888 
PAEIS UNIYEESA.D 
^ machinery, and designed to include forty looms, for the manu¬ 
facture of taffetas of superior quality, was being erected. 
It seems to have been pretty well established that the busi¬ 
ness of producing silk may be advantageously prosecuted 
wherever the mulberry will flourish, and that the mulberry 
may be successfully cultivated wherever the grape succeeds; 
but that stormy and moist climates are not favorable to the 
culture of the worm or the production of the best quality of 
silk. 
The silks on exhibition were such, in both quantity and 
quality, as to raise no suspicion that anything was wrong in 
this important branch of husbandry, but the price of silks the 
. world over tells the story in a way sure to be appreciated by 
all but the most wealthy consumers. 
The production of the sugar beet, and beet sugar manufac¬ 
ture are acquiring such colossal proportions in Europe as to 
challenge the attention of the American agriculturist. In 
France, Belgium, Germany and Austria, and also in portions 
of Eussia, this sugar is largely superseding all others. In the 
Zollverein States of Germany alone, there are nearly 500 great 
establishments for its manufacture, and the product is said to 
be but little short of 200,000,000 pounds per annum. 
The beet grown is the white Silesian varietj^ It is easily 
grown, and yields ten to fourteen tons to the acre. Growing 
best above latitude 45, in Europe, and being adapted to a light 
soil and dry atmosphere, I am inclined to think there are many 
portions of Wisconsin where it could be made an important 
crop. 
The beet keeps fresh for a considerable time without injury, 
and is susceptible of being cut into pieces—as is much 
done in Germany—dried, and, in this form, either stored 
for an indefinite period, or transported to any distance for 
manufacture. 
The illustrations of different species and breeds of domestic 
animals at the Exposition were exceedingly interesting. Foreign 
cattle were prohibited owing to the prevalence of certain con- 
