No. 2. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



23 



bir in feeding the silk worm, and reeling nnd spinning 

 its liny iibie. Wiii w juli nit vaku SLieli n wil'o, not 

 only fjr her solid charms, bui lor her habits of indus- 

 try, h?r spirit of independence, and her knowledge 

 and skill in a branch of business which is destined to 

 be the source of incalculable blessings to our coun- 

 try ! 



But th;; introduction of the Chinese Mulberry, (the 

 j\I)ru3 uiiilticaiilis and the Canton,) has produced a 

 new era in the silk biisiness in the United States; and 

 by in superiority over every other kind, and its rapid 

 and extensive propagation and distribution through 

 the lan.1, is haatoning the period when we shall be 

 a eilk-growing country. Its large, nutritious and 

 abu:iiaat f )liago, and the conseLiuent great saving of 

 lab:)r in picking the leaves, (a saving of nearly nine- 

 tenths, ) and its immediate iitnoss for use, greatly cn- 

 haace the profits of the silk culture. Fears have 

 been entertained that it would prove too tender for 

 our clim:ii;; but, placed on a high and dry soil, not 

 very rich, it stands even our severest njrthern win- 

 ters. Bat even were we obliged to take the tree up 

 every fall, as we do a crop of potatoes, land plant 

 again iii the spring, it would yield an ample return of 

 profits in the crop of silk. A field of Morus multi- 

 caulis, cultivated in this way, would require but little 

 more labor than a crop of corn. The high prices 

 which the tree has commanded have resulted from the 

 conviction of its great value for producing silk. We 

 are not in favor of making large estimates; but at the 

 lowest, the profits of the silk culture with the multi- 

 caulis, are ample — greater than can be realized from 

 any other agricultural pursuit. By actual experiment, 

 it has bee.i demonstrated, that from 50 to lUU lbs. of 

 eilk may be raised from an acre of ground the first 

 year, planted about as thick as you would plant corn 

 or potatoes: at an expense of not more than .$2 per 

 pound. This silk, reeled, is now worth ,f;G per pound 

 in its raw state, or $10 if converted into sewing silk. 

 Even at the past and present high prices for the tree, 

 a very large per centago may be realized the first sea- 

 son, by the crop of silk that may b: raised. An in- 

 telligent dealer in the Morus multicaulis has informed 

 us, that he has made sales to a considerable amount 

 this fall, at fifty cents a tree, on a credit, and that he 

 had given purchasers the choice, either to pay the 

 whole in miney, or half the amount in money, and 

 the other half in the crop of silk which could be raised 

 the first year, by feeding as many worms as the trees 

 wjuld supply With leaves; the purchaser thus making 

 fifty per cent, on his investment the first year. A 

 number of sales of this kind he had made; and in 

 one instance, the farmer — f who had some experience 

 in fe3dingwoim3) — sitting down with his pencil and 

 paper, and making a calculation, chose to pay him 

 the whole in cdsh. The growing and sale of the Mo- 

 rus midticaulis, has by no means been all speculation. 

 Large permanent plantations have be^'n made for rai- 

 sing silk. Whatever have been the motives which 

 have influenced those who have gone into the 

 business, it has resulted in good to the country: it has 

 awakenel attention to the subject, and enlisted a deep 

 interest, far and wide, in our citizens; it has elicited 

 muchlight and kn.iwledg?, experimenfal and practical; 

 called forth the inventive energies of our people, in the 

 construction and improvement of silk machinery, and 

 by the rapid multiplication and diftasion of the tree 

 which forms the food of the silk worm, is putting it in 

 our power soon to be independent of Europe. We 

 prophecy that in ten ij^ars we shall raise, if not manu- 

 facture, our own silk, and that in jiftixn years, raw 

 silk will form as an important an article for foreign 

 exportat'o i as does now our cotton: and this without 

 en'jroachiiig upon, oT diminishing our other great sta- 

 ples, lus'.eadof, as now, boing tributary to Europe, 

 she shall be tribulory to ue, for the material which will 

 form her finest and mostbt'autiful silk fabrics; and the 

 millions of specie which have lieen drained from our 

 country — the life's blood of oureommerce — to pay our 

 fo.-cigu debt, producing national bankruptcy and ruin, 

 shall I] iw back into our coffers, aud circulate freely 

 through every artery of trade, giving health and vig- 

 or to the whole. By some, we may be deemed vis- 

 ionary, and pronounced a false prophet. Be it so. — 

 Whoever lives will se?. Our anticipations of the fu- 

 ture are not fornnd from fancy, but from fact — from 

 a careful anl atteative examination ci the subject, and 

 obisrv.ition of the progress nf the silk culture in our 

 country. We judge of the future from a knowledge 

 of the past — from what has already been done, and is 

 now doing. 



