1352 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 
workmen from Italy to settle in France. The manufactures, thus established, 
were, however, at first entirely supplied with their raw silk from Piedmont and 
Sicily. In 1494, several of the great landed proprietors who had followed 
Charles VIII. in his Italian wars, brought with them, on their return from 
Naples and Sicily, some plants of the white mulberry, which they planted in 
Provence, in the vicinity of Montelimart. In 1520, Francis I., having taken 
possession of Milan, prevailed on some artisans of the city to establish them- 
selves at Lyons; and, to encourage them to remain there, he granted them 
especial privileges and immunities. Henry II. and Charles [X. appear to 
have been the next sovereigns who endeavoured to promote the culture of the 
mulberry and the silkworm in France; and in the reign of the latter monarch, 
in 1564, Francois Traucat, a gardener of Nismes, formed a large nursery, 
expressly for raising white mulberry plants, from which he supplied all the 
south of France. Henry IV. was no sooner established on the throne, than he 
exerted himself to promote the culture of the silkworm throughout his domi- 
nions; and by his desire, Olivier de Serres, seigneur de Pradei, in 1601, formed 
a plantation of white mulberry trees in the garden of the Tuileries, where 
a large building for the silkworms was erected. (Ann, d’ Hort., vol. xviii. 
p- 130.) In 1603, an edict was passed for encouraging the planting of mulberry 
trees throughout France; promising to reward such manufacturers as had 
supported and pursued the trade for twelve years with patents of nobility. (See 
M‘Culloch’s Dict. of Commerce, p. 1029.) Under Louis XIII. the silk manu- 
factures of France were neglected; but they were again brought under the 
attention of the government in the reign of Louis XI V.; whose minister, Col- 
bert, seeing the advantages that might be drawn from the culture of mulberry 
trees, resolved to enforce it by every means in his power. He reestablished 
the royal nurseries; gave plants to all who desired them; and even planted 
by force the lands of those proprietors who were not willing to cultivate the 
trees voluntarily. This arbitrary measure disgusted the proprietors, and the 
mulberry plantations were soon suffered to decay. Colbert now tried more 
gentle measures ; and he offered a premium of 24 sous for every mulberry 
that had stood ina plantation three years. This plan succeeded; and, in 
the course of a few years, mulberry plantations were general throughout 
France. (See Nouv. Cours d’ Agricult., art. Mirier.) At present the silk manu- 
factures of France constitute a very important part of her commerce; and 
some idea may be formed of the silk goods annually sent to England from that 
country, from the fact, that the quantity on which duty was paid, from 1688 to 
1741, averaged 500,000/. a year. (J4‘Culloch.) It is, however, remarkable, that, 
notwithstanding the great quantity of silk now raised in France, the manufac- 
turers of that country still import to the annual value of 30,000 francs of raw 
silk from Piedmont and Italy. The culture of silk was first introduced into 
Germany by Frederick II., who had mulberry trees planted extensively in dif- 
ferent parts of his dominions ; and the example was soon afterwards followed 
in Saxony, Austria, and in some of the smaller states. In Bavaria, the silk 
culture was commenced under the auspices of government, and of the Munich 
Agricultural Society, about 1820, at the recommendation of a highly patriotic 
individual, M. Hazzi. A great many mulberry plants have since been raised 
in the government nurseries, and distributed throughout the provinces (see 
Gard. Mag., vol. v. p. 424); but, on the whole, neither in this part of Ger- 
many, nor in any other, have the silk manufactories ever been considerable. 
In many of the southern states, pollarded mulberry trees may be seen border- 
ing the highways; and in some of the cities silk goods are made from 
German silk ; but the only establishments of this kind worth mentioning are 
at Vienna, at Roveredo in the Tyrol, at Creveldt, at Cologne, and at Berlin. 
The culture of silk has been introduced into Belgium (Ann. d’ Hort, de Paris, 
vi. p. 368.), with every prospect of success ; and the tree has also been planted 
in the southern states of Denmark. In Sweden, an attempt has been made 
to introduce silk culture in the southern provinces ; but, as far as we have 
been able to learn, with very littie success. In Russia, silk culture has been 
