VOL. XI. NO. 3*. 



AND IIOIITTCULTUTIAL JOURNAL 



269 



theii-eiifiiiies (iiul tlietii on the plains of Lexington 

 and on the lieiglus of Charlestown. — These were 

 Farmers' batiks. 



I miglit go on to show that .agriculture is emi- 

 nently calculateil to nurture all their moral virtues 

 in their genuine simplicity and sincerity, and though 

 it does not give that artificial refinement and grace 

 to manners called politeness, it gives what is more 

 valuahlc, an open, manly, generous sincerity ol' 

 manners. 



The agricultural arrangements of New England 

 have done more than most are aware towards form- 

 ing that inexplicahle and unique character, which 

 distinguishes NewEngiandmen and their descend- 

 ants from all others of the hmnan family, and 

 makes them to foreigners a riddle not easily solved. 

 The hearing of a New-England agriculturist is not 

 that of a southern planter, formed hy commanding 

 slaves; nor that of the English landholder, formed 

 by " grinding the faces," and receiving the sup- 

 plications of a dependant tenantry. Nor does the 

 New England day-laborer exhibit any thing of the 

 obsequiousness and servility of spirit manifested hy 

 the slave or the tenant. The New-England char- 

 acter and spirit were formed, by being both the 

 owner and tiller of the soil ; a character which is 

 the result of feeling that the individual is an equal 

 among equals, combining in it necessarily all the 

 elements of liberty and self government. 

 (To be continued.) 



From the iVezp York Farmer. 

 OIPORTAXCE OP SILK CULTURE ; AID PROM 

 THE CiENERAL GOVERNMENT REQUIRED. 



The Chinese, knowing the great value of the 

 «i!k manufacture, closely guarded the secret of its 

 management by the most rigid penal enactments, 

 by which means they were enabled for many cen- 

 turies to keep the silkworm from spreading over 

 the world, consequently monopolized the whole 

 business, which was a source of much wealth to 

 their em|)ire. 



Many fruitless attempts were made by crowned 

 heads to obtain the worms, and to learn the mode 

 of their management, but for a long time without 

 success. 



The prospect of great reward at length put a 

 few eggs of the silkworm in possession of the 

 Emperor Justinian. From this small beginning 

 all the silkworms in Western Asia, Europe, and 

 America, have been produced. England, Holland, 

 Germany, Russia, and Sweden, are fully aware of 

 the importance of the silk business. France more 

 than any other nation of Europe, is deriving her 

 power and greatest resources from the culture and 

 manufaciure of silk. 



Our treasury returns for several years past,show 

 that the silk imported and consumed in the States 

 is more in amount than the bread stuff" exported. 

 Silk may be successfully and advantageously culti- 

 vated in every state in the Union. Experiments 

 have sliovvi! American silk to be superior in color 

 and texture to the silk of any nation. Other agri- 

 cultural labor will not be lessened by such culture. 

 The condition of the poor will be much improved; 

 the young and infirm will make good silk cultu- 

 rists. 



The climate of England is too damp and cold 

 to propagate the silkworm. America may yet reap 

 great profit on the raw silk as an article of export. 



Jay made no mention of cotton as an article ol 

 American production, in his treaty with England, 

 1794. Tlie present year's crop of cotton is worth 



about thirty millions of dollar;.!.' Many of our citi- 

 zens, who about 38 years ago planted cotton seed, 

 may be living witnesses of the fact that cotton is 

 the first staple in the states. A large portion of 

 those who are now planting the. mulberry seed, 

 niay live to see raw silk the second grand staple 

 of our country. The state of Connecticut has 

 taken the lead in the growth and manufacture of 

 silk. Many of her citizens are entitled to great 

 credit for their persevering and patriotic eflxirts. 



Mansfield has been engaged more or less in the 

 raising of silk ever since 1760, and the quantity 

 gradually increasing. Windham and Tolland coun- 

 ties have ])roduccd for the last year raw silk snffi- 

 cieut to employ fifty five looms, which would 

 manufacture about 30,000 yards per year, say 

 vesting and other broad goods. 



Considerable quantities of silk goods have been 

 produced by the enterprising perseverance of Mr. 

 Rapp of Economy, in Pennsylvania. Superior 

 specimens of what misrht be accomplished by a jiuli- 

 rious JVational fostering were exhibited last Winter at 

 If'asliington, by the venerable and learned Mr. Du- 

 ponc.eau. Many other parts of the Union have pro- 

 duced specimens of silk stuffs and sewing silk; the 

 latter article is found the most profitable, yet in 

 manufacturing this, a great drawback to profit is 

 experienced from not systematically nnder.standing 

 the art of filature, or reeling the silk from the co- 

 coon. — In other countries, where sewing silk is 

 manufactured, the tow of the silk is worked in, 

 but we are obliged to make use of the best part of 

 the fibre. Our sewing silk is stronger than the 

 Italian, but in consequence of our defective reel- 

 ing it is very wasteful, diflicult to keep from tan- 

 gling, &c. The finishing of piece goods suffers 

 from the same cause. 



