88 NATURAL HISTORY. [CH. V. 



worm, were used in France. Henry the Second 

 issued an edict in 1554, commanding large planta- 

 tions to be made in France ; and he is reported to 

 have been the first French king who wore silk stock- 

 ings ; while in 1668, the women's hats were turned 

 into hoods made of French silk, whereby every 

 maidservant became a standing revenue to the 

 French king of one half of her wages. A simple 

 gardener of Nismes established a nursery of mulber- 

 ries under the reign of Charles the Ninth, which in 

 a few years supplied the plains of Languedoc, Pro- 

 vence, and Dauphine with the finest plants. Henry 

 the Fourth, contrary to the advice of Sully, encour- 

 aged the native production of silk ; he issued an 

 edict in 1599, prohibiting the importation of stuffs 

 of that material ; and by letters patent invited, as 

 much as possible, the further plantation of the mul- 

 berry-tree. He ordered Olivier de Serres to bring 

 the tree to Paris, and twenty thousand were trans- 

 ported to that city, where the king had built a large 

 house near the Tuileries for the cultivation of the 

 silkworm. 



This branch of commerce was neglected in France 

 under Louis XIII., but in the following reign, under 

 the auspices of the sage Colbert, it once again re- 

 vived. He established royal nurseries in Berri, An- 

 goumois, Orleannois, Poitou, Burgundy, and Tranche 

 Comte, and distributed and planted the tree gratui- 

 tously. Nevertheless, as these beneficial measures 

 were forced upon the people, it happened that, in- 

 stead of thriving, the young plants were found to 

 perish rapidly. The government then promised to 

 pay twenty-four sous for every mulberry-tree which 

 should have been planted three years. This ju- 

 dicious measure at once succeeded, and the above- 

 named provinces soon became covered with this 

 precious wood. Not content with this first step, 

 Colbert invited Le Sieur Benais, from Bologna, to 

 superintend the unravelling of the cocoons; and 



