'% cP ^ ' o ^^ '>^^/ ^K^ v-^;^ ^ ^^yiw^^ J" ^ ^, o > : >P^4^. '^«^; ^^°v^ ^ ^oV^ <5^. '".M-' aO- '^o. *:^.^\.o^ ^^-^^ V . ■< * o. \* "^^ > %' -^Ao^ • rc^:^.^'' . o .i.'' . 4 O ^ <^' 0' bV r r.'?^ ^^?~-- -^-^-i^-t 'r^^ S'5K' :M& USEFL'L WORKS M THE PEOPLE... NO. VI. lii-ii;iili.:uii;!iiilli:illiltinii;M;ii!iilliiiiliiltlllllllimilllllllll' 'li! THE d* y SILK CULTURE WITH ?5l' ♦SI Xm HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF THE SILK BUSINESS EUROPE AND THE UNITED STATES j THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SILK.WORM, MULBERRY TREE, &c. WITH NUMEROUS EN0RAVIN08. NEW.YORK: GREELEY & McELRATH, TRIBUNE BUILDINGS. PHlLADKLPHIA s G. B. ZEJBER. CINCINNATI: W. H. MOORE & CO. NEW-GRLEANS : NORMAN, STEELE & CO. 1844. PRICE TWENTY-tfiVE CEMS. i-rlv;;J,Lvi^^f/.-v -X?^v-v5.'V"" ■ * t~J.^wS'^V^S7i5*^®^^^i\3**S*i. ,(W5^*^»E USEFUL BOOKS FOR THE PEOPLE. PublisJied by Greeley &- McElrath, and for /sale by Booksellers generally. NO. I TRAVELS IN THE GREAT WESTERN PRAIRIES, The Anahuac and Bocky Monutaius, and Oregon Territory : by Thoma* J. Fapnham, Eiq. Trice 26 ceutt ; fire copiei for $1. NO. II ELLSWORTH'S REPORT. The ImproTements in AGRICULTURE, the ARTS, Sic. in llie United States ; being an aecovtit of recent and important discoveries and improrements in the mode of bnilding Houses, miking Fenrcs, raising Grain, making Pork, disposing of Hogs, making I.ard Oil, raising Silk, with engravings of improved Ploughs and other Agricultur?.! Implements, &c. By Hon. H. L. EllstvoriH, Commii- sioner of Patent*. And a Treatise on AGiUCULTURAL GEOLOGY. Price 25 cents ; five colics foijl. NO. Ill DR. LARDNER'S LECTURES. The Third Edition of Doctor Lardnei's complete Course of Lectures, delivered at Niblo's Silnon in the City of New-York. The subjects embraced in the Lectures are : Elootlicity— The San— Gal- v.uiisja— The Fixed Stars— Magnetic Needle— Lititudf and Longitude— Bleaching— Tanning— Popular F,i'l iciea — Li^ht— Falling Stars — Temporary Stsrs — Historical Sketch of Astronomy — Dew— Science allied by A t— S ientific Discoveries— Sound— Vibratic us of the Retina— Voltaic Battery— StMm E iiciues of Kngland and America. This edition of Dr. Lardner's Lectures is introduced by a SKETCH OF THE I'ROGRESS OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE. By Thomas Thomsok, M. D., F. i4. S., L. & E. &c. &c., Regius Professor of Chemistry in the University of Glasgow. Price for the whole, including Lardner's Lectures, 26 cents per single copy. Postmasters and others will receive five copies for $1. NO. IV GRIFFITHS' CHEMISTRY AND DALTON'S PHILOSOPHY. Chemistry of the Four Ancient Elements, Fire,. Air, Earth and Water. By Thomas GRirriTH*. THE BOOK OF PHILOSOPHICAL EXPERI.MENTS. By J. S. Daltok. 150 Engravings, and together are sold at the exceedingly low price of 25 cents ; five copie* for $1. NO. V PRINCIPLES OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. Oi the L iwso! thi- Formotio . of National Wealth, Developed by means of the Christian LaWof Gov- , r imcT.t ; beiig t'nesubstoieeof a ca^e delivered to the Hind-loom Weaveis' Commission. By William ArEiK8>.n. WITH AN INTIiODUCTlON, Trealisig of the present state of the Science of Political Economy, and the Adaptation of its Principle-s to the Condition of onr own Country, and the upbuild- ins of its Prosperity. By Houace Greblet. NO. VI A POPULAR TREATISE ON THE CULTURE OF SILK, With directions for th« treatme:it of the Silk-Worm, t!ie management of the Nursery, the mimifae- tuieef Raw Silk, the Machinery, the Expenses', Outlays, &.c. &,c^ &c. Prepared from tue beslau- thoiilies. Illustrated b^uumarons engravings- Price 'iS cents, five copies for $1. In Preii, and will he Pitbliihed in a thort timf, NO. VII POPULAR LECTURES ON ASTRONOMY. Beiig a Course of Lectnies delivered at the Royal Observatory of Paris, by M. Abaoo, Mem- ber of ihf I islitute of France, &c. Tianslated, with notes, by Walter R. Kellst, Esq., of Trinity Colltge, Dublin. With numerous engravings. Price 26 cents. GREELEY & McELRATH, Tribune Buildings, New- York. THE SILK CULTURE UNITED STATES: EMBRACING COMPLETE ACCOUNTS OF THE LATEST AND MOST APPROVED MODES OF HATCHING, REARING AND FEEDING THE SILK-WORM, MANAGING A COCOONERY, REELING, SPINNING, AND MANUFACTURING THE SILK, &c. &c. &c. WITH BRIEF HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF THE SILK BUSINESS, NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SILK- WORM, THE MULBERRY, &c. COMPILED FROM THE MOST APPROVED AND RELIABLE WORKS, ILLUSTRATED BY NUMEROUS ENGRATOGS OP MACHINERY AND PROCESSES. TO WHICH 13 ADDHD BLYDENBURGHS MANUAL OF THE SILK CULTURE.; STATISTICS OF SILK IMPORTS, &c. &c. "■?■ \j'A NEW-YORK : GREELEY & McELRATH, TRIBUNE OTFICE, ISO Naesaa-street. 1844. Sf"575 Entered according te the Act of Congress, in the year 1843, by GREELEY & McELRATH, the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of New-YorU. ADVERTISEMENT. The rapid yet steady growth of the Culture and Manufacture of Silk in the United States is a subject of profound interest and gratification to the Philanthropist and the Patriot, Whenever they shall be so extended and perfected that we as a people become exporters instead of importers of Silk, a vast improvement in the condition of the classes wliich now subsist on the meagre wa- ges of light and simple labor, such as Sewing, &c., cannot fail to be realized. But this great National good has thus far been approached often through individual disappoint- ment and loss. Men of rare enterprise, indomi- table energy and abundant means, have rushed into the Silk-culture only to encounter misfortune and pecuniary ruin. The great obstacle to their ready success has been the want of adequate knowledge of the new business in wliich they so eagerly embarked. Individuals have sacrificed thousands and given up the business in despair, when the knowledge of a few simple facts, cost- ing only a few shillings and a few hours' study, had they but known their need and where to look for a remedy, would have secured their persever- ance in the work and a competent reward for their toil. The work herewith submitted to the public, is intended to meet the necessity already indicated. It has been prepared at the instance of several ar- dent, intelligent pioneers in the Silk Culture, with the aid of Mr. I. R. Barbour, whose famil- iarity with and success in the business are widely known. It is intended not to embody the experi- ence and the maxims of any one, however emi- ncnt for skill, science or good fortune, but to draw from various sources and present within the smallest compass all that may be tauglit through books, of the nature and conditions of the Silk Culture, so as to call into exercise not merely the memory but the understanding and the judgement of the reader. In this view, we have deemed perfect consistency and coherence between the sev- eral facts less essential than it may seem to many ; since the same treatment throughout may very naturally be less adapted to some than to others of the various climates, soils, tfcc, of our wide- spread country. We do not doubt that nearly if not quite every one of the many varieties of the Mulberry may be wisely preferred in some par- ticular location within the United States. Aside from the assistance of Mr. Barbour, we have freely profited by the article on Silk in Dr. Ure's eminent Dictionary of Arts and Sciences, Mr. Bliss's Report on Silk two years since to the Legislature of Ohio, Mr. Colman's Report to the Massachusetts Legislature, &c. ; while we have quoted entire the Silk Manual of the late Mr. Blydenburgh. As it contains very little of our own, we may say without vanity that this book embodies a larger amount of useful informa- tion on Silk than any one hitherto published. Is it too much, then, to hope that this work will not merely secure the approbation of those already interested in silk, but that it will induce large ad- ditions to their number ? New-York, November, 1843. THE SILK CULTUEE. o \4 '^ cq e H i. W a- ^ 2 1:3 w P^ i-C P3 "an .« S S >^ «<5 m •» H n; P3 < H >4 "« ^ ^ -< c^ ^ O 'S -< ^ h:i ^1 u « W |P O >» « H i. U •ajnsstipg lajauiojSAjj •jisiinaJHB^ j3j3inouiia<(x fao o O OS (S5 O o •3nuE3'}j JO (XQ be a M "3 fl O O ^sa •5 3 Jti *» s i C5 u b (N (M C^ § CO O O o an of good faith and credit, who had then made the raost silk of any among us, what profit might be madt, of it. His reply was that he could make a yard of s\\\ as cheap as he could make a yard of linen cloth of eight run to the pound. A wo- man of experience in this business told me, that, in the short time of feeding the worm and wind- ing the silk balls, she coald earn enough to hire a good spinner the whole yt^r. I have not the least scruple of the informer's,veracity, but how far their capacity might serve for lan exact calcu- lation, I know not." " We labor under such difficulties to make re- turns for goods imported, that many have Uiought it would be best that we should make our own cloths and by this means lessen our importation, which indeed would be better than to run into an endless and irrecoverable debt ; but there is now a way opened by which, if we are not wanting to ourselves, we may not only continue but increase our importation, for if the same cost, labor, and time which we expend in making one yard of cloth, if laid out in raising silk will procure two yards of the same sort of cloth, and manufactured by more skilful hands, it is easy to see which is the most eligible method." In 1 772, as appears from the manuscript jour- nal of President Stiles of Yale College, his family History and Culture of Silk. 9 engaged, to some extent, in the culture of silk, and their production was sent to England to be manufactured, a sample of which cloth, presenting a singularly beautiful fabric, together with the journal itself, is now in my possession.* About the year 1770, a "filature was established in Philadelphia, and it is a remarkable fact tiiat from the 25th of June to the 15th of August 1771, two thousand three hundred pounds of cocoons were brought to the filature to be reeled, or were bought by the managers. These came from Pennsylvania, New-Jersey, and Delaware. t About the year 1760, the culture of silk was introduced into Mansfield, Conn., and some of the neighboring towns. It has been pursued ever since that time, to a small extent, in several other places in 'New-England ; but it cannot be said to have maintained its foothold in any other situa- tion than in Mansfield. In other places, where it planted itself with every favorable prospect of success, it presently expired. In Mansfield, Conn., it has continued to be pursued to the pre- sent time. The largest amount of raw reeled silk reported to have been produced in any one year in Mansfield, as was stated to me in that town, has been about seven thousand pounds. In general, however, it has not exceeded . three thou- sand pounds per year. The inhabitants of Mans- field have been wholly dependent upon the white mulberry for feed for their worms ; and a large proportion of these were destroyed in the severe winter of 1834-5. In all these experiments, made in the Northern, Southern and Middle States, it was found, that our climate and soils every where produced silk of a superior quality, and that commanded a high price. The same is true at the present day, for the same sun shines, and the same winds blow. But in those early times, there were causes that forbid a wide extension, or the permanent estab- lishment of the business. The population of the country was sparce. In some parts indigo, rice and tobacco were supposed to be more profitable. The revolutionary war broke up the filatures North and South, and then came on the cotton culture, which, at the South, has swallowed up every thing else to the present day. All this while, be it remembered, it was the white mulberry on which they fed, which involv- ed expenditures in labor at least two or three times as large as feeding from the best foreign varieties of the mulberry lately introduced. But the main difficulty was the want of a re- gular home market for cocoons and raw silk. Cocoons will not bear shipment, nor will they bear distant land transportation. They require a home market. We had no silk manufacturing establishment^ to present such markets. Up to 1816, the entire feeling of the country, a feeling industriously instilled from the very infancy of our settlements, by the mother kingdom, was in opposition to domestic manufactures of every description. The clock reel, the spinning wheel, and hand loom, constituted all the machinery that was thought befitting our circumstances, as an agricultural and a commercial people. In this state of things, silk factories of course * I. R. Barbour of Oxford, Mass. t^Hazard's Register of Pennsylvania, p. 64. would not start up. Hence the «ilk grown, was generally worked up in families into sewings and hosier}', and bartered at the village stores for goods. Nobody thought of getting cash for it. The silk culture became strongly the subject of public attention in 1826.* Congress encouraged it, by the publication and distribution of large editions of :nanuals and treatises, prepared with great care and fullness, and giving all the direc- tions and details necessary to the prosecution of the business, from the raising of the trees, to the preparation of the article for use. The vast amounts of money annually sent abroad for the purchase ef this article of universal use and al- most of necessity, the increasing use of the article among all classes of people, and to an extent pro- bably not known in any other country ; and, at the same time, the acknowledged capacity of the country to produce silk, and of the best quality, gave new prommence to the subject in the com- munity, and drew the public attention to it with an intense interest ; but with no greater interest than in an economical view, in the opinion of many intelligent men, its national importance may justly claim. The first attempt to manufacture sewing silk by machinery, was made in Mansfield, Conn., in. 1829, by Capt. Joseph Conant, and Mr. Atwood. They succeeded in making a good article, though for a time, amidst many losses and discourage- ments. But Yankee skill and pereverance tri- umphed. They pushed the business through, and are still engaged in it vigorously and success- fully — the former in the firm of Conant & Swift, Northampton, Mass., and the latter in the firm of Atwood & Crane, Mansfield, Conn. Since 1829, a few other factories have been established for the manufacture of sewings, twist, galoons, fringes, coach lace, handkerchiefs, vel- vets and piece goods, and are now in successful operation. They are found in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New-Hampshire, New- York, New- / Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Tennessee, and else- / where. Others arc in contemplation, and will spring up in different localities as fast as circum- stances will permit. In this way local cash mar- kets are created for cocoons and raw silk, to any extent that may be desired, thus alleviating the great difiieulty formerly experienced ; and secu- ring, it is fully hoped, the regular extension of the silk culture throughout all the States, and the complete establishment of the silk business, growing and manufacturing, as a part of the per- manent industry of the country. In 1831, the introduction of a new plant into the country, (the Perottet Mulberry, or Morus Multicaulis,) which promised from its extraordi- nary capacity of rapid multiplication, and its pro- ductiveness of foliage, to furnish superior advan- tages for the prosecution of the silk culture, gave a new impulse to the cause, and roused public en- thusiasm to a high degree of fervor. In the year 1836, the subject of Silk Culture in the United States was brought before the public by a communication from General Tallmadge, then on a tour through Europe, which appeared in the Journal of the American Institute. We here insert such parts of the communication re- ferred to as relate to the Silk business, inasmuch ■ Colman's Agriculwral Report. 10 History and Culture of Silk. as the publication at the time spoken of excited considerable interest in the subject, snd now forms an intercstincr portion of the history of Silk Cul- ture in the United States : — " Since I arrived in this land of fame and fable, I have not been unmindful of the culture of silk, so justly a subject of great and growing interest to our country. I have visited several manufac- tories of silk. It is not the season for seeing the silk worm, but most of its progress in other res- pects I have been able to see. I have made ma- ny inquiries in hopes of obtaining useful informa- tion. Finizio is an extensive manufacturer of sewing silk ; he makes about three thousand pounds a week, which is mostly sent to the New York market. He is an intelligent man, and I found him willing to answer my inquiries ; as also were several other establishments, and which mostly confirmed his statement. The sewing silks of Naples are mostly made from the silk grown in Calabria, where the worm is fed prin- cipally upon the hlack mulberry, and which makes the strongest and best for sewing silk. — Finizio stated that the worm fed on the black mulberry made the strongest thread ; that on the ichite mulberry, finer and better for fabrics; thai on the Chinese mulberry still finer and more del- icate. When asked if the cocoon from the Chi- nese mulberry required more skilful and delicate work to wind and work it, he said it did, and immediately produced two skeins, one of which he said was from the black mulberry, (from a bush, perhaps, eight or ten feet in circumference,) the other from a bush about four feet. The les- ser bush, he said, was less liable to break the thread in winding from the cocoon, and was used in finer silks for fabrics. The black mulberry produced a stronger thread, and would bear the larger reel, and was principally used in that busi- ness. The silk here is mostly made in the coun- try by families in detail, and much of it reeled there, and in this condition it is brought to mar- ket- For sewing silk it is doubled as often as re- quired, and twisted as much. This process is wholly in a dark room. The silk is worked wet, and for this purpose, to preserve a uniformity, the atmosphere is kept damp, the daylight excluded, and the work carried on with small hand lamps. The machine was turned by men harnessed like mules. I have since been out about twenty miles to the silk factory of the king, wliieh is ■worked by water power, and by which the co- coons are also reeled. I stated to Finizio, as weU as at the king's factory, that the Italian sewing silk was sold in the American markets by its weight, while the American sewing silk was sold by the skein ; and that one pound of the Italian would have perhaps two hundred and fif- ty skeins, while one of the American silk would have about three hundred and fifty skeins. The cause of this difference of weight, or why the American sewing silk has a tendency to curl or knot, they could not explain without a sample, but said the weigJit of sewing silk could be dimi- nishcd or very considerably augmented in the dyeing, and that good dyeing required the silk to be well boiled in soap, after which it was put into an acid, and was there prepared for the process of the dye, according to the color, as desired. The gloss, or dressing, seems to be produced by beat- ing and twisting on a post, which, with the man- ual labor put upon its finish, it is supposed, pre. vents its tendency to knot. " I asked if the color of the cocoon, yellow or white, gave any difference of value, or indicated a sickly worm, and the answer was that the color was casual, and the value the same ; that a se- lection of white or yellow cocoons from which to get esrgs would probably produce a like color ; and Mr. Finizio said he had some customers who had so selected and brought him cocoonn entirely white ; and that for white ribbons or fabrics, they commanded a greater price of from three to five per cent., though otherwise of equal value. " I have made many other inquiries and obser- vations on this subject, but which in the limits of a letter cannot be detailed. The eggs are here in market during most of the year, and by being kept in a grotto, or cold damp place, the worm can be produced as required. The sirocco, or hot south wind, is here the greatest enemy of the silk worm, and sometimes suddenly destroys so many of the worms as to require the reproduction of an- other class, from eggs in reserve. They should be sheltered from tliis wind, and ventilation shoiUd be given them from above or by back win- dows. I think we have sometimes a like south, or south-west, wind, which should be guarded against, and which our gardeners call a red wind, from a rust produced by it on peach and apricot trees, which curls iip and burns the young leaves, and often kills the trees, and is said to affect the mulberry trees in like manner. " The black mulberry tree is a native of our coun- try, and is common in Dutchess count}', especizd- ly in Fishkill. It is, on my farm, a common tree. It is as valuable for posts and timber as red cedar. If the suggestions of Mr. Finizio, and others, as to the black mulberry, are correct, as being better for sewing silk, and more easily reeled, is not the matter worthy of attention ? and especially in the first effort, and until skill and experience is ob- tained ? The black mulberry can be immediate- ly used, while a few years will be required to rear the Chinese, and obtam the silk for its more deli- cate work. My most excellent and lamented wife, in the few last years of her declining health, occupied her active mind in some experiments with the silk worm. She placed some of the eggs in the fall of the year, and left them, during the severe cold of the winter, in an upper chamber ; and others she placed in a family room not affect- ed by the frosts ; in the spring season tliey produ- ced the silk worm equally well ; she put some eggs in the ice house, not on the ice, but on the straxc, and in its atmosphere ; and some time, I think, in July, they were brought out, and produ. ced their worms in good condition. She fed one hundred worms on the black mulberry, one hun- dred on the white, one hundred on the Chinese, and one hundred on the black in their early sta- ges, and, in the last stage, before making their cocoons, upon the Chinese ; — all succeeded well. Those fed on the black, seemed to produce the strongest thread and most easily wound ; the white the next, but with little difference ; those fed wholly on the Chinese no ways different from those fed in the last stage, but greater difficulty to wind the Chinese than either those of the blacit or white. She had the publications made in our History and Cultitre of SVk. 11 State, as well as those by order of Congress on the culture of silk, as her instructions. The im- pulse of her mind was to assist in procuring a profitable family employment for children, for fe- males and infirm persons ; without which she considered thut the noble system of our Sunday free schools and charitable institutions, was not carried to the full extent of their benevolence. — The hope of this consummation affords a cheer- ing prospect. A wide field ispresented, in which the philanthropist, the moralist, and the political economist may jointly labor, and, in their efforts, greatly promote the public good. Whoever has seen the condition of the common people of Eu- rope, and especially the idle beggars of Ireland and of Italy, will appreciate the indispensable ne- cessity of attention to this growing evil with us. It is a maxim of political economy that ' demand begets supply,' and experience has shown that every charity is over-crowded. The towns of England are holding meetings, and resolving not to contribute to street beggary, but to give tickets on certain officers, who am to examine and afford ample relief to the afflicted, and send them to the houses of correction and confinement. The cul- ture of silk will afford an additional and valuable employment, and should be connected with our charities ; and employment of some kind should be provided in the houses of correction, which will be the most eflectual charity. " But even as a new staple for the country, and a new article of production in common families, the culture of silk will be an invaluable acquisi- tion. I have made every observation in my power, and I am fully convinced that the culture of silk will be found suitable to our climate, and well adapted to our country and people. Calabria, ihougli south of Naples, is mountainous, and a much colder cUmate than ours. The M'lan and Piedmontesc silk is the best, and is much sought after in the London market. Those dis. tricts are in the North of Italy, and near the Alps. I think the production of the worm should be delayed until after the usual cold storm to be expected from the loth to the 25th May. Our month of June would be the most desirable as a iirst establishment for them. If families can be induced to the growing of the cocoon, the women and children will soon produce as much from the mulberry trees about the house and along the fences, as the father can make on the clear profit of his farm. Thermometers or fires are not much used in Italy, the season giving the temperature required. The business must be simplified, and freed from too much instruction, to secure its suc- cess with us. The difficulty to extract reasons or information from the common people of the continent is so evident, and they so essentially differ from our American people in their aptitude to give reasons and explanations, that I say — do not seek to receive too much European instruc- tion, but rely on the producible common sense of our people ; this fund will not fail or be insuffi- cient, and, with a little experience, I am sure of success in the culture of sUk in our country. In- duce the growing of the cocoons, and the object will be accomplished. It is a very simple busi. ness. I shall continue my observations on this important and interesting subject, in my tour through France ; but if our American merchants ; and dealers in silks from Italy and France, could be induced to introduce the culture of silk, and obtain from time to time information from their correspondents, they would be a host of strength in the business. I have found the operatives here rather a prejudiced and uncertain source for information. They work, but cannot tell the why or wherefore." " Since my last, I have travelled through Italy, and especially in the silk districts, and also through France, and have visited many of the manufactories in both countries, endeavoring to learn the details of this subject, now so interest- ing, and, I think, so essential to our country. — The limits of a letter will, however, confine me to a few isolated remarks. " The weaving of silk, after it gets into skeins, is like any other weaving of like character ; it is the production of silk, and the habit of growing it, that must be acquired by our country ; and it is, in this view, a mine of boundless wealth, not second even to the production of cotton. The country which so lately surprized Europe by sending eight bales of cotton to its market, and now astonishes the world with its countlesss thousands, may soon exhibit a like wonder in the production of its silk. " In Calabria, which is in the south of Italy, the black mulberry is principally used. In the rest of Italy the white mulberry, common to them and to France, is principally used. The north of Ita- ly — that is, between the Alps emd the Appenines — produces the most and the best silk. In this region, and especially in Sardinia, near Turin, and at Novi, the English and French are compe- titors in market, to purchase their silk as the best in the world ; and yet on the 9th of March, the snow was one foot and a half deep, and the streets of Novi blocked up like our Cedar street ! In Calabria the silk is produced by the country peo- ple, in their families, and mostly reeled by them. There are very few factories for reeling in the NeapoHtan kingdom. In Lombardy, and to. wards Venice, there arc also establishments for reeling, yet the greater part is reeled by the fami. lies, in detail, and brought to the market in the skein. In Sardinia the cocoons are mostly reel- ed in establishments. At Novi their reeling es- tablishments arc numerous. I saw one, novf erecting, which is a quadrangle two hundred feet square, and appropriated solely to reeling cocoons. They are purchased up from near Milan, and ma- ny miles distant. This is admitted to be the bsst silk in the world. The red mulberry is here prin- cipally used, and is known as the Calabria mul- berry. It is described as having a dark fruit ; the tree is like our black; and when I called it black mulberry, I was corrected, and told the stain of the fruit was red, and not black, and which gave the character of the tree. The French, in addition to the tohite mulberry, have a dwarf wliite, much liked, and getting into use ; but, it must be remembered, there is not in France, and scarcely in Italy, a fence, and they do not graze their fields as we do. With our ha- bit of pasturage, the dwarf would be inadmissible. The Chinese mulberry is unknown in Italy. I found only a few young engrafted trees, but ns experiments there, to be relied upon, to establish its superior ulility. In Italy, and in France, the 12 History and Culture of Silk. mulberry is generally planted near the houses, along the road sides, by division fences, and often like an open orchard. The trees are formed like a middle-sized apple tree. Its shade does not in- jure the land. The tree in Italy is usually made to sustain a grape vine, and the field is cultivated for wheat and other crops. There is less discri- mination here than you would imagine in the kind of Mulberry. The French have made ex- periments, especially on the Chinese ; and the opinion seems to be, that the Chinese mulberry will bear to have its leaves twice picked off, and thus produce two crops of silk in one year. As yet, however, there is not much use made of the Chinese mulberry, even here, and the grower of silk cannot answer as to its virtues ; — but the an- swer is often given to me, that, as to the quality and the quantity of the silk, it is the sa7ne as any other mulberry ; and that the quahty of the silk depends on the treatment of the worm, and tlie care and skill in reeling. They pay less atten- tion to the kind of mulberry on which it is fed than we expect. They have also ivhite, and use it. Nahit directs more in Europe than with vz ; and therefore I urge that our people mak? experi- ments for themselves. They should neither take nor reject any thing too quickly upon European experience. Climate and circumstances may produce a different result, and the alleged experi- ments of Europe may have been incorrectly or inadequately tried. " It is a peculiar and important circumstance in favor of the adaptation and fitness of our climate to the culture of silk, that, with us, the silk worm is produced at the beginning of warm weather, in May and June, by the natural temperature of the season, wliile in Europe, and especially in Italy and France, it is produced only by artificial tem- perature and means. This fact is a volume in promise for our country. Fires and a thermome- ter are not used in the south of Italy to secure an equal temperature in the rooms of the worms, nor much used in the north of Italy, unless in the re- gion of some snow-capped mountain, or where other circumstances produce sudden inequalities of temperature. It is the same as to the south and north of France. " The books already published, by Congress and our State, give the best, and indeed all the mstruc- tions v/hich can be given on the subject ; and with these, as guides, let the safe and unerring common sense of our people make experiments for themselves; and, I venture to say, the time is not far distant when America will produce silk in abundance from practical information and sci- ence, wiiile other countries wUl continue to do it from habit." CHAPTER III. Silk Manufacture— Specific Gravity— Raw SUh—.ilssa- mese Cocoonery— Silk Filature— Reeling— Throiving mil,. =. » Before proceeding farther in the history of the Silk Manufacture in the United States, or enter- ing upon the practical details of the business, we will present such a sketch of the process of man- iifacturing, through all the various stages, as we trust will render the subject inteUigible and inter- esting to the general reader. We avail ourselves of the article in Ure's Dictionary of Arts and Manufactures as affording the fullest and most satisfactory descriptions of the material, process and machinery ; although in several particulars it will be found to differ somewhat from the mode adopted in this country. Silk Manufacture may be divided into two branches: 1. the production of raw silk ; 2. its filature and preparation in the mill, for the pur- poses of the weaver and other textile artisans. The threads, as spun by the silkworm, and wound up in its cocoon, are all twins, in consequence of the twin orifice in the nose of the insect through which they are projected. These two threads are laid parallel to each other, and are glued more or less evenly together by a kind of glossy var- nish, which also envelopes them, constituting nearly twenty-five per cent, of their weight. Each ultimate filament measures about l-20()0th of au inch in average fine silk, and the nSW hieasures of com-se fully LlOOOth of an inch* In the raw silk, as imported from Italy, France, China, &c., several of these twin filaments are slightly twist- ed and agglutinated to form one thread, called a single. The specific gravity of silk is 1.300, water being 1.000. It is by far the most tenacious or the strongest of all textile fibres, a thread of it of a certain diameter being nearly three times stronger than a thread of flax, and twice stronger than hemp. Some varieties of silk are perfectly white, but a general color in the native state is a golden yellow. There are three denominations of raw silk ; viz., organzine, irayne (BJiute or tram), and floss. Organzine serves for the warp of the best silk stuffs, and is considerably twisted ; tram is made usually from inferior silk, and is very slightly twisted, in order that it may spread more, and cover better in the weft ; floss, or bourre, consists of the shorter broken silk, which is carded and spun like cotton. Organzine and frame may con- tain from three to thirty twin filaments of the worm : the former possesses a double twist, the component filaments being first twisted in one direction, and the compound thread in the oppo- site ; the latter receives merely a slender single twist. Each twin filament gradually diminishes in thickness and strength, from the surface of the cocoon, where the animal begins its work in a state of vigor, to the centre, where it finishes it, in a state of debility and exhaustion ; because it can receive no food from the moment of its be- ginning to spin by spouting forth its silky sub- stance. The winder is attentive to this progres- sive attenuation, and introduces tlie commence- ment of some cocoons to compensate for the ter- mination of otliers. The quality of raw silk de. pends, therefore, very much upon the skill and care bestowed upon its filature. The softest and purest water sliould be used in the cocoon kettle. The quality of the raw silk is determined by first winding off four hundred ells of it, equal to four hundred seventy-five metres, round a drum one cU in circumference, and then weighing that length. The weight is expressed in grains, twenty-four of which constitute one denier ; twenty-four deniers constitute one ounce ; and sixteen ounces make one pound, poids de marc. History and Culture of Silk. 13 This is the Lyons rule for valuing silk. The weight of a thread of raw silk four hundred ells long, is two grains and a half, when five twin filaments have been reeled and associated to- gether. Raw silk is so absorbent of moisture, that it may be increased ten per cent, in weight by this means. This property has led to falsifications ; which are detected by enclosing weighed portions of the suspected silk in a wire-cloth cage, ar;', ex- posing it to a stove heat of about 78° F. for twenty. four hours, with a current of air. The loss of weight which it thereby undergoes, de- monstrates the amount of the fraud. There is an office in Lyons called the Condition, where this assay is made, ^hd by the report of which the silJi is jought and sold. The law in France re- quires, that all the silk tried by the Cotidition must be worked up into fabrics in that country. The Assamese select for breeding, such cocoons only as have been begun to be formed in the lar- gest number on the same day, usually the second or third after the commencement ; those which contain males being distinguishable by a more pointed end. They are put in a closed basket suspended from the roof; the moths, as they come forth, having room to move about, after a day, the females (known only by their large body) are taken out, and tied to small wisps of thatching- straw, selected always from over the hearth, its darkened color being thought more acceptable to the insect. If out of a batch, there should be but few males, the wisps with the females tied to them are exposed outside at night ; and the males thrown away in the neighborhood find their way to them. These wisps are hung upon a string tied across the roof, to keep them from vermin. The eggs laid after the first three days are said to produce weak worms. The wisps are taken out morning and evening, and exposed to the sun- shine, and in ten days after being laid, a few of them are hatched. The wisps being then liung up to the tree, the young worms find their way to the leaves. The ants, whose bite is fatal to the worm in its early stages, are destroyed by rubbing tlie trunk of the tree with molasses, and tying dead fish and toads to it, to attract these rapacious insects in large numbers, when they are destroy- ed with fire ; a process which needs to be repeated several times. The ground under the trees is also weU cleared, to render it easy to pick up and re- place the worms which fall down. They are prevented from coming to the ground by tying fresh plantain leaves round the trunk, over whose slippery surface they cannot crawl ; and they are transferred from exhausted trees to fresh ones, on bambo® platters tied to long poles. The worms require to be constantly watched and protected from the depredations of both day and night birds, as well as rats and other vermin. During their moultings, they remain on the branches ; but when about beginning to spin, they come down the trunk, and being stopped by the plantain leaves, are there collected in baskets, which are afterwards put under bunches of dry leaves, sus- pended from the roof, into which the worms crawl, and form their cocoons — several being clustered together : this accident, due to the prac- tice of crowding the worms together, which is most injudicious, rendering it imposisible to wind off their silk in continuous threads, as in the fila- tures of Italy, France, and even Bengal. The silk is, therefore, spun like flax, instead of being un- wound in single filaments. After four days the proper cocoons are selected for the next breed, and the rest are uncoiled. The total duration of a breed varieg 'rom sixty to seventy days ; divided into t}i3 following periods : Foui- moultings, with one day's illness attending eacU 3Q From fourth moulting to beginning of cocoon - • 10 In the cocoon 20, as a moth 6, hatching of eggs 10 36 66 On being tapped with the finger, the body ren- ders a hollow sound ; the quality of which sliows whether they have come down for want of leaves on the tree, or from their having ceased feeding. As the chrysalis is not soon killed by exposure to the sun, the cocoons are put on stages, covered up with leaves, and exposed to the hot air from grass burned under them ; they are next boiled for about an hour in a solution of the potash, made from the incinerated rice stalks ; then taken out, and laid on cloth folded over them to keep them warm. The floss being removed by hand, they are then thrown into a basin of hot water to be unwound ; which is done in a very rude and wasteful way. The plantations for the mooga silkworm in Lower Assam, amount to 5,000 acres, besides what the forests contain ; and yield one thousand five hundred maunds of eighty-four pounds each per annum. Upper Assam is more productive. The cocoon of the Koiithuri mooga is of a size of a fowl's egg. It is a wild species, and affords filaments much valued for fishing lines. 