It must be obvious that something is materially 

 wrong in the silk operations of our people, or the 

 manufacturing of it would ere this be entered into 

 much more generally. 



The culture of silk was attempted in Virginia a 

 century and a half before cotton was brought into 

 notice. The growth and manufacture of cotton 

 has progressed with astonishing rapidity — the value 

 of our cotton manufactories is immense.* It is 

 now oidy 2.5 or 30 years since it was thought the 

 ingenuity of our people would not he equal to man- 

 ufacture as good and as cheap goods as the once 

 celebrated India Baftas and Huinnnuns. A very 

 short period of experiment drove this very inferior 

 trash from our shores. The bare mention of such 

 fabrics being once in so general use in our coun- 

 try, causes almost as much risibility as the fact of 

 importing building brick from Holland. Our cot- 

 ton goods now find their way to the Indies; our 

 bricks are equal to any in the world ; and with a 

 little national protection, we will soon cease im- 

 porting silk, and have raw silk to spare for.a profit- 

 able export. 



Many of the states, by their public acts, have 

 shown their very decided opinion of the immense 

 importance of the culture of silk, as a great and 

 conmianding National object ; yet still, this grand 

 object lingers. 



The chairman of our Congress Committee on 

 Agriculture, 1832, speaking of the manufacture of 

 silk, remarks, " On an experiment untried in this 

 country, and requiring considerable cai)ital, a re- 

 liance on individual enterprise woidd be at least 



problematical ; and it is not to be expected that the 

 several states will ever be found to act in concert 

 so as to attain the result which a national opera- 

 tion is calculated to procure." 



If the manufactureof silk should ever be under- 

 taken upon an extensive scale in the United States, 

 Congress must give us a National School, to teach 

 the whole process of silk work, but more particu- 

 larly the important art of filature. 



The eight millions of dollars sent annually out 

 of the country lor si Ik, in its various forms, can 

 be saved, and it is as well to begin now as wait 

 another century. A. W. 



■h, Jan. 1, 1833. 



ITEMS OF ECONOMY, ARTS, &c. 



Bituminous Coal. The United States Gazette 

 states in substance that a company called the 

 "Philipsburg and Juniata Company" has been 

 formed to open a direct comniniiication between 

 the inexhaustible mines of bituminous coal in 

 Clearfield, and the Philadelphia market. Anthra- 

 cite coal is not suited to many of the purposes for 

 which bituminous coal is used, and it is intended 

 by the Company to supply not oidy Pliiladelphia, 

 but New York, Boston, and Baltimore with that 

 valuable combustible. 



Protection of Lambs and Geese. It is but little 

 known, but is nevertheless a fact (says the Portland 

 Mirror) that a little tar rubbed on the necks of 

 your lambs or geese, will prevent the depredations 

 of foxes among them, these animals having an un- 

 conquerable aversion to the smell of tar. 



Jin Entire Sivine. — John Satterthwaite, of 

 Wayncsville, Warren co. Ohio, recently sold a 

 hog of his feeduig, for $2.5. The animal is only 

 three years old, and is said to weigU fourteen hun- 

 dred pumids — bis length from nose to root of tail, 

 seven feet six and a half inches — circumference 

 round the loins, seven feet ten and a half inches. 



Increase of American Tonnage. — It is stated in 

 the New York Courier and Enquirer u|)on what 

 is considered to be good authority, that there are 

 now on the stocks in the United States, one hun- 

 dred and thirty ships, averaging more than three 

 hundred and fifty two tons each. Of this number 

 it is said that upwards of seventy are built east of 

 Boston. 



Railway Anecdote. — A manufacturer from Man- 

 chester left home in the morning for Liverpool to 

 buy cotton ; having completed bis purchases, he 

 found on his return at noon, that his partner had 

 made some large sales in his absence; and after a 

 short consultation, it was determined that he 

 should immediately go hack to Liverpool, and se- 

 cure the remainder of the parcel, which he did, 

 and was at home again early in the evening, hav- 

 ing travelled a distmice equal to one hundred and 

 forty-four miles by the turnpike road, in twelve 

 hours, besides transacting important business. — 

 .\Iiles on Railways. 



To Restore Manuscripts become Rlegiblefrom 

 Time. — Moisten the writing gently with a decoc- 

 tion of gall-nuts, in which a little vinegar has been 

 infused. 



* Tlie liomo cuLisunipiioii ot Fllw cuUon has increased 600 

 per ceiil, wl.hin ilie last IG years, vviiile itiat of Great Brilain 

 lias onljr increased 220 per cent in 21 years. 



The land ujion which Cincinnati, (Ohio,) ia 

 built, is said to have originally cost $49. It con- 

 tained 640 acres, or a quarter section. Now, (in 

 1832) some part of it is said to be worth 30 dol- 

 lars a foot. 



