AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER. 



9 



PUBLISHED BY JOSEPH BRBCK * CO., NO. 68 NORTH MARKET STREET, (Aoiicultviial War«hoo.«.) 

 ff-l BOSTON, WEONESOAY KVKNINC, JANUARY 12, 1812. 



INo. as. 



N. E. FARMER, 



From Ifai Monroe (La.) Olive Brancli. 



SILK BUSINESS IN LOUISIANA. 

 I will buy cocoons (of eilk worina) of the next 



fs crop to the lotli June, and nill givo at the 

 I of from tbrco to four dollars per bualiel for 

 :ooii9 clear of floss, according^ to the quolilv. 

 rforated or otherwise dofectivo cocoons will Ix; 

 ectcJ. I will give egfjs of silk worms and mul- 



ulis mulberries to those willing to engage in 



easy and profitable occupation of raising eilk 

 rms, and who will apply for them no later than 



l.">tli of February. Information its to the best 

 de of raising silk worms in this climate, as ac- 

 red by long experience, will bo willingly given 

 bally to all persons desirous to obtain them. 

 II. BRY. 



Uk EniTOR — In transmitting to you the above 

 ertiscment for insertion in your paper, I think 

 per to explain the motives which prompt me to 

 lourage thus tlie culture of a most valuable crop, 

 dly known in our Slate. It is obvious Uiat I 

 1 have no pecuniary object in view, as all I n)ay 

 chase will probably be a dead loss to me. But 

 [ can, by this means, be the cause of the estab- 

 imcnt of a single filature in our State, monev 

 1 never have been expended to better purposes. 

 Wy intentions are, if a sufficient number of per- 

 s appear willing to engage in the reelirig of 

 ; worms, to propose the establishment of a fila- 

 e, on a small scale at first, by subscription. I 

 ieve that persons understanding well the reel- 

 of the cocoons, can be procured from Philadel- 

 ,, not only to reel at once what cocoons may 

 procured, but also to teach the ort of reeling, 

 ich is easily acquired by a practice of two or 

 ee months ; and I cannot but entertain the lioj)e 

 t the reeling of silk will, at some not very dis- 

 t period, be as common with us as the carding 

 I spinning of cotton is at present, and that the 

 lale part of our community will be as expert 

 he one as they now arc in the other. A lila- 

 D often reels could be established in any of the 

 ishes of Louisiana, at the probable following 

 •ense to, wit: Purchase a quarter section of land, 

 TQod second rate, in the pinn lulls, at 91 25 per 

 e, .*iOO; necessary buildings on asimple, plain, 

 I comfoHablo plan, about s^SOO ; ten reels, 

 sdrnontese,) and cost of transportation, nt ^20 

 U, i'iOO; other fixtures and contingencies, 

 ut »!"200; making in all a total of J, 100. Let 

 iay that it would amount to .*1,500, to which 

 f be added a email sum to purchase cocoons, 

 merchantable reeled silk, in its raw etate, finds 

 ;ady market, the money expended in purchasing 

 oons is soon reimbursed by the cale of the silk, 

 1 the same operations may be renewed several 

 «8 in the year. The sum required for that ob- 

 t need not therefore be probably more than be- 

 en 8300 and $.500. If the establishment is 

 1 managed, the profits will afford surticient 



I means to increase it, as it must naturally grow in 

 importance if successful j and here it may be ob- 

 served, that In Philadelphia a filature of ten reels 

 con bo started with a capital of ^300, not only be- 

 cause the silk can be sold for cash daily or weekly, 

 according to the wants of the proprietor, but nl-io 

 because, instond of purchasing land oiid erecting 

 .suitable buildings, convenient houses arc rented, 

 on very low terms, either in that city or its neigh- 

 borhood. 1 believe, however, that in onr Stotc; it 

 would bo bettnr to adopt the plan hero proposed, 

 as suitable land can be easily hud, the improving 

 of which cannot fail being profitnble to the estab- 

 lisliment. Filatures could bo formed also in the 

 towns and villages in our State, where houses could 

 ' bo rented. But the discussion of thie as well as 

 j of other matters connected with this undertaking, 

 ' would at present be premature, and will have ne- 

 cessarily to be left to the discretion and judgment 

 I of the persons who may be entrusted with its man- 

 a^'reincnt. 



'I'his establishment would require a superinten- 

 , dent, ten girls to reel, and ten children to turn the 

 I reel ; and could turn out on an average, ton lbs, 

 I of reeled silk per day, which could find n ready 

 [ market at from $.5 to $G per pound. A bushel of 

 good cocoons as can be raised in this pariah, would 

 produce from one to one and a half pounds of silk. 

