AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



^ 



PUBLISHED BY JOSEPH BRECK & CO., NO 52 NORTH MARKET STREET, (Ag(!Icultoiial Wareh 



VOL. XV'II.J 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 21, 1838. 



AGRICULTURAL 



(From the Farmer's Register. ) 

 ACTUAL STATE OF SILK C-JLTURE 



IN THi NOKTH, A.ND REMARKS O.V ITS KXTENSIO.V 

 IJ< THK SOUTH. 



To the Editor of the Fanner's Register. 



Some years past, I have been endeavoring to 

 collect all the information that was accessible on 

 the subject of the silk culturo, with the view of 

 engaging in it as soon as opportunity should offer. 

 And during the past summer I made a visit to 

 some of the northern states, for the purpose of 

 more fully satisfying myself, by personal observa- 

 tion ; and to see with my own eyes what was doing 

 there, that might justify the glowing accounts that 

 were publised in the agricultural papers. It is now 

 my intention to give, in as fair and impartial a man- 

 ner as I am capable of doing, the resul's of my 

 observations ; interspersed with such remarks and 

 reflections as they have suggested. 



In these times, when so much is done for effect, 

 ind when every new enterprise is ushered befoi-e 

 the public with so much pomp and circumstance, 

 it is natural that the sanguine should be easily led 

 astray, and come readily to indulge in all the ex- 

 ;raragances which characterize the projectors of 

 lovel schemes. In regard to silk-culture, though 

 I am perfectly convinced tliat it will be both prac- 

 ■.icable, and prciiitable, and tiiat its iiittoduction 

 into this country will become, or ought to become, 

 1 general tiling at no very distant day ; yet consi- 

 dering the progress that has been actually made, 

 »nd the little that has been accomplished, tlie wild- 

 9st calculations liave been made of its profits ; the- 

 )ry has run far ahead of practice ; and very few of 

 ;hose who make such extravagant boastings have 

 ;ested its real advantages by experiment. 



Some years ago, wlien the subject was first agi- 

 ated v.ith so much earnestness, a number of incor- 

 Dorated companies with large capitals were estab- 

 jshed in the eastern states. The most of these 

 'lave now an existence only in name. Some of the 

 Tiost prominent of them, by attempting too much, 

 ind by c imbining tlie manufacture with the pro- 

 Juction of s'lk, have entirely sunk their means. 

 Dthers have failed to make any dividends, through 

 Jie incompetency of agents, or in consetjuence of 

 .he high salaries that were allowed them. Others 

 igain, and perhaps all, in a measure, have trans- 

 "erred their zeal from the legitimate object of their 

 jstablishment, to the tempting allurements held out 

 )y the high prices of mulberry trees ; and not one, 

 io far as my information extends, has done any- 

 .hing towards extending the knowledge of the silk- 

 ;ulture amongst the people at large, or made any 

 ittempts to introduce improvements in the manage- 

 nent of the worms, and m the art of reeling and 

 jreparing silk. In tlie excess of their early zeal, 

 he natural order <if things was reversed. Lands 

 ivere provided, buildings and fixtures erected, be- 



fore there was any food for the sustenance of the 

 worm. Having oegun at the wrong end, and been 

 then diverted by other considerations from carrying 

 out the iriginal object of their design, they have 

 failed to answer the purposes contemplated by their 

 formation. 



Whoever therefore, depending on the ostenta- 

 tious parade with which- silk companies have been 

 introduced to the admiring gaze of the readers of 

 s-ilk and agricultural papers, visits New England 

 or elsewhere, with the expectation of seeing the 

 silk culture carried on by them, and of deriving 

 the necessary information from thftm for his own 

 guidance, cannot fiiil to be disappointed. He must 

 go to private individuals for instruction; he must 

 get access into families, engaged in feeding worms, 

 and observe their practices and management. It 

 is amongst them only that anything has been done, 

 or from whom anything can be reasonably expected. 

 The silk business, in its present state of infancy, 

 will not justify a large outlay, with a vii='w to car- 

 rying it on to advantage. And especially is it 

 necessary to consult economy in those places where 

 the white mulberry is depended on as food for the 

 worms. There is not, at present, skill enough in 

 the country to justify the employment of agents, 

 except under the immediate control of the person 

 interested, to superintend the fei'ding of a large 

 number of worms. When the business shall have 

 been perfected in families,'and the process of mak- 

 ing silk shall have become generally understood, 

 so that given means may be relied on to effect 

 given results, operations may be • .■.:tended to a 

 larger scale with greater prospect of success. 



