No. 124.] 201 



corn crops. Considering how new the silk business is-, and how expe- 

 rimental all our operations hitherto have been, it is to me a matter of 

 wonder and delight to see such a measure of perfect agreement on all 

 essential points. It shows the close attention, and the careful discrimi- 

 nation that have been employed in the business. 



5. The letters were too numerous to be read, in the brief time 

 the convention were in session, and quite a number have been received 

 since its adjournment. Some of these letters contained specimens of 

 manufactured silks, vestings, ladies' dresses, (kc, designed for the exhi- 

 bitions of the Fair: and as they did not reach the city in time for this 

 purpose, they have all fallen, I am happy to say, into my hands. I 

 have carefully put them all into a book, suitable for the pocket, pro- 

 vided for the purpose, with the manufacturer's name attached to each 

 specimen. Hundreds of eyes will see and admire them. 



6. The questions propounded by the trustees of the Institute are given 

 in full in the circular on the first pages of this report. Some of the 

 letters will be unintelligible without referring to these questions. 



7. Every silk-grower will be greatly interested and benefited by 

 carefully reading and studying these letters. He will get many new 

 ideas. The beginner should read them in like manner, and then select 

 one of the best cases and follow it out carefully and fully. I recom- 

 mend this as the safest course in all such cases. Too many teachers 

 will spoil any experiment. 



8. From these letters one thing is very manifest, and that is, that the 

 silk business is extending throughout all our States — that it is assum- 

 ing — has already assumed the character of a regular business in this 

 country. All the elementary questions upon which it is based appear to 

 be settled, and there now remains nothing to forbid its wide extension 

 as rapidly as correct information respecting it can be diffused. 



9. Another thought will strike the casual reader of these letters. It 

 is that almost every body has invented a reel, or a twister, or something 

 else connected with the silk business. Some, of course, must be disap- 

 pointed, for all cannot be best. But the case shows that there has been, 

 in connection with this business, a vast amount of thought and inven- 

 tion, brought into activity — the same as in all other departments of 

 American laboi. J. R. B. 



Letters. 



Timothy Wheelright, Wells, Me. — Have fifteen hundred white 

 mulberry trees set in a hedge, one, two, three, and four years old j 

 cultivate the land on each side with roots. I have also one acre set 

 last year, 4 by 8 feet, and one and a half acres set last spring, 8 by 

 16 feet, intending to fill the ground up hereafter. In the mean time 

 I put in other crops. Last spring I got a few Cantons. They flour- 

 ish finely, better than the Italian. If they stand the winter I shall 

 multiply them by all means. Wishing to learn how to manage the 

 ■worm, I began to feed as soon as I set my trees, and have fed five sea- 

 sons with this result : first year, 1 Ib/cocoons ; second year 6 lbs.; 3d 



[Senate No. 124. J Aa 



