32 
THE CULTIVATOR 
Report on the Culture of Silk. 
BY CHARLES F. DURANT. 
To the Cor. Secretary of the American Institute :— 
The resolutions of the Kentucky Legislature, trans¬ 
mitted through Hon. C. A. Wickliffe, lieutenant and 
acting governor of that state, and his excellency the 
governor of the state of New-York, to the American 
Institute, requesting information on the culture of silk 
and the sugar-beet, are now before me. 
A very limited and mere theoretical knowledge of the 
manufacture of sugar from the beet, obliges me to de¬ 
cline entering on the discussion of that subject. With 
the culture of silk I have a practical acquaintance of 
four or five years, and will cheerfully communicate the 
result of my experience and observation. The resolu¬ 
tions embrace a very extensive range of inquiry, and 
refer not only to the production of silk, but also to mat¬ 
ters contingent thereto, such as, “Books, pamphlets,and 
written documents;” “ what legislative encouragement 
has been given, and the effect of such encouragement;” 
“whether the capital and labor employed have been pro¬ 
fitable or otherwise, and any other information on the 
subject which the governor may deem useful to the 
legislature or people of Kentucky.” 
A commentary on the past and prospective culture of 
silk in the states, may embrace all the information sought 
for in the resolutions; and, in this attempt, I w r ould 
premise that a part must necessarily be drawn from 
history and tradition. 
The silk, known in commerce, is the produce of the 
“sillc worm,” which. Linnaeus ranks in the fifth class of 
animals, and in Lepidoptera or third order of insects—ge¬ 
nus Phalena —species Bombyx —variety Mori. It is a 
native of Asia, where, since a very remote period of 
time, it has been cultivated for its cocoon of silk, which 
encloses the chrysalis or middle state of existence. 
The silk-worm was introduced into Europe early in 
the Christian era, and into the North American colonies 
early in the seventeenth century. Virginia, Georgia, 
and the Carolinas were the first to engage in the silk 
culture, and raw silk formed an important integer, in 
the total of their exports, one hundred years ago. Con¬ 
necticut engaged in the silk culture about the year 1760 ; 
and about 1770, the people of all the northern colonies, 
(middle and eastern states,) generally, were roused to a 
sense of the importance of silk, in the domestic econo¬ 
my of the country. Dr. Franklin and cotemporaneous 
writers and philanthropists, urged the importance of a 
reeling establishment, which was erected at that time 
in Philadelphia, under the auspices of the “ Philosophi¬ 
cal Society of Pennsylvania.” 
In the summer and autumn of 1771, the reeling estab¬ 
lishment or “Filature,” received 2,300 pounds of cocoons, 
six hundred pounds of which were reeled for the owners, 
and 1,700 pounds were purchased by the managers, from 
the producers in Pennsylvania and New-Jersey. The 
first-named state furnishing about two-thirds, and the 
latter about one-third, of the whole quantity. 
About ninety individuals furnished the cocoons, and 
in a list of their names and residences now before me, 
I find John Etwine, of Northampton county, Penn, fur¬ 
nished 110 pounds, being the largest quantity from any 
one person. At that period, and up to 1774, the colonial 
silk culture attained a rank of much importance—more 
on account of the large number of philanthropic indi¬ 
viduals engaged and determined to persevere in it, than 
from the amount of silk produced in the aggregate ; 
and it is probable that the impetus which the business 
then received, would, in a few years, under ordinary cir¬ 
cumstances, have given it a rank in amount of exports, 
of still greater importance. But extraordinary circum¬ 
stances suddenly arrested all advances in the arts of 
peace. The inherent rights, claimed by the colonies, 
and disputed by Great Britain, led to open hostilities. 
The conflict was long, obstinate, and deadly. On the 
return of peace, in 1733, poverty and a want of the ne¬ 
cessaries of life, pervaded the states. Of the former 
silk culture no vestige remained, except in Connecticut, 
where, in one county, a little remote from the busy con¬ 
flict, it continued and still continues to flourish, and in¬ 
crease in magnitude and importance. 
