SILK GROWER'S MANUAL. 19 



now prophesy, that at the next Fair of 1861, sewing- 

 silk of California-make will be shown. 



SAN JOSE, Sept. 21, 1860. 



EDITOR FARMER : You requested me to send you a 

 few lines on the silk culture ; but it has been entirely 

 impossible for me to do so sooner, and now I am obliged 

 to do it in a hurry. 



I think that the principal object is to show that we 

 produce silk in California to more advantage than any 

 other country, notwithstanding the usual cry here, the 

 price of labor ! 



We have so many things in California in favor of that 

 culture, that, in my opinion, they far surpass the dif- 

 ference in the price of labor. The principal are as 

 follows. 



1st. The climate, which is so favorable that no dis- 

 ease can be observed ; while in Europe, where the silk 

 is cultivated, it is calculated the very best year when 

 the losses are only thirty per cent. ; but these losses 

 vary from thirty to eighty per cent., according to the 

 quantity of rain that falls, and the storms, with thunder 

 and lightning, during the time of feeding. Here we 

 have none of such things, and consequently no reason 

 to lose a single worm, except by accident. But sup- 

 pose these accidental losses from four to ten per cent., 

 this is a very great difference Avith Europe, and this 

 is to be considered. 



2d. The rent for land in Europe is very high ; in 

 France, I know, they pay for rent only, double the price 



