FESSENDE N'S 



isms m^sfw^ 



AND 



Devoted to the Ciiltme of Silk, A.§ri-iciiltiire, ami Sl«i-al EcoiiDJny. 



VOL. II. 



BOSTON. JUNE, 1836. 



NO. 2. 



PUBLISHED MONTHLT BY 



GEORGE C. BARRETT, 



51 8f 52 JVorth Market St., at the J^. E. Farmer Office- 

 T. G. FESSENDEN, Editok. 



Fifty cents per year — twelve copies for five dollars 

 — always in advance. 



513= Postmasters and Agents allowed 10 per cent on 

 all subscribers. 



BOSTON, JUNE , 183G . 



SILK GROWIjV& KSTAiiIiISH3IKKT, 



Estimate of the expenses and proceeds of a silk grow- 

 ing establishment, for seven years, commencing with 

 only two hundred young trees or cuttings of the 

 Chinese mulberry ; chiefly intended to show that it 

 may be successful jly commenced and pursued without 

 capital. 



If there is a person in the world whose mind 

 has not been warped and biased by the influence 

 of hereditary prejudices and fashionable opinions ; 

 should that person bo asked what human being is 

 entitled to the highest veaeration and esteem of 

 his fellow beings, he would answer, the person 

 who should devise the me ms to produce the 

 greater quantity of the most palatable and nutri- 

 tious food for his fellow creatures, at the least ex- 

 pense. Should he be farther asked, who is enti- 

 tled to the next i-ank in public esteem, his answer 

 would be, he whose talents produces the same ef- 

 fect with respect to clothing. In other words, the 

 most exalted rank belongs to the best agricultu- 

 turist: and the next to him, vyhose inventive ge- 

 nius has effected the greatest improvement in the 

 quantity and quality of clothing at the least or a 

 given price. 



How enviable, then must be the situation of 

 that person, in whom is united both these titles, 



and whose employment is, at the same time, as 

 lucrative, as healthful, and as pleasing as it is use- 

 ful to mankind. 



Such an employment, with such advantages, 

 and if well conducted, certainly and clearly enti- 

 tled to such honor and respect, is now fairly pre- 

 sented to the people of tiie United States in the 

 business of cultivating silk ; and experiments have 

 fairly shown that there is no deception in the of- 

 fer, but that it may be entered into withoiit any 

 hazard or chance of failure. It embraces all the 

 charms of rural husbanrlry, with as little of the 

 hard labor, as is consistent with bodily health and 

 vigor. Its agricultural department is calculated 

 to furnish. healthful and pU-asant labor, and conse- 

 quently, food to the indigent without servile deg- 

 radation, and it furnishes the richest and most el- 

 egant clothing that man or woman ever put on ; 

 and when fairly introduced, under the advantages 

 which this country offers, its price will never bo 

 beyond the reach of honest industry. And be- 

 sides all this, the profits it will yield will be equal 

 to, or greater than those of any other branch of 

 agriculture or manufacture. Who, then, would 

 not be a silk grower, — especially when the means 

 of engaging in it are within the reach of every one 

 possessed of common mental and corporeal facul- 

 ties, who has credit sufficient to hire an acre of 

 ground, and that even of almost the poorest qual- 

 ity.' 



The ujjimate success and perfect adaptation of 

 the Chinese melberry to every part of this coun- 

 try, are now established by reports of experiments 

 which cannot be doubted, from every quarter. It 

 is now ascertained beyond the need of farther in- 

 vestigation, that it is as hardy to endure the win- 

 ter's frost as the white mulberry, or almost any 

 other fruit tree. It is ascertained that the best 

 ground to appropriate to it, is such sandy or grav- 

 elly and hilly ground as is of little value for most 



