No. 124. j 189 



is no reason for despondency, but everything to encourage us to pro- 

 ceed in the silk culture. I am sorry I cannot say much of the success 

 of the business in the southern Stales. The people there seem to 

 Jack that individual energy and perseverance, and especialiy that ap- 

 preciation of small things necessary to the success of such a business. 

 But in the north and east, where industry, energy and ingenuity 

 dwell ; and in the west, the great west, the young giant of the world, 

 where enterprise progresses with a whirlwind rush, where every seed 

 that is planted is soon to produce fruit, either from the undiluted 

 richness of its soil, or the indomitable exertions and energy of its 

 people — in both of these sections of our country will the silk busi- 

 ness flourish profitably to individuals, and to our country, until the 

 entries in our custom-house books shall be reversed; until instead 

 of the importation of $20,000,000 of silk, we shall see recorded 

 there the exportation of $40,000,000 worth annually. A few prac- 

 tical remarks may be admissible here. Before we can hope for com- 

 plete success in the silk culture, we must learn more of the minute 

 details; we want more patience in the tedious processes, and above 

 all, as before suggested, we must try to be satisfied wiih moderate 

 but still remunerative profits. We must not expect to make a thou- 

 sand dollars, where the same amount of capital and labor invested in 

 any other business would only make a hundred. We must not expect 

 to rear successfully a million of worms in a space calculated only for 

 a tithe of that number. We must nnt treat the delicate silk-worms 

 as we do our hogs, by throwing a basket of food among them, and 

 then let them take care of themselves. The very nice and delicate 

 operation of unwinding the fibre from the cocoons, must receive more 

 care and attention. We are not spinning cotton, nor wool, nor hemp. 

 The extremely attenuated and lustrous fibre must be gathered upon 

 the aspel with all delicacy and care. The water of the basin must 

 be kept pure, that the lustre of the silk may not be tarnished ; the 

 thread must be kept even, by careful attention to the number of co- 

 coons running off I have seen very little raw silk for sale in the 

 market, prepared as it should be, as it must be, to compete successfully 

 with that from Piedmont. But 1 have seen some (and for such I 

 refer you to specimens in the Hall,) and enough, even in the absence 

 of any other proof of our capacity, to prove our ability to produce 

 as good an article as can be made by any other people under the sun. 

 Let reelers be informed, and always bear in mind, that care and skill 

 will make their pound of silk worth six or seven dollars; whereas 

 carelessness and inattention will make it worth no more than three 

 or four dollars. Will it be believed that two reelers shall each take 

 one bushel of the same parcel of cocoons — being a fair dav's work 

 for each — and one shall produce from her portion, a pound of silk 

 worth six dollars, while the other shall produce the same quantity 

 worth only three dollars, the latter being not even the value of the 

 cocoons before she began to reel them. This is an important point 

 in the silk business. It has always formed the stumbling block to 

 our progress heretofore, but I trust it will no longer be permitted to 

 remain so. The curing of cocoons is another subject of deep interest. 



