60 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



Sept. 7, 1831. 



!«»ilk niid !^ilk Worms. 



From the Lowell Journal. 



SILK I« A N U F A C T U 11 E . 



NO. II. 



The culture of silk, lias, from the first coloniza- 

 tion of this country, more or less engaged the 

 attention of the American people, yet nothing has 

 resulted from it beyond the fabrication of an infe- 

 rior kind of sewing silk, which ran only be ap- 

 plied to domestic uses. Those who have written 

 on the subject have in vain atlem|)ted to discover 

 tbe causes of this failure. It appears to me that 

 the whole may be referred to one single cause — 

 the want of knowledge of the art to transform 

 the produce of the American silkworm into a 

 saleable article. Cocoons, it is well known, can- 

 not be transported across the ocean ; for in 10 or 

 15 days they become mouldy, and are of no val- 

 ue. Therefore it is necessary that the silk should 

 be extracted from them, before it can be shipped 

 to those countries where it is manufactured. But 

 that cannot be profitably done without a perfect 

 knowledge of the art of reeling it, to suit she vari- 

 ous kinds of stuflTs to be made out of it, and that 

 art, simple as it may appear, re(iuircs nmcb time 

 and labor to acquire, in order to make the mate- 

 rial fit for sale. So long as the art of making 

 exportable silk shall not have been introduced into 

 the country, there will not be sufficient induce^ 

 ment for the American farmer to attend to the 

 production of silk worms. 



Why is the best silk employed and turned into 

 sewing silk, for which there is always waste or in- 

 ferior silk enough, and why is not the best silk 

 kept for the loom ? The answer is obvious — be- 

 cause the people do not know bow to prepare it 

 in any other form, so as to make it fit for sale. 



We have great confidence tb»t the enterprising 

 and distinguished jintrons of domestic industry 

 and American manufactures will not omit this fa- 

 vorable op])ortunity for erecting the necessary ma- 

 cliiiiery to prepare the raw silk for foreign mar- 

 kets. If a Filature shall be erected at Lowell, 

 they may purchase and prepare for market, all 

 the cocoons in New England, and thereby super- 

 sede the erection of similar machines. The in- 

 dustrious farmers of Connecticut are extending 

 their plantations of mulberry trees to an almost 

 uidimited extent ; and will be compelled to erect 

 a filature in that vicinity ; unless there shall be 

 one erected in some neighboring State where they 

 may find a market for their cocoons. — One gen- 

 tleman on the banks of the Connecticut river has 

 planted the present year two hundred and fifty- 

 six ounces of white Italian mulberry seed, from 

 which be will grow several millions of trees, and 

 his neighbors are following his example. The facts 

 within the knowledge of the writer of this article 

 justify him in the opinion, that thirty millions of 

 trees will be produced the present year, in addi- 

 tion to the large stock on hand, in the small state 

 of Connecticut. This fact should not discourage 

 our farmers from commencing their plantations, 

 for if each state in the Union should produce one 

 hundred millions of trees, the demand for raw 

 silk could not be satisfied. V. 



We have the aihlitiomd gratification of being 

 able to state, that the raising of sidi worms has 

 considerably increased throughout the United 

 States, an(l that the farmers of Poniisylvrtnia al 

 east, have satisfied themselves that it gives rise 

 to a profitable employment. The cocoons which 

 were sent to Philadelphia during the last seaFon 

 were purchased by Mr Du Ponceau at 40 cents 

 per pound. Whih^ on this subjectj to whiclfwe 

 hope to have occasion to retiun frequently, we 



1 call the attention of our readers to an inter- 

 esting article on Native Mexican Silk Worms, ipr 



icli we arc indebied to a highly respectable 

 correspondent. 



NATIVE AMERICAN SILK WORMS. 



an^lnlprt f.: 

 Iffirial (Dffi. 



r Uis Clirnnicle of Ihe Tiinps, fiiiin llie Rfgistro 

 iai liPCisler v( Ijie Uriileil Mexican Stales,) of tlw 

 y, 183L] 



etter has been addressed from 



ng Gazette. 



Esq. in Roxbuiy — and must confess that we nev-jand money— in cnuvineing our fellow citizens of 

 er before felt the least interest in ttiis important the importance of this new branch of industry, 

 branch of Natural Economy, until we saw these and providing for our country, the means of se- 

 bnsy bodies at work. It has led us to read and re- ctiriiig its benefits 

 fleet a little upon this subject. 



The two following alleles are taken from the 

 Baltimore Chronicle of the Times, which is edited 

 by Professors Ducaten and Salvert, of the 

 University of Maryland — and ])rescnis n short, 

 but interesting description, of the nianageiiieiit 

 adopted in the establisiiment of ftl. Dipu.nceac, 

 of Philadelphia, and also some account of the 

 JVative American Silk Worms, in the following ac- 

 count by the editors. 



We have lately taken occasion, during a visit of 

 a few weeks to Philadelphia, to visittbe Silk spin- 

 ning cstablishiiient of the venerable P. S. Du Pon- 

 ceau, Est]. The establisiiment is directed by Mr 

 D'llomergue; and though small, siifticieiitly exten- 

 sive to enable its founder to attain the object 

 which he had in view — namely, to satisfy himself 

 experimentally of the degree of skill required to 

 learn the art of silk spiiiiung. 