8. The Arrindy or Eria worm, and moth, is reared over a great part of Hindostan, but en- tirely within doors. It is fed principally on the Hera or Palma christi leaves, and gives some- times twelve broods of spun silk in the course of a year. It affords a fibre which looks rough at first ; but when woven, becomes soft and silky, after repeated washings. The poorest people are clothed with stuff made of it, which is so durable as to descend from mother to daughter. The co- coons are put in a closed basket, and hung up in tlie house, out of reach of rats and insects. When the moths come forth, they are allowed to move about in the basket for twenty-four hours ; after which the females are tied to long reeds or canes, twenty or twenty-five to each, and these are hung up in the house. The eggs that are laid the first three days, amounting to about two hundred, alone are kept ; they are tied up in a cloth, and suspended to the roof till a few begin to hatch. These eggs are white, and of the size of turnip seed. When a few of the worms are hatched, the cloths are put on small bamboo platters himg up in the house, in which they are fed with ten- der leaves. After the second moulting, they are removed to bunches of leaves suspended above the ground, beneath which a mat is laid to re- ceive them when they fall. When they cease to feed, they are thrown into baskets full of dry leaves, among which they form their cocoons, two or three being often "found joined together. Upon this injudicious practice I have aheady animadverted. 9. The Saturrria trifenestrata has a yellow cocoon of a remarkably silky lustre. It lives on 14 History and Culture of Silk. the soom tree in Assam, but seems not to be much used. SILK FILATURE. The mechanism of the silk filature, as lately improved in France, is very ingenious. Figs. 1 and 2 exhibit it in plan and longitudinal view. a is ail oblong copper basin containing water heated by a stove or by steam. It is usually di- vided by transverse partitions into several com- partments, containing twenty cocoons, of which there are five in one group, as shown in the figure. b, h, are wires with hooks or eyelets at their ends, through which the filaments run, apart, and are kept from ravelling, c, c, the points where the filaments cross and rub each other, on purpose to clean their surfaces, d, is a spiral groove, work- ing upon a pin point, to give the traverse motion alternately to right and left, whereby the thread is spread evenly over the surface of the reel e. f, f, are the pulleys, which by means of cords transmit the rotary movement of the cylinder d, to the reel e. g, is a friction lever or tumbler, for lightening or slackening the endless cord, in the act of starting or stopping the winding operation. Every apartment of a large filature contains usu- ally a series of such reels as the above, all driven by one prime mover ; each of which, however, may by means of the tumbling lever be stopped at pleasure. The reeler is careful to remove any slight adhesions, by the application of a brush in the progress of her work. The raw silk, as imported into England in hanks from the filatures, requires to be regularly wound upon bobbins, doubled, twisted, and reeled in silk mills. These processes are called throw- ing silk, and their proprietors are called silk throiDsters ; terms probably derived from the ap- pearance of swinging or tossing which the silk threads exhibit during their rapid movements among the machinery of the mills. SILK-TIIR0WI\G MILL. The first process to which the silk is subjected, is winding the skeins, as imported, off upon bob- bins. The mechanism which effects this wind- ing ofF and on, is technically called the engine, or swift. The bobbins to which the silk is A,^». 11 and 12, are the end frames, con- ftected at their tops by a wooden stretcher, or bar- beam, a, which extends through the whole length of the machine ; this bar is shown also in figs. 13 and 14. D, B, arc the creels upon each side of the ma- chine, or bobbin bearers, resting upon wooden beams or boards, made fast to the arms or brack- ets c, about the middle of the frames a. D, p, are two horizontal iron shafts, which per- 18 History and Culture of Silk. vade the whole machine, and carry a series of light moveable pulleys, called stars, c, c, (figs. 13, 14,) which serve to drive the bobbins e, e, whose fixed pulleys rest upon their peripheries, and are therefore turned simply by friction. These bobbins are screwed by swivel nuts e, e, upon spindles, as in the silk engine. Besides the small friction pulley or boss, d, seen best in fig. 14, by which they rest upon the star pulleys c, c, a little ratchet wheel /, is attached to the other end of each bobbin. This is also shown by itself at /, in fig. 15. The spindles with their bobbms revolve m two slot-bearings f, f, fig. 14, screwed to the bar-beam a, which is supported by two or three intermediate upright frames, such as a'. The slot-bearings f, have also a second slot, in which the spindle with the bobbin is laid at rest, out of contact of the star wheel, while its broken thread is being mended, g, is the guide bar, fto wlilch the clean- er slit piece g, g, are attached,) for n^aking the thread traverse to the right and the left, for its proper distribution over the surface of the bobbin. The guide bar of the doubling machine is moved with a slower traverse than in the engine . other- wise, in consequence of the difTerent obliquities of the paths, the single threads would be readily broken, h, h, is a pair of smooth rods of iron or brass, placed parallel to each of the two sides of the machine, and made fast to the standards h, ir, which are screwed to brackets projecting from the frames a, a'. Over these rods the silk threads gUde, in their passage to the guide wires g, g, and the bobbins e, e- I, I, is the lever board upon each side of the machine, upon which the slight brass bearings or fulcrums i, i, one for each bobbin in the creel, are made fast. This board bears the balance lever rally rests upon the ridge bar m, of the lever board i. n, n, n, are three wires, resting at one of their ends upon the axis of the fulcrum i, i, and having each of their other hooked ends sus- pended by one of the silk threads, as it passes over the front steel rod h, and under A'. These faller wires, or stop fingers, are guided truly in their up-and-down motions with the thread, by a cleaner-plate o, having a vertical slit in its middle. Hence, whenever any thread happens to break, in its way to a winding-on bobbin e, the wire v , which hung by its eyelet end to that thread, as it passed through between the steel rods in the line of k, h', falls upon the lighter arm of the balance k, I, with the /(iHeri «, ii, n, which act as dexter- ous fingers, and stop the bobbin from winding-on the instant a thread may chance to break. The levers k, I, swing upon a fine wire axis, which passes through their props t, t, their arms being Bhaped rectangularly, as shown at k, k'.fi^. 14. The arm I, being heavier than the arm k, natu- lever k, I, weighs down that arm k, consequently jerks up the arm I, which pitches its tip or end into one of the three notches of the ratchet or catch wheel /(_%s. 14 and 15) fixed to the end of the bobbin. Thus its motion is instantaneous- ly arrested, till the girl has had leisure to mend the thread, when she again hangs up the faller wire n, and restores the lever k, I, to its horizon- tal position. If, meanwhile, she took occasion to remove the winding bobbin out of the sunk slot- bearing, where the pulley d touches the star wheel c, into the right hand upper slot of repose, she must now shift it into its slot of rotation. The motions are given to the doubling machine in a very simple way. Upon the end of the framing, represented in fig. 11, the shafts d, d, bear two spur wheels 1 and 2, which work into each other. To the wheel 1, is attached the be- vel wheel 3, driven by another bevel wheel 4, (fig. 12,) fixed to a shaft that extends the whole length of the apartment, and serves, therefore, to drive a whole range of ma- chines. The wheel 4 may be put in gear with the shaft, by clutch and gear-handle, as in the silk engine, and thereby it drives two shafts, by the one transmitting its movement to the other. The traverse motion of the guide bar g, is ef- fected as follows : — Upon one of the shafts d, there is a bevel wheel 5, driving the bevel wheel 6, upon the top of the upright shaft p, (fig. 12, to the right of the middle ;) whence the motion is transmitted to tlie horizontal shaft q, below, by means of the bevel wheels 7 and 8. Upon this shaft q, there is a heart-wheel r, working against a roller whish is fixed to the end of the lever s, whose fulcrum is at t,fig. 12. The other end of the lever a, is connected by two rods (shown by dotted lines in fig. 12) to a brass piece which joins the arms u (fig. 12) of the guide bars c. To the same cross piece a cord is attached, which go«9 History and CnlLure of Silk. 91 over a roller?', and suspends a weight w, by means of which the level s, is pressed into contact with the heart-wheel r. The fulcrum t,oi the lever s, is a shaft which is turned somewhat eccentric, and has a very slow rotatory motion. Thus the guide bar, after each traverse, necessarily winds the silk in variable lines, to tlic side of the prece- ding threads. The motion is given to this shaft in tlie follow- ing way : Upon the horizontal shaft q, there is a bevel wheel g, (fffs. 11 and 12,) which drives the wheel 10 upon the shaft x ; on whose upper end, the worm y works in the wheel 11, made fast to the said eccentric shaft t ; round which the lever s swings or oscillates, causing the guide bars to traverse. THE SPINNING SILK-MILL. The machine which twists the silk threads, either in their single or doubled state, is called the spinning mill. When the raw singles are first twisted in one direction, next doubled, and then twisted together in the opposite direction, an ex- ceedingly wiry, compact thread, is produced, called organsine. In the spinning mill, either the singles or the doubled silk, while being un- wound from one set of bobbins, and wound upon another set, is subjected to a regular twisting ope- ration ; in which process the thread is conducted as usual through guides, and coiled diagonally upon the bobbins by a proper mechanism. Fig. 16, exhibits an end view of the spinning mill, in which four working lines are shown ; two tiers upon each side.one upon the other. Some spin- ning mills have three working tiers upon each side ; but as the highest tier must be reached by h h a ladder or platform, this construction is consid- ed by many to be injudicious. *"Ti^i r — — : — ' kL "^ — '■ — ^ 17 d Fig, 17 is a front view, where, as in the former figure, the two working lines are shown. ;^cii ckixi' Pig. 18, JB a cross section of a part of the ma- j the working parts ; figs. 24, 25, iae, to illustrate the construction and play of I of %, 18. are other views 20 History aud CuUure of Silk. Fig. 19, shows a single part of the machine, by which the bobbins are made to revolve. Figs. 20, and 21, show a different mode of giv- ing the traverse to the guide bars, than that re- presented in fig. 18. Figs. 22, and 23, show the shape of the full bobbins, produced by the action of these two dif- ferent traverse motions. The upper part of the machine being exactly the same as the under part, it will be sufficient to explain the construction and operation of one of them. A, A, are the end upright frames or standards, between which are two or three intermediate standards, according to the length of the machine. They are all connected at their side by beams b and c, which extend the whole length of the ma- chines. D, D, are the spindles, whose top bear, ings, a, a, are made fast to the beams b, and their bottoms turn in hard brass steps, fixed to the bar c. These two bars together are called, by the workmen, the spindle box. The standards a, a, are bound with cross bars n, n. c, c, are the wharves or whorls, turned by a band from the horizontal tin cylinder in the lines of E, E,fig. 16, lying in the middle line between the two parallel rows of spindles d, d. f, f, are the bobbins containing the untwisted doubled silk, which are simply pressed down upon the taper end of the spindles, d, d, are little fliers, or fork- ed wings of wire, attached to washers of wood, which revolve loose upon the tops of the said bob- bins F, and round the spindles. One of the wings is sometimes bent upwards, to serve as a guide to the silk, as shown by dotted lines in^^"'. 18. e,e, are pieces of wood pressed upon the tops of the spindles, to prevent the fliers from starting off by the centrifugal force, g, arc horizontal shafts bearing a number of little spur wheels /, /. h, are slot-bearings, similar to those of the doubling- machine, which are fixed to the end and middle frames. In these slots, the light square cast-iron shafts or spindles g, fig. 17, are laid, on whose end the spur wheel h is cast ; and when the shaft g lies in the front slot of its bearing, it is in gear with the wheel /, upon tha shaft g ; but when it is laid in the back slot, it is out of gear, and at rest. See f, F,fig. 14. Upon these little cast-iron shafts or spindles g, fig. 19, the bobbins or blocks i, are thrust, for re- ceiving, by winding-en, the twisted or spun silk. These blocks are made of a large diameter, in or- der that the silk fibres may not be too much bent, and they are but slightly filled, at each succes- sive charge, lest, by increasing their diameter too much, they should produce too rapid an increase in the rate of winding, with proportional diminu- tion in the twist, and risk of stretching or tearing the silk. They are, therefore, the more frequent- ly changed, k, k, are the guide bars, with the guides i, i, through which the silk passes, being drawn by the revolving bobbins i, and delivered or laid on the fliers d, d, from the rotatory twisting bobbins f. The operation of the machine is there- fore simple, and the motions are given to the parts in a manner equally so. Upon the shaft of the tin cylinder or drum, ex- terior to the frame, the usual fast and loose pul- leys, or riggers, l, l', are mounted, for driving the whole machine. These riggers are often called sleam pulleys by the workmen, from their being connected by bands with the steam-driven shaft of the factory. In order to allow the riggers upon the shafts of the upper and the under drums to be driven from the same pulley upon the main shaft, the axis of the under drum is prolonged at l, l', and supported at its end, directly from the floor, by an upright bearing. Upon the shafts of the tin cylinders there is also a fly-wheel m, to equal- ize the motion. Upon the other ends .f these shafts, namely, at the end of the spinning-miU, represented in fig. 16, the pinions 1, are fixed, which drive the wheels 3, by means of the inter- mediate or carrier wheel 2 ; called alsjo the plate- wheel, from its being hollowed somcwliat like a trencher. 1, is called the change-pinion, because it is changed for another, of a different size and different number of teeth, when a change in the velocity of wheels 2 and 3 is to be made. To allow a greater or smaller pinion to be applied at 1, the wheel 2 is mounted upon a stud A-, which is moveable in a slot concentric with the axis of the wheel 3. This slot is a branch from the cross- bar N. The smaller the change-pinion is, the nearer will the stud k approach to the vertical line joining the centres of wheels 1 and 3 ; and the more slowly will the plate wheel 2, be driven. To the spur wheel 3, a bevel wheel 4, is fi-\ed, with which the other also revolves loose upon the stud. The bevel wheel 5, upon the shaft I, is driven by the bevel wheel 4 ; and it communi- cates motion, by the bevel wheels 6 and 7, to each History and Cullure of Silk. 21 of the horizontal shafts o, g, extending along the upper and under tiers of the machine. At the left-hand side of the top part of fig. 16, the two wheels 6 and 7 are omitted, on purpose to show the bearings of the shaft g, as also the slot-bear- ings for carrying the shafts or skewers of the bob- bins. If it be desired to communicate twist in the opposite direction to that which would be given by the actual arrangement of the wheels, it is ne- cessary merely to transpose the carrier wheel 2, from its present position on the right hand of pin. ion 1, to the left of it, and to drive the tin cylin- der by a crossed or close strap, instead of a straight or open one. The traverse motion of the guide is given here in a similar way to that of the engine, {fig. 3.) Near one of the middle or cross-frames of the mei- chine (see fig. 18) the wheel/, in gear with a spur wheel k, upon one of the block-shafts, drives also a spur wheel m, that revolves upon a stud, to which wheel is fixed a bevel wheel n, in gear with the bevel wheel o. To wheel o, the same me- chanism is attached as was described under ,^^s. 7 and 8, and which is here marked with the same letteri. To the crank-knob r,fig. 18, a rodar, is attach, cd, which moves or traverses the guide bar be- longing to that part of the machine ; to each ma- chine one such apparatus is fitted. In fia-s. 20 and 21 another mode of traversing the guide barfs shown, which is generally used for the coarser qualities of silk. Near to one of the middle frames, one of the wheels /, in gear with the spur wheel m, and the bevel wheel n, both revolving on one stud, gives motion also to the wheel o, fixed upon a shaft a', at whose other end the elliptical wheel b' is fixed, which drives a second elliptical wheel c', in such a way that the larger diameter of the one plays in gear with the smdler diameter of the other ; the teeth being so cut as to take into each other in all positions. The crank- piece d' is screwed upon the face of the wheel c', at such a distance from its centre as may be ne- cessary to give the de- sired length of traverse motion to the guide bar for laying the silk spiral- ly upon the blocks. The purpose of the elliptical wheel is to modify the simple crank motion, which would wind on more silk at the ends of the bobbins than in their middle, and to effeet an equality of winding on the whole surface of the blocks. In^^. 21 the elliptical wheels are shown in front, to illustrate their mode of operating upon each other. Fig. 22 is a block filled by the motion of the eccentric, fig. 18 ; and fig. 23 is a block fill- ed by the elliptical me- chanism. As the length of the motions of the bar in the latter construction remains the same during the whole operation, the silk, as it is wound on the blocks, will slide over the edges, and thereby produce the flat ends of the barrel in ^^.23. The conical ends of the block (fig. 22) are produced by the continually shortened motions of the guide bar, as the stud approaches, in its sun-and-planet rota- tion, nearer to the general ih centre. Figs. 24, 25, are two different views of the dif- ferential mechanism de. scribed under ^^. 18. The bent wire x, fig. 18, is called the guide r iron. It is attached at one end to the pivot of the sun-and-planet wheel- 25 55 work t, $, 0, and at the other to the guide bar /, /, fig. 17. The Bilk threads pass through the guides, as already explained. By the xnotion 1^ J ooxnmanieated to the guide bar, (guider,) the dia. mond pattern is produced, as shown iafig. 22. B 22 History and Culture of Silk, THE SILK AUTOMATIC REEL. In this machine, the silk is unwound from the blocks of the thro wing-mill, and formed into hanks for the market. The blocks being of a large size, would be productive of much friction, if made to revolve upon skewers thrust through them, and would cause frequent breakage of the silk. They are, therefore, set with their axes upright upon a board, and the silk is drawn from their surface, just as a weft is from a cop in the shuttle. On this account the previous winding-on must be ex- ecuted in a very regular manner: and preferably as represented in fig, 22. Fig. 22 is a front view of the reel ; little more than one-half of it being shown. Fig. 27 is an end view. Here the steam pulleys are omitted, for fear of obstructing the view of the more essen- tial parts. A, A, are the two end framings, con- nected by mahogany stretchers, which form the table B, for receiving the bobbins c, c, which arc sometimes weighted at top with a lump of lead, to prevent their tumbling, d, is the reel, consist- ing of four long laths of wood, which are fixed upon iron frames, atta bed to an octagonal wood- en shaft. The arm wnich sustains one of these laths is capable of being bent inwards, by loosen- ing a tightening hook, so as to permit the hanks, when finished, to be taken off, as in every com- mon reel. The machine consists of two equal parts, cou- pled together at a, to facilitate the removal of the silk from either half of the reel ; the attendant first lifting the one part, and then the other, e, is the guide bar, which by a traverse motion causes the silk to be wound on in a cross direc- tion, b, and c, are the wire guides, and d, are little levers lying upon the cloth covered guide bar E. The silk, in its way from the block to the reel, passes under these levers, by whicli it is cleaned from loose fibres. On the other end of the shaft of the reel, the ■pur wheel 1 is fixed, which derives motion from wheel 2, attached to the shaft of the steam-pulley V. Upon the same shaft there is a bevel wheel 3, which impels the wheel 4 upon the shaft e ; to whose end a plate is attached, to which the crank / is screwed, in such a way as to give the proper length of traverse motion to the guide bar e, con- nected to that crank or eccentric stud by the joint- ed rod g. Upon the shaft of the steam-pulleys T, there is a worm or endless screw, to the left of ft fig' 37, which works in a wheel 5, attached to the short upright shaft h, {fig, 26.) At the end of h, there is another worm, which works in a D wheel 6 ; at whose circumference there ia a stud History and Culture of Silk. 23 7, which strikes once at every revolution against an arm attached to a bell, seen to the left of g ; thus announcing to the reel tender that a rncasur. cd length of silk has been wound upon her reel. sionaiics to China, to procure some seed of the best tree cultivated in that empire for the feeding of worms. They transmitted parcels of tlais seed at two or three difi'erent times, from which this tree has been grown. In another case, John P. Cushing, of Watertown, a long time resident in Canton, ordered a shipment to be made to him from Canton of two thousand of the best tree for feeding worms, known in that country. Of this importation, five hundred only survived the voyage. These have been carefully nourished ; and with a liberality and public spirit, which has distinguished all Mr. Cushing's efforts to advance the cause of an improved agriculture, he has dis- tributed these plants among his friends and others, and the tree has become extensively diffused. — This tree produces a large, heavy, and beautiful leaf. I measured one among many equally large upon the same tree, which was thirteen inches in length by twelve and a half in width. Perhaps, in general, they are not so large as the Perottet mulberry, but they are in this respect little inferi- or ; and, in proportion to their size, they are con- siderably heavier. An acre of the Canton mul- berry would undoubtedly produce a greater weight of foliage than of the Perottet. They are a ten- der tree but more hardy than the Perottet ; and they may be propagated with about the same fa- cility. There is little doubt that this tree may be acclimated among us ; and it will then prove the most valuable tree, as yet known in the State, for the culture of silk. Dr. Stebbins, who has entered largely into the cultivation of tliis tree, passes very high encomi- ums upon its merits. He writes me, under date of 9th November last, " I have preserved the fo- liage of the large leaf Canton in preference to the Perottet, having thought that leaf best adapted to the feed of worms, for by experiments of the pre- sent year, the result has been as five to eight in favor of the Canton feed." This result was obtained by weighing in accurate scales the co- coons made from each kind of leaf. He adds, that " of the cocoons obtained by feeding upon the Canton exclusively, and the white mulberry exclusively, those from the Canton leaf were one- third heavier than the other." .n.nother person from Ohio writes to him, " that the produce of History and Culture nf Silk. 2f the Canton by the acre is twice as much as that of the Multicaulis." These are strong encomiums ; but I believe not undeserved, from what in regard to the culti- vation of the tree has come under my own obser- vation. I might add other testimonies in favor of the Canton ; among others that of Edwin Newbury, a very exact observer and cultivator of Brooklyn, Conn. — and that of Timothy Smith, of Amherst, Mass., both of whom, from repeated ex- periments, give their decided preference to the Canton mulberry over all others. Many persons are inclined to believe that the Canton is not more hardy than the Perottct ; Mr. Smith's experience leads to a different conclusion. I have also the pleasure to add here the actual experience of D. Haggerston, of Watertown, the farm manager of J. P. Cushing ; and on whose knowledge and skill in the management of these plants, as much reliance can be placed as on those of any man in the country. His testimony likewise must be regarded as entirely disinter- ested. He states, that with him the Perottet mulberry has been killed three winters out of five, root and branch; and two winters to the ground. The Canton trees on the same lot, with the same ex- posure, have stood the winter, having been killed not below a foot from the ground. He adds, like- wise, that of some Canton, which were taken up the last fall, and the roots only covered, in other respects exposed to the weather, are all now (March, 1840,) wholly uninjured. The Cantou trees, which were not covered, have come out better than those which had some covering thrown over them, besides having their roots buried. Of the trees referred to in the first case, two hundred of the Canton were left exposed, and about twelve of the Perottet. Some of the Canton referred to were from seed imported from Canton ; the re- mainder were part of the original importation of trees, of which I have before spoken. Upon weighing twenty leaves of the Canton and twen- ty of the Perottet, taken as nearly alike as possi- ble, the difference in favor of the Canton was nearly an ounce. The Canton is as easily propa- gated as the Perottet; and, as a plant, nothing can be more beautiful. The leaf is large, lus- trous, heart-shaped, and serrated ; it is not pen- dant like the Perottet, and is not so tliickly set on the tree as the Broussa. In this discussion, however, having no private interests or partialities, I have nothing to keep back ; and I must add, therefore, that there are some cultivators who still deem it as tender as the Perottet. This may be accounted for, perhaps, in its particular location, if it be placed in a humid and rich soil, and in a situation liable to early frosts. The climate from which it comes is far north of that from which the Perottet is derived. Though from my own observation, and the nu- merous testimonies given me in the case, I can- not doubt its superior hardiness to the Perottet ; yet it is not as yet to be regarded as acclimated ; and it would be rash to expose any large planta- tion of the trees to the rigors of winter, until the habits of the plant are better understood. The smgular fact stated by Mr. Haggerston, that those Canton trees, whose tops were left j uncovered, suffered more than those whose roots and branches were both covered, is in a degree confirmed by a statement of Mr. Stebbins. — " The last winter," he says, " I left out about half an acre of Canton roots, of some of wliich I covered the stumps with turf, grass under ; oth- ers, with yard manure ; others, with earth ; oth- ers, with a little grass, hay, or leaves ; and others had no covering ; and these last were the best preserved ; and the next, those with the slighest covering; and those with the deepest covering were most injured : and some entirely destroyed by heat. The extraordinary and luxuriemt growth of which these trees are susceptible under favorable circumstances, is illustrated by a fact communi- cated from the missionaries at the Sandwich Is- lands in the Pacific ocean. " To show how fast trees grow here," the writer of the letter, to whom some Canton seed had been sent from this coun- try, says, " a tree came up in my garden on the 9th of April. At the end of four months, meeu suring all the branches, it had grown 87 feet and had 533 leaves. At the end of six months, it had grown 153 feet, and had 939 leaves. It has now (9th January) been growing 9 months and 21 days ; and has grown 461 feet, and is now grow- ing at the rate of two feet per day, which at the same rate would give 601 feet of wood to the year ; has two main stalks from the ground ; one is 5| inches in circumference ; and the other 5^ inches. In attempts to produce mulberry trees from seed, severe disappointments have been often ex- perienced. New varieties are often produced; but inferior plants likewise often show tliemselves. G. B. Perry, of Bradford, in an excellent essay on the culture of the mulberry, given in the Essex Agricultural Transactions for 1839-40, expresses an opinion that this may often arise from sowing improper seed, or the seed of inferior plants ; and in a German treatise on the silk culture, which I have recently received, a caution is given not to sow seed from plants whose leaves have been stripped for feeding tJie year. These are reason- able and valuable suggestions. As far, then, as the trees are concerned, the far- mers of Massachusetts have within their reach the best varieties yet known. These may be pro- pagated with perfect ease and to an indefinite extent. It would be desirable even to increase these varieties ; and for every farmer engaged in the culture of silk to cultivate some of the earlier kinds as well as the later, that he may begin the feeding of worms early, or that in case his eggs should prematurely be hatched, he may have a supply of food at hand before it can be expected to be obtained from the tender varieties. This is recommended by the experience of Miss Rapp, already referred to, as well as of many others. Private interests have been and arc still so much mixed up with the subject of mulberry trees, that great differences of opinion may be ex- pected to exist. Without having the interest of one cent in any mulberry speculation whatever, I have endeavored to give the most authentic in- formation on the subject; and in cases where what I have stated has not been verified by my own personal observation, I have relied upon per. sons in whose credibility I know that I can place confidence. 28 History and Culture of Silk. CHAPTER V. Policy of the Country — Morus Multicaulis Speculalinn — Its effects an the Silk Business in the United States — General Remarks on the Silk Culture* " For more than 100 years it has been well known, that silk of an excellent quality could be grown in this country. It was introduced into the early settlements of Virginia, Georgia and South-Carolina. It was also grown in Pennsyl- vania prior to the Revolution ; Dr. Franklin and other far-seeing men took an active interest in establishing the business. President Styles of Yale College, before and after the Revolution, labored assiduously to establish the business in !New-England, and the old town of Mansfield, Connecticut, and a few others in that vicinity became interested, and have been successfully engaged in it for sixty or seventy years.t But the spirit of the country and the general state of things, in those early times, were unpropi- tious, and forbade a mde extension of the busi- ness. The great difficulty was the want of a regular market for cocoons and raw silk, and that market was not created, because the spirit of the country was adverse to manufacturing establish- ments of every kind. The received doctrine of the country down to 1816, taught us by mother England, was that we were to be an agricultural and a commercial, but not a manufacturing people. " But the Tariff of 1816, settled the poUcy of the country in favor of domestic manufactures. The cotton business was the first to feel the beneficial effects of the change. The woolen business in like manner, mider subsequent modifications of the Tariff, became established. A manvfacturing spirit as the spirit of the age, was thus generated. This brought up again the whole question in regard to silk, as a pennanent business of the country. " As early as 18-26 the Congress of the United States began to call public attention to the cul- ture of Silk; and between that date and 1838, several documents of great value were issued by that body, designed to diffuse niformation and awaken a general interest in behalf of this busi- ness. Some of our State Legislatures also acted in reference to the same end ; and in addition to * I. K. liarbour's letter to Dr. H. Jewetl, of Dayton, Ohio. t I find in the Manuscript Silk Journal kept by Dr. Styles, from 1763 to 1791, vliich with otr.er manuscripts he left to the Library of Yale College, a great many interesting facts, as well as a regular record of his own labors in growing silk, from 1763 to 1773. I give the following entries : 1763, July 2S. — Cocoons received at the Public Filature jn Savannah, Georgia : A.D. 1757 1,052 lbs. " 1758 7,(140 lbs. I ai- «* 1759 10,0001bs. " 176-2 15,000 lbs. 1764, July 3.— Capt. Darden tells me, that a gentleman in Georgia raised this year 600 lbs. cocoons, which he sold at the filature for It. 6d. sterling per pound. 