414 



GLEAN^GS IN BEE CULTUBE. 



June 



THE DISCOVERY OP SILK. 



COMPILED AND WKITTKN BY MISS NELLIE LINCOLN 



KOSSITER, I'KACTICAL SILK - CULTURIST, 



6054 VINE ST., PHILADELPHIA, r.\. 



Conclusion. 

 / / T WAS opposed to this project, which could 

 % fc;^ never please me; hut the king- had alreadj- 

 ^L taken a fancy to it, and all that I said and 

 '^ could say was in vain. His objections, 

 which he candidly states, related, however, 

 not exclusively to silk-manufactures, but were in- 

 tended to check the growing- luxury. I dwelt," 

 says he with his characteristic candor, " upon this 

 subject as much as I could, to impress the more the 

 king with my opinion; but I was unable to convince 

 him. ' Are these all the good reasons that you can 

 bring- forward?' Henry said. ' I would rather beat 

 the king of Spain in thi-ee regular battles, than be 

 obliged to fight against all the gentlemen of the 

 gown, all the scribblers, and fine gentlemen, with 

 their wives and daughtei-s, which you will raise 

 against me, by your admirable regulations.' 



" ' Your Majesty is determined upon it,' quoth I, 

 ' and I will say no more about the matter; but time 

 and experience will convince you that France is not 

 made for trappings and finery.' " 



How much would Sully now be astonished, could 

 he behold the evidence of his mistake, and of the 

 foresight of his royal master! Instead of continu- 

 ing to pay to foreign merchants four millions of 

 trancs annually for silk, the French di-aw many mil- 

 lions from their ancient suppliers, and enrich them- 

 selves in proportion. 



In subsequent times, and especially during the 

 reign of Louis XIV., silk-manufactures became so 

 numerous, through the fostering protection of Col- 

 bert, that they have been, down to 1828, the most 

 productive source of the wealth of France. The 

 annual pi-oflts from this single branch of industry, 

 in France, are estimated at forty millions of fiorins, 

 of which a tenth is dei-ived from the production of 

 the raw material, and the remainder from the man- 

 ufacture. According to the most recent statistical 

 data, that kingdom derives, from the production of 

 silk, in the twelve departments where it is attended 

 to, 23,560,000 francs per annum, and S4,0U(i,Uliii francs 

 from the fabrication; and, consequently, the capital 

 which is brought into circulation, in both ways, 

 amounts to 107,560,000 francs. 



England beheld, with no small degree of jealousy, 

 the prodigious plantations of mulberry-trees in 

 France, the increasing production of silk-manufac- 

 tures. James 1. accordingly endeavored to intro- 

 duce this industry into his own kingdom; and, in 

 1608, a most earnest appeal was made to the British 

 public, in regard to the advantages that might be 

 derived from the planting of mulberry-trees; but, 

 nothing was done, and only as late as 1820 was this 

 subject seriously taken up; some inconsiderable ex- 

 periments having suflHciently established the fact 

 that these trees, and the precious insects which teed 

 upon them, thrive as well in England as in France. 

 But, long before that epoch, silk-manufactures had 

 flourished, to a considerable extent, in England, the 

 raw silk being imported from Italy. There existed 

 already, in 1629, so many of these establishments in 

 London, that the weavers of the city and of the 

 environs were divided into corporations; and in 

 1661, the individuals which composed them were 

 more than 40,000 in number. The revocation of the 



edict of Nantz, in 1685, contributed greatly to the 

 future progress of this industry— the most skillful 

 French weavers having taken refuge in England. 

 Next to this cause of the I'apid progi-ess of this 

 manufacture, must be mentioned the silk-machine 

 erected at Derby, in 1719. The reputation of the 

 English fabrics increased, at length, to such a de- 

 gree that, even in Italy, as it is stated in Keyser's 

 Travels, English silks commanded a higher price 

 than the Italian. 



ANOTHER LETTER FROM JAPAN. 



BY THE LITTLE GIRL WHO GAVE US THE PICTURE 

 OF THE PALANQUIN ON PAGE 127. 



a EAR MR. ROOT:— Many, many thanks for 

 sending the things you promised. The book 

 is very interesting. I enjoyed reading it very 

 1 much, and the knife is in constant use. 



I The Japanese have a flower-show several 



j evenings each mouth. They are ten days apart, be- 

 ginning on the 9th. They are very interesting, and 

 I we like to go to them very much. They are usually 

 ! on some principal street, and are always accom- 

 ! panied by various stalls containing toys, hairpins, 

 1 combs, cakes, nicknacks, and sundry articles, which 

 j attract the attention of the Japanese children. 

 j The flowers are arranged \ery tastily on shelves. 

 Sometimes there are little arbors in the shape of 

 houses, boats, etc. Daisies are often arranged on a 

 j large flat board. Here you can get magnolias, 

 I chrysanthemums, camelias, poppies, cowslips, ver- 

 I benas, hydrangias, roses, and almost any flower you 

 may wish. All the year round you can get some 

 flowers; for instance, in the spring you can get 

 magnolias, and blossoms; in the summer, verbenas, 

 cowslips, daisies, roses, and such like; in autumn, 

 poppies, hydrangias, dahlias, etc. ; and in winter, 

 chrysanthemums, pretty grasses, small plants, etc., 

 so that all the year i-ound you can get something. 



Besides these small flowers and shrubs you can 

 get large trees ; pine, maple, and evergreen are the 

 most common; but you can get willows, fruit, and 

 other trees. It is a busy scene at about ten o'clock 

 p. M. Every one is stirring about ; nearly every 

 person has some flower or plant, and every child 

 has a little toy or bag of cakes. The stall-keepers 

 cry out their wares, and beg the dannasama, 

 (master) to buy them, for they will sell them " tiso 

 yasiiku" (very cheap); but though they invariably 

 saj' so, they very seldom carrj' out their "very 

 cheap," but, instead, ask twice the proper price. 



I will tell you, that ijalanquins are not used all 

 over the country noy.\ Here in Tokio it is a rare 

 sight to see a lady or gentleman in one ; but in the 

 country they are common. In Tokio they use, in- 

 stead, a two-wheeled cart, drawn by a man. They 

 are called " jinukishaw." A man will pull you three 

 miles, running all the way, and back again, for 18 

 sen, and he would take you two miles and back for 

 12 sen. 



I will answer your question about the singers, and 

 tell you they are a piece of bamboo and a small 

 whalebone, which causes the singing, when the wind 

 blows. This is attached to the kite. 



Ada Kreckeb. 

 Tokio, Japan, April 24, 1884. 



Thank you. friend Ada, for your kind de- 

 scrix^tion of the queer ways of our cousins 

 away off there in Japan. 



