comple- tion of this second age. These, as before observed, should always be covered with strong paper, or pro- per pasteboard. The temperature during this age, as recommended by Dandolo, "should be" says he, be- tween 73° and 75°. Prescribing as to temperature in a hot country in juxtaposition with Juue or July, appears of course, a little arbitrary; a subject, for want of room here, we shall further consider in the subjoined note.* The insects should not be raised * We must remember that Count Dandolo wrote in the northern parts of Italy, between the elevated regions of the Alps on the one side, and the Apennines on the other ; by the fanning breezes of whose snow capt tops, and his ventilators, what cooling zephyrs Dandolo could command, we poor panting lizards in an American July know little. It has been very properly asked, how are we to command the temperature 298 THE SILK WORM. from their litter until they are nearly all revived. There will ensue no detriment if we wait till nearly all discover a disposition to move, even should it be for twenty or thirty hours from the time when they first began to revive.* Important changes are to walk down to 73° or 75°, when even in the shade without, the thermometer is raging from 90° to 100°. At this time little current exists in the external air, and consequently all common ventilators are then of little promise. This reminds us of an admirable convenience in common use, particularly amongst the affluent voluptuaries in Bengal and India, but as yet too little known in this country. Since there, even in the latter part of January, the thermometer sometimes rises to 90°, we may easily conceive what the tropical temperature of India fre- quently is in the months of June, July, and August, especially to those, whose means allow them not the luxury of spending their days under the punkha. The punkha is a large frame, or in longer rooms, frames of wood, each covered with painted canvass, and so caused to be suspended by ropes, or to swing on hinges, that when the one is moved, they all oscil- late with the same pendulous vibration, and according to their extent of surface, command, a less or greater current of air in the room. It is generally hung over the dining table, and is there intended to answer the end of a fan. In India, a servant stands on one side of the room, and holds the rope, fastened to the middle of it, and keeps drawing the punkha to him, and then letting it go again. In this manner, the air being agitated, the region under the punkha becomes comparatively cool. In hot weather, some Europeans sit under the punkha from morning to night, and put their couch under it, in the day, when they take a nap. We understand, also, from respectable authority, that the flies, mus- quitoes and gnats, that prowl in the air, and take the liberty, without asking leave, of going a pilgrimage across the Indian aristocrat's nose, when he is enjoying his afternoon sieste, are particularly opposed to this innovation of their privileges. Several of these punkhas are kept going in the mission church at Calcutta during divine service. A valu- able hint for American churches, in June and July. An evident im- provement would be, instead of using a servant, to let the whole move by a pendulum. When a current is sufficiently produced in the co- coonery, stop the pendulum, or set it agoing when wanted, ad libitum. (If we can persuade our friend, who talks of manufacturing an im- proved pattern of the punkha, he will send it to the cocoonery office, or establishment of the Morodendron Silk Company, for inspection. It is time that we Americans, in our houses, our courts, our churches, our cocooneries, in June, July and August, should know the value and use of the Indian punkha.) * During the first age too many cultivators destroy the health and life of a number of worms for want of sufficient attention ; and consequently beyond that age, they have worms of unequal growth and advancement, an inconvenience never after remedied. This inequality and the evils THE SILK WORM. 299 effected by the first moulting. The organs assume greater consistency. The scaly muzzle which they lose by moulting is replaced by another which the air indurates ; and till the small jaws or mandibles have acquired sufficient hardness, they cannot, in certain cases, with an expedition equal to what their seasonable advance to maturity requires, divide the leaves. With the aid of a convex lens, we immedi- ately perceive the efforts, to the expense of which, an unassisted worm of this age, is liable, in gnawing the leaf. Sixth day. Of the ivhite mulberry give now 9 lbs. of young tender shoots, and 9 lbs. of leaves, well picked and chopped small.* Of the multicaulis this is equal to 15 lbs. Experience has proved that the silk worms like the tender boughs so much, that they remain crowded on them even when the leaves are consumed, and evince a reluctance to return to the litter below. This re- mark will doubtless afford a hint to the provident cul- turist in affording the requisite accommodations for the health and comfort of animals that repay in propor- tion to the care expended on them. When the worms resulting from it, are caused, 1st, By not having placed the silk worms in space proportional to their growth in the course of their first age, which has allowed of some feeding well, whilst others could not feed, of some remaining under the litter, others on it, the latter having the bene- fit of free air, the former not. In moulting, if those that moult sooner than others, and are under the leaf, this important change is retarded. 2dly, By not having placed the sheets of silk worms hatched on the first day in the coolest parts of the laboratory. 3dly, By not having placed the latest hatched worms in the hottest parts of the laboratory. 4th, And lastly, by not having given the last hatched worms intermediate meals, to bring on their growth a little faster. * Tn recommending that the leaves be chopped small, we are rather inclined to follow experienced culturists in Europe and America than our own judgment and experience in the matter. We think, excepting perhaps in the first age, that nature has furnished the silk worm with means to devour food, if they can get it, whether chopped or not. Their own choppers are machines which never fail them. But in some case3 nature may be improved upon, more especially if art and nature are combined. 300 THE SILK WORM. have been removed to clean hurdles, those they have left should be thoroughly cleansed. From the first day of the rearing of silk worms, un- til the first moulting, these insects have consumed 30 lbs. of leaves ; 22 lbs. 8 oz. have contributed to their growth, or have evaporated in the first age. The worms void a small portion of foeces resembling fine black powder, of the 7 lbs. 8 oz. of remaining sub- stance there are only about 10 oz. of excremental matter. Seventh day. Of the white mulberry give 30 lbs. of chopped leaves ; divided into four portions to be given at intervals of six hours; but an improvement would be to divide into ten or twelve portions, given at intervals of two to three hours each. The first meals less plentiful than those which follow. Of the multicaulis, this quantity is equivalent to 24 lbs. The body of the worm now acquires a clear hue ; the head enlarges and becomes whiter. Continue to pay an unremitting attention to the equal distribution, as to space, of the worms. Place boughs wher- ever they appear to be too thick, on which they will immediately fasten, and may thus be removed or dis- tributed to fill up places not sufficiently covered. Eighth day. . Give now, of the white mulberry 33 lbs. of chopped and well picked leaves ; and at this time let the two or three first meals be the largest. Of the multicaulis leaves, give 21 lbs. These leaves, distribute at each meal with attention, and as far as possible proportionate to the degree of avidity disco- verable by the worm ; since it becomes again the period when the voracity of the worm, consequent on the approach of the second moulting, begins to abate, which they soon indicate by the usual prognos- tics of rearing their heads and declining to eat. Ninth day. Of the white mulberry, 9 lbs. only of picked leaves and chopped small, will be re- quired, distributed in the same manner as before. Scatter the proportions lightly, and with discriminat- THE SILK WORM. 301 ing care over the worms. Of the multicaulis, about 7 lbs. will be sufficient. On this day our metempsychosin insect, which seems almost to have been the primitive instructer of the Samian philosopher, is again discovering its pe- riodic restlessness for change. It is sinking into a torpor. The next day its old wardrobe is disposed of, and it becomes as eager or more of its third life, as it was of the first. General remarks on the conclusion of the second age. In the four days of this age our young colony has consumed about 90 lbs. of picked leaves of the white mulberry. If to this we add a refuse of 15 lbs. rejected from the picked leaves, 105 lbs. have been drawn from the trees, that is, at the rate of 21 lbs. for every ounce of silk worms. To these three proportions, 12 lbs., 84 lbs., and 17 lbs. of the multi- caulis respectively correspond. Their colour now is become of a light grey, the hair has become so much shorter as to be hardly per- ceptible to the eye. The muzzle, which in the first age was very black, hard and scaly, became im- mediately on moulting white and soft, now becomes again black, shining and shelly as before, and as the insect becomes older, at each moulting, its muzzle hardens, because it needs to saw and bite larger and older leaves. Third age. — Tenth day. Give of white mulberry 15 lbs. of small shoots and 15 lbs. of the picked leaves, chopped small. At the close of the age, they may be more coarsely chopped. To this quantity, 24 lbs. of the multicaulis are equivalent. The worms that have accomplished this age should not be removed from the shelves until they are nearly roused. Part will rouse on the ninth and part on the tenth day. No injurious consequence will ensue, if the 26 302 THE SILK WORM. part that has revived should wait 12 or 15 hours till the rest are ready. A never failing sign that they are roused is the undulatory motion they display with their head, when horizontally blown over. It will ever be incumbent on the superintendent, or person who has a leading interest in the concern, fre- quently to inspect the operations of the feeders, to see that the food is at all times equally distributed, ac- cording to the varying wants on different portions of the shelves. Redundant leaves, though a loss, is still an inconvenience less than the accumulation of an un- necessary portion of litter, which may ferment and produce noxious evaporation and disease. Eleventh day. Of the ivhite mulberry, give at sepa- rate meals 90 lbs. of picked and chopped leaves; of the multicaulis 72 lbs. The first meals should be the least ; the reason of this, the worms themselves will explain, since it is in the latter part of the day, that they now become voraciously hungry. Twelfth day. Of the white mulberry, 97 lbs. of pick- ed leaves will be wanted, chopped and divided into the usual number of meals ; the first being most plentiful. Towards evening, the hunger begins to abate, the last meal therefore on this day should be the least. To this quantity, of the multicaulis, IS lbs. will be equivalent. The worms now grow fast ; their skins become whiter, their bodies semitransparent, and their heads longer, and the contortions they make show that their change approaches. Thirteenth day. 52 \ lbs. of chopped white mul- berry leaves will now be sufficient. 42 lbs. of the mul- ticaulis. Give in the usual number of meals, the largest first, the last meal the least, feeding those only that require it. Should a greater number of silk worms on one table be torpid, whilst others continue to require food, give only a slight meal without wait- ing for the stated hour of feeding, in order to satisfy them, that they may sink into torpor speedily. Care of this kind is important, and intermediate meals oc- THE SILK WORM. 303 casionally given, and by discretion administered, is beneficial. Fourteenth day. Of the tvhite mulberry, 21 lbs. of picked and chopped leaves will be sufficient, in or- dinary cases, more or less, as occasion requires. To this medium supply, of multicaulis leaves 22 lbs. will be equivalent. Indications of silk now begin to appear from the occasional depositions of the insect. The worm now manifests inclination for solitude and free space to slumber in. It either climbs the edge of paper, the elevated stalks or leaves, or in failure of that, on the litter; it rears its head and ex- presses its uneasiness. Immediately on the verge of change, they void all gross excrementitious matter ; a yellow and semitransparent lymph only occupies the intestinal tube, and constitutes nearly the only fluid remaining in the animal. This also is that which prior to their change gives them a yellowish white colour like amber. Whilst the worms thus prepare for the moulting, sufficiently clear, by moderate ventilation, the air of the cocoonery. Fifteenth day. On this day, the rousing of the silk worms, which they begin to manifest, is an indication of the completion of the third age. Fig. 7. General remarks on the third age. In six days, under ordinary circumstances, the worm passes through its third age, in which those proceeding from 5 ounces of eggs, on the same condition, have con- sumed 300 lbs. of leaves and young shoots. If to this be added 45 lbs. of refuse rejected by picking, 345 lbs. have been taken from the trees : i. e. at the rate of 69 lbs. to the ounce. The muzzle of the silk worm, daring the third age, has maintained a reddish ash colour ; it is no longer 304 THE SILK WORM. shining and black, as it appeared in the first ages, but now becomes more lengthened and prominent. The head and body also are much enlarged since the cast- ing even of the skin, or before they have eaten at all ; a proof that they were straitened in the skin they have cast, and being now unconfined, the natural speci- fic density or rarefaction of their substance, has expand- ed them at the ordinary rate of atmospheric pressure. At the completion of this age, the body of the silk worm is more wrinkled, they become of a yellowish white or fawn colour, and, without a glass, no hairi- ness is visible. In this third age, we first hear a pe- culiar hissing noise, when the worms are feeding, similar to that produced by the burning of green wood. This noise does not, however, proceed from the action of the jaws, but from the continual motion of the feet, sounding not unlike a soft shower of rain, until the worms fasten on their wood, when this co- coonery music ceases. Fourth age. The worms, with proper care, sur- viving now from five ounces, should have a space equal to 412 square feet, and should be equally dis- tributed as already prescribed, and the temperature should be not less than 68°, nor higher, if possible, ac- cording to Dandolo, than 71°, but whenever it rises, as, at this season, it inevitably may, higher, compen- sating means must be sought by the instant removal of all litter liable to fermentation, and promoting, by ventilators and other means, a due circulation of air in the cocoonery. We must again insist on the im- propriety of lifting off the hurdles those silk worms that have completed their third age until nearly all are roused. The one part waiting a day, or even a day and a half for the other, is, as said before, not in- jurious. It is, however, advisable to place the early roused in the coolest part of the laboratory, and the late roused worms in the warmest* part ; and if this * Be it remembered that moderate increase of heat sharpens the silk worm's appetite, and consequently accelerates its growth, and vice versa 1 , that appetites, as well as growth, may be thus artificially retarded. I i THE SILK WORM. 305 be inconvenient or impracticable, to give to the former less, and to the latter more space ; and by one or the other, or by both these means, their advance towards the maturity of their fourth age, will be so preserved that they will, which is important, moult together.