154 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. [March, 



sent condition of society, who can calculate the changes which 

 may occur ?* 



The cultivation of silk is making great advances in Ger- 

 many. It was commenced many years ago, and then was sus^ 

 pended for nearly half a century ; but the success of the cul- 

 ture in France has attracted attention strongly ; and it is now 

 pursued with great vigor and success. Indeed, it may be 

 considered as greatly on the increase in all the countries of 

 Europe, where the condition of the country admits of its cul- 

 tivation, with the exception of those which have been for a 

 long time the theatre of the tragic exhibitions and cruelties of 

 civil war. 



Under these circumstances, I see no very strong encourage- 

 ment for the erection of large establishments either for the man- 

 ufacture or the production of silk. The country, indeed, has 

 neither the experience, which is desirable in such case, nor 

 labor enough to manage them to advantage. We have not the 

 population to fill them, and are not likely to have for some years 

 to come in New England. In what country does the price of labor 

 bear a comparison with the price of labor among ourselves? Such 

 establishments are in no respect to be desired ; and are likely 

 to fail from the extent and complexity of the business. When 

 men talk about feeding several millions of worms in a year, they 

 are in danger of deceiving themselves in regard to the amount 



* " To shov/ in a most instructive manner the changes which may occur 

 under the active progress of improvement in the civilized work!, of which 

 indeed, we may have our full share of advantage as well as others, and 

 which no peo|ile can mono])oIize to the exclusion of others, I refer to the 

 changes, which have taken place in the manufacture of lace. This should 

 at least admonish us that all mechanical ingenuity is not confined to our- 

 selves. 



"Such has been the progress of irnprovement and economy in this 

 manufacture, that the cost of labor in making a rack, which was twenty 

 years ago, \ls. 6d., or 42 pence, is now not more than one penny. The pri- 

 ces of this beautiful fal)ric have fallen in an equally remarkable manner. 

 At the former periods, a 24 rack piece, five quarters broad, fetched 17 L 

 sterling, in the wholesale market; the same is now sold for 7s. I" — Ure on 

 Manufadurts, p. 733. 



