No. 105.] 525 



Union. The culture of silk can doubtless be made a most valuable 

 substitute for cotton. It is impossible to calculate the value of this 

 branch of industry to the United States, when it once becomes perma- 

 nently established. Teach any number of negroes to feed the silk 

 worm and gather the cocoons, and they will produce results far ex- 

 ceeding any present pursuit. Here is one of our Vice Presidents from 

 Vermont, clothed in silk of his own make ! It is made in Maine ; cer- 

 tainly in Connecticut ; and if in the extreme North, where we are 

 obliged to limit our operations to three and at most four months it can 

 be done with profit, what may not done at the south, where six, eight, 

 and ten months may be devoted to it I 



A miscellaneous conversation here followed, on the comparative 

 quality of wool grown at the north and south, in which Mr. Afflick, of 

 Mississippi, Col. Clark, and others participated, some contending that 

 the wool became coarser grown at the south, and others maintaining 

 the opposite opinion. 



Dr. Wait, of Delaware, then took the floor, and said that he was 

 probably the only person in that State, engaged in the silk culture. 

 He commenced in 1838, the year of the " mulberry excitement," and 

 had been engaged in it ever since, believing that from $50 to $60 

 clear profit can be realized from every acre devoted to the business. 

 He had worked to great disadvantage, being obliged to pull down one 

 year what he had erected the year previous ; but since the introduc- 

 tion of Gill's cradle, he had diminished the labor of feeding from eight 

 or ten to that of two persons. 



He had this year been unfortunate in trusting to the worms to spin 

 in the bush ; it occasioned a loss of one half his worms. There must 

 be attached to the cradle some apparatus for the worms to spin in. He 

 had adopted a plan to accomplish this end, and now considered the 

 system of cradle feeding almost perfect. 



Formerly he had reeled his own cocoons, but owing to the death of 

 his reeler, he this year brought them to the filature of Mr. Van Epps, 

 of this city. 



Mr. Afflick, of Mississippi took the floor. 



He had come to the north for the purpose of purchasing sheep, and 

 had just returned from examining those exhibited at the fair of the N. 

 Y. State Agricultural Society at Utica. The sheep they have in Mis- 

 sissippi and Louisiana were generally poor, and the wool filled with 

 burrs. They had, however, some there as fine as can be found in any 

 part of the country. Their pasture continues throughout the year. 



Silk had been grown to some extent, and with great success. No- 

 thing is needed but the most simple shelter, to protect from rain and 

 birds. He saw no reason why it could not be prosecuted from March 

 to December ; and there was no obstacle to prevent Mississippi, Ten- 

 nessee, Louisiana, Georgia, and South Carolina from entering into it 

 with great success, and to any desired extent. 



Dr. Phillips has taken the lead near Natchez, and has been follow- 

 ed by several of his neighbors. 



