242 
The provision trade with England. 
in this country. It has been attended to by a few 
individuals, almost ever since the country has been 
settled. The American culture was early begun 
in Georgia, and by slow progress was introduced 
into the middle and eastern states. The first rec¬ 
ord we have of silk-worms raised in Massachu¬ 
setts, was as early as 1727 ; and the first garment 
made of American silk was in the state of Con¬ 
necticut, in 1747. President Stiles of Yale Col¬ 
lege, Dr. Aspinwall of Mansfield, and Joseph 
Clark of Northampton, were our pioneers in this 
business. Mr. Clark introduced the raising of 
silk into this town; but not until it had been found 
a profitable business in Connecticut. He raised 
and reeled his silk, and manufactured some stout 
fabric, which remains to this day. The family of 
Mr. Starkweather, who was a native of Mansfield, 
brought with him the art of growing silk some 
fifty or sixty years since, and from year to year 
made sewings for his own and neighbors’ use, to 
the amount of several dollars annually, to the year 
1843; in such a silent and unobtrusive manner, as 
not to be noticed by any out of his immediate 
neighborhood. In those early days, no other mul¬ 
berry than the white mulberry was used or known ; 
but within some ten or fifteen years, other varie¬ 
ties have been introduced of a larger leaf, and 
equally adapted to the purposes of feeding worms, 
and facilitating the operation of gathering foliage. 
Taking into consideration the various uses to 
which the mulberry is adapted, exclusive of feed¬ 
ing worms, the large leaf Canton stands pre-emi¬ 
nent. The leaf is large, stout, heavy, comes early 
and retains its verdure longer, and in greater per¬ 
fection than any other known variety. For the 
purposes of furnishing stock for the paper-mill, 
and furnishing numerous stalk for bark silks it has 
peculiar claims. The doings of the first meeting 
of silk-growers in New England, held in this place 
last year, were extensively circulated throughout 
the whole length and breadth of the land, and 
even foreign countries, and awakened an increased 
interest in the silk cause. Great improvements 
have been suggested and made within the last 
year; particularly the important change from 
close to open feeding, promoting the health of the 
worm, and consequently the quantity of silk. 
The foliage of the mulberry has already been 
through the paper-mill, and submitted to the types 
of our presses ; and more is in progress of manu¬ 
facture in this place, which, if successful, will be 
exhibited at the Fair of the American Institute. 
I have several hundred pounds of foliage with and 
without the bark delivered at one paper-mill for 
experiment, and probably have enough to make 
100 reams or more, from eight or ten acres of as 
splendid mulberries as ever a New England sun 
shone upon. I have a parcel of mulberry stalks 
under water or dew-rotting, all of the Canton va¬ 
riety. If this operation succeeds in facilitating the 
separation of the cortex from the wood, then the 
silk cause will flourish. But who will do the 
business for me another year, I know not. Past 
experience has convinced me that the operator 
must be interested to make it most profitable, and 
that hard labor is not the kind wanted. I have 
the evidence the present year, that interested la¬ 
bor is worth, at least, one third more, and proba¬ 
bly, all things considered, worth double that of 
hired labor. The flattering accounts we have of 
a renewed interest in the cause of agriculture, hor¬ 
ticulture, &c., are indicative that silk culture will 
not be neglected. It is hoped that the meeting of 
the New England silk convention on the 4th of 
October in this town, and the mass convention in 
the city of New York, will tell on the pages of 
history. 
D. Stebbins. 
The writer of the following excellent article 
upon preparing and packing provisions for the for¬ 
eign market, making sales, &c., went out to Eng¬ 
land a short time since for the express purpose of 
making himself more particularly acquainted with 
this important branch of our trade. He has con¬ 
siderable experience in this business, and to any 
house extensively engaged in it, he could render 
very essential service. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
THE PROVISION TRADE WITH ENGLAND. 
Darien, October 2, 1843. 
Experience begins to show that the provision 
trade with England must be the great trade of the 
country. She must, within a very few years, 
draw a large share of her supply of cured pro¬ 
visions from America, and in a great degree from 
the United States. As the whole subject of the 
provision trade is new in this country, I propose 
to give some hints on the best method of sending 
out, and selling in English markets. On a former 
occasion, as you are aware, I published the meth¬ 
od of curing and preparing pork and beef. The 
article was extensively circulated, and I trust did 
a good deal of service. In this article I shall con¬ 
fine myself principally to butter, cheese, and lard. 
Butter. —Until there is more system in the 
method of putting up, and care in making, butter 
can not be sent into the English market with any 
degree of safety, except as grease-butter; and as 
that must be bought at a very low rate in your 
market, say upon an average of four cents, to pay 
the shipper a profit, it follows, that as we now do 
business, our butter must be consumed at home. 
I should not recommend any person to ship, until 
there is a modification of the tariff, so that butter 
can go in at a much smaller duty than is now 
levied. If our farmers would only take pains in 
putting up their butter, it would make a difference 
of a great many hundred thousand dollars with 
their profits. If they would work out all the 
milk, salt with pure salt, and put up in firkins 
made of thoroughly-seasoned oak, there would be 
no difficulty in having it keep well in any climate, 
and insure for it a ready sale. 
Cheese. —This will soon become quite an article 
of traffic, and the American article may in a great 
measure take the lead in the English market. It 
is so cheaply made in our dry climate, and can be 
so soon cured, and sent into market, that the farm¬ 
er will find it the most profitable of his dairy prod- 
