PREFACE. 



IN sending out this little volume to the Ameri- 

 can public, I do so with the earnest hope of call- 

 ing attention to this very important branch of 

 industry. 



Close study and observation on practical lines 

 for more than ten years gives me confidence to 

 assert that no one factor in the industrial inter- 

 ests of our nation is of greater importance than 

 is the production of silk, and yet there is none 

 so little understood, and hence so lightly valued. 



The wealth of every nation lies in its developed 

 resources. We might build castles of stone upon 

 mountains of gold, but the gold, though of 

 greater intrinsic value, would be no better than 

 (if as good) the stone employed in the super- 

 structure of the building. 



Wealth, in order to be helpful, either to the 

 individual or the nation, must be developed; 

 otherwise it will forever remain like the talent 

 folded away in the napkin. 



Knowing that a want of knowledge of the silk 

 business has caused so many failures with those 

 who, from time to time, have attempted silk- 

 culture in this country, I send out this book with 

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