80 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OP 



cocoons in France in 1851 at about 30c., and M. Combier-Blanchon, of 

 Livron (Drome), France, informed me last summer, that the best of cocoons 

 only brinff there about 5 francs the kilogram, which is about 50c. gold per' 

 lb. On page 77 he makes the statement that he had raised silk for two 

 successive years at a net result of $104, and (valuing the raw silk at $4.50 

 per lb.) of $108 per acre. Yet on page 237 there is a calculation to show 

 that the net return from an acre may be $2800; and by taking some of the 

 fio-ures given it might be made still greater. 



These few inconsistencies will serve to show how unreliable the work 

 is. M. Provost was an enthusiast, and we may admire his enthusiasm, but 

 when enthusiasm becomes fanaticism and carries one beyond the bounds of 

 reason, it is often productive of more harm than good. Had M. Prevost 

 shown more moderation and reason in his writings; had he been as prone 

 to report failure as he was to magnify success, the silk interests of <?alifor- 

 nia would not now be endangered by a reactive depression which is as unnat- 

 ural as was the over-enthusiasm a few years since. His little work, by false 

 showing, was better calculated to induce another midticavlis fever, than to 

 healthily stimulate silk industry. Its exaggerated 2)ictures and immoder- 

 ate accounts annulled what little of value it did possess, and earned for its 

 atithor the name of blagueur, which has been applied to him in France. 



Silkworms were first hatched in California in 1860. In 1868 the inter- 

 est in silk culture there was at its height, and the legislature of the State, 

 in order to encourage the enterprise, offered liberal bounties. In 1869, the 

 premiums amounted to $115,000; but from this time on the reaction began 

 to take place, and the evil effects of the visionary clamor of enthusiastic 

 advocates began to tell. The season was exceptionabl}' unfavoral)le, and 

 many of their eggs were spoiled for want of experience how best to keep 

 them. 



For a while the diseased state of the Silkworm in Europe ci-cated a 

 large demand for foreign eggs, and the trade in the East assumed lai-ge pro- 

 portions. In 1869 two millions of cards, costing on an average three dollars 

 each, were sent to Europe from Japan, and special steamers were chartered 

 to carry home the valuable freight. The demand was such that some eggs 

 raised in California were also sold to France, and large profits were the re- 

 sult. Mr. I. N. Hoag made the following ver}' favorable report of his busi- 

 ness in 1868, in a letter to the Sacramento Union — a report well calculated 

 to induce others to attempt to do likewise : 



In 1868 I fed the leaves from three and one-half acres of land covered 

 with two year old Morus multicauUs trees. The trees had been grown from 

 cuttings where the}^ then stood. They had been cut back in the s]iring or 

 winter close to the ground and the tops used for cuttings, so that tliey did 

 not furnish much over half the earJy foliage they would have done had they 

 only been prunetl with an e3'e to that purpose. The result of that opera- 

 tion concisely stated, is as follows: Receipts, 486 ounces and 13A penny- 

 weights of eggs sold to Hentseh & Berton at $4 per ounce, $1,946.70; eggs 

 retained for self and sold to other parties, $1,897.50; perforated cocoons sold, 

 $75.30; total, $3,919.50. Contra; labor and other expenses, $472.00. Net 

 profits, $3,449.50. The feeding was commenced on the first of June. On 



