788 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 12 



Buppoaed the ^reat maps of persons engaging in 

 the silk business woiiki feed. I was often obliged 

 to leed roet leavctJ, owing to the Irequent long 

 elorms, and the worms appeared to experience no 

 injury whatever Irotn this. Still I did not consider 

 it salii to leed leaves gathered in the storm, and 

 drippinii wet; and in our attempts to dry the leaves, 

 eome became wilted and were thrown away. The 

 worms also were always ahunilantly led, and a 

 partial waste ofieaves frequently no doubt occur- 

 red in this way. These things, together with the 

 loss of perhaps the value of near one lb. of reeled 

 eilk. by worms falling from the shelves, would vary 

 the result a little, and might show that 190 lbs. of 

 leaves would produce one lb. of reeled silk. 



I do not doubt, but that under the most favor- 

 able circumstances a Hmv lbs. of cocoons might be 

 produced on 10 or 12 lbs. of leaves to the lb. of 

 cocoons. Nor do 1 doubt that one lb. of reeled 

 Bilk may be produced from 8 lbs. of cocoons, or 

 even less. iMmh depends on the quality of the 

 cocoons, and more on the lime when they are 

 weighed, whether in a fresh and green, or entirely 

 dry state. I could have selected from my lot, even 

 in a fresh state, 8 lbs. of cocoons, which would, be- 

 yond all question, have produced one lb. of reeled 

 eilk — but this would be no test of the profit of the 

 business. The public do not wish to know so 

 much the very maximum that can be made, as 

 what may be regarded an ordinary standard for 

 every prudent farmer — and I an) now perfectly, 

 persuaded, from two years experienced that [ am 

 not greatly mistaken. 



Last year I produced at the rate of 510 lbs. of 

 cocoons to the acre — this year I produced at the 

 rate of 520 — and my deliberate opinion is, that 

 more will fall below this standard than will exceed 

 it — and in one case, where a less qunniity of leaves 

 will give the above quantity of silk, two cases will 

 occur that will require a greater. 



Most happy will I be, and greatly will it be for 

 the interest of the community, if it shall be found 

 on (an her experience that 80 or 100 lbs. of leaves 

 will make one lb. of reeled silk instead of 214 or 

 215, as required in my experiment, for my quarter 

 of an acre did produce 2,576 lbs. of leaves, and the 

 trees were not stripped remarkably close either — 

 then the amount of reeled silk per acre would be 

 the handsome yield of 104 to 128 lbs I ! A result, 

 albeit, which I frankly state, I utterly despair of 

 seeing realized. 



1 have read with great regret many of the cal 

 culations of the day on the subject of silk profits— 

 Bome of them, I sjreatiy ft?ar, are made purely to 

 subserve selfish ends — regardless of the ultimate 

 consequences to the public. Others are undoubted- 

 ly honest, but they are, 1 fear too often the results 

 which are wished, and desired, rather than those 

 which have actually been realized. 



It is not the best way to produce conviction in 

 the minds of men, on a subject like this, to assume 

 facts, and then reason very docjmaiically in regard 

 t.) what may he done, and what ilie calculator will 

 do next ye:ir, or even to take some very fnrtunatc 

 exfierl'neiil iiinde on a fsry sjna/^ scale, and then 

 ''•'"'•, t'ccause one cocoon will weigh so many 

 •^/•nms, then 1.000.000 will produce so many lbs. ; 

 .)'■ lit^c. iiise one tree will yield one lb. of leaves the 

 •first year, and 100 lbs. of leaves will make one lb. 

 of reeled silk— and 10,000 trees will grow on an 

 ;?cre — therefore, an acre will produce 100 lbs. of 



reeled silk the first year — or because the 120th part 

 of an acre will produce so much — then a plantation 

 of ten hundred and twenty acres will produce so 

 much. 1 am pleased to see experiments made 

 with all the accuracy imaginable, even on the 

 smallest scale — <too(\ may result from them — but 

 they are no safii guide for the practical man who 

 is about to embark in a new business. I regard 

 that experiment in this staae of the silk culture in 

 our country, as valuable, when it is made fj-om a lot 

 sufficiently large — wlien this lot is in an average 

 state of cultivation, and when the cocoons may be 

 considered of an average quality. Then, if this 

 shows a reasonable profit, it will accomplish more 

 than whule volumes of calculation, or numberless 

 very small experiments. The quaniity of land 

 named by the committee I regard us sufficiently 

 small for any satisfactory results — and should they 

 continue the liberal policy of ofTering premiums the 

 following year, I would respectfully suggest whe- 

 ther the quantity of land li-om which the experi- 

 ment is made, ought not to be increased. 



But to recur to the matter of profit. The above 

 shews us 48 lbs. of reeled silk, 16 oz. to the lb. aa 

 the product of an acre. If this is worth, as I un- 

 derstand it now is, S6 per lb. then the gross pro- 

 ceeds of an acre will be ^288. The first year, let 

 it be remembered. Or if it should be worth but 

 $4.50 per lb. which is undoubtedly the safest price 

 at which to rate it, the gross proceeds of an acre 

 will then be ^216. 



In regard ;o the cost of production, it is confi- 

 dently asserted by many, that it can be produced 

 lor $2 per lb. Mine cost me much more than 

 this. My experience, however, satisfies me that 

 it can be produced for $2.25 per lb. and I incline 

 to the belief that it may be produced for $2. Pro- 

 duced on the fiirm in a small way, the cost will be 

 next to nothing — the whole product will be clear 

 gain. Now take the product of an acre as above 

 stated, at $288, and allow this to be made at an 

 expense of $2 per lb. you have a net profit of $192 

 peracre!! Allow the cost of production to be 

 $2.25, and you still have a net profit of $180. 

 Airain — take the product at $216, (allowing the 

 silk to be worth only $4.50 per lb.) and let the 

 cost of production be $2, it gives a net profit of 

 $120 per acre ; but allow the cost of production to 

 be $2.25 per lb. — the sum at which 1 know it can 

 he made — and it still affords us a net profit of .$108. 

 This last, I am persuaded, will be found more near- 

 ly to correspond with actual results. If the price 

 of the silk is more than $4.50 per lb. and the cost 

 of production less than $2.25, so much the better 

 for the culiurist. But the above results, very 

 nearly, are produced in another way. The 

 amount of help necessary to attend to one acre, 

 or to 160,000 worms, would not exceed the value 

 oftwo females, 12 weeks each, and one male, the 

 same time — iruleed, 1 do not believe it would re- 

 quire so much help — hut admitting it should, the 

 maximum average value of this help would be 

 here, .$3 per week, including boarding — that is 

 then the cost of producing 48 lbs. of silk, would 

 he $108. And the value of that silk beinfj as 

 above staled $288, the net profit would be $180!! 

 Or the value being (<nly $4.50 per lb. ; or the frross 

 amount of $216, still the net profit would be $108 

 per acre — exactly the result before slated — and 

 this, let it be observed, is just $4 more than the 

 result shewn by my experiment of last year. 1 



