494 [Senate 



ignorant, they generally make wild work of it, and that is precisely 

 what I should have done in the silk business if there had been any 

 difficulty attending it. We can buy land in Georgia good enough to 

 raise fine mulberry trees for almost nothing, and the mulberry grows 

 from early in March to late in October, or early in November ; and by 

 adopting branch feeding, (which I think is best,) and availing our- 

 selves of all the other advantages which we possess, there is no know- 

 ing to what extent the business can be carried on in Georgia, or the 

 good that would result from it. It seems to me that if the silk cul- 

 ture was once planted among us, it would give employment and bread 

 to every poor family in the country. 



- Last spring I hatched my silk-worm eggs, and twenty-seven days 

 after they commenced spinning, although they did not get all the at- 

 tention they needed. My shelves were four by five feet, and off of 

 each we got as much as three pecks of cocoons. Both last year and 

 this, when my worms were spinning, the weather was extremely dry 

 and hot, and every day, in the heat of the day, I sprinkled the worms 

 and floors freely with cold water, and feel confident it had a good ef- 

 fect. This year I used charcoal instead of lime, and think it prefera- 

 ble. I use it in the same way, but in greater quantities. Since I 

 have been endeavoring to bring the silk culture into notice in this 

 neighborhood, I have suffered greatly for want of information on the 

 subject. I know pretty well how to treat the silk- worm, (for they 

 get along here under almost any treatment,) but we think it is our in- 

 terest and that of the cause, that we carry matters farther than this ; 

 but we lack suitable machinery to enable us to do so. 



Rev. Isaac YaihT ass-el, Perrysburgh Plain, Woodco., Ohio. — Has 

 been engaged in the silk business eight years ; three acres of land em- 

 ployed ; one thousand trees ; $100 invested. Amount of cocoons 

 raised prior to 1844,200 lbs; amount in 1844,50 lbs. Being unac- 

 quainted with the business, have been mostly engaged experimenting 

 with worms and fixtures. Has made two or three reels; one similar 

 to the Piedmontese, superior he thinks ; the other on entirely a new 

 plan. It is turned by two treadles, or a double crank, by the reeler. 

 The cocoons are in a copper basin, two feet long, with a division in 

 the middle. 



The water is heated by a furnace at one end, fourteen inches in 

 length, and six in diameter. The water surrounds the fire and passes 

 back and forth, from the basin to the furnace and heats in a very few 

 minutes. The thread passes through a small throwster which gives 

 a twist suflficiently to take in the added fibres with facility ; and then 

 passes through a traversing bar which spreads it on the reel in a wide 

 skein. The thread is perfectly round, and as smooth as a polished 

 brass wire. I trust government will do something for our encourage- 

 ment. 



D. Stebbins, JVorthampton, Massachusetts. — In answer to your 

 several questions propounded in your address, issued July 1st, 1844, 

 I reply 1st, that my first attention to the silk business, commenced 

 some ten or twelve years since. Second, I have now about ten acres 

 of land apppropriated to mulberries, and am cultivating to enlarge 

 operations, or to accommodate those who are destitute. I have jus^ 