* Sixteenth day. On this day give 37i lbs. of the young shoots, and 60 lbs. of picked leaves of the white mulberry coarsely chopped with a large blade. To this quantity 7S lbs. of the multicaulis will be equal. When the moment of removing the worms from the hurdles arrives, one or two hurdles only at a time should be covered with young shoots. These shoots, loaded with worms, are afterwards put on the empty shelves, and removed, as in the first moultings. Should there not be a sufficiency of small boughs, branches of 15 or 20 leaves (white mul.) tied to- gether by the stalks, will answer the purpose. The removal should be effected by three persons: one to fill the shelves, one to carry them, and another gently to remove them from these shelves on the hurdles, in the space allotted to them. When those which have revived are removed, others yet remain torpid on the 174 feet square of hurdles, or that have not yet strength to climb on the shoots or branches of leaves. But it will be disco- vered that the early roused have probably by this time eaten all the leaves on the young shoots or branches that served to carry them, and that they re- main without food on the shelf. They should then be supplied with 30 lbs. of white mulberry leaves, chopped a little, or with 24 lbs. of those of the mul- ticaulis. The other 30 lbs. of leaves should not be given until the second meal has been thoroughly con- sumed. At the end of this day, the worms begin to evince renewed vigour: they move more nimbly, they grow perceptibly, they lose their ugly colour, * It will be advantageous to have marked on each shelf, its dimen- sions in square feet : or the product of its length multiplied by its breadth. 26* 306 THE SILK WORM. become slightly white, and assume more animal vivacity.* Seventeenth day. 165 lbs. of the white mulberry leaf, slightly cut up, will now be wanted. The first meals should be the lightest, the last, most copious. 1 32 lbs. of the multicaulis. The worms now grow fast, and their skin continues to whiten. Eighteenth day. 225 lbs. of the sorted leaves of the white mulberry, a little cut; or 180 lbs. of the leaves of the multicaulis are, at this time, the proper proportions. The former meals of the day to be the most plentiful. Nineteenth day. Of the white mulberry, the cut leaves to be distributed at successive meals, should amount to 255 lbs., the first meals of the day still being the larger, in the proportion of about 5 to 3. To this quantity, 204 lbs. of multicaulis leaves are equal. The worms continue to become whiter, and in size, increase to 1^ inches long. Twentieth day. Reduce to 128 lbs. of the picked leaves of the white mulberry, since on this day, the appetite of the larvae diminishes ; or of the multi- caulis leaves, give 103 lbs. Let the first meal be the largest, and gradually lessen till the last. Several are beginning to become torpid, therefore, with dis- crimination, give leaves, to prevent both waste, and avoidable fermentation, only, as they are wanted. The worms are now If inches long. Twenty-first day. Of the picked leaves of the white mulberry, 35 lbs., of the multicaulis, 28 lbs., are sufficient for the day. The changeable animals under our care are now decreasing in size, since they lose part of their substance before they sink into torpor. The greenish colour of their rings becomes changed, and their skin is now wrinkled. * In the third age, about 300 lbs. of picked leaves (240 lbs. of multi- caulis) have been put on the hurdles ; and the litter, in tbe former case, is about 93 lbs. in weight. Consequently, 207 lbs. of leaves have been transmuted into increase of animal substance, or expended in evaporation. The foeces of the insect, during this age, would weigh about 18 lbs. THE SILK WORM. 307 Twenty-second day. The worms ronse on this day, and thus accomplish their fourth age. Fig. 8. General remarks on the fourth age. In about 7 days, the worms have accomplished their fourth moulting: their old skins have gone, and they have new ones. In this period, they have consumed, of the white mulberry leaves, 900 lbs., from which the refuse rejected was 135 lbs. being in all 1035 lbs. of leaves drawn from the trees for 5 ounces ; or at the rate of 207 lbs. per ounce. The proportions of the multicaulis equivalent to these quantities respect- ively, are 720 lbs., 828 lbs., and 166 lbs. The insects now are assuming a darker colour, or grayish, with a red tinge. It may be here remarked, that whenever cocooneries are kept in proper order, the internal air is perceived to be preferable to the external, from the agreeable odour of the fresh mulberry leaves. Fifth age. General Remarks. This age of the silk worm is the longest and most decisive. It requires some experience and practical good sense, to conduct them through to maturity. As they grow in this age, they are liable to three evils, which attack them according to their strength, and to their distri- bution in the cocoonery, and may inflict weakness such as to cause their destruction : these are — 1st. The quantity of fluid disengaged every day, which through this age is incredible, from the body of the insect, by transpiration and evaporation of the leaves. 2d. The mephitic exhalations, daily emitted from the excrementitious matter of the insects, and fermentations of the remains of the leaves, which now are liable, without constant removal, to accumulate daily to a large amount.* 3d. The damp as well as * It is surprising to find how large a volume of miasma disengages itself, in the fifth age, from the silk worms. If one ounce of their feces 308 THE SILK WORM. hot state of the atmosphere of the cocoonery, which at this time may result from the compound cause of the heat and rarefaction of the external air and that of the exhalations, which now are greater, not only in proportion to the magnitude of the accumulation, hut also to the increased temperature of the season. The combination of these adverse circumstances may inflict also injuries on our patients in three ways : 1st. The skin of the worm, by these means, is liable to relaxation, to lose its elasticity; languor, decrease of appetite, morbid secretions, and unless the causes be arrested, death may ensue. 2d. The quantity of vital principle in the air, by these means, is dimi- nished, and, consequently, the breathing of the insect is not only impeded, and rendered more laborious, but also less effectual in every equal volume of air, and space of time, to its continued health and exist- ence. 3d. The increased vegetable fermentation and foecal exhalations, aggravated by the heat of this usually hot season, disturb the electrical constitu- tion of the air, which injures animal vitality, for a cause analogous to that which turns milk sour, from the disengagement of oxygen in air by electrical ac- tion. On the effect of electrical phenomena on animal and vegetable substances, see Rozier's Cour d ? Agri- culture.* be placed in a bottle of three half-pints capacity, and hermetically corked, in eight hours, the air in the bottle will be found, on experiment, to be destructive to animal life. A small bird placed therein would die in a few moments, and a lighted candle would be instantly extinguished. The cocoonery, in this age, contains 1200 lbs. of foecal matter, sufficient to vitiate, in one day, a volume of atmospheric air equal to 1696 cubical feet. " Dictum sapienti sat est" though a very old adage, will hold true as long as the world stands : "A word to a wise man is enough," and not one word need be said on the imperative necessity of getting rid, almost hourly, if possible, or daily at least, of this rapidly accumulating compound, causing mephitic exhalation from animal residua and fer- menting or decaying vegetable matter. * Vegetables, under the sun's rays, give out oxygen useful to animal life ; but in the shade and darkness, part with carbonic acid gas noxious to the same. Into a wide-necked bottle of the capacity of 2 lbs., place one ounce of fresh mulberry leaves, which, after corking and exposing to the action of the sun for an hour or more, uncork, invert, and intro- duce a lighted taper : the light will become brighter and larger, evincing j THE SILK WORM. 309 Tiventy -third day. At this time nearly all the worms are roused, or have accomplished their fourth moulting. The laboratory should be of the tempera- ture of 68 or 70°; and the tenants, for they pay good rent, must be accommodated with premises equal to 917 square feet, or 183^ square feet to each ounce of eggs. In the first day of the 5 th age, the worms should fill a space of about 508 feet square on the shelves, which added to the 413 feet which they oc- cupied during the last age, and which should now be cleaned,* form together the 921 feet square on which they are gradually to spread until the termination of the disengagement of oxygen from the vegetable. Into another similar bottle, put also an ounce of leaves, which, after corking, place in obscu- rity for about the same time ; then introduce a bird, or a lighted taper, and the bird will perish, or the light be extinguished, demonstrating the evolution of carbonic acid gas, instead of oxygen, as in the former case, from the same volume of vegetable matter in darkness and not in light. Many have thought that light was injurious to silk worms. How long before the days of alchemy, astrology, and Canidian conundrums end ! Were they made never to see the light in their native climes, or to live with owls and bats in Cimmerian caves, or to browse on Egyp- tian mummies, in darkened pyramids instead of mulberry leaves 1 On those sides of the hurdles on which the sun shone more freely, Count Dandolo found the silk worms more vigorous. He adds, " I have even seen the sun shining full on the worms, without their seeming annoyed by it. Had the rays been too hot, and shone too long on them, they might have suffered ; but this need not occur, and does not affect the question ; as I do not propose exposing the silk worms improperly to the sun, but only desire to show that the air is more vitiated, and that there is more damp in a dark laboratory than in a light one." * The young snoots should be directly distributed on 5 or 6 shelves, and should the shoots fail, bunches of leaves as before directed, may be substituted. As soon as the shoots are loaded with worms, they should be taken off. If the worms of one shelf be almost all roused, they will be sufficient to fill the space of rather more than two shelves. When 508 square feet are filled, the shelves that are left empty should be cleansed. If in cleaning, any remaining worms should be found roused, by pre- senting some shoots or leaves, they may be taken off like the others. The sheets of paper with the litter, must be rolled up, and poured into the basket for this purpose ; notwithstanding that the litter which is just removed appears to be green, and without any unpleasant smell, yet the chlorine gas from the fumigatory bottle, or the chloride of lime should be used as before directed. In a large establishment of five ounces, at this moment, the attend- ance of six persons will be necessary. Two should lift and put the worms on the shelves, two carry them away, one should remove and 310 THE SILK WORM. this state. This day about 90 lbs. of the young shoots of the ivhite mulberry -, or of common leaves not sorted, and also 90 lbs. of picked and sorted leaves; in all 180 lbs. which is equal to 144 lbs. of the leaves of the multicaulis. The 90 lbs. of shoots and leaves on which the silk worms were removed, furnish an abundant meal; the other 90 lbs. of sorted leaves should be divided into four meals, which should be given them every three hours. In giving the first meal, care must be taken to straighten the lines of the strips on the hurdles, by sweeping any straggling leaves or worms into regular order with a little broom. In the preceding age, 900 lbs. of leaves were dis- tributed, and the litter of that age, weighed 300 lbs. The worms therefore derived sustenance from 600 lbs. of the substance including the loss by evapora- tion. The excrement weighed about 93 lbs. Twenty-fourth day. There will be wanted on this day, of the white mulberry, 270 lbs. of leaves sorted, and divided into eight feeds. The first should be the least, of about 26 lbs., and the last the most plentiful, or of about 4S lbs. Of the multicaulis 216 lbs. for the day : of which the first and last feeds 21 lbs., and 39 lbs. respectively : the intermediate feeds increasing by a corresponding ratio. Twenty-fifth day. The worms will now require of the white mulberry 420 lbs. of sorted leaves ; di- vided into eight meals, the first smaller increasing to the last ; the intermediate feeds accordingly. Of the multicaulis 336 for the whole day. On this, and the preceding day, the worms continue to whiten ; many are now upwards of two inchee in length. Tiventy-sixth day. Our proportions, must be now, of the white mulberry, 540 lbs. of sorted leaves ; the intermediate feedings increasing by a corresponding place them on the hurdles, whilst the other must roll the papers and lit- ter, clean the hurdles, and carry out the dirt; and if judged necessary, an additional person may be employed in distributing shoots to the later silk worms, that all tilings may proceed without bustle or confusion. nff THE SILK WORM. 311 ratio, of the multicaulis for the whole day 432 lbs. The voracious period of the worm is now rapidly ad- vancing. Some are now 2\ inches long. Twenty -seventh day. Of the white mulberry for the whole day, 810 lbs. of picked leaves will be wanted. Of the multicaulis, 648 lbs. for the whole day. If necessary the worms should now have interme- diate feeds. When the regular distribution of leaves is devoured in less than an hour and a half, the worms need not receive any until the regular feeding, which it is understood is every three hours. Twenty-eighth day. Give now of the white mul- berry, 975 lbs. of picked leaves, divided into eight feeds, the last of which to be the most abundant. Of the multicaulis 780 lbs. similarly divided. The silk worms eat now most voraciously, and some even at- tack the fruit which is among the leaves. An inter- mediate meal may be added when it appears neces- sary, as may be inferred when the full quantity ne- cessary to constitute a meal, is devoured within an hour. Some of the worms are now three inches long ; have become whiter, and present to the feeling a vel- vet surface. Twenty-ninth day. 900 lbs. of ivhite mulberry well sorted leaves will be required this day ; or 720 lbs. of the multicaulis. The first meal should be the largest, the latter diminish gradually, but should the necessity of any intermediate meals be indicated, as it would by the sign already stated, it should at this important crisis be given. Some of the worms are now upwards of 3 inches in length : in certain cases, from extraordinary health and good attention, they are known, in this country to attain the length of even 4 inches. The extremity of the insect begins to grow shining and yellowish, their voracity to abate, which intimate their arrival at maturity: in size and weight, on an average, eleven of them will weigh 2 English ounces avoirdupois. Thirtieth day. The diminished appetite of our cocoonery-boarders requires now only 660 lbs. of the 312 THE SILK WORM. white mulberry leaves, well sorted ; of the multi- caulis, 528 lbs. to be given at eight meals ; the sub- sequent feeds to be gradually lessened. Give to backward worms, if necessary, intermediate meals. The increase of the yellow colour extending from ring to ring, the loss of the dark green, colour before marking the rings, the shining of the backs, their di- minishing bulk, and propensity to attach themselves to the edges of the hurdles to part with redundant matter, severally indicate their advance to maturity. Thirty-first day. Diminished wants now lessen our care to the provision of 495 lbs. only of the ivhite mulberry, or of 396 lbs. of the multicaulis ; which must now be distributed with care and discretion as wanted. Fig. 9. General remarks on the fourth age. Reckon- ing 240 lbs. of sorted leaves which are to be given to-morrow, or on the 32d day, the worms will have consumed during this fifth age, 5,490 lbs. of picked leaves. Adding to this, 510 lbs. of additional feed if required ; the total weight taken from the trees will be 6,000 lbs. The total weight of excrementitious matter drawn from the shelves in the fifth age, is about 3300 lbs. which demonstrates, that of (5490 — 3300) 2190 lbs. a part served to nourish the silk worms, and the rest exhaled in vapour. Calculating the weight of the leaves, and the loss by evaporation, the worms, it ap- pear, have consumed in their fifth age alone 1200 lbs. of leaves per ounce. Thirty-second day. During this day the fifth age will be terminated and the rising begin. Every thing should be cleaned and kept clean. The silk worm will be now perfected, which may be known by the following signs, 1. When the insects, instead of eating THE SILK WORM. 313 leaves put on the hurdles, get on them, and rear their heads, as if in search of something else. 2. When, on looking at them horizontally, the light shines through them, and they appear of a whitish yellow transparent colour. 3. When numbers of the worms which were fastened to the inside of the edges of the hurdles, and straightened, now get on the edges, and move slowly along ; instinct urging them to seek change of place. 