1765, August 3. Rev. Mr. Gilbert, who arrived in Charleston, S. C, in April last year, with the French Pro- testants, that have formed the settlement of New BordeauN, ill Hillsborough Township, has succeeded so well in the eilk culture, that he raised six hundred and twenty pomirfs of cocoons this year, upon the plantation of Gabriel Mani- gold. Esq., called the Silk Hope. 1771, July 3. — The Philadelphia paper says : "We learn that above 600 lbs. of cocoons, most of them of excellent quality, have been already brought to the Public Filature in this city ; the silk produced from them being of extraordi- nary beauty " this, about one half of the States enacted laws granting bounties upon cocoons and reeled silk. — Silk Journals were, in due time, established ; and the newspaper press throughout the coimtry generally exerted a friendly influence in behalf of this new and promising form of home industry. Much general information was thus diffused, the public mind was arrested, and a very desirable measure of confidence inspired. " As a matter of course, there sprang up a grow- ing demand for mulberry trees. As was na- tural, this demand was supplied by our nurseiy- men, and by those who had actually engaged in growing silk, and in connection with that busi. ness. At first there was little or no buying to sell — little or no speculation. For ten years, cer- tainly, there was no general excitement on the subject. The trade in trees, therefore, was per- fectly healthy ; and continued so up to the fall of 1838. At this time a new state of things be- gan to be developed. That spirit of speculation with wliich the country v/as filled, and which had expended its fury upon Eastern lands and Western lands, and village lots, and fancy stocks, and about every thing else bearing the name of property, fastened its deadly fangs upon the mul- berry trade. Trees at once took a sudden advance to 40, 50, and 75 cents. The whole community, throughout our widely extended territory, seemed to be moved, and all men ready to embark in the Silk business. In the expectation, therefore, of quick sales in the Spring, trees were extensively propagated in the Winter, in green houses, and upon the tropical islands. Orders were also sent to France for large shipments, all which were ready for the Spring business. Still the supply did not equal the demand, and prices advanced to $1 and ^1 25, and, and in many cases yet higher. Men of small means, and large means, and no means, were all eager to go into the Silk business. And there were small investments and large investments ; all sums from $20 up to as many thousands. Every body must needs have a hand in the Silk bU'Siness. But, mark one thing. Not one in ten thought any thing, cared any thing, knew any thing, or ever wished to know any thing, in regard to the appropriate use of the mulberry — making silk. Tjue, indeed, to put on appearances, they might, or might not, feed a few worms. But it was the tree business on which their eyes were fixed — the tree business that filled their every thought, sleeping and wak- ing; and limited the utmost purpose of their mind. And this it was that laid the foundation for their own disappointment and the utter pros- tration of the trade. With an exclusive regard to the large profits expected from tiees, they could not of course stop to study the general sub- ject, and in many cases they were intellectually incapable of understanding the large, compre- hensive views, on which the business, as a busi- ness of the country, rests. Hence, as a body, they had no intelligent, well-based confidence in the merits of the business — "no root in them- selves" — nothing by which to bear up against any pressure of outward difiicullies — difficulties that were even then gathering and thickening upon them, albeit they knew it not. I state this point here, and thus distinctly, because the final catastrophe cannot otherwise be understood. History and Culture of Silk. 29 " In April and May the trees were planted, and as early as July contracts began to be made for the growing trees, and continued to be made through the Summer at prices ranging from 15 to 37i cents. These were about the prices which had been anticipated. " To show the disastrous bearingsof the mone- tary affairs of the country, in a special degree, on tliis business, it is necessary here to say that these contracts were to be consummated when the trees were done growing — in October. So also, in many cases, in the Winter and Spring, trees were bought to plant on credit, or funds hired to pay for them, depending on the Fall sales to meet the engagements. Thus about all con- tracts connected with this whole business — con- tracts involving millions of dollars, and extended all over the Atlantic and many of the Western States, were thrown into that month. In the meantime the financial affairs of the country, as you and all business men well recollect, were growing worse and worse all that Summer. The banks were shortening their discounts from month to month, until the 9th of October, when the United States Bank failed for the second time. Upon this all the local banks stopped dis- counts, and those South and West of New- York generally stopped specie payments. This most disastrous turn of things threw about all our bu- siness men in the land into scenes of sudden and unlocked for embarrassments, and multitudes were at once involved in hopeless bankruptcy. — And that month, the month of October, 1839, is burnt indelibly upon the recollections of thou- sands of excellent men in all the departments of business, who will never read this incidental re. ference to their past sufferings. "But these mulberry contracts, large and small, throughout the country, as before stated, all came along in that ill-fated month. And what was the necessary consequence ? Why, it was a general and a simultaneous failure among the contractors, especially the large operators, who depended more directly upon bank facilities to meet their engagements. What was the next re- sult ? An immense amount of trees were thrown back upon the growers, or in some form pushed into the market to be got off at forced sales. This of course caused a sudden and a great de- preciation of prices. " Yet this was only the heginning of the trouble. There was at this time, interest enough, and confidence enough in the Silk business, in the community, to have sustained this shock, severe as it was, if there had been nothing more, or nothing worse. But in this critical juncture of affairs, a juncture demanding the utmost cool- ness, and firmness on the part of all interested, a universal and uncontrolled panic seized the great body of the smaller dealers — The men who had invested from ,^50 to $500, and who constituted the great numerical majority, perhaps ninctecn- twentieths of the whole number interested in trees. As if by some unseen, uncontrollable power, these men were every where seized with a fixed determination to get rid of their trees at any price, and on any terms. Talk with them ? As well talk with the whistling wind. Explain to them the financial causes that had been at work to produce this temporary depression on this, and on all business ? As a class, they were too ig- norant of general business to understand any of these questions. Unfold to them the essential merits of the Silk business, the great principles on which it is based, as a permanent business of the country ? It was too late in the day to teach them this neglected lesson. Selling trees, selling trees — this was the only thing their eyes had been fixed upon, and now that trees had fallen 25 to 50 per cent in a few weeks, they were deter, mined to be rid of them at all events. No in- struction, no remonstrance, no intreaty was of any avail. Fear had taken full, and uncontrolled possession of the mind ; and every day's rumor only extended and augmented the panic. Hence they at once began to run upon each other. If A. offered his trees at 20 cents, before night B. offered his at 18, and the next day C. had as good trees as ever grew at 16, and would even take less, rather than lose a sale, as he wanted money. So the alarm spread like wild fire. They run from one to another trying to gouge each other, and from neighbor to neighbor, betraying the utmost anxiety, and resorting to all manner of devices to effect sales. Wagons loaded with trees were driving, Jchu-Iike, from town to town, and in every direction, each load of course cheaper and better than any that had gone be- fore, or would come after. " In this way it did not take long to run the prices down to 5 or 6 cents. From 2 to 5 weeks did the job most effectually. Here the whole trade was brought to a dead stand. At 5 cents some small sales were perhaps made, but below this, nothing could be done. All the interest of the community in the business had been com- pletely used up, and all confidence destroyed. No body would touch a mulberry tree at any price. An entire revulsion had indeed come over the public mind in regard to the whole matter. The great body of the people understood not, even our more intelligent business men uninterested in the matter, understood not, the special causes, as here stated, that had combined to bring this business into such a forbidding and ominous shape ; but now that they are stated you will at once see the whole matter. The truth was the o^'iTners of trees proclaimed, by their conduct that they themselves had no confidence at all in the intrinsic value of their trees, and it was per- fectly natural, therefore, that every body should believe them, and finally refuse to take them at any price : so that they now have this cool com- fort, that they, themselves, by their own folly, ruined the trade, and brought down upon their own heads the very evils they were struggling to avert. Beyond all question, all the trees in the country would have been put in requisition for makmg Silk, at 10 to 12 cents if none had been offered for less. " It was at the South where this strange work began. It was there where the crash in our moneyed institutions began — there where the fail- ures among the large dealers in trees began, and there where the subsequent panic among the smaller ones began. But the causes spread as rapidly as steam and horse power could spread them ; and the same disastrous results every where followed in quick time : so that by the last of No. vember the work was all done up throughout the 30 History and Culture of Silk. country, and every thing settled down to a dead calm. Nothing was heard, save the muttered curses of the disappointed speculators, and the self congratulations of the wise ones, who, from the commencement of the silk business, had been foretelling ruin, and only ruin, to all concerned in it. This class of men must needs, of course, take every occasion to let it be known that they never had any faith in this new business ; that they always knew it was all moonshine ; that silk cannot be made in this country ; only they didn't think the bubble would burst quite so soon. " Thus things remained through the coming winter, yet the hope was cherished, that sales would revive in the spring : and, in anticipation of this, the auction cellars in New- York, Phila- delphia, Baltimore and other centres of the busi- ness were filled with trees, and hundreds of thou- sands were buried in sand banks in the country, waiting the anxious event. But the spring came, bringing along with it other desirable things, but no demand for mulberry trees. The money affairs of the country remained yet unimproved, and of course there were no central movements in this business. But more than all, the public sympathies on this subject had been completely exhausted, by the course pursued the preceding autumn, and the great body of the people seemed to have settled down quite at ease in the conclusion, that the Silk business had been tried, and found wanting ; and that notliing more would ever be heard about it, except in the history of by-gone delusions. And the owners of trees themselves, in unnum- bered instances, as if in the pitiful vexation of disappointed hopes, or as the means of regaining the good opinion of their neighbors, joined in the ehouts of popular triumph over the prostrated folly ; and, to bring forth fruits meet for repent- ance, doomed their hated trees to the flames and the floods. The extent to which the destruction of trees was carried in 1840 is almost incredible. The auction cellars, before alluded to, were emp- tied into the streets, and thence transferred to the docks. Hundreds of thousands buried in sand banks in the fall of 1839, remain undisturbed to this day,* and acres upon acres that were left standing in the field were ploughed up, and burnt by the road side. A friend in New-Jersey wrote me, that at least nine-tenths of all the trees in the neighborhood of Philadelphia were thus wan- tonly destroyed. The same, I apprehend, is es- sentially true in regard to all the other great centres of the speculation. And according to the best estimates that can now be made, it is presumed, that at least three-fourths of all the trees with which the country had been supplied, by importation, and by propagation, in the space of some 12 years, and at an expense of many hundreds of thousands of dollars, have been in this wanton and inconsiderate manner, under the exasperations of disappointed hopes, and blasted expectations, consigned to destruction. " In some cases this destruction of trees was unavoidable. One owner perhaps had become * In the spring of 1841, a Triend in W. Conn, bid the wri- ter welcome to a lot of large leaf Cantons that had been buried two winters and one summer. I sent my team, dug them out, and brought them home, and planted them. They did as well as the average of trees. hopelessly involved in his affairs, and could not go on with the business. Another had more than he could possibly use for making silk, and of cnurse the remainder must perish. But in a great majority of cases the destruction arose from mo- tives as above alleged. " I am aware that there are other causes sup. posed to have had a special agency in bringing on the revulsion of public feeling here described. It has been often alledged, that there were ex- tended combinations among the principal dealers in trees, to run up prices : and extended combi- nations among those who wished to purchase, to run down prices. Of the truth of these charges, I have never seen any conclusive evidence on either side. And yet they may be all true. We know there is depravity in man, in unstinted measures, and whenever money is concerned, we expect to see its developements. Do we not see combinations, and all manner of contrivances, and arts, and deceptions in other departments of trade ? And yet all this wickedness, discovered or suspected, does not lead to such results as here described in regard to the mulberry trade. " It is perfectly evident, therefore, the grand, the all controlling cause, that led to this sudden and universal prostration of the tree business, was what I have here stated. Pray tell me, how could it be otherwise ? We always take it for granted, that men interested in any description of property, will over estimate, rather than under estimate its value. Another thing we always take for granted, and that is, when the owners, generally, of any species of property, are all anxious to sell, and are daily falling in their pri- ces, that there is trouble in their business some- where ; and a wise man, in all such cases, espe- cially if he is himself unacquainted with the business, will keep clear of it until the waters become settled. " And this is the case in regard to the matter in hand precisely. The owners of trees, in the fall of 1839, in their uncontrolled and undisguised eagerness to sell, practically declared, that they had no confidence in their value for any purpose, and of course others would have none. Then to put in and destroy them as they did, was only to confirm the opinion, on the part of all uninter- ested spectators, that mulberry trees are intrinsi- cally worthless. To any one 2iot understanding the causes that had been at work to bring out these results, such an inference would be the only obvious and natural one suggested. " But I think I have presented the case in itfs true Itght. Unless I entirely misjudge, you will see, and every body else willl see, that the Multi- caulis Speculation as it was called by way of dis- tinction, and as it will always be called, in its origin, progress, and disastrous termination, had the least possible connection, with the Silk Busi. ness, and shows nothing, in any way, in regard to the merits, or demerits of that business. The connection between the two things was about the same as between the Eastern land speculation, and shaving shingles. Stripped naked, this specu- lation was a mere trade in trees, and the only thing which it conclusively demonstrates is, that popu- lar phrenzy furnishes but an unsafe guide in matters of business, the same as in religion, poli- tics, and every tiling else. History and Culture of Silk. Remarks. — (1) This revulsion in the tree business prostrated the most of our Silk Companies, and Silk Factories then in existence. They were generally projected on a large scale, and involved large expectations, altogether too large for ex- perimental operations, and were generally con- ducted without much regard to economy. They had not gone far enough to derive much profits from growing, or manufacturing Silk. Their main dependence was upon the sale of trees, and when this source of income was thus sudderJy cut off, they were of course prostrated. (2) It is a remarkable fact, that out of the thousands, who, without any previous study, or practical knowledge, of the Silk business, pur- chased trees under the excitements of the specu- lation, very few, if any, are known to have per- severed, and to be now engaged in growing Silk. My own personal acquaintance with Silk grov/- crs is somewhat extensive, and I do not know a case of the kind. I do not assert that there is none, but this I do say unhesitatingly, that the men now engaged in this great business — great I mean, in its beneficent, wide spreading, and far reaching results, are made up, as a body, of those who engaged in it prior to September, 1838, and those who have gone into it since Jan., 1840. As to the rest, the thousands, the great nume- rical majority that came in between those dates, flushed with zeal, and faith, and patriotism, and all that sort of thing, what lias become of them ? Gone, gone off in smoke, all melted away, only leaving a terrible grease spot behind. (3) The Silk business in this country now stands upon a broader, and a firmer basis than ever. In confirmation of this statement I would refer to the following points. (a) It has outlived the disastrous revulsion here sketched. This siuely bespeaks something for its essential merits. By actual results in making silk brought out in different parts of the country, the entire feasibility of the silk enterprise has been demonstrated to the satisfaction of intelligent men, who have paid due attention to the subject. Those who engaged in it prior to the speculation, and of course without any expectation of large profits in trees, and those who have gone into it since the speculatien exploded, have generally gone steadily forward, with a confidence increas- ing with the increase of practical knowledge. (h) We have fully established the high charac- ter of several varieties of the foreign mulberry tree. Their relative claims is indeed a question not so definitely settled. But that the Multicau- lis. Cantons, Asiatics, and Alpines afford more foliage, in far less time, and with far less labor, than the white Italian ; and are, when rightly managed, every way safe from the perils of v»'in- ter, no intelligent man, acquainted with the busi- nesss, even affects to doubt. So also it has been demonstrated, that under our brilliant skies, and bracing winds, and upon our fruitful hills, and exhaustless prairies, these trees grow with unsur- passed luxuriance. (c) Our Silk,7« the state in which the worm leatcs it, is found to be a decidedly superior article.* On this point we have the concurrent testimony of American and European manufacturers, some of which you may see embodied in the First Re- port of the New-England Silk Convention. I refer to this fact in this connection as establising another fact, viz. the peculiar adaptcdness of our cUmate and soils for thQ Silk Culture, in as much as these are the permanent causes that control I the quality of all the productions of the earth. In open culture, as every body knows, you cannot get a first rate product, whether of grain, grass, fruit, or vegetable, only where the climate and soil are congenial. The fact therefore, that Amer- lean raw Silk, when properly reeled, is a deci- dedly superior article and commands a higher price in the market than any we can get from Europe, is full demonstration of the position in support of which it is adduced : and, with uner- ring precision, points to the day when unborn millions, in this land, will be clothed and fed, and educated from this delightful form of rural in- dustry. {d) It is evident, also, that in the few years we have been engaged in the business, we have supplanted the European system of feedmg, as first presented to the American community. Enclosed buildings, with furnaces, and ventilators, and thermometers, may, or may not, be needful there ; but in our climate, variable as it is repre- sented to be, the fact is well established, that in the way of building, all we need is the open shed, or tent, securing ample shade and heaven's pure air essentially unobstructed. (e) All our agricultural papers are now friendly to the Silk culture, and most of them zealously engaged in promoting it. The political press, also, in many cases, is exerting a good influence, and in none, a prejudicial influence. The laugh, the jibe, the sneer, are all done with. Every joke has been cracked, and not a word from any paper in the land have I seen for two years, otherwise than friendly in its design and tendency. (/) The new Tariff, although needing modifica- tions, was designed to place this business, so far as legislative protection is concerned, upon a level with other great national interests, and therefore operates to give it a passport to the con- fidence of business men.* * In President Styles Journal, before quoted from, I find this entry. 1763, July 7. — Dr. Franklin, of Philadelphia, told me to- day, that the Iialiaji raw silk sils for 20s. sterling per poiuid, in London, and the Georgia silk for 25s. sterling per pound. — 1 suppose 12 oz. Troy ; and that a mulberry tree in Italy is estimated worth 20s. sterling, a year. (An Italian White, in a bearing state, is the tree here referred to. 1. R. B.) * Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That from and af- ter the day and year aforesaid, there shall be levied, collected and paid, an t!ie' importation of the articles hereinafter men- tioned, the following duties, that is to say : first. On all manufactures of silk not otherwise speci- fied, except bolting cloths, two dollars and fifty cents per pound of 16 ounces; on silk bolting cloths, twenty per cen- tum ad valorem: Provided, That if any silk manufactures shall be mixed with gold or silver, or other metal, it shall pay a duty of thirty per centum ad valorem. Second. Oa sewing silk, silk twist, or twist composed of silk and mohair, a duty of two dollars per pound of 16 ounces; on Pongees, or plain white silks for printing or coloring, one dollar and fifty cents per pound of 16 oun- ces; on floss and other similar silks, purified from the gum, dyed and prepared for manufacture, a duty of twenty-five per centum ad valorem; on raw silk, comprehending all silks in the gum, whether in hanks, reeled or otherwise, a duty of fifty cents per pound of 16 ounces; on silk umbrellas, para- sols, and sun shades, thirty per centum ad valorem; on silk or satin shoes and slippers for women or men, thirty cents per pair; silk or satin laced boots or bootees for women or History and Culture of SilJc. (g) Our manufacturers, in some cases, are now shaping their business in reference to taking up Silk. Silk factories are springing up here and there over the country, and will be multiplied as the times shall seem to justify. All this tends to give the whole business the aspect of a regular settled business, and by ^creating local markets for cocoons, and raw silk will rapidly extend the growing of silk. (//) The amount of Silk made in years past has been constantly increasing, each year just about doubling upon the preceding year. In the States where legislative bounties are given we have the means of showing this increase, with great pre- cision. In Ohio, the amount of bounty paid in 1839, was $71 10 ; iu 1841 it was $2,631 76. In Pennsylvania the amount paid in 1840, was ^2,101 39 ; in 1841 it was $4,413 35. In New York in 1840, 2,100 lbs. of cocoons were raised ; in 1841, tlie amount had arisen to 6,426 lbs. I called upon our State Treasurer, in Boston, last October, and lie kindly gave me the following statement, showing how this matter stands in Massachusetts : In 1836, the first year of the law, he paid . .$71.37 1837 198.00 1838 :. 350.52 1839 434.62 1840 1233.59 1841 2111.42 1842 to Oct. 1 3351.91 (J) All further destruction of trees has been arrested, and the past season we have had some small sales of trees at small prices, indicating a favorable change as comiNg over the minds of men on the subject. (j) Our agriculturists now feel, and acknowl- edge their need of a new staple. Cotton, Tobacco, Wheat, and all our other staples are at present depressed, and no signs of essential improvement. The markets of the world are glutted. In this crisis. Silk is beginning to arrest attention, and the hopes of many are fi.-?ed upon it, as furnish- ing a staple of unhmited extent, and one with ■which the market cannot be glutted for 50 vears. These remarks present to thinking minds the Silk business as full of hope and encouragement to those interested, and to our country. In spite of all the multiplied discouragements which have beset its progress, it has made its way along — has worked out for itself a name, and that name commands the respect and the confidence of our intelligent business men in other and different employments. The great question is indeed I think settled, that our country is to be a Silk growing, and a Silk manufacturing country ; and if we do not, in due time, take tlie control of the markets of the world for Silk goods, it will not be in keeping with American skill, and American enterprise; nor coming up to the limits of our ability. men, seventy-five cents a pair; silk or satin shoes and slip- pers for children, fifteen cents per pair; silk or satin lactd boots or boot-ies for children, twenty-five cents a pair; on men's silk hats, one dollar each; silk or satin hats or bon- nets for women, two dollars each; on silk shirts and draw- ers, whether made up wholly or in part, forty per centum ad valorem; silk Caps for women, and turbans, ornaments for head-diess, aprons, collars, caps, cuffs, braids, curls, or fri- zettea, chemisetts, mantillas, pelerines, and all other articles of silk made up by hand, in whole or in part, and not other- wise provided for, a duty of thirty per centum ad valorejn. (4) We must now go to work, and re-supply the mulberry trees that have been wantonly and inconsiderately destroyed, as shown in this letter. And there is not only this amount to be grown, but many millions more. The state of tilings is now vastly different from what it was in the fall of 1839. At that time nineteen- twentieths of all the trees in the country had got into the hands of mere speculators, men that knew nothing, and cared nothing about the Silk busi- ness, only as affecting the price of trees then in their hands. But at this time, all the trees saved from the general destruction are in the hands of Silk growers, and about equally diffused over the country and in actual and profitable use, and can be multiplied at reasonable prices. We have preserved, cultivated, and to some extent multiplied them, knowing their value, and know- ing too, that their value would, in due time, be appreciated for the purposes for which they were designed. Popular frenzy, we know, on any subject, will in time consume itself, in its own fires. Mere prejudice cannot reign for ever. And I rejoice in the manifest indications of a return, ing public confidence already visible. The change, in this respect is truly encouraging, as those of us well know, who have the means of knowing any thing respecting the matter. If nothing occurs to turn back the tide of public feeling now setting in our favor, in a short time all the trees in the country will be in demand at fair business prices, the same as any other property, and many inillions not yet grown. Be- yond all doubt, therefore, it is for our interest, and the regular progressive advancement of the Silk business, that we should take all appropriate care of our trees, and multiply them as much as be convenient. I would earnestly press this matter upon the attention of my Silk friends. Mul- tiply your trees. Use every care, consult every expedient, tax the best energies of your minds to curtail expenses, and simplify and improve all the various processes of making Silk — feeding, cleaning, ventilating, and reeling ; and at the same time multiply your trees. (5) The nature of the business forbids as ra- pid an increase, in the amount of our silk crop, from year to year, as in most other agricultural crops. Your silk crop must be limited by the amount of your foliage, and this by the number and age of your trees, and the fertiUty of the soil on which they stand. The silk culture, therefore, resembles the fruit culture more than any other agricultural pursuit. In both it takes a proper time to bring out the results aimed at. With the Wiiite Italian Mulberry, which is propagated from the seed, we cannot get foliage to much amount short of three or four years. With the foreign varieties, Multicaulis, Cantons and Asia- tics, we can usually do something the first season. In the summer of 1838, Mr. J Danforth, of East Hartford, Conn., put out one-eighth of an acre with Multicaulis, as an experiment ; and made nine pounds prime silk which he exhibit at the Fair of the American Institute, and took a libe- ral premium. This was at the rate of seventy, two pounds to the acre. The Rev. Mr. McLean, of Freehold, N. J., stocked one-quarter of an acre the next season, for the same purpose; and brought out a little less than fifty pounds to the acre. But History and Culture of Silk. 33 I do not present these as results to be ordinarily ; expected. The land in both cases, was rich, and more trees were put out than is by any means best for permanent profit. The early part of the sea- son was peculiarly favorable for the growth of the ' trees, and the latter part for feeding — two things , on which the whole matter very much turned. ' We cannot ordinarily expect such a season throughout. We have had none since equal to it. i As a general rule, therefore, we cannot place much reliance upon feeding from trees the first year of planting them. Yet we can generally do something. If the season is early, and the weath- er warm and dry, with occasional showers, from the middle of July through August, we can do a I good business. I (6) Moneyed men have now every reasonable ' inducement to invest their funds in this new form of home industry — growing and manufac- turing Silk. For nearly four years the financial state of the country has been such as to paralyze all enterprise, and forbid all onward movements, especially in new and untried forms of labor. In this time, however, in regard to the Silk business, elementai-y questions have been extensively tried, and satisfactorily settled, though generally in a small way, because the means of those concerned in these operations are small. And we have yet much to learn. At the same time a vast amount of practical knowledge has already been gained, and gained teo,in many cases,as may well be supposed, at a dear rate. All this knowledge is now available for larger, and more productive operations. The way is indeed prepared for onward movements on any scale that suits the pecuniary means of those concerned — large or small, in growing, or in manufacturing. But it is our enterprising bu- siness men who must move in this matter. To them we look. Money is now abundant in our cities, and gradually getting into circulation In the country, and general business is slowly recovering from the extreme depression under which it has been so long laboring. With all confidence, therefore, we invite the candid and earnest atten- tion of these men to this great subject. True, the business has had many and great difficulties to contend against. I am not ignorant of the fact, that many large manufacturing establish- ments have been utterly prostrated, nor of the causes that led to these disastrous results, as be- fore stated. On the other hand, it is with great pleasure, that I can refer to the Rapps and Gills, and Storrs, and Atwcods, and Conants, and Swifts, and Dales, and Murrays, and many others, who have successfully surmounted whatever difficulties have beset their path, and are now reaping the rich reward of a well directed, a cautious, and a persevering in- dustry. Nor am I ignorant, that some large feeding establishments have failed to secure satis- factory results, and that some have been given up. But it is equally certain that transient rather than permanent causes have operated to defeat expectations in such cases, so far as these ex- pectations were any where within the limits of reason, as many were not. In some cases the eggs hatched were from a diseased stock. In more, disappointment resulted from an insuffi- cient, an irregular supply of food. Still more, froia inadequate ventilation. To this latter cause beyond doubt, a very large proportion of the disasters referred to, especially in large estab- lishments, are to be traced. At any rate from facts recently published by J. W. Gill, Esq. Mount Pleasant, Jefferson Co., Ohio, Dr. Steb- bins of Northampton, and myself, and some others, it is quite evident that Silk Worms may be fed with entire safety, in opensheds and tents, with a great reduction of expenses, and a great increase in the value of thecrop, as compared with any of the old modes of feeding in enclosed buildings. It is proper, however, here to say, that our feed- ing, whether open or close, shoufd be as early in the season as it is possible to secure foliage. I would say further, that in open feeding, the silk culture may be ext ■" a Temperature. Temperature. 6 '"B lbs. REMARKS. Date. 6a.m. ""78 12m. 6p.M. 12m. 1 6 ; 12 6 1 12 June 30 ~78 77 78 ] 70 78 70 " 68 18 2 July 1 78 78 78 78 62 78 77 68 18 4 Morning cool — used heat. ^ 9 76 78 78 78 70 77 71 69 18 8 The weather clear in the moming» and the worms lively; in the eve- ning rain ; wind S. E. 3 76 77 79 76 66 76 79 67 2 Worms commenced moultmg. 4 75 76 75 75 65 76 75 60 12 16 Worms finished moulting. 5 72 72 76 73 56 70 72 60 12 22 Clear— wind N. W. 6 72 75 76 73 55 72 73 65 12 30 Wind E. — brisk fires dming the day>- 7 73 76 78 77 60 80 70 68 2 Commenced moulting. 8 72 77 78 75 65' 78 76 70 12 14 Finished moulting. 9 74 76 77 76 66' 78 76 70 12 30 10 71 79 82 79 65 80 82 72 12 80 Clear— wind S. W. 11 76 82 80 75 7l! 87 74 68 6 Commenced moulting. 12 72 75 74 73 65 74 72 62 9 80 Finished moultuig. 13 72 75 75 75 64 78 70 67 9 130 14 72 75 75 74 68 76 74 67 9 200 15 72 76 75 73 67i 78 72 65 9 134 16 70 75 70 72 64 79 78 64 10 Commenced moulting in the eveaing. . 17 74 76 75 76 69 80 78 67 Quite dormant — not fed. 18 70 78 80 77 68 84 85 72 8 140 Finished moulting early in the mons- 19 72 82 84 79 68' 88 90 76 8 260 ing. 20 76 82 82 78 76 86 82 74 8 400 21 75 79 78 78 73 80 76 73 8 680 22 74 82 82 79 74' 88 ■82 79 8 920 23 75 79 82 77 75 82 86 75 8 600 Showed signs of winding — food di. minished. 