S80 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



June 23, 162(3. 



NOTES ON THE GROWTH AND MANU- 

 FACTURE OP SILK IN THE UNITED 

 STATES. 



BY MR GENr.T. 



The various repoisitories of knowledge on agri- 

 culture and horticulture, hanng extensively treat- 

 ed the zoological history of the Phulera Bomhis, 

 or silk worm, and the best methods of raising and 

 mul'iplyincr the several species of the morus or 

 ■mulberry tree, upon which tliat valuable insect 

 feeds itself exclusively, I will conline myself in 

 these notes, to present only the principal facts and 

 observations which may have a teniency to assist 

 in the decision of the (luestioii now before the Ag- 

 ricultural Comniittce of Congress, vi:; : " If the 

 growth and manufacture of silk is an object wor- 

 thy of legislative attention and promotion in the 

 United States ?" 



This important question leads, in the first place, 

 to ascertain if the latitudes of the several states 

 are equally favourable to the growth of the silk 

 ■worm and of the mulberry tree. In .\sia, Africa, 

 and Europe, the cultivation of that insect, and of 

 that tree, flourishes from the QOth to the 50tli de- 

 gree of northern latitude. Under the same lati- 

 tudes, the mulberry trees in the United States are 

 indigenous ; and as nature has appropriated every 

 plant to the support of certain insects, we may con- 

 clude that the silk worm and its favourite tree, in- 

 deed the only tree upon which it feeds, would both 

 prosper here as well as in China, Bengal, Mongo- 

 lia, Hindostan, Asia Minor, Turkey, Egypt, Bar- 

 bary, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, anil England, 

 if id was encouraged as it has been in those coun- 

 tries. 



Latitudes nearer to the equatorial line than the 

 20th degree, and beyond the 50tk degree, may, 

 perhaps, with a great deal of care, be also enrich- 

 ed by the cultivation of silk ; but it lias generally 

 beea observed, that very warm southern winds, 

 and extremely hot air, always make the silk worms 

 sick, and frequently occasion their death ; and that 

 very long and severe winters, such as those cxpe- 

 lienced above the 50th degree of northern latitude 

 are also contrary to their propagation. .\ mode- 

 rate temperature is tlie best for those delicate ani- 

 mals and their seed ; and none, on that account, 

 would be more congenial with their nature than 

 the United States. 



That opinion is not grounded on analogy and 

 presumption alone, it is supported by the strongest 

 of all arguments, by actual experiment. Several 

 'industrious and ingenious females of the county of 

 ilensellaer, in the state of New York, and many 

 others, in the states of Massachusetts, Connecti- 

 ■cut, Vermont, and New Hampshire, and very like- 

 ly, though not to my knowledge, in other states, 

 ihave made the raising of silk worms, and the 

 drawing, spinning and twisting of sewing silk, an 

 article of domestic management and trade ; and 

 Ihat article, very well known in our markets, is 

 jpreferrcil on accoUiit of its strength, if not of its 

 perfect evflnness, to the French, English, or Ital- 

 ian silks of the same kind. Handsome fancy goods 

 iave also beon wove in combination with cotton, 

 "Wth silk raiseil in this country ; and we have in 

 Blew York, a sni all manufactory, where the hand- 

 somest waistcoat uatterna have been produced at 

 a much lower price than those that were import- 

 ed. 



Having proved by the preceding facts, nc'. only 

 the practicability, but i''"' existing practice, of 

 raising silk worms in the I'^Jiited States, I v.ilh in 



the second place, examine, if the raising of that I 

 commodity would be, upon a large scale, conge- 

 nial with our mode of agriculture, aad of our va- 

 riegated population. This subject requires a sub- 

 division, of the United States, in relation to their 

 two different climates, and also to the two better 

 different methods of raising the silk worms in open 

 air or in houses. 



The first method would, it seems, suit the south- 

 ern states ; and the second method the eastern 

 and northern states. 



The cultivation of silk in open air is extremely 

 easy in warm climates, and requires a very little 

 attendance. It is the most common in China, 

 v.liere the mulberry trees and the climate are so 

 agreeable to the silk worms, that the quantity of 

 silk produced in that way is incredible. Th« sin- 

 gle province of Tchehiung might alone, it is re- 

 ported, supply all China, and even a great part of 

 Europe, with tliat commodity. Great quantities of 

 silk, raised in the open air, are also imported raw 

 from tlie East Indies, into England ; but those silks 

 are harsher and coarser than those raised in hous- 

 es — a circumstance which had made several au- 

 thors believe that it was the production of a differ- 

 ent insectT called Ser, which v/as supposed to live 

 five years, while the Bombis dies annually. But 

 that fiction is now discredited, and the difference 

 in the quality of the silk is more justly attributed 

 to the effect of the oxide rays of the sun, equally 

 operative on silk as on wool ; as it has been ob- 

 served very advantageously by the Saxons, wlio 

 owe in a great measure, the superior fineness and 

 higher value of their merino wool to the ingenious 

 improvement of protecting their fleece with linen 

 jackets against the rays of the sun. If, however, 

 the silk and the wool raised in the air, and expos- 

 ed to the sun, are harsh, they are more abundant 

 than the silk sheltered from the radiant matter, 

 and would, notwithstanding, become a most valu- 

 able article for the southern states. The eastern 

 and nortliern states, on the contrary, could enlarge 

 the cultivation of the housed silk worm, which re- 

 quires greater nicety and vigilance, and a more 

 attentive and judicious management. 