4. When numbers of worms leave the centre of the hurdles, and try to reach the edges and crawl up upon them. 5. When their rings draw in, and their green- ish colour changes to a deep golden hue. 6. When their skins become wrinkled about the neck, and their bodies have more softness to the touch than before ; and feel like soft dough. 7. When on taking a silk worm in the hand, and looking through it, the whole body appears to have assumed the transparency of a ripe yellow plum. These signs are prognostics of their rising. Of course every thing, before this, should have been prepared for the accommodation of the in- sects, that those which are ready may not waste their strength and silk, in seeking for the support they require. In another place, the arches, corners, angles or ca- bins, in which the silk worm spins,have been described as being part of the apparatus of the cocoonery. Some furnish them with oak branches, others with faggots, with straw set on end, and tied near the middle, or with other conveniences. Much depends on the taste of the cultivator; for on this point, though some methods are preferable to others, still opinions will differ, and not much difference will ensue in the co- coons when spun.* In adopting the plan recommended under the head of cocoonery, none of these slovenly appendages are required. They are in a few minutes in their cabins, and after looking about to ascertain in what position * The time occupied in feeding may be accelerated or retarded by the manner of feeding. Two or three hours are recommended in this book as the period between the times of feeding, and two feedings in the night. In this way they will mount a day or two and sometimes three days 27 314 THE SILK WORM. they should arrange their building, for the larva is pro- vident and has forecast, it commences to throw the floss around it. The spinning is now fairly commenced. Fig. 10. Showing the form in which the silk worm throws about its thread. The care hitherto commended has tended : — 1st. To preserve the silk, contained in the secretors of the silk worm, in a constantly fluid state. 2d. To keep the skin of the silk worm sufficiently dry, and constantly in the degree of contraction neces- sary, and without which the silk worm would perish. 3d. To prevent the air from being corrupted, and which might make the silk worm ill, or cause its suf- focation, at those very periods when it most needs its highest vigour to pour out all the silk it contains. The silk worm has now mounted to spin, but some may yet linger. Proper care should be taken thorough- ly to clean the shelves and hurdles ; the lingering worms should be placed on a separate shelf, that all the cocoons formed in the cabins above it may be completed and gathered at the same time, which can thus be done at the earliest moment. To those re- moved a very small quantity of leaves should be given; but the slightest injury at this age should not be given them, being particularly hurtful. To these removed worms, instead of the usual cabins as in other cases, it is better to place in their way boughs of oak, or heads of broom corn. The lazy worms will soon be distributed among the branches and begin their work. When the worms begin to rise the greatest care earlier than when only fed three or four times in the 24 hours. But over feeding is injurious. The quantity requisite should be divided into proportions according to the period of the age. In coming out of the moulting or going into it, the feed should, as before remarked, be in- creased or diminished, the appetite of the worm sharpening or failing at such periods. THE SILK WORM. 315 should be taken to keep the temperature equable. It should stand from 68° to 71° Fahrenheit, by means of the ventilators in the sides, roof and floors. They should also be kept as dry as possible, and all mois- ture from excrementitious or other causes must be carefully removed. Those that drop down while spinning must be carried to and placed with the lazy ones spoken of above. The air may be admitted freely when the cocoons have become of a proper consistency. Every diseased or dead worm, and all bad smells should also be carefully removed. Fig. 11. Sixth age. This age commences in the pupa state, and ends when the moth emerges from the co- coon. The following are the necessary things that remain to be done : 1st. To gather cocoons : 2d, To choose the cocoons which are to be preserved for the eggs or seed : 3d, Preservation of cocoons until the appearance of the moth : 4th, The daily loss of weight which the cocoons suffer from the time they are finished until the appearance of the moths. Gathering the cocoons for seed. In our description of the cocoonery or ateliere, some account of a place was also given for the matured caterpillar to mount and spin. We have seen them cease to eat, ascend to their cabins, elaborate their cocoons, and retire from the gaze of mortals. In three or four days from the commencement of the spinning the silk worms have finished their cocoons, and in seven or eight days* they * M. D'Homergue, says, eight days, but six days if there have been no thunder-storm, to interrupt the labours of the moth. Dr. Pascalis informs us that with the use of electricity, his silk worms have spun in 27 days from the hatchment. 316 THE SILK WORM. will be ready for picking from their arches, cabins, bushes, or corners. The gathering should be perform- ed with care, as much waste of silk is thereby oc- casioned. The cocoons may be gathered in five days from being finished, but where they do not all mount on the same day it is possible that those may be culled that are not quite ripe with those that are. In gathering they should not be bruised, but carefully taken from their arches with all their floss. The floss should then be taken off with great delicacy, the fibres not pierced, and the cocoons not flattened or bruised. They should then be sorted ; this is best done at the time and by the person who takes off the floss. Sort- ing is selecting those intended for seed, by placing them in a separate place, always putting the imperfect, soiled, or those otherwise injured by themselves. Fourteen ounces of selected cocoons are equal to one ounce of eggs, and one ounce of eggs will make 120 lbs. weight of cocoons. In selecting the cocoons for eggs the white are to be preferred. An equal number of the male and female cocoons should also be selected ; which may be known by the male cocoon being smaller than the female, depressed in the middle as it were with a ligature, and somewhat sharp at one or both ends, with' a greater degree of hardness in those parts. The female cocoons are larger than the male ; are round, full, not much, and often not at all depressed in the middle, and more obtuse at each end. The moth makes its appearance in from ten to fifteen days. Some think that all balls perfectly formed are equally good — others deny this; the truth seems to be that few well constituted balls will not give well constitu- tioned moths and eggs. 3. Preservation of cocoons intended for producing eggs. Experience shows that where the temperature of the room is above 73° the transition of the chrysalis to the moth state would be too rapid, and the coupling would not be productive. If below 66° the develop- ment of the moth is tardy, which is also injurious. Damp air will change it into a weak and sickly moth. THE SILK WORM. 317 The apartment should, therefore, be kept in an even dry temperature, between 66° and 73°. When col- lected, spread the cocoons on a dry floor, or oq tables, and strip them clean of down or floss, to prevent the feet of the moth being entangled in it when coming out ; while cleaning them, all those that appear to have any defect should be laid aside. This is the time, also, to separate the male and female cocoons, as far as we can distinguish them. 4. The daily loss in weight of cocoons of 1000 oz., from the time of formation, till the moth escapes from them, is thus tabularly stated by Count Dandolo. ounces. Gathered from the cabins, fagots, &c, and cleaned, the ? cocoons weighed 3 First day following, the said cocoons weighed 991 Second day 992 Third day 975 Fourth day 970 Fifth day , 966 Sixth day 960 Seventh day 952 Eighth day 943 Ninth day 934 Tenth day 925 It is a loss for the purchaser of cocoons, to receive those that are of different ages, because, when in some cocoons the moth is preparing to come forth, and other cocoons are not so forward, the spinners are at a loss whether to let it come directly, or to kill the chrysalis to preserve the cocoon. If the rules which have been given, be exactly followed, this loss will be avoided, and the cocoons will be perfectly formed, and ready to be reeled off, at the end of seven days, reck- oning from the day they first rose on the bushes or frames. By reeling off the cocoon between the period in which they are formed, and. that in which they pierce the cocoon to make their exit, the silk is of a much better quality, and the necessity of killing the chrysalis is obviated. Fig. 12. The pupa of the bombyx. 318 THE SILK WORM. The Seventh age of the Silk Worm. This age completes the entire life of the moth. When the papa, aurelia, or chrysalis, has com- pleted its transformation in the cocoon, and is ready to depart, it puts forth a liquid, some affirm an acid, to dissolve the gum ; and having softened the point through which it intends to make a passage, in defi- ance of the maxim vestigia nulla retrorsum, it forces its beak through the fibres of the cocoon, and with two or three efforts, makes its exodus from its prison into open day. Sometimes the moth does not injure the cocoon from winding, but generally it does so, and such cocoons are therefore usually set aside for floss, to be carded and spun like cotton. Some- times the moth gets entangled in the fibres, or the cocoon is too hard for the feeble moth, and she depo- sites her eggs in the cocoon, and dies there, or dies before this deposit. They should always be left to their own unassisted efforts. Nature will do more for them than art, and if a few should die, that few will be less than if the operation which some resort to of cutting open a way for them were resorted to. At such times, the cocoons should be spread thin on tables ; their natural mode is to put forth their heads and legs first, as they help themselves by laying hold on something with their feet and antennas, to drag out the remainder of their body. They live, after leaving the cocoon, from five to twelve days, accord- ing to the temperature to which they are exposed. The moths do not come forth the first and second days; they are chiefly hatched the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh days, according to the degree of heat in which they are kept. The hours in which the moths burst the cocoons in greatest number, are the first three or four after sunrise, if the temperature be from 64° to 66°. The male moths, the very moment they come out, go eagerly in quest of the female. When they are united, they must be placed on sheets of newspapers, or some such thing, so that when soiled they may be thrown away. Much care must THE SILK WORM. 319 be taken in raising the united moths. They must be held by the wings, so as not to separate them ; but it is better not to remove or disturb them when cou- pled. It is sometimes- the case that the male and female must be brought together. When a shelf or table is filled with moths in a state of union, the room should be made so dark that a person can hardly see in it. If there be more males than females, separate the unmated from them. They may be easily known, as the body of the female is nearly twice the size of the male ; besides, the male keeps constantly flutter- ing in the light. The hour of junction should be noted, and if any disunite, they ought again to be brought together ; light injures them; the flattering weakens, and causes a loss of their vital, and conse- quently fecundating powers. The cocoons from which they emerged should be put away, and as soon as the moths separate, after a sufficient time for con- junction, the males should be thrown away. During this period, the attention must be minute and constant. Separation of the moths and laying of eggs. The male and female moths, at the proper time, if in proximity, will usually unite of their own accord; but where they do not, they should be brought by the superintendent into juxtaposition. After being coupled, they should be permitted to remain till they separate of themselves. European writers recom- mend that they be separated after six hours; but this is not consonant with the laws of nature, which are always the best guide in the instincts of insects and animals. If they separate prematurely, they ought again to be brought together. Let the place be dark. The most vigorous of the males must now be placed with the unmated females. Should the males be deficient in numbers, let the separated males be put in a dark box, and united to females having no mate. The females are not injured by waiting for the males a few hours, the only loss sustained is a few unimpregnated eggs. While they are thus united, have clean cotton calico, white or coloured; or sheets 320 THE SILK WORM. of white printing paper ready. M. Deslongchamps says, he has used the male moth successfully for six couplings, and the male, after the sixth union, was as lively and brisk as at first ; and it is said the eggs of the thirteenth coupling had all the characters of those of the best quality. The disunion, however, had always to be effected with the hands. Should this practice be found to answer, many cocoons may be saved for winding, which otherwise would be pierced by the male moth. The moths having all been separated, and the males thrown away, the females are laid upon white or any light-coloured paper, calico, or linen, in such order that they may deposite their eggs. They should have space to deposite their eggs, and to remain from 36 to 40 hours untouched. If the papers or cloths are not covered, other females should be laid in the vacant spaces. The temperature should be 65° to 80°. Unimpregnated eggs will appear yellow, and remain so. Those imperfectly so, reddish, and will not produce worms. If a moth of a sulphur colour be united with one of a white, a handsome orange will be produced. The colour, says Mr. Swayne, depends chiefly upon the female. Eight or ten days after the deposition of the eggs, the jonquil colour peculiar to them will change to a reddish gray, and afterwards into pale clay hue ; the form is lenticular, with a slight depression on both surfaces. Preservation of the eggs. When the eggs have been deposited on dry cloths, and passed through their several changes of colour, as before described, the cloths or paper on which the eggs have been deposited, must be folded so as to admit air into them, to prevent them from heating. The air should be dry, not above 50°, and not below zero. Some think they should not be exposed to frost ; but this is an error ; they have been repeatedly so exposed down to zero, and have subsequently been hatched, and produced an abundant crop. It is, as before said, sudden changes that affect the egg. Much has THE SILK WORM. 321 been said and written upon this subject, by men pro- fessing great experience, certainly without having made an experiment. If they can be kept between 32° and 55°, without injury from damp, the eggs may be regarded as perfectly sound. They must be pre- served from all insects, vermin, and other enemies, as all insects, birds, and vermin greedily devour them. " Good keeping will produce good worms," said Mr. Fally, and if properly treated, ivill never degenerate in this climate. Fig. 13. Stifling the Chrysalides. — Where the quantity of cocoons is small, the necessity of curing may be su- perseded, by immediate reeling ; or if the culturist has on his premises an ice house in which to deposit the cocoons, the necessity is obviated, as the chrysalis will remain in a passive state, until brought to a temperature of from 40° to 50°. This system is advisable where practicable, since stifling by baking and other pro- cesses, is in some degree injurious. Otherwise, the moth must be destroyed, between the 4th and 12th day at furthest after the completion of the cocoon, or it will cut its way through, and thus render the reeling of its work impracticable. There are several methods of killing the pupa. 1st, by baking in an oven of the temperature of 88° or 89° wherein the cocoons are shut from 4 to 6 hours, after being first placed in bags which must be occasionally turned or moved to effect an equal exposure. 