24 72 79 77 73 70 86 75 73 8 200 Commenced winding. The worms were what is generally termed the " six weeks sulphur," and it will be seen by the above statement that they terminated their labors in twenty-four days. The amount of cocoons was three hundred and fifty-six pounds, and it re- quired two hundred and twenty-five to weigh a pound. The amount of leaves fed out was three thousand nine hundred and seventy pounds, which gives eleven pounds of leaves to a pound of co- coons, and nine pounds of cocoons being required to produce a pound of silk, it will be seen that by tliis system of feeding, ninety-nine pounds of leaves only are necessary for one pound of silk." »' In the natural system, forty thousand worms consumed two thousand five hundred and seventy- six pounds of leaves ; in the artificial system, one thousand nine hundred and eighty-five pounds. These worms produced one hundred and thirty pounds of cocoons in the natural system, and one hundred and seventy-eight pounds in the artificial. The cocoons weighed at the rate of three hundred to the pound in tlic natural system, and two hundred and twenty-five to the pound in the artificial. It required ten pounds five ounces of cocoons produced by the natural system to make a pound of silk ; Eind nine pounds of those by the artificial. The forty thousand worms fed on the natural system made twelve pounds of raw silk ; the same number, fed on the artificial system, . made nineteen and three-fourth pounds. The natural system required an average of fully one week more time to produce the cocoons than the ai'tificial system occupied." CHAPTER VIII. Descriplinn of Twgnty-eight elegant Historical Paint ings, illustrating the process of Growing and Manvh facluring Silk in Chin-a, wholhj by hand labor. [For the following valuable paper we are in- debted to Dr. D. Stebbins, of Northampton, Mas- sachusetts. These Paintings are all executed ob Rice Paper.] A gentleman who has been long engaged in the Canton trade, and while at Canton had oppor- tunities to become acquainted with the manners, habits and customs of the Chinese, has visited Northampton to become more acquainted with the state of silk culture here ; from whose scru- tinizing observations made while in China, much valuable information has been obtained. This gentleman has loaned the subscriber a volume of splendid Chinese paintings, which confirms oilr practice and culture of the Chinese mulberry (now called the Canton mulberry,) as correct and History and Culture of Silk. 41 ]»roper. These paintings represent, on separate plates, all the successive processes of the business. You see the men, women and children, in their National costume, at work ; commencing with the gathering of the mulberry seed, cleaning the same — preparing the ground — sowing the seed — transplanting the young seedlings — gathering the foliage — feeding the worms — heading or cutting down the plants near the ground, to sprout again and multiply the number of stalks and quantity of foliage. You see them making up tlie silk into skeins, as wc import it, and the further pro- cess of flossing, reeling and winding the silk upon spools. The out-door men-laborers are dressed in plain loose fiock emd trowsers, or kilts, descend- ing to the knees ; some of the men with bare feet and legs, others of higher grade, with sandals and wooden shoes, adapted to their respective work. The women, boys and girls, are employed in gathering leaves, feeding the worms, reeling oilk, &c. Some of the ladies for the interior la- bors, have elegant loose dresses of various brill- iant colors, ornamented with wide embroidery around the neck and sleeves. The upper dress is loose, of gay colors, the sleeves large, something like that of American ladies at this day. The sleeves extend near to the elbow ; all the ladies and females have pantalettes of various colors, each in contact with the upper dress. The coun- tenance fair, delicate, and intelligent ; eyes down- cast. Most of the ladies have small feet and gay sandals ; the hair neatly dressed, ornamented with ■flowers and jewelry, and all wear bracelets above the wrists. For the gratification of those interested in the silk culture, I shall attempt a representation of these paintings to illustrate the mode of silk cul- Tture in Cliina. By the plates, it appears that the Chinese sow the seed broad cast as we do small grain, which at a proper time they transplant into hills, like our Indian corn. The plants do not grow more than three or four feet in height during one season, and are cut down every year. The subscriber imported the genuine seed from Canton in 1834 and 1838 ; and has several acres in great perfection, among which are many seed- bearing trees, which produce their fair representa- tion as is evidenced this year (1843). During the visit of Dr. Perkins and his Chinese attend- ant to this country, they called on me, and were shown the Canton foliage, which was readily re- cognized, and which the Doctor and Chinaman -said was of larger size than in China ; and sug- gested that our soil was more congenial to its growth and developement than even that of China, its native clime. The multicaulis foliage was ezhibited, and the Chinaman replied " too much big." The Chinese do not use the multicaulis for silk. I have sent to China and procured another book of Chinese paintings on silk culture, and both volumes represent the feeding to be open, as we term it. I asked the Chinaman with Dr. P., if their worms ever became sickly, or stupid, and the remedy ? He opened his fan and passed it briskly over the table, to circulate fresh air. DESCRIPTION OF THE PAINTINGS. Plate 1. — Represents a field of mulberries with ripe seed, growing from the foot-stalk, a peculi- arity of the Canton mulberry, from one to foifl" inches from the ground, and from stalks which had been headed down. Two laboring men are gathering and removing the seed, one sitting upon a low stool, gathering the mulberry seed, the other with a basket slung over his shoulder, re- moving the seed to be separated from the pulp. Plate 2. — Represents two females busily era- ployed, one seated on a low stool, washing and pressing the mulberries, the other standing at a table, separating the seed from the pulp, by press, ing it through a bamboo sieve. Plate 3. — Represents two men with naked arms and legs, dressed in loose frocks and trow- sers, or kilts to the knees, with rude instruments in the shape of iron wedges with bamboo handles, picking up the earth preparatory to sowing the seed instead of using a spade or plough. Plate 4. — Represents two men, one with water to moisten the clods, the other in a crouching posture, with a rude instrument, in shape, like a mason's trowel to smoothe the surface instead of the harrow and roller. Plate 5. — Represents a man with his basket of seed, and sowing them broad cast. Plate 6. — Represents the mulberry plants sprouted, and a man watering them, having spa- ces left to pass between the plants, has two tubs of water and a dipper with a long bamboo han- dle, that he may throw the water at a consider- able distance. Plate 7. — Represents tlie plants sufficiently grown for transplanting, and two men, one on his knees, or in a crouching position, taking up and bunching the plants, the other carrying them away to be set out again. Plate 8. — Represents a field of mulberries, set in regular rows, apparently about two feet apart, and the same distance apart in the rows. Quin- cunx as we ))lant corn, with several stalks in a hill, one man wetting the bunches and handing them over to another person for setting out. Plate 9. — Represents a woman and boy sitting on stools gathering the leaves into baskets, each leaf carefully separated from the stalk by the thumb and forefinger, to preserve the bud and extreme ends uninjured ; the plants appear two or two and a half feet high. Plate 10. — Represents the stalks deprived of leaves, except the ends of the leading shoots, and a man with a calabash of water and a ladle, dis- tributing water over and about the roots of the plants, and another person setting plants in va- cant places. Plate 11. — Represents two females gathering leaves, the second time ; the trees appear to have grown considerable since the fiist pickmg, with more and larger leaves ; at this or the next pick- ing, not only the leaves but the topmost shoot is taken off to check the growth and hasten the formation of wood ; at this time the trees appear to be three to four feet high, entirely stripped of fohage. Plate 12. — Represents a man with a crooked knife, heading down the mulberries near the ground, laying them aside, apparently for fuel to heat the small furnaces for reeling, &c. Plate 13. — Represents the cocoons and millers in progress of maturity, and two females with gay attire, one sitting at a table covered with 42 History and Culture oj Silk. millers selecting their mates ; the other standing, even more gaily dressed, with her fan spread, and looking on with intense interest, the hair dressed with great care and neatness, wearing superb ear- rings and bracelets, broad lace around the neck and sleeves, and every female has pantalettes down to the ankles, like the men of higher grade ; out-door men and laborers have trowsers or kilts to the knees only. Plate 14. — Represents a female standing at a table with a bowl of warm water, the furnace at her side, pouring water upon the eggs to loosen them from the gum, and facilitate the hatching ; and a boy, suspending the papers or cloths with the eggs on bamboo poles to drain. Plate 15. — Represents a female sitting at a table, with a young child by her side, watching the progress of hatching the worms. Plate 16. — Represents two females sitting in chairs at a table, one with a feather, scraping the worms from the paper or cloth on which they were hatched, on to bamboo oval trays, of the size of a large tea tray, with open work at the sides and bottom for the free admission of fresh air, the trays having been sprinkled with fine chopped leaves prepared by a boy sitting and chopping upon a block. The other female taking the tray for removing to the next process, repre- senting the Jirst stage of the worms on the leaves. Plate 17. — Represents a female sitting at a table, distributing the worms upon the chopped leaves, to keep them separate and apart from each other, even in this early stage of feeding. A similar distribution is observed in every stage of feeding, in order to preserve the health of the wonn, and that the sickly might be readily dis- covered and removed. There is also a little urchin of a boy mounted upon a cage with puss in it, attentively watching his mother. This plate represents the second stage of feeding and size of the worm. Plate 18. — Represents an overseer, in elegant costume, with his fan, pipe and handkerchief, instructing the boy sitting on a stool by a block, in the act of chopping leaves for the young worms, with a basket to receive the leaves. This is the third stage and size of the worm. Plate 19. — Represents a man changing the worms from one tray to another, and placing them on leaves of full size, in such a manner that no two worms shall come in contact ; another boy is in attendance to remove the trays to an- other place for feeding them secure from insects. There is represented a large Canton leaf with two worms of the proper size feeding thereon, be- ing the fourth stage. Plate 20. — Represents a lady placing the trays, with worms distributed on the leaves, upon stand- ard frames, open to a free circulation of air, for feeding; and a boy handing leaves of full size from a basket ; tliese frames have screens of thin gauze, to protect the worms from the annoying • mosquitoes and other insects. On this plate, also, are represented large Canton leaves of full size, with worms feeding thereon, being the fifth stage. Plate 21. — Represents a lady sitting at a table with worms on trays covered with leaves, the worms separated from each other, ready to be removed for winding, and another female with a tray of worms, removing them to be placed in the appropriate cells for winding, and the worms of full size apparently seeking a place to wind : this is the sixth stage. Plate 22. — Represents a lady taking the worms, one by one, with her fingers, from the trays and placing them in separate cells formed of the bam- boo, bent to an oval shape in frames, for winding, instead of permitting the worm to select a place for the same purpose. Plate 23. — Represents a number of frames set up and the cells filled with cocoons, and a female spreading thick cloth before the cocoons, to ex- clude the light from them, as the worms are sup- posed to form more perfect cocoons in a dark room. Plate 24. — Represents a lady with a pair of tweezers or chop stick, taking the cocoons from the cells, placing them on trays, and another fe- male removing the trays to another place for separating the floss, by an easier, aud more expe- ditious process, than when done by the fingers in a dry state. Plate 25. — Represents a lady sitting by a small furnace, such as is common with us, with fire, and the cocoons in a vessel of water placed over the furnace, the lady with a pair of chop sticks in one hand to regulate the cocoons and with the other hand drawing the floss from the centre of the vessel, apparently through a small hole in the centre of something to keep the co- coons submerged, the floss passing over a small open frame or cylinder of bamboo sticks, which- tuming on its axis, is kept in motion by the floss in the shape of cotton batting passing over the cylinder, and through tlie fingers of the lady. It is deposited in a circle upon a tray by her side ; a much better mode than the one used by us, and deserves a trial to preserve the floss valuable as any silk : The lady has by her side a stand and tea. pot, cup and saucer, and a pot of elegant flowers. There is a large vessel by her side with cocoons in water deprived of the floss and ready for reeling. Plate 26. — Represents a lady sitting and reel- ing silk from the cocoons placed in a deep dish of water over a small furnace (like our clay fur- naces) with fire underneath, having chop sticks in one hand to regulate the cocoons. Tlie thread passes from the centre over a revolving cylinder, (of the same simple structure as in plate 25 for sepei- rating the floss) apparently through the centre and some contrivance to keep the cocoons from rising abeve the water which appears like soap suds, and probably cocoons would reel much bet- ter from soft water well soaped. From the fin- gers of the lady the thread is received on a reel, supported by a frame, the reel is turned by the left hand, another deep dish by her side filled with cocoons flossed ready for use — each dish ap- pears to contain only the number of cocoons for the size of the thread wanted. Plate 27. — Represents the long skeins of silk after reeling, hung on bamboo poles for drying, one lady handing them to a female who is giving^ the regular twist for skeins. Plate 28 — Represents a lady sitting in a chair — a large and high bamboo pole inserted into a block ; near the top of the pole passes another of less size, bent in shape of a bow, one end has a string passing through a ring on the side of the bamboo and kept in a bent position by a sus- Hitlory and Culture of Silk. 43 pended weight. Near the lady are four bamboo sticks standing upright, each inserted into a heavy block over which is extended a skein of silk ; (this is the reel) a thread of the skein passes over the other end of the bow and thence to the fin- gers of the lady's left hand and around upon a spool, turned by her right hand and several spools iUled, stand at her right side, this is the last of the historical plates of the book. The second book of paintings consists of twelve plates wliich, as a whole, illustrate the plan of open feeding in a different section of country from the first book. In this volume, it appears that there was danger from ants or other insects, as all the building are on posts over a body of water. The roofs are covered with palm leaf or some other material of warm climates. The sides and ends are open, to admit a free circulation of pure air. At each end are trellis fixtures and frames for receiving the oval trays ^vith worms, for feeding six and seven tiers of frames in hight. The per. sons engaged on different operations are numer- ous, of small size, and appear very active and diUgent. Each plate represents distant moun- tain scenery, with trees, shrubbery and splendid flowers in and about the buildings in pots. Each plate represents the different operations of labor requisite for perfecting the Silk Culture from the feeding of the worm to the reeling, twisting, color- ing and weaving the articles of manufacture, all done by hand labor. Plate 3. — Represents the feeding of worms upon the tree. On all the other plates the worms are fed upon the bamboo oval trays. The co- coons are placed in frames with cells for each worm. Plate 8. — The frames as set up upon an angle of about thirty degrees, the tops join, and the bottoms spread, with a small furnace with fire under each pair of frames for stifling the grub. Plate 9. — Represents the reeling, twisting and spooling, with very simple machinery. Plate 10. — Represents the silk colored, wound on spools — winding from the spools over a cylin- der in preparation for weaving. Plate 11. — Represents the whole coloring pro- cess — rinsing and suspending the skeins on bamboo poles to dry, and the process of weaving. Plate 12. — Represents the silk out of the loom, ornamenting with needle work, marking, &c. Remarks. — Among the males and females in every process of the work, there appears to be dif- ferent castes, or characters, and different dresses : some of the men have bare feet and legs, others with elegant slippers, some with wooden shoes, each dressed according to the work to be per- formed. The same difference of dress exists among the females. Those distinguished by small feet have the most elegant and splendid dresses. The fe- males whose feet are of the natural size, have thick shoes, and more plain dresses — but all have bracelets on the arm, — ornamented ear-rings, and the hair dressed with peculiar neatness, orna- mented upon the top and sides, with elegant flowers or jewelry, but no combs to be seen. The whole process of making silk, from the preparation of the soil, is done by hand labor with the most rude tools and reels. Although labor in China may be ever so cheap, (and their support is almost nothing, as the people live chiefly on rice) yet if they grow silk to any advantage, it does seem reasonable, that with Yankee ingenuity, — enterprise — industry and ma. chinery, we may compete with them or any other Nation, in this business. It will be recollected that in China, France and Italy, the raw silk is furnished and made in families, by individual ex- ertion, — and so may we, and sell it to the mer. chants or manufacturers. By the foregoing it appears, that the Chinese during tiie operation of feeding were very careful in keeping the worms from being crowded, and to give them a natural atmosphere. CHAPTER IX. Is our Country adapted to the Produce of Silk ? — Rea- sons why the Business will be Profitable. Is there any thing in the nature of the case — in our soil, climate, or in our institutions, that will prevent complete success in the culture of silk ?* 1st. We are in the same latitude with those countries that are the most successful in its cul- ture and manufacture. 2d. We are not only in as good a latitude, but our climate, in the same latitude. Is much better than the climate in a corresponding latitude in the old world for the growth of silk, as all testify who are competent so to do. 3d. No man can doubt but our soil is fully adapted to the growth of the mulberry ; and wherever there is a pure atmosphere, a good sup- ply of food, and the requisite attention, silk- worms will live and prosper. We have this pure atmosphere, we can raise a supply of food, and it would be a libel on the character of our country, men to suppose, for a moment, that they are not capable of giving the requisite attention to any business they undertake. 4th. It is the uniform testimony of those who are qualified to judge, that we can become a silk- growing people. It is admitted by all, that there is nothing in the nature of the country or its inhabitants, that will prevent a successful and perfect prosecution of this branch of industry. If, then, every thing goes to show that it can be cultivated, another question will very naturally arise — Can it be done profitably ? Your Committee are of the opinion that the culture and manufacture of silk, in all its branches, can, profitahly to those engaged in it, be intro- duced in this country. 1st. The experience of all who have engaged in it to any extent, shows the fact. The people of some parts of Connecticut have pursued the business for nearly a century past. Would they have continued the business if it had not yielded a profit ? In the town of Mansfield, in Connec- ticut, which is exceedingly barren and unpro- ductive in the usual products of the soil, the cul- ture of silk has, for years, composed the principal business ; and the fact that they have continued the business, proves that, to them, it is profitable ; and to the profit pelded in its cultivation they ■' Rsport of Mr. Bliss to tlie Legislature of Ohio. 44 History and Culture of Silk. owe much of their prosperity, We refer to the testimony of Mr. Gill, in another part of this re- port, and to the testimony of othere in this State, whose communications are herewith pubhshed, to sustain this point. Experiments have been made within the last few years, in different parts of the country, in almost every variety of circumstances, that go to prove, beyond doubt, that it can be made profitable to individuals, and to our whole country, in the aggregate. 2d. It will not be doubted that the silk manu- facture is profitable in England. Yet she does not produce a pound of raw silJc. She cannot raise the silk worm — the humidity of her atmos- phere supposed to be the cause — yet, while she is under the necessity of importing all of her raw silk, she manufactures, profitably, to the amount of $75,000,000 annually. We have this advan- tage, that we can produce our oion raw material, and successfully manufacture it. In France there is also more manufactured than is produced at home ; and they import several millions annually of raw silk. Our advantage is, that we shall not be under the necessity of taking our gold and silver out of the country to pay for the material ; nor have we to pay duties and other expenses of importing it. All these items take from the cost of the article when manufactured, and of course all other things being equal, it can be manufac- tured at a greater profit here than in England or France. 3d. As a further evidence that it can be profita- bly entered into, it will give employment to much of the labor of the country that is now unproduc- tive. The aged person, whose threescore years and whitened locks have exempted him from the performance of the ordinary labors of the day, may furnish for himself a profitable employment, and at the same time, an amusement, in feeding and caring for the silk-worm ; while children, of both sexes, who could in no other business be a source of profit, can do many things connected with the culture to as much as or more advantage than persons of mature age. So much is a clear gain. It is bringing so much labor into existence ; and the profit of this labor is a clear saving to the person to whose use it is applied. And further, it promotes a profitable and pleasing labor for the females of our country. What more delightful employment can they desire than the raising of the silk-worm and the reeling of silk ? The time once was, when the music of the spinning-wheel was heard in every cabin, and in every farm-house, while the matron of the house could be seen at the loom. But that day has gone by ; and the shuttle is now only thrown by the power of steam or the force of the water-fall, while the music of the spinning-wheel would scarcely be recognized amid the Babel sounds of a manufactory. We have, as yet, no substitute for those employments with which our mothers were familiar. The Silk Culture will fill a vacuum that has too long existed. It will furnish pleasing labor for the female portion of almost every family that is disposed to pursue it. And this portion of the family, whose labor has, from the nature of the case, been before in a manner unproductive, by this means will yield a direct revenue to the pockets of those to whom they look for protection and support. The following extract Irom the memorial of a lady of Tennessee, to the LegLs. lature of that State, undoubtedly speaks the sen timcnts of many among us : " We would remind their honors that female labor, in this country, is nearly prostrated ; that since the existing improvememts in carding, spinning, and weaving, by machinery having taken place in the United States, the labor of fe. males in those branches of domestic industry is reduced so low, that there is but little induce- ment to follow them except to make clothing for ourselves and our households. In bygone days, we could, by industry, not only provide clothing for our households, but could make a sufficiency of domestic manufacture to spare, to sell to the merchants to procure other necessaries for our families. This is not now the case ; when we manufacture these articles now, and take them to the merchant, we find them supplied with do- mestic manufactures from the Northern and Eastern States of the Union, at so low a price, that we cannot bear a competition with them. We belive that our time would be more profitably employed in the culture of silk, and that if the General Assembly (as most of the States of the Union have done,) will give a premium on co- coons, sewing silk, and raw silk, so as to en- courage our daughters, and domestics, and others, to engage in this branch of industry, it would be the means of improving the prosperity and hap- piness of our households, and ultimately add much to the wealth and prosperity of the country." It is evident, then, that that branch of tlie culture which can be carried forward by private individuals and families may be made profitable ; that it may be in a great measure, the product of labor, which would be unavailable in any other business. Fourth : Another ingredient that should enter into our estimate of the probable profit of the culture, is the fact, that the production of the raw material does not necessarily occupy but a small portion of the year, while in estimating the profits of other kinds of business, we start upon the presumption that the whole time is occupied therein. From this fact, that but a small portio* of time is occupied of each year ; and, the fact, that most of the labor may be done by the aged and infirm, and by children and families, if they have leisure, every farmer may raise from ten to one hundred pounds of raw silk, annually, with- out the investment of one cent as capital, and without adding to the expense, or diminishing the products of his ordinary farming operations. — This being true, no one can deny but there would be profit in it. In connection with this branch of the subject, we will state a fact that is now before us. In the year 1834, in Venetian Lom- bardy, there was $16,002,606 worth of silk reeled ; and this was done by 80,000 persons. Each person then reeled, on an average, $200 worth of silk. This was all done in five or six weeks ; while the balance of the year was occu- pied with other and their ordinary avocations. Had they raised the cocoons, as well as reeled the silk, it would have been to them the same as the coining of $16,002,606 in gold and silver. This gold and silver would have been the pro- duct of their labor. But allowing them 20 per cent, for reeling, it is then true, that they earned Hittory and Culture of Silk. 45 $8,300,000, in that short space of time. It is then an important subject for consideration, that the time is short necessary for the production of the raw silk. Fifth : It is an evidence that it may be made profitable, in this country ; that it is, in fact, profitably carried on in other countries, where the people labor under great disabilities, with which wc are not at all encumbered. It is pro- duced at a profit, notwithstandincr every product is heavily taxed. Every pound of cocoons, and every pound of raw silk, is taxed ; and it is stated, that in the Neapolitan Territory, every mulberry tree is taxed, annually, about sixteen cents. If the people there can sustain themselves under these heavy burdens, and make the business profitable, shall we, with all our enterprise, ad- mit that wc cannot, when every thing connected with it, is as free from taxation as is the air of heaven ? Sixth : It is made profitable in countries where the soil and climate are not as well adapted to the culture as with us. In calculating the profits in other countries, a deduction is always made on account of a certain loss of a large portion of the worms. This arises from negligence, or from the climate, probably the latter. In many places where it is carried on p-qfitably, a loss of from 30 to 50 per cent, is always sustained by the death of the worms. In this country no such loss need be calculated upon ; a loss will some- times occur from negligence or mismanagement. But it is beheved, as a general thing, that the loss can be brought below five per cent. Our climate is so pure that a loss in consequence of its influ- ence is not necessary. If then, those who must necessarily sustain such losses can make it profita- ble, cannot we, who are subject to no such dis- advantages ? Seventh : Another consideration of a good deal of weight, looking to its probable profit, is the fact of the uniformity of its value every lohere, and at all times, and the facility with which it can be transported. It will command its present price, or about that price, as long as the supply does not equal the demand. There arc times, when the ordinary productions of the farmer yield no profit at all. The market is glutted. There is no demand for the article, whatever it may be, and as a consequence his pork, beef, corn, and grain of every description, are so low as not to pay the cost of production. Not so with silk, either in its raw or manufactured state. Tiie supply cannot, for many years, equal the demand, if ever. It has a uniformity of value, and that value is measured bj' its weight. In this particular it re- sembles the precious metals. It has a value, be- cause it will always command specie or its cquiva- lent. It is, in fact, a very good substitute for it for all practical purposes, and, certainly, a much better representative of it, than that which forms the most of our circulation. It is a matter of no small importance to the farmer, that without any outlay of money, or any additional help, he can, in a few weeks time, raise something that is al- ways as good to him as gold in his pocket. He can have it worked up into clothmg for his family, jmd thus save the money that he lays out for the same material; or, with it, he can procure his tea, sugar, coffee, and all the variety of things necessary for every family to purchase ; or he can get the cash to lay by for a rainy day. And it is not like taking a load of hay, wheat, or potatoes to market, for the value of a load of each of those products can be carried in the work-bag of the good woman, and the matter is got along with without any trouble or expense. The merchants will, of course, be always glad to receive it for goods, as they can take a few hundred dollars worth of it to the Eastern cities, if necessary, with more ease than the same value in silver. Eighth : But it may be objected, that the price of labor being so high, we cannot compete with those countries where the price of labor is much lower. To this might be set off the fact, as in all respects conclusive, that experience has al- ready demonstrated, that, notwithstanding the price of labor, we can compete with these coun- tries in which the price of labor is low. But we go farther. In this country the price of labor, to a considerable extent, need not enter into the cal- culation, as we have seen, that the raw material can be produced by the farmers of the country, without any additional expense for labor at all. It will be done by labor that at any other business is not available. Thus the produce of silk creates the labor that produces it. It adds the product of so much ad- ditional labor to the country ; and to the extent that it does so, it is a clear jrrofit to the country. But facts go fully to demonstrate, that it does by no means follow, that, in countries where labor is low, the product of this labor can be afforded cheaper tlian where greater wages are paid. The price of labor generally depends \i\ton the indus- try and skill of the laborer. We can afford to pay for labor what that labor is worth to us. If, owing to the industry and skill of the laborer, a certain amount of lalwr gives us a product of a given value, we can, of course, afford to pay more for the labor than if the product was only one- half that value. And is it not a universally ad- mitted fact, that industry and skill, and conse- quently an increase in the product of any given amount of labor, go hand in hand with high wages ; or, rather high wages evidence the fact, that this industry and skill exist, and that the product of a given amount of labor is loorth more than in the other case ? And besides, in those countries where labor ie low they are surrounded with difficulties that do not affect us, which would counteract any advan- tage that they might have from the low price of labor. Their taxes on production are enormous, and they are compelled to calculate upon a cer- tain loss, by disease, of a large per cent, of their worms. England can furnish manufactured silks as good and as cheap as France and Italy — although she has to import all her raw material, and the other countries have the double advantage of be- ing able to raise their own raw material, and that wages are lower than in England. Holland can furnish linens cheaper than they can be furnished in countries where wages are lower. France can furnish woolen goods cheaper than Spain, while her price of labor is higher. And what is, perhaps, of as much importance as any thing, is the fact that in countries where wages are extremely low, it is next to impossible 46 History and Culture of Silk. to introduce any improvements. The work, from the picking of the leaves of the mulberry, to the finishing of the finest silks and satins, is mostly done by the slow process of hand labor. In coun- tries where wages are high, (and it would be so in this,) the skill of the citizen is brought into requisition, and machinery springs into existence to the aid of the laborer. And who can dgubt that in this country the time will soon come when machinery, as complicated and as perfect in its organization, driven by the power of the elements, as that now appplied to the cotton or woolen manufacture, will be applied to the manufacture of silk ? We close this part of the subject with an ex- tract from the memorial of Mr. J. W. Gill, pre- sented to the Legislature at its present session, which is a strong illustration of tlie point under consideration. He says : " Influenced by such reflection on these sub- jects, and the great benefit that would accrue to my country, if they could be brought into prac- tice and successful operation in a systematic man- ner, I concluded to devote a portion of my time and capital to a practical test of this business, which, for four years past, I have pursued, as per annexed scrawl. " In May, 1838, I purchased and planted one thousand Multicaulis, and three thousand Italian mulberry trees, at a cost of about $400. That season fed a few, say ten thousand worms, by way of experiment, and was very successful. Let the roots from multicaulis stand out during the winter, and they were generally killed by the frost. In April and May, 1840, I purchased and planted twelve hundred multicaulis and two thou- sand Florence, at a cost of about $800. These trees increased ten fold. At the same time I con- tracted for the production of one acre more, which produced three thousand two hundred multicaulis, at a cost of $460. At the same time I contracted v/ith John Fox, senior, and three of his family, all experienced and skilful machinists and silk manufacturers from London, for one year, at a cost of $720, and during the same year, they, with other assistance, constructed a number of looms, harness, and other machinery and manu- factured about $1,090 worth of silk velvets, hat plush, &.C,, from cocoons of ir.y raising, and pur- chases made from this State and Pennsylvania. I had but partial success raising cocoons that sea- son, owing to the loss of two hundred thousand fine, healthy worms, after their fourth moulting, caused by the neglect of a person to properly ventilate the room and feed them during a few days of my absence. In November, 1839, I purchased twelve thousand two hundred multi- cauhs trees, at a cost of about $G00, making in all, at that time, forty-two thousand six hundred trees, which cost $2,260 ; from which I sold four thousand six hundred for $1,400, leaving on hand thirty-eight thousand trees, at a cost of $800; and by September, 1841, they had multiplied to about one hundred and fifty thousand in number, and covered thirty acres of ground. During 1839, '40 and '41, 1 constructed three cocooneries, worth $1,200, and a factory three stories high, forty by sixty feet, worth $1,100. Cash value of engine and machinery, September 1, 1841, $3,200, " Since then, I have added much additional machinery. During the past year I was com- pletely successful in my feeding operations, and produced eighty bushels of good cocoons, and had foliage and room sufficient to have produced double that quantity, but could not procure silk- worm eggs. During the past two years opera- tions in the silk factory, we have made thirty- five pieces of velvets ; length from ten to twenty- four yards, each, value from $4 to $6 per yard ; ten pieces of plush, from which we made twenty- four dozens silk hats, worth $48 per dozen ; one hundred pieces of dress silks, flowered vestings, &c., varying in length from ten to thirty yards each, and worth from $1 to $3 per yard ; also, sixty dozen cravats and pocket handkerchiefs, worth from $1 to $1,75 each ; and for all of which I have found ready sale. " Since September last, we have twenty hands regularly employed in the factory, who, with the machinery I now have, manufactured, daily, from the cocoons, about $30 worth of goods. I have about six months stock of cecoons on hand, which I have obtained principally from this State, New- York and Pennsylvania, where a bounty is given to encourage their production within the last year. " My establishment has been sufficiently com- plete and successful to repay the outlay for stock and labor in manufacture, and yielding a small piofit on capital invested. The more I become acquainted with the business, the more aanguinc do I feel of success. I have had many obstacles to contend with, snch as my own inexperience, the opposition of friends, and the impositions of speculators in machinery, trees and eggs, want of proper workmen and materials to construct ma- chinery, and every other difficulty attending a new and complicated enterprise. " I have succeeded in establishing the first regularly organized silk factory ever put in opera- tion in this State, or the United States, that pur, chases all the cocoons and reeled silks, from whatever part of the United States it may come, and manufactures the same into dress goods. I have practically demonstrated to the citizens of Ohio, and of the United States, that this country can manufacture silks, as well as produce the raw material; and I believe this business wrill soon become more lucrative to our producers and manufacturers than either the production and manufacture of wool and cotton." At the close of the following chapter will be found a Table of the Exports and Imports of Silk, prepai ed expressly for this work. The chapter is a continuation of Mr. Bliss's Report, in which the importance of the culture of this article is still more strikingly illustrated. CHAPTER X, Imports — Consumption — Market — Importance of the Cul- ture of Silk — Labor — Legislative .Bid. For the last five years, we have imported, ott an average, $18,000,000 worth of silk goods annually. This, in addition to what is raised here, is consumed among us. There can be no doubt but the market will be good until we can manufacture an amount equal to that which we import for consumption. Our imports will, in fact, History and Culture of Silk. 47 always be jnst the amount that the consumption of the country exceeds its production. The consumption of the article will increase in proportion as its product increases among us. Silk enters already very largely into the clothing of the people. It is used more or less in every family ; and while it can be had it will not be dispensed with. It is reasonable to suppose, as the article of silk, for which we now send our gold and silver to Europe, becomes more and more the ordinary products of our labor, that a much larger proportion will be used for clothing than is now used. Thus, when we are able to produce an amount equal to our present imports and our present consumption, the increase in our consumption will furnish a market for an amount equal to the present imports, and an addition to it to an amount equal to the increase in our con- sumption. But when we are able to supply the demand for home consumption, wo need not stop at that limit for the want of a market. The heaviest of our imports are from Great Britain, and will continue to be so. For all that we purchase of her, we must pay in some way. If we have nothing else that she will receive, our gold must go for the purpose. England manufactures $75,- 000,000 worth of silk goods annually. She makes them, of course, to sell ; but in the first place, she has to buy every pound of the raw material, as she cannot raise it. She can make a profit on the manufacture, and as long as she can do this, she loill have the raw material, if it is to be had. If she can get it in no other way, she will pay the money for it. But she will get it where she can do it at the best advantage ; where, instead of paying the money, she can exchange her own products for it. Are not the commercial relations between that country and ours such that she will be likely to buy of us if we can furnish her ? She purchases the value of from fifteen to twenty millions, annually, of raw silk. She will buy it of us if she can pay us as eas-ly as she can pay others for it. Here, then, v;ill be a new market opened. The same may be said of France, as she purchases the raw material to the value of several millions annually. But there can be no doubt on this point : We cannot produce enough to supply the markets that will be opened to us, and not enough to affect materially the price of it. The demand will keep ahead of the supply. If, then, we can cultivate the growth of silk, and do it success- fully and profitably, and can find a market for all that we can produce, it may be very proper to in- quire into The general importance of the culture. On this point of the subject, a boundless field of inquiry is opened. Your Committee being, none of them, personally engaged in the silk bu- siness, and not having given the subject much attention, can only suggest such considerations as are the result of limited reading and reflection on the subject. But they beg leave to suggest a few considerations why, in their opinion, it is ex- ceedingly important to the interests of the coun- try that it should become a leading branch of na- tional industry. The wealth of a country is the product of the labor of that country. Individuals may become I wealthy by speculation, and by various means other than by labor ; but all that is obtained in this way by one, is taken from the pockets of others, and there is no increase in the aggregate. But the labor of a community will produce some- thing valuable as its necessary result : that is, of course, when the labor performed has that for its object. The wealth of a country will increase in proportion as the products of its labor increase. Every man can, by his labor, prodtice something ; and every additional amount of labor, when rightly directed, will give an additional product. To this product will be attached a certain value ; and it follows that every product obtained from the additional labor of the country, must add something to the aggregate wealth of the country. There can be no doubt but a large amount of the raw material of silk may be produced in this country by labor that in any other business would be unproductive. Most of the labor can be per- formed by aged persons, children and females, who, without this employment, would produce little or nothmg. In fact, the aged and the chil- dren would be a tax upon community to the amount of the cost of their support. There are in the State of Ohio 1,500,000 inhabitants. Sup- posing that, on an average, each family consists of five members there are 300,000 families in the State. Reducing this again to one-fifth, would leave 60,000. Does any person doubt but there are 60,000 families in the State of Ohio that can produce, each, ten pounds of raw silk every year, without the cost of any additional labor ? It can be produced mostly by labor that would otherwise be unproductive. On this supposition, the pro- duct of the 60,000 families would be 600,000 pounds of raw silk. This, at $5 a pound, would bs a product of $43,000,000 to the "people of the State. But, while there are 60,000 that can pro- duce ten pounces each, there are one-half that number that can produce twice that amount. This would give an additional amount of 300,000 pounds worth $1,500,000 ; in all, a product worth $5,500,000 to the Public. This could be done, and the products of the State in every other par- ticular, be as large as they now are. This would as really be an addition to the wealth of the State as though the amount were cosnec? expressly for her benefit. It is the product of labor other- wise unproductive, and so much clear benefit to the people. But look at the same calculation for the whole Union. We have 15,000,000 of people. One fifth of that number is 3,000,000, and one fifth of that number is 600,000. A product often pounds, each, would be 6,000,000 pounds; at $5 per pound, it would be $30,000,000. This is the raw material ; and this is made without any reference to the vast numbers who will make the silk cul- ture their business, and who will consequently produce a much larger amount. But further : — as soon as the raw material is pro- duced, manufactories will be established through- out the country. The only reason that they have not hitherto increased, is the fact that the raw material could not be procured to work up. Manufacturers are only waiting for this. When we can manufacture our own product of the raw material, we shall of course save to the country the profit arising from the manufacture. 