88 NATURAL HISTORY-. [CH. V 



worm, were used in France. Heni'y the Second 

 issued an edict in 1554, commanding large planta- 

 tions to be made in France ; and he is reported to 

 have been the first French king who wore silk stock- 

 ings ; while in 1668, the women's hats were turned 

 into hoods made of French silk, whereby every 

 maidservant became a standing revenue to the 

 French king of one half of her wages. A simple 

 gardener of Nismes established a nursery of mulber- 

 ries under the reign of Charles the Ninth, which in 

 a few years supplied the plains of Languedoc, Pro- 

 vence, and Dauphine with the finest plants. Henry 

 the Fourth, contrary to the advice of Sully, encour- 

 aged the native production of silk ; he issued an 

 edict in 1599, prohibiting the importation of stuffs 

 of that material ; and by letters patent invited, as 

 much as possible, the further plantation of the mul- 

 berry-tree. He ordered Olivier de Serres to bring 

 the tree to Paris, and twenty thousand were trans- 

 ported to that city, where the king had built a large 

 house near the Tuileries for the cultivation of the 

 silkworm. 



This branch of commerce w^as neglected in France 

 under Louis Xni.,but in the following reign, under 

 the auspices of the sage Colbert, it once again re- 

 vived. He established royal nurseries in Berri, An- 

 goumois, Orleannois, Poitou, Burgundy, and Franche 

 Comte, and distributed and planted the tree gratui- 

 tously. Nevertheless, as these beneficial measures 

 were forced upon the people, it happened that, in- 

 stead of thriving, the young plants were found to 

 perish rapidly. The government then promised to 

 pay twenty-four sous for every mulberry-tree which 

 should have been planted three years. This ju- 

 dicious measure at once succeeded, and the above- 

 named provinces soon became covered with this 

 precious wood. Not content with this first step, 

 Colbert invited Le Sieur Benais, from Bologna, to 

 superintend the unravelhng of the cocoons; and 



