TUEATISE ON TUB CULTURE OF SILK. 



BV GIDEON B. SMITH. 

 [Supplemental to No. 2, published in the Novcnihrr iiunibnr.] 



After the cocoons have been properly cnreJ, ns 

 (lescnht'tl, either l)y baUirif^ or the apphcatioii ol' 

 heat it) any other way, lliey should be spread out 

 in a dry airy room, that the moisture of llie chry- 

 sahs may evaporate, and siiould be thus kept till 

 wanted for roelinof or transportation. I have 

 known cocoons to be ruined by the moisture o|' 

 the chrysalis, wiien merely thrown into barrels 

 and boxes. When intended lor transportation, or 

 To be sent to any distance, after they have been 

 thoroughly dried, they may be put into barrels, 

 boxes, or baskets, but must not be packed so as lo 

 indent the cocoons. The best way is, to fill the 

 vessel, and iientl}' settle them down, by ehakinsr 

 and slight pressure. 11" the cocoons are indented, 

 they are very difficult to reel, and if llattened, they 

 cannot be leeled at till ; and, of course, are vvorlh- 

 less, except fjr carding. In very damp weather, 

 the room in which the cocoons are kept, ought 

 to have a fire made in it to dry the air. and the 

 cocoons should be stirred up, once a daj", during 

 the continuance of such weather; as they are 

 very apt to absorb moisture li-om the atmosphere. 



No. 3. 



Heeling, twisting, bleaching, S,~c. 



We have now arrived at the most dillicult part 

 of the whole business of silk-makinir: that of reel- 

 ing the cocoons — without which all the previous 

 operations will have been worthless. It is at this 

 point that thousands of persons who have begun the 

 culture of silk, under high hopes and expectations, 

 have been arrested in their progress by what ihey 

 called insurmountable difficulties, and abandoned 

 the business in despair — there being, heretofore, 

 no market lor the sale of cocoons. In vain, have 

 they been exhorted to persevere in the trial with 

 patience and industry lor a lew days — in vain 

 have they been told, that the devotion of one 

 week's time and half a dozen pounds of" cocoons, 

 would be sufficient to teach them the art. The 

 process seems so tedious, the result so trifling, 

 that, after a few hours' trial, they give it up, and 

 thus ends their career in the culture of silk. More 

 than one thousand such instances have come un- 

 der my immediate notice — I might, I am sure, say 

 several thousands, including all with whom I have 

 had intercourse personally, or by letter. Among 

 them all, not more than one in twenty, have been 

 induced to persevere, until they learned to reel at 

 all, and not probably one in fifty until they learned 

 to reel well. But lor the encouragement of those 

 who wish to learn to reel, I can and do assure 

 them, that, when any intelligent persons have per- 

 severed for one week, they have invariably becon.e 

 expert reelers in that time, and many of them 

 even in less time. Any person, therefore, lliat 

 will devote one week, and five or six pounds of 

 Vol. VI.— 65 



cocoons, steadily and perseveringly to the object, 

 will be certain of accomplishing it. It requires al- 

 most .Job-like patience, but [)atience was never 

 better |)aid lor. Let this be an invariable rule 

 with all who would learn to reel : Take five or 

 six pounds of cocoons, and set apart one week of 

 time, with a determination to iraste all the co- 

 coons, if necessary, and to allow of no interrup- 

 tion, during the time, and then go a-head. If in 

 two or three hours you find yourself making a 

 irood thread, all the belter; but don't be discou- 

 raged if you presently find that thread becoming 

 worthless li'om some cause or other, but take it off 

 the reel, and begin anew. Who ever heard of a 

 young woman learning to spin cotton, wool, or 

 flax, even in one week's trial ? Why, then, ex- 

 pect to perform a much nicer operation by intui- 

 tion? Persevere, then, and you will learn. Per- 

 severance, in a learner of reeling, is the great thing 

 needful; and it is sure of its reward. Let me, 

 for further encouragement, inform young begin- 

 ners, that I have taught many persons to reel by 

 writing one letter to ihem. describing the process. 

 Many persons now maintain themselves by mak- 

 ing sewing-silk, who never had any other instruc- 

 tions than these letters. 



The REEL, most proper for the purpose, has 

 heretofore been the one established by the Italian 

 government, called the Piedmontese reel. Its 

 construction is peculiar ; and it secures several 

 points deemed important in raw silk. By a pecu- 

 liar vibration of a particular part, it lays the 

 threads cross-waj's in such manner as to prevent 

 adhesion by means of the still wet gum. It reela 

 two threads at a time, and they are so wound 

 around each other in passing up to the bars of the 

 reel, that they compress each other into a perfectly 

 cylindrical wiry thread, without twisting — which 

 is important, as the raw silk can then be used aa 

 flax, or twisted more or less to suit the various 

 purposes lor vvliich it may be wanted. Our coun- 

 trymen, however, seem to have abandoned, or 

 rather rejected (for they have never used them 

 much) these reels, and are using various kinds of 

 new construction. Almost every person that haa 

 done any thing at all in making silk, has invented 

 " a new reel" — a "new silk-reeler and twister ;" 

 a " machine to reel and twist silk at the same 

 time," &c., &c. I am, [lowever, very much in- 

 clined to the opinion, that for all commercial pur- 

 poses, the silk must be reeled in a manner similar 

 to that produced by the Piedmontese reel, and 

 that, or some reel producing the same result, 

 must ultimately be adopted by us. All staple ar- 

 ticles of commerce must have some fixed charac- 

 ter as a standard, all deviations fi-om which dete- 

 riorate its quality. Silk reeled by the newly con- 

 structed machines will do well enough, and as 

 well as any, for sewing silk, and for other manu- 

 factures at home, and in our own looms ; but in 

 the markets of the world at large, it must be of a 

 character and quality to meet the expectations, 

 and to conform to the customs of the manufactu- 

 rers there. Why does the raw silk of China sell 

 in Europe so much lower than that of Piedmont 1 



