26 



SILK MANUAL, AND 



see to this thing, and endeavor to have their fleeces 

 in the finest state possible for the market. There 

 seems to be an indication now, that the manufac-f 

 turer is willing to give a fair price for fleece wool, 

 and it is no more than just that the wool-growers 

 should meet him in as fair a manner ; with a good 

 well washed article. By so doing the buyer will 

 be the gainer, the seller will be the gainer, the 

 State will be the gainer — all will be gainers. — 

 Maine Farmer. 



Rhode Island Silk. — A few months since, 

 we gave some account of the operations of the 

 Valentine Silk Company, in this city. They were 

 at that time just getting their plantation of Mul- 

 berry trees under way, and had commenced oper- 

 ating some machinery by way of expei'iment. 

 Since that time, they have manufactured a con- 

 siderable quantity of rich and beautiful goods, and 

 have been so fidly satisfied with the result of their 

 experiment, that they have fitted up, in the vicinity 

 of the Steam Cotton Factory, in this city, a build- 

 ing, thirty feet by ninety, three stories high, with 

 a basement, to )je devoted hereafter to the manu- 

 facture of Silk. An engine of six horse power, 

 is already up, and the machinery will be in opera- 

 tion, in the course of a week. Thus as Rhode 

 Island led the way in the manufacture of Cotton, 

 so does she lead in the manufacture of Silk — and 

 we do not doubt that the latter enterprize will prove 

 to be even more beneficial to New England, than 

 the former has ever been. 



The plantation of this Company, noAV contains 

 about 30,000 trees, from four to five years old, and 

 from six to eight feet high. One of the oldest 

 and most eminent silk culturists, in the United 

 States, on examining' this plantation a few days 

 since, expressed the opinion that, for the next five 

 years, hs products would average half a pound of 

 silk to the tree. The silk when wound upon the 

 spool, is worth five dollars per pound. At this 

 estimate, the whole product of the plantation 

 would amount to the incredible sum of $75,000 

 per year. • But admitting — and it is admitted on 

 all hands — that the trees for the next five years 

 will average one-eighth of a pound each, the pro- 

 duct of the plantation will amount to upwards of 

 $18,000 per year. 



It is to be hoped tjiat extensive preparations 

 will be made during the present season, to extend 

 the growth, of what promises to become in a few 

 years, the great staple of New England. It is a 

 staple too, that will require as little protection 

 against foreign competition, as the cotton of the 

 South, and promises to relieve us more than any 

 thing else, from the necessity of calling for the re- 

 vival of the protecting policy, after the period of 

 limitation shall expire. — Providence Journal. 



Silk Culture. — Some of the most important 

 discoveries in science have been the result of ac- 

 cident. Newton's mind was directed to inquire 

 successfully into the principle of gravitation by 

 the falling of a blighted apple upon his head, 

 while i-eposing in the shade of a tree. Faust it 

 is said, was led to the discovery of the art of print- 

 ing by simply noticing the impression made upon 

 a piece of parchment by some hard plate in his 

 pocket. And the famous weighing scales, invent- 

 ed by Mr Thaddeus Fairbanks, of St. Johnsbury, 

 and which, by some, are considered the greatest 

 invention since the steamboat, are said to be the 

 result of hasty cogitation in the workshop. We 

 look at most of the important inventions of the 

 age, and find them so simple in their first princi- 

 ples, that we almost involuntarily ask, why were 

 not these things known before ? Why have we 

 been groping on for years in ignorance of princi- 

 ples so simple, and yet so vastly important in their 

 practical application ? 



The successful culture of silk, in this country, 

 and particularly in Vermont, may be regarded in 

 the light of a recent discovery ; and we are con- 

 fident the time cannot be remote, when our farm- 

 ers in Vermont will be wondering at themselves, 

 that they should so long have deprived themselves 

 of the rich rewards of an appropriate branch of 

 profitable husbandry. We invite the attention of 

 our farming readers in particular to the letter of 

 Ambrose Spencer on the preceding page. The 

 idea of manufacturing silk in poor houses strikes 

 us as very important in relation to N. York. In 

 this State, the manufacture must be carried on if 

 at all, by all grades, for in respect to prqperty, it 

 may be said of us, that we are blest with a "glorious 

 mediocrity." 



The silk business must go ahead. Let every 

 farmer who can try the experiment of raising 

 the mulberry — wherever that flourishes, it seems 

 to be conceded by all that the woi-m will thrive 

 also. Try it. — Vermont State Journal. 



Vaccination. — The discovery of vaccination, 

 as a preventative of that scourge the small pox, 

 was one of the greatest blessings ever conferred 

 upon man. Its absolute efficiency is now estab- 

 lished beyond doubt. The Report of the British 

 Vaccine Institution goes strongly to this point ; as 

 it appears by it, that the deaths by small pox in 

 London, the last year, were only 324 ; being 4000 

 at least less than the annual average of deaths by 

 that disorder before vaccination was discovered, 

 though the population of that city was then more 

 than one third less than it is at present. There 

 were vaccinated, the last year, at the institution, 

 11,571 poor persons; and 83,191 other persons 

 out of the institution. — Essex Register. 



