Litchfield enquirer., 1835-05-21
MULBERRY TREE.

I 4rGPdEe SOOu pteCe OI 6dTueu SOtO Uy digging and pulverisng it lay it out in beds three or four feet broad, and rake it off smooth.
 Do this early in May. Sow from 18th May I to the 1st June.
 2. With hoe, stick, or other instrument,
 proceed to make shallow drills across the bed { thus prepared, from 12 to IS inches apart. and
 scatter the seed in the drills as thick as you
 would onion or parsnip seed; then cover halt ] an inch with fine mould, and press it .moder- ateIy down with hoe; or, when the first drIIl ] is sOwn and covered, place upon it a narrow
 strip of board, and stand upon this board to
 SOW the second drill, upon which when sasgne l place the board in 4 like manner, and so the ! and. proceed tfsss Nslli me whole is completed. The pressure Nf the earth up- on the seeds :s to bring it in cloAe contact with them, that they may be kept moist. and ger minate readily. 1.-the weather be dry, or the soil very light, an occasional watering at eve- ming will be beneficial.
 ! 3. The only further care required. the first season, will be to keep the ground free from 1 weeds and the soil moderately loose.
 1 4. Strong plants of one years growth may be transplanted in April into nursery rows; l or the whole may be left tn grow second summer in the seed bed the ground as be- fore, being kept free from weeds, and occa- sionally stirred. ,. After two summers growth, all the strong and healthy plants should he placed in nursery rows, which may be done thus: the good ground being prepared, as for crop, draw line and proceed to open trench, of sufficient breadth and depth to admit the roots freely, leaving the side next the line straight and perpendicular. Having assorted the plants and cut of the bruised, and shortened the top roots. man proceeds to place them in the trench, in their proper position. the heel of the plant towards the line. aud at the dis tance of a foot apart; while another man with spade. or the planter with gsrdner's trOw- el throws in earth to hold them in their places. The trench is then to be filled, the plants set upright, and the earth tread abont them.-l The other rows aFe planted in like manner, three feet apart-the ground to be kept clean during the season. 6. After standing two years in the nursery. the planls will have acquired a sufficient size to plant out in the ground where they are to @ssaDd and if intendedstO sbo grown in hedges. or as bushes, they maybe taken ear Her, even at two years old. from the seed bed. For hedges. plant the same as for nursery; rows, at eighteen inches, the ground having been previously prepared by an ameliorating crop, as potatoes. The same eprecantions are necessary with Mulberry as ritlls other fruit sFees, Intended Tor staUdmds, ss As distanee aDd pianti0g. A broad anA deesS h0ie. partly fillFd with good surface mould. will always repay for extra labor. When intended to be l cultivated as bushes. they may he planted thick, and lift untriMmed, so as tn occupy the entire ground. The Mulberry is generally grown in the latter way in India and some parts of Italy. It facilitates the gathering of the leaves, and affords an earlier product.
 The Mulberry grows well on almost every soil. and particularly ir "ne which is stoney. Upon poor dry soils, it affords the best mate rial for silk. Anounce of seed will give some thousand plants, and require bed four feet broad. and forty to 6fty feet long.
 ). BuEL. Corresponding Sec'y. Al60ny. March Is. 1885.
 SILK.-A very interesting letter appears in the Albany Evening Journal. from Judge Sp.ncer to Mir. Hopkins. of Geneva, an the Culture of Siik. He considers n farm of 20 acres of white mulberry. 10 years old. would yield &ne, profit of to $5000 per annum- that the enormous annual drain of 10 millions of dollars for foreign silks. exceeding all our bread stufs exported, demands our seriaus attention; and that the part of the state be- tween Skeneateles and Lake Ere, from its known congeniality to delicate, fruit trees, would probably he very favorable 10 the mul- berry. Since 176O, silk has been raised in Windham, Connecticut, about the latitude of Albany. MT. D'Homergue, who was bro't up at Nismes in the midst of the s'ik provln- ces of France, testfes to the excellent quality of the American cocoons, and the large quan- tity yielded by them.
 One ounce of seed, according to Judge Spencer. properly sown, after the ground IS thoroughly ploughed, or dug and narrowed, or raked and sown in drills, three feet apart, will give about 50,O0O young trees. They must be kept free from weeds and cattle l At two years they are fit to be ptacedin an orchard to twelve feet apaEt at right angles. l The subsequent culture TDay be conducted by women and children--piuckin the leaves and | feeding the worms until the cocOOns are fOrm
 ed. These last are reeled from the flores of several cocOOns at once according tO the tIs- 1 sue required. Hitherto it was found necessary to spool the silk before it could be twisted.- l The newly invented reel of two Americana. Messrs. Gay & Moseley. however receives the
 thread on spOols, and thus is avoided the la-
 bov and wastage of the Old process. | The reeling directly on to the spools. over
 comes the great obstacle that existed, and is
 a great .eonv nvenience for transporting the silk. An ingenious woman may learn the use of the
 reel in short time
 Judge Spencer recommends the tending of ] the cocoons as . most profitable work tor l almshouses. He thinks the Chinese muIbeT- ry probably too delicate for our climate, and prefers the white. or MOras Alba. as more
 hardy. and fully capable of sustaining all the
 vicissitudes of our atmosphere. He earnest Iy recommends the culture, and promises to
 pursue. as we trust he will, the investigation
 of this important subject.