480 [Senate 



the second day, a number of them turned a rich amber color. They 

 were set aside, and made good cocoons, two weeks before their regu- 

 lar time. I selected a few dozens of them, which came out and laid 

 their eggs. We have thus gone through the whole process this sea- 

 son J planting the trees, hatching, feeding, winding and laying the 

 eggs. Many have called to see us, some coming 20 miles. The re- 

 mark was sometimes made, that nothing could be made out of it, that 

 it would cost as much as they were worth to get them to market, &c. 

 About a dozen farmers have decided to go into the business them- 

 selves. They became convinced that more could be made from a few 

 acres devoted to this business, than many would produce in the. ordi- 

 nary branches of their farming. 



Let not the idea be held out that it is unprofitable, even on a small 

 scale. That is, that a reasonable return will not be realized in propor- 

 tion to the capital invested. I believe the hills of Otsego exactly 

 fitted for it. There is no finer air or sky in the world. 



President. We have a native of Genoa among us, a native of Italy, 

 long a respected resident of this city. He is connected with an as- 

 sociation formed for carrying on the culture and manufacture of silk, 

 with a farm on Long Island, where they propose to import artizans from 

 Italy, well skilled in the art, as it is practiced in his native land. Mr. 

 Rappallo, will you oblige the convention, by giving some information 

 concerning your plan and operations, and the subject generally 7 



Mr. Rappallo. Yes, gentlemen ; we have a farm of 53 acres, and 

 50,000 mulberry trees, 18 miles from this city. 



We could have cultivated the Multicaulus, but have the Morettis 

 which will stand the climate. We do not want Italians for them, 

 as we know how to cultivate them properly. They will merely re- 

 quire to be kept free from weeds. We have a Frenchman who does 

 that • we have 53 acres of Morettis, which will not only stand the cli- 

 mate, but yield 33 per cent more foliage than other kinds of white or 

 Italian mulberry, or any other ; and better quality, that is to say, 

 when worms are fed with them, they give a quality of silk far supe- 

 rior to any other mulberry. 



There is another thing which I wish every man to pay attention to. 

 I have heard from different parts of this country, that after they had 

 large crops of worms they all died. It is true, they may have died 

 for want of ventilation ; I suspect they may have died from not 

 having better food than the multicaulis. This is what I have been 

 told by French manufacturers. They tell me the Moretti is far better 

 for the worm and silk. Now we have trees which are four years old ; 

 they have been four years in this country j and they will be fit to do 

 something next summer. 



In 1831, I wrote Mr. Ambrose Spencer, and proposed to import a 

 person from Italy, and go to the farmers' houses, and raise the worms 

 as they do in Italy, and also to reel the silk. Mr. Spencer, then 

 chairman of the Committee on Silk, was very desirous to have it done. 

 I now recommend that they be imported, as they know the process 

 practically. We should not experiment about this thing. I wish 

 you might see the process by an experienced hand, and improve it if 



