i] 
4 
sf ‘ - P , i ‘ f 
20 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 
~ 
the processes of reeling, that the operatives in Washington can do 
twice as much work in a given time as the same number employed — 
in the south of France. 
This admission is fully corroborated by other evidence in my pos- 
session. An agent of the Department has examined into this mat- 
ter this summer, and found in a large Italian establishment which 
he visited that there were employed a great number of very small 
girls, who received but about ten cents per diem, But it is gener- 
ally conceded that the expense of watching and superintending these 
children more than counterbalanced the low price of their labor, 
even if the damage done through their lack of experience were not 
considered. He reports to me that, after full examination, it is his 
firm conviction that the superior intelligence of our American girls 
and their superior manner of living will overcome, in silk reeling,- 
as readily as any of the other trades, the difference in the cost of 
labor between Europe and America. 
At the same time it is too early yet to place entire reliance on this 
superior American intelligence; and these remarks would not ac- 
complish their end if they were construed to mean that our superi- 
ority in this quality should outweigh the centuries of experience 
possessed by the French and Italians. To gain a like experience has 
been the chief aim of my assistants, with a view to making us ulti- 
mately independent of foreign experts. 
One difficulty encountered has been the inferior quality of the 
cocoons purchased, many of which, though originally of excellent: 
quality, have been ruined by improper stifling, or allowed to mold 
through negligence. That this difficulty is abating is shown by the | 
superior results obtained from the crop of cocoons produced this 
year over those produced in 1886. It must not, however, be inferred 
that much does not remain to be done in this direction, for much 
may be gained by the establishment of purchasing stations which 
shall be feeders to the Washington filature, and where cocoons may 
be purchased when fresh and stifled and dried in large quantities 
and by improved methods. In fact, much surprise has been ex- 
pressed by the French reelers at the results which we have obtained 
by the reeling of mixtures of many small lots stifled by many differ- 
ent processes. 
There were purchased, of the crop of 1886, 1,513 pounds of cocoons, 
of an average value of 953 cents per pound. Of these, 1,062 pana 
were reeled and produced 260 pounds of silk, worth $4.75 per pound, 
while the remainder has been sold as waste at 50 cents per pound. 
From these figures it may easily be deduced that the experiments 
are not by any means paying expenses, but that is a result which can 
hardly be hoped for with a plant so small as that employed here, 
We hope, however, to gain, in another year’s experience, indications 
of what could be done if working under factory conditions, 
