[ 175 J 10 



If the latter, what size and form of building or apartment is best 

 fitted to its operations ? If the silk be raised in the open air, is any 

 shelter, and of what kind required, as well from the rays of the sun as 

 from wet, and to protect the insects from birds and other animals that 

 prey upon them ? 



10. Is there reason to suppose that, in some parts of the United 

 States, the climate may admit of more than one crop of silk being raised 

 from the silkworm, in the course of the year, as in Asia ? How 

 will this inquiry apply to ? 



11. Have lightning and thunder been found to affect the silkworm 

 in our climate, and how far, if at all ? Has any insect of our climate, 

 or animal of any kind, been found to prey upon, or injure it, beyond 

 those that are known to do so in other climates ? 



12. What is the greatest quantity of silk that has been raised 



in the State of , in any one }ear; into what articles or forms 



has it been manufactured; and have the manufactured articles been 

 consumed at home or sent abroad, and where; where has the raw silk 

 been sent when not wrought into manufactures ? 



13. What prices have the raw or manufactured silks commanded in 

 the market of the United States, as compared with similar articles im- 

 ported from Europe, China, or the East Indies ? What progress has 

 been made in the drawing, spinning, and twisting of sewing silk in 



any part of ? Have its strength and evenness been equal to the 



French, English, or Italian sewing silk ? How have we succeeded in 

 the coloring or dying ? All information on this head will be acceptable. 



14. Will you be pleased to describe, with as much particularity as 

 may be, the machinery most approved for winding off the silk from 

 the cocoon; for forming it into organzine or thrown silk; and for man- 

 ufacturing silk into all its different forms, (including velvets,) whether 

 for clothing, furniture, or any other purpose ? If within your power 

 and convenience to add a sketch or drawing, of any or all of the above 

 machinery, it would be acceptable. 



17. Describe the difference in the quality of the silk produced from 

 all the different varieties of the silkworm, and annex, if in your power, 

 a drawing (colored) of all the varieties of this insect, in its moth 

 and other states. Is the insect brought from abroad supposed to de- 

 generate in the United States, and if so, to what causes is it imputed, 

 and how are they best to be obviated ? What are the proper rules to 

 be observed in the choice of eggs, in the choice of cocoons for seed, and 

 in the choice of the insect for laying eggs ? 



16. If silk has been raised at any periods heretofore in , but 



not at present, what are supposed to be the causes that have led to its 

 discontinuance ? 



17. Please to state any other facts or circumstances that may bear 

 upon the objects or spirit of the resolution above referred to, of the 

 House of Representatives of the United States^ though not specially 

 comprehended under any of the foregoing inquiries. 



RICHARD RUSH. 



Tbeasury Department, 29th Juhfy l^-ZQ. 



