Feliciana sentinel. [volume] (St. Francisville, La.) 1877-1892, 1879-09-13
GENERAL IDEAS IN SILK CULTURE.
AN ESSAY-BY l.. 8. CROZIER.

AN ESSAY-BY l.. 8. CROZIER.
Tho breeding of sill-worms, in other
words, the propagation of silk, is ono of
the most important sources of wealth it
is an agricultural interest not to hc neg
lected by acountry when it can be success
fully adopted. This rich production is
possible in any locality where the null
berry tree will grow. And the gol,.cn
tree Gas the mulberry is Justly called by
French and italian f.irmers) will thrive
perfectly well in almost every State of
the Union. If the culture of the noble
threat seems to belong specially to south
ern countries, the reason is that q warm
temperature and great acreation of ven
tilatioa are'sae:essary to the silll-worms.
These two combined conditions of success
are obtained in the South quito easily,
without any expense, while III northern
ATTITUDES costly artificial means End great
care are imperative for the success Of the
enterprise. Hence, these two conclu-
sions: 1st. The South can raise silk in
the simplest and cheapest way, under any
shelter, barn, hut, stable. etc, open to all
the winds. I'd. Such primitive ways of
shcltering the bombyx mort offers ten
chances Of success, while costly cocoone-
rics, constructed after tho rules Of self
styled masters in the art, with warm and
cool rooms, colorilices, ventilaturs, y c.,
&C.. offer only one. speak hero of the
worth of certain conditions of climatic
In southern silk countries such buildings
will invariably provo an unavoidable
failure. I could now des cribe the cheap,
easy ways used in Italy, Greece, Asia
Minor and far eastern countries, but these
| details are reserved for u chapter of my
next book; they are too long to find place
in this rapid sketch. Let mo say only
these few words which are an aXiom.-
s'The cheapest way to cultivate silk is the
| best needed to insure successes"
MULBERRY TREES.
Sil;l-worns can be fed on almost ovcry
variety Of mulberry tree. such as the
| black, white red Multicaulis, &c. and on
marlboro or Usage orange Rut in order
| to obey this rule set down by the eminent
Count dc Observation-Disclosures only the
| varieties of mulberry producing the larg-
est quantity of silk for q given weight Of
| Ieaves''-the black and red mulberries
| have been abandoned. Another import
ant rule not to be trans~resscd is to select
among the many varieties Of the mulber-
r. those easily picked and producing the
largest quantity of silk those which at
the same time will give tho finest, 5 tron y
est and most elastic thread, in other
words, the most valuable cocoons. In
order to reach this high degree of pcriHc-
ton the multicaulis Gas exclusive fnol)
! has been abandoned. Very interesting
and instructive experiments have been
made on this subject by Mr. Robinct, :.
very learned member Of the Institute ana
Agricultural Society, Of Franco. and by
Count tie G;:spcrinc, one ofour best auth
critics on agricultural matters. In q
larger work | Will give tables worthy OF
attention, stating the quantity of silk
and other substance each Kind of tree
confirms, also the average weight OF the
fooI needed fora given weight of co coons.
And then the weight Of cococns needed
for Il given weight of silk. Suffice it how
to know that Count do Gasperine sets in
| tho first rank the n1oyHsrOsen Crosse nlul3c"-
ry) and the Lkom or morris japonica of Mr..
| Camille Beauvois, in the secand rank to
the n,orctG; the third to the ungrafted
moyWs albc, which nevertheless, has many
varieties worthy the first rank. Here is
the proportion OF leaves for one pound of
cocoOns according to Count dc Gasperlic:
Morus alba, Isl to 20 pounds Of leaves to
/ pound cocoons; MoruS rosca, lG to Il
pounds leaves to pound cocoons; ; Mo-
retti, Is to 15E pounds of leaves to l.
pound cocoons; Lhou, IA! pounds leaves
to l pound cocoons; Mnlticaulis, l64
pounds leaves to l pound cocoons The
proportion of silk in every 100 pounds OF
morus alba cocoons is 1Ia pounds in the
morls rosca, Is 10 pounds; in the moret-
ii, Is pounds; in tho Lhou, IS 10; in the
mutt caulis, II 1-5. Experiments made
with the same fine breeds of cocoons give
the following proportions:
| Morus alba, 200 cocoons weigh $50 gram
NJ. cosea, 200 cocoons weigh AGA gram.
NIoretti 4 Lhou 200 coc'n weigh 455 gram
Multicaulis, 200 cocoons weigh 440 gram
III oltef TO SHOW your lcatcl' Iiio VA
ference between first rate cocoons ano
the thousands ofvarietics otsccond, tl1lr,
and fourth class cocoons, let us act for {
momcht as regular reelers. Here arc iou'
lots of cocoons for sale, one yellow kline
of the ccvernes, or pircnecs, or mllanesc
$50 to 100 weigh one pound. There Is no
two per cent. Of double to be discarded
| " = IL 1n ,l,y,
y lises contained into Tho cocoons. These