At Northampton I expected to see greater pro- 

 gress made in the silk culture than at any other 

 place in the United States. It has claimed for it- 

 self the merit of being the pioneer in the great 

 work. For years the Northampton paper has been 

 applauding the efforts that have been making to 

 introduce and extend it. We were led to believe 

 that it was the head-quarters of the silk business 

 — the fountain from which instruction was to flow 

 like a stream, to gladden and enrich the whole 

 country. A great silk company, styled par excel- 

 lence, the " New York Silk Company," was estab- 

 lished there at an early date — a large capital was 

 subscribed — a farm of several hundred acres was 

 purchased at a great price — upwards of one hun- 

 dred acres were planted in mulberries of one kind 

 or other — a large factory was erected at considera- 

 ble expense — and there the work terminated. The 

 farm is now offered for sale ; and the operations of 

 the company are to be confined in future to the 

 factory. Not a pound of silk, as far as I was iu- 

 fornied, has ever been produced by the company. 

 Glowing accounts have also been given oi a silk 

 company at Norwich, in Connecticut. Before leav- 

 ing Virginia, I had been advised to take that place 

 in my route, and was informed that silk would be 

 produced there this year, not by pounds, or by hun- 

 dred.s of pounds, bu: by thousands ! During the 

 time I remained in New England, I made diligent 

 inquiries about Norwich, and could not li^arn that 



anytliin,' was in progress there that would instruct 

 or interest a visitor. These examples are given as 

 a fair illustration of what has been performed by 

 incorporated companies. At Northauipton, how- 

 ever, we are promised better things for tlie future ; 

 and something has been done during the past sea- 

 son, both in th.T village and in tlie neighborhood, in 

 the way of feeding worms. I saw one cocoonery, 

 In. which perhaps fifty thoisaud worms had just 

 completed their labors ; and another, erected on a 

 large scale, in which nearly a million of eggs were 

 in the act of being hatched. But there was a 

 great scarcity of food ; and liberal prices had to be 

 offered to the owners of "Such plantations as were 

 situated in the vicinity of the village, for whatever 

 amount of foliage they could supply. So great 

 has been the. trade at Northampton, in mulberry 

 trees, that out of tlie hundreds of thousands of 

 seedlings which have been grown there within the 

 last few years, the number of those planted ex- 

 pressly for feeding worms is very inconsiderable. 

 Perhaps no place has dealt more largely in the 

 article ; and the practice of selling off so close as 

 to leave none for feeding worms, has been the sub- 

 ject of considerable censure. A reformation has 

 been promised in this respect ; and I was assured 

 by a prominent and enterprising culturist tliat he 

 was deteruMned hereafter to retain the greater 

 part of his trees for permanent plantations on his 

 own grounds. Should he devote his energies to 

 the silk culture, I know of none whose intelli- 

 gence and qualifications are better calculated to 

 iusuri, jTacceifd. 



It is not my intention to charge either individu- 

 als or associations with a design to delude the pub- 

 lic. On the contrary, I have no doubt that most 

 of them were influenced by as eoitect motives, in 

 advocating the adoption of the silk-culture, as gen- 

 erally govern the actions of men, willing to instruct 

 others and promote their interests at the same time 

 that they can do it with advantage to themselves. 

 Neitlier do I believe that the silk culture is intend- 

 ed or expected to turn out a mere delusion. If 

 companies have failed, individuals have been emi- 

 nently successful, in a smaller way, it is true, but 

 on a scale large enough to prove that the culture 

 is both practicable and advantageous. A number 

 of instances might be adduced to establish the fact 

 that worms may be fed in this country, and carried 

 through their various ages in perfect health ; that 

 the climate is admirably adapted to their welfare ; 

 and that silk of the best quality may be readily 

 produced. The reason, therefore, that so little ac- 

 tual progress has been made, considering the much 

 tliat has been said and written, and the great degree 

 of public attention and even excitement tliat has 

 been elicited in its behalf, is to be found in causes 

 sufficiently obvious, and which have already been 

 adverted to. The wonderful demand for the morus 

 mullicimlis and other valuable species of the mul- 

 berry, lenders the cultivation of these plants the 

 most profitable agricultural occupation that ever 

 was followed in this country. A greater profit is 

 to be derived from a few acres of laud under this 