48 History and Culture of SilJc. The above calculations may appear extrava- gant and visionary. But from what little exam- uiation we have been able to give the subject, we are persuaded that the estimates are too mode- rate, rather than otherwise. Mr. G. B. Smith, of Baltimore, a gentleman in whose opinions all who are interested in the culture will have great confidence, in a number of the Siik Journal, gays : " But let us make a calculation, for the farmers' domestic use, for the production of silk as a domestic article in all our farmers' families, whence the invention of machinery has expelled the spinning-wheel, and where very little profitable employment has been left to the females and junior and senior members. Suppose the farmer has an acre of ground planted with 5,000 trees, his children gather the leaves, and his daughters feed and attend to 80,000 worms. This they can do without materially interfering with any other arrangement of business or pleasure. They then reel the cocoons during their hours of leis- ure, and the result is twenty- four pounds of reeled silk the first year the trees were planted, worth to them $144, without a cent of cost, or the addi- tion of a cent to the expenses of the farm." If this calculation is a reasonable one, ours is cer- tainly not extravagant. Much might be added to it, and then fall far below the point beyond •which we shall not probably go. But farther — the following is a statement of our exports and imports, from 1833 to 1841, in- clusive. Years. Expons. Imports. 1833 $90,140,433 $108,118,311 1834 104,336,933 126,521,332 1835 121,793,577 149,893,742 1836 128,773,040 189,980,035 1837 118,419,376 110,980,177 1838 108,486,616 113,717,404 1839 121,028,416 162,092,132 1840 131,581,950 104.804,861 Total $923,340,381 ^1,096,111,024 It will be seen, that the balance against us, in the eight years, is one hundred and seventy.two mUlious seven hundred and seventy thousand dollars. To this enormous extent, there was a debt created against us. Wc bought more than we sold. And to pay this debt, the precious metals were taken out of the country, and the necessary result was pecuniary embarrassment. This will always, necessarily, be the case, when ■we send om- money out of the country, whether for the purchase of goods, or for any other pur- pose ; as long as we can pay for what we buy ■with our own products, our money remains with us, and is used as a circulating medium. The only remedy for the evil is, either to buy less or to sell more, or perhaps both. The excess against us, caused by the excess of our imports over our exports, for eight years is as is above stated. From 1835 to 1840, inclusive, the balance against us, was $132,607,723 ; and, during the same period, we imported siik to the amount of $105,- 992,190, or nearly $18,000,000, per annum. We have paid so much for silks which we might as well have produced ourselves. The money so paid is a loss to the country. In 1839, we pur- chased of other countries, silk to the amount of nearly $23,000,000, as follows : Silks from India and Ch'ma, piece gooa.; which, when manufactured, v.'as worth ,£120,. 770,580 sterling ; and the hands required for its manufacture were more than 400,000. This sum is equal to $536,222,2371 or $76,190,462 each year. Of this amount, Italy alone furnished $59,881,233. In 1835, Great Britain consumed, at wholesale prices, to the value of $28,282,582 of manufactured silks. The sum paid to weavers alone, not taking into the account what was paid for throwsting, winders, doublers, drawers, warp- ers, the soap, the dye-stuffs, and to various me- chanics, was httle short of $14,000,000; the amount of silk goods, now produced in that kingdom, is stated to be seventy-five millions of dollars .' But they raise not a pound of tlie raw material. " France manufactures $28,000,000 of silk, and imports of the raw material from eight to ten millions of dollars worth. She could manu- facture annnually $50,000,000 worth, could she procure it. England and France, in common with all civilized nations, are competitors for this precious material, wherever found ; but especially Germany, Prussia, and Russia, would enter the field, making annual demands upon us, could we supply them, for from 50 to 100,000,000 lbs. ! " We can export nothing else that will accom- plish the object. We can raise grain, but where shall we find a market for it ? The product of our cotton fields already equals the demand for it ; and in a little time longer, when its cultiva- tion becomes more extensive in British India, tiiere will not be a market for all that we now produce. History and Culture of Silk. 49 Another reason wfaj it is Important, is, that the profit of its cnltivation does not at all depend upon the perfection of our system of Internal Improvements. It is of such a nature, that the same facilities for transportation, that would raise the price of almost every other product, would not sensibly affect this. Our system of improve- ment by Railroads and Canals, is already so per- fect, and our facilities for transportation so great, that this view of the subject can hardly be ap- preciated. Every farmer knows that his wheat is worth on his farm just as much less, than at the place of market, as it costs to get it to mar- ket. A market is now furnished for wheat (al- though not so with most kinds of farmers' pro- duce) at almost all points on our Canals, Rail- roads, Lakes, or navigable rivers. If wheat is worth one dollar per bushel at either of these points, it is worth less to the producer, in propor. tion to the distance he lives from the point. If he lives ten, twenty, forty, sixty, or one hundred miles from tlie point of market, his wheat ia worth so much less than a dollar as it costs him to get it to market. The price of raw silk would not be thus affected, because it would cost comparatively notking to get it to market. Suppose the wheat- grower lives one hundred miles from market — he takes fifty bushels of wheat into his wagon, for ■which he expects to get fifty dollars. It cost him fifteen dollars to get the wheat to the place where it is worth one dollar per bushel. His wheat yields him one dollar, less the cost of taking it to market, which is thirty per cent. His wheat at home is worth seventy cents a bushel. The load of wheat would weigh about three thousand pounds — worth at market fifty dollars. The same load, if it were raw silk, would, at five dollars per pound, be worth fifteen thousand dol- lars. It would cost the same to carry it one hun- dred miles, which instead of being thirty per cent., would be about one-tenth of one per cent. The eoet of transporting it being very trifling ; the article would, as a consequence, be worth nearly as much at any point in the interior of our eoun- try as at the point to which it may be necessary to transport it ; and any person who will make the calculation, can see that all the raw silk that can ever be raised in the State of Ohio, can be «arried, in a wagon, to the city of Boston, at a lees per cent., than the wheat crop can be carried, in the same way, a distance of twenty, five miles. But we have already dwelt longer upon this point than we intended. Everyman must admit its importance to the interests of the people. It opens a sure road to wealth. In order to lead every man to consider the subject, and to per- suade the people, generally, to go into it, it may be necessary, in the infancy of the culture in this country, to offer some further inducement, to in sure a fair commencement of operations. We then ask, is ir nkcessart to give a bountv on ITS PRODOCTION. It has been truly said by a writer on this sub- ject, that " every new enterprise, of whatever kind, or wherever undertaken, has its initial difii- culties, and that which is the result is attended with the most profit has, at commencement, usu- ally the greatest number. The history of new undertaking* would form one of the most inter- esting and instructive works that was ever pre- sented to man ; and now, when enterprise and perseverance are not, perhaps, the preponderating virtues among our species ; when enthusiasm is often observed to be suddenly quenched in disap- pointment, and the cry of humbug is raised to screen the stupid miscalculations of one class, or the want of intellectual perceptions in another, any attempt to inspire courage and confidence, where such can be made available to the public interests must naturally contribute to the sum of human happiness. It is believed, that the most sure way of in- ducing the people, generally, to commence the culture, is to offer a reasonable bounty to the pro- ducers. It is a new business. Our farmers raise theii' wheat, corn, and potatoes, and their other ordi- nary productions, year after year, and are satis, fied if the crop is usually productive and the price is usually good ; but it is with difficulty that they can be persuaded to encounter the seem- ing hazard of entering into a new branch of culti- vation. This is the reason our farmers have not already more generally turned their attention to the subject. If a small bounty is offered as an inducement, they are led to look at the subject. Being sure of reaUzing something from an at- tempt, and thinking that the amount of the bounty will at least pay them for trying tlie expe- riment, they commence cautiously. By a careful trial, they become satisfied that they can make it profitable without the bounty. The bounty offer- ed first induced them to make the effort ; and after having made the trial, they are fully satisfied that it can be made profitable — a. fact which they would not have learned had it not been for the bounty offered. This, in itself, is a sufficient reason why a bounty should be given. In France, and in other countries, where the silk culture is already, perhaps, the most important branch of national industry, and where, from the fact that it is so profitable, it is rendered of national im- portance that it should be fostered — it is encour- aged in this manner. Although all the difficulties of the commencement are past, yet, by the offer of large premiums, and by other inducements, the culture increases in amount, and the products improve in quality. This is the course frequently taken to enlarge the increase in the product of any particular article, which it is greatly for the public interest to produce. In tho year f837, the State of Maine offered a bounty, to the wheat- growers of the State, of two dollars on the first twenty bushels raised, and eight cents a bushei for all above that amount. The State authorities saw that this branch of industry was languishing, and that, as a consequence, the money of the people was sent abroad for bread, when she could as well have produced it herself. The offer of the above bounty had the desired effect, and tlie wheat-growing interest became a permanent one. The State of New- York, at the session of her Legislature of 1840-41, granted $8,000 a year, for five years, to be distributed among tlie several counties, for the promotion of the cause of agri- culture. She also gave a bounty of fifteen cents a pound on cocoons, and fifty cents a pound on reeled silk. Connecticut gives a bounty of fifty cents a pound on reeled silk. In Massachusetts, 50 History and Culture of Silk. it is fifteen cents on cocoons and fifty cents on reeled silk. In Illinois, ten cents on cocoons, and fifty cents on reeled silk. The bounty in Penn- sylvania is twenty cents on cocoons, and fifty cents on reeled silk. In Indiana, — cents on cocoons, and fifty cents on reeled silk. Bounties are paid in several other States ; and in Georgia, the bounty on cocoons is equal to their value in market ; and the State, at that, will be a great gainer, provided this induces her citizens to turn their attention to the subject. All the States are opening their eyes to the importance of the sub- ject. Every pound of silk that is produced in consequence of the bounty, is so much additional wealth to the community in which it is raised. It brings into that community an amount of mo- ney equal to the value of the silk produced. After the culture is once successfully establish- ed, the bounty will not be needed, as every man who desires to go into it can profit by the labors and the experiments of those who have preceded him, without any of the expense incurred by those by whose labors he profits. The main objection seems to be, that it will be a taxation of the many for the benefit of the few. It is true, that f*r the small sum that the bounty paid out may amount to, the many are taxed ; but is it for the benefit of the f etc ? We cannot think the objection has any force, for the follow- ing reasons : First : Although it proposes to tax the many, yet they benefitted by it to an amount infinitely greater than the tax.' If this small tax should effect the object designed by it, to wit : to induce a general cultivation of the article, no one will deny but it will be a great benefit to the commu- nity in the aggregate. If it induces the culture, so that our people can produce what they con- sume, it will be to the State a benefit to the value of the amount consumed. Because, if we con- sume a million of dollars worth, instead of send- ing this money out from us, it is retained among us, and is continued in circulation. It then ac- complishes a great general good. This ought to be sufficient. But is it not a benefit to the people of the State individually ? It benefits all ivho are engaged in it, of course ; and we should bear in mind, that it is the object of the law to induce all to cultivate it. Every man who pays a tax may get it back again ten-fold, and at the same time benefit himself, and confer a great good upon the public. But how is it now 7 Are not the many taxed for the benefit of the few ? We can say what we please about extravagance, about what might be, and what ought to be; still the fact is, that the people of the State do consume silk fabrics to a large amount. Every tax-payer in the State, and thousands who pay no direct tax to the State whatever tax themselves to procure the article. There is not a. family in the State, in which there is not more or less of it consumed. To whose pecuniary benefit is all this ? Certainly not to the consumer, but to the producer. The mo- ney goes into his pocket. Where shall we find the producer? On another continent ? The im- porters, the jobbers, and the retailers, are the only persons in this country who are pecuniarily bene- fitted by it, and they only to the limited extent of the profits they make, as it passes through their hands. The large proportion ef this tajj, paid by the people of the United States, goes out of the country to oil the wheels in the machinery of other governments, and to aid in cherishing other institutions, to which ours must necessarily be in direct variance. This enormous tax, it is true, is a voluntary one, but as really a loss to the peo- ple as though government should wring it from them, without appropriating it to their use. Thus we see, that the use of this article, which will be used by all, is a tax upon the consumer for the benefit of the producer. And when the consu- mers and producers are a different people, there is a loss to the consumer to the value of the arti- cle consumed. Now, any person can see that, if the article is produced in the same community in which it is consumed — if the producer and consumer are one, this loss cannot occur. If a man produces all that he consumes of any article, he of course need not pay out any thing for the article. It is the same with communities. If the people of this State produce all that they consume of a given article, of course they need not send their money out of the State for the article. An individual raises one hundred pounds of raw silk, worth five dollars a pound. He sells it at home to the manufacturer for five hundred dollars. With this he pays his laborers, and other expenses out, and has a handsome ba- lance for other uses. The purchaser manufactures the raw material — sells it to the merchant, by which he gets back his five hundred dollars, and the cost and profit of manufacturing it. With this he pays his workmen, all of whom distribute it among the community, for the necessaries and comforts of life. The individual who was the producer of the raw material, with the same money that he re- ceived for it, with others who are perhaps not at all engaged in the business, buy of the merchant all that they wish for family consumption. This enables the merchant to buy again of the manu- facturer, and the manufacturer to purchase the next crop of the original producer. So that we see the same money performing, over and over again, its proper functions, and is still retained in the community, that it may be continually used as a circulating medium in that community. How much better would this be, than the contrary state of things ! Now, the money that is paid by the consumer, goes to the retailer ; from him to the jobber and importer, and is by liim shipped across the water, and goes into the pockets of the foreign producer. The consequence is, that it takes more money to perform the ordinary opera, tion, for which money is used. If the article was produced, as well as consumed, among us, the money that is used as a means by which the arti- cle, in all its stages, is exchanged from one to another, could continue to bo used for the same purpose, and also to facilitate other operations that require the same means. Now it is used but once ; as, when it passes from the hand of the consumer, it goes out of the community. And to the amount that is thus carried away, other money must supply its place ; or so much of the means, by which the ordinary commercial opera- tions are performed, are gone, and the same ope- rations cannot be performed. This ia one great History and Culture of Silk. 51 cause of the general derangement of the business oi)erations of the country. Too much money is sent out of the country. Could it be retained among us and used, as it was made to be used, general prosperity would be the certain result. — This will not be the case, until we produce as much as we consume. The immediate object of a bounty is to induce the people to look into the subject, and to commence the culture. When once fairly started, the bounty will not be needed. The amount that will be paid as a bounty, will be a mere pittance at most ; and for every cent so paid, one hundred fold will be returned to the pockets of the people. And as the culture pro- gresses, induced by this bounty, property will rise in value, and the Treasury will be doubly replen- ished with the same amount of taxation. Importation of Silk Manufactures ted States from foreign countries, of the same, from 1821 to 1841 being 21 yeurs. Prepared from ments, expressly for this work. Year. Imports. 1821 ..$ 4,486,924 i 1822 6,480,928 1823 6,713,771 1824 7,203,284 1825 10,271,527 1826 7,104,837 1827 6,545,245 1828 7,608,614 1829 7,048,628 1830 5,774,010 1831 10,804,393 1832 7,147,712 1833 9,300,856 1834 2,626,997 1835 16,597,983 1836 22,889.684 1837 15,133,064 1838 9,842,276 1839 21,678,086 1840 9,761,223 1841 15,511,009 into the Uni- and Exports , inclusive — official docu- Exports. ^1,057,233 1,016,262 1,512,449 1.816,325 2,965,442 3,234,720 1,690,126 1,223,184 920,958 952,079 1,041,610 1,288,323 1,266,416 896,801 765,501 760,822 1,207,812 666,529 750,916 1,212,721 580,756 Total, $210,541,051 $26,827,285 Total Imports for 21 years, $210,541,051 " Exports do. 26,827,285 Consumption, do. Annual Average, do. .$183,713,766 $8,748,274 And including the estimated consumption of Foreign Silks, for 1842 and '43, amounts for 24 years to $200,000,000 RAW SILK. Imports and Exports of Foreign. Raw Silk (in. eluded for the above) for 5 years. Year. Imports. Exports. 1837 $211,694 $118,434 1838 29,938 79,251 1839 39,258 4,682 1840 234,235 200,239 1841 254,102 227,113 Total, $769,227 $629,719 CHAPTER XI. Labor applicable to the Silk Culture— For the Clergy — Far Pauper Establishments — For the Shakers — For Schools. LABOR APPLICABLE TO THE SILK CULTURE. Having the trees and the buildings, there re- mains only the labor to be applied. Now in al- most every farmer's family in the country, there is considerable labor, which is comparatively una- vailable There are persons advanced in life, who have passed the season of severe labor. There are children, whose services might be made pro- ductive. There are young women, who cannot, or who, from filial duty or various considerations, are unwilling, to leave the paternal roof. There are many, who are averse to go out to service, and equally averse to go into a factory at a dis- tance from home. There are many young wo- men occupying a standing in society which, in the present condition of public manners, a condi- tion which we cannot alter or transcend at our ))leasure, necessarily shuts them out from various employments, of which otherwise they might avail themselves to aid m their own support ; who are now comparatively without occupation, and whose necessary expenses it may be difficult for them and their parents to meet. PubUc opinion or fashion, is a despotic tyrant, whose rule is sovereign and inexorable. It must be considered likewise, that the introduction of machinery, the use of water power, and the large cotton and woolen establishments raised up in different parts of the State, have entirely destroyed what may properly be called household industry. Even the humble knitting-needle, is in many cases, com- pletely displaced by machinery. We complain that the music of the spinning-wheel, and the flying of the shuttle are no longer heard in our farm houses. We cannot expect it to be other- wise. This is not because our women are not as much disposed to be as industrious as their grand- mothers, but because, in truth, it would be al- most folly to contend by the ancient arts against the modern processes of manufacture. Then again, for want of this opportunity of domestic labor, thousands and thousands of our young women, forsake the parental hearth, and fly ia crowds to our cities, to seek employment in the various trades and arts which are there practised ; and, where unprotected and removed from the restraints of parental care, amidst the dreadful perils which surround them, they but too often find the grave of their honor and virtue : to them- selves, and to those, whom they leave behind, a more dreadful sacrifice than that of life. To all these descriptions of persons, the culture and reeling of silk may furnish a necessary, easy, re- spectable, and profitable employment. Many a small farmer in the State, without difficulty, without expensive investments, without using any but the services of his own family, and without, in any measure, interfering with or deranging his farminj; operations, may, under proper arrange- ments, produce his fifty, hundred, or two hundred pounds of raw silk per year. This, even at two and a half or three dollars per pound, a price be- low which it is not likely to fall, would afford a convenient and agreeable addition to his income. This seems to be entirely practicable. Here the 52 History end C'uUure of Silk. calculations are all closely restricted ; and founded not upon conjecture, but upon actual experience and determined results. This supplies a want, which is deeply felt throughout tlie country ; and opens views most grateful to the philanthropic mind. In Italy and France, as I am informed, the production and reeling of silk, are almost wholly conducted in this domestic way. The aggregate amount in such a case throughout the State, would be immense ; and this all obtained without any expensive advances or any great risks, or any labor, but that which is now com- paratively unproductive and otherwise unavaila- We. It may be considered in such case, as al- most a clear gain ; and whether it pays as well for labor, as other branches of agricultural or manufacturing pursuit or not, is of little considera- tion, compared with the fact, that it pays some- thing and a reasonable compensation, where oth- erwise nothing would be obtained. FOR THE CLERGY. There is another class of persons, to whom the culture of silk would afford peculiar advantages, and prove in no way inappropriate to their condi- tion, or inconsistent with their duties ; I mean the clergy. Every intelligent person, acquainted by experience and intercourse with society in New-England, especially in its rural depajt- raents, knows what an invaluable blessing, view- ed merely in a social aspect, this order of men together with the religious institutions, which rise or fall in a measure as they rise or fall, have proved to the community ; and how much it is indebted to them for the good order, the good manners, and the highly improved condition which distinguish it. But that the ministry may be useful, it must be, in a degree, independent ; and that, at the same time, it may retain its bold upon the community, it must not be felt to be burdensome. In the present condition of so- ciety, nothing has become more precarious than tke tenure of the ministerial relation ; and nothing more discouraging in the discharge of their re- sponsible duties, than the state of dependence upon public caprice, not to say public chcirity, in which they are now placed. To a truly pious and benevolent mind, it will be always grateful and delightful to dispense the gospel, as far as pos- sible, without charge ; and, if an apostle, that he might do this, served at his trade of tent-maker, a good minister will esteem it a privilege to be able, where it can be done without interfering with his professional duties and improvement, to supply, in a measure, by his own memual exer- tions, his own and the wants of his family. To a clergyman, then, in the retirement of the coun- try, living upon the micertain, scanty, and too often begrudged support, which is allowed him, what a valuable resource may the cultivation and care of the silkwonn now afford. By the labor of a few weeks in a year, and then only a part of the day, he may, with the aid of an mdustrious family, procure by his honest ex- ertions, a sum perhaps equal to that wiiich his people feel able to afford ; and thus obtain for himself, the means of many an innocent indul- gence; perhaps too, of educating his children, and of providing for a dependent family, a com- fortable subsistence in the event of his removal or death. I hope my brethren of the clergy, , will not consider these suggestions as in any measure disrespectful. They are dictated by a feeling, totally opposite to this. I should be the last to recommend to them the silk culture or any other business, as matter of mere pecuniary gain, but only on the ground of a just regard for their own comfort and that of their families. A little knowledge of human nature, will convince them that their people will be always the more ready to help tliem, as they find them able and ready to help themselves. The clergy, from the earliest times, have been the pioneers in agricul- tural unprovements in our country ; and among a rural population, I know not how, in a secular view, a minister can render a higher service to his people, or make a stronger claim upon their respect and gratitude, than by promoting among them the study of the natural sciences, the ex- ercise of the mechanic arts, and giving them an example of sound domestic economy, and frugal, intelligent, skilful, and improved husbandry. — There are too many such laudable examples with- in my own knowledge, to allow me to doubt that this may be done without in any measure inter- fering with his own intellectual improvement and the most conscientious, faithful, and useful dis- charge of his sacred duties. FOR PAUPER ESTABLISHMENTS. I cannot doubt likewise, that the culture of silk may be mtroduced with advantage into many oi our pauper establishments, where farms are con- nected with them. Here, often, there is a great deal of light labor available, which it is difficult and impossible to apply to advantage in the com- mon field operations of agriculture, and which, now applied to the picking of oakum or to knit- ting, amounts to little. This labor, under judi- cious superintendence, might be advantageously applied to the production of silk. FOR THE SHAKERS. I take particular pleasure in recommending the culture of silk to my respected friends the Shakers. They have every element of success ; intelhgence, skill, exactness, perseverance, abund- ance of labor, land enough ; and buildings al- ready prepaied for their operations. They, of any among us, would be the fittest persons to un. dcrtake the artificial method of M. Camille Beaa- vais. Their female aid is of the best description for this culture. They may pursue it to any desira- ble extent ; and I cannot have a doubt, if they should undertake it with their usual care and de- termination, their enterprise would be crowned with success. FOR SCHOOLS. Attempts have been made in different parts of New-England, to get up manual labor schools ; that is, schools designed to aid poor young men and women in getting an education, by making their expenses light, and allowing them to defray a portion of these expenses, by some labor, ren- dered daily or occasionally, either in a work-shop, or a farm attached to the institution. This is a benevolent design. That it has not hitherto suc- ceeded as well as could be wished, is not the fault of the scheme, but comes from improper manage- ment. Into such an institution, the silk culture may be introduced with singular advantage, if pains are taken previously, to have a sufficiency of food for the worms. The labor would be light ^ History and Culture of Silk, 53 It would occupy, excepting for two or three weeks, a small amount of time. It may be ex- pected to yield as fair returns as any branch of agriculture, which could be connected with such an institution. It may, under some circumstances, be favorably introduced into other schools. The occupation would prove as conducive to the in- tellectual and moral as to the physical health. The study of nature, in all her departments, is among the most interesting and valuable of all pursuits to the young mind. Every thing that brings the young more immediately into con- nexion with other living beings, and especially malies demands upon their pruder.ee, providence and kindness, becomes at once an efTectual teacher of the most practical, the most valuable, and the highest virtues. I have, as will be seen, mainly confined my- self to the discussion of the silk culture in Mas- sachusetts, eind with our present knowledge of the business, and our present prices of labor. Under how much more favorable circumstances it may be pursued where slave labor abounds, where the cUmate admits of obtaining three or four harvests a year, and where the best trees re- quire no care nor labor to protect them in winter, I shall leave others to determine. How well adapted this product must be to those farmers, whose situations are remote from market, and with whom the common agricultural products are too heavy to be transported, but with great loss and toil; how advantageously it might be substituted for that odious plant tobacco, which is an im- poverisher of the earth as well as a poisoner of man, and which holds the miserable preeminence of standing next to that curse of curses, intoxi- cating drinks, it is not necessary for me to say. How much more productive it may hereafter prove than we have at present any certain grounds for calculating, will presently be determined ; and I entertain the sangume hope, under an improved cultivation, of a greatly increased yield. If, under the circumstances which I have stated, and under the qualifications named, it can be introduced and extended in Massachusetts, not as a principal, but as a collateral and incidental l>rc.nch of husbandry and domestic industry, it must prove a source of eminent comfort and wealth. That the machinery for reeUng is simple and cheap, that the operation involves no mys- tery, and may be learned and performed by a child, are other circumstances which commend it. Mas- sachusetts, then, I cannot but hope, will see in this case both her interest and duty. As she in- creases her productions and her wealth, she in- creases her real power ; strengthens the attach- ments of her children to their home, and abates th6 desire of emigration. In introducing this ar- ticle, so emphatically of domestic and household industry, she multiplies the sources of domestic comfort and competence ; and affords no small nor inefficient contribution to the cause of good morals and philanthropy. I should do injustice to my own sense of gra' jg. his work ; and by his liumblc and unobtrusive labors, contributing largely to the clothing of half mankind, and creating yearly millions and mil- lions of wealth. It would be curious to calculate the hands he fills, the mouths he feeds, the wheels he sets in motion, the ships he loads, and thavast riches to which his annual labors amount. This reads a striking lesson to the reflecting mind, on the immense results which spring from regular and combined, though minute and often a dis- dained labor. Nor are his changes the less ex- traordinary or striking to the thoughtful mind. Nature is every where full of mysterious trans, formations, which show that the power