FARMERS' REGISTER 



37 



Art. 8. It shall bethedutj'' ofilie Corresixinding 

 Secretary to conduct ilie correspondence, ol ilie So- 

 ciety, and cause to be jiubiisiicd such papers and 

 docunientsastlie Execulive Commit lee shall direct. 



An. 9. The Treasurer shall lake charge ofihe 

 funds of I he sociely, and pay them out on llie or- 

 der of the Executive Comniitiee. He shall also 

 receive and dispose for exhibiiion all specimens 

 of n»achinery or of silk produced (or premium or 

 exhibition, and shall furnish his account imimally. 



Art. 10. It shall l>e the duty of the Execulive 

 Commitiee to devise and execuie plans (or the 

 promotion ot the interests of the Society. They 

 shall make a quarterly report of their proceedinirs; 

 shall recommend measures lor the adoption of the 

 Sociely, and shall award premiums and medals 

 under llie reLmlations of the Socieij-. 



Art. 11. The Society may elect any number of 

 linnorary members, who may meet and deliberate 

 but not vote u-iih the Society. 



Art. 12. No less than one fifth of the members 

 fshall constitute a quorum for llie transaction of 

 business at anv re<Tul.ir meeiinir. 



Art. 13ih. This constitution niav be altered or 

 amended bv a vote of two thirds of a quorum on 

 a recommendation of the Executive Cominitlce re- 

 qupslinir such a proceedin<r. 



The above articles beinij separately received 

 and adopted in their present form, the secretary 

 was ordered to record the same and obtain the 

 pifrnalure.^ of the members. The president then 

 called (or the report of the commitiee appointed lo 

 draft an address lo the peop'e of Viririnia on the 

 silk culture, and the (bllowin<i appropriate and ad- 

 mirable paper was produced, read, received and un- 

 animously adopied, lo wit: 



Fellmo citizens of the commonwealth of Virginia: 



Twice within a few years, has our country been 

 made to pi)(fer ironi a terrible revidsioii in moneta- 

 rv afthirs, and both times from the snme cause — 

 the inequalitv of exchanges between Europe and 

 ourselves. Our imports vastly exceed our exports; 

 and while we sntt'er this to be so, Ave shall ever 

 experience the fate of debtors. Tempomry indul- 

 •rerice, and then a pressure and distress, this recur- 

 rinfT njrain and afjain at the interval of a ^e.\v years, 

 will be our history until we can produce a balance 

 of trade and thus relieve ourselves from the neces- 

 sity of a debtor's thraldom. Tlie creat staple of 

 cotton effects much for ns ; but some other staple 

 equally preat is yet needed ; for our cotton is (bund 

 to come far short of the necessities of the case. 



The object of iliis address is to show that silk 

 may be made this cjreat subsidiary staple equal to 

 all our wants : and there is also another considera- 

 tion which induces us to appeal strongly and es- 

 pecially to you as Viririnians. 



Be the cause, whatjf may, whether from wear- 

 incr nut of our soil, or a chnnnrp in society, the fad 

 itself is apparent that a hirije portion of our moet 

 valuable citizens are deseriinix us I A ny one who, 

 in sunimer, will travel the ureat ihorourrh'are 

 from Siaiinion to Guyandotte v/ill find it filled 

 with movers, hasteninijr lo seek new hom"s in the 

 flir west, and these, too, persons of substantial 

 means and v\' hardv but disappointed enterprise. 

 Oar stale is ihus subject yearly to a wiiherinir up 

 of its enero-ies and we have frroat reason to a^k — 

 what shall be the end of this 7 



We propose to show in this tiddress that more 



money may be made from an acre of the poorest 

 land in the slate than (iom a similar quanliiy in 

 imy of ihe vaunted regions of the West. And to 

 ihe |)oint. 



1. <S'(7/i; can be made in this country equal to any 

 foreign production. Belbre our revolutionary war 



it was an arlicle ofexporl and ihen conmianded in 

 ll'.e English market from 2s. lo2s. 6d. niore than 

 Italian silk : subsequenlly to that period silk raised 

 in Connecticut was pronounced by one of the lar- 

 irest manufiicturers of England equal lo any that 

 he had ever seen. And within the last year fibres 

 Horn American cocoons have been brought to a 

 (iiir test with those from cocoons raised in Italy 

 and have been (bund to be of superior strength. 

 American sewing silk is also declared by our 

 loilors 10 be belter than ihat raised in Europe. 



2. The climate and soil <f Virginia, particularly 

 in the immense sat'dy region extending from, ihe 

 seabord to the mountains, are remarkably well adap- 

 ted to the production of silk. Its reputaiion for ihe 

 successful culiivation of the mulberry tree has be- 

 cotne such as to make it resoried to (or this pur- 

 pose, from as far north as Boston, and repealed 

 experiments have shown that the poorest lands 

 o! ihis state with a htile aid (i"om manure produces 

 treei< surpassini? in size even those raised in the 

 rich prairie lands of the West. A dry sandy soil 

 also produces leaves more nutritive and moreheal- 

 lliy to the worms than any other, and with such 

 soils we are amplv provided. Our climate is also 

 admirably adapted to the silk worm, a dry and 

 wariT. climate beina (bund most conducive to iheir 

 health and lo the speedy termination of iheir labors. 



3. This is a business which offers to the produce 

 of inland and rcmde places, an easy access to mar- 

 ket. A thousand dollars worth of silk niay be 

 packed in a good sized trunk and carried in a stage, 

 and whatever mode of transportation may be cho- 

 sen, the cos* of freiglil will be comparatively tri- 

 flinir. The mountainous and distant parts of our 

 country now shut out from enterprise by the dilTi- 

 culty of reaching a maiket (or their produce are 

 in ihis respect nearly on an equality with the sea- 

 board. The many thousands of square miles in 

 this state inaccespible to rail road, or good roads 

 of any kind, will (eel the real imporiance of this 

 consideration. 



4. The most important item of all in thic matter 

 is ihe very great profit which it offers to those who 

 will engage in it. — U[;on this subject, careful ex- 

 perimenls have been made in various sections of 

 the country ; and although the results have differ- 

 ed as to the precise amount of profit, yet it is clear 

 that no other agricultural occupation known offers 

 such a certain and profi'able return as this. A 

 result obtained l)y the Rev. D. V. McLean, of 

 Freehold. New Jersey, will be copied here because 

 i! is au;on<rst the most moderate, ;md also because 

 it ha? been obiained after the most careful anen- 

 lion to statisiicR durinir the whole process of the 

 silk raising. This irenlleiuan, lust sprinc, selected", 

 lor experiment, a quar'er of an acre planted ihi.'s 

 season wiih morus tuubicaulis, about two-lhirds of 

 the plantiiifT beinir in roots, the balance in layers, 

 boihoftliem smidi and of the previous season's 

 growih. The rows were 2\ fi'el aptu'l ; and the 

 whole growth in the rpiarier of an acre, larire nrA 

 small, was 5,500 trees, their average f^ize aitaincil 

 during the summer heinij 3^ feet. From these, 

 after leaving suflicieiit for the supper', of the Irees, 