2d, by the sun's rays at a tem- perature of about 8S°, in which they may be left for three days from 9 o'clock a.m. to 4 p.m. 3d, by steam. For this purpose, place the cocoons in a basket lined 322 THE SILK WORM. with three or four folds of woollen cloth to promote the equal dispersion of the steam. Suffer the cocoons to remain in this basket, of dimensions such as to cover the mouth of the kettle, after the basket, raised on two pieces of intervening wood, has been placed over the kettle with water kept boiling over the fire. 4th, by suffocation in the gas from charcoal, which is effected by simply shutting the cocoons up for a night in a close room, wherein a pot of burning charcoal is placed. This last process is said to be the invention of G. B. Smith Esq., of Baltimore, and to be the least injurious. PART IV. REELING, THROWSTING, DYEING, AND WEAVING. CHAPTER I. Reeling. — The word filature has two meanings ; it is called by some reeling, and by others the place where the reeling is per- formed. The operation of winding or reeling from the cocoon is called, in French, filer, to spin ; the word filature, a derivative from filer, means, therefore, an establishment where the reeling is per- formed. Reeling. Before the process of reeling is described, the cha- racter of the cocoons to be selected for the filature should be under- stood. In another place has been mentioned the method of sorting the cocoons for breeding, the cocoons not thus appropriated are divided into nine different qualities, namely : — 1. Good Cocoons, or those fully brought to perfection. These are not always the largest, but are compact and free from spots. 2. Pointed Cocoons, or those having one end rising in a point, these give out their thread in reeling a short time, then break or tear at the point where the silk is weak, and can be wound no further. 3. Cocalons, or cocoons that are larger than the regular co- coons, but do not contain more silk ; their texture being less com- pact. These in winding, must be immersed in cold water, as they furze and become tangled in the operation. They should be separated from the others and laid by themselves. 4. Dupions, or double cocoons. The threads of these are so inter- twined that they frequently break in reeling, and sometimes can- not be wound at all. These are usually one per cent, of the whole quantity. 5. Soufflons. These are very imperfect cocoons, with a loose contexture, and are often transparent. They cannot be wound. 6. Perforated Cocoons. Or those that have been pierced at the end, and the filament broken by the moth, they cannot there- fore be reeled. 7. Good Choquettes. Or cocoons, wherein the insects have died before perfecting the task. These when shaken do not rat- tle, the worms adhering to them. These are as fine, but not so 323 324 REELING. strong and brilliant as the first named. They are apt to furze and must be reeled separately. 8. Bad Choquettes. Or defective cocoons, spotted or rotten. They furnish foul bad silk, and of a blackish colour. 9. Calcined Cocoons. Or those wherein the worms, after completing their cells, are attacked by a peculiar disease, which sometimes petrifies them, and at other times reduces them to white powder. In the former case they are called comfit cocoons. These cocoons are of the very best quality, and in Piedmont sell for half as much more as good cocoons. They are rarely met with. The cocoons on the mountains are considered better than those produced on the plains. They contain more of the white, but the balls are less, and the worms in proportion smaller. The relative value of cocoons has been stated thus : — Good cocoons 100 Perforated 33| Soufflons 25 Royal cocoons for seed 250 Royal cocoons not for seed 200 Royal cocoons pierced by the moth are spun with the soufHons, &c. Much pains have been taken by a recent writer to throw mystery about the operations of the filature, and he would make us believe that the business is impracticable without an apprenticeship of seven or ten years. There is no doubt much of the secret lies in practice ; but among the intelligent classes of Americans who read, think, and act — who have well constructed minds and ready hands, to acquire this art will neither require seven i/ears, nor, we had al- most said, seven weeks. It is an operation of every day's perform- ance, and the person who devotes himself to the work will soon know his business correctly if he possess good sense. Before explaining the operations of the filature, an explana- tion of the Piedmontese reel, certainly the best known to us, not- withstanding all the improvements* that have been made to it by various mechanics throughout our country, may be proper. The Silk Reel of Piedmont. The frame is 6 feet 5 inches long, 4^ by 3 inches thick. Dis- tance of the upright posts A, B, 4 feet 4f inches. C C. Length of the braces of the frame, 20 inches in the clear. D D, legs of the frame, 2 feet 3^ inches long. E, shaft with a crown wheel at each end. The wheel F, 9 inches and T V in circumference, has 22 teeth, The wheel G, 10 inches and y 2 ^ in circumference, has 25 teeth. This shaft has an iron pin at each * The improvements heretofore made oh the Piedmontese reel in this country, puts us in mind of the account presented by an Irish farrier to a nobleman for whose horse he had prescribed. One item was, " to cur- ing your honour's horse that died." 325 MO 6m end, 1 inch long. The pin at the end G plays in a hole in the shoulder near the top of the post 0, so as to enable the teeth of the wheel to catch and work in those of the pinion at the end of the axle of the reel, which axle, by means of a pin at the end, also plays in a hole in the post 0. The pin at the other end of the shaft, plays in a hole of the post K, and the teeth of the wheel F work in the pinion H, fixed on the top of the post K by means of a burr screwed on the pin projecting from the post, and passing through the eentre of the pinion. This pinion has 35 teeth.* On the top of the pinion H is a crank, having a sweep of 4 inches, and receives, on its top, the end of the iron (it should be brass) wire carrier of the traversing bar I. The crank is fixed half an inch from the commencement of the grooves of the pinion. This crank is shown in the figure H. I, a traversing bar, 2 feet 10 inehes long, f of an inch wide, £ of an inch thick, and playing through the posts B, K ; height of the post from the frame 17 inches. L, a brass carrier of wire, No. 1, IS inches long, fixed to the bar I, to work free by a screw. The other end is fixed by a burr, to the pin passing through the centre of the pinion H. M M. Two wire hooks or eyes, (rampins,) 7f inches apart, at equal distances from the ends of the traversing bar, through * In all the works published in this country which we have seen, the word here put teeth is erroneously called feet. We are indebted to M. d'Homergue for this correction, though his own book contains the error. 28 326 REELING. which they pass. The wires to the commencement of the turns of the hooks, are 5 inches in length. N, the reel arms, 2 feet 2 inches and T V long in the clear; 1£ inches wide, and T % of an inch thick ; rails 20£ inches long, 2 inches broad, -^ of an inch thick ; two of the arms are jointed, to allow the skeins of silk to be taken off, when reeled and quite dry. There ought to be an extra reel to put in the place of the one taken off, to prevent the work stopping. O, upright support for the axle of the reel, on the ends of which the pinion is fixed, to work with the wheel G at the end of the shaft E. The pinion of the axle has 22 teeth. P, a brass plate with 4 holes 20 inches (not 12 inches as quoted by various authorities) in the clear, slightly hollowed, projecting 3^ inches from the bar; the piece thus projecting 3^ inches from the bar, contains four holes, so arrranged that from the centre of the one to the centre of the other is ^ of an inch, but the four to be in the exact centre, that is, equidistant from each end of the bar. Dis- tance from the two inside and nearest holes 4 inches and T ^. Q, the copper basin to contain hot water, in which the cocoons are immersed when reeling off. It is 18 inches long, 1 foot broad and 4^ inches deep. R, the furnace to contain charcoal and keep the water hot. Distance from the centre of the posts A, B, and 0, K, 36£ inches. Circumference of the reel or aspel 6 l k feet. Distance from the top of one arm, where it enters the rail, to another arm, 18£ inches. From the axle of the aspel and the traversing bar T, 4 8 T feet. The law of Piedmont says 3 feet 4 inches and § the American measure — that is from the guide wires and the centre of the reel. Seven rotations of the reel causes the traversing bar to move five times from side to side. The foregoing is a description of the most approved reel now known in Europe or America. The description and cut will en- able any respectable mechanic to construct one in all its parts. It is said that this reel has recently been very much improved by M. Gensoul, a French engineer, but in what these improvements consists is not known in this country. The reeling should be performed in dry weather, and women are preferred to men, having smoother fingers, the fibres being often broken by the rough hands of men. The air should be calm ; the building lofty, open on one side and exposed to the sun and air, but sheltered from the winds. A chimney or flue should conduct the steam from the place of operation, and the building should be so wide that when the winders are arranged on each side the manager should have a central passage to enable him to overlook the work. It is supposed that the floss has been stripped from all the cocoons intended to be reeled, and that the imperfect cocoons have been carefully separated from them. When the apparatus is ready, the softest water must be chosen REELING. 327 for soaking the cocoons. Experience must in general regulate the temperature ; but until that is obtained, we shall lend our as- sistance. Some silk requires more, others less heat, some require water from 168° to 190" ; others from 190° to 202°. Some point between these should be chosen, and here a good thermometer is almost indispensable until the superintendent has, by frequently- feeling the water, become familiar with the degrees of tempera- ture, which he will by attention soon do. The temperature should never reach the boiling point, or 212°. The good white and yellow cocoons are most easily wound. Cocalons call for the greatest care and skill ; they require cooler water, and if expertly managed, they will then make silk equal to the best, but they furze out in hot water while winding. The dupions, choquettes, and steamed or baked cocoons in stifling, if kept a long time, require the hottest water. The dupions require soaking for five or six minutes before being reeled. The un- steamed or unbaked cocoons give off their fibres very freely, and require a lower temperature in the copper. The fire under the copper, should be increased or diminished according to the de- scription of cocoons to be reeled, the characteristics of which are stated above. The intention of the hot water is to soften the gummy sub- stance they contain, and thereby facilitate the winding of the filaments. The person having the management of the reeling should be prepared wilh a whisk of broom-corn, or of birch twigs, eut sharp at the points ; and being seated on the opposite side of the basin from the reel and facing it, the water being of the requisite temperature, and the basin on a charcoal furnace, he must throw into the basin a handful or two of cocoons of one sort and quality. They should then be pressed gently under the water for two or three minutes, in order to soften the gum and loosen the filaments. He should then stir the cocoons with the whisk, lightly and gently, just touching them, until one of the fibres adhere to it, when, disengaging it and laying down the whisk, he must draw the filament towards him until it discharges itself freely from the floss or coarse silk which adheres to the co- coon, and the fine silk appears. The thread is then broken ; the loose floss collected and laid carefully away ; the whisk is re- sumed, repeating the process, in each instance laying the col- lected fibres separately on some frame of wood near the furnace for that purpose,- or on the edge of the copper in which are the cocoons, until so many fibres have been collected as are designed to make a strand of fibres. These are placed together and drawn through the outer or inner of the holes in the brass plate, resting horizontally over the copper. The same process is repeated until another strand is collected and also carried through the corres- ponding inner or outer hole in the brass plate. The preparatory operations are called the battue. If the strands are coarse they are carried through the inner and nearer holes ; if fine, through 32S REELING. the most distant and outer holes. After being thus passed through these holes, they must be crossed or put round one another, in the manner in which a rope of two strands is twisted, for about 20 to 25 times, before being carried through the rampins or guide hooks M M of the traversing bar I, which should be made of brass or copper wire, as iron oxidizes and be- comes in a short time rough. They are then carried forward and fastened to one of the arms of the aspel or reel N. The distance between the rampins on the traversing bar, is that which must regulate the distance of the threads on the reel; it being under- stood that two hanks are reeled at the same time. The filaments should not be allowed to cross until brought together at the holes in the brass plate P. In reeling, if the silk filaments come off in burrs or knobs, the water is too hot, and should be imme- diately cooled by stopping the draught of the furnace. In commencing the operation, one person should turn the reel, and another attend the copper. The winding should begin slowly with a regular motion, until the threads run freely and easily. Should some of the threads prove false, as they sometimes will, a new one must be added to complete the number intended for the strand or thread. The new end required to be added is always thrown into the centre and is drawn up with the rest. A few additional cocoons should always be in the copper, with their ends ready to supply any that may run out, thereby keeping the strand uniform in size, which is one of the perfections of reeling. The crossing of the threads forming the two strands thrown on the aspel during the operation, is intended to give them a proper roundness. It aids in drying the threads, causes floating fibres to adhere, prevents the injurious gluing of the threads on the aspel, and by its rotary friction removes their inequalities and roughness, and thus causes a perfect adhesion of the fibres, in- sures their strength, uniform thickness, and cylindrical form; without it they would be flat. Fine silk may be crossed 18 or 20 times ; coarse 20 to 25 times. A law of Piedmont regulat- ing this procedure, appoints officers to inspect the filatures in order to preserve the character of their raw silk. We have now the reel in motion ; the operation, slow at first, increases in speed if the balls give out freely ; but if they leap up towards the brass plate P, the speed must be slackened, and the spinner, who attends the balls, directs the motion. He then strikes his hand down the fibre, and places the ball again in the water, and increases somewhat the temperature of the water in the copper. The speed must now be increased or diminished> the motion always regular and equable. If the cocoons become blurry or in knots, the speed should be accelerated to the quickest motion, without endangering the breaking of the threads, or pre- venting the spinner from supplying the strand with fresh fibres to keep it even as the old ones run out. The quicker the motion of the reel, the better the cocoons wind REELING. 