So. 3. 



AND G A I? D E N EU S J O U R N A L , 



47 



ommiiniiy; 1 am perfectly persuaded every pnuleiu 

 lan mny realize tlie same. 

 Now, in view of the foregoing reasoning and facta, 

 an I doubt the practicability of our producing silk to 

 profit, notwithstanding the high price of our labor; 

 nd can I, as a patriot, a philanthropist, refrain from 

 irging my fellow-citizens to embark in this business 1 

 —and can any man who believes these facts, and this 

 ■oasoning, fail to urge the same thing on his fellow- 

 itizens, by his example, as -well as by his precept. — 

 riiat demonslrdtion which results from the actual pro- 

 ;uction of the article naoMiDiU convince. 



It is not to bo supposed that individual cases of fail- 

 ire and disappointment will not occur.; some may un- 

 ertake more than they can accomplish, and fail. Uji- 

 5ward circumstances may prevent success in others; 

 he visionary and the grasping, who e.xpect, at once, to 

 mass a fortune in the production of silk, will be disap- 

 ointed, and will, doubtless, abandon the whole thing, 

 "hose who engago in the business, however, intelli- 

 ;ently with common sense views, will, with patience 

 nd perseverance, infallibly reap a rich reward, while 

 ney will asfist in adding millions to the wealth of their 

 ountry. What more then, I ask, is necessary to in- 

 uce this whole nation to commence the production of 

 ilk. 



I will advert to two or three considerations, which, 

 1 my own view, are of great importance in reference 

 3 this subject. The first is the employment which 

 le production of silk will furnish to that portion of our 

 ommunity which are destitute of profitable employ- 

 iient. All the meons of human enjoyment, and all 

 tie accumulations of wealth, are in one form or other 

 he product of human labor. The happiness and 

 wealth of nations are, therefore, promoted in e.xact 

 roportion to the active industry of the community. — 

 n order that readily extended prosperity exist, it is 

 bsolutely necessary that industry pervade every de- 

 ortment of society, and that this industry should be 

 irected to objects, adapted to those who labor, and 

 apable of producing wealth. Then something is pro- 

 uced by all. No community, as a mass, can grow 

 ich, no large number of families can permanently 

 irive, when one, two, three, or more members in 

 ach family are entirely nnpioductivc. Suppose one 

 uarter of the communit)', devote their energies to 

 peculation, in its thousand forms. They may grow 

 ich by their speculation, but all they gain is abstract- 

 d from others in some way, they produce nothing, 

 leir country must grow poorer — they must be sus- 

 lined by the labors of the other portions of the com- 

 lunity, and permanent prosperity cannot exist. 



As nations and large communities are made uj) of 



imilics ond individuals — in order to national prosp^r- 



y it is absolutely necessary that industry pervade the 



omestic circle — that all the members of our families 



lould be usefully employed. In the present state ol 



)eiely and the existing subjects of industry, however, 



rofitable employment cannot befurnislied to the whole 



f the domestic circle. In the days of our fathers there 



■^'88 indeed no want of such employment — the music 



if the spinning wheel, and the noise of the shuttle and 



Jie distaff was heard in all our dwellings. The nu- 



;'ierous labor-saving machinery— the product of the 



" ist and preceding age — introduced into almost every 



". epartment of business, has entirely superseded these 



1 domestic life. The circumstances of a very large 



onion of our farmers are such, and the state of eoci- 



. ty is such, that there is now an absolute icant of suit- 



,:. ble and profitable employment for the female mem- 



ers of their families. They cannot, inconsistency 



■ith their education and rank, take hold of the culi'- 



ary deparment, and perform the drudgery of domes- 



:. c duties. If there are many such in the family, even 



:i,ai8 would not furnish thern employment; and theac- 



<-• .lal consequence is, that many an nffectionote, pru- 



. eiit, and laborious father, has actually sunk beneath 



tint dearly cherished but unproductive part of his 



^[harge. Every community, therefore, that would 



.ecure permanent prosperity, must seek employments 



n which they can piofitably bestow domestic labor — 



ml where, let me ask, is there an employment that 



1 onuses so much, in this respect, as the production of 



illi ! The production of silk seems almost designed 



ir loinale hands — it is suited to their ability, and'pro- 



Bs large returns for the labor bestowed, as any 



'iiiployment. In every period of the history of 



.-, It has actually received the fostering encourasre- 



v')it of female influence. Queens and noble ladies 



avc been its patrons — and the noblest daughters of 



iir Innd would be honored, by devoting a portion of 



li' 11 time to the production of silk in some of its eta- 



,, i,cB. May we not hope that nn article, which enters 



.|0 largely into the wardrobes of our wives and our 



slaughters— which, more than all other fabrics, adorns 



jfieir persons— will receive their fostering care ? In- 



deed vast as may ijc the im^ortam^e of the introduction 

 of silk culture to our country, 1 despair uf witnessing 

 its complete success until our lair country women ac- 

 tually engage in its production. And one of the most 

 cheering signs of the limes is, that this to some extent 

 is already the case. When your daughters and mine, 

 sir, shall walk abroad in silks, which their own 

 hands aided to produce, then the culture of silk, as a 

 source of national wealth, will no longer be doubtful. 

