NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



September 26, 1S32 



DKDilAM SIlJv WORKS. 

 Our gonclly tow II ol' DchIIuud, I/kU lair tu lake 

 the le;«l of ail oilier towns, in the coiiiitry in ihi; 

 iriaiiufacttire of a most noble and iin|>:)rraiit arti- 

 cle— that of sn.i.-. Tlinii!^!;li the •■iitiriog psrs«- 

 verance of our touiisiiiaii Jonathan H. Cobb, 

 Esq. this li!thi;r!o nej^lci'tod branch ol" inJnslr.v 

 has been hrougla lo a .Icgree of pcrfn-tion whirh , 

 does honor nut only to liio maniif:ut(!rri- «iul to 

 the town, but to liio Slal;^ Sir C. U.-^ .s(:vcr;!l 

 thousand mulberry trees, but ibe (jnan'.iiy of silk 

 he grows is very inconsiderable, in coinparison 

 with what he inanul'actnrcs. Ilii .siilnnin-; nin- 

 chinciy, propelled by water i)0\ver, is ea(>ab!e of 

 preparing annually 1000 pounds of silk fur the 

 loom. The three Me.«srs Golden and Mr Har- 

 dy, now in Mr Cobb's employ, are from England, 

 and have had much e.\|)erience in the silk busi- 

 ness. There are a number of looms in operation 

 in this town, and several in the neighborinj; towns ; 

 these arc worked by hand, and in most instances 

 by persons in their ow^n abodes. As the culture 

 and mainifacture of silk are daily e.ttending in 

 our country, and many are in want of information 

 on the subject, we have sought and obtained for 

 l)ublication the following correspontlence, from 

 which some useful suggestion may be gathered. 



of gi;od mechanical ingcniii 

 ii, ill a short time, to be 



:y lear;i ciiongh 

 al;ie hiinsolf lo 



will maiie 

 U-iioct olhi 



4, IKU. 



JoNATHiN H.Cobb, Vki. 



Ill four or five families in this town, excejjt my 

 own, silk has been ))ro.liiced the present season. 

 We are all in need of instruction and aid. Will 

 you he good euough, sir, to ausw'er this, and j^^ive 

 us the nssistanco which your experience and su- 

 perior knowledge enable you to im|)ar!.'' VVc 

 wish to be better jyrepared for the operaiioiig of 

 'anoiiicr season than we were for the li>i. 

 ,\ iCu niaeh respect, 1 am yours, 



niDHlM, JIOSS. Sc-lll. 7, lOT. 



Dkar Sir — The result of your cflijris in silk 

 culture seems quite encouraging, and eonhl not 

 have been obtained without considerable patience 

 and perseverance. I should think that you wo^lld 

 make most money out of it by spending your ialjor 

 in producing the greatest quantity of food for the 

 insect, viz: the leaves, in raising the greatest num- 

 ber of cocoons in proportion to your mean.s, and 

 in reeling them into i aw silk in the gum — and stop 

 there. I will buy your raw silk, when reded, aqd 

 pay the fair market price for it, or it will sell \u 

 any par! of Europe. I should be glad lo get it ^t 

 the same price for which 1 get the foreign Calcul- 

 ta silk, for which I have paid !J3,75 in its raw state, 

 hut the price of raw silk varies from 2 to 7 dpl- 

 Itiis according to the nicety with which it is rotl- 



I. The business of manufacturing caimot be 



your obMt sirvanl, 

 JONATHAN 11. COBB. 



&^oLllbcrn Agriculluri9l. 



Dear Sir— As you seem lo nie to stand at the ^a\y\i;i\ through all its processes in one family to 



head of the silk growing branch of iheagricultur 

 of Massachnsells, you will permit a stranger, a 

 citizen of the state, to .-.ildress you on that subject. 

 You must know then, sir, that I am one of the 

 e/ecierf clergy of old Mass. and am j-educed io the 

 necessity of trying the friendship of mother Ear;l), 

 as the only means left me to a subsistence and a sup- 

 port for my family. And as about 40 years of my 

 life have been passed away in. the theological cul- 

 ture, I have deemed it expedient, and in a manner 

 necessary to devote the small remainder to a bu- 

 siness less laborious than ordinary husbandry to 

 meet the unavoidable imbccilily of .age. 



The raising of silk has seemed to present an 

 opportunity the most eligible of any within the 

 compass of my knowledge. The present is the 

 fourth year from the seed of my mulberry planta- 

 tion, and the second of my aiteinpt at making silk ; 

 both of which have, on the whole, prospered be- 

 vonil my expectation, totally ignorant as I was, at 

 the commencement, of everything pertaining to 

 the art. 1 have 14C0 or 1500 trees in a flourish- 

 ing state, from which between 30 and $40 in sev.- 

 ing silk were realized the last year, to wliich we 

 hope to find sotnething added tlie present, the ar- 

 ticle being not yet quite ready for the market. 

 Our reeling you will pronoimce defective, and 

 much of the profit from oii'r labor, of course, 

 wasted. To this evil we wish to apply a remedy, 

 by substituting something better for the common 

 reel, which, for the present, is the best, and in- 

 deed the only instrument for the purpose, with 

 which we have any acquaintance. We learn from 

 your Blanual, that you have a reel, with which 

 you pre|)are raw silk for the market, whether do- 

 mesiic or foreign. The object of this cor(imnni- 

 cation is, particularly, to obtain from you, sir the 

 information and advice we need, relating to this 

 matter, llow can we obtain your reel, with the 

 requisite knowledge to put it to use ? Would a 



UL'LES FOO. HOUSING AND I'RESERVING 

 SWEET POTATOES. 