32& off, and the better the ends join to the thread. The fibres, when given off freely, are less likely to break by a quick than by a slow motion. The threads do not intermix on the reel, they are distributed in such manner, that each thread ranges within a cer- tain limit upon the aspie, and no two threads lie upon the same track, the traversing bar distributing- them so regularly, that it requires as some say 400, and others even 800 revolutions of the reel, before a thread lies upon the same exact course of any pre- vious one. The intention of this is to prevent the strands from lying- tog-ether, lest the gum should prevent their being unwound, and also to enable them to dry on the reel, so that an equal de- gree of tension may be preserved. When the skeins are finished, another asple should replace the one just used, so that while the first one is set aside to dry, the second may be in operation. It is clear then that the spinner must be always replacing and having in readiness fresh cocoons, while the reel is in motion, so that no delay may be occasioned in the process. The operation is uni- form, and constant attention and repetition will enable any person to acquire experience in a few days, if not hours. The size of the strand of filaments is regulated by the purpose for which such silk is intended. They vary from five to twenty or more fibres, according to circumstances. There should be no more cocoons thrown into the copper than is intended to be wound, as by being too much soaked in the hot water, they are apt to wind off in blurrs. The cocoons should be equally soaked, and when thrown in, kept under, as they are apt to swim until saturated with the water." In joining a new end to the strand, it may be necessary sometimes to place it along with one in the winding, by rubbing them with the fingers, or gently pressing them. The art of uniting threads is acquired only by practice. The difficulty of keeping the threads even is great. The filament of each ball, is not of equal tenuity throughout, and the skill of the reeler is therefore required, so to arrange and bring them together, that the same thickness may be continuously preserved throughout the skein. This perfect equality is so difficult of attainment, that the degree of substance in the silk is never exactly defined ; and with the exception of threads of two cocoons so called, silks are not distinguished as those produced from three, four, or five fibres, are said to be of three to four, four to five, or five to six cocoons. Coarser skeins are not even so nicely defined ; but are called from twelve to fifteen, from fifteen to twenty cocoons, and so on. In beginning a thread of ten cocoons, from sixteen to twenty will sometimes be required to preserve the uniform thread, after a portion of the first layer has been unwound. The quantity of silk reeled in a given time depends on the quickness of the spinner in supplying fibres to the thread from fresh cocoons. The spinner should have at her side a bowl of cold water, and also some chips or shavings, with which to re- gulate the temperature of the water in the copper. The cold 28* 330 REELING. water is also necessary to cool her fingers in when too much heated. The facility of reeling depends much on a right tempe- rature of the water. If too hot, the thread is technical ly dead, if too cold, the ends will not join well, and the silk will be harsh. The winding cannot be performed in cold water, as the fibres easily break, and with the least moisture, the filaments of the strand or thread separate, which is not the case when hot water is used. In some of the French filatures, particularly at Cevennes, the following plan is adopted in reeling. " In preparing fine silk, the cocoons are not wound off entirely, so as to leave the pellicle of the chrysalis bare, for two reasons : first, because the addi- tional fibre required to be added, when the first and strong part of the fibre is observed to be spent, might make the compound thread too stout, and thus cause a waste of silk ; secondly, be- cause the fibre of a cocoon which has been entirely wound off, besides being weak, also abounds in knots, which would cause it to break in winding, and injure its uniformity, in which the goodness of the thread mainly consists. Therefore, in winding fine silk, when the cocoon has given off three-fourths and a half of silk, that is, about 325 yards, it must be replaced by another cocoon ; the remainder of the first cocoons must be set aside, and their silk added to that of an inferior quality. When the first parcel of cocoons is nearly finished, take out, with the ladle, all those on which some silk has been left ; let them be opened, the chrysalides taken out, and the shells put in a basket with the floss first pulled off. Those cocoons which are partly wound off must on no account be permitted to remain in the basin ; for they will obscure, and thicken the water, and injure the colour and lustre of the silk, which can then be used only for dark colours; besides this, the consistency of the silk is injured, and waste ensues in the winding. The shells must be imme- diately buried, or placed among the composts for manure. As a general rule, the water in the copper should be changed as often as discoloured. On commencing, the holes and rampins should be always wet, to cause the thread to run easily. The waste silk, whether the remains of cocoons, or of the floss collected in the battue, should be carefully put aside. " Gather up the fragments, that nothing be lost," is i good rule in this case. Carded and spun like cotton, it will compose excellent fabrics. The geering of the reel should always be complete ; the mortise in which the traversing bar plays should be oiled, the cog-wheels should play in proper contact ; and the bassinatts, or defective cocoons found in the copper, which will not wind off with the good ones, being full of knobs, must be taken out of the copper, and kept and wound by themselves. The breaking of the fila- ments arises from ill-formed cocoons, or the improper heat of the water. The whole thread is sometimes broken in its passage from the copper to the reel, through the stopping of loops in the layer REELING. 331 by knobs, or by the reel being turned by a jerking motion. They should not be knotted, but slightly twisted, which will sufficiently unite them. The value of silk is increased or diminished accord- ing to the quantity of knobs or knots with which the raw silk abounds. If the silk be clean when the skein is opened, it is a sign of being well reeled. The soufflons, royal cocoons pierced, and other perforated and imperfect cocoons, which will not stand the filature, are boiled in water, the soufflons for half an hour, the perforated cocoons somewhat longer, and the royal cocoons a full hour. They then undergo a process to reduce the chrysalides, and prepare them for making Jieuret. Boiling and heating will increase their beauty. Of fleuret, the royal cocoons make the best, next the perforated, and lastly the sourHon cocoons. The coarse floss and refuse of the spinning, make very inferior silk. The cocoons from which the moth has escaped, it has been shown, can be frequently reeled as well as the best. When the spinner leaves off work for a time, the cocoons should be all raised out of the water with a ladle, till his return. The better practice, however, is to let fresh hands relieve the spinner and reeler, and keep the operation in motion throughout the day. The reeler should watch the threads and the rampins, that he may apprise the spinner when any thing is wrong, for his eyes will be sufficiently engaged about the cocoons. The reeler should be instructed to rectify any thing amiss in the thread near the reel, one hand being always unemployed. No sand should be allowed in the water, as it will cut the fibres as would a knife. The water containing it should be immediately renewed. In a large filature, a boiler might be constructed to supply the coppers or tin basins, and the latter be supplied with heat from chips, to regulate the temperature, as charcoal, unless in a fireplace, is dangerous, from the carbonic acid gas evolved in combustion. In using the whisk, and in reeling, the temperature of the water is soon ascertained, as, if too hot, the cocoons rise to the brass plates, come off in blurrs, or are drawn off by the whisk in lumps. If too cold, the whisk will not catch the ends of the fibres. A woman at Novi, in Piedmont, says one authority, will reel one pound of silk in a day. Another says, with later improve- ments, three pounds in twelve hours. Neither of them have stated precisely the character of the material. One may with three fibres reel a pound, while another with nineteen or twenty may reel three pounds with less labour. Most of our statistics are thus indefinitely prepared. M. Nouaille says a reeler and spin- ner can produce one pound of four ox jive cocoons. This is to the point, and means something. All agree that careful experienced spinners will from the same material make a difference of 1£ ounce of reeled silk in from 7 to 8 lbs. of cocoons. 332 REELING. When the necessary quantity has been reeled to form a hank, pick off the loose fibres, then take a handful of the coarse silk, and, after washing and squeezing it, dip it lightly in cold water, and with it rub the silk on the reel, at the same time stroking it with the palm of the hand. Open the windows, turn the aspic or reel with a rapid movement for eight or ten minutes to dry the silk, then lay the asple aside, and place another on the reel and proceed as before. The reeled silk with the asple should be left in a dry place where the sun does not shine. This operation adds greatly to its lustrous appearance. The Piedinontese law forbids any thing but the dry palm of the hand to be used. To reel dupions, the water must be boiling hot. The reeler, when the machine stops for the spinner to get ready, should pick off the loose floss and lumps from the silk on the asple. The strand should contain from 18 to 20, when intended for sewing silk, or from 40 to 50 for coarse stuffs. Good choquettes have from 7 to 8 in the strand, and bad choquettes or chiques, as they are sometimes called, from 15 to 20 fibres in the thread or strand. The satiny cocoons do not require the water to be so hot, but regulated as the cocoons are free, or otherwise, to give off their fibres. The water in the copper should be changed often, and a few only put in at a time. Before throwsting the silk is examined and selected so that different kinds may not be in the same par- cel. Where the silk is of a good quality and well reeled, this tedious and expensive process may be dispensed with. The Piedinontese government have strict laws, obviously intended to insure the quality of the silk and sustain its reputation, but actu- ally to preserve in the hands of the wealthy a monopoly of the business, whereby the poorer cultivators are unjustly restricted from the conversion of their own produce, or to derive from their own labours the advantages of which they are capable. Disbanding the silk from the reel. This is a simple opera- tion, but yet judgment is requisite. The cocoons, if not well sorted in reeling, will produce different degrees of tension ; and this will be somewhat the case under all circumstances. To obviate this difficulty is an important point. Some cocoons, be- ing longer in the water than others, will contribute to this cause. They do not all give off their fibres with equal facility, and hence an inequality of tension, which, though slight, has its injurious effects. To make the disbanding perfect, the skein should re- main six or eight hours on the asple, which brings any inequality of tension more uniform. By this time the threads are dried and the fibres united : an important point. Before disbanding, the several hanks should be squeezed close together, the end of the strand marked so that, when it is to be unwound, it may be easily discovered ; the hanks are then tied with threads of the refuse silk, at the places where they bore on the bars, and also at the op- posite end to the first tie ; it may then be slided off the bars, doubled and laid by in a dry place. THROWSTING. 333 THROWSTING OR TWISTING. Before describing the process of throwsting or twisting silk, it may be necessary to explain the several changes into which raw- silk passes, in preparing it for the loom. These may be classed under six heads, and we will name them in the order in which they stand as respects value and fineness. It may be proper to remark that thrown silk is that which has been twisted in a mill or machine called a throwsting machine, by placing as many fila- ments together of the raw silk as is intended to make the de- signed material. The raw silk is always assorted and thrown with reference to its fineness or adaptation to certain fabrics. 1. Singles ; or silk of the first quality. 2. Organzine ; or silk of the second quality. 3. Tram ; or silk of the third quality. 4. Sewing silk of the first and second quality. 5. Cordonnet; or twist of the first and second quality. 6. Filoselle ; or floss, fleuret, flurt, or ferret silk. The silk, when prepared as above, is said in England to be throwsted, and in French to be moulinee or milled. The choquettes or chiques is a thread prepared in a different way for the manufac- ture. The five former of the enumerated classes of silk, namely, singles, organzine, tram, and sewing silk and twist or cordonnet, are twisted on le moulin a tordre, or the throwsting mill, and the latter on the travelle, a machine made on the same principle, but of smaller dimensions. The floss is made by carding and spinning as cotton, and is to the finer silk what tow is to flax. Singles ; called le poil, (Fr.,) or hair silk, is made from the first quality of raw 7 silk, and is throwsted single as unwound from the swifts. It is used for woof, or shoot, when the warp is con- stituted of cotton. Organzine, or organsin (Fr.) is the next in fineness, and is used for warp of stuffs made of silk. Tram, or la tram, (Fr.,) which means woof, is the third in quality, contains the greatest number of fibres, and is used when all the cloth or stuff is to be of silk. Sewing and twist silk require the greatest abundance of labour. The former (sewings) require three times, the latter, (twist,) six times as much doubling and twisting as the former. These are the perfection of thrown silk. Throwsting. — In a former part of this work, the history of the introduction of the throwsting mill into England has been detail- ed. Since then, vast improvements have been made in throwst- ing mills, under the skill of able engineers, by which much of the fabrics of the French, and all that of the English looms are now prepared. Amongst the Italians, the throwsting macninery in- vented w T hen the Messrs. Lombe first carried off their improve- ments, are unchanged. Even in France, up to a recent date, no improvements have been made in throwsting organzine, although 334 THROWSTING. the most extensive manufacturers in the world, and most of that material are derived from the Italians. Before raw silk can be used for manufactures it must take one of the three forms before described, namely, singles, organzine, or TRAM. Raw silk, in its progress towards organzine, passes through six processes. 1. The winding it from skeins, upon what are called bobbins, in the winding machines. 2. Sorting it, when so wound, into different qualities. 3. Spinning or twisting each individual thread in the mill. 4. Bringing together upon fresh bobbins, two or more threads already spun or twisted. 5. Twisting these two or more threads together by means of the mill. 6. Sorting the skeins of twist or organzine, according to their different degrees of finenessi The machine for winding the raw silk is called a winding ma- chine, one segment of which is here given, the other parts being only reduplicates of the same, extended by the usual connections, to any indefinite length. Fig. 16. THROWSTING. 