 * * * * But there are other members 

 of the domestic circle, besides those already referred to, 

 whose labor is almost or entirely unproductive, for 

 want of proper objects on which to bestow that la- 

 bor. In almost every family, there are children and 

 aged and infirm individuals, whose labor is of little 

 value on the farm, and these are the persons who can 

 aliiinst entirely take care of the cocoonery. With a 

 little direction aud superintendence, even children can 

 do much toward gathering the leaves and feeding the 

 worm, — even the aged and decrepid, with the aid of 

 ingenious contrivances for moving along by the shelves, 

 can perform the work of the most athletic laborer. — 

 Surely that community cannot bnt grow rich, when 

 the labors of all are made productive. Other comnm- 

 nities may be convulsed with every fluctuation in trade 

 — tins can smile with complacency in the midst of 



plenty — while all are debtors to them, they to none. 



■V if * # *f # 



I know much mystery hangs ariund the whole sub- 

 ject of producing silk, in the midst of most of our 

 farmers and planters. Accustomed to deal in the 

 heavier products of the soil, the very delicacy of the 

 article causes them to distrust their ability and skill 

 in its production. They reader hear of large and ex- 

 pensive cocooneries, with nicely adjusted shelves, and 

 hurdles and spinning frames, with furnaces and flues, 

 with hygrometers, and thermometers, and aerometers, 

 and hourly feeding by day and by night — and they are 

 actually frightened fi^jm the undertaking, or even from 

 an honest and serious examination of its practicability. 

 But these appendages do not belong to the subject. I 

 can speak from at least some little practical experience 

 — the production of silk in the form of the cocoon, js 

 an exceedingly simple thing. There is not a farmer 

 or planter in our land, who has not sufficient accom- 

 modations, eithei in his house or his out-buildings, to 

 produce from one hundred to one thousand dollars 

 worth of silk, and no fixtures in most cases will be 

 needed, but such as he himself, with his hammer and 

 his saw, can furnish. Care and attention are indeed 

 necessary; but these arel equaly necessary in order to 

 the most successful results in any business. This is 

 'a business, concerning which experience alone can 

 give us our best and most valuable i nformation. Much, 

 undoubtedly, may be learned from books, and the ex- 

 perience of others, — etiU wo cannot hope for the most 

 successful results until wo have had some little expe- 

 rience. • • » * » 



The advocates of eilk are far from wishing to see 

 other products of our soil diminished. These may, 

 and ought to be increased an hundred fold — but they 

 do wish by their example and by their precept to add 

 another to the existing list of our productions. They 

 do wish to develope our resources, and add to our pop- 

 ulation an hundred fold; they do wish to retain in the 

 possession of our own citizens the $1.3,273, 114 which 

 we annually pay for foreign silk. They do wish to 

 see i>roductive industry pervade every department of 

 life, and the condition and comforts of all our citizens 

 improved. For ever dumb be the tongue that would 

 represent our enterprize os inimical to the best interests 

 of the poor. If ever an enterprize promised joy ond 

 prosperity to the whole community, especially to the 

 poor, this is that enterprize. Is the immense produc- 

 tion and manufacture of cotton no advantage to the 

 poor? How then can the production of a rich and val- 

 uable article, the use of which pervades every clacs of 

 soci'tty, which will give employment to thousands and 

 tens of thousands of industrious poor, which will pour 

 millions into our treasury — how can this fail to better 

 the condition of the poor as well as the rich. Even if 

 it should curtail the production of bread itself, which, 

 however, it never will do, how could this operate to 

 the injury or oppression of the poor ? when the article 

 produced will buy more bread than they could, by pos- 

 sibility, have produced from the soil I 



Mr. President, — Time admonishes me, I owe an 

 apology for trespassing so long on your patience, on 

 this subject I scarcely know where to stop. 



In know% sir, it is difficult to introduce to the extent 

 of millions any new branch of industry among any 

 class of men. It is not the work of a day. Patience 

 and perseverance alone will accomplish it. But it is 

 doubly difficult to introduce such a business as that 

 which has called Us together, generally among the 

 farmers of oar land. 



