FESSENDE]N*S 



AND 



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



VOL. II. 



BOSTON, MAY, 1836. 



NO. 1. 



PUBLISHED MONTHLT BT 



GEORGE C. BARRETT, 



51 Sf 52 JVbrth Market St., at the JV. E. Farmer Offi^i. 



T. G. FESSENDEN, Editor. 



Fifty cents per year — twelve copies for five dollars 

 — always in advance. 



O" Postmasters and Agents allowed 10 per cent on 

 all subscribers. 



BOSTON, MAY, 183G . 



(From the Connecticut Coiirant.) 

 THE CQIVNECTICUT SILK FACTORY. 



So great is the interest at the present time to 

 onr country in the culture and manufacture of 

 Silk, tliat almost any thing relating to the subject 

 is sure to attract attention. We doubt not there- 

 fore tliat the following Report will be highly ac- 

 ceptable to our readers. It will be gratifying to 

 the public to learn, that the encouragement af- 

 forded by the Legislature to this important depart- 

 ment of industry, has been attended with such 

 beneficial results, and to our citizens especially it 

 must be a source of pride and satisfaction, that so 

 useful and well regulated an establishment as that 

 described in the Report, is located in our city. 



The Committee appointed by the " Hartford 

 Counii) Silk Society, " to examine into the present 

 cflndition and progress of '* the Coimecticnt Si-k 

 Mannfacturitig Company, " have attended to the 

 duty of said appointment, and submit the follow- 

 ing Report. 



On going into the Establishment of said Com- 

 jnny, the Committee could not avoid expressing 

 their satisfaction at the good order, neatness, and 

 comfort which every where appeared among its 

 inmates. The weaving room contains about 100 

 looms, about 60 of which were occupied by neat, 

 industrious looking young ladies apparently from 

 12 to 20 years of age, and while their labor, that 

 of weaving a fabric from two to four inches wide, 

 appeared exceedingly light and pleasant, there 

 was a general contentment, and satisfaction ex- 

 hibited in their comitenances, or by the singing of 

 some sprightly air. 



The charter of the Silk Company provides that 

 the said Company shall instruct one jjerson to be 

 named by each of the County Silk Societies, in the 

 art and mystery of reeling silk without expense. 

 But the Committee learned with great satisfaction 

 that the President of the Manufacturing Compa- 

 ny, Mr Colt, the present director of the establish- 

 ment, is willing to instruct every one who offers, 

 not only gratuitously, but will pay them a reason- 

 able compensation for their services, to the num- 

 ber of two hundred, at least. It is tmderstood 

 that all applicants shall bring evidence of fair 

 moral character, and that their ages shall not be 

 under 15, nor over 40 years. 



As the process of reeling the silk from the co- 

 coons is performed only during the summer, those 

 who apply for instruction in this part of the man- 

 ufacture only, must of course come at that season 

 of the year. But those who remain through the 

 winter will also be instructed in the art of weav- 

 ing Tuscan Straw, and a variety of other fancy 

 articles. 



With respect to the time, and labor required to 

 learn the various arts carried on in the establish- 

 ment, the Committee saw two young ladies who 

 had been only a day or two at work, and were 

 sur[)rised at the facility with which they produc- 

 ed the finest fiibriqs. 



The prices paid per yard for the fabrics depend 

 upon the ease, or difficulty with which jhey are 

 produced, so that with equal industry there is but 

 little difterence in their earnings. On inspecting 

 the day book, the Committee foimd that 60 cents 

 per day is nearly the average sums paid those 

 who had been in the Factory for a few weeks. 



It is the wish and desire of the Silk Com[)any 

 that the farmers should raise the silk, their daugh- 

 ters reel it, and sell it in the raw state to the man- 

 ufactures. After the art of reeling has been ac- 

 quired, the Committee see no difficulty in this ar- 

 rangement, since the reel is a very simple and 

 cheap instrument, and may be had of the Compa- 

 ny at five dollars each, and requires no more 

 room or skill to keep it in order than the common 

 household reel, so universally in use. 



The Committee would therefore recommend 

 that every farn)er who raises only a few bushels 



