SILK. 



269 



is hastening to take its rank among the most favoured for 

 temperature and heal thfuln ess. When the eye roams among 

 our hills and vales, where can we meet with a more de- 

 lightful variety ? or a choice of aspects, and situations, so 

 valuable for agricultural purposes ? Some of our land is 

 hard to work, because it wants a more thorough cultivation ; 

 and some abounds with rocks, that w^e may find there 

 the best materials for our dwellings. What is there want- 

 ing, then, to make of New England a vast garden ? Noth- 

 ing, but contented labour, and intelligence to direct it — ■ 

 and that we have. Let all awake, then, and try to improve, 

 to the best advantage, the natural abilities of the country — 

 and we shall find, that, far from any cause of discourage- 

 ment, we are greatly favoured. 



To the cultivation of grain and potatoes, we have discov- 

 ered (in late years) that the soil and climate are well 

 adapted to the raising of wool, even of Merino ; and in 

 a wonderfully short time, all over the land, there are great 

 sheep-folds. There are also manufactures that employ all 

 that wool, and much more, and provide us with comforta- 

 ble and handsome clothing. 



There are other mines yet unexplored. To the indus- 

 trious and active, the prize must belong ; and to them, we 

 wish to point out the article of silk, as one most deserving 

 their attention. What is there, that the soil can yield, so 

 rich as silk, and that can be obtained with so easy a labour.^ 

 Excepting the first raising and planting of the mulberry- 

 trees, all the work can be performed by women, children, 

 and aged people. We are fully and sufficiently satisfied, 

 that this noble article may be made a staple of our coun- 

 try ; and the advantages that would result from it, in a 

 private and national point of view, are so important, that 

 w^e cannot deny ourselves the satisfaction of devoting a few 

 pages of this volume to that interesting subject — hoping 

 that they may prove acceptable and, eventually, useful to 

 many of our readers. 



The raising of silk is not altogether novel in our land ; 

 many individuals in Massachusetts and Connecticut have 

 attended to it for a number of years, with much advan- 

 tage ; and it is a fact fully established, that the soil 

 and climate are congenial to the tlourishirg growth of the 

 mulberry ; and that the silk-worms will thrive in New 

 England, under proper management, as well as they do in 

 most parts of Europe, where the raising of silk is the vitol 

 sinew of the communitv. Without ai'V further remarK.^, 

 23* 