Than farmers, there is no more valuable class of 

 men in any community; cautious and distrustful as 

 they are of innovation.^:, they will, nevertheless, oct on 

 demonstration and convictiim; and may I not hope, 

 sir, we have demonstration in the beautiful specimens 

 of silk here exhibited that will produce conviction and 

 action. 



Do I mistake the signs of the times, when I predict, 

 as 1 here publicly do, the si)eedy and triumphant suc- 

 cess of the silk culture in our beloved country. You 

 and your associates, sir, may have opposition. A 

 thousand fingers may point at you, and a thousand 

 tongues may exclaim 'what do these feeble Jews.'— 

 But wiser counsels wilt yet prevail in your halls of 

 legislation. Then clamors will die, faint and fainter 

 still will they grow, as year after year your bales of 

 silk shall count by hundred and by thousands, until 

 all the clamor of opposition is hushed to peace, and 

 . the voice of the croaker is heard no more. 



O, sir, to my own mind the prospect before us is 

 bright with promise. I look forward but a little, and 

 my fondest anticipations are more than realized. I 

 behold this single product flowing to all our ports, 

 through a thousand channels, and peace and plenty 

 pervading all our borders, second only to cotton in tho 

 magnitude of its results. 



An eminent senator, on a memorable occasion, 

 promised all our farmers silken purses filled with gold 

 shining through their meshes. But, alas, the worthy 

 senator gave us nothing with which to procure either 

 the purses or the gold, and no more would either come 

 at his call, than the ghosts of Macbeth. Buthcre, sir, 

 is the silk to make the purees, and Itcre is the gold, 

 the returns of silk, to fill them. 



Allowance of Water to Horses. 

 It is by no means an uncommon notion that if hor 

 scs are to be got into condition for work, they should 

 bo allowed to drink but a very small quantity of water. 

 On what physiological basis this opinion is founded, I 

 confess appears to me a perfect mystery. Neverthe- 

 less, as many persons adopt this treatment, it is fitting 

 to notice it. For my own part, 1 have ever found 

 that it is an oxtremely bad plan to stint a horiC in his 

 water, and have consequently alwa;s made a piaotice 

 of leaving plenty of it at all times within reach of e\ e- 

 ry horse I have had. Of course I do not intend to 

 say that when a horse comes in, heated from exercise, 

 he should be suffered to drink, or should have a belly- 

 full of water just prior to being ridden; but if a hoite 

 be watered ad libitum in the morning, he will not re- 

 quire to drink again for some hours, and should never 

 be allowed to do so then unless perfecdy cool. Thofe 

 horses that are only supplied with a limited quantity of 

 water at a time, and are never permitted to slake their 

 their thirst fully, will be much more liable to he griped, 

 if at any time they by chance should drink their fill, 

 than those who are always suffered to take as much eb 

 nature dictates to them: but should a horse have been 

 hard worKed and come into his stablo very hot, I wo'd, 

 after having seen him well dried, only give him a 

 small quantity, for two reasons; first, because his ea- 

 gemees for water, may lead him to drink more at a 

 time than is good for him; and, secondly, because a 

 large quantity of water will probably cause him to 

 break out into a cold sweat, in which he may remain 

 alPnight if not looked to. After having taken a third 

 or less, of a stable pailful of water, he should be kept 

 without any for some time, and then be allowed to take 

 what he pleases. When, however, you intend to 

 stint your horses, do not sufler your groom to offer 

 them a pailful of water, and to take it from him when 

 he has drunk a small portion of it, but let jusi the 

 quantity you wish him to have, and no more, be g'v. n 

 to him; he will then feel to a certain degree satisfied 

 with wha'ihe gets, whereas by taking from him what he 

 expects to have, he becomes fretful and discontented. 

 In the first instance he makes up his mind to slake h'8 

 thirst with a short allowance of water; whereas in the 

 second his just expectations are baulked in mid career, 

 and his imagination cheated as it were in the height of 

 his enjoyment — and there is much more in this than 

 may be supposed. Physiologists are well aware of the 

 connexion existing between the stomach and the 

 brain; and those who have not enquired into this fact 

 must either do so before they attempt to , refute it, or 

 take what I have said as proved. 



"If youth were to come again," said an aged gentle- 

 man, "I would be a scholar." Ay: and how many 

 more would be ? What a useful hint this is to youth. 



If every youth would . keep in view the fact that 

 "sixty minutes make an Hour," how much wiser than 

 the past V ould be the rising generation. 



Time is the cradle of hope, and the grave of exis- 

 tence. It deprives beauty of her charms, while it 

 transfers them to her picture. 