Up to 1312, the silk of Connecticut was principally 
manufactured into sewings. The raw silk, employed 
for the manufacture of coach lace, tassels, and fringe, 
was imported at an average cost of about six dollars per 
pound. The war, between Great Britain and the States, 
cut off the supplies, and in 1814-15, raw silk rose to 
thirty dollars per pound. A gentleman of Newark, N. 
J., at that time employing about twenty hands, in the 
manufacture of coach lace, informs me that he obtained 
his supply of “gloss silk” (raw silk, freed from the natural 
gum) from Mansfield, Connecticut, and the quality, 
both in strength and lustre, was “ much superior to the 
best imported silk.” 
Since the peace of 1815, the manufacture o f “Tuscan” 
for hats, has materially increased the consumption of 
raw silk in the States, and the supplies are mostly 
drawn from abroad ; a part coming direct from ports to 
the eastward of the Cape of Good Hope, and the re¬ 
mainder from the European continent, by the way of 
England, where it is not cultivated,but is manufactured 
to an amount of many millions of dollars annually. 
From the commencement to the first quarter of the 
present century, occasional articles, through the perio¬ 
dical press, drew the attention of many to the impor¬ 
tance of commencing or extending the silk culture. The 
subject was discussed in the national legislature—a vo¬ 
luminous report made to, an! a manual on silk culture, 
issued by the Congress in 1826. The subject was also 
discussed in the state legislatures; and Massachusetts, 
as usual, was among the first to act in this patriotic 
cause: in 1831, the legislature appropriated six hundred 
dollars to compile and print a manual on the culture of 
silk, for distribution in the city of Boston, and in every 
town in the commonwealth. The work, by order of the 
governor, was prepared by J. H. Cobb, Esq. of Dedham, 
Mass.: it is known by the name of “ Cobb’s Manual,” 
and is published by Carter, Hendee & Co., Boston. As 
a manual on silk culture, it is, by far, the best that I have 
seen, and is, intrinsically, worth more than all the other 
“books and pamphlets” on this subject, that have issued 
from the European or American press: it treats the 
subject in a plain, common sense style; is concise; has 
less than 100 pages 12mo.; contains full and ample in¬ 
formation ; can be read in one evening, and, from its 
perusal, all persons, of ordinary intelligence, may be 
fully competent to manage the culture and reeling of 
silk. The book also contains some erroneous calcula¬ 
tions on the profits of silk culture, and it is to be re¬ 
gretted that a work, otherwise so accurate and useful, 
should have contained such extravagant over-estimates of 
the quantity of silk that can be produced on an acre, 
and the profit to be derived from it: such calculations 
are, however, mostly quoted by Mr. Cobb, from other 
authors; and, among them, it is not uncommon to esti¬ 
mate, from an acre of trees, 500 or 600 pounds of silk, 
an amount at least seven times greater than was ever 
produced from an English acre, under any circumstan¬ 
ces, in any climate or country. 
The Massachusetts legislature passed an act, to en¬ 
courage the silk culture, in 1835, and repealed it, by a 
new act, in 1836, giving a bounty of ten cents per pound 
for cocoons, and one dollar per pound for raw silk, made 
in the state. 
The legislature of Connecticut, in 1832, passed an 
act granting a bounty of one dollar for every 100 mul¬ 
berry trees transplanted, and fifty cents per pound for 
all “reeled” (raw silk,) made in the state : this act was 
repealed in the winter of 1838-9. 
Maine, in 1836, by legislative enactments, gives a 
bounty of five cents per pound for cocoons, and fifty cents 
per pound for raw silk, made in the state. Vermont 
gives, by enactment of the legislature, a bounty of ten 
cents per pound for cocoons; and New'-Jersey, in 1836, 
enacted that, for five years, cocoons raised in the state, 
should receive a bounty of fifteen cents per pound: the 
act “excepted bodies corporate and politic,” and was 
repealed the following year. 
Acts, similar to the foregoing, were passed by other 
legislatures about that time, and many stock companies 
were incorporated for the manufacture of silk. The 
country was prosperous beyond any former precedent, 
and, in one year, (1836,) the importations of silk (most¬ 
ly manufactured goods) amounted to twenty-two mil 
lions of dollars; more than two-fold greater than the ave¬ 
rage importation of the same article,in former years: other 
circumstances, also, assisted to render the present a very 
memorable epoch, in the history of silk, in America. 
