1839] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



143 



fecfs of late frosts on other vegetation, and through 

 the country in general, he adds — "perhaps it may 

 arise from the late frosts in the springs, that we 

 meet with so lew mulberries in France north of 

 the olive district. The profit of that tree is very 

 great; yet the districts where they are (bund in 

 f'rance are very inconsiderable, compared with 

 the exient of the whole kingdom." In a previous 

 passage, (and in his map,) he had divided 

 France, in regard to climate and vegetation, into 

 three regions, described in his own words, as 

 "Isi, the northern, where vines are not planted ; 

 2d, the central, in which maize (or Indian com,) 

 is not planted ; 3rd, the south, in which olives, 

 mulberries, vines and maize, are all found." He 

 afiervvards marks the northern boundary of this 

 olive district, (without the limits of" vvliich "so 

 few mulberry trees were met wiih,") by a line 

 drawn through Montelimart and Carcassonne, 

 which leaves on the Mediterranean, for the whole 

 "olive district," not more than one-twelfth part oi 

 the area of France. And a third of even this 

 email district must be much colder than the rest, 

 and therefore unsuitable, as one extremity rises 

 into the Italian Alps, and the other into the Pyre- 

 nees. Malte-Brun seems to limit the silk produ- 

 cing region to still less space. This author gives 

 but the following scant notice oj'the silk-worms of 

 France, when enumerating the insects which are 

 among the valuable and productive animals of that 

 kingdom : "The silk-worm, habituated to the cli- 

 mate since the time that Louis XI. planted the 

 mulberry tree, forms by its products part of the 

 riches of Dauphiny. The weight of raw silk thus 

 obtained in French manufaciories, is equal to 

 5,200,000 killogrammes." [Universal Geography, 

 France, book 141.] The ancient province of Dau- 

 phiny comprehended the territory in the south-east, 

 which is now divided into the three departments 

 of High Alps, Drom, and Isere; and to this small 

 space, the words of Malte-Brun would seem lo 

 limit silk-culture, considered as either a principal, 

 important, or very valuable employment ofindus- 

 try in France. 



In another part of the same chapter of Young, 

 are the followwing passages. "Mulberries might 

 in France be an object of far greater importance 

 than they are at present, and yet the spring frosts 

 are fatal impediments to their culture." — "Tours 

 is the only place north of the maize climate where 

 they are cultivated for silk with any success." 

 To this testimony of the author of the very small 

 proportion of the kingdom in which mulberry 

 trees were raised, there maybe added the facts 

 that raw silk to the value of nearly 30 millions of 

 livres was imported to supply the manufactures ol' 

 France in 1784, and almost as much the next year. 



These views of the comparative unfriendUness 

 of the climate of France, and even ihatofthe 

 portions of that country most favorable to silk- 

 culture, are very different from the opinions which 

 have prevailed among us ; and which have had, 

 and still have, an unfavorable effect here, by their 

 carrying with them the admission that the climate 

 of the south of France is belter than ours for silk- 

 culture. Those persons, here, who are the least 

 acquainted with the true condition and disadvan- 

 tages of silk-culture in France, set out with the 

 the discouraging admission, that the culture here 

 must be necessarily lees successful, because of the 

 supposed great and superior advantages of the 



milder climate of France ; and that, do what we 

 may. our products and profits cannot compare 

 witii those of France. The better informed, who 

 know the defects of French silk-culture, but who 

 have not the less admitted its superior natural ad- 

 vantages, would thence necessarily infer still 

 worse prospects, and profits altogether insufTicient, 

 for that industry in this country. Thus, to almost 

 all persons, the supposed condition, whether ad- 

 vantageous or otherwise, of silk-culture in France, 

 the silk country of which we know most, operated 

 as a stumbling-block in the way of all efforts in 

 the United Stales. This being the case, it is pro- 

 per that we should more fully discuss this branch 

 of the subject, and endeavor to remove the diffi- 

 cujy, by refuting the position which has so long 

 and so greatly served to discourage effort here. 



Among the best informed persons who have 

 taken this mistaken view, we vvill cite a writer in 

 the 4th volume of the Farmers' Register, whose 

 agricultural opinions are always worth hearing, 

 and who always, even when in error, (which has 

 been rarely the case,) maintains his ground most 

 ably.* His argument is as follows : 



"The culture ofsilk was a favorite object of at- 

 tention in Virginia, Georgia, and other parts of 

 our country, at a very earty period. The project 

 seems to have been lost sight of for very many 

 years, until lately, when it has been revived wit.^i 

 increased ardor, to the north as well as the south, 

 and has occupied no inconsiderable space in your 

 cohimns. In the numerous publications on the 

 subject that I have looked over, I do not remem- 

 ber to have met with one word of discouragement. 

 I should not feel disposed, were it in my power, 

 to discourage it altogether; but all will agree, that 

 the difficulties attending it, if any, should be fairly 

 stated, and that those who engage in it, should ba 

 enable to act '■^ understandingly?'' 



"Having paid some attention to this matter, \ 

 will give you the result of my inquiries, and cer- 

 tainly have no wish that my opinions should pasa 

 for more than they may be found to be worth. 



"From all that I have been able to learn, the silk- 

 culture has never been carried on extensively and 

 with success in climates where the co!d of winter 

 is long or severe, or in countries that are not well 

 peopled. In China, the breeding of silk-worms, 

 and the manufacture of silk, have been carried on 

 for thousands of years, and at this lime, employ a 

 considerable part of the crowded population of 

 that immense empire. It has long since been ob- 

 served, and I believe, is undoubtedly true, that no 

 two distinct countries, in the same parallels of la- 

 titude, resemble each other more in climate, than 

 China and the United States. In turning over 

 the pages of Staunton, Barrow, and other travel- 

 lers in China, I was struck with the circumstance, 

 that in going from north to south, they did not 

 find the cotton plant an object of cultivation, till 

 they came lo about latitude 38, and then only on a 

 small scale, till they had gone some distance fur- 

 ther south ; showing a striking coincidence, in this 

 respect, between that climate and ours. The cul- 

 ture ofsilk, does not seem to have extended so far 

 to the north, by several degrees of latitude. In 



* This correspondent was John Wickfiam, esq. Ttie 

 recent death of this powerl'ul reasoner and enligfitened 

 agriculturist, permits his being now here named with- 

 out impropriety. 



