1' 



SILK MANUAL, AND 



the merits of the machine, I thought best not to 

 purchase the right, until I had tried it ; I am well 

 pleased with it, and have been anxious to obtain 

 the right. 



I bave succeeded well, and my success has 

 encouraged a iHunber of my acquaintances to 

 turn then- attention to the business, some of whom 

 i have promised machines to, on the credit of ihv 

 havmg offered me the right of the State, either as 

 thy agent, or un.ier purchase of thee. Havin<r 

 tried the machine, and a'so Jiaving ascertained 

 that the de.nand for it is likely to be greater than 

 I expected last spring, I a,n willing to give thee 

 for this State. 



l.nonn """',' '^'^^'"''^ ^ succeeded in getting 

 150 000 eggs last spring ; they hatched and did 

 well w.th me, and I have aiiout engugh prepared 

 lor the loom to make one hundre.I yards, seven 

 eighths wide. I expect to make upwards of three 

 hundred yards out of my croj-, and am preparing 

 to go largely mto the business next vear Th? 

 machine meets my expectation every way ;' all the 

 fault I hud w.th it is, 1 have not spind'es enou-^h 

 1 have sj.un eight ounces per day with the four 

 Si indies. I want a machine that I can spin two 

 or three pounds a day with. 



I have saved about three millions of e--s for 

 next year; one third of which T expect tTfeed 

 myself, and all of which I expect will be manu- 

 factured in this village at my factory ; I am putting 

 them out to be fed in different neighborhood" 

 VVe feed principally on the native leaf, which we 

 find to do very well. After I get through with 

 feeding my woru.s next s;n-nmcr, I expect to visit 

 your .Mate, and shall call to see thee I h-.ve 

 outa.ned a weaver from London, and we expect 

 o manufacture every thing, from a ribbon to a 

 l>olting cloth. Thine, with respect, T. VV. 



In a previous letter the writer of this request- 

 ed iberty of me to build n machine on a laiee 

 scale, to be pro,,elled by stcai>, power. AUo ,nv 

 agent at Mansfield, Conn, is building a machine to 

 carry many spindles propelled by water power, 

 i bave published the above letter, although the 

 writer dul not expect it to appear in prim. I 

 bave not doubted the propriety of publishing the 

 letter, believing his phi anth.o|>y would be well 

 pleased to be ussful to the |)ublic. 



Adam Brooks. 



(From tlie (.'ene ee (''arniHr.) 



INTRODUCTiOSr OF THE POTATO 



It. Culture, a.,d Advn..l«ge» of u«w Seed. 



That the potato (Solanum tuberosum) is a native 

 ot South America, and was first introduced into 

 ^urope from that country, liy the way of Spain 

 has been placed beyond a reasonable (^oubt f)v the 

 researches of Sir Joseph Banks, and the discove 



nes of late travellers. The first mention made of 

 the root ,s found in a scarce volume printed in 

 15o3 where it is called papas. The potato was 

 introduced into Ireland by Sir Walter Raleigh in 

 1586, and soon found its wav into England 

 They were not much known in London until 

 1650, and at first were cultivated in botani.r j-ar 

 dens only. As an article of food the potato was 

 at first lightly esteemed, and the best methods of 

 producing it little understood, as willappear from 

 the following remark in Evelvn's work: « Piant 

 potatoes on your worst ground, take them up in 

 Novemberfor winter spending ; there will enou-h 

 remain for stock though ever so exactly gather- 

 • ^ .' .'■' ^'"'•'"I's to observe the opposition 

 which Its introduction has in almost everv instance 

 at first called forth ; but, like most other things 

 which possess intrinsic value, it has gradually 

 worked Its way into notice and favor, and is culti 

 vated within the tropics and 64 deg. North, whi'e 

 n seems adapted to most exposures, and everv 

 variety of soil. I„ some parts of Germany the 

 potato did not gain a foothold until 1790- i„ 

 fevvitzerland in 1730, and it was not untd 'thr^ 

 extreme scarcities consequent upon the wars of 

 the French Revolution were felt, that the preju- 

 d.ces against the potato could be subdued in 

 I' ranee, and its culture successfully attempted. 

 iUe extensive culture and use of the potato in 

 l'.uro;;e as an article of food, has unquestionablv 

 added millions to its present i.opu'ation, as it has 

 Pievented those distressing fnuines which used 

 so frequently to occur ; and the poor of England 

 and Ireland may forgive Sir Walter for the intro. 

 l.ct.on of tobacco into those countries, when 

 .^ey len.ember that to him they also owe the po- 

 tato, a root which constitutes iheir chief support 

 it appears to be n<,w pretty generally acknowl-' 

 e'.^ed, tliat the maximum of the duration of life 

 .n vegetables, as well as animals, is determined by 

 a law of nature, under whatever circumstances 

 tne individual may be placed ; and Mr Shirreff 

 III the London Horticultural Transcript, maintain.' 

 that in England not a healthy plant of any kind 

 of potato that yields balls or seeds, and which was 

 JU culture twenty years ago, can now be found- 

 and every agriculturist of experience in this coun-' 

 ry, winch is probably as favorable to the produc- 

 t.on of the potato as any region of the globe, if 

 they are not prepared to go as far as the EnHish 

 writer, nnist admit, that the most esteemed varie- 

 ties of any given time are very apt to degenerate 

 and become worthless in the space of a fewye^-1 

 Nature obviates this natural process of deteriora 

 t.on, by reproducing the individual from tbe seed '; 

 and in England, this plain course of producil 

 new varieties or renewing old ones, has been 

 adopted with great success. 1 here, mmiy persons 

 are employed in raising what are 'called LdTg 