The legislative bounties, incorporations of manufactur¬ 
ing companies, and general prosperity, raised up a new 
branch of the trade, inappropriately named the “silk 
business.” It consisted of the growing, purchasing and 
selling of mulberry trees; fancy and captivating 
names were given to new varieties of old species; and 
individuals and periodicals were urgent in claiming su¬ 
perior excellence for some favorite species or variety. 
From various causes, the Morus multicaulis, (inferior 
to most all other kinds, for the silk culture,*) took prece- 
* We must beg leave to dissent from the opinion here ex¬ 
pressed by Mr. Durant, respecting the inferiority of the 
Morus multicaulis for making silk ; certainly until some 
evidence is adduced to prove that such is the fact. We take 
it for granted, that none of the late varieties of the tropical 
mulberries, introduced into this country, will endure our 
northern winters: all will need protection in the latitude of 
Boston and Albany—hence the question to the silk grower, 
(not the tree grower,) is, which will produce the earliest 
foliage, and which the greatest quantities, from trees planted 
every spring, as all these varieties must be. In the middle 
or southern states, of course, the matter is different. Now, 
we have the most conclusive evidence, that silk to any ex¬ 
tent, may be made from the multicaulis planted in the spring, 
while there is yet no evidence, that it can be so produced 
from the other varieties. We do not say it. cannot ; but the 
evidence has not yet been furnished. Some of our readers 
may not be aware of what has been already done the past 
season, in producing silk from the multicaulis taken up in 
the fall of 1838, kept through the winter, and planted out 
in the spring of 1839. Every attempt, of which we have 
heard, has been most encouraging. We give tw'o instances, 
as perfectly conclusive of the value of the multicaulis for 
making silk. 
Mr. McLean, of New 7 -Jersey, in April last, planted one 
quarter of an acre with the roots and cuttings of the multi¬ 
caulis, on soil of moderate fertility. The trees produced 
were not large, and the number about 5,500. He com¬ 
menced hatching and feeding his worms on the eighteenth 
of July, and continued to hatch till the twenty-seventh of 
August—feeding, in whole, some 40,000. and not stripping 
the trees closely. The silk crop was 130 lbs. of cocoons 
from the quarter of an acre, and these gave 12 lbs. of beau¬ 
tiful reeled silk, or at the rate of 50 lbs. per acre; worth, at 
present prices, some 300 dollars per acre. Every thing, 
connected with this experiment, wms made with the greatest 
nicety and accuracy, and the details have been described 
by Mr. McLean, in a paper which we shall, at an early day, 
lay before our readers. 
The other experiment was made by Mr. A.Clapp, of Hart¬ 
ford, Conn. He planted, the second week in May, one acre 
and a quarter of Morus multicaulis trees, laying down the 
trees whole, and covering them two inches deep, in rows 
dence of all others in the “silk business,” so called. Trees 
of one year’s growth, which could be raised for one or 
two cents, were sold for one and two dollars each; and 
the sales amounted to several millions of dollars. To 
satisfy the demand, many thousand were imported, and 
like the memorable Holland “ tulip business,” sales, to 
the amount of many thousand dollars, were made for 
trees to be delivered in six months or a year. Other spe¬ 
cies and varieties of mulberry trees, sunk into compara¬ 
tive insignificance: the Morus alba, (common white mul¬ 
berry) universally esteemed one of the best for feeding 
silk worms, could not be sold for one cent, or the price 
of transporting a few' miles. The individuals, engaged 
in the new “silk business,” had, generally, little or no 
connection with the silk culture, and, from a want of 
information on the subject, may have honestly assisted 
to increase the demand for some particular kind, of 
which they had the largest quantity for sale. Most of 
the purchases were made by persons engaging in the 
same business, and so extravagant wure the estimates 
of profit, that, for each thousand dollars invested in 
multicaulis the past spring, even at the then high prices, 
it w T as generally supposed that fifty thousand dollars 
could be realized, by the sale of the increased buds in 
the autumn of 1839. A mulberry tree, called “Sharp’s 
variety,” exhibited at the annual fair of the American 
Institute, in October last, v r as represented to be a scion of 
a seedling raised by Mr. Sharp, who sold his interest 
in one-half of the parent tree, for ten thousand dollars ! 
