THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



Vol. VI. 



NOVEMBER 1, 1838. 



No. 8. 



EDMUND RUFFIN, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. 



THE ACTUAL STATE OF SILK CULTUIIE TN THE 

 KORTH, AND REMARKS ON ITS EXTENSION 

 IW THE SOUTH. 



To the Editor of tlie Farmers' Register. 



Some years past, I have been endeavoring to 

 collect all the information that was accessible on 

 the subject of ihe silk-culture, with the view ol' 

 enfjarjm^ in it as soon as opportunity should ofTer. 

 And during the past summer I made a visit to 

 some of the northern states, for the purpose of 

 more fully satisfyinn: myself, by personal observa- 

 tion; and to see with my own eyes what was do- 

 inj^ there, that mi^ht justify the frlowint; accounts 

 that were published in the agricultural papers. It 

 is now my intention to give, in as fair and impar- 

 tial a manner as I am capable of doing, the re- 

 suits of my observations; interspersed with such 

 remarks and reflections as they have suggested. 



In these times, when so much ie done for efi'ect, 

 and when every new enterprise is ushered before 

 the public with so much pomp and circumstance, 

 it is natural that the sanguine should be easily led 

 astray, and come readily to indulge in all the ex- 

 travagances which characterize the projectors of 

 novel schemes. In regard to silk-culture, though 

 I am perfectly convinced that it will be both prac- 

 ticable and profitable, and that its introduction 

 into this country will become, or ought to become, 

 a general thinir at no very distant day; yet consi- 

 dering the progress that has been actually made, 

 and the little that has been accomplished, the 

 wildest calculations have been made of its profits; 

 theory has run far ahead of practice; and very 

 few of those who make such extravagant boast- 

 ings have tested its real advantages by experiment. 



Some years ago, when the subject was first agi- 

 tated with so much earnestness, a number of in- 

 corporated companies with large capitals were 

 established in the eastern states. The most of 

 these have now an existence only in name. Some 

 of the most prominent of them, by attempting too 

 much, and by combining the manufacture with the 

 production of silk, have entirely sunk their means. 

 Others have failed to make any dividends, through 

 the incompetency of agents, or in consequence of 

 the high salarie.s that were allowed them. Others 

 again, and perhaps all, in a measure, have trans- 

 ferred their zeal from the legitimate object of their 

 establishment, to the tempting allurements held 

 out by the high prices of mulberry trees ; and not 

 one, as far as my information extends, has done 

 any thing towards extending the knowledge of 

 the silk-culture amongst the people at large, or 

 made any attempts to introduce improvements in 

 the management of the worms, and in the art of 

 reeling and preparing silk. In the excess of their 

 early zeal, the natural order of things was revers- 

 ed. Lands were provided, building's and fixtures 

 erected, before there was any food for the suste- 

 nance of the worm. Having begun at the wrong 

 end, and been then diverted by other considera" 

 tions from carrying out the original object of their 

 design, they have failed to answer the purposes 

 contemplated by their formation. 

 Vol. VI.— 57 



Whoever therefore, depending on the ostenta- 

 tious parade with which silk companies have been 

 introduced to the admiring gaze of the readers of 

 silk and agricultural papers, visits New England 

 or elsewhere, with the expectation of seeing the 

 silk culture carried on by them, and of deriving 

 the necessary information from them for his own 

 guidance, cannot fail to be disappointed. He 

 must go to private individuals lor instruction; he 

 must get access into families, engaged in feeding 

 worms, and observe their practices and manage- 

 inent. It is amongst them only that anything 

 has been done, or from whom any thing can be 

 reasonably expected. The silk business, in its 

 present state of mfancy, will not justify a large 

 outlay, with a view to carrying it on to advantage. 

 And especially is it necessary to consult economy 

 in those places where the white mulberry is de- 

 pended on as food lor the worms. There is not, 

 at present, skill enough in the country to justify 

 the employment of agents, except under the im- 

 mediate control of the person interested, to super- 

 intend the feeding of a large number of worms. 

 When the business shall have been perfected in 

 fi\milies, and the process of making silk shall have 

 become generally understood, so that given means 

 may be relied on to effect given results, operations 

 may be extended to a larger scale with greater 

 prospect of success. 



At Northampton I expected to see greater pro- 

 gress made in the silk culture than at any other 

 place in the United States. It has claimed for it- 

 self the merit of being the pioneer in the great 

 work. For years the Northampton paper has 

 been applauding the efibrtsthat have been making 

 to introduce and extend it. We were led to be- 

 lieve that it was the head-quarters of the silk busi- 

 ness — the fountain Iron) which instruction was to 

 flow like a stream, to gladden and enrich the 

 whole country. A great silk company, styled 

 par excellence, the " New York Silk Company," 

 was established there at an early date— a large 

 capital was subscribed — a farm of several hundred 

 acres was purchased at a great price — upwards 

 of one hundred acres were planted in mulberries 

 of one kind or other— a large factory was erected 

 at considerable expense — and there the work ter- 

 minated. The farm is now ottered for sale ; 

 and the operations of the company are to be con- 

 fined in future to the factory. Not a pound of 

 sifk, as far as I was informed, has ever been pro- 

 duced by the company. Glowing accounts have 

 also been given of a silk company at Norwich, in 

 Connecticut. Before leaving Virginia, I had been 

 advised to take that place in my route, and was 

 informed that silk would be produced there this 

 year, not by pounds, or by hundreds of pounds, 

 but by thousands! During the time I remained 

 in New England, I made diligent inquiries about 

 Norwich, and could not learn that any thing was 

 in progress there that would instruct or interest a 

 visiter. These examples are given as a lair illus- 

 tration of what has been performed by incorpo- 

 rated companies. At Northampton, however, we 

 are promised better things lor the future ; and 

 something has been done during the past season, 



