3i}5 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



July 



For the yew England Farmer. 



SILK CULTURE. 



Mr. Editor : — In the Farmer of May 27th, an 

 inquiry on tliis subject is presented liy a "New 

 Iluiup.shire Girl." • 



Somewhat more than twenty years have 

 ehipsed since a movement was commenced, in 

 which the writer of this article took a zealous 

 and rather prominent part, to introduce the rais- 

 ing of sillc into ^Massachusetts. Considerable ex- 

 pense was incurred to colonize the mulberry tree 

 and the silk worm from Connecticut. The at- 

 tempt was successful, and prosperity attended the 

 enterprise under the auspices and fostering aid of 

 agricultural societies and the legislature of the 

 State, until a blight came over it in the shape of a 

 disastrous speculation in mulberry trees. The ru- 

 in _ produced by this folly was so signal, as to 

 chill the ardor and stagnate the efforts of many, 

 who had enlisted in the cause with high expecta- 

 tions, and with enthusiasm in due proportion. 

 The waning that followed was even more rapid, 

 than the waxing which had preceded. Still it 

 may be said, that the amount of raw silk pro- 

 duced, and in a fit state for the manufacturer, 

 was quite considerable. The market, however, 

 declined, and was soon at an end. 

 • The last act, on the part of the writer of this 

 article, to sustain an interest to whicli he had de- 

 voted so much attention and labor, was the intro- 

 duction and advocating of a motion, in the Mas- 

 sachusetts Legislature, to encourage females, by 

 bounty, to manufacture sewing silk, which may 

 be done with little outlay. The committee, to 

 which the question was referred, did not report 

 favorably to the plan, and the sun of hope went 

 down in despair. 



Now, in reference to particulars of the infor- 

 mation wanted, it may be said, that the machin- 

 ery for getting raw silk from tlie cocoon is a reel, 

 the cost of which, when the article was in de- 

 mand, was about $10, as manuftictured in vari- 

 ous places ; in Dedham, for one instance, in the 

 vicinity of Boston, (fa how many cocklofts it 

 may be stowed away among other useless lum- 

 ber, for want of employment, is matter of conjec- 

 ture only.) The eggs for the worm may, proba- 

 bly, be obtained any Avhere in the region of silk- 

 growing, and Mansfield in Connecticut, is as likely 

 a place as any to be in a condition of persever- 

 ance, as regards this kind of husbandry. 



Should any one resolve on making a trial of 

 the business, directions how to proceed may be 

 gathered, unquestionably, from the archives of 

 the State, and the New England Fanner also, 

 from witliin the limits of that period especially, 

 ft'hen Rev. Henry Colman was Agricultural Com- 

 missioner, and likewise editor of the New Eng- 

 land Farmer. 



If I could bo of any service to the "New Hamp- 

 shire Girl,'' in the way of offering suggestions, I 

 might address her in a strain something like the 

 following : "Dear Miss, if you have any thing of 

 the spirit, the ardor, the indomitable resolution 

 of Joan of Arc, and can get access to comrades, in 

 any considerable number, of like temperament, 

 sentiments and feelings, disposed to embark with 

 yo!i in a sclieme so doubtful, yet so laudable, 

 bring them together in convention, (female con- 

 ventions you know, are as common as daisies in 



the spring, ) and make formal representation, by 

 resolution, to the conscript fathers, (which in 

 modern dialect means young men , mere striplings,) 

 of the Granite State in legislative halls assembled , 

 that the daughters of the Commonwealth are not 

 averse to sharing in the industry necessary to the 

 commonweal, and would gladly be put in the 

 way of earning and even producing, some portion, 

 at least, of the silks indispensable to the adorning 

 of their persons. They, therefore, humbly peti- 

 sion your honorable body to adopt measures for 

 retaining at home a moiety of the immense sums 

 of money sent abroad for silk goods, and let it be 

 so invested as to give employment to female 

 hands,and shield them from poverty, vice and deg- 

 radation. If this expedient fails, try the agricul- 

 tural societies, and ask them, if it will not profit 

 the country as much, to have our silks produced 

 at home, as to have our soil occupied with other 

 fane}'' articles, which cannot be transplanted from 

 distant regions bu t at great expense. Let cattle,hogs 

 and hens, whicii eat up so much of our farming 

 wealth to gratify a taste for imported stock, re- 

 main where they are engendered, and let the in- 

 dustry which is wanted to give scope to unem- 

 ployed hands and to furnish us with home enjoy- 

 ments, without going f\ir away to obtain them, 

 have the benefit of the outlay." 



The residue of the argument I have in em- 

 bryo. J. F. 



Charlemont, June 8, 1854-. 



INFLUENCE OF MACHINERY ON CIV- 

 ILIZATION. 



The annexed eloquent extract is from iha^'- Phil- 

 adelphia Daily Ledger,'''' — ^a paper always able and 

 uniformly correct : — 



"The influence of these reforms on civilization 

 cannot be estimated too highly. The old preju- 

 dice against machinery, which never had any hold 

 on men of real intelligence, is now disappearing 

 even from the minds of the most ignorant. Every- 

 where the great truth is being acknowledged, that 

 the influence of machinery is to elevate the condi- 

 tion of the human race, by substituting skilled la- 

 bor and directing talent for mere executive work. 

 In other words, men are elevated, so far forth, from 

 machines to makers and controllers of machines. 

 The higher qualities of their nature are being 

 called into exercise. Instead of going tlie same 

 unvaried round of labor for generation after gene- 

 ration, like a blind horse forever travelling the 

 narrow circuit of a mill, they are throwing the 

 burden of all mere mechanical work on machinery, 

 subjecting the dull and inanimate forces of nature 

 to their will, and making iron and steel submissive 

 agents. If the reforms, already made in this di- 

 rection, afford any criterion for the future, the 

 time will come eventually, when nearly all that is 

 irksome in labor will be avoided, and then that 

 part of the curse pronounced on Adam at least be 

 alleviated . 



Yet this aspect of the influence of machinery 

 and civilization, though the most important, is 

 precisely the one least regarded. It is far more 

 common to hear the cheapening effects of machi- 

 nery extolled than to have these enfranchising and 

 elevating influences pointed out. We do not deny 

 that the placing of cottage goods Avith the rcacli 

 of the poorest, has materially improved the physi- 