This new “silk business” has probably reached its 
acme. There is now a sufficient stock of mulberry trees 
in the states, to supply all the silk culturists on the con¬ 
tinents of Europe and America, for the remainder of the 
nineteenth century; and “silk business men” do not 
seem to increase in a ratio w r ith trees; for the Morus 
multicaulis are now offered in great abundance, and 
find no buyers “ at three cents per tree, healthy and 
well branched.” A just estimate of their probable 
value in the autumn of 1840,1 think would not exceed 
three dollars per cart load; for, on the present decline 
of the new “ silk business,” the demand for trees to sup¬ 
ply the silk culture, can never be sensibly felt; as no 
prudent culturist will ever spend more than five or ten 
dollars, for a full and ample stock of any or every spe¬ 
cies of mulberry, which will increase in foliage, as fast 
as he will find handsto gather them, or accommodations 
for the valuable insect that is to consume them. All 
philanthropic silk culturists ever have, and still con¬ 
tinue to make presents of mulbery trees, in sufficient 
quantities for commencing the silk culture, to all per¬ 
sons who apply for them. I have had no commerce in 
trees, but have derived much pleasure from contributing, 
and, at present, am always happy to contribute, gratis, 
one tree of each and every known species of mulberry, 
to every applicant who is desirous of commencing the 
culture of silk. Five or six trees, multiplied by cut¬ 
tings, or layers, will, the first year, produce five or six 
hundred trees, and be amply sufficient for commencing 
this useful branch of domestic economy. 
The joint stock companies, created within the past 
eight years, for the manufacture of silk, struggled for a 
while under the natural burden of difference in price, 
between the labor of the States and of Europe, and 
against the unnatural obstructions heaped on by our 
own government, in taxing the raw material, coming 
from eastward of the Cape of Good Hope, a duty of 
ten per cent., while the silk manufacturers of Europe, 
who obtained much of the raw material from the same 
source as ourselves, at a cost materially less, were per¬ 
mitted by the “ French indemnity treaty,” to crowd our 
market with manufactured silks, free of duty. The 
result was disastrous to the American silk manufactu¬ 
rers—all, or nearly all, became bankrupt, and ceased 
operations. The history of a few may serve for a his¬ 
tory of the whole. 
The “Atlantic Silk Company,” at Nantucket, com¬ 
menced manufacturing with a cash capital of forty 
thousand dollars, which is all lost, and the company 
have ceased operations. 
The “Valentine Silk Company,” at Providence, R. I. 
lost 20,000 dollars by manufacturing. They have ceased 
operations, and probably ceased to exist. 
The “ Poughkeepsie Silk Company” lost all that they 
risked in manufacturing; and their large, four story 
building, erected for that purpose, is now rented to 
others, for the manufacture of pins, buttons, and carpels. 
The “Northampton Silk Company,” at Northamp¬ 
ton, Mass., commenced operations with a cash capital 
of eighty thousand dollars. They injudiciously added 
to their manufactures, the culture of silk, which they 
have since abandoned, and which never can be profita¬ 
bly conducted by incorporated companies, with high 
salaried agents. They also went largely into the new 
three feet apart. Some failed, but those that came up did 
well. He says —“ I raised fifty bushels of cocoons of excel¬ 
lent quality, and what I reeled, produced one pound of silk 
to the bushel, which is pronounced, by good judges, to be 
better than imported raw silk, and equally as good as any 
made from any other species of mulberry tree in our country.” 
Not ove-lialf of the foliage was used; and if 100 lbs. of silk 
can be made from acre of land, of the multicaulis, which 
at present prices would be worth five or six hundred dollars, 
we think the tree is not to be contemned. What other tree 
in the country did this, last year ? 
As to the general remarks of Mr. Durant, on the mulberry 
speculation, we agree with him. The trees are now in the 
country; and, that they will produce the best silk, and in 
any quantityfhve think, is demonstrated most fully. To 
cast these away for new and untried varieties, would, we 
humbly conceive, be consummate folly.—[E ds. Cult. 
