SILK MANUAL, AND 



French have made experiments, especially on the 

 Chinese ; and the opinion seems to be, that the 

 Ciiinese mnlherry will bear to have its leaves 

 picked twice off, and thus produce two crops of 

 silk in one year. As yet, however, there is not 

 much use made of the Chinese mulberry, and 

 even here, the grower of silk cannot answer as 

 to its virtues ; — but the answer is often given to 

 me, that, as to the quality and quantity of silk, it 

 is the same as any other mulberry ; and that the 

 quality of the silk depends on the treatment of 

 the worm, and the care and skill in reeling. They 

 pay less attention to the kind of mulberry on 

 which it is fed than we exf)oct. They have also 

 -rriiTtc, rrnii iise TT. Hanii (Tu'ects more in Europe 

 than with us, and therefore I urge that our people 

 make experiments for ihemselves. They should 

 neither take nor reject any thing too quick upon 

 Euro[»ean experience. Climate and circumstan- 

 ces may produce a <lifte!eiit result, and the al- 

 leged exjjeriments of Europe may have been in- 

 correctly and inadequately tried. 



It is a peculiar and important fircumstance in 

 fiwor of the adaptation and fitness of our climate 

 to the culture of silk, that, with us, the silk worm 

 is produced at the beginning of warm weather, 

 in May and June, by the natural temperature of 

 the season, while in Euro|)e, espectally in Italy 

 and France, it is produced only by artificial tem- 

 ])erature and means. The fact is a volume in 

 promise of our country. Fires and a thermome- 

 ter are not used in the south of Italy to secure an 

 equal temperature in the rooms of the worms, nor 

 much used in the north of Italy unless in the re- 

 gion of some snow-capped mountain, or where 

 other circumstances jiroduce sudden inequalities 

 of temperature. It is the same as to the south 

 and north of France. 



The imjdements of husbandry, n either Italy 

 or France, offer not much for the Atuerican fartn- 

 er. Their lands are mostly cultivated with the 

 spade and manual labor, and when the plough is 

 itsed, it is the old fashioned plough on a pair of 

 wheels. Their crops and their cultivation are; so 

 different from ours, that very little ean be learned 

 from them useful to us. Silk, wine and wheat, 

 are their stajjle productions, and to an almost in- 

 credible extent : so it is in France, where the 

 manner of cultivation, and implements of hus- 

 bandry are much the same. Wheat is now so 

 abundant in Italy and France, and the price so 

 low, I found them the other day, at Marseilles, 

 shipping wheat for the New York market I and 

 they would do the same from all farts of Italy, 

 but for their lack of commercial enterprise. Our 

 firmers are nww sheltered by a protecting duty, 

 otherwise their crojs vvotild moulder in their 

 barns; and even New York be furnished with 

 bread from a foreign market. They have felt se- 



cure in their production, and have liot regarded, 

 as necessary to themselves, the system of protec- 

 tion for our domestic products. Should peaco 

 continue a few years longer in Euro|)e, such is 

 the surcharge of labor and power of production, 

 that eveYy product of American agriculture will 

 find foreign competition, even in our own mar- 

 kets at home. The wheat, both in Italy and 

 France, greatly surprised ine ; — the quantity is 

 immense, and greatly beyond my belief till actual 

 observation ; and I have travelled eight or nine 

 hundred miles in France, and have nowhere found 

 sou^r, dark or imperfect bread. Can we do and 

 say the same . in our country? The bread of 

 France certainiy has a decided superiority over 

 ours. 



The agriculture of France is in fine condition, 

 and second to that only of England. It has eve- 

 ry abimdance and the people appear prosperous 

 and happy. The Oiive is a valuable addition to 

 the jiroduction of Italy and France. Our climate 

 will not, perhaps, favor the tree, at least in the 

 northern states ; yet it is of so much value, it 

 should be encouraged. ■ The olive can success- 

 fully be engrafted on the ash tree, and thus, per- 

 haps, it might he acclimated with us. Some such 

 trees, engrafted on the ash, are said to be growing 



at Pistoia, about twenty miles from Florence, 



There is no induceirient in France or Italy, thus 

 to engraft the olive, but the hint is certainly wor- 

 thy the attention of our nurserymen and of our' 

 country. 



Great efforts are made in France to advance 

 the condition of its agriculture. It is ascertained 

 that the increased use of the potatoe has dimin- 

 ished the consumption of wheat for bread. The 

 raising of the beet root for the production of 

 sugar, has, as one of its principal objects the 

 suj)|)lyinga new production for the benefit of the 

 farmer. For the same reason the growing of 

 tnadder is encouraged, and the production of the 

 beet and madder come in great relief to agricul- 

 ture, and are made new sources of public wealth. 

 Our farmers certainly merit the like fo^eringcare 

 and assistance. 



[ have before mentioned the use of the natural 

 current of the principal rivers and streams of the 

 continent as a water power for manufacturing ob- 

 jects, and I have no doubt but the current in the 

 East river at New York may be used for the same 

 purposes. At Lyons, a water wheel is thus turn- 

 ed, and works a forcing pump, which drives up 

 the water of the pier about three hundred feet to 

 a reservoir in a public gaiden ; it there forms a 

 jet d'eau and falls into a marble basin, which serves 

 as a fountain in case of fire, and its overflow 

 washes the streets. It is attended and worked by 

 one man, and might be recommended forado[)tion 

 at New York. 



