238 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 
mento, from the feeding of one acre, is estimated at $1,261, after deduct- 
ing $175 for expense of feeding. 
Mr. Hoag asserts that by cultivating the trees as dwarfs, planted near 
together, twice as much foliage per acre can be grown at each crop as 
can be obtained by the orchard system of large trees, which is necessary 
in the more moist climates of Southern Europe; and, as in California 
two crops of leaves can be gathered yearly without injury to the trees, 
the yield of leaves there would be to that of Europe as four to one, 
amounting to about 64,000 pounds per acre yearly, sufficient for the 
production of 640 pounds of reeled silk, at the usual rate of one pound 
of reeled silk from 100 pounds of leaves. Reeled silk, even of poor qual- 
ity, is worth $7 per pound throughout the world, while exhibits of the 
San Francisco market in 1869 show prices of California reeled silk from 
trivoltine Japanese worms reaching $9 per pound, and from the annual 
varieties, $12 to $15 per pound. Taking $7 per pound as the average 
value, the annual product of reeled silk from one acre of leafage would 
be $4,480. The expense account is stated as follows: Rent of land and 
cocoonery, $50; cost of cultivation of land, and feeding worms, $800; 
hire of Chinese or of white girls or boys, in reeling silk, 1.280 days’ work, 
putting the price of a day’s work at $1 for one-half pound of reeled silk, 
$1,280; total expense, $2,130; leaving a net profit of $2,350. 
Mr. Hoag advises farmers in California to prosecute silk culture in 
conjunction with the usual branches of agriculture, except in the coast 
counties, where the climate in summer and autumn is damp and foggy, 
and asserts that mulberry trees are more readily and cheaply grown 
than fruit trees, and that any person can in an hour’s time be taught in 
the cocoonery how to manage and feed the worms, and save and cure 
the cocoons for market; and that, with four days of instruction and three 
weeks of practice, 2 woman or girl can become expert in the art of reel- | 
ing silk. 
The foreign silk-worm which feeds upon the ailanthus, introduced into 
the United States years ago, is found in abundance in different parts 
of the country, yet little has been accomplished in utilizing its cocoons. 
A more particular statement of its distribution and comparative value, 
and of the introduction of the oak-feeding worm, may be found in the 
report of the Entomologist in this volume. 
SILK MANUFACTURE. 
In the Northern States silk is manufactured into dress goods, ribbons, 
velvets, and trimmings, the amount, according to statements in com- 
mercial papers, being variously estimated at $10,000,000 to $20,000,000 
worth annually. We have found it difficult to obtain reliable informa- 
tion, and cannot vouch for the absolute correctness of the following 
affirmations and figures, but present for what they are worth statements 
apparently reliable. Boston reports fifty silk factories, mainly engaged 
in the manufacture of velvets; New York City, fifty; and the business 
is carried on extensively in Schenectady, Troy, Yonkers, and at Oneida, 
by the Oneida Community, who commenced late in 1866, manufacturing 
nearly $25,000 worth in 1867, and now employ 130 female operatives in 
their silk factories. A considerable business is done at Mansfield, Hat- - 
field, and Manchester, in Connecticut. A company in Manchester is 
said to fabricate yearly 60,000 pounds of ‘thrown silk,” 60,000 pounds 
of “patent spun,” 100,000 pieces of belt ribbon, and 600,000 yards of 
wide goods, consisting of dress silks, gros grains, poplins, foulards, and 
pongees, and employs 1,000 operatives. The capital invested in Massa- 
chusetts, New York, and Connecticut, is $5,000,000. Philadelphia has 
