STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 219 



very slight modifications, through the centuries and various languages, 

 viz: In China, Si or Se; Mongol, Sirke; Mantchor, Sirche ; Russian, 

 Chek; French, Sole; Spanish, Seda ; Italian, Seta; German, Siden. 



So important and honored was this branch of industry and wealth, 

 that the Emperor encouraged the rearing of mulberry trees and planta- 

 tions, by rich rewards, honors, promotions, and protected them by 

 stringent decrees, and severely punished their destruction. Other coun- 

 tries and rulers have shown similar interest, by public and pecuniary ' 

 encouragement, and we are pleased to note here the laudable acts of 

 your own State for the encouragement of silk culture in California as 

 among the wisest and most far-seeing of your State Government. While 

 they may take from your State treasury a few thousands of dollars now, 

 they will add, in a very few years, to the general wealth of the State 

 millions, and more than return, in taxes, to the treasury, the sums now 

 drawn from it, and materially add population, wealth and industry, 

 which is wealth. Formerly the exportation of eggs, trees and worms 

 was forbidden, under penalty of death, by China and Japan, designing 

 to monopolize the business. 



In the time of Alexander the Great, silk was worth its weight in gold, 

 and was woven so thin that the women of Greece were Bcarcely covered 

 by its delicate tissues. Julius Caesar introduced it into Rome, replacing 

 the coarse cloths and coverings of those immense amphitheaters with 

 the silks of the Orient. 



The first silkworm eggs were introduced into Constantinople, or to 

 the west from China, by two monks, in" hollow canes, induced by rich 

 gifts by the Emperor Justinian, 552 A. D. The Moors imported them 

 from Greece, Italy and Cordovia, early taking up this industry ; thence 

 it spread over Europe to America and California. 



The history of silk in this country is quite interesting, and may be 

 found, in fragments, in our agricultural reports ; in the report of silk 

 and silk manufactures at the Paris Exposition, eighteen hundred and 

 sixty-seven, by E. C. Cowdin ; report of I. JST. Hoag, late Secretary of 

 your State Society ; by Wilson Flint, and by Louis Prevost, the pioneer 

 in the silk business in California, now gone from labor to refreshment 

 and reward, and to whose name, faith, enterprise and perseverance we 

 stop to pay a merited tribute of respect and honor, while it is to be 

 hoped the people or State will remember those left behind him in a 

 material and substantial manner, as an evidence of their appreciation of 

 his labors, worth and sacrifices. 



The early colonists raised the mulberry, encouraged by King James I. 

 The coronation robe of Charles II. was made of bilk raised in Virginia; 

 while yonder hangs the silk, raised in California, for a silken flag, manu- 

 factured in 3-0111* own State, for your own Capitol, to be soon unfurled 

 from its lofty dome to kiss the breezes of this delightful clime. 



In seventeen hundred and eighteen, silk was introduced into Louisiana. 

 Private gifts co-operated with Acts of Parliament and land grants to 

 plant mulberry trees and raise silkworms, which stimulated and encour- 

 aged the enterprise. 



In seventeen hundred and fifty-five, a beautiful silk robe was made 

 from Georgia silk, worn by Queen Caroline on State occasions, and the 

 time is not far distant when the queens of America will be robed in the 

 silks of California. 



In seventeen hundred and forty, cocoons were exported commanding 

 high prices. A large silk establishment was erected at Savannah, consum- 

 ing from ten thousand to twenty thousand pounds of cocoons annually. 