335 The skeins being opened they are extended upon one of the reels represented by A A, which is called a swift : this is formed of 4 rods passing through or fixed in the axis, so as to form a double reel of 8 spokes, 4 of them making right angles with each other, and standing opposite and parallel to 4 spokes on the other side. These parallel spokes are connected together by bands of strings, thus forming a kind of lantern wheel, and the bands can be fixed so as to vary the diameter of the wheel, in order to suit any kind or size of skein to be placed upon it. This provision is rendered necessary by the circumstance, that the raw silk of most coun- tries is so wound as to be equal in circumference to a yard, ac- cording to the standard measure of the country, and as some difference exists in these standards, the reel which would suit the silk imported from one quarter, would, without some such provi- sion, be unsuited to that of any other country. The swifts may be made to revolve freely upon wire pivots ; but as it is needful to wind the silk from them, and to deliver it upon the bobbins, with a uniform degree of tension, simple means are employed for creating the necessary amount of friction, either by means of a spring, or by hanging a looped wire upon the axis withinside the reel. To this loop a small leaden weight is attached. B B are what are called the bobbins ; these are made of wood, and consist of a hollow axis, on each extremity of which is fixed a circular disc, the uses of which discs are to cause the revolution of the bobbins, in a manner which will be described, and to confine the silk upon the hollow axis. These bobbins can be easily placed in or withdrawn from the frame. D is called the layer. This is a light wooden rod having wire eyes fixed in it, one opposite to each bobbin, through which eye the end of the thread upon the reel is passed when it is attached to the bobbin. This layer has a lateral motion communicated to it, by means of a crank fixed upon the cross spindle E, which crank is turned by two bevelled wheels fixed at the end of the horizontal spindle G. The whole is put in motion by the bevelled wheel on the upright shaft F, which is connected with another bevelled wheel on the spindle G. This, revolving, carries with it the wheels or discs H H, and the discs of the bobbins resting upon these are carried round by the friction caused by their own weight, and occasion, consequently, the delivery of the silk from the reels upon the bobbins. The motion of the layers causes this delivery to be uniform over the axis of the bobbins. The constant attendance of our children upon this winding machine is requisite, in order to join the ends of any threads which may be broken in winding, and when the skeins are exhausted, to place new ones upon the swifts. When the bobbins are filled they are lifted out of the frame, and empty ones are placed in their stead, to which the skein being attached, the operation is continued. During the time occupied in removing the skeins upon the swifts, or of re- moving and replacing the bobbins, the process is still continued 336 THROWSTING. with the unexhausted swifts and unfilled bobbins, each being in that respect independent of the other. The third operation, that of spinning or twisting the thread thus wound upon the bobbins, is performed with the throwsting mill. The particular construction of this mill is frequently varied, but the principle of its action being always the same, it would be useless to describe more than one of its modifications. Mills of great power and considerable extent are generally used for this purpose in England, but on the continent it is by no means un- usual for artisans to purchase raw silk and to employ their wives and children in preparing it for weaving. The machines which are then used are necessarily small, and are turned by hand ; from the form in which it is usual for them to arrange the spindles, the apparatus is called by them the oval. This throwsting mill is now chosen for description in consequence of its simplicity. Fig. 17. The number of spindles which it contains is thirteen, and of these, to avoid confusion, only six are shown in the diagram, or cut, the remainder would be arranged behind those which are seen. Upon each of the spindles the hollow axis of a bobbin, before described, is placed, so that the bobbin has liberty to turn freely upon the spindle. Upon each spindle, just above the bob- bin, a piece of hard wood is so fixed by a pin as to cause the wood to revolve with the spindle. To this wood is fixed a piece of wire called a flyer, &, bent in the form here given. At each extremity of the flyer an eye is formed ; of these the lower eye stands opposite the middle of the bobbin, and the upper eye is THROWSTING. 337 exactly over the centre, and a few inches above the top of the spindle. The thread from the bobbin is passed through both these eyes, and also through another wire eye, fixed in an oval frame L, which has a traversing motion to and fro, communicated to it by means of a crank, or an eccentric pin, K. This is fixed in a cog wheel, turned by a pinion upon the perpendicular axis E, the end of the rail /, being supported upon a roller, to cause its more easy and regular motion, so that the threads are guided with regularity to the reel K, in the same manner as by the layer to the bobbins in the winding machine before described. Motion is communicated from the crank B to the spindles, by means of a wheel D, connected with a pinion on the upper end of the vertical axle E, which also, at its lower end, has a drum F to receive the endless strap or band a a. This encompasses the oval frame G, and gives motion to all the spindles, being so confined by the Tollers d and a as to press with the requisite degree of force upon the spindles, and to give all of them an uniform celerity,, It is now evident, that every revolution of the spindle and flyer must give a twist to the thread drawn from the bobbin. Whe- ther the twist shall be hard or slack, depends upon the compara- tive celerity of the spindles and bobbins, and this proportion is regulated by the relative sizes of the wheel k, and the pinion i, whence the reel and bobbin receive their motion. For different manufacturing purposes, silk must be thrown or twisted with different degrees of hardness; this is provided for by the power of changing the wheel and pinion h and i, for others of different proportional diameters. For the purpose of clearer elucidation, one of the spindles is shown without a bobbin, while the rest are all mounted, and supposed to be in action. The skeins upon the reel should be made of a uniform length, and this is attained by a train of wheels consisting of a pinion n, fixed on the principal spindle R, turning a wheel o, which has a pinion fixed to and turning with it, giving motion to a larger wheel p. This, again, has another smaller wheel upon its spindle, with a pin fixed in it, so that at every revolution, it raises a hammer and strikes upon a bell s, whereby the attendant has notice of the quantity wound on the skeins. When the machine is employed for the first operation of twist- ing raw silk for organzine, which requires a strong and close twist, the wheel h must be of greater and the pinion i of less diameter than are here represented, in order that the reel K, and the bobbins, may receive a slower motion, in proportion to the speed of the spindles. The silk is now in the form of singles, the only difference be- tween which and the single twist in course of preparation for organzine, besides the degree of hardness noticed above, is, that in the latter process the crank must be turned in an opposite di- rection, so as to give a reverse motion to the machinery. Organ- 29 338 THROWSTING. zine silk is of the nature of rope, where the combined strands are twisted in an opposite direction to that given to the separate threads, whereas, singles and tram are twisted only in one direc- tion, similarly to twine, or to the individual strands of which the larger rope is made. When silk is intended to be dyed in the skein, the twisting in this machine is but slight, and its direction must of course depend upon its ulterior destination, whether for tram or for organzine. Silk thread, intended for organzine, is, in this first operation, twisted in a left-hand direction. The next operation is to bring two, three, or more of these twisted threads together upon one bobbin. The number of the threads depends, of course, upon the substance which it is intended to give to the organzine, and a careful sorting of the threads must be made, so as to bring together such only as are of an uniform texture. To effect this, a machine is used very similar to the winding machine already described. Instead of gathering the silk from the bobbins on a reel, in its first twisting in the throw- ing machine, when the object is to prepare organzine, it is usual to transfer it to other bobbins. In the operation of doubling, these bobbins are placed in front of the winding machine, where, of course, they take the place of the swifts, and stand two, three, or more in a row, according to the number of strands to be subse- quently brought together in the organzine, in the manner shown by the following figure. Fig. 18. Doubling Machine. The threads in the bobbins are passed over one and beneath another wooden rail m and n, with both of which they are brought in close contact. These rails, being covered with cloth, serve to cleanse the silk in its passage, equally well with the less artifi- cial means offered by the fingers of the person employed in winding. In their passage or transference from one set of bobbins to the other, each thread passes through a small piece of wood e, which slides freely up and down in a mortised hole through the fixed board /. The use of these slides, which are equal in number with the threads to be brought together, will soon be seen. All the threads are then passed through the wire eye d, of the layer D, which it is more convenient to place behind the bobbin, caus- ing the wire to be bent over it, as shown in the figure. The THROWSTING. 339 bobbins to be filled, rest upon and take their revolving motion from the wheels F, as in the winding- machine. The degree of tension given to the silk threads in winding- causes them to raise the sliders e, Should any one of the threads break, the slider through which it passed, no longer supported by it, strikes upon the bent lever t v, which moving upon its centre w, causes the hook v to catch into the notches made for that purpose in the disc of the bobbin B, and this immediately stops its motion. The winding of the required number of threads thus proceeds with as much certainty as the winding of one would do. It is the business of the attendant to repair the broken thread, when the slide e being again raised, the weight x, attached to the bent lever tv, raises the end £, frees the notched bobbin from the hook v, and the machine is once again in motion, The bobbins, thus filled with double or triple threads, are once more carried to the throwsting machine, and are there spun or twisted together by an operation similar to that already described, with the sole difference before mentioned, of giving a reversed direction to the spindles and flyers. In this operation, the silk, now converted to organzine, is transferred to reels instead of bob- bins, and then, being made up into skeins, is sorted for sale or use. Previously to this, however, and in order to prevent its crinkling when removed, a tendency to which it has acquired in twisting, the reels are subjected for two or three minutes to the action of steam, which is found effectually and permanently to set the twist. This is a modern improvement, it having formerly been the practice to steep the reels in boiling water, a more tedious and less effectual operation. The degree of hardness given to the twist is varied according to the purpose for which it is intended ; and depends, as already described, upon the relative diameters of the wheel and pinion h and i, of the throwsting ma- chine. The silk thus thrown is called hard silk, and must be boiled, in order to discharge the gum, which otherwise renders it harsh to the touch, and unfit to receive the dye. The silk is for about four hours in a plentiful proportion of water, into which a quan- tity of soap, equal to about one-third of the weight of the silk, has been placed; this assists in dissolving the gum, and in ren- dering the silk soft and glossy. By this boiling, the silk, which has already in the previous operations of organzining, lost in the proportion of from five to seven and a half out of each one hundred pounds of its weight, is further diminished to twelve, and sometimes even to eleven and a half ounces, for every pound. Considerate carefulness is called for in this operation, to prevent injury to the threads from burning, which sometimes will occur, and occasion material loss to the manufacturer, or to the dyer, to whom the process is in- trusted. If by reason of the viscid gum contained in the silk, the skeins adhere to the bottom of the copper in which they are 340 THROWSTING. boiled, the heat is, by that means, necessarily intercepted in its passage to the water, and accumulated in the silk, which is, in consequence, partially carbonized and spoiled. Even when the injury thus occurring to the staple of the thread is less apparent, it frequently discovers itself when put into the loom, causing infinite trouble and delay to the weaver, who often, in such a case, cannot weave, in a working of twelve hours, more than, in the absence of injury to the silk, he would have woven in half that time ; and the injury to him is therefore one of very serious con- sequence. After this boiling, the silk is well washed in a current of clear water to discharge the soap ; and when subsequently dried, al- though its weight is so sensibly diminished, its bulk is, on the contrary, visibly increased, and it is seen to have acquired that peculiar glossiness and softness of texture which form its princi- pal and characteristic beauty. The gum which has been now discharged served the useful purpose of causing the adhesion of the fibres, as originally wound from the cocoons. This end is now more effectually attained by the twist the thread has received in the throwing mill ; and the gum would henceforth be considered as a foreign matter, impair- ing the beauty and destroying the flexibility of its texture. Were the boiling performed before the twisting, this operation would scarcely be at all completed, and at best only an entangled wooly or downy substance would be obtained, wholly unfit for manufacturing purposes. Before a thread of useful texture could be then got, the silk would require to be spun by some process similar to that followed with cotton or wool, or such indeed as is necessary with the waste silk, drawn from the cocoons in the first operation of reeling, and with those cocoons which are in- jured or reserved for breeding, and which it is found difficult or impossible to wind in the filature. It has always been asserted, and, if the assertion be correct, it is a curious fact, that, notwithstanding the great advantage of su- perior machinery, the English throwster is unable to produce organzine silk equal in quality, and at as small an expense, or with as little waste, as that prepared in Italy. It was long held, and is still believed by many, that the Italian throwster, who is also most usually a dealer in silk, reserves the finest qualities for his own operations ; and exports only that which is inferior. Supposing, however, that the difference in the value of the thrown silk is such as is stated, it is perhaps nearer to the truth to be- lieve that the climate may influence the quality of a substance so delicate, since it is well known that, during certain states of the atmosphere, the throwing of silk is performed in England at a comparative disadvantage. Or, it may be, that the fibre of the silk is injuriously affected by its being packed before twisting, or by the lengthened voyage to which it is subjected in its transit to that country; and the higher estimation uniformly evinced by THROWSTING. 