SILK GROWER'S MANUAL. 131 



tions in California are those of A. Packard and E. Goux, 

 of Santa Barbara. Those plantations were made three 

 years ago, and are now in fine condition. These gen- 

 tlemen will raise the coming season a large quantity of 

 silkworms, and will probably turn them to eggs. My 

 own exhibit of silk, from five years raising, proves be- 

 yond a doubt that California is the very best spot for 

 that culture. This, and the testimony which I receive 

 from others, shows that this new industry for California 

 is now fairly started. 



Two gentlemen, experienced, scientific, and practical 

 silk growers, on their way back from China, where they 

 had been to buy a large quantity of silkworms' eggs, re- 

 cently came to see me, to get information about silk in 

 California. I told them all the facts, showed them the 

 cocoons and where I raised them, and also the mulberry 

 trees. Being gentlemen who understood the silk busi- 

 ness perfectly, they agreed with me that we have the 

 best silk country in the world, and were so pleased at 

 learning this fact that they are going to return here next 

 summer with the necessary capital to buy one hundred 

 acres of land each, to raise silkworms' eggs and silk on 

 a large scale. These gentlemen are the representatives 

 of the two largest silk houses in Europe, and are now on 

 their way back to France. From them I learned a 

 very important fact, namely, that our climate is so supe- 

 rior for silk culture that, by selecting our very best 

 cocoons for eggs year after year for our own use, we 

 could after a few years obtain cocoons that would beat 

 everything known for size and quality that is to say, .a 