Dear Sir — In complwtiice with my promise, I 

 herewith fui;iish you with the ruli.'S by wdiich I 

 iic'.ve bien governed for many years in putting up 

 my potatoes. I have been very successful in fol- 

 lowing thciti, and I hope they may prove benefi- 

 cial lo others. The first thing to be considered is 

 the cellar, and 1 would roeonimend — 



IhI. The rails or puncheons to be split in July, 

 or the first of .\ugust, and stacked up for drying. 



i!d. The cellar lo stand east and west, with the 

 door in the centre and perpendicular, to face the 

 sun the most part of the day. 



3d. To he made on as dry and high a spot and 

 convenient for draining as possible, and made at 

 least five weeks before wanted. 



4ih. To be double banked, by making a coarse 

 frame to support the same. The earth to be tak- 

 en four feet liom the foot of the cellar all around, 

 about three feet wide, eighteen or twenty inches 

 deep ; in this dilch, never let any water rcmaii!, 

 but keep it perfectly dry. 



full. To be supported inside by short crutches, 

 standing three fest high wit!) poles, or nils laid 

 lengthways in those crutches. By thus sni ; i>rl- 

 ing your cellar, it will lust you two years with 

 safely, by airing it. When your cellar is finished, 

 small fires to he made at each end, that it may be 

 pcriLCiIy dry and di tir of damp. 



(ilh. The cellar to be [lerfectly tight, with no air 



advantage. 1 have spent considerable time and 

 nonoy in the manufactory, and have at last got to 

 such a degree of perfection that I can compete 

 with the foreigner in some articles. The silk, 

 after being reeled, passes through my press — hard | holes left — to have two doors, one a tight door for 



silk engine, where it is wound from skein to bol 

 bin— clearing frame, where it is cleared of knobs 

 and husks — spinning frame, where it is twisted 

 single from spindles — tramming machine, where 

 it is doubled till it makes a thread of any size re- 

 quired — throwsting machine, where it is again 

 twisted together any number of twists to the inch 

 required. It is then cleansed by boiling out the 

 gum, &c. — then dyed — then wound on bobbins — 

 it is then fit for the weaver's use. I have manu- 

 factured from two to three hundred weight of 

 silk the ])ast season. I inclose a sample of my 

 vesting. I make furniture bindings, suspender 

 webbing, handkerchiefs, vestings, and anything 

 that will pay — the hosiery made from my sijk, 

 woven at a factory in Boston, is much preferred to 

 the imported, and sells to a better profit. 



The art of reeling is what seems to be most 

 wanting in this country, and should receive some 

 state patronage. My reel answers the purpose 

 for (aniilies very well. I reel the silk that 1 raise 

 on il, and will furnish one of the reels, and learn 

 a person to work on it, for §25. I have sent one 

 of them to Rhode Island and one to Connecticut. 

 The art of reeling maybe acquired, by paiicnee 

 and experience, to as great perfection as it has at- 

 tained anywhere ; but the learner is slow at the 

 beginning, and I cannot aflTord to learn people for 

 nothing, and find them board and silk to waste, as 

 they necessarUy must waste some at first. If yon 

 should think it worth while, several of yuiir neigh- 

 bors might join and have a reel made — 1 will un- 

 dertake to have one completed for you in a month 

 — then send down an intelligent young man, an, I i 

 will show him so that with a little practice he 



the inside, the other a slat door hung on, and op- 

 ening on the outside ; the slat will admit the re- 

 quisite air as much as it may be necessary. 



7lh. The ])iiie-trash to he well dried as usual, 

 and laid in the cellar six inches thick at least, and 

 if dried a second day, it would be of advantage. 



8th. To begin with your [)0tatocs — make four 

 sortmeuls in the field ; 1st, all that are the least 

 touched with liust or eliilled— 2d, all that are cut 



3d, seed — 4lh, eatable potatoes — to be harvest- 

 ed free from any kind of wet or rain, and brought 

 in by sun-set, and on no consideration move them 

 a second lime, but put them where .vou intend to 

 keep them from the first move out of the fiidd. 



Dth. On commencing your housing, small fires 

 t'o be made in anything eonveni( nt, say a large 

 pot, ;vith a lilile earth in the bottom, every eve- 

 ning, until all are housed ; your slat door then to 

 he used, leaving the inner one open, and admit the 

 air freely every morning, bin sbiil in lime, say two 

 or three hours before .suii-s.,!. 



JjTow, having hous(-d } our crop, you will find 

 considerable damp, init not deiriuiental, if you 

 will pay attention to it, wliich is one of the princi- 

 pal .secrets to he ohser.W;<l. On seeing this in a 

 moist niOrning _U)n must have a small fire or a 

 sinokc of lightwoixi or pine bark made to clear up 

 ibis dam)), anil sometimes a second fire will be 

 requisite, of « hieh, you will be the best judge 

 w^hen siiffitieni. Oi-serve to keep the tight, or in- 

 ner door, open at the same time and they will 

 soon iiecome cool. In a state of moisture your 

 potatoes will remain for ten or twelve days. .Af- 

 ter ibis, you will find them become more cool and 

 much less daiii[i in your cellar, which you should 