341 throwsters for silk of the new crop, over that which has lain sometime in the warehouse, would seem to indicate another cause for the alleged superiority of Italian organzine. It is owing to this preference of foreign thrown silk, that, in the face of a high protecting duty, it has always met with a certain, though limited demand from the English weaver. We find in the Congressional reports (Doc. No. 158) a notice of Messrs. Terhoven, brothers, of Philadelphia County, who have recently invented a simple and ingenious machine for winding silk from cocoons, and for doubling and twisting the thread at the same time. These operations, it is believed, have never before been united in the same machine. It answers the object intended perfectly. A fringe weaver, who has seen the silk thread finished on this machine, pronounced it equal to any imported. The in- ventors have received a medal worth twenty dollars from Scot- land for this invention. An improved engine for tramming silk, by U. V. Spenton of Winchester, (Eng.,) as taken from the London transactions of the Society of Arts, vol. 41, page 169, 1823 ; for which a silver medal was granted, and one of which machines is now in the office of the Secretary of the Treasury at Washington, is thus described. The delivering bobbins (varying from two to four, according to the thickness of the component thread) are placed upon as many vertical spindles, the vertical position allowing the threads to quit the bobbins without any motion or revolution of the bobbins themselves. Some way above the bobbins, the threads pass singly between two horizontal slips of cloth or felt, which by their friction, give, at the same time, a certain degree of tension to the threads, and clear them from any dust or other light matter. Each thread then passes through the eye of its own drop-wire, whence they all converge and unite in the eye of the guidcr, from which the compound thread is distributed on the surface of the receiving-bobbin as it revolves. Each drop- wire consists of a piece of wire turned up, so as to form a right angle, of which the vertical leg is about two inches long, and is terminated by an eye through which the thread passes; and the horizontal leg is about four inches long, terminating likewise in an eye, through which passes a pin, connecting all the four drop- wires, and forming a pivot, on which each is capable of moving freely. Each thread, in passing through the eye of its drop-wire, slips down a little, and, being in a state of moderate tension, sup- ports it at the elevation of half an inch or more above the position to which it would otherwise descend. When, therefore, a thread breaks, its drop-wire immediately falls and strikes on the edge of a wire frame, moving on a horizontal pivot, and so adjusted that the weight of the drop-wire immediately inclines downwards that side which it touches, and consequently raises the opposite side. To this opposite side a tail of wire is attached, which, 29* 342 DYEING. when raised, catches on a kind of racket- wheel, fixed on the same spindle as the receiving bobbin, and consequently stops it. The broken thread being- repaired, is again passed through the eye of the drop-wire, and supports it above the frame ; the opposite ends of the frame then become preponderant; the tail, or stop, descends out of the way of the racket-wheel, and the revolution of the receiving bobbin immediately recommences. This apparatus is very simple and efficacious, but is liable to two inconveniences : first, that the thread usually breaks close to the pieces of cloth by which it is compressed, and some trouble and loss of time are occasioned in drawing the threads out pre- vious to tying it: secondly, that, when a smaller number of threads than four are trammed, the vacant drop-wires must be re- moved, otherwise their unsupported weight would, as above described, throw up the stop, and prevent the revolution of the receiving bobbins. The specimen of this loom, as above mentioned, being deposited, we presume, for public inspection, and to afford drawings and models, renders it unnecessary to give here any illustration by cuts or diagrams, none such being sufficient to fully meet the practical operator, and to such only could it be useful. CHAPTER II. DYEING. [In the following pages upon dyeing, &c, every wohd is left out whose omission would not render the sense obscure.] To cleanse and ungum silk. — This operation consists in depriving silk of the principles which affect its whiteness. When the silk is made up into hanks, as is elsewhere described, dis- solve 15lbs. soap for 100 lbs. silk. Cut the soap in small pieces to promote its solution. Fill a kettle with pure fresh water, free from calcareous impregnation, and in proper quantities. The pro- portions are, 7 or 8 lbs. water to 1 lb. silk ; -\ : or —g- is sufficient for most colours. For yellow unbleached silks add 50 or 60 per cent., for unbleached white silks 25 per cent., of soap. Close the furnace door, with a few live coals in it, to keep the bath hot, but not boiling in no case, as it would injure the lustre of its tex- ture. Put the hanks of silk into this bath, hanging on sticks or pegs, and changing them till they are ungummed,as may be seen by the flexibility of the silk when deprived of its gum. This silk is to be wrung upon pins, to remove the soap, dressed and shaken upon pins and the hands, run a cord through the hanks, DYEING. 343 8 or 10 on a line. Place these hanks in a bag closed at both ends and open in side. When in, sew up the side, each bag with about 30 lbs. silk. These bags must now be boiled £ of an hour, in fresh soap and water, checking it when boiling over with cold water, and stirring the bags to keep them from burning. The silk thus operated upon is intended to remain white. White Silk, or boiling silk to be dyed white. — There are five parts or shades of white silk, called in China, Indian white, Paste white, Milky white, Silver white, and Blue Azure white. These are distinguishable by the eye, the three first are boiled and un- gummed, as above; to the two latter azure blue is added in the ungumming. This azure blue is thus made; wash 5 oz. indigo thrice in moderately hot water, pound it in a mortar, and pour boil- ing water over it. Leave it to settle; when it subsides decant the clear liquid carefully for use. This, by dyers, is termed azure. The silk is now prepared, as in the last instance, for white. When to be dyed : — In a large kettle filled with clear water, of 30 buckets, put 1£ lbs. of soap ; boil when the soap is dissolved, put the silk in the kettle over rods, passing through it and resting on its brim. For China white add a little annotto to the baths for a reddish tint. The silk should be turned on the rods, the end being in the liquor, and every part an equal time in the watery solution. For Indian white add a little azure; also for the other whites add azure, in proportion as the shades require. Four or five dippings will complete the work. The silk is to be wrung upon pegs, suspend- ed to dry, and fumigated if required. Sulphuring. — The silk in this operation should be extended on poles 7 or 8 feet from the floor, in a high apartment. For every 100 lbs. of silk 1^ or 2 lbs. of roll brimstone is used. It is put into an earthen pan, covered at bottom with a layer of ashes. The rolls, coarsely pounded, are to be placed on the ashes and lighted. The apartment is then well closed, the chimney, if there be one, well stopped, and the brimstone left burning during the night. The next day ventilate the room, and with the doors and windows open dry the silk. In winter a dish of charcoal to dry the silk should be used, the room being closed. To boil silks which are to be dyed. — For common colours put 20 lbs. of soap to 100 lbs. silk, and proceed as before, except that as the silk is not to be ungummed the boiling may continue 3^ hours, filling up from time to time with water. When the dye is to be blue, or green, yellow, or other colours, 30 lbs. of soap per 100 lbs. of silk are necessary, and the boiling, as before, to be in 4 hours, and then taken out. The bag, being taken out, is laid on a frame, and ripped, the silk taken therefrom ; if the liquid has not sufficiently penetrated, known by slimy appearances, it should be again put in, and boiled some hours. The silk loses £ in boiling. Aluming. — After washing and beetling the silk, to divest it of the soap, a line is put through them as when put to boil. They 344 DYEING. are then put into the alum, taking care that each hank is properly exposed to the alum water, and kept well under. They must re- main there 8 or 9 hours, from night till morning, then washed and wrung with the hand over the vessel, and washed in a river or other bath of clear water, and beetled when necessary. A cask of 40 or 50 bucketsful should have 40 lbs. of alum, first dissolved in hot water, and poured in and well stirred to mix it. Put into this 150 lbs. silk. If it be too weak add 25 lbs. more alum dis- solved with the same precautions. The alum is increased, and more silk is added until the bath begins to smell bad. Steep the silks intended for dark colours and draw off; then clean the bath for a new operation. This aluming is the " soul of dyeing." If the alum contains iron, which may be known by dissolving a few drops of the solution of the prussiate of potash, when a blue pre- cipitate will take place, then dissolve the alum for 10 or 15 days, in shallow vessels in the air, when the iron becoming oxidated, it will separate in the form of rust. Filter the solution, evaporate the water and recrystallize it. The indigo blue tub. — For 8 lbs. of indigo take 6 lbs. of the best potash, and for each pound of potash 3 to 4 ounces of mad- der and 8 lbs. of bran, watered several times to take off its flour, and when washed well pressed to take off the water. Set it by itself on the tub bottom ; boil the potash a quarter of an hour, in a kettle two-thirds full. Then leave it to settle and put out the fire. Two or three days previously to this 8 lbs. of indigo should have been steeped in a bucket of hot water ; in this it should be carefully washed, changing the water, which assumes a reddish colour. This is the bath usually made by silk dyers. Put into this dye the silk or stuff, the shades of which are to be deepest. The colour will be deeper the longer it remains, until the liquor becomes weak. The tub for the above quantity of indigo must be 5 feet deep and 2^ in diameter at the mouth, and 1^ foot at the base. Crimson. — Silks to be dyed in crimson with cochineal, should be boiled in 20 lbs. soap to 100 lbs. of silk. Wash and beetle the silk at a stream, to take out the soap ; put it in an alum so- lution in its full strength, from night till morning, (7 or 8 hours.) Wash the silks and twice beetle them at a stream. A previously prepared bath or trough filled with river water, about ^ or f , and when boiling add some powdered nut galls ; boil on for a little while; then add 4 drachms to 2 ounces of the nut galls to every pound of silk. If the galls are finely powdered and sifted they may be put in with the cochineal. The silk is then washed, beetled, and spread upon sticks by hanks, thick, because crimson colour is not subject to be unequally set. The cochineal, pound- ed and sifted, is now thrown into the bath, and well stirred, and must have 5 or 6 boils. From 2 to 3 ounces to each pound of silk is put in according to the shade. The proportion of cochi- neal is 2£ ounces, never more than 3 ounces. These ingredients DYEING. 345 are put into a pure tin vessel, (not into copper or brass tinned.) The cochineal and galls are boiled, put into a bath, and for every 1 lb. cochineal, 1 oz. of a solution of tin in aqua regia, called com- position, is used. This composition is made with 1 lb. sp. nitre, 2 oz. sal ammoniac, and 6 oz. of grain tin. The two latter are placed in a sand stone pot, upon which pour 12 oz. water, and then add the sp. nitre. One ounce of this composition to 1 lb. of silk is used. The galls and cochineal being boiled, the kettle is left to cool. The silk is put into the tub to be steeped from 5 to 7 times. After this the bath must boil 2 hours, steeping the silks towards the end of this time. Now withdraw- the fire, and wholly immerse the silks, leaving them to remain from 6 to 8 hours. The silk is now to be washed and to get two beetlings, and be wrung and dried. Chaptal says, by giving silk a ground of yellow, be- fore dyeing as above, a poppy or flame colour may be obtained as handsome and more economical than that produced from the carthamus or bastard saffron. Green. This colour, composed of yellow and blue, is diffi- cult to give to silk, because, in place of applying the yellow upon the blue, we give the blue upon the yellow. The silk, which is boiled as for common colours, must be well alumed; then cooled in a stream ; the silk is then distributed in little hanks of 4 or 5 ounces, to make the dye uniform. Weld,* the Reseda Luteola, is to be boiled as for the yellow, and a bath of it. prepared with clear water, so strong as to give a good ground of yellow colour. Dip the silk in this bath with great care, so that the colour shall be equal, and a perceptible .green. When the ground (colour) is nearly at its height, some shreds of silks should be dipped, in order to see whether the colours have a fulness of ground. If enough, and the decoction of weld, and make a new trial. W T hen the colour takes, wring the silk, cool in a stream, and beetle. The silk is then to be dressed, reformed into hanks for the tub, steeped, hank by hank, in a cold blue vat, and finally wrung and dried with care and speed. The 15 or 16 clearest shades of this kind of green need only be steeped in the tub in order to be entirely completed. For deeper greens, or to vary the shades, add to the weld a decoction of logwood, or of old fustic, or of annotto. A little copperas is added to produce very deep greens. The apple and sea-green require a light yellow. Lilac, a very light and brilliant tint of the violet, or of the purple, should receive the blue with caution, and sparingly. If the baths are too strong, mix fresh water with some potash in clear, cold water, to prepare a bath for blueing and greening the lilacs at will. W~hen the bath is prepared, stir it up. Then it * The weld plant should be cultivated by our farmers : no crop will pay better. 346 DYEING. assumes a green colour, which imperceptibly diminishes. When the bath begins to lose its first green colour, and appear like in- digo, put in the silk. The potash gives the red more of a violet tint. Violet with Logwood. Take dyed silks, alumed and washed in the usual way ; boil logwood chips in water. It will give blue, if made cold. When the logwood is warm, the colour is spotted, unequal, and less beautiful. This decoction will not last more than three weeks or a month. If the alumed silk be steeped in a bath of Brazil wood, it may be dyed with the usual heat : after this, a decoction of logwood may be added, and the silk immersed ; in this case, the bath may be warm, which it must not be if the silk had not first been steeped in the first decoction. The potash is sometimes substi- tuted with a bath of alum in clear water, for the alteration of the tint — always when the silks are too much charged with the dye, by being too long in the bath. Violet with Brazil wood and Archil. After boiling and impregnating the silk with the alum water, put it into a vat, more or less clear, of Brazil wood, according to the shade intended to be given. When taken out, the silk is beetled in a stream of clear water, then put into the bath of archil to complete the colour; is washed a. second time, and beetled. It is then put into the tub, wrung, dried quickly, as in the case of greens and blues. Yellow. Alum, 3 oz. to 1 lb. of silk ; sugar of lead, 1 oz. to 1 lb. of alum ; fustic, 1 lb. to 1 of silk ; water, 2 gallons, as the shade may require. Immerse the silk over night in a solution of alum and sugar of lead ; wring and dye it in the fustic. Chaptal says, that silk intended for yellow colour is boiled with 22 lbs. L oz. 1 dr. of soap to 110 lbs. 5 oz. 10 drs. of silk; it is afterwards washed, alumed, and put on the rods. The yellow bath is prepared by boiling 2 lbs. 3 oz. 5 drs. of weld to the pound of silk, £ of an hour. Strain this decoction through a sieve ; cool till the hand can be kept in it, then im- merse the silk. This process is repeated, and more silk immersed, till the strength of the dye is exhausted. To extract all the virtues of the weld, and impart a golden hue to the yellow produced by it, 1 lb. 4 oz. 4 drs. potash to 22 lbs. 1 oz. 2 drs. silk are put in the vat. The second bath of weld is poured boiling hot on these, and well stirred to hasten the solu- tion. When the bath becomes clear, decant a part of it to the first bath, and again immerse the silk. A golden hue may be imparted to the yellow by means of annotto. Yellow on silk in hanks. Silk to be dyed, is boiled in the proportion of 20 lbs. soap to 100 lbs. silk. When boiled, it is put into the alum water and again washed, (called refreshed,) and dressed, then placed upon rods, in hanks of 7 or 8 ounces each, and steeped in the yellow bath. DYEING. 