1352 AKBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART 111. 



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 1+9+, several of the great iantled 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 nmlberry, which they planted in 

 Provence, in the vicinity of Montelimart. In 15-iO, 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 IX. 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 Pradel, in 1001, formed 

 a plantation of w hite mulberry trees in the garden of the Tuileries, where 

 a large building for the silkworms was erected. (Aim. cVHort., 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'Culhch's Diet, 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 XIV.; 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 offefed a premium of 2^ sous for every mulberry 

 that had stood in a plantation three > ears. This plan succeeded ; and, in 

 the course of a few years, mulberry plantations were general throughout 

 France. (See Noitv.Cours d'Agricii/!.', art. Murier.) 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 

 174L, averaged 500,000/. a year. {M'CuUoch.) 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 cxanii)le was soon afterwards followed 

 in Sivxony, Austria, and in some of the smaller states. In Bavaria, the silk 

 culture was conunenced 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, anil distributed throughout the provinces (see 

 Hard. Mai!,., 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, pollanlcd mulberry trees may be seen border- 

 ing the hiu'hways; 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 Crcveldt, at Cologne, and at Berlin. 

 The culture of silk has been introiluced into Belgium {Ann. d'Horl. de Paris, 

 vi. p. 368.), with every prospect of success ; and the tree has also been i)lanted 

 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 \\c have 

 been able to learn, with very little success. In Russia, silk culture has been 



