Encyclopaedia Britannica, or, a Dictionary of arts, sciences, and miscellaneous literature : enlarged and improved. Illustrated with nearly six hundred engravings > Volume 19, Scripture-SUG

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.Silk, every cafe much lefs adverted to than it deferves: and in
particular with regard to the filk worm it has been al-
moft entirely overlooked. A few eggs of the filk worm
can be eafily tranfported by poll in a letter from any
part of Europe to another, efpecially during the winter
feafon. It would therefore be an eafy matter for any
patriotic fociety, fuch as the Society of Arts in Lon¬
don, to obtain a fpecimen of the eggs from every coun¬
try in which lilk is now reared, to put thefe under the
care of a perfon who could be depended upon, and who
underftood the management of them, with orders to
keep each kind diltinft from another, and advert to every
particular that occurred in their management, fo as to
make a fair eftimate of their refpecHve merits. By thefe
means the belt might be fele&ed, and thofe of inferior
value reje&ed. Forty or fifty of each fort might be
enough for the experiment ; but it ought to be repeat¬
ed feveral times before conclufions could be drawn from
it that might be altogether relied upon 5 for it is well
known that a variation of circumfiances will make a
change in the refult 5 and it is by no means certain that-
the fame particular would affefl thofe of one breed ex-
aftly in the fame manner as it would do thofe of a dif¬
ferent breed. One may be more hardy with regard to
cold, another more delicate in refpeft to food, and fo
on. It is experience alone that can afeertain the cir-
cumftances here inquired for.
From the above-mentioned particulars, it is evi¬
dent, that the management of filk worms muft be very
different in hot climates from what is required in thofe
that are colder. At Madras, it appears from Dr An-
derfon’s experiments that it is very difficult to prevent
the eggs from hatching for a very few days, fo that
many generations of them muft be propagated in one
year. “In this hotteft feafon,” fays he, in a letter to
Sir Jofeph Banks, dated July 6. 179*, “the ftiorteft
time I have been able to remark for the whole evolu¬
tions of the filk worm is 40 days ; that is to fay, fix
days an egg, 22 a worm, 11 a grub in the cocoon,
and one a moth or butterfly.” Fortunately, where the
climate forces forward their produclion fo rapidly, na¬
ture hath been equally provident of food for their fub-
fiftence ; for in thefe regions the mulberry continues to
grow and pu(h out leaves throughout the whole year,
kt ay be Though the filk worm be a native of China, there
is no doubt but it might eafily be propagated perhaps
in moft parts of the temperate zones. The eggs of
this infeft, indeed, require a confiderable degree of
warmth to hatch them, but they can alfo endure a fe-
vere froft. No lefs than 54Colbs of filk were raifed in
1789 in the cold, fandy territories of Pruffia. In the
province of Pekin, in China, where great quantities of
filk are fabricated, the winter is much colder than even
m Scotland. From the information of fome Ruffians
who were fent thither to learn the Chinefe language, vre
find that Reaumur’s thermometer was obferved from 10
- to 15, and even 20 degrees below the freezing point.
J Nor is it difficult to rear the food of the filk worm in
a temperate clime. The mulberry-tree is a hardy vege-
7
Tlka-
11a . lent
of .
wc s
■tanbe
dif snt
in erent
ell :es;
pert
clir
! rear-
tem-
table, which bears, without injury, the winters of Sweden, Silk,
and even of Siberia. Of the feven fpecies of the mulber- u“—
ry (fee Morus) enumerated by Linnaeus, four of thefe
(viz. the white, red, black, and Tartarian), there is every
reafon to believe could be reared both in Britain and
Ireland. The white growTs in Sweden \ the red is abun¬
dant round Quebec ; the black delights in bleak fitua-
tions, expofed to wind on the fea Ihore j and the Tar¬
tarian mulberry is reprefented as growing in the chilly
regions of Siberia. 9
As to the fuperior qualities of the different fpecies, Whether
probably there is very little to be pointed out amongft any fpecies’-
the four juft mentioned with regard to nouriftiment, ex-^^^^f
cept what may be drawn from the following faff : thatfuperjor to-
if the firft three are laid down together, the filk worm others,
will firft eat the white, then the red, and next the black,
in the order of the tendernefs of the leaves. The Tar¬
tarian feems to hold as high a place in its efteem as ei¬
ther the red or black ; but all muft yield to the white,
which feems to be its natural food.
In Calabria the red mulberry is ufedj in Valencia
the white ; and in Granada, where excellent filk is pro¬
duced, the mulberries are all black. The white feems
to profper very well in a moift ftiff foil: the black agrees
well with a dry, fandy, or gravelly foil 5 and the white
is moft luxuriant in a moift rich loam. . i0
It may juftiy be afferted, that Britain poffeffes fome Britain pof-
advantages in the raifing of raw filk which are not en- fome
joyed by v/armer countries. Even in the fouth ofover^arm
France, Mr Arthur Young informs us, the mulberry er countries
leaves are often nipped by froft in the bud 5 but this is for railing
fearcely ever the cafe with us. It is w'ell known that
thunder and lightning are hurtful to the filk worm.
Now our climate can boaft that it is almoft wholly ex¬
empted from thofe dreadful ftorms of thunder and light¬
ning which prevail fo much in hot climates. Nature
has then furnilhed us with every thing requifite for the
filk manufadlure 5 it remains only for us to improve the
advantages which we poffefs. Let mulberry trees be
planted by proprietors of lands, and let a few perfons
of {kill and attention devote their time to the raifing of
filk worms. This is an employment that will not in¬
terfere with any manufadlure already eftablilhed ; on the
contrary, it would afford a refpeftable, a lucrative, and
agreeable employment to ladies, or to females in gene¬
ral, who have at prefent too few profeffions to which
they can apply. The fociety inftituted at London for
the encouragement of arts, manufadtures, and com¬
merce, much to their honour, have offered premiums
to thofe who ftiall plant a certain number of mulberry
trees. rr
The following method of raifing mulberry trees from Method of
feed is pradlifed in the fouth of France, and has been raifing
repeated with fuccefs in the Eaft Indies by Dr Ander- mulb®rry
Ion of Madras. “ Take the ripe berries of the mulber-fouth'of ^
ry when it is full of juice and of feeds. Next take a France,
rough horfe-hair line or rope, fuch as we dry linen on, Letters on
and with a good handful of ripe mulberries run your the Culture
hand along the line, bruifing the berries and mafhing
them r!kanfre
Coajt of Co-
romandcl.
warm renew it. Place the earthen vefl’els in the coldeft place of the Ihip, and let them remain until the end of
the voyage. It muft be obferved, that the Ihip chofen for this purpofe ought to be one that would arrive in Britain
in the months of June or July.