347 For dyeing clear yellow, (jaune franc,) or yellow in grain, weld only is commonly used. Put into a kettle 2 lbs. weld to 1 lb. of silk. Boil £ hour, the weld on blocks of wood, to mix well with the water; strain; cool till the hand can bear it ; put in the silk ; work it well till the colour is uniform. Keep the barque full, and the added water of a proper temperature ; (all long troughs should be kept full ;) the silk is now immersed : while this goes on, weld is boiled a second time in new water. Take out the silk ; empty the trough one-half; fill it up again with the new decoction, in quantity equal to what was abstracted ; stir up the bath, to mix the liquid ; this is kept hotter than the first, but moderate, lest part of the colour taken by the silk should be destroyed. Steep in this new bath the silk : during which, dissolve potash in pro- portion of 1 lb. to 20 of silk. Put the potash into a small kettle, pour into it some of the 2d weld liquor, boiling hot, stirring up the potash. When this has settled, and is clear, lift out, a 2d time, the silks ; put them on the frames; throw into the bath two or three ladlesful of the clear potash water. Stir well, dip the silks again, and wash anew. After seven or eight washes, ex- amine to see if the colour be a proper one. If not, add to the bath a little potash ; and proceed as before, till the colour is of the desired shade. To make a yellow, approaching to that of a jonquille, with the potash, put into the bath a little annotto. Poppy. The poppy colour is procured by precipitating the red of bastard saffron held in solution by potash. With this view, when silks are washed, drained, and put on the rods, lime juice is poured into the bath till it acquire a cherry colour. It is then stirred, and well worked, until it has acquired a sufficient colour. To produce a lively, full poppy, the silk is wrung on coming out of the first bath, which it exhausts, and is then put into the second. Five or six baths are requisite to impart to it a flame colour. The poppy colour is heightened by putting the silk through tepid water, acidulated with lime juice. A ground of annotto, 3 or 4 shades paler than aurora, is requisite for silks, be- fore exposing them to the colouring principle of the earthamus plant. Black. Chaptal's directions to dye raw silk {soie crue) which has been reeled off dry. The silk being cleansed, is to be bleached, by being sulphured or charged with sulphureous acid; then washed and passed water saturated with a little soap ; then take £ the weight of silk of gall nuts ; make a strong decoction of them ; boil the silk therein for a short time ; let it remain in the vat 36 hours ; wash and wring it. The silk is so saturated with tannin, that 100 lbs. of silk thus galled will weigh 135 lbs. Put in this bath, sul- phate of iron and gum, according to the quantity to be dyed ; heat it ; dip the silk therein, and when deeply black, put it in a 348 DYEING. trough of cold water ; turn it on a roller, that all parts may be equally exposed ; then pass it through cold soap suds. Dyers have a tub on purpose for black, and when the dyeing composition is exhausted, they renew by a refresher, (brevet.) When the deposit is considerable, it is taken out, and iron filings added to the liquid. The dyeing of the silk is finished by heating the cauldron containing the dye, occasionally stirring it, to prevent the sediment from heating too much. The liquor must not boil : add more or less gum and iron solu- tion. When the gum is dissolved, and the liquid nearly boils, it is left for one hour, the silk, divided into three portions, is then immersed successively. The silk is slightly wrung, and aired three times. The great point is, to press out the liquor with which the silk is impregnated, and when to fill it again there- with ; but above all, to air it well, as that deepens the colour. After the three wringings, the vat is to be heated, and more gum and copperas added. The reheating the vat is called giving afire. Two fires are commonly given for a light black, and three for a deep dye. Sometimes the silk is left in the vat, after the last fire, for 12 hours. Commonly 30 kilogrammes (66 lbs. 3 oz. 6 drs.) of silk are dyed in one operation. This is technically called a heat. One fire only is required for half the quantity. When the dyeing is finished, the silk is rinsed on the rods sec. art. When the silk is dyed, it must be softened, by immersing it for a quarter of an hour in soap and water, in the proportion of from 2 to 3 lbs. of soap to 100 lbs. of silk, and then dried. Chaptal says, a full, clear, permanent black may be obtained by using a solution of iron immediately after a strong galling. The stuff is immersed in a decoction of logwood, and next into this decoction, conjoined with a solution of iron and verdigris, and this to be repeated till the colour is very beautiful. With this view, 110 lbs. 5 oz. 10 drs. of silk, 44 lbs. 2 oz. 4 drs. of nutgalls, 66 lbs. 3 oz. 6 drs. of sulphate of iron, calcined to red- ness, the same quantity of logwood, and 1 1 lbs. 9 drs. of verdi- gris, were employed. The silk is to be first wrung out of the galls ; allowed to dry, and then strongly shaken by the hands, in order to ventilate and detach it from the galls. The same process of rubbing, shaking, &c, is to be employed in respect to the logwood bath ; and the silk is to be carefully washed after each immersion in the solution of sulphate of iron. In the last logwood bath, is to be dissolved 2 oz. 15 drs. of gum arabic, to 1 lb. 4 oz. 4 drs. of silk. The black is softened by passing the dyed silk through soap and water. By combining vegetable astringents with the nutgalls, a softer and more agree- able colour was produced. Oak bark, a species of agaric, pome- grate bark, &c, may be employed for this purpose. Blue. By Mons. Raymond. When the silk has been cleansed, immerse it £ of an hour at DYEING. 349 the ordinary temperature in water containing -^ of its weight of the sulphate of the peroxide of iron. Wash ; hold it for \ an hour in a bath, nearly boiling, of soap and water. Wash again ; put in a cold weak solution of prussiate of potash, soured by sul- phuric, or muriatic acid. As soon as it is immersed it becomes blue. In \ of an hour wash and dye it. This dye becomes dull in the sun, but will regain its brilliancy by being kept in the dark. Chaptal says, to obtain Turkish blue, the deepest of all, the silk should be immersed in a strong, warm bath of savary, before putting it into the vat. To obtain the Royal Hue, also a deep colour, and permanent, cochineal is employed in place of savary. This last blue may be successfully imitated, by first immersing the silk in a solution of loz. 7| drs. verdigris, to 1 lb. 4 oz. 4 drs. of silk. The silk is afterwards disposed in a bath of log- wood, in which it assumes a blue colour, which is fixed by pass- ing it through the vat. Silk to be dyed blue, is usually boiled in a bath of 44 lbs. 2 oz. 4 drs. soap, to 110 lbs. 5 oz. 10 drs. silk. It is carefully washed, and twice put through running water; afterwards made into skeins; plunged into the vat by means of the wooden roller until it has acquired the desired shade. It is then wrung, shaken in the air, washed, again wrung, and hung up to dry. When silk is to be dyed blue without boiling, the whitest kinds are chosen ; they are dipped in water that they more readily imbibe the dye. EXTRACTS FROM A GERMAN TREATISE ON DYEING SILK. \The following receipts are proportioned to 10 lbs. of silk boiled."] A handsome yellow. Take 1£ lbs. alum : 20 lbs. St. Mary's thistle [the carduus Marie] and ^ lb. woad ashes. Dissolve the alum in 10 buckets water; pour it into a vat; fix the silk upon rods, steep it; work it well an hour; wring it; lay it aside wet. Into 10 buckets water in a kettle add the carduus Marie, boil $ of an hour; strain; let it cool to suffer your hand in it; steep the silk in this ; work well half an hour; wring; and lay it by wet. The pails with the alum water, as well as those with the decoction, must be filled and kept full during the working process to near the top. In filling up, or supplying the evapora- tion, do not cool it below what your hand can bear. Put the carduus Marie the 2d time into the kettle, with fresh water; boil again ; take out the silk ; dip out some of the liquor in which you had previously worked the silk; add as much of the 2d boiling to it; stir the liquor always before you steep the silk in it; steep the silk again, and work it well for half an hour; keeping up a higher temperature than at the first operation, but not too hot, or it will injure the silk. Now dissolve the woad ashes in a kettle, pour on it some of the 2d liquor, boiling hot ; 30 350 DYEING. stir well, and then let it settle ; next pour the clear part of this solution into the yellow liquor, first taking out the silk ; stir well; steep the silk again, and work it well 15 minutes. Then, or sooner, take out a small quantity of the silk ; wring it, examine its shade, if the colour is not good, add a small quantity of the solution of woad ashes to this liquor ; steep the silk again, and let it be well worked until the colour is obtained. To give the silk a deep golden tint, add to the solution of woad ashes some annotto. Citron yellow. Take 1£ lbs. alum, 8 lbs. safflower; £ lb. alum. Dissolve the alum in 10 buckets of water; pour the solution into a vat; steep the silk in it; work it well half an hour; wring, and lay it by wet. Throw away the alum solution as useless, and put 10 buckets of fresh water into a kettle; add 8 lbs. safflower and £ lb. alum; boil for half an hour, strain the decoc- tion into the vat; steep the silk in it; work it well £ f an hour; wring; dry, and beat it well. The left liquor will dye a pale yellow. Another citron yellow. Take 1£ lbs. alum; 14 lbs. saf- flower, and £ lb. alum. To 10 buckets water in a kettle, add 1£ lbs. alum; dissolve; pour into the vat; work the silk in the solution \ an hour; wring, and lay it by wet. Next pour 10 buckets fresh water into the kettle ; add 7 lbs. safflower ; boil \ an hour ; strain into the vat ; work it well for 15 min.; wring, and dry it. The yellow liquor now pour back into the kettle ; add 7 lbs. safflower, (remaining,) also \ lb. alum; boil the whole \ an hour ; strain into a pail; work the silk well in this \ hour; wring; dry and beat it well. Citron yellow in a different way. Take \\ lbs. alum ; 7 lbs. French berries. Dissolve the alum in 8 buckets water ; pour this into a vessel ; immerse the silk in it; work it well ^ an hour; lay it by wet; and throw away the solution. Then boil 10 buckets of water; put into it the French berries ; boil for £ of an hour; add a small quantity of alum to the berries ; strain into a bucket; immerse it in the liquor; work well | an hour; wring well. To make the colour deeper or lighter, add or diminish the Fr. berries. Citron yellow another way. Take 2 lbs. alum ; 6 lbs. quercitron bark, ground. Alum in 10 buckets dissolved; pour it into the vat; immerse the silk in it, work it well 2 hours; wring; lay it aside wet; throw away the alum water; put 10 buckets fresh water into a kettle ; the ground quercitron bark into it ; boil one hour ; strain into a pail ; immerse in this liquor ; work for an hour ; wring well ; dry. Preserve the yellow liquor. A pale yellow. Take 2 lbs. alum. Prepare as above. Then warm the liquor used in the forego- ing operation ; put it in a pail ; immerse ; work well half an hour ; DYEING. 351 wring well ; wring on a post ; beat it well ; and it will be glossy. It need not be rinsed. Citron yellow. Take 3 lbs. alum, and 1 lb. 3 oz. quercitron bark. Put the alum in a kettle with 10 buckets of water; let it dissolve ; pour it into a pail ; immerse the silk ; work it well and longer than usual ; wring ; rinse, and lay it by wet. Now put 10 buckets water in a kettle; warm it; put the quercitron in a bag ; boil until the strength is extracted ; immerse the silk in it; work it well £ of an hour, and it is a handsome lively citron. A high yellow colour. (10 lbs. silk.) Add to the above yellow liquor a few ounces soda, according to the deep or bright shades desired ; but not until the silk is completely saturated with the liquor of quercitron. Orange. (10 lbs. silk.) Add to the above liquor at the same time with the soda, a proportional quantity of annotto, and work it well in. A pale yellow, or straw colour. — Take less alum and quer- citron, and dispense altogether with the soda and annotto. Buff. — To produce the many different shades of this colour, proceed with the quercitron in the same manner as directed in the dyeing of the same colours with turmeric and weld, (dyer's weed.) But 1 lb. of quercitron will equal 10 lbs. of either the turmeric or weld. A very lively glossy yellow. — To increase the above to its most lively and glossy hue, take instead of the alum, a solution of tin dissolved in a mixture of 3 parts spirits of salts, and 1 of nitric acid. Mix this with 20 times its own volume of water, and immerse the silk, first well alumed. Do not rinse. It may be coloured immediately. The solution of tin may be preserved. A Turkish blue. — Take 2^ oz. cochineal ; 10 oz. aquafortis ; 1^ oz. English tin, and £ lb. alum. The silk must first be coloured in a keep, to a medium blue. Then place in a kettle 10 buckets of water, into which put 2| oz. cochineal, and boil it well for 10 minutes. During the above process, dissolve the tin in the aquafortis, sec. art. Next pour the solution with £ lb. of alum into the said kettle, stir well ; immerse the silk, work it well for £ of an hour, keeping up a steady, slow, continued boil. Then take it out, wring and beat it Well to restore it to its natural gloss. By doubling the alum and substituting £ lb. of cream of tartar, the aquafortis may be dispensed with. A real pink. Take 15 lbs. of safflower; 15 quarts strong vinegar ; § oz. oil vitriol ; 1 lb. 14 oz. potash, and 4 oz. cream tartar. Put the 15 lbs. of safflower in a bag, tie it tight, immerse it 48 hours in running water, taking it out every 6 hours ; tread it well with your feet, and continue till the yellow matter is worked out of it, then take it out, put it in a pail, and pour on it six buckets of river water. Next put 1 lb. 14 oz. potash in a crock to dis- solve it in water, decant the clear liquor on the safflower in the 352 DYEING. tub, mix well, set it in a cool place for 6 hours. After this take out the safflower with the liquor ; strain in a pail, put in this half a bucket of water ; press it out to extract the colouring matter; pour 15 quarts of vinegar and f of an ounce of oil vitriol into the liquor. Next take 10 lbs. of silk on rods; put it into this mix- ture, work it well for 4 hours. Rinse in a stream ; wring well, and lay it aside wet. Lastly, dissolve 4 oz. cream tartar in soft water; decant the clear part of this into a tub, with 8 buckets of river water. Immerse the silk, which was before a light reel, in this solution — work it well £ of an hour. Wring and dry it. For a pink of a higher colour, or for a lighter, take more or less saf- flower, and add a small quantity of vinegar. A high coloured crimson. Take 1} lbs. cochineal ; 1 lb. galls ; 4 oz. cream of Tartar; and 2£ lbs. Roman alum. By reducing the quantity of cochineal to 10 oz. and substituting for the re- mainder 3 lbs. of persico, or cutbear, the colour will be nearly the same, but with a slight bluish cast. To use the receipt above, dissolve the alum in 10 buckets of water. Decant the clear liquor into the vat, and immerse the silk in it, working it well for 4 hours. Rinse in a stream ; wring, and lay it by wet. Then to 8 buckets of boiling water, add 1^ lbs. finely powdered cochineal, 1 lb. do. nutgalls, and 4 oz. cream of tartar. Boil these slowly for 15 minutes, cool with 2 buckets of water, work it well in the liquor, the boil being continued for 1£ hours. Rinse, wring, and dry it. A handsome crimson. — Take 3 lbs. of Roman alum ; \ oz. argol,* (cream tartar,) \ lb. East India galls well powdered ; 25 oz. cochineal. Put 8 buckets rain water, lukewarm, in a kettle, into this 3 lbs. Roman alum ; dissolve; put the solution in a pail, immerse it; work well eight hours ; wring lightly, and lay it by wet ; heat 8 buckets spring water ; just boil it ; put in \ oz. argol and \ lb. powdered galls; boil all well 10 minutes; strain in a pail ; pour the liq. back into the kettle ; put in 25 oz. cochineal pulverized ; boil 10 min.; cool with h. bucket water ; immerse the silk in it ; work well for 2 hours; keep boiling; rinse; wring strongly, and dry it. Take 10 buckets water in a kettle, heat it just to bear your hand ; work well for \ hour ; then wring it, dry it — done. An ounce argol may be used. A deep red. Take 1 lb. fine galls ; 2£ lbs. alum ; \ lb. com- position, and 5 lbs. madder. Put into 8 buckets of water 1 lb. fine galls ; boil 15 minutes ; take it out ; run it through a sieve into a vat : steep the silk in it ; work it well for 2 hours ; take it out, rinse, and dry it. Then put into a kettle 8 buckets water, 2^ lbs. of alum, and \ lb. of the composition ; unite them in the water. Pour the mixture * Red argol is the tartar from red wine; white argol is the impure de- posit from white wine. Cream of tartar is pure argol. DYEING. 353 into a vat, steep the silk in it, work it well for 4 hours ; then take it out, rinse, and lay it by wet. Lastly, put in a kettle 10 buckets water, and 5 lbs. madder. Work the silk well in this until it boils. Rinse and dry it. A real brown. Take 6 oz. annotto, 1 lb. potash, 3 lbs. alum ; 5 oz. nutgalls fine; £ oz. cream tartar; 2 oz. turmeric, and 10 oz. cochineal. Boil the annotto in 10 buckets water, and put it with 1 lb. of potash into a kettle. Boil £ of an hour ; strain the liquor into a tub, immerse the silk, work it well for 2 hours, rinse, wring and dry it. Next to 8 buckets water add 3 lbs. alum; dissolve it; put the solution in a vat. Steep the dried yellow silk, work it well for 3 hours, wring and lay it by wet. Now prepare a kettle with 8 buckets water. Bring it to boil. Put in it 10 oz. coch. ; boil for 10 minutes, cool it with a bucket water. Put into it £ lb. cream tartar, and 2 oz. turmeric. Stir well, steep the silk, previously alumed ; work it well for 2 hours. Rinse in running water, wring, and lay it by wet. Now immerse it in a keep (dye tub) light or dark to your taste. The liquor of logwood will make it equally handsome, but not of a colour so lasting. A real crimson, another way. Take %\ lbs. Roman alum ; 2 lbs. fine pulv'd. galls ; 1 lb. 4 oz. cochineal ; £ lb. argol, and 8 oz. spirits of ammonia. Put 8 buckets water in a kettle ; into that 2 lbs. pulv'd. galls ; boil \ of an hour; strain into a pail ; steep the silk in it; work it well 4 hours ; rinse, wring and dry it. Next take a kettle with 8 buckets water, dissolve 2 lbs. Roman alum; pour it into the vat, steep the silk in it, work it 4 hours in same ; wrin