It seems that our two systems of agriculture 

 agree with the two modes of raising silk. But if 

 we can raise that commodity, a third question 

 arises ; will its growth be profitable, or offer 

 greater advantages than the articles which now 

 constitute the staple produce of the northern and 

 southern states ? 



To answer that question, it will be sufficient to 

 state, as a matter of fact, that the planting and at- 

 tending the mulberry trees, either in orchards or 

 hedges, to accommodate, according to the climate 

 the two methods above mentioned, is the hardest 

 part of that branch of industry ; and that the rest 

 of the process, which occupies only the fifty or 

 sixty days to which the life of the silk worm is 

 limited, may be conducted by females, children, 

 and old or invalid men, unable to perform hard la- 

 bour on any farm or plantation, and will accord- 

 ingly offer a new gain, without impairing the oth- 

 er sources of income. It is, besitles, proper for 

 legislators to consider, that the more the science 

 of mechanics, applied to manufactures, substitutes 

 machines to manual labour, the more it is useful 

 to supply the females of our country, whose num- 

 ber is every where superior to the number of men, 

 witli the means of supporting themselves, or the 

 families that support tlioin, and that no occupation 

 besides the spinning- of flax, attd its manufacture, 



not yet entirely conquered by mechanics, seems to- 

 be better calculated to employ the time of that su- 

 pernumerary part of tiie population, than the culti- 

 vation of sUk. 



{To be conetuded next week,') 



ON THE MANAGEMENT AND DISEASES 

 OP HORSES. 



THE STABLE. 



As the preservation of health ought to be consi- 

 dered as an object of equal, if not superior import- 

 ance, to that of curing or alleviating disease, and 

 as it can only be accomplished by a proper ma- 

 nagement of the liorse with respect to feeding, ex- 

 erci-ie, and the general economy of the stable, I 

 think it proper to begin with this subject. 



In the construction of a stable there is, perhaps, 

 no circumstance more deserving attention than 

 that of ventilation, or of havin-j^ contrivances for 

 the ready admission of fresh air, and for the es- 

 cape of that which has been ren.'ered impure by 

 breathing ; and it is really extraordinary that so 

 little attention should have been paid to so im- 

 portant a circumstance. Grooms in general make 

 a point of closing every aperture they can find; 

 and if, at any time, they are prevailed upon to 

 open a window, it is commonly so small, and so 

 inconveniently situated, as to be but of little ser- 

 vice. Let any one for a moment consider how 

 foul an atmosphere must be produced, in a close 

 stable, in which several horses are kept, by the 

 constant exhalation of unwholesome vapours from 

 the litter, by the steams of perspiration from the 

 skin, and by noxious airs from the lungs: and he- 

 will not be surprised at the long catalogue of dis- 

 eases, to wl'.ich this improper treatment must sub- 

 ject these useful animals. 



If a doubt rem;un in the mini of any one as^to- 

 thc impropriety of such close stables, let him en- 

 ter one early in the morning, on it's being first 

 opened, and he will experience sirch a painful sen- 

 sation in the eyes, and'so violent a cough, as will 

 afford him the most convincing proof of the noxi- 

 ous and stimulating nature of such an atmosphere; 

 yet such is the obstinacy and ignorance of grooms 

 in general, that they cannot be prevailed upon to 

 abandon this injurious practice. Even at this time 

 stables are generally built too low, and unprovid- 

 ed with eSectual means of ventilation. 



A stable should be as lofty as it can be made 

 conveniently, at least twelve feet ; the foul air 

 will then circulate in the higher parts, and the 

 animal will not be constantly breatliing an un- 

 wholesome atmosphere, which he must do when 

 the ceiling is scarcely higher than his head. — 

 Proper apertures must be also made in the ceil- 

 ing, communicating with the atmosphere by square 

 wooden tubes, so contrived as not to admit the 

 rain into the stables ; the foul air and other un- 

 wholesome vapours will then readily pass off, 

 while a proper quantity of fresh air may be ad- 

 mitted by means of windows. The next circum- 

 stance to be attended to is nearly connected with, 

 and not less important than ventilation ; namely, 

 the so constructing a stable, as to be able to regu- 

 late it's temperature, or keep the air at any de- 

 gree of heat that maybe thought proper. It is 

 generally allowed, that a unitbrin temperature in 

 a stable is very desirable ; and it is certain, that 

 many of the diseases of horses are cau.sed by 

 sudden changes in tliis respect. Even slight varia- 

 tions of temperature, if frequent, are injurious ; 

 yet few .stables are to be found, where this incqH- 