3. Aii'l whit, it may be asked, Ans- hseri accomplish- 

 ed? 'W-- answer, the fcisihiUtij and ■prnfi'Mencss of 

 the silk culture has bee:i satisfactorily proved, as we 

 have shown. Thousanls, through the whole length 

 and breadth of our count-y, hare en^R^ed, or are pr»- 



paring to engage, in the business. Immense numbers 

 of worms have been fed with perfect succei^s the jiast 

 season; no less than 4011 cocooneries have been erected, 

 and preparations are making to feed worms on the 

 most extensive scale the coming season: hundreds of 

 acres will be planted with the Slorus multicaulis, not 

 for the purpose of pjicculalioir in the sale of the trees, 

 but for raising silk. Societies have been organized 

 fir the promotion of the object, and recently a Nation- 

 al Society, at Philadelphia, at the head ol which arc 

 some of the most distinguished men in our country: 

 Legislativi* bounties have been granted in several 

 staler, to encourage the culture of silk, and we trust 

 our own will irot be behind her sister stales, in en- 

 couraging, by legislative aid, lite noble enterprise. — 

 Several manufactories have been eatabl ishcd, and are 

 in successful ,operntion, producing fabrics which our 

 wives and daughters need not bo ashamed to wear, and 

 which only want a supply of the American raw mate- 

 rial, to rival the silks of Europe. With these cheer- 

 ing facts buf ue us, is there not ground for the most fa- 

 vorable anticipations ? Who that is acquainted with 

 the genius and character of our people, for enterprise 

 and perseverance, can doubt, that, with the impulse 

 now given to the silk culture in our country, its onward 

 course is to a high destination ? 



4. And is there an American bosom, in which 

 dwells one spark of patriotism and pldlanthrojnj but 

 that would most ardently wish this ! 



As statesmen and political economists, is it a wise 

 policy in us to pay out millions to other nations for 

 that which we can just as well produce ourselves? — 

 To run in debt to Europe for a single article, to an 

 amount far exceeding all our ex|}orts, with the single 

 exception of cotton, 18 or 20 millions of dollars per 

 annum; — to make the balance of trade against us, and 

 thus impoverish ourselves to enrich others ? 



As philanlhropists, can we do otherwise than give 

 our best wishes and cordial aid to a branch of industry 

 which will give employment and a comfortable sup- 

 port to thousands in our land, whom poverty, misfor- 

 tune, age and infirmity have placed in necessitous cir- 

 cumstances; to the childreii of the poor in our large 

 towns and cities, who are growing up in idleness and 

 vice; to tismales who are dependent upon the painful 

 and precarious labors of the needle for a scanty sub- 

 sistence, and to the aged and infirm, who are disquali- 

 fied for more laborious employment '! In the just lan- 

 guage of the editor of the Silk Farmer, " In all our 

 large cities, where female suffering is the most intense, 

 and in every agricultural district in our widely extend- 

 ed country, the blessings attendant on the progress of 

 the silk culture, will fall with grateful beneficence up- 

 on this dependent and neglected portion of our popula- 

 tion. A child of twelve years old, or an aged person, 

 unable to follow any laborious employment, wiil at- 

 tend during the feeding season to as many worms as 

 lo'll make twcnty-ficc pounds of raw silfc. The same 

 individual will reel a pound of silk per day. Cannot 

 the reader of this recall to his remerabrnnce some des- 

 titute family — some widow with a numerous group of 

 suffering children — to whom a domestic employment 

 of this kind would indeed be a blessing? Or some 

 lonely and aged female, loo feeble for labor, too good 

 for the poor-house, whom a steady fire-side occupation 

 at the silk-reel, might lift up into the sunshine of grate- 

 ful independence ? Considerations of this kind e.\- 

 pand the sympathies of the human heart, and make 

 the subject as interesting to feeling and philanthropy, 

 as it ouelit to be to private interest or commercial en- 

 terprise." 



There is but one point more on which we wish to nf- 

 era remark: and that is, the bcn-jit that icoiild result 

 lu the silk culture, hy laying a duty on foreign silks. 

 This benefit would immediately be felt; it would give 

 a new impulse to the silk business, check the influx of 

 foreign silks, and the consequent draining of the coun- 

 try of its money — enable our manufacturers to com- 

 pete with those of Europe, and establish the silk cul- 

 ture on a firm and immovable basis. It is certainly 

 the true policy of a government to cherish its home 

 industry, to encourage its own manufacturiea, by pro- 

 tective duties. We hope that Congress, con.sulting 

 the true interests of the nation, wilt lake the subject 

 in o early consideration, and lay at least a moderate 

 duty on foreign silks. In the mean while, let the 

 friends of the cause make known their wishes, by 

 memorializing that honorable body to whom is confi- 

 ded the interests of the nation. With this remark, 

 we leave the subject to abler pens; hoping that, though 

 wc may not have thrown any new light on it, nor 

 convinced a single skeptic, we may at least have pre- 

 ' sented the subject in such a view as to ensure the fa- 

 I vorable consideration of all. W. W. B. 