of death has its limits, and indicate the wonderful pro- gross of animated existence. Having accom- plished his appointed task, he wraps himself in his silken shroud, and with him death is only a transient sleep. If left to himself, he soon emer- ges from his tomb, no longer a reptile, but a winged chrysalis, to enjoy another existence. In the curious transformations of this humble insect, man may see an instructive indication and testi- mony of the progress of being ; and a proof that death is not annihilation. May we, as men, ex- ult in the hopes, gathered from such beautiful examples in nature, and confirmed by divine reve- lation, that with man also, death is only the threshold of life ; and that for him to burst these cerements of the grave, is not like the silkworm, to pass rapidly through another form of being, but to enter upon an immortality. ful duty, if I did not call the attention of ^^ readers to the miracles of divme Provider -« ;„ iCe m ais en. this wonderful animal, the silk worm ; at trance into life, among the smallest of 1' ^^"^„ ^^ istences, which come within the cog- .L^„^^ „f our senses ; m six weeks, at farthest, ^^pleting CHAPTER XII. Testimony of Frederick ,A. Ross, G. B Smith, and others, on Silk as a Household Product. [If the following letters from the Rev. Mr. Ross, do not convince every reader of the practi- cability of the silk culture in this country, we know not what will. Those who doubt as to the reeling process may find a good lesson here.] Gideon B. Smith, Esq. Dear Sir : I never felt so sanguine of the silk culture as at this moment. There is nothing now in the way of its immediate advancement in East Tennessee, unless it may be that slowness which seems inherent in the motion of a farming people to change thfjir habits. I say there is nothing now in the way — because, since I recommenced reefing on the first day of this month, my success is such, f'jiat I intend to advertise to buy from one to t wo thousand bushels of cocoons. The great bugbear has been the reeling. That quest ;on, as to quality, I considered settled by 'Tiy experiments last summer, although at a costly tri' A. Since I have recommenced reeling, I deem I'jc question of quantity disposed of forever. Presuming I should not be able to obtain cocoons for more than two reels, until the summer, I be- gan with that number on the first day of Febru- ary. My cocoons were very indifferent, with few exceptions, some not yielding more than eight ounces to the bushel — none exceeding fourteen ounces. Part of the time the weather has been very severe, filling my room with condensed steam ; nevertheless, I reeled, and two hours after dark, thus showing, what was not believed, D 54 History and Culture of Silk. that reeling can be done after night. Under these circumstances my average has been between nine and ten ounces for each reel per day. This reeling is better than the best average I saw on the books of the Model Filature in Philadelphia last summer. The best average I saw there, in three weeks' work, was ten and a half ounces in long summer days too, and having some, if not many, first-rate cocoons — none of whicj^l have; and I saw no cocoons there, so bad ag^many wf mine. I think I will show one pound per day to each reel, even with such cocoons as I have, be- fore the 1st of March. I have reached fourteen and a half ounces. Now, my dear sir, do you not say I have some reason to be pleased ? Many thanks to you for your encouragement to perse- Terance. The cost of my reeling is two shillings per day to each spinner, who finds herself. The flossing and turning the Teelm&jhe, together, one shilling more, if hired, or nothing, if little ser- vants are employed. Before the 1st of March, I will show, that without counting interest on fix- tures, &c., which will be a thing of nothing, I can exhibit beautifully reeled silk, which cost me two shillings per pound for reeling. In a short time I think I shall have a very con- Tenient filature, and silk reels enough, if I am sure of cocoons, to turn off sufficient silk to re- deem the bold promise I made you last spring. I am making improvements in the saving of time, &c. every day. The double strainer to each pan I find works well. Very respectfully, Frederick A. Ross. Kingsport, (East Tennessee,) Feb. -23, 1841. [We must apologise to our friend, Mr. Ross, for the publication of both the preceding and fol- lowing letter. They were not intended for pub- lication, but they will do more public good than private harm.] Gideon B. Smith, Esq. Dear Sir: Your esteemed favor of the 21st March, is at hand. Mr. Lynn I presume called on you, reluming from Philadelphia. We think exactly alike on the subject of our national inde- pendence. And I have always, before there was any personal interest, been a Tariff man ; my silk enthusiasm has hardly abated at any time in six years. It is now higher than ever. I delivered a lecture the other day twenty miles from home, in a court-house, and exhibited the model of a feeding and spinning frame, which I had carried in my saddle-bags. I enclose you an advertise- ment which I am spreading through this county ; by which you will sec that the business is no child's play with me. It is no longer experiment. I can instantly make it part of a large business operation. I want nothing but the certainty of sufficient cocoons to secure the fact of immediately converting multicaulis leaves into gold. The victory is won. The people have nothing to do but to secure it. Cocoons can be made in this county for $1 25, and, when labor is not hired, thousands will say, as a man said to my inquiry, ' what it cost to make the five bush- tia he sold me.' ' Cost ' said he ? ' Yes' said I, ' what did the production of these cocoons cost you?' ' O ! ' said he, with surprise at my ques- tion, ' they cost nothing, sir : my little brothers and sisters made them, and their labor would have been nothing otherwise.' If $20 had fallen from the clouds into that man's hand, he would not have had a clearer gain to his income with- out additional expense. Thousands will answer in this spirit, ere long, I believe. My two reels are steadily at work. The silk reeled since 1st February amounts to about seventy pounds. Some of it as good as they can reel in Piedmont, to save their lives, (as the boys say) and the worst, many times better than any I have seen from Smyrna, or Bombay. Up to last Saturday, two girls in fifty-two days, all sorts of weather and cocoons, had reeled sixty-two pounds of silk, without their being pushed at all, and idling some of course. They are singing half their time. I hear them now. And are delighted with their work. The profit I am making at present, is greater than I expected it to be, or desire it should be. I could make more money at reeling silk, than any cotton plantation, or sugar, or gold mine in the United States. Two girls in fifty-two days have reeled sixty-two pounds of silk. The cocoons cost me $186 00 The two girls wages, at 2s. each per day 36 33J Two reelers, at Is. for the two per day, (two children who turn theaspel,) 6 66} Flossing cocoons, at 12^ cents to the 1 lb. of «ilk, 7 75 Total $«8 75 Price of 62 lbs. of silk, at $5 50, 341 00 Profit $102 25 From which must be deducted interest on fix- tures, expense of coal, water, &c. After all of which is taken off, some of w hich would be only nominal, there is left a greater profit than I could expect or desire on a large business. In my ad- vertisement, you perceive I offer, conditionally, twenty per cent, more than the price now given, which, with the deduction on the cotton yarn (to the farmers as money) from the retail price, will overgo ^4 on the bushel, making a pound of silk. It may be less on the inferior cocoons per ounce. I shall probably pay the equivalent to .$4 per sixteen ounces, without regard to my condition, since I have read your letter. I am fitting up my cocoonery to feed with th« branches, on the principle of Mr. Morris, of Bur- lington, modified. I dispense with his spinning frame as he has it horizontal above each feeding frame, and have it perpendicular between the two shelves, which form one row. I have no apron or shelf to catch the litter, that may riddle through to the ground. We talked about this, and you thought there was no need of any thing to catch the litter. The whole affair is very cheap, and I intend to give it a fair trial ; my first crop will be 500,000. I kill the chrysalis (which I forgot to tell you) in a house, such as is used for drying fruit. It cost but a trifle, and in one night the work is done, aiid well done. I want nothing else, neither for speed, cheapness, or perfect work. I have scribbled this in a great hurry. But being on my hobby, I have kept him going. Mr. M. of B. says he stopped lor the cold weather. I reeled when the thermometer was History and Culture of Silk, 55 nearly at zero ; and two hours after night bcaides, every night until 1st March. I reeled my pound to the reel in the day as I promised you, and 1 wish I could send you one of the hanks. The cocoons were fine, and the silk is beautiful, like threads of silver, and as even and smooth as glass. That best day's work as to quantity, is not surpassed by any other in quality. And that day's work can be done any time with sueh cocoons, and more than that, although the ave- rage is nothing like it in quantity. The cocoons are indifl'erent. Very Respectfully, Fredkrick a. Ross. Rotherwood, ^Sjtril 6, 1941. [We must remind the reader that the girls who reeled the silk for Mr. Ross, had never seen a cocoon or a reel, till last fall ; that they learned to reel, under Mr. Ross' direction, from instruc. tions given in the Silk Journal ; and to this day have never seen a foreign reeler or a thread of foreign reeled silk. — Ed.] THE ART OF REELING SILK. One of the greatest obstacles to the progress of the silk business in the United States has always been the supposed difficulty of reeling the co- coons. Those who have been familiar with the writings of the Editor of the Silk Journal for fifteen years past, will remember with how much pertinacity he has persisted in asserting the ex- treme simplicity of the art of reeling. Most per- sons are familiar with the fact, that many years ago an attempt was made, and proved nearly suc- cessful, in consequence of the highly respectable character of at least one of the advocates of the measure, to induce Congress to endow a school filature in Philadelphia, with $60,000, on condi- tion of its teaching sixty young men, to be nomi- nated by the government from the different states, in the art of reeling. The terms on which these young men were to be instructed, were, that they should attend in Philadelphia three successive summers, four months each term, find themselves in board and all other expenses, and at the end of three years, receive a certificate of proficiency. They might then return to their several residen- ces, and institute schools for the instruction of others. The managers of the school filature were to have all the benefit of the labor of the young men in reeling, as well as the original $60,000. For several years this magnificent project was before Congress ; it was reported fa- vorably on by the committees of each House, and came near its consummation several times. Du- ring the whole time it was before Congress, the Editor of this Journal was engaged in opposing it, by publications illustrating the simplicity of the art of reeling, and the entire absence of apy necessity for such a school. This opposition to any I have seen in London, from France, Italy, China, Piedmont, or Valentia. During the last twenty years in London, I had passed through my hands weekly from two hundred to two hun- dred and fifty pounds of silk of various kinds and qualities, so that my testimony, founded upon practice and experience, may be relied upon. Experiment 9. — B.B.Blakesly, Newark, Wayne Co.,New.York. Last season fed a few worms, with indifferent success ; failed for want of adequate ventilation. This spring I planted five acres of trees ; have fed from one and a half acres only ; have made 300 lbs. first rate cocoons, and have another brood yet to wind, sufficient, if they do well, to make 150 lbs. more. The expense of making the 300 lbs., including rents and every things, has been $42 40. Last spring I built a cocoonery, 163 by 24 feet, two stories, and finished a part for this sum- mer's use ; have the ends, sides, roof, and floors, literally cut to pieces with windows and ventil- ators; have used artificial heat, keeping the tem- perature up to 75® ; have used air-slacked lime freely. Intend next spring to plant five acres more with trees, and hope to have foliage enough to occupy the whole of my building. Experiment 10. — James W. Chappell, Lima, Livingston Co., New-York. This is the fourth season I have been engaged in raising silk. I have fed the last season from two acres of trees. My trees are one and two History and Culture of Silk. 63 years old. The average hight is four feet. I have made 130 lbs. of cocoons the last season, and have another small crop yet to spin. The ex- pense of making these cocoons has been $20. I use none other than multicauiis for feeding. My trees have not been essentially injured by stand- ing out winters. I head them down in the spring. I use the ' Burlington Silk Worm Frame,' and use branches for feeding. My cocoonery is 20 feet by 60, two stories high, built expressly for the silk business. It has twenty-six glass win- dows, with blinds, and six large doors. It is lo- cated in a favorable situation to receive every passing breeze. I have never given my worms any artificial heat. I have used air-slacked lime freely. My efforts have been crowned with com- plete success, both the last season and ever since I have been engaged in the business. I convert my cocoons into raw silk on the Piedmontese reel, and intend to procuie machinery for making sewing silk. Experiment 11. — Thomas White, Cincinnati, O. I am much gratified to learn that the silk busi- ness is progressing in New-England. There is no- thing but a lack of practical knowledge, which pre- vents each State in the Union from supplying itself with all the silk needed. From the interest you manifest in the business, you will doubtless learn with pleasure that we are making a quiet, steady, and rapid progress in the West. There have been large crops of cocoons raised this season, through- out the States of Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee. I have never seen a better season for raising silk in cocooneries that were constructed so that the temperature could be controlled ; but in open houses it has been an unfavorable season in the West. The manufacturing of silk is keep- ing pace with the raising of it in the West. There will be several thousand yards of goods wove in Ohio this season, and several hundred in Indiana, by my old friend Mr. Fox, who has left Mt. Pleasant, and established a prosperous factory at Richmond, in that State. Beside these establish- ments, there are a large number of family ma- chines in operation, making sewings and organ- zine through the four States above mentioned. — We find organzine the most profitable article we can make. It is worth $8 to $10 per lb. in the gum, which is decidedly better than making sew- ings. I herewith send you a small sample, made by a lady in this city, who has procured three of my machines, and is doing a very profitable bu- siness. Each machine finishes half a pound per day. For this article we have a ready cash mar- ket, at Mt. Pleasant, and Richmond, Indiana, and there will soon be another m this city. Experiment 12. — G. B. Smith, Esq., Baltimore. It would have given me great pleasure to at- tend your convention, and I should certainly have done so had it been in my power. Please accept of my hearty good wishes for the success of your efforts to advance the cause of silk culture in New-England, which I cannot permit myself to entertain a doubt of. New-England is emphati- cally the land of enterprise, industry, and perse- verance, the three elements of success in every kind of business ; and you must, therefore, sue- ceed in the silk culture. If the whole country were blessed with these essential elements of pros- perity, we sliould perhaps become loo happy a people for this world — certainly, we should pre- sent to the world at large a spectacle of wealth, of happiness, and of greatness, such as has never yet been exhibited by any people. Unfortunately for the cause of silk culture in the South, this spirit is wanting ; or if it exists, it is of a too fit- ful and hesitating a nature to succeed. Probably like the human constitution, it is debilitated by the climate ! Certainly it no where. South of ' Mas(>n and Dixon's line,' exhibits that indomit- able energy and endurance, that it does at the North and East. Hence, since the explosion, or rather the evaporation of the mania, the silk cul- ture has been declining in the South, till the pre- sent year, when very few persons were to be found engaged in it at all, and lew of them have done much to a profit. I am sorry to be obliged to give you this melancholy picture of our Southern ope- rations; but truth requires it. This decline in the business in this region is not attributable to any discovery of the business being impracticable or unprofitable ; but rather to the depression of spirits, consequent upon the prostration of hopes in the multicauiis speculation. The people had been led to expect enormous profits in the tree trade, and when thatfailed, they could not endure the moderate, (though still fair) profits to be de- rived from making silk. Even in the silk busi- ness, they had been taught to believe they could make ten to twenty times as much as could be calculated upon in any other business, and when upon trial, only a fair living profit resulted, it was treated with contempt. But enough of this. I have not a doubt that the silk business is a profit- able one, and that it will yet, sooner or later, be- come one of our staple interests. The late action of Congress in establishing the Tariff will be of great benefit to the silk business. There are some defects in the Tariff, which I hope to see removed at an early day. The duty of 50 cents a pound on raw silk is too low, and does not indicate a desire to foster the raising of the raw material in this country. The duty ought to have been one dollar a pound, and that would have been not exceeding 25 per cent. That would not have been more than a reasonable duty, and could scarcely have been considered a protection. Still it would have been a fair encouragement to the American producer. I hope yet to see this item of the Tariff altered, as indicated. The manufac- turer of silk is handsomely encouraged. His work is protected by a good duty on foreign labor, wliile he is enabled to import his raw material at a very low duty ; thus he is favored doubly. Thig will also reach to the advantage of the silk grower ultimately, for it will encourage the establish- ment of manufactories in our own country, and then we shall have a ready market for our ravir material at our doors, and this ready market and cheapness of access to it, will be equal to a heavier duty on foreign raw material. The duty of $1 50 per ib. on low priced plain silks, is also too low ; because that is the very article we can and shall first make. The highest duty on fine goods is of itself moderate, even as a strictly revenue duty. Two dollars and fifty cents on a pound of the finer qualities of silk is scarcely more than twenty per cent, on their value, if as much. Twenty dol- History and Culture of Silk. lars worth of the finer quaUties of silk goods will scarcely weigh a pound of sixteen ounces. Sew- ing silk is very handsomely protected, and it is the only article of silk that can be said to be so. Still, as a whole, we have reason to be thankful for the Tariff. Although at first sight it seems to indicate a carelessness of our interests, on the part of Congress, we shall find in the end, that it w'dl be like the judicious practice of a good phy- sician. He does not administer stimulants to the debilitated constitution, and thus hurry it to a state of artificial excitement, but rather cautiously plies it with gentle tonics and exercise, and thus grad- ually raises it to the natural standard of robust health. Let us, therefore, congratulate ourselves that, if we have not got all we wanted, and as aoon as we desired, we have got that which is very good now, vastly better than what we had before, and very probably that which we shall ul- timately find to be all we want. Let every silk grower consider this subject in its proper light. — Let them reflect that the foreign grower of raw silk has to pay now 50 cents a pound duty, insur- ance, and the profits of shipping houses, on his pound of raw silk in addition to the cost of pro- duction, before he can bring it in competition with our pound of raw silk, which has none of these charges to pay. So with all other kinds of silk goods. Then may he comprehend how far the Tariff" will be of benefit to him. In conclusion of this subject, I must be permitted to say, that wc can now go to work with a prospect most flattering, and that if we do not now succeed, it will be because of our own want of energy and per- severance. I made a suggestion, I believe, to the conven- tion of silk-growers held at Northampton last year, in relation to killing the chrysalis by means of the air pump. This is a most interesting subject con- nected with the silk business, and I hope it will be taken into consideration by some practical op- erator, that its value or worthlessness may be es- tablished. If it prove successful, it will be a most valuable improvement. The injury done lo the fibre by the old process of baking the cocoons, has caused that plan to be abandoned in this country. Steaming does not injure the fibre, but it is apt to render the reeling more difiicult, by so loosen- ing the texture of the cocoon as to cause the fibre to tangle. Killing the chrysalis by exposing the cocoons to the sun, is a very defective process, as its thorough efTect is uncertain, and much loss is often occasioned by the moths coming out after they are supposed to be dead. Then again this process has the disadvantage of hardening the gum and thus making the reeling more difficult, as is the case in all the different processes in which heat is the agent. Killing the chrysalis with camphor, as detailedintheSilk Journal, and first suggested by Miss Rapp, of Econom}', Pa., is the best and least objectionable of all the pro- cesses heretofore used. When properly applied, the camphor effectually accomplishes the object, ■without inflicting the slightest injury on the silk fibre, and at the same time, leaves the cocoons in the same state for reeling, that they were in before the chrysalis was killed. Tiie cocoons reel as easily as they did when fresh spun. Still, if the air pump will answer the purpose, it is certainly better than even camphor, for it can be used with- out any restraint, is at all times at command, and must inevitably be effectual ; for it is impossible that any insect or animal can live in a vacuum, or in any situation approaching one. We know that sealing up silk worm eggs in a bottle, there- by excluding fresh air, kills them ; so it does all kinds of seeds. Then, certainly, if exclusion of fresh air will kill silk worm eggs, depriving the chrysalis of air altogether, it must also kill that,and that very speedily. This process would certainly leave the cocoons in precisely the same state it found them, so far as the silk fibre and facility of reeling are concerned. The apparatus is not ex- pensive, and when once obtained will last any length of time. All that is required, is a large box to contain, say ten bushels, so constructed as to be air tight when closed ; and an exhausting pump, or air pump, by the aid of which the air can be pumped out of the box. Any common carpenter can make the box, and I am sure any common pump maker can make the pump suffi- ciently perfect for the purpose. I regret very much that my health and opportunities did not permit me to make the necessary experiments dur- ing the past season, to test the merits of this new- ly suggested process. The experiments can be made at a trifling expense. A tight keg or bar- rel can be used for the box, for example, and a forcing pump of sufficient power can be made of the ordinary liquor pump used in the stores. Experiment 13. — John Moyer, Perry, Wayne Co., Ohio. Four years ago, I raised what made twenty yards of tow silk, a yard wide, and a dozen pairs of stockings ; since then, I have made all into sewing silk, till 1840. I made one thousand skeins of sewing silk, and sent three pounds and fifteen ounces of raw silk to Mount Pleasant, to Mr. J. Fox and J. W. Gill, to manufacture into dress silk. We received fifteen and a half yards, after the manufacturer had taken his pay from the piece. It was worth two dollars per yard. — The silk was reeled sixteen fibres to the thread. — Mr. Fox said it ought to have been reeled only ten fibres to the thread, and it would have made handsome cloth. Of this, I will enclose you a sample, to let you see what Ohio can do. I have five acres of white mulberry trees, from five to silk years old, and five acres of multicaulis, most- ly planted last year. Last season, 1841, I fed between eighty to one hundred thousand worms. The first hatching, June 3, made one hundred and fifty pounds of cocoons, the worms healthy. The second crop, only eleven days later, was not so healthy ; they died in their last age, with the muscardine, though I used lime, but perhaps not enough. In all, we raised two hundred and twenty-five pounds of cocoons. We had to feed the first crop, and most of the second crop, on the white mulberry, the dry season having kept the multicaulis back very late. Last spring I built a cocoonery, forty-two by twenty feet, two stories. I expect to have foliage to feed from five hundred thousand to one million of worms next season. — Mr. G. Dulin raised nineteen pounds cocoons ; and a number of others raised more or less in the county. This winter we make all into sewing silk. We have made fifteen hundred skeins, and are about half tlurough. We sell to the merchants History and Culture of Silk. 65 at five cents per skein, which makes one dollar per ounce. Our machinery is simple, cheap, and easily made. One reel, worth four dollars, and a twisting machine, worth ten or twelve dollars, on which we can make three hundred skeins per week, worth fifteen dollars. Two females and two boys can do this. Experiment 14. — Ehenezer Wood,, Esq., Jeffer- son, Ashtabula Co., Ohio. I have just received a letter from S. F. Taylor, Esq., a member of the House, making certain in- quiries in relation to the silk business, and re- questing an answer returned to you. FeeUng a deep interest (aside from all pecunia- ry considerations) in the culture and manufac- ture of silk, it is with much pleasure I comply, so far as I am able, with his requests. In regard to our soil and climate being adapted to the growth of the mulberry I would say, that among those who have given attention to the subject for the last four or five years, 1 be. lieve, there is but one opinion, and that is, both are adapted to its growth. It is said by many, whose opinions are entitled to much respect, that the whole United States is admirably adapted to its growth. But if I may be allowed to differ in opinion, I should say that Maine is too far north — not but the mulberry would grow well there, but the seasons are too short to in- sure profit. The unbelief and discordant opinions about our climate emd soil being adapted to the growth of the mulberry, have grown out of peculiar circum- stances. In the winter of 1839, large contracts were made by speculators for mulberries, to be delivered in the succeeding fall. They were made by speculators — men who never cultivated a tree, or ever intended to. They depended, for supply, to fill their contracts, on purchases. Of course it was their interest to buy cheap. They then went at it, pen in hand, to write down the character of the mulberry, and even went so far as to employ an Englishman, a gentleman of ta- lents, to write for them. His communications were sent to Philadelphia for publication, and from thence, together with others of the kind, spread all over the Union. Add to this, after the speculation began to decline, some of the real producers of the tree chimed in and told the same story, in order to make sale of another and new variety. Hence, have arisen most of the doubts and fears that our soil and cUmate are not adapt- ed to its growth. I speak of the morus multicau- lis, for I considered it well settled that we shall mostly, if not altogether, depend on that tree for silk. I have cultivated it for five years on clay and clay loam soil. At first, for the want of in- formation, I did not succeed well, but not so now — any soil or chmate which is good for Indian corn is also good for mulberry. In regard to the effect of our climate upon the health of the worm, I have to remark that they want just such an atmosphere as we ourselves do. Give them good air, plenty of food, and occasion- eJly a sprinkUngof lime, and we may promise our- selves a good crop of cocoons. That we have good air in Ohio no one doubts; and that we have rich low land — rich in vegetable matter, go- ing to decay, acted upon by chemical laws, gene- rating poisonous gases, thereby producing a sick- ly atmosphere, wiU also be admitted ; but all ex- perience and science tells us, that its improve- ment keeps pace with that made by the axe and plough. Hence, we may look forward to a time when every section of the State will be adapted to the silk business. But how to give the worms good air is a subject on which much thought and i attention has been bestowed, great improvements made, and, no doubt, much yet to be learned. In order to insure the greatest profit, all wish to feed as many on a square foot as will answer ; but how many ? What should they be fed on ? — whether shelves, hurdles, straw, sticks, &c., are subjects about which time and experience will teach us. There have been, as might be expect- ed, many failures and disappointments ; some have given up the business as not practicable, and of course discouraged others. Hence the neces- sity of legislative encouragement. But with our present knowledge and improvement, we have every reason to believe we shall realize full suc- cess ; and with legislative encouragement for a few years, we believe we shall triumph over aU difficulty, and add millions to the wealth of the State, and have plenty where now poverty reigns. Here I should further remark, that I believe most of those who have given that attention to the subject the business required, have succeeded fully equal to their expectations. All, I believe, have made more or less mistakes, but they are becoming less liable to do so as we improve in knowledge on the subject. It is not to be suppo- sed that all will succed equally well — that is not the fact in any business. Considering our infancy in the business, and the advances we have made, in some respect even beyond that experienced In the old world, our pros- pects are truly encouraging. We learn from the best authority, from gentlemen who have been to France and Italy, and taken great pains to ob- tain information in relation to the silk business, that in those countries it is usual for them to lose from twenty-five to fifty per cent, of their worms by disease and sickness. I have no doubt but that in a very few years it will be thought by us quite a loss to lose ten per cent. Some have succeeded so well, the past season, they tell us their loss will not exceed one per cent. My loss, I think, was about five per cent. Thus far my remarks have been confined to the production of the raw article. In reference to the inquiry, " whether such improvements have been made in machinery, &c. as warrant the belief that a few years more of en- couragement will enable those engaged in it to compete, successfully, with the foregomg, I would answer, that 1 think enough has been done to warrant a beginning ; and taking into consid- eration Yankee ingenuity and enterprize, we can- not but think it will succeed equally well with the manufacture of cotton. From 1828 to 1833, about a dozen mills for the manufacture of silk goods were erected, mostly in New England, with a view of importing the raw article until they could get a home supply. By a treaty made with France, I believe in 1833, all French goods until 1840, were admitted free of duty. This act shut down their gates, and vetoed their whole opera- tions. It is believed that with the Tariff of 1841, 66 History and Culture of Silk. they will be able to put their machinery in mo- tion as soon as we can give them the raw mate- rial, and that new establishments will spring up as fast as we can give them the raw article to manufacture. As a specimen of what may be done in almost every family in the State, I send you a sample made in my family, by my daughters, said by those competant to judge, that it is equal, if not superior, to the foreign. It was reeled on a reel, in principle the same as the Piedmontese, and spun on the common wheel. Experiment 15. — Wrn. Bebb, Esq., Hamilton, ^ Butler Co., Ohio. My attention was first directed to this sub- ject by some specimens of sewing silk, produced and manufactured by an industrious and enter, prizing society of " Shakers," residing near this place. These specimens, by their permission, I exhibited at the first fair of the Butler county Agricultural Society, held October 27, 1831, at which they received a richly merited premium. I refer to this experiment here, only because a portion of the silk was made from the native mulberry, and a portion from the morns alba, or white mulberry. The silk produced from the latter, was in quantity, strength, and especially in lustre, far superior to that produced from the former. The little I know touching the subject of your inquiries, will, perhaps, best be told by a brief and simple narrative. In the month of May, 1840, an agent of Messrs, Price and Son, (Long Island) called on me, and said that he had fifteen thousand morus multicau- iis trees, and about three thousand composed of morus alba, morus alpine, morus eleta, &c., which would go to destruction, as he could neither sell nor give them away. I had six acres of warm black sandy loam, resting on a bed of limestone gravel, which had not been lately manured, and which had been severely cropped for forty years. This ground had been ploughed and " furrowed out," four feet apart, for Indian corn. I agreed to take the trees, plant them on this ground, and give to Prince and Son, one-third the proceeds the next autumn. I thought the experiment could not cost much, and the trees, if they could stand the climate, might be saved to the country. Ac- cordingly, on the 10th May, 1840, we took the trees from the boxes, in good condition, and laid them lengthwise in the furrows, root and branch, as sugar cane is planted, keeping each kind sepa- rate. The weather proved favorable, and in about two weeks the multicaulis threw up roots at almost every bud, and the other varieties, shoots from their roots. The ground, during the summer, was ploughed and hoed three times, as Indian com is cultivated. The result was, that in autumn, my lots were covered with hedge rows of mulberry trees, from five to seven feet high, numbering more than a hundred thousand; the multicaulis hanging with the most luxuriant foliage I had ever seen. The white mulberry grew about three feet high, and the morus alpine, nearly aa high as the multicaulis, but fewer in number. When the frost killed the leaves, I dug up one- third, of the whole, for Prince and Son, and buried them as farmers do potatoes. The re- maining two-thirds, I resolved to leave standing in the lot unprotected, to contend for life witk the ensuing winter. Dr. McFarland can describe to you the exposed aspect of the lot. Few situa- tions, in the country, are more completely under the dominion of a " northwester." Winter came with its frosts, and thaws, and sleets, and storms ; at one time the thermoneter hung, on a limb of a tree fully exposed, fell sixteen degrees below zero. On examination, about the first of May, 1841, I found that only the unripened wood and the tops of the trees were injured ; and what is remarkable — the morus alba, morus expansa, and morus alpine, which have been considered hardy varieties, were quite as much injured, if not more, than the multicaulis. It is now Decem- ber 27th, and there they stand yet, not a bud in- jured, the wood alwaj's ripening better the second year than the first. Messrs. Prince and Son being unable to sell their share of the trees, they directed mc to farm them out to others as they had done to me. In this way I, last spring, distributed about thirty thousand mulberry trees among some eight or ten of the most enterprizing and industrious farmers of the vicinity, who planted them, and are now prepared to feed worms next spring. The number of multicaulis trees, in the county of Butler, at this time, cannot be less than three hundred thousand, or sufficient to feed, next summer, four millions of worms ; but there will not be one-fourth that number fed. Previous to August, 1840, I had never seen a silk worm, and knew nothing of the art of rearj ing them. Finding I had such a quantity of foliage, I procured one-fourth of an ounce of eggs, of the two crop worm, to experiment upon. They hatched about the third week in August, being very late, and were placed upon boards in the garret. They were fed on wet leaves almost entirely, for I knew no better. We gathered the leaves in the morning, while dropping with dew, to keep them fresh, and whenever they got dry, we sprinkled them with water, and I fancied the worms relished them better. Moreover, the days were hot and the nights cold, and the worms, in the garret under the roof, were almost roasted by daj' and chilled at night ; to compensate for all this bad treatment, they had plenty of excellent leaves, and room and air. The result was, that they fed like pigs — not one in a hundred died, and about the 25th day they mounted and span fine cocoons. This variety run their course much sooner than the sulphur worms, even under the same treatment. Encouraged by this little experiment, on three thousand worms, and finding my trees had stood the winter, I resolved, in March last, to build a small and cheap cocoonery. It is 18 by 42 feet, of frame, not plastered, with a rough pine floor, no loft, three windows and four doors, one story high. The windows are furnished with Venetian blinds ; the whole is surmounted by a cupola five feet square, operating as a ventilator. The whole cost one hundred dollars. Thus prepared, as soon as the leaves came fair- ly out, I exposed to the warm air two ounces of eggs, mammoth, sulphur, or six weeks' variety. In a few days about forty thousand worms ap- History and Culture of Silk. 67 peared, which did extremely well, and produced one hundred and thirty pounds of very heavy and excellent cocoons. Scarcely one died. We fed multicaulis exclusively, cut no leaves, but fed with first with leaves, and as the worms grew, cut branches, leaves and all — laid them upon the benches like crib work. The worms crawled along the branches and fed finely. The leaves wore always fed dry when practicable. Scarcely one in a hundred died. Early in July we hatched a second crop of for- ty thousand, which had been retarded in an ice- house. These did not do so well. The drought operating on our then sandy soil, had injured the foliage very much. The weather was too hot, and, perhaps, one-fourth died of yellows ; still we had seventy poundf? of cocoons of fair average quality, but far inferior to the first crop. Experiments, rather than profit, being my ob- ject, I procured a Piedmontese reel. My wife and daughter commenced reeling, and to our high gratification, found it an easy and pleasant task. They had never seen a reel or skein of raw silk ; yet they reeled, the first day, one half a pound in four or five hours. Our last year's crop amounts to two hundred pounds of cocoons from eighty thousand worms, being a pretty fair yield ; about one-fourth of the whole is reeled, of which we send you a very small specimen ; we would send a larger, but do not wish to encumber the mail. We had every thing to learn last summer, and our e-vperiments cost us more than they should have done. My profession left me little time even to direct. Most of the work was done by a Ger- man gardener, who labored in the cocoonery about half the time, and in the garden the other half. I would state the account thus : — Silk. D): I Silk. Cr. To labor $40 40 Bj' 20 lbs. silk, at $5... $100 00 Reat four acres 12 00 By premium from State, 20 On Interest on Cocoonery. . 