A short description of the arrangements adopt- 

 ed in the establishment under D'llomergne's di- 

 rections, may be acce)itable to our readers. It 

 consists in a shed tbirtysix feet long by twenty 

 in breadth, running north and south, the eastern 

 side entirely open, the western exposure but par- 

 tially closed, having six largo sashes usually let 

 down, in order to permit the free circulation of 

 air so essential to the operations to be performed. 

 The entire apparatus and machinery of the estali- 

 lishnient con.-<ists often furnaces built up in ina- 

 onry, with grates for burning charcoal, and co|- 

 per basins for heating the water in w hich the co- 

 coons are placed, and made to connect during tl'e 

 pinning operation, with the reels. These are 

 constructed in the most simple manner. — Ev.ch 

 system of apparatus and machinery is attemled by 

 two females — the spinster, and a little girl who 

 turns the reel. The spinster takes lier situation 

 next to the furnace; she is provided with a basin 

 of cold water into which she dips her fingers, af- 

 ter every immersion of them in the hot water in 

 which the cocoons are placed. Her duty is to 

 prepare the cocoons bj' wiping them for a short 

 the hot water, a!id supplying them with 

 the number of threads to the reel. It is this op- 

 ration, which, although extremely simple in ap- 

 pearance, is attended with difficulties in jn-actice 

 far greater than we had any idea of. We have 

 satisfied ourselves by close examination, by in- 

 quiries from the females, who are now spinning for 

 the second year, and by the full and precise ex- 

 plnnations which were given to us by Mr D'llomer- 

 gue himself, that the art of spinning silk o xini- 

 funnly s;ood quality is a far more ditlicnlt acquire- 

 ment than has been sometimes stated, and is gen- 

 erally thought. 



From these considerations, and a conviction of 

 the iiniiortance to our country of the raising nf 

 silk worms, and the manufacture of its invaluable 

 product, we have no hesitation in subscribing our- 

 selves as the decided advocates of the plan sub- 

 mitted by Mr Du Ponceau, to congress after their 

 request — namely to appropriate a sum of money 

 for the thorough instruction of sixty intelligent 

 young men in the art of spinning silk, under the 

 direction of Mr D'lTomergne. We have the great- 

 est confidence in Mr D'Homcrgue's intelligence and 

 abilities ; we feel the warmest gratitude for Mr Di 



SILK WORMS. 

 We recently witnessed the operation of over 

 4000 SILK WORMS at the seat of Nath'l. Dorr, | Ponceau's patriotic exertions — his sacrifice of time 



mill Fehun 



The following 

 Jalapa to the Board of Directors of the National 

 Industry : 



'The qiian'ity of wild Silk produced by the 

 immense foro.-its of this State, is truly astonishing. 

 — The worms which produce it, feed on the leaves 

 of the i^uayaho, an evergreen with small leaves, or 

 on those of the oak ; but the finest silk is that of 

 the worms which feed on the former. 



These worms, in my opiidou, are those which a 

 Chinese author describes by the name of Tusen- 

 Ki/eii or TiynK-Aiye)), which are raised in that coun- 

 try, and with this silk they make the stuffs which 

 they call Ki/eu-Cheit, which is haandsome drug- 

 set, and so much esteemed ihatsomeliines it sells 

 as bish as the first tissues of China. 



The natives of this State gather that silk in the 

 nionth (if IMairli; they take off the large bags 

 wi h which the cocoons are covered, leaving them 

 exposed to the air during four days, after separa- 

 ti ig from the tree the branches wliirh contain them, 

 in order to free tlieiii from impci-ce|)tible thorns, 

 left there by the skin nf the silk worms, and af- 

 ter cleaning Ihem (as will be seen by the samples 

 Bent here with,) they spin the silk and make girdles 

 therewith, (of which a sampl.i is sent,) which last 

 fifteen or twenty years in daily use; the strength 

 of these ginlles is such, that one having been tied 

 to the horns of a wild bull, resi.steil his efforts for 

 more than twentyfour hours, which was thought 

 a sufficient trial. 



They make here no other use of this l)eautiful 

 silk, and no pains have been yet taken to bleach it, 

 before or after it is manufactured. This silk is 

 gathered in this state by the Mixteen Indians, who 

 come down in the month above mentioned, and 

 also cut off the honey combs from the wild bee 

 hives, and collect in abundance the honey and was 

 which they produce. 



In the vicinity of this city the trees begin to be 

 covered with that valuable Silk, and in the dis- 

 iricts of Dosamalsiipan, Alvarado, and Acoyncnn, 

 and in short in all the finest forests in Ibis State, 

 in which are found the trees above mentioned, it 

 is produced in great abundance. 



The worms have for their enemies certain birds 

 of the size of a tame pigeon, of a gray color, and 

 is known by the name of Pepe, because its whist- 

 ling imitates the sound of that word; they seat 

 themselves on the branches where the bags are 