Uamnumd^port, Dm. 3, 1838. 



RUliES FOR HOUSEAVIVES. 



1. When you arise in the morning, never be par- 

 ticular about |)inning your clothes so very nicely; you 

 can do that any time. 



2. Never comb your hair, or take ofl' your night 

 cap till after breakfast. It is your business to take 

 time by the forotopand not let It take you so; therefore 

 keep all right in that quarter, till 10 o'clock at least. 



'i. When you begin the business of your tuilit: you 

 may do it bctijrc t ic wiitdow, or in the entr}'; but the 

 most proper place is the kitchen. 



4. Never have any particular pUicc for any thing in 

 your house: and then you may rest assured, that noth- 

 ing will ever bo out of place; and that is a great com- 

 fort in a family. 



5. Never sweep yonr floor until you know some 

 person is coming in; he will then see how neat you 

 are; and, besides, in such cases, even your enemies 

 cannot shake otT the f/«s< of their feet, against you, 

 though they may the dust of their clothes with which 

 you have covered them by your sweeping. 



5. When you have doTte sweeping, leave your 

 broom on the floor, it will then be handy: and being 

 always in sight, and in the way, it will be constantly 

 reminding your husband, wbeia he is in the house, 

 what a smar:, nice, ])ains-taking wife he has. 



7. Never follow the barbarous practice of brushing 

 down cob-webs. A man's house is his castle; and 

 so is a spider's: — It is a violation of right, and a 

 shameless disrespect to the fine arts. 



8. Keep your parlor and bedroom windows shut ca 

 close as possible in dog days; this will keep the hot 

 air out, and you will have excellent ti.xed air inside, .i 



9. Keep your s«OT/nfi' c/iccoc in your bed chambers; 

 — they enrich the qualities of the atmosphere; and if 

 a stranger should lodge in one of your beds, it he 

 could not sle^, he could eat for his refreshment. 



10. Never teach your daughters to mend or make 

 any of their own clothes; it is " taking the bread from 

 the mouth of labor" — besides, it will make them 

 crooked, and give them sore fingers. 



11. But if they should iiisist on mending their 

 garments, they should do it while they are on; this 

 will make thcin./(( better; and girls can't leave their 

 work; if they should attempt it their w-ork would 

 follow them. 



12. If your husband's coat is out at one of the el- 

 bows, don't mend it until it is out at the oilier; then 

 the patches wlll'inakc it appear uniioim; and show 

 that you are impartial. 



13. Never spoil a joke for a relation's sake: nor 

 suppress the truth i'oi^any hoily's sake. — Therelbre, if 

 you don'tlike your husband as well as you ought — out 

 with it, and convince him you are not a respecter of 

 persons. 



14. You should endeavor not to keep your tem- 

 per: let it off as soon and as fast as you can: and 

 then you will ho calm and quiet as a bottle of cider af 

 ter the cork had been drawn halt a day. 



16. If, on any particular occasion, you are at a 

 loss, as to the course yon are to pursue, in the man- 

 agement of yourself or your fatnily affairs, take down 

 the paper which contains those rules, and read lliem 

 over and over till you have satisfied your mind — and 

 then go on. 



POOR RICHARD. 



Two Faults. — ^A gentleman once bought a horse of 

 a country dealer. '-Now, my friend." said he, "I 

 have bought your horse because I liked his appearance. 

 I asked you no questions. Tell me now his faults, 

 you know I have paid you ; therefore you have noth- 

 ing to fear." " Faults," replied the man, "I know 

 of no faults except two," — "What are they?" 

 " Why, sir, he is hard to catch." " I do not mind 

 that," said lie, " if he be the devel. But what is the 

 other fault ?" rejoined he, with some impatience. 

 " Ah ! sir," replied Hodge, scratching his pale, "he 

 is good for nothing when you have calched him." 



From ttte Farmers^ UlaffaztTte. 



To Destroy Weevils is Granaries. — Seeing in 

 your paper an enquiry respecting the destruction of 

 weevils, I send you a copyof a paragraph which has 

 been cut out of some publicnlion. It is as follows : 



" Accident has discovered to a French farmer a very 

 simple mode of destroying weevils in corn warehousep, 

 happening to lay in the comer of a granaiy in which 

 there was a quantity of corn, some sheep skins with 

 the fleece on, he was not a little surprised to find ibem, 

 a few days after, covered with dead weevils. He re- 

 peated the expertment several times, and always with 

 ' the same success. At last he ordered his corn to be 

 , stirred up, and not a single weevil remained in it. 



I remain Sir, Yours, 

 I A CoB§EA.vT Reader 



