76 THE CALIFORNIA 



[From the California Farmer, August 23, 1866.] 

 SILK CULURE NEW SERIES. 



LETTER NUMBER THREE BY L. PRETOST. 



SAN JOSE, August 20, 1866. 

 COL. WARREN, Editor California Farmer : 



DEAR SIR But if we can, if we actually do, grow. 

 and manufacture cotton, and sell it in India cheaper 

 than they can produce it, and cheaper than they can 

 elsewhere grow it, why can we not do the same with silk ? 

 We know, with all other disadvantages, other nations 

 produce silk to a profit ; and while in other things we 

 yield to no nation on earth, why shall we in silk alone ? 



But we are not left to such a course of reasoning. 

 Conclusive as it is, to my mind, to prove that silk 

 may be profitably produced in our own country, I do 

 not believe we are warranted, as yet, from actual re- 

 sults, to speak with absolute certainty as to the amount 

 of profit, per acre, in the production of -silk ; still, suf- 

 ficient is known, from actual experiments, to satisfy any 

 reasonable mind that it can be produced at a profit. 



Why should the inhabitants among the inhospitable 

 rocks and stones in Mansfield, Connecticut, enjoy such 

 a measure of prosperity, if the production of silk is not 

 profitable ? There more attention has been paid to the 

 culture of silk, and for a longer time, than in any other 

 part of our country, and from personal observation, few 

 portions of our country have received less from nature 

 than this town, and few portions, beyond all question, 