8 00 rp^,,, j.,„„ ,„ Reeling 20 lbs. silk .... 200oL2TLu r. ! .-.• ] i .-^'s'o II Total S80 OO' Gaiu $10 00 This is a very small experiment. Still it satis- fies me that our farmers might make silk culture, in connection with their other business, profitable. Their children might do the work, and thus they might easily realize from one to five hundred dol- lars per annum, and scarcely feel the loss of time. A silk worm lives but a month, and eats but little, except the last week of that month. Having thus given to you the result of my rear- ings, both of the mulberry tree and of the silk worm, I proceed, pursuant to your request, to add a few observations and " suggestions." First : Silk worms want a dry atmosphere. — Hence, the silk of China, and of the United States, is the finest in the world. The silk re- gions of France and Italy are shielded by moun- tain rangess from sea breezes. Second : The morus multicaulis will endure our winters. It is more easily propagated than the white mulberry, or any other variety — is equal- ly hardy — is preferred by the worms, and makes as good, but, I think, not better, silk, than the white. Third : The labor of producing and reeling silk may all be performed by aged persons, females and children. It is light, pleasant ana healthful employment. Fourth ; The quantity of land required is very little ; four acres would produce foliage enough for four hundred dollars per annum. Fifth : Our country is now ripe for the experi- ment, and the next five years must decide the question, whether the mulberry trees, now happi- ly spread over almost every county in the State, shall be preserved as a rich source of national in- dustry and wealth, or whether they are to be ut- terly neglected and destroyed, as many thousands were last spring in this county. Sixth : if we ever do become a silk producing community, all agree that we should encourage the producer of the cocoons to reel his own silk for several reasons: — 1st. Cocoons reel more ea- sily when fresh ; 2d. They are a cumbrous arti- cle, easily damaged, whilst reeled silk is an ex- tremely portable article ; 3d. Since machinery, applied to manufactures, has driven the wheel and the shuttle from the farm-house, what is there left for female industry so appropriate as the reel- ing of silk ? Experiment 16. — Kev. J. V. McLean, Freehold, Monmouth C»., New-Jersey. The weight of the silk in the case which ac- companies this paper, is twelve pounds, sixteen ounces to the pound, and is the product of one QUARTER of an acre. The soil on which my trees were grown is a heavy clay — three or four years ago, the land would not have produced 20 bushels of corn to the acre. The two previous seasons, the lot on which my experiment was made had been very moderately manured — the present season it was covered with what might be considered a good coat of marl and barn-yard manure mixed. The 20th to the 23d of April last, I planted a half acre lot with Morus Multicaulis roots, cut- tings and layers. The roots were of the previous season's growth, taken from trees that did not ex- ceed 2J feet. The top was cut off within two inches of the root, and the roots were laid hori- zontally in the row, about ten inches apart. The cuttings were from the tops of these trees, with one bud to each, and were planted six mches apart in the rows. The layers were small trees, six to eighteen inches long, and were laid con- tinuously in the row — the root of one touching the top of another. The rows were 2^ feet apart. The length of the lot, as planted in t.rees, is 288 feet, and the width 75 feet. I expected to have had roofs sufficient to plant half of this lot, or a quarter of an acre — they planted, however, only 26 feet in width, and 288 in length. In making out my quarter of an acre, therefore, I was obliged to include eleven feet and eight inches in width from the layers — so that the dimensions of the lot was 288 feet in length, and 37 feet 8 inches in width. I regretted that I had not roots for the whole quarter of an acre, as the roots afforded much more leaves than the layers. Owing to close planting and the nature of the soil, the trees pro- duced were small — say an average of three and a half feet. The present growth on the quarter of an acre does not exceed 5,500, all counted, large and small. My cocoonery is 36 by 18 feet, 2 stories high. I fed almost entirely in the second story. There are two tiers of shelves three feet wide by twenty- 68 History and Culture of Silk. four feet long — the shelves rise one above another one foot apart, seven shelves in each tier. The second story contains 18 glass windows, with Ve- netian blinds. My eggs were of my own produc- ing the previous season. They were saved with great care from my best cocoons, on muslin, the pieces of muslin rolled up in the fall, or soon after the eggs were laid, and placed in a common farm bag ; and this was hung to a beam in the cellar. In March the muslins were folded up and laid one on top of another, in a small tea chest lined with lead, this was placed in another of the same kind, but a little larger ; and the space between the two was filled with pulverized charcoal. Then a few thicknesses of old flannel were laid loosely over the top of the smaller chest, and a loose board laid over the larger. Then the whole was set in a still larger rough box, with a loose board on the top, and this was put down in the ice-house, so that the ice surrounded the sides of the box. In the inner tea-chest was a thermometer — the box was examined every week, and the thermometer v/as not allowed to rise above 45'^ Fahrenheit. I am thus particular as to the mode of preserving eggs, which has succeeded so well with me, be- cause so much disappointment has been experi- enced in regard to eggs. Other modes equally good may doubtless be adopted for retarding the eggs — the above plan, however, succeeded with me to admiration — the last hatching, the 27th of August, was as perfect as the first. July 18th, I hatched some two or three thou- sand mammoth white. July 26, five or six thou- sand sulphur. July 31, two or three thousand sulphur. August 19th, over 20,000 sulphur — and August 29th, hatched the last. Say 5 to 8,000 sol. phur. The mammoth white worms wound in 24 to 28 days— the sulphur 28 to 33 days. A few lingered to 36 or 40 days. Green oak bushes were used for the worms to wind in. Last year I had plasterers' lathes fas- tened under the shelves, one and a half inches apart. I found difficulty, however, in getting the worms to ascend well. This season I used straw at first, tied up in small bundles and set on the shelves, but this did not answer as well as I had been led to expect. At length I threw every thing aside and took the oak bushes. These have succeeded with me better than any other contri- vance. They seem natural to the worms, and I have never seen them mount any thing as readi- ly as green bushes. The only objection I see to them is, the cocoons cannot be taken from the bushes with quite the same facility with which they may be removed from straw, or some other fixtures. A little more experience, gathered from diflFerent sections of the country, will enable us to adopt the most approved plan for winding. Of the mammoth white cocoons, it required an ave- rage of three hundred and seventeen to the pound, weighed just as taken from the sAcZcc*; of the sulphur it required three hundred. Two hundred and eighty-eight of the largest white made one pound, and of the largest sulphur, two hundred and forty-seven. The worms were fed on the shelves without hurdles, and the litter was remo- ved from the shelves about every fourth day. — Sometimes they went from one moulting to ano- thcr without having the shelves cleaned. The shelves were cleaned without hurdles, in the fol- lowing manner : The attendant had a thin half ' inch board, planed smooth, eighteen by twenty- four inches. After the worms appeared to be through their moulting, fresh leaves were given them — the attendant took up these leaves, the worms adhering, and laid them on the board which she held in her hand, and thus removed them to clean shelves; if all did not attach to the first leaves, others were strewed on, and general, ly the second time going over all were removed. Many objections may be urged against hurdles. They are expensive. Hurdles to feed one million of worms will cost several hundred dollars. This expense is by no means counterbalanced by the labor which they will save, for it admits of doubt whether, after all, there is much labor saved. — The worms will not all ascend on the fresh hur- dles, and if the policy of throwing away all that do not ascend readily, is adopted, probably one: half the worms will be thrown away ; if tliis is not done, leaves must be thrown on after the hur- dies are removed, and the worms must be taken off as they are without the hurdles. Another ob- jection is, the difficulty of preventing the worms from winding under the hurdles and around them, among the litter. Besides, the plan of feeding without hurdles is much more sunple, and on this accomit to be recommended to the great mass of persons who will feed. My worms were fed as often during the day as they needed it, say five or six times; they were never fed at night. Dur- ing the whole time of feeding, the weather was very variable, the thermometer ranged from 60 to 90 deg., with frequent easterly storms of several days' continuance ; one storm lasted eight days, from August 16th to August 23d, inclusive. Se- veral storms were accompanied with severe thun- der and lightning. August 13th, a bam was struck with lightning and burnt to the ground, less than one hundred yards from the cocoonery. The worms appeared to experience no injury whatever from the thunder. The damp wet weather undoubtedly retarded them in their ope- rations. At such times they were not so vigor- ous and active, but every crop was perfectly healthy ; few, if any, were lost the whole season by disease. At one time my shelves were more crowded than they should have been, and worms would frequently fall to the floor. These seldom wound after they were returned to the shelves ; in this way I may have lost nearly or quite the amount of one pound of reeled silk. In order to be prepared for cold wet weather, I fitted up a furnace in my cellai", with flues lead- I ing up and around my upper room. I did not use i artificial heat, however, more than a few times when the mornings were a little cool. i The wiiole number of worms fed on my quarter | of an acre was about forty thousand. The weight of leaves which they consumed was two thousand five hundred and seventy-six pounds. The amount of cocoons produced was one hundred and thirty pounds, weighed just as taken from the shelves, without sorting or flossing. After they were sort- ed and flossed, there was one pound of floss, and four pounds defective cocoons, leaving one hun- dred Jind twenty-six pounds of cocoons. These produced twelve pounds of merchantable reeled silk, sixteen ounces to the pound, and one pound wastage, ends, &c. The silk was reeled on the History and Culture of Silk. 69 Piedmontese reel ; the water heated in kettles, set in a furnace ; one kettle was used as a heater, and the other to reel from. From the above statement, it will be seen that it required between nineteen and twenty pounds of leaves to make one pound of cocoons. Of these cocoons, without flossing or sorting, it required ten pounds and ten ounces to make one pound of reeled silk. After thoy were flossed and sorted, it required ten pounds and five ounces, or about two hundred and fourteen to two hundred and fif- teen pounds of leaves to make one pound of reeled silk. This shows a greater amount of leaves ne- cessary to make one pound of cocoons, and a greater weight of cocoons necessary to make one pound of reeled silk, than the estimates published in various quarters, and greater than experiments said to have been actually required. I was often obliged to feed wet leaves, owing to the frequent long storms, and the worms appeared to experi- I once no injury wliatever from this. Still I did ■ not consider it safe to feed leaves gathered in the i storm, and dripping wet ; and in our attempts to I dry the leaves, some became wilted and were i thrown away. The worms, also, were always abundantly fed, and a partial waste of leaves fre- quently, ro doubt, occurred in this way. These things, together with the loss of perhaps the value of near one pound of reeled silk, by worms falling from the shelves, would vary the result a little, and might show that one hundred and ninety pounds of leaves would produce one pound of reeled sdk. I do not doubt but that under the most favora- | ble circumstances, a few pounds of cocoons ! might be produced on ten or twelve pounds of leaves to the pound of cocoons. Nor do I doubt ' that one pound of reeled silk may be produced j from eight pounds of cocoons, or even less. Much depends on the quality of the cocoons, and more i on the time when they are weighed, whether in a | fresh or green, or entirely dry state. I could i have selected from my lot, even in a fresh state, eight pounds of cocoons, which would, beyond all question, have produced one pound of reeled silk — but this would be no test of the profits of the business. Last year I produced at the rate of five hun- | dred and ten pounds of cocoons to the acre — this year I produced at the rate of five hundred and i twenty — and my deliberate opinion is, that more i will fall below this standard than will exceed it ; | and in one case, where a less quantity of leaves i will give the above quantity of silk, two cases will I occur that will require a greater. Greatly will it bo for the interests of the com- munity, if it shall be found, on farther experience, j that eighty or one hundred pounds of leaves will j make one pound of reeled silk, instead of two j hundred and fourteen or two hundred and fifteen, i as required in my experiment ; for my quarter of i an acre did produce two thousand five hundred I and seventy-six pounds of leaves, and the trees | were not stripped remarkably close either — then i the amount of reeled silk per acre would be the ; handsome yield of one hundred and four to one i hundred and twenty-eight pounds ! A result I ; utterly despair of seeing realized. i The above shows us forty-eight pounds of reel- ed silk, sixteen ounces to the pound, as the pro- duct of an acre. If tliis is worth, as I under- stand it now is, $6 per pound, then the gross proceeds of an acre will be $288 — the first year, let it be remembered. Or if it shouid be worth but .$4.50 per pound, which is undoubtedly the safest price at which to rate it, the gross proceeds of an acre will then be $216. In regard to the cost of production, it is confi- dently asserted by many, that it can be produced for .$2 per pound. Mine cost me much more than this. My experience, however, satisfies me that it can be produced for $2.25 per pound, and I incline to the belief that it may be produced for $2. Produced on a farm in a small way, the cost will be next to nothing — the whole product will be clear gain. Now take the product of an acre as above stated, at $288, and allow this to be made at an expense of $2 per pound, you have a net profit of $192 per acre I ! Allow the cost of production to be $2.25, and you still have a net profit of $180. Again — take the product at $216, (allowing the silk to be worth only $4.50 per pound) and let the cost of production be ^2, it gives a net profit of .f 120 per acre — but allow the cost of production to be $2.25 per pound — the sum at which I know it can be made — and it still affords us a net profit of $108. This last, I am persuaded, will be found more nearly to cor- respond with actual results. If the price of the silk is jjiore than $4.50 per pound, and the cost of production less than $2.25, so much the bet- ter for the culturist. But the above results, very nearly, are produced in another way. The amount of help necessarj' to attend to one acre, or to one hundred and sixty thousand worms, would not exceed the value of two females, twelve weeks each, and one male, the same time — indeed, I do not believe it would- require so much help — but admitting it should, the maximum average value of this help would be, here $3 per week, in- cluding boarding — and then, the cost of pro- ducing forty-eight pounds of silk v.ould be $108. And the value of that silk being, as above stated, $288, the net profit would be $180 ! ! Or the value being only $4.50 per pound, or the gross amount of $216, still the net profit would be $108 per acre — exactly the result before stated — and this, let it be observed, is just $4 more than the result shown by my experiment of last year. I believe, therefore, I have demonstrated, not by figures and on paper only, but by the actual pro- duction of the silk, that every prudent culturist may safely rely on realizing a net profit of at least $108, 'the first year, or $180 while the price of raw silk continues what it now is. And I ask, is not this sufficient ! ought not any reasonable man to be satisfied with this ? I wish, indeed, I could have made the profits a little larger, but / could nut do it. Much is said in various quarters respecting the different varieties of mulberry trees as food for the silk worm. By some it is confidently asserted that the Multicaulis is Inferior to the broad-leaved Canton, to the Broussa, and to the iiundred and one other varieties for which names are invented. Others go still further, and assert that the Multi- caulis is inferior to all other species, the paper mulberry alone excepted, which the worm will not eat at all ; and that good silk cannot be made from the Multicaulis, that it is the least hardy of E 70 History and Culture of Silk, all species of the mulberry, (which, however, has never been proved,) and that the quality of the silk will always be in proportion to the hardiness of the tree from which it is made. Other species of the mulberry may be good, as I have no doubt they are ; they may even be better than the Multicaulis for any thing I know to the contrary. One thing I do know, the worms de- vour the Multicaulis leaves with great avidity- grow well — continue healthy — make good silk, in sufficient quantities to yield a net profit per acre of $108 to $180. This they have done for me two years in succession. As to tlie quality of the silk, I do not profess to be a judge. It ob- tained the gold medal, at the fair of the Ame- rican Institute in October last, and intelligent judges pronounced it superior. Now I say other varieties of the mulberry may make more and better silk than the Multicaulis. But has any individual actually produced more and better silk from any other tree, from a quar- ter of an acre ? Until this is done, the public will be slow to believe that so many intelligent men are deceived, and that the Multicaulis is good for nothing. It is my deliberate conviction, that the Morus Multicaulis will be the prevailing tree for silk in this country, as well because it is peculiarly adap- ted to the silk worm, as because great expense will be saved in gathering the leaves. The same amount of foliage can be gathered from the Multicaulis, with probably half the expense, that it can be gathered from any other of the mulberry. I entertain now an unwavering conviction that the silk business will triumphantly succeed in our country. That it promises to do more for the comfort of the indigent and dependent portion of our community, especially for indigent females, and to add more to the wealth of the nation than can now be told. CHAPTER XIV. LMer of Jl. TValsh, Esq. — Introduction — Food for tlie Silkworm — Natural History of the Silkworm — Prepa- rations for the Manasevient of Silkworms, during lite operations of Hatching, Feeding and Spinning — Eggs, and Preparations for Hatching — Preparations for Feeding— Preparations for Spinning— Of Hatching and Feeding — Raising of the H^orms and forming the Cocoons— Management during the Breeding Operation — Of Slijling or Killing the Chrysalis— Of Reeling— On the Production of a Succession of Crops in a Season. Lansingbl'RO, N. Y., October 16, 1343. Messrs Greeley i/- Mc Elrath : — Having understood that you were about pub- lishing a work on the subject of the Culture of Silk, and, judging from the thorough and per- fect manner in which you have heretofore dis- posed of the matters embraced in your numerous publications, I am anxious that tlie one on tlie important subject of Silk should be equally full and satisfactory. I therefore take the liber- ty of calling your attention to a " Brief Sys- tem of Practical Instruction through every operation in Silk Growing," prepared by my late friend Samuel Blydenburgh, of this place, the ma. nuscript of which V7as furnished by me after Mr. Blydenburgh's death, to the Editor of the Berk- shire Farmer. This article forms the best Man- ual for Silk Growers that I have met with, and I doubt not its insertion in your contemplated " Useful Work," will prove a highly valuable ac- quisition. - Allow me here a word or two by way of tri- bute to a man of worth. Mr. Blydenburgh was a man to whom the agricultural and mechanical portions of the community are under especial obli- gations. He wrote extensively for agricultural and other periodicals, and his suggestions and plans were of a character so practical and well matured, that they could hardly fail to be instruc- tive and profitable. The value of the Silk business, viewed as a branch of useful industry, is now so far apprecia- ted, that it is less needful than formerly to set forth its claims to general attention ; but as in- troductory to the treatise of my friend, allow me to exhibit to your readers a few facts and con- siderations, by way of illustrating this topic and commending it to their increased regard. An intelligent population, prompt to avail themselves of any new sources of industry which may be opened, and which promise them an adequate re- muneration for their labor, will, I am confident, give due weight to whatever may be suggested. Convince enlightened agriculturists that the cul- ture of Silk will be attended with a handsome profit, and its general adoption must be ensured. The statements which have recently been laid before the public on this subject, are most gratify- ing to those who, like myself, years ago asserted the practicability of the Silk culture ; and the ar- gument which they afford is conclusive in favor of the value and importance of this branch of in- dustry. The experiments made in different parts of the United States form a new era in the business of Silk culture, and must remove every lurking doubt as to its practicability and utility, even when managed on an extensive scale. It will give a new impetus to such as are already engaged in the employment, and arrest the atten- tion of others in whom the subject has hitherto awakened comparatively but little interest. I am gratified to observe that in New England this enterprise is steadily advancing. The amount of Silk made seems to be doubling with each successive year. " Maine can grow Silk ; New Hampshire and Vermont can grow Silk. — Notes of encouragement come from the cold North and tlie warm South. The fertile West has spoken in terras full and decided. Onward we are summoned ; onward determined to move." ±xi,!>t,ui y uiiu/ \^{i{,i,ui o vj kjiit The late experiments and results connected with the " Silk Culture," assume especial impor- tance when regarded in a national point of view, and as pointing to a general and lasting benefit that must flow from the successful establishment of the Silk culture and manufacture in the Uni- ted States — tliis being " a department of indus- try that has enriched and aggrandized every na- tion by which it has been adopted." Now that the principal obstacles in the way of the successful prosecution of this business have been surmounted, will not our agriculturists gen- erally direct their attention to this branch of new and profitable industry ? The production of Silk fabrics might furnish employment to classes of our population who arc now of necessity unem- ployed, or meagrely compensated for their labor. This would secure the advantage of steadiness of employment — increase the average reward of la- bor — promote individual comfort and national wedth. I persuade myself — looking at present indications, and at the same time dwelling in my own mind on the importance of the subject — that the United States will shortly become a Silk- growing nation ; that Silk will be the prime sta- ple article, and its culture the most profitable branch of agriculture; and the time thus arrive when there will be saved to the nation the amount of money now expended in purchase of foreign Silks, and exceeding seventeen millions of dollars per annum. Like all other new enterprises, this may, how- ever, for a time encounter difficulties in forcing its way to general adoption ; but by the spread of information of the results of successful cxperi- ment, and as to the best methods and processes connected in the culture and manufacture of Silk, the enterprise will increase in favor with the intelligent and public spirited population. A view of its ultimate importance will encourage many to persevere in despite of every obstacle, and the example of their success will excite emu- lation in others, until the business of Silk culture shall assume that position among us, to which, from its importance, it is justly entitled. I will close this by simply adding a few rea- sons why I think the people of the United States, and especially the farmers, should engage in the business of silk growing : 1. Because silk ferms the heaviest item in the catalogue of our importations. 2. Because we possess the means of doing it to better advantage than any other nation. 3. Because the necessary skill is equally ac- quired, and no nation ever possessed better talents to acquire it. 4. Because the nation is under heavy embar. rassments on account of excessive importations, and no other means are so sure of success in pro. viding the necessary relief. 5. Because it can be effectually engaged in by all classes of people, requiring little or no capital. 6. Because we have more spare land than any other nation, and much well suited to the growth of the mulbeiTy, which is worn out for other pur- poses. 7. Because we are already well stocked with the mulberry trees, which will be lost to the na- tion if not used for that purpose. 8. Because a stock of silk worms may be ob- tained the first year, equal to what could be rear- ed of any other live stock in a great portion of a lifetime. 9. Because raw silk or cocoons are always sure of sale. 10. Because it is a very certain crop. 11. Because a pound of silk worth six dollars can be grown in less time than a pound of wool worth fifty cents. 12. Because it will cost no more to transport a pound of silk to market worth six dollars, than a pound of bread-stuff or pork worth six or eight cents. 13. Because the labor of growing a crop of silk requires only six or seven weeks, while that of almost any farming crop requires more than as many months. 14. Because most of the labor wil be perform- ed by women, children, or invalids — who, though willing, are unable to perform other profitable la- bor. 15. Because there are hundreds, if not thou- sands, of skilful silk-manufacturers in the coun- try who are unable to find regular employment for want of raw silk. 16. Because the growing and manufacture of silk has never failed to be a soiu'ce of wealth to any nation which embarked in it. Very respectfully, yours, ALEXANDER. "WALSH. INTRODUCTION. The growing of Silk is one of the pleasantest rural employments, if not identically the most so, of any branch of human industry ; and is also one of the most lucrative, as the produce is always sure of a market at a fair price. It is, also, a business simple in its nature, and easily understood. But, however easy it may be to ac- quire a sufficient understanding of it, yet that un- derstanding is absolutely necessary ; and without it, the best managed undertaking would probably end in loss and disappointment. Like every other business, however simple, it requires theory and practice. A perfect theoretic knowledge of the business of hatching, feeding and rearing Silkworms, may be clearly committed to writing, and may be read with perfect understanding ; but stUl a practical acquaintance will be necessary to make it famiUar, and consequently pleasant and successful. The object at which we aim in this httle trea- tise, is to present the unpractised beginner in Silk growing, such information as will lead him in safety through an experimental course. When this course is completed, the learner will have ac- 72 History and Culture of Silk. quired a familiar and interesting acquaintance with the Silk worm, and to speak figuratively, will have so far learned its language, as not only to know, but to anticipate its wants, and keep it in a vigorous and healthy state, through every period of its existence. There is, perhaps, no other living creature whose life is less precarious than the silkworm ; but still, it is an insect of deUcate organization, and its Ufe depends on cer- tain indispensable requirements. These are, an uncontammated atmosphere, a proper tempera. ture, and suitable and timely food. With these, its life is almost certain — without them, it will not live. Its prohfic nature and the shortness of its du- ration, render it more easily and speedily obtain- ed than any other animal stock. Its profits are equal if not greater than those of any other, and its products command a surer market, with less fluctuation in price, than almost any other com- modity. In addition to all these, it may be com- menced and extended with so little capital as to be within the reach of all classes. Witli all these considerations, there can be no doubt that to excite and awaken a general and persevering spirit of Silk growing, and to give proper instructions for its accomplishment, would be to point out the surest road to national wealth. The growing of the Silk will require diligent at- tention, and the reeling of it in such a manner as to insure success, will require patient persever- ence, with aU the stimulus of emulation. With- out these, it would be very unadvisable to at- tempt it. FOOD FOR THE SILKWORM. The first step in the business of Silk growing, is to provide an adequate supply of food for the Silk worms. The leaves of the mulberry tree appear to be a specific provision of nature for that purpose. There are several varieties of the mulberry, on nearly all of which the Silk wonn will readily feed and make Silk ; but the preference is now decidedly and justly given to that called morus multicaulis, or mulberry with many stalks or stems. This mulberry v^'ill grow on almost any ground, but a dry, sandy loam, is preferable. It should be made perfectly mellow, and kept entirely clear from weeds. The best mode of propagation is by cuttings, or short pieces cut from twigs or roots. About three or four inches is a suitable length ; each piece having one bud.