214 [Senate 



The expense of cutting the bushes, and feeding this lot of 60 lbs, co- 

 coons I am sure did not exceed 10 cents a lb., though I hired cheap. 



There are a few others in this region that hav'e made similar experi- 

 ments with myself in growing silk, and with similar results. Among 

 the number is Mr. George Fitch, South Bridgeton ; Mr. James Wal- 

 ker, Fryeburg ; Mr. James McArthur, Livingston ; Mr. Dillingham. 

 Hebron. 



From this you will see, that we can grow silk even in Maine. I 

 fully believe that this precious and invaluable product may be culti- 

 vated anywhere and everywhere, in our extended country and conti- 

 nent, wherever our favorite crop, Indian corn, can be grown. 



David J. Ogden, Rosendale, N. Y. — I feel deeply interested in the 

 silk business, but since I have attempted it, 1 have met with many dis- 

 couragements. At the suggestion of Mr. Silas Smith of Springfield, I 

 entered on the business in the spring of 1842. I purchased trees suffi- 

 cient to plant 5 acres, but a cold dry spell of weather followed immedi- 

 ately after planting, which killed 3 acres entirely, and about half of the 

 remaining 2 acres. I wrote to Mr. E. Morris for eggs enough to feed 

 from them, and also from 5 acres of the Itahan, which I had to cart a 

 distance of 6 miles, but they suffered very much from a late frost, and 

 consequently I fell short of leaves, and from about 5 oz. of eggs, I had 

 8 or 9 bushels of imperfect cocoons. This year I commenced feeding 

 about 20,000 from my own leaves, which appeared to do very well 

 until about winding time, when all died with the exception of enough 

 to make about 3 pecks of cocoons. Last season I fed in a barn, this 

 season in an upper room of my house on the floor with an even tem- 

 perature, the thermometer not varying 10 degrees. 



My information was very limited prior to my engaging in the busi- 

 ness. 1 subscribed to the silk record, and had Mr. Roberts' work on the 

 Culture of Silk, as my guide. I have observed the habits of the worm 

 very closely and 1 can safely say I have seen all the diseases that it is 

 subject to, and I believe the nearer we can get them to a state of na- 

 ture the greater the success. I feel confident that no plan that 1 have 

 yet seen can compare with Mr. Gill's, although I have not tried it. 

 When I commenced feeding my last crop I put some on the trees, and 

 they grew /our times as fast as those fed in the house; and I beheve 

 froui that experiment, that many diseases originate in the early stages 

 of the worm, that do not show their fatal consequences until the last 

 age. If, therefore, some plan can be pursued that will give them the 

 same amount of free air that Mr. G.'s plan gives them after the second 

 moulting, 1 think our success will be certain. You will please send me 

 one of the Reports of the Convention, and whatever the cost may be 

 I will get it to you. 



My ill success has prevented others in this vicinity from entering 

 into the business. 



P. S. I am requested to mention by Levi McKeon that he has fed 

 from 2 to 3,000 worms for the la.st five years, on a fiat surface, and 

 has not lost over 2 per cent a year, and he thinks the business is 

 practicable. 



