FARMERS REGISTER 



397 



the community, produce disastrous fluctuations; 

 disturb all iliesouiul calcuialioos of honest industry; 

 and HI proiioniun to liis means and concerns, the 

 small farmer suffers as severely as tliocie most 

 extensively enujaged in commercial pursuits. It 

 is to thedelutje olan irresponsible currency, wiiicli 

 was by sonie insiituiions at one time poured out 

 like water, that we must in a measure atiribuie 

 those speculations in the muliicanlis mulberry, 

 which brought ruin upon thousands. Attracted 

 by the giitierinii illusion ol" sudden wealth, like 

 insects round an evening bonfire, they rushed into 

 the flames, where many perished, or escaped with 

 their legs burnt off' or their wings singed, maimed 

 and crippled for lile. To the same cause we owe 

 every where the interruption and desertion of the 

 quiet pursuits of wholesome rural industry, for the 

 hazardous, and in many cases the immoral pur- 

 suits ol speculation. Under these circumstances, 

 whether we undertake to manuliicture or to pro- 

 duce raw silk, we can at present make no very 

 sale calculations lor the future of what the price of 

 labor will be ; or what will be the value of the 

 article after i( ib produced. The attempt, therefore, 

 to produce silk on any large scale, as well as the 

 attempt to manufacture silk, even sewings, must 

 at the present be an undertaking full of uncertain- 

 ties, but one can hardly say, of doubtful result. 

 The absence of all duties, upon Ibreign labrics, ex- 

 poses us, also, to all the caprices of loreign labor, 

 capital, and cupidity, and the ebb and flood of Ib- 

 reign markets are lelt equally upon our shores. 

 Within the last lew months, as [ have remarked, 

 the prices of many articles ol'silk have experienced 

 a decline of more than filiy per cent. The best of 

 sewings silk which not long since commanded 

 nine dollars, now sells for six. Ribbons and lute- 

 strings are even much more reduced. 



Some persons, on this subject of the profits of 

 the silk culture, have had their imaginations 

 raised almost to a while heat, and have thought 

 that the product of raw silk in the northern states^ 

 might soon be made to equal the product of cotton 

 in the southern portion of the union. Certainly 

 they do not mean in pounds, but in the value of 

 the article produced. But is ii not obvious that 

 any such increase of the product of the article 

 would proportionately reduce the price, though this 

 would again be afl'ected to a degree by aiiother 

 element, which must come into the calculation ; 

 and that is, the increased use of the article which 

 would follow any considerable reduction of its 

 price. This would not, however, raise the price, 

 because its Iree use depends on a low price, and 

 bears a direct relation to the diminution of the 

 price. There is, however, no sufiicient reason lo 

 think that raw silk can maintain its present price 

 in the country, certainly not in the face of any 

 considerably increased production. The present 

 price of raw sdk from Smyrna is not much above 

 ^4 per pound. Bengal silk is lower. 



But our silk is said to be much superior to the 

 Indian silk, as it is said, likewise, that silk raised 

 in the northern provinces ofChina is much supe- 

 rior to that in the south. I have not been able 

 fully to satisly myselfof this fact ; nor, if true, can 

 I ascertain whether it be attributable to the influ- 

 ence of the climate, or the superiority of the reel- 

 ing; but an intelligent manufacturer has staled to 

 me, that, in his opinion, the Bengal silk would be 

 found equal to any other but lor the imperlbciion 



of its reeling, it is elated, likewise, on the most 

 disinterested testimony, (hat the silk formeily rais- 

 ed in Georgia, whose climate, we know, is of a 

 high temperature, was pronounced in England of 

 an excellent quality. The perlection of ihe Ita- 

 lian silk is generally ascribed to the admirable 

 manner in which it is reeled. It is at the same 

 lime, however, only just to state that the silk 

 already produced among us, has fully demonstrat- 

 ed our capacity of producing as good an article as 

 has as yet been seen. 



Calculations respecting silk products. — I am 

 aware that I oppose the popular opinion in speak- 

 ing thus discouragingly of ihe manuliicture ol'silk 

 in our country. It would be more agreeable to float 

 with the tide than to siruggleagainsi it; but w hether 

 the opinion of an individual be of little or much 

 weight in the community, he is bound to respect his 

 own judgment, and is at liberty to utter only his ho- 

 nest convictions. Puplic sentiment and public ac- 

 tions can be aflected but in a slight degree by the 

 opinions ofany individual; and addressing one's self 

 to intelligent and reflecting minds, no evil can result 

 from the freest discussion. No good will come 

 Irom creating false expectations ; I should be glad 

 to disabuse the public mind of some of the gross 

 illusions by which it has been willingly imposed 

 upon. In some of the documents belore me, and 

 those published under authority, it has been 

 confidently stated, that an acre of land planted 

 with mulberry trees may be expected to produce 

 the first year one hundred pounds of silk, and, 

 afterwards be increased to 333 lbs., and even lo 

 666 lbs. ; and that the profits of such cultivation 

 would be §1170 per acre. Another person goes 

 on to calculate that one hundred acres even at 

 180 lbs. to the acre, and silk at 4 dollars per lb., 

 might be made lo aflord an income of §72,000. 

 At present these must be considered as mere 

 dreams. If this be |,racticable, why has it not beea 

 doi>e? There has been ample time in other coun- 

 tries, and in this country, lo have done it, if it 

 could be done. There have been trees enough, 

 and land enough, and capital enough ; and in some 

 of the states a bounty has been ofl'ered lor some 

 years on the production of silk, admitted by the 

 most ardent friends ofthe cultivation to be tufficient 

 to cover the whole expense of produciion. la 

 what country, at what time, was ever such en- 

 couragement to production held oui before'? But 

 no such returns have been obtained or even ap- 

 proached ; and, with the exception ol Mr. Ai- 

 wood, belore referred to, and Miss Rapp, at Eco- 

 nomy, who, until new claimants appear, must be 

 allowed the rank of queen of this branch of 

 domestic industry, it would be difficult, I ima- 

 gine, to find half a dozen individuals in the 

 whole union who have produced, either of them 

 in one year, one hundred pounds of silk. I my- 

 •self know not of one. I should have been glad 

 of the honor of recording the names of hun- 

 dreds who had accomplished it, if they were 

 to be Ibund. Mr. McLean, who has approached 

 more nearly than any other man in the country 

 towards determining what can well be done, ad- 

 mits, with the most credible lrankne^•s. that he de- 

 spairs of ever seeing 104 or 128 lbs. of silk pro- 

 duced upon an acre. I cannot say vvith him, that 

 I despair of such a result; but li-hall wait lorfurilier 

 trials bt.-;bre I am prepared lusay, with curifid.:nce, 

 '.hat more can be done than what his fcri.'urkut.Ie in- 



