160 THE CALIFORNIA 



mainly ascribed to the machine invented in France, by 

 Mr. Jacquard ; then the powerful impulse thus given 

 has been assigned to the Jacquard loom. This loom is 

 stated to perform all those labors which had heretofore 

 been confined to the most skillful hands, with important 

 economy of time and labor in the preliminary steps ; 

 and is so decidedly superior to all other looms for all 

 the curious varieties of figured silk weaving, that it has 

 superseded them all throughout France and England. 



Yet, in our own country, so highly favored in all re- 

 spects by nature, the successful introduction of the silk 

 culture is mainly due to individual exertion ; but the day 

 is not far distant, when the cultivation of the mulberry 

 and the growth and manufacture of silk in the United 

 States will become a very important source of wealth to 

 the nation. The work has wonderfully begun, and is 

 now taking deep and permanent root in our soil. 



According to the report of the Secretary of the 

 Treasury, the value of silk imported .into the United 

 States during the year ending the thirtieth of Septem- 

 ber, 1835, amounted to $16,597,980, this being the 

 original or first cost in the foreign countries (this must 

 be more than double that amount now). During that 

 year only $486,562 worth of this great amount was ex- 

 ported ; most of it was imported from Italy, Switzerland 

 and France. 



The millions that we are now expending for importing 

 silk ought to be preserved in the country. It would be 

 a good policy to take steps in view of retaining such a 

 vast amount, by every means that the Government has 