 ] A large quantity of silk worms could also be raised 

 on the samo land. To ensure a complete success, 

 a sufficient quantity of cocoons ought to be pro- 

 cured, mostly by purchase from the neighborhood, 

 to keep all the hands employed during the whole 

 year. This cannot be accomplished at once, but it 

 will take place as soon as the settlers, finding it a 

 profitable business to be engaged in. will turn their 

 attention and industry towards that objrct. Such 

 establishments could be made in every parish in 

 our State, particularly in those where the quality 

 of the soil is inferior to the rich land on the margin 

 of the watercourses. If that was attempt-'d, no 

 douht can be entertained of success, if judiciously 

 managed. Silk would become one of the .staple* 

 of our country. Its production would before long 

 acquire an importance of which we can at present 

 form but a faint idea. Although the importance 

 of the culture of silk begins to be pretty well un- 

 derstood in most of the Slates of the Union, yet I 

 shall offer a few remarks as to its results in Loui- 

 siana. Few countries arc better adapted to that 

 object than the Southern States. An experience 

 of fourteen years has proved to me that it is by 

 far and without exception the surest crop that can 

 be attended to in this climate. Bilk worms can be 

 raised on the banks of the Mississippi and bottom 

 lands OS well as in the hilly part of the country; 

 but it cannot be expected that the wealthy planter, 

 engaged In the culture of cotton or sugar, wouhl 

 deem it advisable to enter into new pursuits, the 

 success of which may appear to him doubtful, al. 

 though a quantity of silk worms could be raised 

 on every plantation, without at all interfering with 

 the main crop. It is in the pine hills in the north- 

 western (-part of the State, and in West Florida, 

 that the introduction of that culture will be emi- 



nently useful. Il will materially add to the wealth 

 and strength of the Rlalc. Millions of acres of 

 lliose lands, considered now of but little value, 

 will rapidly be inhabited by induatrioua farniori, 

 who cannot at the present low price of cotton, cul- 

 tivate it to Bilvniilngc ; several having no other ai- 

 si.stanco than what they can derive from their wife 

 and children, have already abandoned that culture, 

 as the few bales which they could bring to market 

 did not remunerate them for their labor and expen- 

 ses. VVc cannot anticipate a better market furoiir 

 cotton. Groat Dritain is now trying to rai«c in 

 her East India po.^sessions the cotton wanted for 

 their manufactures. They cnn succeed ; for ti.e 

 labor of the llimloo does not cost one fourth part 

 of the working hands of Louisiana. Although it 

 is not to be expected thit Great Britain will ever 

 try to do entirely without American cotton, (fir if 

 they did, we would, in self defence, endeavor to 

 have a market al home, by increasing the nuoibcr 

 of our manufai-turcs, and thus become their most 

 formidable rivals all over the world,) yet that mea- 

 sure will have its effect to a degree which cannol 

 permit us to entertain the hope that even the pre. 

 sent low prices will be obtained but for a few years 

 longer, it may well, therefore, be considered im- 

 portant to provide beforehand for a substituto to at 

 least a part of our present crops. None can be s> 

 easily introduced, and with a better prospect of 

 success than silk. The market for that produc- 

 tion cannot bo glutted for many years to come. 

 Besides the many millions of dollors worth of man- 

 ufactured silk imported annually into the United 

 States, our raw eilk will find a ready market in Eu- 

 rope. France alone, notwithstanding all the f f- 

 forts of individuals and the encouragement given 

 by the Government to the culture of silk, imports 

 yearly twenty millions worth of the raw material 

 to supply her manufactures, the greatest propi>r- 

 tion of which they import from Piedmont, the bal- 

 ance from the southern part of Italy and the Le- 

 vant 



To conclude, I cannot help repeating that, (o 

 ensure suc(^cs£ it is necessary to obtain a suffi- 

 cient quantity of cocoons to keep the persons em- 

 ployed in reelnif;, as constantly occupied as possi- 

 ble. Allowing bit two hundred days of reeling in 

 the year, each reel would yield about 200 pounds 

 of silk per annum, to produce which would require 

 at from 500,000 to 000,000 cocoons a year. It is 

 therefore highly important to encourage immediate- 

 ly, and by all pofsible means, the raising of silk 

 worms in our Ktate. II. BRY. 



Q5^Now that the morus multicaulis fever has 

 passed away, having carried many fortunes to the 

 grave, and rendered more plethoric a few purses 

 the public pulse is sufficiently regular and sleady 

 to admit of a calm consideration of the question 

 whether the silk busines.s can bo made a profitable 

 one in New England. Though during the past 

 year we have refrained from saying much upon the 

 subject, we have never thought that ih:; people of 

 this country would always rely upon foreign na- 

 tions for silks. In many f'imilies at present, par- 



