FESSENDEN'S 



AND 



®mA®^i©Aa ®Amiiam^ 



Devoted to the Culture of Silk, Agriculture, and Rural Economy. 



VOL. 1. 



BOSTON, AUGUST, 1835. 



NO. 4. 



PUBLISHED MONTHLY BT 



GEORGE C. BARRETT, 



51 4- 52 jyoHh Market St., at the JV. E. Farmer Office. 



T. G. FESSENDEN— Editor. 



Fifty cents per year — twelve copies for five dollars 

 — always in advance. 



0= Postmasters and Agents allowed 10 per cent on 

 all subscribers. 



BOSTON, AUGUST, 1835. 



FACTS AND OBSERVATIONS REIiATIVE TO 

 THE CUIiTURE OF SILK. 



SILK MANUFACTURERS. 



The first steps in the manufacture of silk are 

 within the farmer's immediate department, viz. to 

 sow the mulberry seed, and rear the young trees ; 

 and after two years of attendance, the raising of 

 silk may commence in good earnest, and will be- 

 come a pleasant and healthy business for children 

 and young women. This rich crop will require 

 but two months' care to secure it, and when the 

 business shall flourish on a large scale, which we 

 hope Avill ere long take place, the raising of the 

 mulberry trees, feeding the silk worms, and the 

 manufacturing of the cocoons will be considered 

 as much a part of good husbandrj'^. as the rearing 

 of neat cattle, sheep, &c. Silk worms will be- 

 come a part of a farmer's stock, and cocoons his 

 produce as commonly sent to market as butter, 

 cheese, &c. The windin ' and reeling of cocoons 

 may or may not be performed in the family and 

 by the fireside, as the cultivator's help or circum- 

 stances may admit ; but the cocoons will be as 

 much cash articles as beef, corn or cotton. 



Great advantages will accrue to the younger 

 members of farmer's families from silk culture. 

 Farmers' daughters in limited circumstances, but 



of respectable standing and connexions may find 

 a profitable and pleasant employment at home, in- 

 stead of being compelled by penury to seek an 

 asylum from want in cotton factories, or the 

 kitchens of their more wealthy neighbors. Poor 

 people may find profitable employment, rich 

 people innocent and pleasant amusement in the 

 different branches of the same occupation. Some 

 of the processes necessary for converting mul- 

 berry leaves into the multifarious manufactures in 

 which silk forms the whole or an important part, 

 may be performed by a child or an idiot. Other 

 manipulations connected with the same business re- 

 quire consummate skill, and long pi-actice to insure 

 their proper performance. Ignorance of an art 

 can be no apology for idleness when knowledge is 

 not necessary for its prosecution ; and every 

 human being of every grade of intellect, or 

 strength, mental or corporeal power, if not an in- 

 fant, insane or bed ridden, may find something 

 connected with silk culture adapted to his or her 

 faculties, and calculated to furnish useful employ- 

 ment. 



The mechanical part of reeling silk in France 

 and Italy is performed entirely by women. There 

 are in those countries what are called great and 

 small filatures. The former are large establish- 

 ments, in which from 50 to 500 reels are at work ; 

 the women employed there are under the 

 superintendence of a director, who is thor- 

 oughly acquainted with the mechanical as well as 

 the mercantile part of the business. These di- 

 rectors are brought up to the profession. The 

 women employed in these large filatures are well 

 paid, and generally remain there till the end of 

 their days. The small, or as we should call them 

 domestic filatures, are carried on in families by 

 the farmers' wives and daughters, who work from 

 one to five reels, with cocoons of their own rais- 



