FARMERS' REGISTER 



tliousand seven liunilred and sevenly-five pounds 

 — it being lliree-lburlhs of a pound of" leaves per 

 tree — ihen ihe product ofthe acre would be eleven 

 thousand ami one hundred pounds ol' leaves. It 

 Tequiring twenty and one-half pounds of leaves to 

 produce one pound of cocoons, or two hundred 

 and eighteen pounds of leaves lor one pound of 

 silk, the products of the acre then would be five 

 hundred and forty-two pounds of cocoons, or fifty- 

 one pounds of reeled silk. 



Now the product of an acre, is fifty-one pounds 

 of silk ; it requiring ten pounds ten ounces of co- 

 coons for one pound of silk, equal to forty-nine 

 bushels; eleven pounds of cocoons making one 

 bushel, a product, which I believe every silk 

 grower may expect the first season, if the trees are 

 planted in a soil congenial to their growth, and the 

 worms managed witli economy. 



If the cocoons are gold at five dollars per bushel 

 — which I believe is the present price of good co- 

 coons — the product ofthe acre would be tv/o hun- 

 dred and forty-five dollars ; or if the cocoons are 

 sold at four dollars and fifty cents per bushel — 

 which is as low as i believe they will be for years 

 to come — the product of an acre would amount to 

 two hundred and twenty dollars and fifty cents. 



If tiie cocoons should be reeled, the product 

 would be much greater. 



As it regards the expense offeeding, &c. I found 

 that an inexperienced person would pick twelve 

 pounds of leaves per hour, or one hundred and 

 twenty pounds per day ; and that one person would 

 feed two hundred and fifty pounds per day — then 

 it would require ninety-three days labor to pick the 

 leaves produced I'rom one acre, and forty-five days 

 labor to feed the same. The whole expense of 

 labor of picking and feeding the leaves would 

 amount to one hundred and thirty-eight days la- 

 bor — equal to twenty-three weeks — which would 

 amount to sixty-nine dollars, allowing the girls era- 

 ployed, three dollars per week. 



A one-«tory building fifteen by twenty-five feet 

 which would cost, at most, one hundred and fifty 

 dollars, would be sufficiently large to feed the pro- 

 ducts of one acre, by feeding successive crops — 

 then the rent of cocoonery would be nine dollars, 

 allowing six per cent, interest. 



Allowing cocoons to be worth forty cents per 

 pound, fifteen pounds being sufficient to produce 

 eggs enough to feed the products of an acre, if 

 but one-lialf of them should hatch and mature — 

 thus making the cost of eggs to be six dollars. To 

 which add ten dollars for rentofland, and ten dol- 

 lars for cultivation of trees. 



The whole expense of picking and feeding, the 

 leaves, rent of cocoonery, rent of land, cultivation 

 of trees, and eggs, would amount to one hundred 

 and four dollars; which, if subtracted from two 

 hundred and forty-five dollars, would leave a net 

 profit of one hundred and forty-one dollars — or, if 

 even subtracted from two hundred and twenty dol- 

 lars and fifty cents, would leave a net profit of one 

 hundred and sixteen dollars and fifty cents per acre. 

 Alier taking into consideration the great im- 

 provements which will be made in this, as in all 

 Ibrmer enterprizes, both as it regards feeding the 

 worms and manufacturing the fabric ; and, view- 

 ing a country groaning under continual convulsions 

 and panic in its financial affairs, occasioned by an 

 excessive importation of a foreign fabric, and ma- 

 nufactures to the amount of forty millions annnally j 



beyond our exports, and our American silk being 

 sought after with such eagerness by foreign ma- 

 nufacturers, it commandinij the highest prices, with 

 a country possessing a soil and climate better 

 adapted to the growth of silk, than almost any 

 other country on the globe: it producing more 

 silk from a pound of cocoons, than even France or 

 Italy, of a stronger fibre and a more transcendent 

 lustre together with the enlerprize of its inhabi- 

 tants, and the immensity of its unculfiva'ed lands ; 

 and the growth of silk promising to remedy, in 

 a great measure, the cause which threatens our 

 citizens with ruin ; and as long as the grower can 

 realize at least one hundred and sixteen dollars, 

 net profit, per acre, with the prospect ofincreasing 

 his net profit per acre, at least one-lburth each 

 succeeding year for years to come. Fellow-citi- 

 zens fear not to give it a hearty support, it is a 

 good cause. 



Not until man is endowed with the power to 

 command the waters of the mighty deep to stand 

 fiist, and become as a wall, that ships cannot 

 plough her frightful main, thus saving our country 

 fi-om being deluged by foreign importations, till 

 then, and not till then, may we say farewell to the 

 growth of silk. 



After centeraplatinof (he weighty responsibility 

 which would rest upon me, provided the growth of 

 silk should prove a failure, by recommendinij it to 

 the attention of the public, and Ihe anathemas 

 which would be hurled against me, being denoun- 

 ced a.? a person engaged in a maniac speculation 

 — a mere delusion — designed to humbug tlie un- 

 thinkino" citizen by wrenching from him his hard 

 earned treasure ; in view of these facts I solemnly 

 declare, that the motives which now influence me 

 to press this subject so ardently to the consideration 

 of my fellow-citizens, are a love of country and a 

 wish to promote the personal interest of every in- 

 dividual living under its banner, together with my 

 own. 



Did I not believe in the entire success of the 

 growth of silk in these United States, I would ra- 

 ther consign my trees to the flames than to beguile 

 my fellow-citizens by recommending to them an 

 enterprize which I believe would prove derogatory 

 to their pecuniary interest. 



The validity ofthe growth of silk might be tee- 

 ted to the conviction of every individual, either to 

 its entire success or its total lailure, let every indi- 

 vidual conveniently situated, prove by his experi- 

 ment the next season, the profit to be derived from 

 growing silk, and when that experiment is made, 

 let him publish the same to an anxious public, and 

 then if it should be found that llie growth of silk 

 should not prove profitable to the grower, and 

 detrimental to the best interests of the country, 

 then let those who are now averse to the growth 

 of silk, hurl their denunciations against tliose who 

 are engaged now in advocating iis merits. 

 Yours, very respectfully, 



G. C. Gr.EAsoN. 

 Morrisville, M'lddletown toivnshiv, 

 Monmouth Co. N. J. Nov. 18,1839. 