* The time for planting, is as soon in the spring as the frost is out of the ground. They should be set in rows a sufficient distance apart for convenience of cultivation ; and about eighteen Inches apart in the row. It is of no consequence in what way they are put into the ground, provided they are covered, and not too deep. They may be thrust into the ground, either slanting or upright, or may be planted and covered in the same man- ner as a hill of corn.t The most expeditious and convenient mode of separating the cuttings, is by a pair of pruning shears. Ab the quantity of ground, and consequently * My opiuioh in this is founded ou much practice, and is corroboiated by others of eiiensiye practice ; in paiUcular, Mr. Gideon B. Smith, of Baltimore. j i have known this method to svicce^d io %n estensire planting, atlfast eqnal t« aoy ot^er. the number of trees, will depend on the extent of the business contemplated, the following items will serve as the basis of all necessary calcula- tions on the subject. An acre of ground contains forty-three thou- sand five hundred and sixty square feet. If the trees are set out in rows six feet apart, and eighteen inches in the row, each tree will occupy nine feet, and an acre will contain four thousand eight hundred and forty trees. If each tree pro- duces four pounds of leaves during the season, which they will more than do the second year, the amount will be fourteen thousand five hun- dred pounds of leaves. Forty pounds of leaves of the morus multicaulis will be an ample supply for one thousand worms ; of course, foiuteen thousand five hundred pounds of leaves will feed thirty- eight thousand three hundred worms; two thousand five hundred good cocoons will, on an average, yield a pound of silk , therefore one acre of ground muU produce one hundred and fifty- three pounds of silk. To feed a million of Silk worms will require two acres and forty-eight one-hundredth parts of an acre, which will pro- duce about four hundred pounds of Silk. These calculations are predicated on the second year's growth. Fifty per cent, may be added to the calculation for the third year, and one hundred per cent, to the fourth. But the Silk growing business, though simple and easy when understood, yet, to render it sue- cessful and consequently profitable, requires knowledge which can only be gained by experi- ence; and for want of that knowledge, many who engage in it with ardent hopes of successj, will meet with disasters, of which they know not the cause ; and, perhaps, becoming discouraged, will leave the business in disgust. It is, there- fore, advisable, however the adventurer may cal- culate to extend the business, to commence breeding and rearing the worms upon a small scale, considering the first year as merely an in- troduction, or season of experiment. By so do- ing, the whole business will, tlie second year, be- come famihar, and afford pleasure and profit. NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SILK WORM. The phalena or moth, which is the natural pa- rent of the Silk worm, is what would be called in common parlance of the country, a miller or butterfly. There are many curious and wonder- ful things in the structure of these little insects, which would be of deep interest to the naturalist, but which are of no importance to the Silk grow- er, with whom it is only necessary to distinguish the insect from any other, and to know the male from the female. The body is about an inch long, and the tips of the largest wings, when extended, about an inch and a half apart. The color is a dingy, grayish white. It has four wings of the same color as the body. In the male, the upper sur- face of the superior wings are crossed by two brown bands. The wings of the female are less strongly marked by these bands. The female is larger than the male; but experience will soon teach the distinction. They are of a clum- sy form, and incapable of flying. These moths or butterflies issue from the co- coons which are kept for seed, and after dificharg. History and Culture of Silk. 73 ing a red, excremcntitious fluid, tlie male goes immediately in search of a female, fluttering his wings very rapidly ; and having found one, cou- ples with her, still flapping his wings, and soon after they separate, the male dies. The female crawls about, and in the course of from twenty to thirty-six hours, commences laying, and hav- ing laid from two to four hundred eggs, she dies also. They never eat after leaving the cocoon. The eggs, when first laid, are of a pale, yellow color ; in a few days^ they change to a reddish gi'ey, and after that to a light slate color. Those eggs that are impregnated, still continue yellow, and are useless. These eggs may be preserved an indefinite length of time, by keeping them in a cool situation. Indeed, it is doubtful whether any of them would ever hatch at the temperature of fifty-five degrees. In the succeeding season, or whenever it is wished to hatch them, they should be placed in a temperature of sixty-four or sixty-five deg., and kept at that a few days. It should then be rais- ed to about seventy-five deg., and increased two or three degrees daily till it reaches eighty-five, or even ninety or ninety-two deg. higher. The worms, when first hatched, exhibit small black or dark brown specks, of a woolly appear- ance, scarcely visible to the naked eye. In four days they will have grown to about a quarter of an inch in length. About the fifth day it will cease eating, and lie in a torpid state, apparently asleep, for several hours. This is called moult, ing, and is repeated two or three times more, at each of which times the worms shed their skins. The intermediate spaces of time before, between, and after the moultings, are called ages. The first age generally continues about five days, the second four, the third six, the fourth seven, and the fifth ten days, varied, however, in different climates and by difibrent modes of feeding differ- ent kinds of worms, and many other circumstan- ces. At the end of the fifth age, the worms, having attained their full growth, relax in their eating, and begin to show signs of what is called rising, by raising their heads and crawling about, as if wishing to climb. Being then furnished with twigs or other means of climbing, they ascend and spin, and wind themselves up in what is called a cocoon, which is a ball of silk, about the size and shape of a robin's egg, composed of a single thread of fine silk, wound compactly, be- ginning at the outside, and ending by enclosing the worm in the centre, changed from a worm to a chrysalis of a different form — having spun a continuous thread of silk, from a quarter to half a mile in length. PREPARATIONS FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF SILK WORMS, DURING THE OPERATIONS OF HATCHING, FEEDING AND SPINNING. In large Silk growing establishments, it will be necessary to make preparations accordingly ; and there are extensive and well written works to give them instructions ; but such establishments are not calculated to produce a Silk growing country. Such calculations would require more room, and often incur gi eater expense 1 han gene- rally appertains to the domestic circle ; and it is to the united operations of that circle alone, wc are to look for such advances in the business, as will lay the foundation of that degree of national prosperity which it is calculated to produce. In domestic operations, few instructions and few pre- parations are necessary, but these instructions must be attended to, and tlie preparations made, or the business will not succeed. The writer is confident that if the directions here given are duly followed, there will be no want of reasonable success. EGGS, AND PREPARATIONS FOR HATCHING. After due preparations are made respecting the trees, or rather shrubs of the morus multicaulis, which arc to afford feed for the Silk worm, the next preparatory step is to procure a sufficient quantity of good eggs for the operations of the the first year. As the Silk worm generally lays about four hundred eggs, it will always be best to procure an ample supply ; a few spare ones, even if they are thrown away, will be of little conse- quence. As the first season ought to be devoted to obtaining that practical acquaintance with the nature and operations of the Silk worm, and the modes of treating them, which are indispensable to future success, it would not be advisable to com- mence with more than an ounce of eggs, though the food may be prepared for a much greater quantity ; as the trees will be larger and in bet- ter order, and be ready for an early commence- ment the second year. An ounce of eggs will contain about forty thousand. It will not be essential to the beginner which of the varieties of Silk worm is commenced with, provided the parent stock from which they were obtained was vigorous and healthy ; as when once properly initiated, he can use his discretion in selecting. There will always, however, be a slight preference in the general market for the Silk of the white worm, on account of its color. In many parts of Europe, especially in Italy, much system is observed and preparations requir- ed in hatching, which in this country, in most ca- ses, are wholly dispensed with. But though the spontaneous course generally pursued in this country has often been successful, yet it has sometimes failed ; while with a little correct and systematic management, success will be certain, which wDl be better than to incur hazard on ac- count of a little neglect. It is highly important for the convenience of feeding, that each crop of worms, or at least con- siderable portion of them, should be hatched as nearly as possible at the same time. They will hatch in our summer atmosphere, without any care whatever, but they will, perhaps, be several days in doing it, and their being of different ages will make great difficulty in feeding, as some will be moulting and asleep, while others will be awake and Jiungry, and they will be of different sizes. This may be prevented, because the worms will never hatch so long as they are kept below the hatching temperatiu"c ; and they will certainly hatch when the heat is increased to a certain degree. For this purpose, it will be advisable in domes- tic operations, to appropriate a small room in the dwelling, and the smaller the better. It should have at least one window, as light is conducive to the health cf the Silk worm, from the com- 74 History and Culture of Silk. mencement of the hatching to the spinning of the cocoons. All else that is necessary, preparatory to hatching, will be a small stove, a thermome- ter, a few boxes of thin pasteboard, six or eight inches square, with shallow sides, and a few sheets of coarse printing paper. PREPARATIONS FOR FEEDING. Large establishments, which have extensive cocooneries built for the purpose, are generally furnished with an expensive apparatus, consisting of frames, wicker hurdles, and many other arti- cles which are not necessary in private famiUes, especially at the commencement, as prudence dictates that such beginnings should be on a small, economical scale. The worms may be fed in one or more rooms of the dwelling, or in an open garret, or in a barn, or any other out- buildings, but the place or places must always be provided with the means of admitting the light, of screening the worms from the direct rays of the sun, of admitting fresh air, and of preventing a cold, damp wind from blowing on the worms. It would be a discouraging undertaking in most private families to procure wicker trays or hurdles — but experience has abundantly proved that common pine or other boards will answer the purpose equally well, except a little extra labor in attendance. The quantity of boards necessary to accommodate a given number of worms will vary a little, according to tlie different breeds of worms, as they differ somewhat in size, and according to the space seen fit to allow them. To give them space enough to insure the health, four hundred feet of boards for an ounce of eggs, or forty thou- sand worms, may be considered a fair allowance.* These boards, made into temporary shelves in tlieir rough state, will answer the purpose ; but it would save much labor in cleaning if they were jack-planed, and it would not injure them for any purpose afterwards. Supposing the operations of feeding are to take place in a room in the dwelling sixteen feet square; procure twelve piecesof scantling, of the smallest size, (three by two inches, if it can be obtained,) a little more than six feet long. Lay down two of these pieces, and nail across them three strips of board four or five inches wide. — Proceed in the same manner with the other ten pieces of scantling, coupling each two together. Set them up in two rows, with three in each row. Connect the three in each row, by nailing narrow strips of board along near their tops, and about half-way from the bottom to the lowest of the first mentioned cross-pieces ; but let these last be so oblique as to form braces. Then lay the boards upon the cross-pieces, forming three tiers of shelves in each row ; the bottom shelf being four feet wide, the second three feet six inches wide, the third three feet — each shelf being three inches wider on each side than the one above it ; so that if the worms drop from either of the upper * Very many and discordant opinions liave been expressed by persons eminent as Silk growers and as ivriteis on the subject; but common sense is the only authority which need be consulted. The worms want room to move and breathe freely, which they cannot do if they are crowded one upon another. Mr. D'Homergue, who is probably the best liying authority in the United States, allows one hundred worms to a square foot. This, doubtless, is as many as that space can accommodate cousisteutly with health, when at their full siie. shelves, they will fall on the one below. These slielves, set parallel in a fifteen or sixteen feet room, will leave sufficient space to go between and around them. If a stove and thermometer are used, the same used in the hatching room will answer. PREPARATIONS FOR SPINNING. When worms have attained their full growth, their next operation is to climb on something above the place of feeding, and commence spin- ning their cocoons. This is technically called mounting. For this purpose it will be necessary to have in readiness some convenient apparatus for their accommodation. In its natural, undo, mcsticated state, the worms, no doubt, attached their cocoons to the twigs of trees, (probably the same from which they had eaten the leaves,) and the more these artificial accommodations resem- ble those provided by nature, the better. The general method in Europe is to procure twigs of oak, birch, or some other suitable tree or shrub, and either stripping off the leaves, or keeping them till dry with their leaves on ; when the worms are nearly ready to mount, they are set up on the shelves or hurdles, and being a little longer than the distance between the shelves, the tops are bent over in a bracing position, and so con- nected or interwoven, as to form little arches or alcoves, called by Silk growers, cabins. In this countrj', various other plans have been adopted ; and ingenuity may doubtless suggest many more. Some have substituted branches of breameon, and others a combination of laths ; all of which have answered in some sort. But considerable depends on the fitness of these preparations. When the worms are ready for spinning, the sooner they can find an acceptable place to which they can attach, the larger and bettor will be the cocoons. The twigs, breameon, or any thing ©n which they can climb, will answer, provided they can find situations where they can attach the threads by which they fasten the cocoon in two or three places, with room for the cocoon between them. If they are cramped for room, two worms will often form their cocoons together, making what are called dupons, which are of inferior value. These preparations, with some baskets in which to collect the cocoons, are about all the preparations necessary in this part of the business. OF HATCHING AND FEEDING. Having made all the foregoing preparations, the time to commence the operation of hatching, is as soon in spring as the unfolding buds of the mulberry show satisfactory proof of forthcoming leaves, without fail. The eggs may then be put into small paper boxes, allowing a sufficient num- ber to each box. If the eggs have been sepa- rated from the papers on which they were laid, they may be spread in the box, the bottom being lined with white paper ; or if not so separated,* the paper containing the eggs may be laid in pieces suited to the size of the box. Another method is recommended, and perhaps entitled to preference, which is to lay the eggs to be hatched * lu Europe, it is the practice to separate the eggs fron the paper or cloth on which they were laid. In this country they are generally kept on the papers until they hatch. I hare not been able to discover sufficiently to decide or or against either practice. Either will answer well. f History and Culture of Silk. 75 on white paper, spread upon a clean table. It sliould here be noticed that too much care cannot be bestowed on this operation, as the future good or ill success of the crop depends mainly on the management of hatching. The temperature of the room, during the first twenty-four hours, should not be below 75* nor much above it. It should then be raised about two degrees each day till it reaches 90o, when the worms wiU probably begin to appear. It should not be raised higher than 92p. Great care should be taken to prevent any sudden changes of tem- perature. A very dry atmosphere is also injuri- ous to the hatching operation — it may be reme- died by setting a vessel (say a quart bowl) of water in the room. It has already been said that the worms fed to- gether should be hatched as nearly as possible at tlie same time. This necessity arises, not only from the inconvenience of feeding worms of different ages, together, but from their moulting, and consequent sickness at different periods, there will constantly be some well and some sick at the same time. To avoid these inconveniences, when the worms begin to hatch, lay over them some small mulberry twigs, with very tender leaves, taking care not to lay them so as to injure the young aiid tender worms. The worms, as fast as they hatch, will attach themselves to the leaves. When it appears that a sufficient number are on the twigs, take them up and put down fresh ones. Lay them as they are taken out, on a sheet of white paper, spread upon a sheet of pasteboard, for convenience of handling. Continue to do this through the day, and until nine or ten o'clock in the evening. Proceed in this manner till they are all or nearly hatched, keeping each day's hatching by themselves. As soon as they are removed from the boxes, or table, by means of the twigs, spread a few ten- der young leaves, cut very fine, around them, upon the papers, and as fast as the worms leave the twigs, to feed on the cut leaves, remove the twigs away. The pasteboards, with the papers and worms may be kept in the hatching room, till the hatching is ended, and then removed to the shelves in the feeding room. It will perhaps be found most convenient to keep them on paste, boards till after the first moulting ; the papers may then be placed on the shelves without the pasteboards. I have already advised the beginner in silk- growing, not to extend the experimental, or first year's crop biiyond an ounce of eggs. I shall now suppose that advice to have been followed, and that the ounce of eggs are now hatched, and have produced about forty thousand healthy silk- worms, which, if the foregoing directions have been strictly observed, will not fail to be the case. The business of hatching will now, of course, be changed to that of feeding. I will now, also, presume the present stock to be composed of large worms of four castes or moultings. In this stage of the business, it will be of the highest importance to the experimental silk cul- tivator to bring to mind a comprehensive view of the nature and progress of the silk worm, through aU its operations and changes during the season of feeding. The profits of the business depend on the number, size and goodness of the cocoons — these depend on the health, size and activity of the worms, and these, after the worms arc hatched, in a healthy state, depend, almost exclusively, on careful, judicious and skilful management, in feeding, in cleanliness and a proper supply of wholesome air. In rearing other animals, it is only necessary to give a regular supply of whole- some food, increasing with their growth. But it is not so with the silk worm. It has its peri, odical interruptions, during which it cuts nothing ; and at times, during the intervals, it eats vora- ciously. The table which follows will show about the quantity of leaves the worms will consume each day, which, if it answers no other purpose, will prevent the gathering of more leaves than are necessary. Each day's portion of leaves should be given at several meals, dividing so that it may last through the day and night, always ob- serving to feed them when they appear hungry, and not giving them more than they will cat up while it is fresh. A Table exhibiting the quantity of food, by weight, necessary for the Wor7ns from an ounce of eggs, also for 10,000 Worms, for each day of their lives, and for each age. POUNDS or LEATEB Total Total For 1 oz. For 1,0 for for Ages. Days. of eggs. WorOms. one oz. 10,000 eggs. 1 ,, uiiuo. LBS. OZ. LBS. oz. 1 f 1 0.14 .04 FIRST 2 3 1.06 3.00 .06 .09 7 1.10 AGE. 4 1.06 .06 L 5 r 6 .06 4.08 .02 1.02 SECOND AGE. 7 8 6.12 7.08 1.10 2.00 21 7.10 L 9 rio 2.04 6.12 3.00 1.10 11 21.08 6.00 12 13 22.08 12.08 6.00 3.00 69 18.08 14 6.08 1.10 115 ri6 0.00 23.04 0.00 6.00 17 39.00 10.00 FOURTH 18 52.08 13.00 19 59.04 14.00 210 52.04 AGE. 20 29.04 7.08 21 6.12 1.12 L22 f23 0.00 42.00 0.00 11.00 24 65.10 17.00 25 93.00 33.00 2fi 130.00 46.00 FIFTH 27 28 185.00 223.00 56.00 54.00 1281 374.00 29 214.00 75.00 30 150.00 38.00 31 120.00 39.00 -32 0.00 14.00 It is not intended by the above table to estab. lish feeding the worms by weight, though it might be quite advisable for the inexperienced culturist to do it in feeding the experimental crop ; but its principal use is to give the means of ascertaining 76 History and Culture of Silk. how the quantity of leaves attainable will be ade- quate to sustain the contemplated stock. The size and delicate organization of the silk worm are not calculated for long intervals be- tween its meals. During its eating periods, it ought to be fed at least from four to six times in twenty-four hours, and it would, no doubt, amply reward the proprietor to attend to their feed through the night, as the night is not particularly a season of rest with them, and eating seems to be their sole employment. The periods of moulting, as has already been shown in section two, v.'ill happen, with the kind of worms here spoken of, about the 5th, 9th, 15th and 23d days, varying, perhaps, a little from change of weather, and some other circumstances. To glut them with food when they refuse to eat it would be attended with waste of food, with in- jury to the worms, and with inconvenience from its litter. To withhold or neglect it when they need it would stint their growth, and perhaps cause disease. Many who have engaged in the busmess, have practiced feeding them promiscu- ously, as they would poultry. But though worms may be raised and silk made by this practice, yet it will doubtless cause the death of some worms, and retard the growth of others, and the loss of only ten worms in each thousand would cause a reduction of one per cent on the proceeds of the crop ; and a diminution in the size of the worms would cause a loss still greater ; it would be best in commencing experimentally, to pay all possible attention to instructions from those who have been most successful in the business. By following such instructions, though they may seem a little tedious, a first rate crop may be raised, with scarcely the loss of a single worm, and a familiarity acquired with the nature of the worms, which will render all seeming formality unnecessary in managing the next crop. When they approach the moultings, and de- cline eating, care should be taken not to have much food left on the shelves during the torpid state. They should not then be disturbed ; and when tkey revive, they should be fed very spar- ingly, and not moved for cleaning or any otlier purpose, until the whole, or nearly so, have awakened from torpor. As soon as they have awakened from the first moulting, they should be removed on clean pa- pers, which may be done by laying young twigs over them, while they arc hungry, and as fast as they take hold of the twigs in sufficient numbers, take them up and place them on clean papers, at the same time brushing the shelves clean, where they lay. The same plan is to be pursued at each of the succeeding moultings. During the whole term of feeding, the follow- ing things must be strictly observed : 1. There is, perhaps, no other animal tliat breathes more air in proportion to its size than the silkworm. A proportionate quantity of fresh air is therefore necessary, not only to their health but to their life ; and in the same proportion is the atmosphere of the enclosure in which they are placed, rendered mephitic and unwholesome by their breathing. Their excrements, and the refuse of their food, by fermentation, have a farther tendency to vitiate the air and render it unwholesome. These circumstances render it es- sential to the life and health of the wonus to maintain a degree of cleanliness and constant supply of wholesome, fresh air. 2. They cannot be maintained in health when crowded into too small a space. When at their full size, there should not be more than one hun- dred to a square foot ; in all cases they should have room to move, and exercise freely, without impeding or greatly annoying one another. 3. A good degree of light is essential to their health, but they will be injured by tlie direct rays of the sun. 4. When they exhibit an appetite, they should never be exposed to long intervals of hunger, by day or night. 5. The worms should never be fed with wet leaves, as it will almost certainly produce sick- ness and death. To avoid this, always gather enough over night for one or two feeds in the morning. If then it should rain in the morning, the wet leaves can be gathered, and by first shaking them — spreading tliem on a clean floor, in a warm room, and turning them till they are dry. When there are signs of a speedy rain, gather a supply for two or three days. Spread them a little to prevent fermentation ; if they wilt a little it will do no harm, but they must not be dried hard. 6. During the three ages the leaves, (except those on twigs and branches, used for moving the worms,) must be chopped ; at first quite fine, but coarser, as the worms increase in size. 7. The young worms must be fed with tender young leaves, increasing in the age of the leaves with the age of the worms. By a strict adherence to the above rules and the foregoing observations, the result will be, the loss of scarcely a single worm ; a crop of larger and healthier worms, and larger and better co- coons, than will ever be obtained by the labor of a person inexperienced. After tlie first crop, the course wOl become famihar, the weighing of leaves may be dispensed with, if it has been adopted, and all farther nursery improvements will be suggested by experience. RISING OF THE WORMS AND FORMING THE COCOONS. We suppose the worms have now attained their full growth and are ready to commence their last labor, that of producing their cocoons. But the care of the attendant is not yet at an end. The insect now commences the most active and busy period of its life, which is to spin from the substance contained in its own body, a thread two or three thousand feet long. Before this can be done it must discharge from its body every particle of excrementltlous mattcr,lcavlng nothing but the pure substance which composes the silk, and that of which its body is absolutely composed. During this delicate operation, though it requires no food, care is necessary to keep the air as nearly as possible at an even temperature. The slightest chilly breeze blowing upon them while spinning, checks tlieir operation and injures the cocoon. About the thirty-second day from hatching, the worms begin to decHne eating, and crawl about, with their heads raised, as if they were wishing to emigrate to a " better country." Their color has assumed a yellow cast, and Htslory and Culture oj ^ilk. 77 their bodies show a kind of transparency, much like a ripe plum. It is then time to prepare for their rising. If the directions given in section three have been followed, the first step in the present opera- tion will be to set up the twigs or branches for the worms to climb on. In doing which the in- genuity of the operator will be the best guide. The bottoms of the branches may set upon a shelf and the tops bent a little under the shelf above, (except on the upper shelf) and so inter- woven as to form little alcoves or arches. Care should be taken to have the parts of the twigs or other matter they climb on, a little slanting, as the worms will climb easier, and they will be less liable, in discharging, as they sometimes do, in climbing, to injure those below them. This pre- paration should furnish places enough to accom- modate every worm, as for want of such accom- modations, some cocoons would be injuried and others lost. Care must now be taken to give the worms all necessary and possible assistance in their opera- tion ; and if any appear unable or not disposed to rise, put them in a warmer place and feed them if necessary. This spinning will generally be completed in four or five days. But the gathering the cocoons may as well be deferred until seven or eight days from the commencement of spinning. The manual operation of gathering needs no description ; but the sorting of the cocoons at the same time is very essential. For this purpose, it will be necessary to have four baskets. In vne, place the cocoons that are selected for breeding, handling them very gently. In another put all the double ones. In the third, put all that are hard and apparently fit for reeling. In the fourth put all that are loose, spotted, or have any essential blemish. In selecting for breeding, take those which were the first to commence spinning. Among them, select those that are hardest, particularly at the ends, and which are a little depressed in the middle. If you have white ones, give them the preference, if they are equal in other respects. One pound of cocoons will produce about an ounce of eggs. It would also be well to pay a little attention to having an equal number of males and females. The male cocoons are gene- rally rather smaller than the females, and are sharper at one or both ends, and are more de- pressed in the middle. As soon as they are taken down, the cocoons for eggs should be stripped of their floes, which would otherwise interrupt the moth of coming out. As the chrvsahs inclosed within the co- coons will perforate them and come out in a few days, as shown in section one, those cocoons intended for reeling, unless they are reeled before their coming out, must be submitted to some operation to destroy the Ufe of the chrysalides, in order that they may be kept till a convenient season for reeUng. This operation is technically called stijling. MANAGEMENT DURING THB BREEDING OPERATIONS. As success in Silk growing depends much on obtaining and preserving, by good management, an improved breed of silk worms, particular at- tention is du« to this part of the business, for it is on the selection of the best cocoons for breeding and on the proper management of them, through all their operations, until the eggs are laid, that improvement mainly depends. When the moths fur breeding are carefully selected, having, as nearly as can be ascertained, an equal number of males and females, or rather, perhaps, a few extra males, let them be in a dry, warm place, about common summer heat. The males and females should be in separate places, because when they leave the cocoon, their bodies contain a humid, reddish substance, which ought to be discharged previous to their coupling. When the moths, or millers, are about leaving the cocoons, the room should be darkened, leaving only light enough to distinguish the different ob. jects, and should be continued so till the females have finished laying their eggs. As soon as the moths come out, and have made their necessary discharge, but not till then, they should be taken carefully by the wings and put together in pairs, a male and female, in doing which, it would be well to select the most active and couple them together, for the sake of future improvement, and for the same reasons, the de- fective ones should be rejected and thrown away. When the pairs have remained together five or six hours at farthest, they should be carefully separated, taking them by their wings, as it weakens the female to let them remain longer to- gether. If there are more females than males, some of the most active may be taken after they are separated and put to those females that have no mate. When the eggs are laid, nothing farther remains to be done but to preserve them for a succeeding crop. Care will be necessary to preserve them from being eaten by mice, cock- roaches, or other enemies. There will be three qualities of eggs, which, for the sake of obtaining an improved breed, might be kept separate. 1, those of females with males from their first coupling, 2, those of females with males which had coupled with other females, 3, those of weak females which continue to drop their eggs longer than the usual time. The place for preserving the eggs should be perfectly dry. The temperature may be any de- gree between freezing and 55°. OF STIFLING OR KILLING THE ClIRTSALIS. There are three modes in common practice, of killing the chrysalis in the cocoons intended for reeling, either of which may be used as circum- stances may render it convenient. The most ancient and most common, is putting them in an oven, after the bread is withdrawn. The cocoons, in this case, should be put into flat baskets, lined loosely with coarse paper, and remain in the oven about an hour. They should not be suffered, through carelessness, to touch the oven. If the oven is too hot, it will injure the silk ; if too cool, it will not kill the chrysa- lii. It must not be so hot as to scorch a white paper. When taken out of the oven, they will be very moist. They should then be wrapped immediately in blankets, and when entirely cool, spreail them to dry. Another mode now gaining practice, though more tedious, is safer, as not liable to injure the silk. This is, to spread thera on sheets, exposed History and Culture of Silk. to the sun three or four days, for three or four hours each day. They must be spread very thin, that the heat may have effect, and carefully wrapped up when taken in and kept in a warm place. The third mode, that of killing them by steam, is preferable to either of the others, where it can be conveniently put in practice. It consists sim- ply in exposing them a few minutes to the action of steam, without their coming in contact with the water. In this case, they should be wrapped in blankets and afterwards dried as in the first case. There is still another mode, which has not yet been applied bej'ond the limits of experiment, which will probably at some day not very dis- tant, supercede all others ; but which, though perfectly simple, requires the aid of a little che- mical knowledge to guide it into practical use. — This mode consists in placing the cocoons a suf- ficient length of time in a box or other tight en- closure, filled viatb carbonic acid gas. This, to any person with a smattering of chemistry, will need no instructions, and those who have not that knowledse, will do best to wait till they see the operation. OF REELING. This is the most important part of all the ope- rations connected with the silkgrowing business, for it is that which stamps the ultimate value of the article ; but unfortunately, it is not like the preceding operations, a knowledge of which may be easily acquired, with very little experience. It requires quick apprehension, a keen sight and manual dexterity, matured by experience, before any thing can be eflected to advantage in silk reeling. In ttie silk business, as it has been conducted in the United States for seventy or eighty years, the sole object aimed at, and 1 might add, the only one supposed practicable in this country, was the manufacture of sewing-silk. As the operations in this were, until quite lately, con- fined almost exclusively to the State of Connec- ticut, those operations were considered a kind of pattern, which more recent adventurers in the business have implicitly followed, and sewing- silk was, of course, the ne plus ultra of their am- bition. But the sewing silk alone, even if we could wholly supercede its importation, could ne- ver become an important source of wealth to the United States. Less than $1,000,000 worth of sewing-silk annually, would supply the United States, and not a pound of it could be sold in Europe, while we might sell more than $50,000,000 worth of raw silk to England and France, which they would gladly receive of us, if it were reeled in a workmanlike manner ; and yet not a pound of our raw silk could be sold in those countries, as it is reeled at present. How important it is then, that we should acquire a correct and thorough knowledge of the art of reeling. Beibrc the commencement of reeling there are several things with which the inexperienced silk grower should be made acquainted. 1. The value of raw silk depends so entirely upon the reeling, that some silks reeled in Eu- rope can be readily sold at ten to twenty dollars per pound, when the highest price for that of good common reeling, is six or seven dollars, and the the more ordinary reeling is only three or four dollars ; and the best of these silks is, in its na- tive state, no way superior to the American silk, il equal to it. 2. Eight pounds of good American cocoons, with skilful reeling, will yield a pound of silks, while an unskiKul reeler will not obtain half that quantity. 3. The value of raw silk intended for the loom depends on its consisting of an even thread, and this depends on two distinct circumstances, first, that an even number of cocoons is kept running, and second that a full number of fresh cocoons are not started together, for the first running of a cocoon delivers a fibre which diminishes gra- dually in size to the last end, so that if a thread should be begun with six or eight cocoons,which should be all nearly of a length, the last end of the thread would hardly be as large as one fibre at the beginning. It is, therefore, of the highest importance to add fresh cocoons in such a man- ner as to correct, as far as possible, this natural inequality. 4. Another cause of imperfection in raw silk is, that the silk from the soft and loose cocoons is much less firm and unelastic than that of those that are hard and compact ; and if both quaUties are reeled together, the fibres are subject to dif- ferent degrees of extension in the operation of twisting or throwing, and have therefore less strength, and the thread, by the separation of the fibres, becomes loose and uneven. This is reme- died by a due assortment of cocoons and reeling each kind by itself. It is hardly necessary to state here that before commencing the operation of reeling, a reel must be obtained ; but it may be proper to observe, that if the reeling is intended to produce raw silk for the market, which is the only course which pro- mises a profitable result to the silk-grower, except selling the cocoons, the reel made use of should possess certain qualifications. The thread after leaving the cocoons sliould pass a distance of at least five or six feet, before it winds on the reel, in order to partially dry it, and render tbe turns less liable to adhere together from the gumminess of the silk 'n its moist state. It must be so con- structed as to spread the threads upon the reel, so that they may not lie one upon another in their wet state, which would greatly injure the silk. — It should be calculated to reel two threads at once, for it is indispensably essential, as will presently be shown, that two skeins, and neither more or less be reeled together. Having provided an approved reel and the co- coons duly assorted, we will now proceed to give such instructions as we fondly hope will safely conduct the ingenious, patient and persevering adventurer to a pleasing and profitable result. A situation must be chosen which has a clear and unobstructed light. In a common cooking furnace, kindle a fire of charcoal of hard wood, as it is important to con- tinue a steady, or at least a controllable heat dur- ing the operation. On this furnace place a large and pretty deep tin or copper basin, nearly full of very clean, and what is commonly called soft water. When the water is heated nearly, but History arid Culture of tulk. 7y not quite to boiling, and all things are ready to commence the operation, and having decided what number of cocoons to begin with, throw into the water a number, perhaps twice or three times the number which is to compose the two threads.* With a flat brush of broom corn, such as are used to brush clothes, press the cocoons down in the water, gently stirring and passing the ends of the brush over and among them. As soon as the gum contained in the cocoons is suffi- ciently softened by the heat of the water, the ends will separate and begin to show themselves, and must be collected by the brush and laid over the edge of the basin. When a sufficient number of ends are collected to compose the two threads, they are passed through the front guide-wires, and after being wound several times round each other, are again separated and passed through the two guide, wires in tlie traverse bar, and thence to the reel, and fastened to one of the arms. The reel is then turned slowly and gently until it is perceived that the cocoons begun with are all in motion. — Then gradually increase to a lively speed. If the water is sufficiently hot, and the cocoons are properly softened, the motion may be nearly as rapid as is convenient for the hand to turn. By turning too slowly, some of the fibres which would run ofi «gO Adams, Jackso.x, George Clinton, D. D. Tompkins, Dk Wjtt Clinton', Wm. L. 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